America Shall Be Overthrown
Normalcy Bias + the Fall of the Republic
In psychology, there is a phenomenon called normalcy bias. Normalcy bias is a pattern of thinking (a cognitive bias) in which people disbelieve or minimize a threat or disaster, leading them to underestimate the danger and continue acting as though nothing unusual is happening. Researchers have found that around a whopping 70% of people in a disaster respond in this way. Rather than fight or flight, they freeze — or just carry on.
I was reminded of normalcy bias today as I reflected on the unprecedented state of the United States right now. Not only have we just come through a year of unprecedented disruption to everyday life and to the economy in response to a pandemic, and of unprecedented riots across the nation; and not only have we come through an unprecedented contested election on the tail end of four years of an unconventional president and of unprecedented vitriol, disinformation, and deception from the modern American news and entertainment media; but also, this week, we saw the unprecedented storming of the Capitol by some misguided Trump supporters, and the unprecedented censoring of the President of the United States and many other conservatives from the modern public forum, social media.
What does this have to do with normalcy bias? One of the ideas about why normalcy bias occurs is that people fail to plan or account for events that have never happened to them before, assuming the future will play out as the past has. If this is how the vast majority of people react during relatively small-scale disasters—plane crashes, tornadoes, and such—how much more will it be the case on a massive-scale disaster that will fundamentally change nearly everything about their lives—namely, the fall of the republic?
Before you write me off as being sensational or overly dramatic for talking about the fall of the republic, consider that that’s exactly the response you would have if you were suffering from normalcy bias. And consider these facts:
In less than two weeks’ time, Joe Biden will be the President of the United States, with a majority-Democrat House and Senate. It’s very easy to think, “We’ve had a transition of power from one party to another before, and the nation wasn’t destroyed.” But remember, in light of all the other unprecedented things leading up to this moment, we’re living in unprecedented times. And in these times, it is no secret that the Democratic Party is now the party of Leftism, that is, the party of far-left extremism—preaching a racialized version of Marxism, supporting political violence for causes they like, redefining “man” and “woman,” approving of the sexualization of children, defending and celebrating the murder of babies, valuing non-human life over human life, and silencing rather than debating their opponents, to name a few of the Left’s radical practices. This is the party whose supporters admitted they would be willing to commit election fraud to get Trump out of office. This is the party whose leaders have inflicted the most heinous of COVID-19 lockdown measures, unscientific power-grabs, on their constituents. This is the party that is favored by Big Tech, which, in the age of the internet, controls the flow of information, and which has a long history of anti-conservative discrimination. And this is the party that has all but made clear that they have every intention to end the filibuster in the Senate, pack federal courts with Leftist ideologues, and add Democratic states to the Union so as to effectively end the ability for the Republican Party to compete on the federal level.
Yes, the republic is falling. It’s falling to a one-party monopoly that hates this nation’s history and wants to see our institutions dismantled and replaced. The American experiment has come to an end, and the United States is no longer a free country. With unprincipled Leftists having near complete control of the government and the media, and the ability to cram through their agenda, the fundamental transformation of this nation, the greater promulgation of lies and suppression of dissenting voices, and the utter destruction of protections for fundamental rights, is inevitable.
This is a hard pill to swallow, and most won’t. Most will default to normalcy bias. They will try to carry on with their lives as usual, and—if its up to them—become helpless victims of the radical changes that are coming. But here’s a question: if about 70% of the nation will continue to be in denial about the end of the nation as we know it, what about the other 30%? Well, research has found that while most people in an emergency situation act like nothing is happening, about 10-15% simply freak out. We might say we saw an example of this on Wednesday when that group of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. This action didn’t help the nation’s predicament in the slightest. It was not some kind of strategic act that had any hope of saving the nation from its troubles; it was just a stupid, emotional, and evil outburst, which resulted in the embarrassment of all other Trump supporters, and, infinitely more tragic, five deaths. So, there are those who recognize the danger but don’t know what to do about it or can’t think about it clearly enough to do the right thing, and just freak out. The final 10-15% of people in a disaster situation, however, act decisively and effectively. These are those who accept the situation for what it is, deliberate quickly, and act appropriately at the right moment to meet the danger in the best possible way. In the case of the United States as we know it crumbling before our eyes, what will the deliberation and decisive action of this final 10-15% look like?
The Example of Nineveh
In the biblical book of Jonah, God commands the prophet to go to the great city of Nineveh and “call out against it the message that I tell you” (Jonah 3:2 ESV). When Jonah goes, his prophetic message to the wicked city is simple and clear: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (3:4)
That’s it. That’s the whole message. There’s no indication of any chance for redemption or a second chance. There’s only an indication of a terrifying, impending judgment.
And what was Nineveh’s response? “[T]he people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes” (3:5-6). The king even issued a proclamation that everyone in the city should fast and wear sackcloth (including animals), call out mightily to God, and stop their evil and violence (3:7-8). His reasoning: “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish” (3:9). What a thing to say! The king didn’t know, but he hoped against hope that God would see their sincere repentance and relent from His promise of judgment.
Now see God’s response: “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it” (3:10). Amazing. The people of Nineveh successfully averted God’s judgment by their sincere, severe acts of repentance from sin. Indeed, as surprising as God’s actions sometimes are in Scripture, this principle never changes: when there is true repentance from sin, He responds with mercy. That’s Who He is, as Jonah points out: “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (4:2).
So for those who experience neither normalcy bias nor a debilitating heightened emotional state, what will the decisive, effective action be in response to the forthcoming destruction of the United States? It will be to follow the example of Nineveh. It will be repentance.
The Judgment of God + Grassroots Repentance
Am I suggesting that the United States’ situation is due to the judgment of God? Let me be clear: I’m not merely suggesting it; I’m proclaiming it. We don’t need direct revelation to know that the United States as a nation is coming under judgment. We already have revelation that helps us understand how to interpret the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris: in the Bible, wicked and incompetent rulers are a judgment on wicked nations (e.g., Hos 13:11; Isa 3:4; 10:5). So, we deserve Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We are a nation that has murdered over 62 million babies in the past 48 years, and continues to murder 3,000 every day. We are a nation that has, on the whole, abandoned a Christ-oriented worldview, with even self-identified evangelicals showing great misunderstandings “about what truth is, who Jesus is, and how sinners are saved.” So yes, as with Nineveh, so with the United States: yet a little while, and America shall be overthrown.
Will we accept this fate, or will we respond like Nineveh—from the least to the greatest, fasting, calling mightily to God, and stopping our evil and our violence? Let me pause to say what that means practically:
“fasting” = literally not eating food as you usually would for a certain amount of time, to intensify your prayer and attitude of repentance
“calling mightily to God” = praying with intensity, confessing sin and begging God to grant our nation repentance and mercy
“stopping our evil and violence” = stop doing whatever sin you have been doing (including sins of omission), and start doing what you can to end injustice and violence — including taking steps to abolish abortion (for instance, support and follow the example of this Rally for Life, happening in Arizona on January 22)
Notice that, in the account of Nineveh, this movement of repentance started with the people. It was a grassroots movement. The word eventually reached the king and moved him to action, but that was apparently only after the people had already begun taking action. If there is a groundswell of repentance, our governing authorities will take notice. Maybe God will even prick their hearts to join us.
One more comment on normalcy bias. Researchers have found that the 70% who are stunned into denial and inaction in the face of disaster are not necessarily doomed; rather, “people who are in this state are docile and can be directed without chaos.” That’s good news, because perhaps the few who have clarity about the trouble we’re in and respond like Nineveh can have some influence on those who just don’t get it.