Domino Theory

 

Domino Theory

Last night my wife and I treated ourselves to a delightful movie that made us both walk down memory lane.  Reagan is available for purchase, albeit a bit expensive for us who are looking toward cheaper prices. Still, I was able to rationalize to myself that I might have had to take my wife (who loves popcorn) to the movies and there it would have been more expensive.

I enjoyed the movie much and will not say much about it, lest I diminish its impact. Except to say it was masterfully done and evoked memories, some of which I had correctly remembered, and many of which I remembered only snatches. For instance, I remembered incorrectly that Squeaky Fromme was the assassin, and John Hinckley had disappeared down a memory hole. I did enjoy the ride back through the seventies and eighties. My wife and I began our marriage in 1972, and together we watched those historical events unfold.

But what I liked best about the film was that it included the faith of Reagan, a faith that he had gotten from his mother in his early years. That faith did not diminish in his later years. Perhaps the opposite occurred, for we were reminded of his faith much in his final speeches to the country.

At any rate, I found myself thinking about the ramifications of a little remembered event: the Fourth Great Awakening. I wrote a book on the awakenings of America, and I found myself ecstatic when I started thinking about all the ramifications of those initial 300,000 hippies that were gloriously saved. Which brings me to the title: domino theory.

The hippies, saved in the sixties, led to many events in the seventies. Jimmy Carter, who boldly told all America of his faith was probably a result of the Awakening. Faith was again a central theme of our government. All kinds of Christian activity moved to the forefront in the seventies. There was a deep renewal throughout America. Churches renewed and flourished during this period; the church, freshly awakened to its mission call, started bus ministries to reach untold masses of young people. Time magazine declared the “year of the evangelical”.

Were all of these events like dominos placed next to each other, with one falling and thus the next? And the next, for a long chain? Was Reagan, himself a believer, part of that very long chain. I suspect it is so; proving it might be another matter.

But those of us who are spiritual in nature might see the chain reaction of falling dominos. In a manner of speaking the dirty rotten hippies of the sixties most likely led to the election of one of the strongest presidents we have ever seen.

And that’s not a bad thing.

 

Part two: the dominos continue