Posted on 02/22/2006 9:47:15 AM PST by SirLinksalot
The Swedish Media Massage
AFA Center for Law & Policy
Friday, February 17, 2006
The disturbing truth about Sweden?s moral decay should serve to sober us from our own complacent drunken stupor.
I recently had occasion to discuss religion and politics (dangerous ground, I know) with a Swedish mother of two visiting America. Sonya (not her real name) is a manager at a large investment house in Sweden. Her politics may be described as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. In a word, fashionable.
We chatted about the Swedish economy, city life versus country life, and agreed that high taxes were hard on families. So much for the preliminaries.
Then we dove into the issue of homosexual rights. Having found common ground on fiscal matters, Sonya was not prepared for how divergent our views were on ?gay? rights. But our takes on Pastor Ake Green?s sermon on homosexuality could not have been farther apart had she been from another planet.
When it became obvious to her that I would not repeat her ?same-sex-marriage-is-a-human-right? mantra, she was visibly taken aback.
?Is this a religious thing for you?? she asked, hoping to pigeon hole me into a convenient corner.
I said, ?You seem to assume that religion is something we can take out and put away at will, like a broom in a closet. It doesn?t work that way.? I then explained that just as my religion affects everything in life, from homosexual marriage to what I do for fun during the week, so her religion (or lack thereof) affects everything for her, too.
When I probed Sonya?s human rights argument and asked her where those rights came from, she just stared at me, unable to respond. She was speechless, apparently never having considered the question.
She recovered her voice when I asked her to define the rights. She said (somewhat judgmentally), ?Everyone has the right not to be judged.? But when she conceded that she judges pedophiles, she stumbled again, and grew indignant. Our conversation ended abruptly only moments later, and I am sad to say our previous good relations were never the same again.
I don?t mean to single Sonya out. I suspect her views are representative of most Swedes, and indeed of many Americans as well.
But there is a lesson to be learned: for all of us who hold strong opinions on these issues, it behooves us to think through the presuppositions we hold before charging into heated discussions about them. Sadly, many of us who defend traditional marriage have not critically considered what we have presupposed. The truth about Sweden
Before we parted, Sonya gave me a Swedish newspaper. It was half in Swedish and half in English., and I eagerly read it. If you are like me, you have always heard what a laid back, peaceful, utopia Sweden is, with low crime and little stress. It is the poster child of the left, held up as a model of what a live-and-let-live, anything-goes society ought to be. Such is the Swedish media massage.
So I was genuinely surprised to read the truth about Sweden. One article in particular was aimed at readers just like me, who had bought the chamber of commerce line about life in Sweden. The author was Swedish, and his title said much about his reasons for writing: ?Quiet No More.? He had turned myth-buster.
Here are some of the startling facts he shared:
? There is more crime in Sweden than in New York City, though they are comparable in population.
? Drug abuse is rampant, with the number of deaths from overdoses having doubled in the past 10 years.
? Sweden has one of the highest incidences of rape in the world.
? Burglaries are so numerous that many citizens have stopped reporting them, because the police are overloaded and cannot undertake to investigate them all anyway.
? Attacks on money transports (like highway robbery) are so frequent that the transporters are threatening to quit, thereby effectively closing ATM?s all over the country.
? Violent outdoor muggings are becoming routine, having increased 15% last year alone.
? In Stockholm, the police recently admitted having lied when they claimed to have neutralized some 130 of the city?s most prominent gangsters; in reality, their sting operation was a bust.
? Swedish courts are plagued with perjurious police officers who routinely lie to support fellow cops in trouble.
I found this data remarkable. While I do not want to place undue reliance on a single newspaper article, it is entirely consistent with a Christian worldview that a nation so firmly committed to the ways of the world would eventually find itself wallowing in crime.
Augustine of Hippo put it this way: ?He who sees the truth and flees has weakened the acuteness of his mind through the habit of carnal shadows.? That is, to the extent we turn from truth, away from God, we weaken our ability to discern and become accustomed to carnality, or wickedness.
Of course, it is as true for us in America as for those in Sweden. We have embraced our sin, celebrated our ?diversity,? and indulged our depravity. And now, having sown, we must reap. Will we awaken from our stupor? Can we turn from the shadows and once again gaze upon the glory of Truth?
America is only a step behind Sweden and the whole of post-Christian Europe. Absent an abrupt change in our spiritual direction, we are in for dark days ahead. Those who have light, however dim, must lead the way.Mr. Crampton serves as Chief Counsel of the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (CLP), a public interest-type law firm. The CLP's web site is www.afa.net/clp. Mr. Crampton's daily radio show, "We Hold These Truths," can be heard on almost 200 radio stations nationwide. He can be reached at clp@afa.net.
Good article!
This was posted a couple of weeks ago, wasn't it?
Gre?at? Ar?tic?le?
Exc?ept ? for? the? ?un?needed ?question? ma?rks ever?ywhere?
I hate stats like this. In terms of murders, NYC is one of the safest places in the US. NYC has about twice as many murders as Baltimore even though it has 12 times the population. NYC has 6 times the murders of Columbus OH, even with 12 times the population.
And most of this is because of pro choice, former mayor, and possible presidential candidate guilliani.
Yes, some of this piece didn't make any sense because of the dadgummed question marks and poor grammar.
Otherwise, it was a damning piece on the quality of life in Sweden, where no tax is too big and, apparently, no attempt to skirt the law is too small. Pity.
My EYES!!!
LOL!
(ditto)
You should be punished severely for posting that picture. There I was just, peacefully reading the thread when suddenly visually accosted by that image while drinking a Killian's Irish Red. At a minimum you owe me for the beer that just came out of my nose. ;)
Thank you, that is much better. The Swedes have their fantasies about how they are an ideal society nad I'll have my fantasy tha they all look like the bikini team. Neither of us has a chance in hell of being right.
The image has now been blocked. What was it?
"She recovered her voice when I asked her to define the rights. She said (somewhat judgmentally), ?Everyone has the right not to be judged.? But when she conceded that she judges pedophiles, she stumbled again, and grew indignant. Our conversation ended abruptly only moments later, and I am sad to say our previous good relations were never the same again."
Moral relativism.
They are teaching moral relativism in our schools and it is causing rot in our culture too.
Still, the Swedes worry more about the influence of Pentacostalism than they do Islam. Makes 'em pretty typical of Liberals everywhere.
Amen!
Don't they realize that gays are often evil and possessive and hold their partners to a leash? And gay marriages is going to make it even worse.
Human rights my arse
This is sex slavery
Not to mention that humanism is both extremely inhumane, racist, irresponsible and incapable of accepting any form of sacrifice for any value.
"There is more crime in Sweden than in New York City, though they are comparable in population."
I had a similar conversation with a friend from Scotland recently. It seems that they harbor the same utopian fantasies about themselves as do the Swedes.
Our conversation ended with me pointing out that the crime rate is Scotland is far higher than here in the states.
Things that may have been true 20-years ago are merely illusions (delusions) today.
I had a Swedish freind for years but he stopped contacting me when he found out that I supported GWB over JFnKerry!
We know it is the Liberal slippery slope takes these countries down hill. . .
. . .and certainly the 'down hill' slide we see here at home; is attributable to all things Liberal if one follows the trail to where the 'down hill' began. . .
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