March 29, 2024

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March 29, 2024

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A Humorous Look At a Very Serious Issue: The Norm Crisis

Norm Crisis

Norm is experiencing a crisis. Many people in the world find themselves increasingly out of touch with Norm, especially Christians. Norm is frequently misunderstood and often maligned. We’re told – berated really – that we must peacefully coexist with Norm to have a civil and orderly society. 

To be clear, it’s not just one Norm; it’s all Norms. Who knows how many. Norms everywhere have been overstepped. Norms have been overlooked. Some Norms have been disregarded or ignored. A few Norms have even been (GULP!) violated. 

It’s tragic what’s happening to Norms. 

Norm has recently been promoted to Director of Civil Societies Are Us. It’s for our own collective good that we conform to Norm, plus Norm is easily offended, and we can’t have that. If you find yourself questioning Norm, you must re-Norm.

Shifty Shakey Fluid Norm

There was a time not that long ago when people had the language to help poor Norm avoid all these conundrums. When attempting to identify a particular attitude, behavior, or individual deed, people used language like ‘immoral’ or ‘indecent’ or ‘unethical.’ 

When all else failed, we resorted to the archaic ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ 

Not that long ago, people understood right and wrong. Right was an absolute principle based on law, morality, ethics, or clearly defined standards. These standards were written down, handed down in court, or accepted as absolute and final because they were established over centuries of human recorded tradition and wisdom. Wrong was anything or anyone who violated right. It was not complicated.

Foundational truth is itemized in the Bible, and unlike Norm, the Bible is the immutable word of the absolute Ruler of all Truth and Creation itself. God does not merely speak or write or even define truth. God IS Truth. The book of Leviticus (Law) details Hebrew law and their daily application. Many of God’s laws are merely applications of clearly understood natural laws. Other applied truths appear in books like Proverbs, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Romans, Ephesians, and others.

Norm is not big on the Bible. Norm has his version of the truth. He is the arbiter of truth, and as such, Norm gets to decide. He is, after all, head of the CSAU. When there is a conflict between truth and Norm, we must elevate Norm to his rightful dominion. Truth has its place, but Norm has a website.

Thankfully Norm helped us see the errors and moral dilemmas biblical thinking could create. Norm knew that absolutes would get in the way of progress and human evolutionary development. 

What would we have done if Norm had not helped us see the errors of accepting thousands of years of truth in favor of the latest twist on morality, legitimacy, and relativity? Thankfully Norm has the absolute tools of truth – SCOTUS, the main squeeze media, Hollywood, NetFlix, and the holiest of holy grails, the internet. Thanks be to Norm.

The Conflict Between the Norms and God

We understand that ‘modern’ is a shifting phrase. Each new year, ‘modern’ gets an update. When Rome ruled, modern homes were lit with torches; electric power that illuminated light bulbs was over a thousand years away. Yet even then, truth had been established to the degree it was argued in court, written about in philosophy, and debated in the marketplace. 

Right was right, not because it felt right. We could come to an arrangement that mutually benefitted us both; that’s called compromise. We can agree to a middle ground of application; that’s governing. But the truth upon which the agreement is based must be solid. 

We can determine how to apply truth, and that application may change with the times. Ancient Rome had no laws about traffic lights because they didn’t exist. Now we regulate those to accommodate the 65 million vehicles on our roads. Applying truth changes, but the truth itself does not because it must be rooted in something that does not change. That is true in business, life, government, society, law, and all other areas.

The Bible established this principle in Leviticus 19:36, where even business transactions are based on right and wrong. God called weights and measures for business, honest“You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 25:15,16 makes an even more powerful statement, “You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. For everyone who behaves dishonestly regarding these things is detestable to the Lord your God.” Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is His delight.” You may remember how Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple for this same reason – they were known to be cheats and dishonest dealers.

Right as presented in God’s moral code – the Bible – is the absolute inerrant definition of right. God’s standard IS the measure. It is the authoritative, and dare we say, orthodox standard of right. God alone has the right to determine what is right.

God’s definition of right is eternally right. It’s no coincidence that right is the root word of righteousness. Norms take the place of right. Norms attempt to remove an impeccable righteous absolute and replace it with what is most acceptable and advantageous for the time we live in. That’s Norm.

God’s definition of wrong is equally absolute. If God said it’s wrong, it is wrong. There is no room for Norm’s opinion. Sorry Norm. God was here first, and He will be here when you go the route of every Norm before you.

There aren’t enough Norms in the world to change God’s standards. Norms oppose absolutes and especially those absolutes ascribed to God. God’s absolutes form the underpinnings of every civilization that has ever stood the test of time, and His standards are glaringly absent from every culture that has failed, fallen, and vanished along with its Norms.

Truth forms our legal and moral baseline. All truth is based on THE absolute Truth (John 14:5). There is no truth outside of God’s truth, and where there is conflict between perceived truth and God’s truth, go with God. Why? Because God’s truth has repeatedly proved true throughout time. It has survived many varied civilizations and still applies. Norms have no such baseline. 

By contrast, Norms go against the fundamental absolutes of all things responsible, just, true, moral, honest, and Godly. Norms face whatever direction they’re told, wear what they’re told to wear, protest what they’re guilted into protesting, and conform to whatever they see reflected by all the other Norms. Then tomorrow, Norm changes to a new Norm.

Where Did Norm Go Wrong?

Norms have been known to cover the spectrum of social applications. Norm has been radical, and Norm has been downright boring. Norm has swung to both ends of the political spectrum and the business ethics. It is pretty well established in history that Norm can be, well, let’s call him ‘fluid.’

Norm, by his nature and actions, usurps God. God is Truth. God is Right. God establishes that those are the standard because He is right and has the right to set the standard. Norm sets different standards. His boundaries, where there are any, are temporary. Norms and God cannot peacefully coexist. 

God leaves no room for Norms. You could easily update the Ten Commandments by restating the first commandment: “You shall have no other Norms before Me.” Just because it is legal does not make it righteous. Where Norm deals in what is convenient and agreeable and legal, God deals in what is right and wrong. 

Norm believes he has the final say in what is acceptable in peaceful society. In the Bible, right is righteousness, and wrong is sin. At its very root and in its simplest form, sin is the act or attitude of disregarding God’s righteous standard and substituting our own. Sin elevates Norms above God.

Sorry Norm, they were going to find out sooner or later. It’s true. Norm is shifty and not in a good, shifting sands of the sea makes everything beautiful kind of way. Norm is shifty in the fickle, arbitrary, volatile, and temperamental never-know-what-to-expect-next kind of way. Norm is one way today and completely different tomorrow. 

Lest we completely trash Norm and leave you thinking he is without merit or value, we should point out some of Norm’s best traits: 

Norm follows the latest fashion trends; some argue he creates them. Norms seem to have a keen sense of what is acceptable on Madison Avenue. Norm knows how to “read the room.” Norms fit in. Norm knows as if instinctively, how to reflect shifting morals and social ideas. Norm has friends in high places. 

It’s Time for Norm to Come Out

If you listen to the cable news shows, you will quickly discover there is absolute consensus on this issue—Norms of the world must be upheld. What kind of Society would disregard or trample their Norms?

But the time has come to out Norm. You may want to sit down for this and have a socially acceptable beverage or pill handy. It’s time for you to know more about Norm. 

Norm is sneaky. Norm is devious. Norm is elusive and conniving. Norm is a treacherous, cagey, duplicitous dude. Just when you think you know Norm, he re-forms and re-Norms. Norm has undergone many such procedures over the centuries. We never know exactly what Norm is because Norms change.

We do know this, and it’s documented and verified in the Community Code of Woke Conduct: It is criminal what Conservatives and Christians have done to the Norms, and they must be punished for it. Of course, to say it is criminal would imply that there is a right and wrong. Norm would have an issue with that.

The crimes against the standards set by Norm simply must be upheld. We should all agree Norms rule! Norms are the Benchmark, the Bar, the Model, the Standard. The Norm is this generation’s Fonz. Norm must be celebrated and embraced because he IS the Norm. 

But sadly, Norm is embattled. Some bewildering individuals are unable to read the room of Society. They do not appreciate the gravity of what it means to have a Norm. They refuse to endorse the Norm. 

These Norm-defiers would abandon the Norm if given a chance. They might neglect the Norm, deny the Norm, or… are you seated? They might even block the Norm.

If you need time to regain your emotional equilibrium, take a few hours and binge-watch a season of The Fosters; we understand. Once you’ve successfully recalibrated your Norm, come back, and we’ll have a fresh pot of sardonic waiting for you. 

Conform to the Norms 

If you yearn for a time when things were right or wrong, you’re out of touch with the Norms. You must conform to the Norm. [repeat in digitized monotone until your defiant spirit conforms to the Norms]

Those who refuse to align with the Norms have no idea how much harm they are doing to the status of world order. Deniers and Norm-haters are unfair, unjust, unequal, biased, prejudiced, and hateful. Non-Norming is wrong-think. If you don’t understand that, you are all of the above and probably racist.

Non-Normism violates the status quo. It is as if you perpetrated hate crimes against Norms everywhere. Those of you who scorn the Norms and withstand the Norms will be assimilated. Your disruption of the forces of wokeness will not be tolerated.

Disregarding the Norms is a delinquency of the absolute worst order. These transgressions against Norm are grievances that must be rectified, no matter the expense. No amount of financial or human capital is too much when we’re talking about protecting Norm. Norm is of the utmost value! 

Norm Is an Endangered Species

Norm is in trouble for sure. Whenever someone questions the sincerity and value of Norm, it weakens all the Norms. The entire normality of Norms is un-Normed. What could be worse than having your Norms weakened? What could be worse than allowing anyone to question the incontrovertible significance and benefit of a solid base of Norms?

God will not tolerate Norms for long. He never has. He won’t start now simply because our Norms are contemporary or woke or because they’re supported by the internet—the ultimate Norm factory.

Will our generation’s Norm do what no other Norm has ever done? No. Norm’s situation is tenuous. His time is limited. The reality of Norms is, a new Norm will emerge, and we will all be instructed how to re-conform to the New Norm. We’ve already been told to expect a new Norm(al). 

There is good news for all the Norms. Norm can count on one absolute—call it the Law of Norms. Norm will never end up on the wrong side of history.

Norm is experiencing a crisis. Many people in the world find themselves increasingly out of touch with Norm, especially Christians. Norm is frequently misunderstood and often maligned. We’re told – berated really – that we must peacefully coexist with Norm to have a civil and orderly society. 

To be clear, it’s not just one Norm; it’s all Norms. Who knows how many. Norms everywhere have been overstepped. Norms have been overlooked. Some Norms have been disregarded or ignored. A few Norms have even been (GULP!) violated. 

It’s tragic what’s happening to Norms. 

Norm has recently been promoted to Director of Civil Societies Are Us. It’s for our own collective good that we conform to Norm, plus Norm is easily offended, and we can’t have that. If you find yourself questioning Norm, you must re-Norm.

Shifty Shakey Fluid Norm

There was a time not that long ago when people had the language to help poor Norm avoid all these conundrums. When attempting to identify a particular attitude, behavior, or individual deed, people used language like ‘immoral’ or ‘indecent’ or ‘unethical.’ 

When all else failed, we resorted to the archaic ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ 

Not that long ago, people understood right and wrong. Right was an absolute principle based on law, morality, ethics, or clearly defined standards. These standards were written down, handed down in court, or accepted as absolute and final because they were established over centuries of human recorded tradition and wisdom. Wrong was anything or anyone who violated right. It was not complicated.

Foundational truth is itemized in the Bible, and unlike Norm, the Bible is the immutable word of the absolute Ruler of all Truth and Creation itself. God does not merely speak or write or even define truth. God IS Truth. The book of Leviticus (Law) details Hebrew law and their daily application. Many of God’s laws are merely applications of clearly understood natural laws. Other applied truths appear in books like Proverbs, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Romans, Ephesians, and others.

Norm is not big on the Bible. Norm has his version of the truth. He is the arbiter of truth, and as such, Norm gets to decide. He is, after all, head of the CSAU. When there is a conflict between truth and Norm, we must elevate Norm to his rightful dominion. Truth has its place, but Norm has a website.

Thankfully Norm helped us see the errors and moral dilemmas biblical thinking could create. Norm knew that absolutes would get in the way of progress and human evolutionary development. 

What would we have done if Norm had not helped us see the errors of accepting thousands of years of truth in favor of the latest twist on morality, legitimacy, and relativity? Thankfully Norm has the absolute tools of truth – SCOTUS, the main squeeze media, Hollywood, NetFlix, and the holiest of holy grails, the internet. Thanks be to Norm.

The Conflict Between the Norms and God

We understand that ‘modern’ is a shifting phrase. Each new year, ‘modern’ gets an update. When Rome ruled, modern homes were lit with torches; electric power that illuminated light bulbs was over a thousand years away. Yet even then, truth had been established to the degree it was argued in court, written about in philosophy, and debated in the marketplace. 

Right was right, not because it felt right. We could come to an arrangement that mutually benefitted us both; that’s called compromise. We can agree to a middle ground of application; that’s governing. But the truth upon which the agreement is based must be solid. 

We can determine how to apply truth, and that application may change with the times. Ancient Rome had no laws about traffic lights because they didn’t exist. Now we regulate those to accommodate the 65 million vehicles on our roads. Applying truth changes, but the truth itself does not because it must be rooted in something that does not change. That is true in business, life, government, society, law, and all other areas.

The Bible established this principle in Leviticus 19:36, where even business transactions are based on right and wrong. God called weights and measures for business, honest“You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 25:15,16 makes an even more powerful statement, “You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. For everyone who behaves dishonestly regarding these things is detestable to the Lord your God.” Proverbs 11:1 says, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is His delight.” You may remember how Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple for this same reason – they were known to be cheats and dishonest dealers.

Right as presented in God’s moral code – the Bible – is the absolute inerrant definition of right. God’s standard IS the measure. It is the authoritative, and dare we say, orthodox standard of right. God alone has the right to determine what is right.

God’s definition of right is eternally right. It’s no coincidence that right is the root word of righteousness. Norms take the place of right. Norms attempt to remove an impeccable righteous absolute and replace it with what is most acceptable and advantageous for the time we live in. That’s Norm.

God’s definition of wrong is equally absolute. If God said it’s wrong, it is wrong. There is no room for Norm’s opinion. Sorry Norm. God was here first, and He will be here when you go the route of every Norm before you.

There aren’t enough Norms in the world to change God’s standards. Norms oppose absolutes and especially those absolutes ascribed to God. God’s absolutes form the underpinnings of every civilization that has ever stood the test of time, and His standards are glaringly absent from every culture that has failed, fallen, and vanished along with its Norms.

Truth forms our legal and moral baseline. All truth is based on THE absolute Truth (John 14:5). There is no truth outside of God’s truth, and where there is conflict between perceived truth and God’s truth, go with God. Why? Because God’s truth has repeatedly proved true throughout time. It has survived many varied civilizations and still applies. Norms have no such baseline. 

By contrast, Norms go against the fundamental absolutes of all things responsible, just, true, moral, honest, and Godly. Norms face whatever direction they’re told, wear what they’re told to wear, protest what they’re guilted into protesting, and conform to whatever they see reflected by all the other Norms. Then tomorrow, Norm changes to a new Norm.

Where Did Norm Go Wrong?

Norms have been known to cover the spectrum of social applications. Norm has been radical, and Norm has been downright boring. Norm has swung to both ends of the political spectrum and the business ethics. It is pretty well established in history that Norm can be, well, let’s call him ‘fluid.’

Norm, by his nature and actions, usurps God. God is Truth. God is Right. God establishes that those are the standard because He is right and has the right to set the standard. Norm sets different standards. His boundaries, where there are any, are temporary. Norms and God cannot peacefully coexist. 

God leaves no room for Norms. You could easily update the Ten Commandments by restating the first commandment: “You shall have no other Norms before Me.” Just because it is legal does not make it righteous. Where Norm deals in what is convenient and agreeable and legal, God deals in what is right and wrong. 

Norm believes he has the final say in what is acceptable in peaceful society. In the Bible, right is righteousness, and wrong is sin. At its very root and in its simplest form, sin is the act or attitude of disregarding God’s righteous standard and substituting our own. Sin elevates Norms above God.

Sorry Norm, they were going to find out sooner or later. It’s true. Norm is shifty and not in a good, shifting sands of the sea makes everything beautiful kind of way. Norm is shifty in the fickle, arbitrary, volatile, and temperamental never-know-what-to-expect-next kind of way. Norm is one way today and completely different tomorrow. 

Lest we completely trash Norm and leave you thinking he is without merit or value, we should point out some of Norm’s best traits: 

Norm follows the latest fashion trends; some argue he creates them. Norms seem to have a keen sense of what is acceptable on Madison Avenue. Norm knows how to “read the room.” Norms fit in. Norm knows as if instinctively, how to reflect shifting morals and social ideas. Norm has friends in high places. 

It’s Time for Norm to Come Out

If you listen to the cable news shows, you will quickly discover there is absolute consensus on this issue—Norms of the world must be upheld. What kind of Society would disregard or trample their Norms?

But the time has come to out Norm. You may want to sit down for this and have a socially acceptable beverage or pill handy. It’s time for you to know more about Norm. 

Norm is sneaky. Norm is devious. Norm is elusive and conniving. Norm is a treacherous, cagey, duplicitous dude. Just when you think you know Norm, he re-forms and re-Norms. Norm has undergone many such procedures over the centuries. We never know exactly what Norm is because Norms change.

We do know this, and it’s documented and verified in the Community Code of Woke Conduct: It is criminal what Conservatives and Christians have done to the Norms, and they must be punished for it. Of course, to say it is criminal would imply that there is a right and wrong. Norm would have an issue with that.

The crimes against the standards set by Norm simply must be upheld. We should all agree Norms rule! Norms are the Benchmark, the Bar, the Model, the Standard. The Norm is this generation’s Fonz. Norm must be celebrated and embraced because he IS the Norm. 

But sadly, Norm is embattled. Some bewildering individuals are unable to read the room of Society. They do not appreciate the gravity of what it means to have a Norm. They refuse to endorse the Norm. 

These Norm-defiers would abandon the Norm if given a chance. They might neglect the Norm, deny the Norm, or… are you seated? They might even block the Norm.

If you need time to regain your emotional equilibrium, take a few hours and binge-watch a season of The Fosters; we understand. Once you’ve successfully recalibrated your Norm, come back, and we’ll have a fresh pot of sardonic waiting for you. 

Conform to the Norms 

If you yearn for a time when things were right or wrong, you’re out of touch with the Norms. You must conform to the Norm. [repeat in digitized monotone until your defiant spirit conforms to the Norms]

Those who refuse to align with the Norms have no idea how much harm they are doing to the status of world order. Deniers and Norm-haters are unfair, unjust, unequal, biased, prejudiced, and hateful. Non-Norming is wrong-think. If you don’t understand that, you are all of the above and probably racist.

Non-Normism violates the status quo. It is as if you perpetrated hate crimes against Norms everywhere. Those of you who scorn the Norms and withstand the Norms will be assimilated. Your disruption of the forces of wokeness will not be tolerated.

Disregarding the Norms is a delinquency of the absolute worst order. These transgressions against Norm are grievances that must be rectified, no matter the expense. No amount of financial or human capital is too much when we’re talking about protecting Norm. Norm is of the utmost value! 

Norm Is an Endangered Species

Norm is in trouble for sure. Whenever someone questions the sincerity and value of Norm, it weakens all the Norms. The entire normality of Norms is un-Normed. What could be worse than having your Norms weakened? What could be worse than allowing anyone to question the incontrovertible significance and benefit of a solid base of Norms?

God will not tolerate Norms for long. He never has. He won’t start now simply because our Norms are contemporary or woke or because they’re supported by the internet—the ultimate Norm factory.

Will our generation’s Norm do what no other Norm has ever done? No. Norm’s situation is tenuous. His time is limited. The reality of Norms is, a new Norm will emerge, and we will all be instructed how to re-conform to the New Norm. We’ve already been told to expect a new Norm(al). 

There is good news for all the Norms. Norm can count on one absolute—call it the Law of Norms. Norm will never end up on the wrong side of history.

Norm Crisis

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