How do we overcome the Iron Curtain of deception?
I am writing this from Fulton, Missouri. The city of Fulton is named after Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, who came from this part of Missouri. The town is very proud of this heritage because Robert Fulton and his steamboat helped launch the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
But, there’s another significant historical event that happened on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. In 1946, at the invitation of President Harry Truman, Winston Churchill came here to deliver a speech that he titled “Sinews of Peace.” It was Churchill’s intention to draw the United States and Great Britain into an ever-increasing relationship, tying them together to offset the growth of the Soviet Union.
As Winston Churchill documented, the Soviet Union was gobbling up whole swaths of Eastern Europe. As he described very famously, an “Iron Curtain” was descending over Eastern Europe, separating its peoples from the very same freedoms and liberties that we too often take for granted. Winston Churchill recognized the threat that Stalin and the Soviet Union posed. And so, he wanted the West, namely the United States and Great Britain, to provide a great counterbalance to the expansionist ideology of the Soviet Union with its Socialist and Communist principles.
The United States and Great Britain did indeed end up following Churchill’s call to arms. As a matter of fact, his phrase “Iron Curtain” became the descriptive term used to refer to the separation between the East and the West as the world entered into what was known as the Cold War which was waged over the next 40-plus years.
When I entered the military, we were still in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union and all of its satellite states still the West’s greatest and primary adversary, at least as we expected. How much has changed! Even with the Cold War supposedly past us, politics between the East and West have just gotten worse throughout the world.
The Second Revolution
Here at Westminster College, there’s another revolution underway today. It’s not another Industrial Revolution, not at least as I learned as a young military cadet, nor a revolution in military affairs. Rather, it’s a social, moral, and spiritual revolution. Too often it’s being propagated by the ideologies that are vehemently pushed throughout Academia.
Though, I’m not singling out Westminster College, I’m just saying that throughout colleges and universities here in America and all over the West, wayward ideologies of Progressivism and anti-Americanism and anti-Christianity are being propagated. As a matter of fact, many colleges and universities don’t even believe in absolute truth anymore, let alone in seeking truth, as Harvard University was once mottoed. Indeed, many colleges now promote Critical Theory, not just Critical Race Theory, but Critical Theory as it relates to the law and to our own Constitution. Critical Theory declares that Scripture is not God-inspired but rather needs to be deconstructed to figure out its personal meaning for each reader. Yes, Critical Theory contains a component in regards to defining race relations and all sorts of other social constructs, but what many in Academia and the Progressive Left wish to do is use Critical Theory to tear down the very foundational structures of our society. Tragically, they’ve been very successful today.
What We Are To Do
I would urge us all to be intentional about pouring into our children and grandchildren an understanding of the true, biblical ideology that comes from Scripture. Teach them that our nation was founded upon Judeo-Christian values, and that truth is understandable, and has been revealed by God. Respect the dignity mankind has been given because we are created in God’s image. Show respect, not just for one another, but for the true and living God.
All of the other structures in our society are built upon these foundations. When we destroy these foundations, the rest of the structure will inevitably topple.
The church that was brought from England and reconstructed on the campus of Westminster College was originally remodeled by Christopher Wren in the seventeenth century. It later became damaged by Nazi bombings during World War II. As a tribute to Mr. Churchill coming here, the college resurrected the church by bringing all of the stones over from England and rebuilding the church here on its campus in Fulton, Missouri. It is indeed a beautiful church.
Unfortunately, this church sometimes sits void of worshipers today. But, hopefully, the Church will continue to uphold the values that once made America great. What exactly made the West great? Not by our own power, certainly, but because we stood on the truth as revealed in Scripture. We honored the true and living God. Only God is great!
Recognize that while we no longer have an Iron Curtain separating East from West anymore, we do now have a curtain of deception descending all around us. Unless we push back, unless we stand on truth, unless we proclaim what truth is, that curtain of deception will envelop our grandchildren, our children, and yes, even ourselves.
I would encourage you to study what happened here at Westminster College just a handful of decades ago when Winston Churchill called the West to unite to oppose a godless ideology. Recognize that today, those who believe in the true and living God still need to unite. We need to contain the growing false ideology and make sure that our friends and loved ones understand that truth is Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
Winston Churchill was one of my heroes of the Cold War. Thank you for writing about him.
To say that Robert Fulton was the inventor of the steam engine shows a lack of both historical knowledge and research for this article. He did no such thing. It’s Americocentrism at its worst.
The first practical steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen, who lived from 1664 to 1729. Fulton was born in 1765 and died in 1815.
The Newcomen engine was improved by James Watt who took out a patent for his new steam engine in 1769, when Fulton was 4 years old. That’s why the unit of power is the WATT and not the Fulton. Every light bulb carries Watt’s name or initial (e.g. 100W).
Fulton adapted the steam engine to drive boats, no more than that.
The article states that Fulton was “the inventor of the steamboat”. Col Moore also urges “Recognize that today, those who believe in the true and living God still need to unite.”
It is sad to see the whole point of the article ignored and hijacked to do exactly what it is warning us about. It’s not about America, its status or accomplishments, although admiration of locals for the accomplishments of their own sets a backdrop for the words of one of the greatest leaders of the last century, a Briton. Your spontaneous demonstration of Anti-Americanism is just an example of the deception that Col. Moore warns is dividing us, breaking down the unity that the Greatest Generation worked so hard to build.
We are all God’s children and carry the image of Him in us. Let us rekindle the love and peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, where the way to be first is to be last of all and servant of all.
He didn’t say he was the inventor of the steam engine, he said he was the inventor of the steamboat
Thank you for pointing out that typo. It is now corrected.
Will we pick up the sword and defend the truth? That is the question for this new generation. Will the youth of today value the great heritage that has been left to them, or will they squander this rich blessing? I challenge any young person who might read this, to do what God has called you to do, pick up your cross and follow Jesus. If you do that, in faith, great blessings will follow. If you do not, then expect God’s judgment to fall upon us all.
We should know the scriptures and what Jesus warned us of.
2 Timothy 4:2 says there will be a time when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 3:13. But evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2 Peter 2:1 says there were also false prophets among the people then as there are now that will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
Romans 1:29. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy murder, quarreling, deception malicious behavior, and gossip. They invent ways of doing evil.
Jesus said deception would be one of the signs of the end of the age in Matthew 24:4.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For that reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
I am most grateful and thankful that I took the time to know and read the gospel and to believe, repent, and be redeemed and saved by our Lord, and to know the truth. There is NO substitute.
God’s word is TRUTH.