This is the second installment in The Western Journal’s series “Biden Breaking the Ten Commandments.” Read the series introduction here and Part One here.
I must confess: For most of my life, I never quite understood the difference between the first and second commandments.
I’m sure many Christians and non-believers have felt the same way. In light of the First Commandment, the second can seem redundant:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments,” Exodus 20:4-6 reads.
If you’re not worshipping false gods, isn’t it impossible to worship idols erected in their honor?
Eventually, I learned that there is, in fact, an important distinction between the two commands. Understanding that difference is key to understanding the importance of the Second Commandment.
The First Commandment is all about what we worship. The second concerns how we worship.
We all deal with idolatry to varying degrees — it is not a partisan issue. The hearts of Republicans, conservatives, Christians, etc. can all fall victim to this sin.
Yet, when a leader gives himself over to idols, it comes at a much higher price. That is because — as we see repeatedly throughout the Old Testament — the people he leads also pay the price.
Much like those failed leaders of the Old Testament, the Biden administration teaches and encourages citizens to worship in many idolatrous ways.
And the people are paying for it.
Defining Idols and Idolatry
Much like the worship of false gods, idolatry means elevating anything above the true God. Simply put, it means putting creation before the creator.
Romans 1:22-25 explains this well:
“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
When we make idols out of the things of this world, we ascribe to them a spiritual weight and importance that should be reserved for God. We turn earthly things into transcendent things.
As mentioned above, the difference between the first and second commandments is what versus how. For instance, if money becomes your god, then greed becomes your act of idolatry.
If the Biden administration sets itself up as a false god, then obeying its moral commands over those of God is an act of idolatry.
One could give countless examples of how the violation of the Second Commandment is incentivized and encouraged under the current White House regime. Through immoral redistributive economic schemes, greed has certainly been emphasized by Biden, for example.
But, under his administration, two forms of idolatry stand above the rest in this writer’s estimation: the idolatries of race and self.
Racial Idolatry
Let’s start with race.
Do you think the Biden administration pushes idolatry?
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Through policy and rhetoric, the Biden administration has repeatedly forwarded the anti-biblical “social justice” (i.e., woke) vision of race, the view that traditional systems and structures in America continue to “oppress” minority groups and must be deconstructed.
The goal of deconstruction is to be accomplished through the redistribution of wealth, resources and power — in other words, stealing from some to give to others.
This is based on the premise that if a group is overly represented in terms of economic or social success, this disparity must be the result of that group benefiting from the oppressive nature of society.
But, as Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
That won’t stop the Biden administration from drawing up policies that pit citizens against citizens. That won’t stop our leaders from asserting that race defines and divides us (race essentialism).
Furthermore, while Scripture does note that the consequences of sin can be passed down through generations, sin itself is the fault of the individual who committed it. No one is responsible for his ancestors’ crimes.
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself,” Ezekiel 18:20 reads.
As every idol does, the Biden administration’s race essentialism ascribes to something worldly — in this case, race — a special quality that simply isn’t there.
Follow Scripture, not Biden’s state-approved racial idolatry.
The Idolatry of Self
If people don’t look outside themselves for truth, they’ll begin to look inside. In his book “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self,” theologian Carl Trueman talks about how this is fueling identity politics.
As God has been removed from the center of American life, Trueman maintains, self-identity based on race, sexual orientation and gender has sought to replace him.
Americans are already predisposed to self-centered idolatry. After all, one of the very premises of this nation is the pursuit of one’s own dreams and ambitions.
But, traditionally, those self-serving goals were to be accomplished within the framework of loving God, family and community. The self was put in its proper place — below God and others.
Under the Biden administration, those three priorities have faded, leaving only unrestrained individualism. It’s a quick trip from there to rampant idolatry of self.
Few ideologies are more inward-looking and self-idolizing than transgenderism, which says that self-perception is a better indicator of one’s identity than God himself.
“Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created,” Genesis 5:2 reads.
Today that verse is thrown out the window by the Biden-approved LGBT crowd. They take the attitude that they know better than God what men and women are.
At every conceivable turn, the Biden administration has sought to elevate and expedite the creation of idols to self, even encouraging the mutilation of children in the name of the transgender idol. And it has honored that idol with disgusting celebrations on the White House lawn.
Perhaps most notably, this Easter, Biden chose to establish a new national holiday.
The new holiday? “Trans Visibility Day.”
Today, on Transgender Day of Visibility, I have a simple message to all trans Americans:
I see you.
You are made in the image of God, and you’re worthy of respect and dignity. pic.twitter.com/ihvsJrXEyd
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 31, 2024
As Christians around the world worshiped our risen Lord Jesus Christ, the Biden administration and its followers worshiped a false idol and demanded the rest of the country do so as well.
