I mentioned yesterday that I'd read a long article that attempts to explain, more or less, how America got where it is today in cultural and, therefore, political terms.
Over the years, I've read the Bible daily, covering it in toto over the course of one year. This year should be the fourth or fifth time that I've read it cover to cover. One thing becomes clear. The LORD is to be first in men's lives. He doesn't accept second. He doesn't accept first among equals.
It's so easy to fall into apostasy. Moses was on Mounty Sinai for 40 days receiving the Ten Commandments and what do the Israelites do during this time? They pressure Aaron to mold the Golden Calf. Then Aaron, the High Priest, isn't totally honest to Moses claiming the calf just happened to come out of the fire.
This is the history of mankind to the present. Today's Catholic bishops are supposed to be shepherds to Catholics. Yet like with Aaron, when Ferguson rioting broke out, the bishops pointed to "systemic racism." Like Aaron, they couldn't stand firm on the rock of God's Word and say that Michael Brown was a criminal. I digress.
Hold firm to the faith. One of the few things Obama said that I totally agree with is about clinging to our Christian faith. I plead guilty. Without God, I'm nothing.
From a Christian viewpoint, I think history shows Satan does best not with the direct assault on the Kingdom of God, drugs, sex, rock n roll, but through the counterfeiting of Christianity, creating what he pitches as a better or more true version. It is in this sense, I think, that wokism and Christianity are related.
I don't think we need this complexity. It just obscures the pattern. We are in an era of Fifth Generation warfare. The media, academia and culture are controlled. The WEF, WHO, UN, World Bank, Bilderberg, etc, are driving change. I doubt that WOKENESS is organic. We see it appear synchronously throughout the West. It creates a cultural environment favorable to the Great Reset.
Basically, much of the Ruling Class has kept the "moral superiority" attitude of the New England Puritans while drifting off from the actual Faith on which it was based originally. And it isn't just Christians who have done this. Years ago, maybe in the late '80s or early '90s, James Dobson had two Jewish guests on his radio show--Dennis Prager and an Orthodox rabbi (I can't remember his name, it's been so long). But the rabbi made a comment that I have remembered. He said that when a Jew leaves the religion of his fathers, he does not have no religion; he has a new religion--liberal politics. I suspect that applies to some people of Christian heritage, too.
I increasingly find Voegelin’s diagnosis of modernity incredibly insightful and prescient. Another thinker who I believe grasps the deep theological/anthropological undercurrents of modernity is Rene Girard. For him, Wokeism doesn’t merely ape or parasitize Christianity, it arises as a logical (even inevitable) outcome of the Christian revelation. The woke concern for victims is inherited from Christianity, whose Gospel has effectively demythologized archaic scapegoating over the course of history and given rise to a society centered on the paradigmatic innocent victim. In modern times this concern for the victim is being diabolically turned on its head and weaponized. This, for Girard, literally has apocalyptic ramifications.
Geoff Shullenberger writes in “Compact” magazine: “As Girard already perceived in 1999, we live under the reign of “victimism, which uses the ideology of concern for victims to gain political or economic or spiritual power.” But victimism isn’t merely a cynical smokescreen for power. Instead, the rise of victim power signals a genuine and troubling exhaustion of all other sources of authority and legitimacy. This points to the real problem with this new ideological regime: Beneath its benevolent rhetoric, its implications are apocalyptic, accelerating the collapse of any sustainable order.”
Reading the Gospels has led some to a hyper concern for the poor. Jesus' primary message is the salvation of souls. Yes, he does have a concern for the poor and the marginalized, but not at the expense of the Good News. The First and Greatest Commandmant is "Hear, O Israel. Love the Lord they God with all thy heart, all they soul and all thy strength." Too much emphasis on social justice leads to turning the two great commandments on their heads and putting the Lord second.
Further, Jesus never gave authority to men to determine the obligation of the individual man to his fellow men. Too many today think they can determine what my concern and obligations are regarding the poor. If I'm a good Christian, for example, I have to support the welfare state. Au contraire, I have Scripture and the Holy Spirit to guide me as to my personal obligations to the poor and marginalized.
I should add that Joseph Bottum, whose recent book “An Anxious Age” Peng references in the article Mark summarizes, has been a popularizer of Girard’s thought.
Liberalism has failed—not because it fell short, but because it was true to itself. It has failed because it has succeeded. As liberalism has “become more fully itself,” as its inner logic has become more evident and its self-contradictions manifest, it has generated pathologies that are at once deformations of its claims yet realizations of liberal ideology. A political philosophy that was launched to foster greater equity, defend a pluralist tapestry of different cultures and beliefs, protect human dignity, and, of course, expand liberty, in practice generates titanic inequality, enforces uniformity and homogeneity, fosters material and spiritual degradation, and undermines freedom. Its success can be measured by its achievement of the opposite of what we have believed it would achieve. Rather than seeing the accumulating catastrophe as evidence of our failure to live up to liberalism’s ideals, we need rather to see clearly that the ruins it has produced are the signs of its very success. To call for the cures of liberalism’s ills by applying more liberal measures is tantamount to throwing gas on a raging fire. It will only deepen our political, social, economic, and moral crisis.
Eye-opening and incredibly insightful. Thanks for sharing this.
Over the years, I've read the Bible daily, covering it in toto over the course of one year. This year should be the fourth or fifth time that I've read it cover to cover. One thing becomes clear. The LORD is to be first in men's lives. He doesn't accept second. He doesn't accept first among equals.
It's so easy to fall into apostasy. Moses was on Mounty Sinai for 40 days receiving the Ten Commandments and what do the Israelites do during this time? They pressure Aaron to mold the Golden Calf. Then Aaron, the High Priest, isn't totally honest to Moses claiming the calf just happened to come out of the fire.
This is the history of mankind to the present. Today's Catholic bishops are supposed to be shepherds to Catholics. Yet like with Aaron, when Ferguson rioting broke out, the bishops pointed to "systemic racism." Like Aaron, they couldn't stand firm on the rock of God's Word and say that Michael Brown was a criminal. I digress.
Hold firm to the faith. One of the few things Obama said that I totally agree with is about clinging to our Christian faith. I plead guilty. Without God, I'm nothing.
From a Christian viewpoint, I think history shows Satan does best not with the direct assault on the Kingdom of God, drugs, sex, rock n roll, but through the counterfeiting of Christianity, creating what he pitches as a better or more true version. It is in this sense, I think, that wokism and Christianity are related.
Very inciteful. Thank you for this comment.
I don't think we need this complexity. It just obscures the pattern. We are in an era of Fifth Generation warfare. The media, academia and culture are controlled. The WEF, WHO, UN, World Bank, Bilderberg, etc, are driving change. I doubt that WOKENESS is organic. We see it appear synchronously throughout the West. It creates a cultural environment favorable to the Great Reset.
I agree. Wokeism exists most strongly in wealthy Christian countries because they were the ones earmarked for destruction first.
Totally agree! It’s another tool to divide society by destroing reason
Basically, much of the Ruling Class has kept the "moral superiority" attitude of the New England Puritans while drifting off from the actual Faith on which it was based originally. And it isn't just Christians who have done this. Years ago, maybe in the late '80s or early '90s, James Dobson had two Jewish guests on his radio show--Dennis Prager and an Orthodox rabbi (I can't remember his name, it's been so long). But the rabbi made a comment that I have remembered. He said that when a Jew leaves the religion of his fathers, he does not have no religion; he has a new religion--liberal politics. I suspect that applies to some people of Christian heritage, too.
I increasingly find Voegelin’s diagnosis of modernity incredibly insightful and prescient. Another thinker who I believe grasps the deep theological/anthropological undercurrents of modernity is Rene Girard. For him, Wokeism doesn’t merely ape or parasitize Christianity, it arises as a logical (even inevitable) outcome of the Christian revelation. The woke concern for victims is inherited from Christianity, whose Gospel has effectively demythologized archaic scapegoating over the course of history and given rise to a society centered on the paradigmatic innocent victim. In modern times this concern for the victim is being diabolically turned on its head and weaponized. This, for Girard, literally has apocalyptic ramifications.
Geoff Shullenberger writes in “Compact” magazine: “As Girard already perceived in 1999, we live under the reign of “victimism, which uses the ideology of concern for victims to gain political or economic or spiritual power.” But victimism isn’t merely a cynical smokescreen for power. Instead, the rise of victim power signals a genuine and troubling exhaustion of all other sources of authority and legitimacy. This points to the real problem with this new ideological regime: Beneath its benevolent rhetoric, its implications are apocalyptic, accelerating the collapse of any sustainable order.”
Schullenberger’s entire essay is well-worth reading as a good introduction to Girard’s thinking: https://www.compactmag.com/article/rene-girard-and-the-rise-of-victim-power/
Reading the Gospels has led some to a hyper concern for the poor. Jesus' primary message is the salvation of souls. Yes, he does have a concern for the poor and the marginalized, but not at the expense of the Good News. The First and Greatest Commandmant is "Hear, O Israel. Love the Lord they God with all thy heart, all they soul and all thy strength." Too much emphasis on social justice leads to turning the two great commandments on their heads and putting the Lord second.
Further, Jesus never gave authority to men to determine the obligation of the individual man to his fellow men. Too many today think they can determine what my concern and obligations are regarding the poor. If I'm a good Christian, for example, I have to support the welfare state. Au contraire, I have Scripture and the Holy Spirit to guide me as to my personal obligations to the poor and marginalized.
I should add that Joseph Bottum, whose recent book “An Anxious Age” Peng references in the article Mark summarizes, has been a popularizer of Girard’s thought.
I also included this in a comment yesterday:
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2019/02/20/why-liberalism-failed/
Liberalism has failed—not because it fell short, but because it was true to itself. It has failed because it has succeeded. As liberalism has “become more fully itself,” as its inner logic has become more evident and its self-contradictions manifest, it has generated pathologies that are at once deformations of its claims yet realizations of liberal ideology. A political philosophy that was launched to foster greater equity, defend a pluralist tapestry of different cultures and beliefs, protect human dignity, and, of course, expand liberty, in practice generates titanic inequality, enforces uniformity and homogeneity, fosters material and spiritual degradation, and undermines freedom. Its success can be measured by its achievement of the opposite of what we have believed it would achieve. Rather than seeing the accumulating catastrophe as evidence of our failure to live up to liberalism’s ideals, we need rather to see clearly that the ruins it has produced are the signs of its very success. To call for the cures of liberalism’s ills by applying more liberal measures is tantamount to throwing gas on a raging fire. It will only deepen our political, social, economic, and moral crisis.
If liberalisms' current iteration, Woke Morality, contains the seeds of its own destruction, what will it be replaced with? It's hard to imagine.