Opus 2018-305: The Antifa Appeal

I don’t know which blog I was on but it had a link to a segment from Tucker Carlson.  He was interviewing a young man who had come out of the Antifa organization and written either an article or a book.  I didn’t get his name, but you may have seen it.

Tucker asked him what drew him into Antifa.  He shared that he was looking for something to tie life together.  Something to make sense out of everything and the radical literature he was reading seemed to lead him deeper and deeper into this cult.  He referred to it as a religion because you had to take so much on faith.

That made me think of all the millennials out there looking for the same thing.  I think of so many young people I have met who seem to have no real reason to get up and go on with life.  What do you do when you realize that there is not a lot of purpose in your job no matter how well it pays.  It does not answer the questions like, “Is there purpose in life?”  They look many places and seek answers in many religions.  What has always troubled me is that they reject Jesus in the process.  I keep asking myself why because Jesus gives answers and meaning to life.  Why can’t they see that?

I think the answer is found in the concept of Christian love and the tendency of people to be self centered.   These two things are in conflict.  Christian love, agape, is a commitment to put other people first.  One verse kind of sums up the problem,

(1 Corinthians 13:5 NAS77)  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

This is a commitment that is necessary to be a follower of Jesus.  You may not get it at first.  That is why a lot of people are “saved” and drift away.  It is heady to think that God died for you.  It is awesome to understand that all of the bad things you have done can be paid for and the slate can be wiped clean.  Most people like that idea.  But once you cross that threshold there is a whole eternity of growth and a life of service ahead.  That is where people balk.

In groups like Antifa you can enter into the organization and you develop a sense of being better than the sheep who are not part of the group.  It feeds your self-centered ego.  You are not called to serve, you are called to rule.  Anyone who stands in your way becomes fair game for your violence.  This same type of reward is found in Islam.  That is why it is so successful among prison inmates who have already demonstrated that they think everyone else exists to feed their desires. 

People are self centered.  Some are more violent that others but all humans want what they want and they want it now.  If you don’t believe that then babysit an infant for an evening.  Some philosophies feed that.  Antifa does.  Islam does.  Communism does. 

Christianity does not.  It does not reward our ego, our lust or our appetites.  It does put us in communion with a God who is holy and righteous.  Many people miss this even when they claim to be followers of Jesus.  It is demonstrated by the list of people waiting for a chance to sing a solo in church and the need to pay people to clean the toilets.

homo unius libri