Category Archives: Christianity

Is it Time for Intellectuals to Talk about God?

Another progressive leftist finds religion in the face of the pandemic measures

Naomi Wolf is a well-known left-wing, secular, progressive, human-rights (in particular women’s rights) activist. Or rather, was.

She wrote recently, in an article whose title I have copied for this entry:

I confessed at that gathering in the woods with the health freedom community, that I had started to pray again. This was after many years of thinking that my spiritual life was not that important, and certainly very personal, almost embarrassingly so, and thus it was not something I should mention in public.

I told the group that I was now willing to speak about God publicly, because I had looked at what had descended on us from every angle, using my normal critical training and faculties; and that it was so elaborate in its construction, so comprehensive, and so cruel, with an almost superhuman, flamboyant, baroque imagination made out of the essence of cruelty itself — that I could not see that it had been accomplished by mere humans working on the bumbling human level in the dumb political space.

I felt around us, in the majestic nature of the awfulness of the evil around us, the presence of “principalities and powers” — almost awe-inspiring levels of darkness and of inhuman, anti-human forces. In the policies unfolding around us I saw again and again anti-human outcomes being generated: policies aimed at killing children’s joy; at literally suffocating children, restricting their breath, speech and laughter; at killing school; at killing ties between families and extended families; at killing churches and synagogues and mosques; and, from the highest levels, from the President’s own bully pulpit, demands for people to collude in excluding, rejecting, dismissing, shunning, hating their neighbors and loved ones and friends. [My emphases.]

Wolf, who is of Jewish heritage, concludes:

So I told the group in the woods, that the very impressiveness of evil all around us in all of its new majesty, was leading me to believe in a newly literal and immediate way in the presence, the possibility, the necessity of a countervailing force — that of a God. It was almost a negative proof: an evil this large must mean that there is a God at which it is aiming its malevolence. [My emphasis.]

This is amazing. After journalist James Delingpole, who was a more or less secular conservative, and Professor Mark Crispin Miller, a (former) leftist secular academic, we have a third more or less well-known public personas who profess that the pandemic, or rather the public reaction to the pandemic, have led, or should one say, driven them to God. Of those three, Naomi Wolf is by far the most famous.

Admittedly, she’s not Christian. She writes in the same article: “As I often say, I’ll take any faith tradition. I’ll talk to God in any language — I don’t think forms really matter. I think intention is everything.”

Still, I see a trend, a pattern. Let’s see who’s next.

Do not be afraid

The most frequently repeated commandment in the Bible

In this time of fearmongering, it is important to remind oneself that God loves us and wants our best. Especially at a time when we are stepping into the unknown.

I recently discovered the hymn with this title, Do Not Be Afraid. Here, it is sung and presented most beautifully by the singer Marilla Ness. The hymn is based on Isaiah 43.

Happy New Year.

Rendering to Caesar what is God’s

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Manchester

Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury and thus the leader of the world-wide Anglican community, has said that “turning down the jab [anti-covid vaccine] violates the principle of “loving thy neighbour””.

No hint of a sense of 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20, which goes like this:

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.

Regarding the Archbishop’s pronouncement, Breitbart Europe reports:

Responding to the pronouncement, Church of England curate Jamie Franklin told Breitbart London: “I think the archbishop’s comments betray a total lack of understanding of the objections to the COVID-19 vaccine which include safety concerns, concerns about the use of aborted foetal tissue in the development of said vaccines, and concerns about the use of coercion, scapegoating and persecution of those who are deemed to be non-compliant.

“The archbishop also appears completely unconcerned about the emergence of a biosecurity state in which the government has arrogated to itself the power to mandate medical treatments for its citizens, thereby fundamentally altering the nature of the relationship between the individual and the state,” Franklin added.

The Church of England curate, who hosts the Irreverend podcast, went on to say: “Many people are finding it more and more difficult to believe in the narrative pedalled by the government and corporate media and are wondering what on earth is going on.

“The archbishop’s comment do not address any of these concerns and his repeated use of the phrase love your neighbour’ is a misnomer in this context.”

Here is a study from 30th April 2021 showing that there are “breakthrough cases”. That the vaccine does not protect against infection or transmission. The ABC should have known this by December, and probably did.

The other leading churchman who recently got Christian faith disastrously wrong is David Walker, the Bishop of Manchester. On “Thought for the Day” today on the BBC Radio 4 Today program, he said that he had cancelled a number of Christmas events (I paraphrase from memory) “not to protect the attendees, who would have been healthy and strong, but someone who wouldn’t have attended, living far away, maybe on the other side of the world.”

Let me translate this: “In order to stop dying, we must stop living.”

It sounds to me very much like the promise of the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:4): “You will not certainly die . . . you will be like God.”

Two men who found faith in the pandemic

They saw the evil in the response, and thus turned to God

Two recent podcasts show that we are living in a time of revelation. In these two (unrelated) podcasts, we meet two men of relatively high standing, highly educated and intelligent. One is a journalist called James Delingpole, the other a professor of propaganda studies and media studies at New York University, called Mark Crispin Miller.

In a podcast with Church of England curate (the “Irreverend“) Jamie Franklin, James Delingpole confesses that, during the pandemic, Jamie led James to God. (Listen here, start at 30 minutes in.)

In a podcast with the American historian Tom Woods, professor Miller also confesses that he has come to faith, and specifically says that this was due to what he saw as the evil behind much of the measures against an objectively not very dangerous virus. At about 40 percent in (I can’t see the exact times, sorry), Miller says (my transcription): “This dystopian experience has really moved me spiritually, and I’m not the only person who once identified as leftist who feels this way now. I believe we’re all experiencing . . . we’re all but coming face to face with evil. I think this is a profoundly evil project. I think this is a eugenicist project. I think its authors are after absolute and permanent control and a radically reduced world population.”

The Star of Bethlehem

The likely truth behind it, and what it means for us today

Due to technological progress it is now possible to see more or less exactly what our ancestors saw in the night sky at any time of any year from any vantage point on earth. Computer programs allow us to see this in real time animation, or sped up, or slowed down. We can “zoom in” and “out” to individual stars, planets or constellations, as if we were looking through a telescope.

This has for some years now opened up the exiting possibility of studying in minute detail what was happening in the heavens in the years and months just prior to the birth of Christ. Was there something extraordinary happening that could have prompted “wise men” to go looking for a “new-born king of the Jews” (see the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-2)?

It turns out, indeed there was.

Before I explain further, some relevant personal background.

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Two short statements on Christianity

Star Wars and Western Civilisation

In a recent dialog between Jordan Peterson and Angus Fletcher, who is a Professor of Story Science at Ohio State’s Project Narrative, the world’s leading academic think-tank for narrative theory.

(Fletcher says he is interested in “how stories work in the brain”. He got his PhD from Yale. Apparently, according to Fletcher, all sorts of institutions are very interested in the research of his project, it is “backed” by leading neuroscientists and psychologists, doctors, nurses, social workers. Fair enough. But he also mentions as backers: big business, the US army, the special operations community, the air force. Why in the world would they be interested in “narrative theory”? I have ideas, but won’t speculate here.)

Anyway, two short statements stood out, both made by Jordan Peterson:

  1. Star Wars is “Christianity for atheistic nerds”. It’s “inescapable”.
  2. Christianity provides the narrative that forms the cultural foundation of western civilisation. (This latter is quoted from memory and may be paraphrased, as I didn’t bother writing it down at the time.)

The Tower of Babel and the Remnant

An update on the spiritual battle we are currently in

Two articles on lewrockwell.com today, highlighting two aspects of current spiritual reality in the world.

One of them, “A comment on comments” by Bionic Mosquito, says that Christians need to urgently set priorities and put their theological differences to one side:

I am sitting on a few comments to the recent posts that focus on the coming apart of Christendom, and am not sure I will post these.  I am finding these destructive, not constructive.  I do not like the mudslinging between traditions.

We need to concentrate now on the common enemy, for

. . . the world is coming apart, and our liberties are being crushed – and this has accelerated in the last twenty months.  Only one institution can turn this tide [he means the universal Christian Church], and the vast majority of the official representatives of this institution have failed completely – if not, in fact, are in service to the enemy.

There is a remnant, to be found out of each tradition, that sees and understands this.  The battle this remnant faces is captured in Ephesians 6:12, and I have best described it here.

In other words: We, the Remnant, need to hold together, whatever our other differences, in the face of the rising chaos instigated by the spiritual enemy.

The other, “Have we finally reached peak Davos?“, by Thomas Luongo, appears to see some light at the end of the chaos tunnel we are currently in, even though he makes it clear that he thinks the chaos will first deepen before things get better.

He writes:

So, let’s start with the obvious. Places like Austria, Australia, and even Italy will not go along with [tyrannical Covid measures such as a vaccine mandate]. The sizes of the protests grow daily and as the desperation on both sides grows any further attempts at control will be met with violence, regrettably. 

He thinks that the current attempt to create a “New World Order”, to unite the world under one government ruling a population cowed by the fear of death to follow the orders of a supposedly benevolent elite, is finally cracking:

Have we reached Peak Davos? I think we have but that doesn’t mean things get better from here, only that this is as much pressure as they can bring to bear and it will either work or it will be clear that it will fail, albeit very messily.

In this context, it is worth quoting Ephesians 6:12 here:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

“Do I Believe in God, COVID Totalitarianism & the Climate”

Dave Rubin speaks with Jordan Peterson about these issues

For simplicity’s sake, I will today just quote from the text below the video, because it covers all the essentials. It’s probably the best exposition of Jordan Peterson’s views we will get in just one hour, and I’ve seen a lot of videos with and about him. It was posted on YouTube on 14th November 2021.

Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Dr. Jordan Peterson, author of 12 Rules for Life and Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, about what is actually informing COVID restrictions, the real choice that faces the clean energy COP26 crowd, and his response when he is asked about the existence of God.

First, Jordan discusses why we chose medical tyranny and a totalitarian state as a response to the COVID epidemic. He shares how the politics of fear, more than science, has been informing COVID policy in Canada in the U.S. Jordan also tries to understand how the left, who usually hates big corporations, has handed over it’s trust to big pharma.

Next, Jordan discusses the COP26 summit and the horrible position liberals and environmentalists have put themselves in by pushing for more expensive renewable energy while claiming to care for the poor. He explains why their more expensive energy plans will cause electricity prices to skyrocket, hurting those most vulnerable. He suggests we follow China’s lead and invest in nuclear power to create as much cheap energy as possible which can mitigate the effects of climate change without sacrificing the poor. He explains the problems of sustainable development and why you should dismiss anyone who advocates for Net Zero.

Finally, Jordan discusses what religion and spirituality mean to him. He shares the answer he gives when asked “does god exist?” He also explains why people like Sam Harris may not be as atheist as they may think they are. He also explains why science fails as a religion and what religious thoughts really are.

I will just add that Peterson announces that he is going to the UK soon, to speak in Cambridge and Oxford, with, among others, Richard Dawkins. That’s something to look forward to.

Pope Francis wants to “convert” humanity

. . . away from Christianity, it seems

Is the current Pope a Christian? When reading this article by Matthew J.L. Ehret, one can develop doubts about that.

Ehret points out what the current Pope wrote during the recent COP26 conference:

“We can confront these crises by retreating into isolationism, protectionism and exploitation. Or we can see in them a real chance for change, a genuine moment of conversion, and not simply in a spiritual sense.” [emphasis by me, PwG]

In this, Pope Francis has form. As Ehret writes:

Within the 2015 Laudato Si, the Pope took aim directly at the “old and obsolete” notion of Christianity that had seen humanity as a divine creature born with a Promethean spark saying:

“An inadequate presentation of Christian anthropology gave rise to a wrong understanding of the relationship between human beings and the world. Often, what was handed on was a  Promethean vision of mastery over the world.”

This is weird indeed – from a Pope. “Fill the earth and govern it” (Genesis 1:28), God’s first commandment to humanity, is pretty unambiguous. What’s there to misunderstand?

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Today is the 200th Birthday of Fyodor Dostoevsky

His "Crime and Punishment" taught me a lesson

Many years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I shared a flat with someone who had a copy of “Crime and Punishment” by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. I borrowed it. When I started reading it, I found it easy to identify with the feelings of isolation and alienation of the (anti-)hero, the impoverished student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov.

Raskolnikov thinks himself intelligent enough to be above the law, and do justice his own way. However, he then goes and murders someone. The victim is innocent, but the reader is not invited to find her likable. This was a brilliant move by Dostoevsky, because it forces the reader to examine himself. Do we not all sometimes harbour feelings of superiority? The rest of the book is all about Raskolnikov’s attempts to deal with the fact that he has killed someone.

The lesson the book taught me was to “consider the possibility that I might be wrong”. It taught me some humility. For that, I am deeply grateful to Dostoevsky.

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