Why Can’t We Just Get Back to Normal?

You have probably heard of Dana White. He is the CEO of the United Fighting Championship – better known as the UFC. It is the largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization in the world.

Normally you would probably see him interviewed on various news or sports outlets concerning his UFC business. However, after Charlie Kirk was martyred, he was interviewed on Fox News’ Special Report and asked about the assassination. In response, he was quite disturbed about it. He was just starting to feel a bit better about the direction the country was moving, and now this. He said:

Things started to feel better and get normal again, and then that happened, and it's almost like, you know, it's all starting over again. Not just my daughter, a lot of kids were impacted by this, kids who loved and respected Charlie, and it's just, it's just hard to wrap your brain around when something like this happens.

 

He continued by saying that he’s just looking for “unity” and “normalcy.” (You can read an article on this at https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ufc-ceo-dana-white-calls-unity-normalcy-after-charlie-kirk-assassination.print)

Now that’s an interesting way to put it. He is looking for “unity” and “normalcy.” This makes me want to ask a question ... “What is normal?”

Our nation was founded on biblical worldview values. That doesn’t mean that all of the founders were Christian, or that people have always faithfully lived up to those values. It also does not mean, or imply, that the nation should be, or even strive to become, a theocracy. Rather, it was established as a constitutional republic.

What it does mean is that the value set that was put in place as the foundational standard for the nation were those that are taught in the Bible. So, such principles as the rule of law, equality of opportunity, priority of the individual, freedom of conscience, equal justice under the law, sanctity of life, and other uniquely biblical values are the nations traditional foundational principles.

So, traditionally, the values that were established at our founding were considered normal. That’s what Dana White was referring to when he said that he was just beginning to feel like things were starting to get normal again – that society was starting to move to a place where those traditional values were once again beginning to be honored.

And hopefully we are, as a nation, once again beginning to move back toward that kind of normalcy. For the last century we have been moving toward a “new normal” based on an entirely different set of worldview beliefs. This different worldview is called Naturalism. It is atheistic and can be defined as the belief that the natural universe, operating by natural laws, is all that exists. People who believe that do not acknowledge the existence of God, or at the very least have redefined the word “God” to mean some impersonal, unknowable, or just “something out there.” And when it comes to values, there are some very profound implications to that belief. 

The first implication has to do with the source of values. Some people like to think that it is possible for there to be a society based on secular, non-religious values. However, that is simply not true. And anyone who thinks it is simply has no understanding of what they are talking about. There will be some set of values that dominate society, and whatever that turns out to be is based on some set of religious (faith) beliefs. Secularism is not “non-religious,” and its values do have a source.

A second implication is that the values of a naturalistic worldview are necessarily relativistic. America’s traditional values are based on an objective source – the morality taught in the Bible. But since Naturalism does not acknowledge the existence of God, its source has to be in a different place. People have to make values up for themselves. For them, there is no such thing as objective right and wrong. So, individuals in society personally make up the moral foundation they want to live by, and create society’s values based on that.

But that is a generic description. When it actually comes down to the bottom line, it is those who are able to maneuver themselves into a place where they can control the levers of power who get to set the values. And if a new person comes along and gains that power, the values can change.

Over the last number of decades, naturalistic worldview beliefs have increasingly come to dominate society, and many of the people who have gained positions of moral influence do not like biblical values. They want to define morality for themselves. And increasingly that has been happening. The result is increasing lawlessness, immorality, destruction of the family, and an overall degradation of society.

It is exactly the opposite of the “normal” that Dana White and many of the rest of us long for. And until the people of the nation return to acknowledging Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and look to His revelation in the Bible as their ultimate source of values, normalcy will be hard to come by.

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Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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