How did we get here? How is it possible that highly educated people in our culture think gender is something we can choose? How can those who say they care about children put a twelve-year-old on puberty blockers — and do so without consulting the child’s parents? How can a culture that once recognized the danger of sins against morality morph into one that only critiques, censors, and cancels what it considers to be sins against equality?
More generally, how can a society founded on Judeo-Christian principles normalize behaviors that would have shocked Greco-Roman pagans? How did we get here, and, more importantly, what do we do now that we are here?
Thankfully, a recent book by Aaron M. Renn provides the necessary perspective and tools to make sense of the mess we are in. In Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture, Renn, a current senior fellow at the American Reformer and former senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Public Research, offers both an analysis of the path that led us to where we are and a game plan for Christians to survive and thrive in the current cultural moment.
Renn identifies three stages in the slow unmooring of America from its Christian roots: the “positive world” (1964 to 1994), when society held “a mostly positive view of Christianity;” “neutral world” (1994-2014), when “Christianity no longer [had] privileged status, but nor [was] it disfavored;” and negative world (since 2014), where “Christian morality is expressly repudiated and … seen as a threat to the public good and new public moral order.” Whereas Christian moral norms were praised in the positive world and tolerated in the neutral, today, holding “to Christian moral views, publicly affirming the teachings of the Bible, or violating the new secular moral order can lead to negative consequences.”
The Dawn of the Negative World
To highlight the sudden change that befell the country with the start of the negative world, Renn recalls that in 2008, liberal California “approved Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment to effectively ban same-sex marriage,” and Barack Obama “felt compelled to lie about this issue,” saying he opposed it to get elected. Still, though the change from neutral to negative seems to have appeared out of the blue, Renn traces some of the major influences that pushed America into a world where Christian virtues are treated as the problem rather than the solution and as the enemy rather than the anchor. […]
— Read More: thefederalist.com
At Last, a Company With Integrity in the Gold IRA Industry
For several years, I’ve been vetting out precious metals companies in search of the best. I believe in gold and silver but it’s hard to find integrity in the Gold IRA industry. The vast majority operate with shady tactics and gigantic spreads that take advantage of Americans who simply want to protect their life’s savings.
I’ve found a handful that I like and I’ve worked with some of them. By no means would I “unrecommend” them because, again, I vetted them out and found them to be above the fold. Unfortunately, it isn’t hard to be better than the rest when the rest are so darn awful.
After years of searching, I finally found a company that truly operates with integrity. Augusta Precious Metals has three important attributes that set them far above the competition:
- Non-Commissioned Sales Team: I cannot stress how important and unique this is. With just about every other company in the Gold IRA industry, the sales teams make commission from every account they open. This means they steer their clients toward the gold and silver products with the highest commission. With Augusta Precious Metals, the team is solely focused on putting the best gold and silver for their clients into their IRA. They get paid to serve the best interests of the Gold IRA client, NOT their own commission pay.
- Incredibly Low Fees: Most Americans would be shocked if they knew the spread other Gold IRA companies charge. Augusta charges just 5% versus up to 45% elsewhere.
- No Pressure, No Gimmicks: There’s an understanding among most in the Gold IRA industry that fear and pressure is the way to go. Augusta Precious Metals takes a sober approach when working with clients because they hold integrity in the highest possible regard. This is why they don’t offer gimmicks like “free” or “bonus” silver. It’s also why they do not apply pressure tactics to get quick sales. Their educational and transparent approach to doing business is exceedingly rare in the Gold IRA industry.
