For years now, leftists and woke pop culture have been lambasting and lamenting masculinity of any kind. Maligning anything and everything masculine, they insisted that masculinity is intrinsically toxic, so it must be minimized, if not eradicated. Just a couple years ago, Academy award-winning filmmaker James Cameron even said, “I always think of [testosterone] as a toxin that you have to slowly work out of your system.”

The elite in education, entertainment, media, and politics were certain our culture must be feminized and masculinity sidelined to survive, but the result has been moral cowardice, international indecision, and feckless policies that increased crime, illegal immigration, inflation, and overall societal decay. Average Americans always knew this was a recipe for disaster, but they were ignored, silenced, or shouted down.

This silly experiment in "culture without real men" has been failing since it began about three decades ago, but it may have finally run its course. In the past couple weeks, Americans have watched a particularly poignant juxtaposition of a spoiled brat frat boy and strong silent Marine. Ivy League rich kid, Luigi Mangione cowardly shot United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, in the back in cold blood; and middle-class Marine, Daniel Penny, was finally exonerated for stopping a mad man from harming others in a New York City subway.

Americans have been angered and dismayed that Penny was charged by a radical rogue prosecutor in New York City. Simply acting to restrain a crazy man threatening other passengers, he was persecuted and maligned as a racist despite the fact he was protecting frightened women of color who testified on Penny’s behalf. Thankfully, a New York City jury was not duped, saw the truth, and upheld justice. The accidental death of the mentally ill homeless man was surely tragic, but his sad situation was a failure of the mental healthcare and judicial systems in New York, not of the good Samaritan who stood up for strangers.

Then a week ago, Americans were stunned that Mangione stalked and assassinated an insurance company executive. His motives still unclear, he apparently felt some slight, but in his manifesto claimed general greed and unfairness by insurance companies justified his actions. There are arguably issues with insurance companies, but essentially a coverage dispute does not justify murder. Killing those we disagree with is barbaric and invites anarchy.

A comparison of these unlikely men in the news is telling. Ivy League educated, Mangione came from a politically-powerful wealthy Maryland family. A Marine, Penny came from modest means and a New York middle-class family. Arrogant and self-serving, Mangione seeks notoriety with his manifesto and senseless assassination. Humble and reserved, Penny shuns attention; he only wants to live his life.

With some bizarre personal vendetta, Mangione selfishly sought vengeance with the murder of a stranger. Thrust into a dangerous situation, Penny selflessly sacrificed his safety and almost his liberty to protect strangers. Mangione was cruel killing someone he didn’t know while Penny was kind defending people he didn’t know.

Most Americans know this, but Penny exuded biblical masculinity; he cared for the defenseless and innocent. He risked his life to defend others and asked nothing in return. He definitively said he would do it again because he could not bear that anyone was harmed when he had the capacity to prevent it. Penny put others before himself; he is a real man.

Mangione acted apparently for self-aggrandizement. He acted out of unreasonable anger and callously killed a father and husband without due process. Shooting a man in the back is still abject cowardice and simply unjustifiable. His rash murder of the United Healthcare CEO was the epitome of toxic masculinity. Mangione put himself before others; he is not a man.

Mangione is clearly some kind of narcissist and is certainly disturbed. Hopefully few, there is always some crazy person willing to take extreme measures and follow radical ideas, but some of the reaction to this heinous homicide is disconcerting. Apparent supporters of domestic terrorism have raised over $100,000 for Mangione’s legal defense, unemployed ANTIFA rioters are demonstrating for more dead CEOs, and sick women and gay men are lusting after this cheap killer. This irrational support of violence is disturbing and disgusting.

Americans can take some comfort that quiet, unassuming heroes like Daniel Penny are still out there; and thankfully he was acquitted of those spurious charges. The fact there are dangerous characters like Luigi Mangione is concerning, but more concerning is fact that perhaps 40% (per recent poll) or more of our youth consider Mangione’s crime acceptable!

Healthy masculinity according to biblical precepts is coming back in vogue not because we have taught it, but because society desperately needs real men to clean up the terrible mess made by woke nonsense. We as a nation need to do better teaching truth and providing a biblical foundation for our youth, so we can help misguided generations find their way and just avoid repeating this lunacy.

Read the Bible to your children and America will have the godly men and women we need to preserve our culture and republic.

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.