Posted on by Abe Austin

Us vs Them- Trends of Today

The State of Things)

It is impossible to be properly judged without being known. At different times, different categories of people have had broad generalizations made about them because of the category, not because of who they actually were. They have been accused as a whole for the problems in the world, each member guilty simply by association. Of late, being a White, Christian, male with traditional conservative views has lumped me into such categories of disdain and ridicule, with no regard for who I actually am and why I believe the things that I do.

Over the past couple years, it has become apparent that the wholesale disparagement of White, Christian, conservative, masculinity will not go unchallenged in the West. For a long while, it did. I watched as the prior generation, and many of my own peers, and even I, myself, simply shook our heads and went about our day quietly, trying not to think about the hostility growing against us. But with the assassination attempts on Donald Trump and his second election into office, something clearly changed.

And that is not all good news.

Worse, Not Better)

It is one thing to no longer agree to being walked on, it is another to start retaliating with sweeping generalizations against the other side. Sadly, the latter trend is growing alongside the former. I am seeing more and more defenses against blanket criticisms of White, conservative, men, but then also blanket criticisms where someone “knows” what a woman speaking really means, because all women are a certain way. Or how one is “fatigued” with Black people, as a rule. Or how every liberal is morally compromised. Not just that there are problems with certain individuals, but with all of a certain category.

We are trading one mistake for another. We are right to stop being overly passive. To stop pretending that being walked on is a virtue. We should not be afraid to openly disagree with the trends that we’ve been seeing, and to advocate for the principles we hold dear. We need to restore fairness and equal treatment on both the legal and societal level. But in doing all of that, we must not leap all the way painting everyone on “the other side” with the same brush.

Of course, not every White, Christian, conservative will do this. But as their views becomes more popular, the basest and most easily influenced among them will reduce things down to “this side good, that side bad.” Sadly, the basest and most easily influenced cohort seems to be increasing every year.

So, when I say “us vs them” thinking, that I believe retaliation for the past is about to increase, I am not saying that I am happy about it. I think the injustices of the past decades were tragic, and I think those of the coming decades will be also. I am not happy that White, Christian, conservative men were so unfairly treated, but neither am I happy for the reckoning that is coming back in turn. I do believe that reckoning is inevitable, though. It will happen, whether I like it or not.

And I think there is a very simple reason why this reckoning is inevitable, and a reason why it is just starting to begin now but will soon be fully upon us. I will endeavor to explain with my next post what lines were crossed that went too far, and what will happen now in retaliation.

Posted on by Abe Austin

A Pivotal Moment- Introduction

Shifting Tides)

It has been my perception that society has been shifting over the past couple years. This observation has inspired a few different posts from me as I have grappled with the larger implications and pitfalls that such a moment entail. My tone has been cautious, because even though I do see some positive changes, transitory periods are as full of danger as they are potential.

People seem more and more willing to have conversations now that they weren’t earlier, more and more willing to call out long-standing problems that used to be unspeakable. That is a prerequisite for needed improvements to be made, but it isn’t a guarantee that we will actually end in the right place. It is entirely possible that we will shove off from one dangerous shoal, only to run aground on another. Perhaps one that is even worse.

I don’t normally speak very directly about current affairs, preferring to let my messages be universally applicable. In this case I will be a little more specific, though hopefully my message will be able to stand separate from the details of this particular moment in time, being useful for all of the future pivotal moments that society will inevitably find itself in.

Examples of Change)

Of course, when I speak of shifting trends, the one that probably comes foremost to mind is the result of the 2024 US Presidential elections. Many have interpreted that election (and other similar ones around the globe) as an indictment of extreme progressivism, a sign that transgenderism and DEI would no longer be winning agendas for the left. There wasn’t even the predicted wave of retaliation votes for the overturning of Roe v Wade, suggesting that America was at the very least apathetic on the matter of so-called Abortion Rights, if not outright opposed.

Clearly something has changed, but so long as we only concern ourselves with these surface movements, we are missing out on the far more significant tectonic shifts happening deep underground. The changes in the political climate are but a sign of deeper ideological transformations, ones having to do with our spirituality and personal identity.

Before continuing further, I need to take some time to try and define these core issues and how they first came into being. Something took root in society decades ago, and it metastasized into various malignant forms, including the modern forms of abortion, atheism, depression, feminism, racism, and sexual and gender identity. What is it that lays at the core of all these? And what does the fact that some of these outer tumors are declining say about how things are developing down at that core?

These are tough questions, ones that I am admittedly still figuring out, but I will try to take a stab at them with my next post. After that, I will attempt to forecast possible futures that we might be moving towards, and whether we should feel enthusiastic or concerned.