Tag: religion

Culturalism · Economic History

What Will You Defend?

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Over the last weekend I went through Rod Dreher’s recent book, Live Not By Lies: A Manual For Christian Dissidents. What really stood out to me early on in the text was his reference to Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, the modern conception of religion practiced by many in the West. Under its tenets, spiritual teachings must be aligned with liberal capitalist consumerism and its focus on psychological well-being. Thus messages should always be regarding love and happiness, not the burdens of resistance to a corrupt and dying world. Don’t worry, by happy, is the outbound pennant.

But this brings into question the very purpose of faith itself. If so-called “believers” can only do so successfully in times of plenty and luxury, then what will become of them once they are called to the world docket? I think we have gained a pretty good idea with reactions to the injection campaign. Whether the vaccine is safe or not really doesn’t factor in here; most people knew at some level the mandate was wrong in principle, as evidenced by their initial reactions. Nevertheless, it took only minimal pressure and the threat of lost employment to get compliance.

I’ve noted before that I understand folks taking the shot if they have a family to provide for, but even that raises some concerns. Having to relinquish one’s employment is rarely desirable in the status-conscious and consumerist United States, but if one cannot make the sacrifice, then how much faith do they actually have? Folding over a fiat paycheck is hardly preparation to resist should it come down to conversion or the sword. Maybe this is why Kierkegaard describes the “Admirer” phenotype of believers:

“The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he praises Christ, he renounces nothing, will not reconstruct his life, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires. Not so for the follower. No, no. The follower aspires with all his strength to be what he admires. And then, remarkably enough, even though he is living amongst a ‘Christian people,’ he incurs the same peril as he did when it was dangerous to openly confess Christ.”

How many of us are members of the first group, and know it? Still more, how many are part and completely unaware?

Culturalism

Does Hell Exist?

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A bland notes post. I want to record here some of the ideas presented by the theologian Arthur Lunn, who is quoted frequently in William F. Buckley’s book, Nearer, My God. His argument on the nature of hell is as follows:

(1) I object to God being represented as a torturer. (2) I object to any form of punishment which is eternal. (3)I object to the fact that a man’s eternal destiny depends less on “striking a due balance between his virtues and his sins than on the pure accident of what takes place during the last moments of his life.”

Later on, Lunn is portrayed as being open to the concept of heaven as a place where few people go, but still establishes a divide between the idea of eternal punishment and soul annihilation. He further notes that man was not born to love God, and thus God cannot demand love of himself as a prerequisite to being redeemed. So God can insist on obedience, but not love, which is enjoyed by only a few. Hence Lunn is against the idea of hell because it is irrational in his outlook on the spiritual world. (pp. 68-72)

Culturalism · Personal Finance · Relations and Dating

The Worst Shall Yet Come

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As many of you know, Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away sometime Friday evening at the age of 87, after a long battle with multiple forms of cancer. Though this post has other motivations than pure commemoration, I will pause to take note for a moment. During my days as a young and empowered conservative, I often had a distant (and negative) view of RBG, largely because of her politics. It was only after watching her eulogy for Antonin Scalia that I developed a different appreciation, one surrounding her humanity. A critical issue with modern politics is the conspiracy to invalidate people on the basis of opinions, often whilst claiming to speak for the entire human race. This is a sickening trend with poor tidings for the time ahead.

What RBG’s death will do is tear down the curtains of fragile respectability, or at least the parts still remaining. I would not put her timely passing beyond the wildest machinations of the Democratic Machine, which above all else desires the supremacy of power. Such an event steels the most dejected into action, and increases the chances of any outcome being viewed as illegitimate. The perfect gale has arrived.

Consequently, we can expect to see the level of rioting and pillaging increased to dramatic levels, both before and after this election. The desperation of leftists towards triumph may even cause them to target elected senators in states where the Democratic governor has power to appoint a replacement. Nothing will be off the table for these souls, who now cry out to the internet in anguish, as if they are cut off from the divine culture. Vile dismissals of violence directed against their opponents will become the canon norm, and the timid dweebs arguing about “the intolerance of the liberal left” shall face an epic usurpation of their credibility, while Christians wonder if the end times are nigh.

The remaining lot – us who see past the empty diversions of the political game – are bound to be caught in the crossing fire, despite our attempts at avoiding Armageddon. We are to be the voices that were never listened to, at last set alight at a time when being “right” matters not, for everyone has become wrong. Hence there is no treasure for the rewarding, only a brittle grudge, the child of hearts cast to infinite scorn.

Little as we can do to prevent this calamity, there are measures to take for personal safety:

  • Review your investments, and determine if some should be trimmed or divested (but do not panic sell).
  • Be careful about open displays of political affiliation. Free speech is a virtue, but not respected by all.
  • Take care of your elders, and the young. Weaker targets are perfect prey for the radicalized and unshakeable.
  • Go about with confidence and caution. Being lost in a phone while in public is a great target made.
  • If the mob comes for you, fight as if the world is collapsing. You may be right, and no police or allies are guaranteed to come.
  • Should you follow God or gods, find peace with them now, and pray.

Perhaps these assessments are too harsh, or overblown by the limited scope of one man’s existence. Still, few people ever understand the gravity of their times, or the flimsy nature of the order around them. Be true to heart by knowing what is to come, so your life is not wasted in speculation of when that spiritual chapter may emerge.

Culturalism · Federal Government

Left In Disbelief

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Much has been made of the COVID-19 panic over the last few months. An otherwise decent economy was put into the ditch by concerned governors, people got reported for not being zealous enough at their distancing measures, and epic debates were held over belief in the virus’ seriousness, or even more than that, its very existence. On the latter point, progressives made stark contrasts between the anti-scientific mutterings of Donald Trump, and the calm, collected rationalism of Fauci the Entertainer, whose belief in science appeared unshakeable, giving  the liberal order a worshipful altar.

Yet the stage only reveals a great tragedy: that leftists believe in nothing, and thus stand for nothing. Their entire existence revolves around a petty and materialistic lust for the immediate moment, for the fleeting blink and thirty-second spell, before a refresh and new paths. Completely incapable of looking past the foggy future, and desperately loathing the crumpled past, they latch onto brief flair, oftentimes without verifying the truth or consistency of prior advocacy. A couple glimpses and the scene changes, having learned little, and contemplated less.

Consider their broader obsession with shutting down and locking up all free actors during the pandemic. Because leftists tend to be irreligious, they naturally view the possibility of sickness (or death) with caterwauling terror. For them there is no afterlife, hence every minute on earth holds value in gold—even if they do spend it locked in a house to discharge tweets of rage against a national leader. The mask, itself a highly dubious  method to prevent transmission, serves as their symbol of collective mortality, and thus billowing ferocity. Any person not observing the guidelines is threatening them, while also showcasing how empty their lives happen to be.

Historically, leftism has not been any different. Mazzini famously criticized the early socialists for predicating their entire movement on material interests, such as pay and working conditions, safely ignoring factors of faith or dedication to community and nation.  Today they screech about healthcare and taxes, both means to allow the bitter souls within a spigot’s burst reason to survive, so again they live in shallow proof.  

If we look to their ultimate principle, that vision enshrining diversity, again the justification is devoid of meaning. Diversity trumpets as a mere check on the opposing side’s power, not for any rational reason apart. Hence the appeals to different cuisines and “global culture,” the latter topic one of little interest to the progressive outside his strictly political realm. For this same reason leftists do not comprehend good comedy: they cannot process any joy outside the fleeting material aspects of party politics, or financial security for themselves. Everything must be in service to goals of self-preservation, no matter contradictions or folly.

The question is imperative because limited faith does not imply affordance of respect for life to others. Progressives have no issue with slaying babies in the womb (or outside), and will make quick work of those who do not fight back. Such behavior is entirely rational, for if they fear death with the terror of a caught fly, inflicting the same on opponents is a natural route to feeling powerful, the unsated lust of every creature unsure of what control they possess when the heart ceases to tick.

And that makes their faith so dangerous.

Book Reviews · Culturalism

Russert Family Wisdom

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This past week I read through Big Russ and Me, an autobiographical tale from the late Tim Russert, one of the last genuine journalists in America. Although a self-described Democrat, he made an effort to present unbiased and competitive material on Meet The Press, heralding an era of media practice which has long since ridden off into the glorious sunset. Unsurprisingly, his book is filled with exceptional anecdotes and lessons in wisdom from both himself and his father, so I decided to recount some of them in this post.

On Meeting People

“Dad insisted on a firm handshake, and he worked with me until I developed one. ‘When you meet somebody,[…] you want to make them feel that you’re proud and happy to know them. So don’t put a wet fish in their hand. Give that hand a good shake, snap your wrist, and look them in the eye. People are people, and if they like you, they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Treat them the way you’d like to be treated.’”

On Family Honor

“All I’m asking—wait, I’m not asking, I’m telling you—is, Don’t do anything to embarrass our family name. If you embarrass yourself, you embarrass all of us. We all make mistakes, but if you go out there and do something you know you shouldn’t be doing, that’s a tough one.”

On The Role of a Father

Russert talks about growing up in Buffalo, New York during the 50s and 60s, when most men held two or three jobs to make end meet. This was simply the way of life, although I’m sure it might seem like a anathema to some of the manosphere. He sums it up as follows:

“The primary obligation of a husband and a father was to provide for his family, and if it meant working two jobs, that was what you did.”

On Identity Politics

During the 1960 presidential campaign, Russert describes the excitement among Irish Catholics over the ascendancy of John F. Kennedy. His father’s friend Edwin Dill asks him about this:

“Timmy, why are you for Kennedy?

“Because he’s Irish Catholic,” I replied.

“And if there was a barber who couldn’t cut hair, and he was Irish Catholic, would you go to him?”

On Weak Parenting

“In this respect, I believe that parents of my generation have often failed our kids. We are so eager to be understanding and sympathetic that we end up being too lenient, even as we further undermine the already diminished authority of teachers, coaches, and principals.”

On Buying a Luxury Car

After Russert made it big in the news media, he offered his father any luxury car he wanted as a gift. “Big Russ” asked only for a Ford Crown Vic, with the following explanation:

“Do I think it’s  a better car? No, of course not. But If I came home with a big fancy Cadillac, do you know what people would say? ‘What happened to Tim? He’s showing off. He got too big for us. His kid made it and how he’s driving a Cadillac.’ No, I can’t do that. A Mercedes? A Lexus? Can’t do that either. We beat those guys in the war. This is what I want: a good American car. This is who I am, all right?”

On Student Loans

His father had an interesting idea of student assistance for college which makes a lot of sense in principle when we think of the national debt problem:

“If you can’t repay those loans, that money won’t be there for the next kid.”

“The sooner you pay them off, the sooner that money will be there for somebody else.”

On the Vietnam War

‘’We can be for peace without supporting the enemy. We can be against the war without rooting for the other side.”

On Human Loss

After a childhood friend of his died, Russert’s dad attempted to comfort him:

“Would it have been better if Paul’s family had never known him? Or should they be grateful, even in their grief, for nineteen years of love and memories? Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence had suffered a terrible loss, but if they had been offered the possibility of having Paul in their lives for nineteen years, they would have taken the deal without question.”

On Advice For His Son

“You do, however, owe this world something. To live a good and decent and meaningful life would be the ultimate affirmation of Grandpa’s lessons and values. The wisest commencement speech I ever was all of fifteen words: ‘The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.'”