Well, there we go then. Your enemy is Satan. You can’t point to a specific human conspirator, because the Prince of Darkness is subtly influencing and maneuvering and manipulating events and choices. (Shades of Crowley’s re-architecture of British highways in Good Omens, no?)
Unfortunately, that’s known as an a priori position. You begin with an assumption that Satan is actively engaged in a battle against God and Christians, and that his handiwork is visible in the world. You start with that position, and you must therefore perceive the world in that manner. Ergo, sex on television, atheist newspapers, and all the rest.
This is called a “reality tunnel” by fringe writer/philosopher Robert Anton Wilson, who’s kind of a crackpot but occasionally comes out with something really interesting and perceptive. Your reality tunnel tells you that Christians are, by definition, being opposed and persecuted by dark enemy forces, and as a result you look at the world and you see these dark enemy forces.
Unfortunately, this is a faith-based (to coin a phrase) viewpoint. Observers who do not have the a priori belief in Satan and his influence will look at the world in a different way. Yes, they will have their own reality tunnels, whether they be economic or sociological or whatever. Personally, I think the prevalence of sex and violence on television has more to do with how our minds are composed of a fast, sharp, overdeveloped intellectual center sitting on top of (and awkwardly joined with) an ancient, primal chimpanzee brain. In other words, our intelligence and creativity are mostly occupied with figuring out more and more efficient ways to compete, reproduce, and consume, and our hyperalert sensory center is therefore drawn to representations of same. That’s my reality tunnel.
Given that your entire worldview depends on a different a priori position, one in which you, as a Christian, are in fact being persecuted by dark forces, you’ll just have to forgive those of us who elect not to buy into it. In the same way, we have to accept that you’ll never be able to prove your beliefs in any kind of rational, concrete way. (“And God said, ‘Without faith, I am nothing,’” as the issue was summarized by some philosopher whose name I no longer recall.) You can advocate them as long and as loud as you want, but those who don’t share your starting point will never be converted to your point of view.
I suspect I will view the film Left Behind through a similar lens. I’m planning on seeing it tomorrow night…
