Bear with me, while I try to tie some things together.Thanks for reading Meaning In History! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This morning Paul Gottfried had a smart article, for those who find history meaningful: Biden’s Soviet ‘Antifacism’
Dutch Farmers Topple Agriculture Minister Leading Radical Climate Agenda
"The Netherlands’ agricultural minister Henk Staghouwer has been forced to resign following widespread protests from Dutch farmers over his radical climate agenda that seeks to destroy their livelihoods.
Staghouwer was leading the Dutch agriculture ministry’s climate policy that involved confiscating farms in a forced government buy-out scheme."
There is indeed hope. There are plenty of good things happening too. Also, it's important that we keep a sense of balance. Sure, the Transgender thing is pure evil, but it's being resisted in a lot of places. And where it is being imposed, are the usual whacky leftist strongholds like Chicago.
It's far more insidious than you imagine. It's in the government schools and libraries across the country--including in the deepest red states. It's in universities and colleges across the country, including many formerly religious institutions. It's in the professional schools across the country and acts as gatekeepers to the professions--medicine and law and related professions. It's in the professional associations as well. It increasingly controls the "hard" sciences. Resistance is growing, but is still just beginning.
I was listening to Fr Robert McTeigue, SJ on Podcast yesterday (The Catholic Current), he called for the removal of the imprimatur "Catholic" from ND. That would be a good start.
Georgetown is probably the worst of the bunch, I'm sad to say. Even back in the '80s, Domers used to make fun of us, saying "ND is the best Catholic school in the country because Georgetown isn't even 'Catholic'." Stopped giving around 10 years ago, even the donations for good basketball seats.
People used to say, "If you don't vote then you can't complain." We are WAY past that point. If you are willfully ignorant about what is going on--then you should not be pulled on board the life raft. Your hand should be slapped away. No resources can be diverted to you until the war is over and security is assured.
Incredibly important content in this post. Thank you! I had not explicitly (in my mind) made the connection between the methods being employed by the Biden admin and those of the USSR in Eastern Europe.
"...people gathering to strengthen the bonds of shared moral and metaphysical beliefs does. And that is always disapproved by the totalitarian state." Yes! For that reason they will come for the churches, just as the Nazis, the USSR, the CCP, and every other totalitarian government has done.
Christians believe the source of all power against evil is found in God. The enemies of God know this too. A community of believers can be a powerful force against evil - as is supported by Ephesians 6: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes." On the road ahead we will need lots of waking up to the threat, lots of prayer, lots of faith, and lots of following the instructions in this chapter.
Respectfully disagree, Dis. I don't see ANY Christians fighting back, with some exceptions such as the remarkable Peggy Hall in CA. Also, prayer and community with other Christians might fortify us in our struggle, but it doesn't actually get rid of evil.
Steghorn, if you read Ephesians 6, it is spiritual warfare that is being talked about and it is spiritual weapons being prescribed. Evil will always be extant in this world but the final victory in the spiritual realm is God's (and ours), through Christ.
You're forgetting that God has a plan that includes evil.
Ephesians 6 describes the Christian tools for fighting evil; it is not a checklist for getting rid of evil.
Getting rid of evil is not possible, because God's plan for history includes evil. Just as he told Abraham that his inheritance would not be ready until the evil of the Canaanites was complete, so also our inheritance waits until the world's evil is complete. The Revelation makes it clear that evil will grow until it eclipses the church's influence; Jesus said the time is coming when we will not be able to work.
I don't mean to sound defeatist, but one of our greatest tests will be faithfulness when we are no longer able to diminish the growth and influence of evil. We continue the struggle even if it's a long defeat.
Yes, but it is not "a long defeat." It is an ongoing battle but the victory has already been won through Christ! (John 16:33 + many other verses). It will be a test but one that God has provided us with His salvation, His grace, and His strength to pass.
FYI, when I speak of a long defeat, I'm speaking not of Christ's ultimate victory over sin and death and our hope for resurrection with him, but of the church's witness in the world.
I'm referring specifically to Revelation 11, which describes the two witnesses (the church) who are granted authority and power in ministry (vv3-6) until their mission is complete and they are killed (v7).
If we are approaching that moment, then our spiritual warfare will look and feel like a long defeat. Thus, our faithfulness will be tested like never before, for Christ has indeed won the victory, and that confidence is all that we will have left when we are no longer able to work.
God seeks those who will worship him in spirit and truth. That means free will.
But by his foreknowledge he has seen that none would choose to worship him - there are no innocents. In our pursuit of sin we become slaves to sin and our free will is broken.
Therefore, God determined before history began to redeem a people from this bondage by sending his perfect son to take upon himself their sin.
God did this in order to be just - his holiness is vindicated by judging sin - and the one who justifies those who believe - his mercy is glorified by forgiving sin.
God's holiness and especially his mercy are glorified through his work of redemption in the presence of evil freely chosen by his creation. He is blameless and will hold those who persist in evil to account for all their deeds. And he will avenge the suffering in his world.
I suppose that the choice is binary: to create or not create. A perfectly good God cannot create a perfect world--to do so would be to create himself. So, an imperfect world or no world at all. The mystery of evil.
No he did create a perfect world. That is the ONLY kind of world he could create (being Holy). For reasons we do not understand he allowed the potential of disobedience and sin. Perhaps he foresaw that would occur and require a redemption and reconciliation? And perhaps that would ensure a more perfect union of the creator and the created in eternity?
Many would argue that there's not nearly enough suffering in the world to assert that we've reached that point in history.
I'm not so sure. The Revelation merely describes horrific torment and the death of the church as the end approaches. And since it's always speaking symbolically, I interpret the church's death to mean a loss of voice and influence, not genocide. It's not difficult to imagine that being right around the corner.
As for torment, there's a heckuva lot of hysteria out there right now, ranging from Covid to Russia to climate change to white guilt/supremacy, and much of it is either imaginary or fostered by the oligarchs to control us.
For me, the kicker is the ten kings of chapter 17; they sure sound like non-state actors rising up to wield government-like power. Looking around, this whole conflict between Davos and the Fed sure sounds a lot like that. I admit I thought it would be Davos when I first made the connection over a year ago; but, even if the Fed succeeds in breaking Davos, I don't expect the victorious billionaires to be sympathetic to our needs and desires.
So, if that is where we are, then we can expect more restrictions on speech, more harassments of normals, more pandemics, more MAL raids, etc. We should seek community where possible, circle wagons, defend the defenseless, and ready the sword of truth. We don't stop fighting, but we must be careful to fight in a manner that can be defended before the Righteous One. There's a reason why God says repeatedly, 'Vengeance is mine.'
We are weak individuals, but we can only do what we can and start from where we are: pray, do what good you can, have kids, build networks with like minds, refuse to keep quiet when you see evil. Anything short of violence.
"Just remember, they know how the human mind works." Do they? They certainly don't know how the human heart works.
"The solution is to break down the family." How do you do that? For many of us the family is possibly the most important factor in our lives, and we will forgo an attractive career offer if it is too disruptive of the family.
I would further argue that religious or not, we may have standards of morality that will not allow us to engage in evil acts or follow an evil regime's dictates.
I do not deny that people can be manipulated. I have faith that the American DNA does not allow this to be widespread, and the regime has already alienated the American people by their actions over the last year and a half. The Redstate article you link to expresses this idea perfectly.
A Christian chaplain who was forced out of his job and reported to a terrorist watchdog for giving a sermon defending the right to question LGBT ideology claims he was also then blacklisted as a safeguarding risk to children by the Church of England (CofE).
Absolutely chilling. I was raised in the American Episcopal church when it was affectionately called “smells and bells!” The CoE, or Anglican Church has, over the past 20 years, morphed into another woke bastion of propaganda and intolerance…and I have to say that women in the ministry are often leading this utterly wretched campaign to weed out and cancel differing views, as this case shows. As my husband (Roman Catholic) has always said, somewhat mockingly, the Anglican (Anglo Catholic) is the government church, the “église des fonctionnaires!” - or the church run by bureaucrats! Well now, at least in the UK, it has become just another coercive arm of the woke state. I’m through with it. But I still love the Ephesians in the King James, “put thee on the armour of light…” as we’re all called now to do…
Unfortunately, the Conciliar Church, having renounced the concept of state church via concordats, under Bergoglio simply aspires to be recognized by the cultural elites.
It's only a blunder if voting still matters. If they can cheat the way they did in 2020, then Biden can continue to insult 70% of the nation. I'm not American, so I have no idea what is going on to safeguard voting integrity. I'm hoping there are some people over there who are working on this, because the GOP certainly isn't.
He has been playing the fear, lying, and exaggeration method from Bork, Romney (chains), Charlottesville, Jan 6, to Philadelphia. It is who he is. He tries to play the awh shucks Regular Joe persona. And with his dementia, his anger impulses are getting worse.
Here's some good news!
Dutch Farmers Topple Agriculture Minister Leading Radical Climate Agenda
"The Netherlands’ agricultural minister Henk Staghouwer has been forced to resign following widespread protests from Dutch farmers over his radical climate agenda that seeks to destroy their livelihoods.
Staghouwer was leading the Dutch agriculture ministry’s climate policy that involved confiscating farms in a forced government buy-out scheme."
https://slaynews.com/news/dutch-farmers-topple-agriculture-minister-climate-agenda/
There is indeed hope. There are plenty of good things happening too. Also, it's important that we keep a sense of balance. Sure, the Transgender thing is pure evil, but it's being resisted in a lot of places. And where it is being imposed, are the usual whacky leftist strongholds like Chicago.
It's far more insidious than you imagine. It's in the government schools and libraries across the country--including in the deepest red states. It's in universities and colleges across the country, including many formerly religious institutions. It's in the professional schools across the country and acts as gatekeepers to the professions--medicine and law and related professions. It's in the professional associations as well. It increasingly controls the "hard" sciences. Resistance is growing, but is still just beginning.
I accept your deeper knowledge of this awful phenomenon, Mark. Let's hope the resistance continues to grow.
Just so.
Consider, if you will, the situation at Notre Dame:
this:
https://irishrover.net/2022/09/sexuality-ed/
discusses this:
https://studentaffairs.nd.edu/division-directory/other-student-services/building-community-the-notre-dame-way-bcnd/
I was listening to Fr Robert McTeigue, SJ on Podcast yesterday (The Catholic Current), he called for the removal of the imprimatur "Catholic" from ND. That would be a good start.
Yep. Villanova, Providence, and lots more, as well.
Georgetown is probably the worst of the bunch, I'm sad to say. Even back in the '80s, Domers used to make fun of us, saying "ND is the best Catholic school in the country because Georgetown isn't even 'Catholic'." Stopped giving around 10 years ago, even the donations for good basketball seats.
People used to say, "If you don't vote then you can't complain." We are WAY past that point. If you are willfully ignorant about what is going on--then you should not be pulled on board the life raft. Your hand should be slapped away. No resources can be diverted to you until the war is over and security is assured.
Incredibly important content in this post. Thank you! I had not explicitly (in my mind) made the connection between the methods being employed by the Biden admin and those of the USSR in Eastern Europe.
"...people gathering to strengthen the bonds of shared moral and metaphysical beliefs does. And that is always disapproved by the totalitarian state." Yes! For that reason they will come for the churches, just as the Nazis, the USSR, the CCP, and every other totalitarian government has done.
Christians believe the source of all power against evil is found in God. The enemies of God know this too. A community of believers can be a powerful force against evil - as is supported by Ephesians 6: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes." On the road ahead we will need lots of waking up to the threat, lots of prayer, lots of faith, and lots of following the instructions in this chapter.
Respectfully disagree, Dis. I don't see ANY Christians fighting back, with some exceptions such as the remarkable Peggy Hall in CA. Also, prayer and community with other Christians might fortify us in our struggle, but it doesn't actually get rid of evil.
Steghorn, if you read Ephesians 6, it is spiritual warfare that is being talked about and it is spiritual weapons being prescribed. Evil will always be extant in this world but the final victory in the spiritual realm is God's (and ours), through Christ.
P.S. - sorry for my delayed response. Blessings to you!
You're forgetting that God has a plan that includes evil.
Ephesians 6 describes the Christian tools for fighting evil; it is not a checklist for getting rid of evil.
Getting rid of evil is not possible, because God's plan for history includes evil. Just as he told Abraham that his inheritance would not be ready until the evil of the Canaanites was complete, so also our inheritance waits until the world's evil is complete. The Revelation makes it clear that evil will grow until it eclipses the church's influence; Jesus said the time is coming when we will not be able to work.
I don't mean to sound defeatist, but one of our greatest tests will be faithfulness when we are no longer able to diminish the growth and influence of evil. We continue the struggle even if it's a long defeat.
Yes, but it is not "a long defeat." It is an ongoing battle but the victory has already been won through Christ! (John 16:33 + many other verses). It will be a test but one that God has provided us with His salvation, His grace, and His strength to pass.
FYI, when I speak of a long defeat, I'm speaking not of Christ's ultimate victory over sin and death and our hope for resurrection with him, but of the church's witness in the world.
I'm referring specifically to Revelation 11, which describes the two witnesses (the church) who are granted authority and power in ministry (vv3-6) until their mission is complete and they are killed (v7).
If we are approaching that moment, then our spiritual warfare will look and feel like a long defeat. Thus, our faithfulness will be tested like never before, for Christ has indeed won the victory, and that confidence is all that we will have left when we are no longer able to work.
Thanks very much for the clarification, mistcr. Blessings to you.
Not sure why a good God would make evil as part of his plan. If it is, then a heck of a lot of innocent people have died because of it.
God seeks those who will worship him in spirit and truth. That means free will.
But by his foreknowledge he has seen that none would choose to worship him - there are no innocents. In our pursuit of sin we become slaves to sin and our free will is broken.
Therefore, God determined before history began to redeem a people from this bondage by sending his perfect son to take upon himself their sin.
God did this in order to be just - his holiness is vindicated by judging sin - and the one who justifies those who believe - his mercy is glorified by forgiving sin.
God's holiness and especially his mercy are glorified through his work of redemption in the presence of evil freely chosen by his creation. He is blameless and will hold those who persist in evil to account for all their deeds. And he will avenge the suffering in his world.
Great description. Thank you.
I suppose that the choice is binary: to create or not create. A perfectly good God cannot create a perfect world--to do so would be to create himself. So, an imperfect world or no world at all. The mystery of evil.
No he did create a perfect world. That is the ONLY kind of world he could create (being Holy). For reasons we do not understand he allowed the potential of disobedience and sin. Perhaps he foresaw that would occur and require a redemption and reconciliation? And perhaps that would ensure a more perfect union of the creator and the created in eternity?
Sounds like we're there. What comes next?
Many would argue that there's not nearly enough suffering in the world to assert that we've reached that point in history.
I'm not so sure. The Revelation merely describes horrific torment and the death of the church as the end approaches. And since it's always speaking symbolically, I interpret the church's death to mean a loss of voice and influence, not genocide. It's not difficult to imagine that being right around the corner.
As for torment, there's a heckuva lot of hysteria out there right now, ranging from Covid to Russia to climate change to white guilt/supremacy, and much of it is either imaginary or fostered by the oligarchs to control us.
For me, the kicker is the ten kings of chapter 17; they sure sound like non-state actors rising up to wield government-like power. Looking around, this whole conflict between Davos and the Fed sure sounds a lot like that. I admit I thought it would be Davos when I first made the connection over a year ago; but, even if the Fed succeeds in breaking Davos, I don't expect the victorious billionaires to be sympathetic to our needs and desires.
So, if that is where we are, then we can expect more restrictions on speech, more harassments of normals, more pandemics, more MAL raids, etc. We should seek community where possible, circle wagons, defend the defenseless, and ready the sword of truth. We don't stop fighting, but we must be careful to fight in a manner that can be defended before the Righteous One. There's a reason why God says repeatedly, 'Vengeance is mine.'
What do you consider fighting back?
We are weak individuals, but we can only do what we can and start from where we are: pray, do what good you can, have kids, build networks with like minds, refuse to keep quiet when you see evil. Anything short of violence.
Re: Chileans almost total rejection of Socialism... was this defacto also a resounding loss by Soros, Davos and Zhous US Deep State (CIA)?
Hmmm...
Hope so!
"Just remember, they know how the human mind works." Do they? They certainly don't know how the human heart works.
"The solution is to break down the family." How do you do that? For many of us the family is possibly the most important factor in our lives, and we will forgo an attractive career offer if it is too disruptive of the family.
I would further argue that religious or not, we may have standards of morality that will not allow us to engage in evil acts or follow an evil regime's dictates.
I do not deny that people can be manipulated. I have faith that the American DNA does not allow this to be widespread, and the regime has already alienated the American people by their actions over the last year and a half. The Redstate article you link to expresses this idea perfectly.
They are trying to create the Borg. And we thought star wars was science fiction.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chaplain-claims-church-england-deemed-him-risk-children-questioning-lgbt-ideology
A Christian chaplain who was forced out of his job and reported to a terrorist watchdog for giving a sermon defending the right to question LGBT ideology claims he was also then blacklisted as a safeguarding risk to children by the Church of England (CofE).
The CofE was dead years ago.
Absolutely chilling. I was raised in the American Episcopal church when it was affectionately called “smells and bells!” The CoE, or Anglican Church has, over the past 20 years, morphed into another woke bastion of propaganda and intolerance…and I have to say that women in the ministry are often leading this utterly wretched campaign to weed out and cancel differing views, as this case shows. As my husband (Roman Catholic) has always said, somewhat mockingly, the Anglican (Anglo Catholic) is the government church, the “église des fonctionnaires!” - or the church run by bureaucrats! Well now, at least in the UK, it has become just another coercive arm of the woke state. I’m through with it. But I still love the Ephesians in the King James, “put thee on the armour of light…” as we’re all called now to do…
Unfortunately, the Conciliar Church, having renounced the concept of state church via concordats, under Bergoglio simply aspires to be recognized by the cultural elites.
I guess the Church of England has the very same “aspiration.”
Romans 13:12 (KJV):
“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of light.”
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washington-is-running-on-empty/
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2022/09/06/new-poll-shows-what-a-huge-blunder-bidens-bashing-maga-americans-is-n623618
It's only a blunder if voting still matters. If they can cheat the way they did in 2020, then Biden can continue to insult 70% of the nation. I'm not American, so I have no idea what is going on to safeguard voting integrity. I'm hoping there are some people over there who are working on this, because the GOP certainly isn't.
Biden is just an angry old man.
He has been playing the fear, lying, and exaggeration method from Bork, Romney (chains), Charlottesville, Jan 6, to Philadelphia. It is who he is. He tries to play the awh shucks Regular Joe persona. And with his dementia, his anger impulses are getting worse.