In my first tidbit, I argued:
1.“man’s philosophies are at least as dangerous to God’s kingdom as   
    false religions.”
2.“theology gives birth to philosophy”
3.“Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, and Liberals all derive their
     philosophy from a deity!”
   The foundational text supporting the above propositions is:
 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.                               -Colossians 2:8(NAS)
 
  This incredible text declares on one side is Christ or the Word of God, and on the other side are the i.philosophies, ii.deceptions, iii.traditions of men, and iv.the elementary principles of the world.
   Another visual looks like this:
           Christ                             vs               World/Enemy of God
           Word of God                 vs             i.man’s philosophy
                                                                    ii.deceptions/vain deceits(KJV)
                                                                    iii.traditions of men
                                                                    iv.elementary principles of
                                                                      the world

​  The result of rejecting Christ and adopting man’s philosophy is to be “taken captive” (esomai & sulagogeo), which means to fall; and to lead away, to seduce, to spoil, captivity. The truth of Colossians 2:8 is the foundation for honestly evaluating the philosophies and behaviors of Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, and Conservatives.
   First, I decided on these four areas because their beliefs and actions currently dominate our culture! On the most fundamental level, their positions are often referred to as the ‘Left’ and ‘Right’. Second, it is critical to note that all the above positions are occupied by men with sin natures. This means, over time, each position has changed--sometimes for the better or worse. I repeat, there is no political party that has ever perfectly aligned with God’s will! Over the decades and centuries, as men and women come and go through the election process, there have been good and evil people on every side---which is THE reason for the contemporary confusion and deception!
   Third, evil has always been present because man’s nature is evil, however what makes this particular moment different from the past is the time in which we now live. We are unequivocally living in the last day, which means men will intensify their evil, which forces God to intensify His wrath. My objective here is to uncover the philosophy of man which drives man’s current push to evil.
    Finally, if I had to offer one fundamental component allowing us to identify the evil of this day, it would be 2Thessalonians 2:3, which declares, before the rise of Anti-Christ there will be a great falling away from the faith, a.k.a. apostasy. Very simply, falling away from the faith, means falling away from the Word of God, i.e.the Bible. In other words, because faith comes by hearing God’s word(Rom10:17), as people abandon the Bible, they will fall away from the faith.
Here is the key: as we look at the different positions you will be able discern its good or evil by its rejection of scripture or alignment with scripture!
 
Quotebit
Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out.
-Jim Rohn

No person possesses salvation, i.e. is born-again, through a political party—but by grace through faith (Rom2:8,9)…alone! However, what I have learned over the years is the possibility of the salvation of the spirit man, yet the mind can still be tainted by the world, i.e.conformed, and in need of transformation (Rom12:1-3).   
  Over the years I have found the following truism: in general, liberal Christians claim the Democrat party, while conservative Christians claim the Republican party (or are independent). There may be some exceptions, however and I repeat, the vast majority of the time I have found this truism factual.
   Why is this even important? Because, the mind conformed to the world’s thinking can be as dangerous as the unbeliever! Why is the unbeliever dangerous? For two reasons:
1.First, because the Bible declares, “… your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1Pet 5:8). This passage lays the spiritual foundation for the ‘end’ behavior of sinners, which is confirmed in Psalms 37:32: The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. This does not mean that every unbeliever wants to kill you because you are saved!!! Yet, because Satan is the father of the unbeliever(Jn8:43,44), and Satan’s role is to kill, steal, and destroy (Jn10:10), if that unbeliever is left without the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit(2Thes2:7), where he is fully given over to Satan, then Psalms 37:32 absolutely becomes a possibility!! Jesus said, “you shall be hated by all men for my names sake” (Mat10:22). Well, what do you think people do when they hate you? 1John 3:15 answers: “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer…”! Once again, this is confirmed in John 8:44: “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning…”
 
2.The second reason the unbeliever can be dangerous is because his actions and mind cannot honor God. The mind of the unbeliever is carnal/fleshly, which means it becomes impossible for ‘a man of the flesh’ to do the will of God (Rom8:5); once again, the consequence is death (Rom8:6-8). Why? One reason is if the carnal man gains power, i.e.rulership over others, his sin can bring down the wrath of God (Pro11:11; Pro29:2).
   On the contrary, and very sadly, if a ‘believer’ i.e. a Christian, does not renew his/her mind, but chooses to think like the unbeliever, he too can arose the wrath of God! Therefore, how any one person thinks--righteous or unrighteous—in every area of life…is important! Allow me to repeat myself for special emphasis: The authentic Christian ought to be concerned about not only how Christians think--himself and other Christians (Rom12:1-3)—but also how the sinner thinks (Ps119:136; Ps51:13; Mat28:18-20)
  Moving forward. Colossians 2:8(NAS) teaches that the philosophies of the world can take people captive*: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
   Sin takes people captive, because at minimum, it both blinds and enslaves man. Because of sin, mankind cannot understand God nor His creation, and his enslavement to sin hinders his ability to carry out God’s great calling in the earth. 
   This passage also teaches that religions of the world, such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc., are ‘not’ all that oppose Christ…but man’s philosophies can as well. In other words again, Colossians 2:8 teaches that man’s philosophies are at least as dangerous to God’s kingdom as false religions.
   Furthermore, Colossians 2:8 is one of the verses that teaches philosophies* are theological in nature! In other words, I say it like this:
             -“all philosophy originates in theology” or,
             -“theology gives birth to philosophy” or,
             -“what one believes about life originates in one’s belief about
               God”
There are no exceptions…this is an absolute truth!**
   Here is the key: Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, and Liberals*** all derive their philosophies from a deity!
   You won’t want to miss one of these tidbits!
 
 
*I define philosophy as what a person thinks about life.
** Even atheists have a god: self!
*** Liberals and Progressives are synonymous.
 
QuoteBit
If you want to amend your errors, you must begin by amending your philosophy.  -Jim Rohn

  In February, Black History month 2019, I visited a class of Christian high school seniors who were discussing race. The class of approximately 25, was predominantly white, with about 5 blacks. The teacher had me present for commentary because I was both a Christian and black.
  The question directing the conversation that day was: How would Martin Luther King have interpreted the controversial topic: ‘police target blacks’? After every student’s tally was recorded on the chalkboard, the entire class--every white and every black--declared that MLK would in fact have affirmed the idea that ‘police target blacks’. I was the only dissenter!
   The disagreement with my answer was written across the faces of several students. However, after I cited facts for my position, one of the white students rose-up and accused me of being a Republican! Very interesting, I thought. I mentioned no political party in my facts, why is the position ‘police do not target blacks’ considered Republican?
   I offer 2 reasons:
1.In reality, the statement: ‘police target blacks’, is either true or false based upon facts…not feelings! Therefore, if we examine the facts, it is impossible for any honest person to hold to: ‘police target blacks’. See here, here, here, here, here. Honesty is a paramount value for every Christian! Why then did all these high schools kids believe MLK, who was first a preacher of the gospel, would agree with the assertion? For one of two reasons: i.They did not know the facts; or, ii.They took the ‘safe position’. And, what is the ‘safe position’? Because MLK was black; and because he was the embodiment of black civil rights, he has to agree that ‘police target blacks’ today, because police targeted blacks in the past! The ‘safe position’ rests upon the unwritten liberal rule: if you are white, in order to avoid being labeled a racist; or an Uncle Tom if your black, you must never say, do, or be accused of anything--publicly or privately--that does not genuflect to black victimhood! In other words, all non-racists must believe: past and present blacks are victims of systemic white supremacy!
2.It is no secret that the overwhelming majority of blacks are Democrats. It is also no secret that academia and media aggressively market the Republican party as the party ‘for’ white people, which means it is inherently racist. So, let me get this straight, in spite of the ‘fact’ of ‘White Privilege’, which means all whites have privilege; and in spite of the fact that whites possess Implicit Bias (IB), which means all whites are innately racist—aka “Whiteness”; and in spite of the fact that the Democrat Party is predominantly white, the Republican Party is the party of white racism!!  Try to explain that one!
  Therefore…for all whites (excluding white Democrats of course), to avoid the job ending, business destroying, reputation destruction, unpardonable label of ‘racist’ (excluding white Democrats of course), they must pledge allegiance to the Democrat party! On the other side of same coin, in order to retain one’s cultural blackness, which means to be a ‘real’ black, and avoid the label of Uncle Tom, blacks must also walk lock-step with the Democrat party!
   First, these unwritten rules for whites, blacks, Democrats and Republicans presently sum-up  the ‘politically correct’ spirit pervading America! And second, these rules can never be rescinded because they rest upon ‘color’, i.e.race. In other words, as long as a white person is white, the rules apply. Or said another way, a white person can change the rules only when he/she can change his/her whiteness! Of course, the rules are not enforced upon white Democrats!
  Finally, allow me to add one more point to help elucidate why a teenager* would bring-up the Republican party in that scenario. God created mankind with a social need, which the Bible calls fellowship (koinonia), therefore all ages experience a desire to be accepted and wanted. However, as we have seen, this desire begins well before one’s senior year (age 17-18) in high school. Therefore, when the contemporary societal racial pressure to conform, is added to this social innate need, it can quickly multiply the pressure to yield! Tragically, yielding to this pressure to conform destroys hope, which develops into anxiety, and other mental health issues.
    The Bible declares the wages of sin is death(Rom 3:23)! Death is not only physical, but spiritual and mental. With the kind of contemporary social pressure from media, academia and entertainment** to conform to both racial and sexual unbiblical and unnatural liberal values, is there any wonder why the mental health industry is booming?!?!
 
 *He had to learn this from somewhere…even in his youth!
**The unholy trinity!
 
Quotebit
Economic disaster begins with a philosophy of doing less and wanting more.-Jim Rohn