In the Netflix streaming series, Stranger Things, a plucky group of teenagers stumbles upon a government lab experimenting on children with psychic powers. One of these children escapes, but not before inadvertently opening a portal to a parallel dimension that the protagonists dub “The Upside Down.”
The Upside Down mirrors our world, but everything is a dark and decaying version of reality. Filled with a noxious atmosphere, this alternate dimension is barren except for creeping vines and hideous monsters. In successive seasons, the protagonists must save their hometown of Hawkins from invasion by twisted creatures from the Upside Down.
This past week, it struck me that leftism is a lot like the Upside Down. Western society is being invaded by a hostile worldview that hates everything it stands for. Leftism progresses by sabotaging or corrupting any institution or society that it conquers. Even leftists themselves are not immune. A 2022 study of 60,000 people found that liberals are less happy (53%) than conservatives (68%), and self-report much worse mental health.
Everyone’s at War
I owe the kernel of this idea to an article by Dennis Prager. In it, he made the point that the left is “a war against order” geared toward breaking down biblical distinctions:
Woman vs. Man: Beginning with the feminist movement in the 1960s, the Left first sought to disparage traditional gender roles, then to nullify them entirely. The result has been a generation of emasculated men and professionally successful, but unhappy, women. More recently, the Left has infamously attempted to erase the fixed reality of gender. Affirming that a man can become a woman just by thinking so is an article of faith in the leftist religion.
Animal vs. Human: The environmentalist wing of leftism wants to treat animals as if they are equal to people, often at the expense of humans. More commonly, humans are regarded merely as animals by the Left. According to them, all kinds of sexual desires should be celebrated because they occur naturally. Though leftists do not say it aloud, regarding humans as just another animal also lies at the heart of why they believe it is acceptable to medically kill infants in the womb or to murder the elderly through euthanasia.
Parent vs. Child: Much of leftism is flavored by a disdain for the old and established, with an unbounded confidence in the young and new. In leftist thought, parents who enforce discipline or personal responsibility are seen as repressive. And if a child suddenly announces that he is changing genders, the parents have no choice but to accept and affirm the decision. Parents are benighted, while the child is enlightened.
Beautiful vs. Ugly: Leftism has virtually destroyed art. Before the twentieth century, works of art required skill and resulted in something beautiful meant to be admired or studied. In contrast, modern art is characterized by a lack of talent, chaos, and a fetish for “shocking the senses.” It is garbage masquerading as sophistication, sneering at anyone backward enough to question its right to be in a museum.
Holy vs. Profane: Leftism is relentlessly multicultural, reminding us that all religions are to be equally valued … except for Christianity. Despite the obvious and plentiful social good performed by Christians, both historical and contemporary, Christianity is singled out for scorn and mockery. All traces of Christianity must be expunged from American society, to be filled with leftism’s ever-shifting views of reality.
Good vs. Evil: When you boil it down, the distinctions above are grounded in morality, and the Left specializes in substituting evil for good. The Left consistently labels things that are good (e.g. traditional families, a strong work ethic, monogamy, heterosexuality, equal enforcement of laws, etc.) as evils. Instead, they promote many moral evils (e.g. abortion, vagrancy, promiscuity, homosexuality, race-based justice, etc.) as good.
Exposure
Most recently, Charlie Kirk’s assassination provided a shocking but clear example of murder being celebrated by hundreds of thousands of leftists. In their eyes, the bloodshed was justified – even noble – because it silenced a conservative Christian voice.
But what would lead a political movement to systematically adopt views opposite of Christianity, a religion? After all, 68% of Americans identify as Christians. Why would leftists risk alienating the largest potential pool of recruits?
Unlike the fictional Upside Down, Christians believe that there really is another dimension to our world – a spiritual one. Each person belongs either to the house of God or the house of the devil (John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 4:4). This doesn’t mean that non-Christians are literally possessed, but rather that they are held captive by the enemy’s lies. It is therefore unsurprising that the Left, dead set on destroying Christianity, is mostly comprised of people who reject the God of the Bible and His moral commands revealed in Scripture.
Negative Encouragement
If you’ve felt like our culture has been under constant attack these last 20 years, you are not imagining things. Western civilization was founded on a Judeo-Christian worldview. The enemy, seeking to destroy the last bastion of Christian society, has targeted his lies to destroy each aspect of God’s order.
Instead of being discouraged by the Left, let their hostility strengthen your faith. The worldwide left’s vehement opposition to Christianity is one of the best pieces of evidence for its truth. Inadvertently, their enmity fulfills Jesus’s prediction, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:19)
Jesus even knew that the world would have an upside-down view of good and evil: “The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” (John 16:2) Kirk’s killing undoubtedly falls into this category.
So whenever a major feature of reality comes under attack, you should recognize it as an incursion of the Upside Down. Inverting God’s distinctions is an enemy tactic of spiritual warfare aimed at destroying the souls of as many people as possible. Unlike the Netflix series, the stakes for our world are very real.
Brandon Aldinger is a chemist with a doctoral degree who works in an industrial research laboratory. He’s had lifelong interest in issues of science and faith, and he is passionate about training fellow Christians to think clearly about and stand firm on their beliefs within a hostile culture.
