Tagged: Jesus

I’m Tired of Motivational Speaking and Writing

If you’re of a mind to think thoughts in any direction besides Left, you have to admit that the end of all scrolling is motivational circle-jerks. The last two articles I’ve read, one sent by a close friend, were of this sort. The singular theme running through all of them, whether in words like “Remnant” or “Silent Supporter,” is “Keep at it!” and “Persevere!”

I’m tired of them.

Since when did motivational speaking and writing eclipse all other forms?

What exactly caused this shift of the West’s ideal archetype from “mentally strong” to “emotionally inspired”? Wealth? Abundance? Ignorance? Leisure? Nature? Nurture?

No different than how it is a lie that systemic racism exists in America, it is a lie that individual motivation results from exhortation and admonishment.

You are weak and will fail if you need outside sources motivating you in order to act. Individual action is not the result or effect of cheerleading, it is the cause of cheerleading. In life, you, capital Y, have to want it. No one else can tell you to want it. As we’re observing moment to moment, the opposition is counterfeit opposition. We’re placing our hope in confidence men.

Here’s the problem: the Left daily, definitively, boundlessly, and successfully employs the power of shame to achieve its desires. Put another way, the problem is “shamelessness” is more powerful than “truth.”

And no matter how many pep rally’s those outside the Left conjure in response, this problem is simply and unavoidably depressing.

The truth is we just lose. Someone’s got to.

Overdue Post on “Justice”

Socrates via Plato used a lot of ink when writing about the meaning of what translators call “justice”. It’s fun to read. And it might actually take that much ink to make the point. But this post will take a stab at summarizing him.

In short, the whole “social justice”, “racial justice”, “economic justice” scene could be silenced by swapping out the word “justice” for a word which means what Socrates and Plato were talking about. To be clear, “justice” is a fairly empty word. I agree that something needs attention right now, but the word “justice” is impotent and distracting.

Q: What word would help our current political dialogue resolve itself and captures the content Socrates and Plato provided?

A: Alignment

Change “we need social justice” to “we need social alignment” and now the conversation moves places.

Change “there needs to be racial justice” to “there needs to be racial alignment” and now the discussion gets interesting.

Change “don’t stop until we get economic justice” to “don’t stop until we get economic alignment” and now the debate is over.

As it stands, you (even me) are being baited by calls for justice. That is all. Until we get specific with the language, the powerful speakers are laughing at their easy use of the non-specific language of “justice” (itself deriving its supposed moral power from the Bible’s sometimes use) to cause confusion and grab more power, all while we’re debating the volume of emptiness.

You say you want justice. How about alignment? Do you want social alignment, racial alignment, and economic alignment?

I’m not asking you to decide if my understanding of Socrates is correct. I’m asking you to clarify for me what you mean. Can you? Do you even know what you mean?

One Example of Allowing the Gospel To Ferret Out the Lie That Is BLM And To Cast Down The False God George Floyd, Followed By Advice for Irritated Christians.

“Black Lives Matter!”

“No. Paul wrote, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’”

“But you don’t understand. Black and brown people have been unduly oppressed for far too long. Now is the time for justice. Black Lives Matter!”

“Nope. Paul wrote, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’”

“We’re not at church, man. This isn’t some ideal world. This is the real world. You’re either with us in our long overdue support of Black and Brown people, or you’re a white supremacist. Black Lives Matter!”

“Not true. Paul wrote, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’”

“Is that all you know? One verse? Do you think it is working on me? The Bible is about justice, man. You can’t take one verse and throw it around and think you’re going to change minds. I’m not saying that Paul’s wrong. It’s a nice thought. But we’ve got to help the Black and Brown people right now. They have been oppressed for far too long. It’s the system that needs to change. Black Lives Matter!”

“‘A nice thought?’ Interesting. If you liked that one, how about this thought? The Bible says George Floyd deserved to die-”

“-what?”

“-I’m not finished. You asked for more than a verse right? I’d ask you to let me finish. The Bible also says that Derek Chauvin is currently receiving patience and grace. I believe that with all my heart. But I also believe those two points are fairly irrelevant. More relevant is the next one. The Bible says you and me are receiving grace and patience from the only god, the one true god, the god before whom every knee will bow, before whom every man will confess that Jesus Christ is lord of all. What do you think about that? Do you think the Bible is right? Are you receiving patience and grace? Or no?”

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People. As stated in earlier posts, I am doing my best to avoid reading the political commentary, especially the left’s marketing team known as “conservative political commentary.” But no matter how hard I try, I can’t kill the hope that there is hope. So I watch. I watch the conservatives. And they always lose. I never see a “leftist” give an inch. Instead, I see the Left continually gaining inroads. And I see the Truth preaching to the choir.

Read your Bibles. The Truth, Victory itself, is not found by “reasoning”. It is not in “logic” or “good points”.

The “Left”, the “collectivists”, the “racists”, the “communists”, the whole lot of them, will never be defeated by an argument.

The battle is not one of ideas. It is not “logical idea” vs. “illogical idea.”

The battle is not between “cultures”. It is not “inclusive culture” vs. “exclusive culture”.

The battle is Truth vs. Lie.

Tell the Truth.

Admit the Left isn’t budging. Admit the argument for “individualism” isn’t growing. And, finally, admit that the battle is the LORD’s. Fight with the Gospel. The Gospel is not that black and brown people were saved by Jesus’ blood sacrifice and all-powerful resurrection. The Gospel is that Jesus died for you. Just you. The end state of the conversation is your opponent saying this exact same thing.

In brief:

Why is BLM a lie? See the Gospel via Paul.

Why is communism a lie? See the Gospel via Moses.

Why is racism a lie? See the Gospel via David.

Christians: we are the only people who can possibly make a dent, and we’re the only people who also know that God may not want the judgement to be delayed. We’re to offer our lives as examples of hope for the unseen. We must not fall prey to the appeal of using worldly tactics. We’re not unique because we’re mathletes. Life isn’t last Saturday’s high school debate tournament in overtime.

In life, our weapon is Truth—specifically scripture. Read it. Study it. Repeat it. If you offer it, like in the above example, and the opposition won’t have it, that’s on them. But once you test what I’m saying, you’ll see with your own eyes that the Left will engage it. This is because they are working for the devil. And he is a liar. He actually thinks he wins. The Gospel is that he already lost. Your job is to let the supernatural, unseen spiritual realm go to work. Use the Gospel against what you perceive are lies.

Lastly, watch out. It’s a two way street. You (we) may find some uncomfortable truths in this process too.

Week In Review—Shotgun Style

My daughter’s school district sent out the anonymous “don’t be ashamed” but “your child has to go into quarantine” email yesterday. This is the second time. Education should erase fear, not promote it. Public Schools must be abolished.

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I have officially passed the tipping point. I do not think earthly happiness can be achieved without owning a Rodecaster Pro podcast production studio.

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I usually feel pretty smart. Okay, I usually feel very smart. But these days I think I feel how geniuses must feel. You see my oldest daughter is 3/4 round-eye, the other 1/4 being Asian. And my youngest daughter is 1/2 DFPWHTSSTACSO (Descended From People Who Have The Same Skin Tone As Colonial Slave Owners) and the other 1/2 Habesha or never conquered or—to your eyes—black (which is the same). So I think I’m one of the good guys—just like my ancestors used to be.

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As far as Megan Rapinoe, I only want to share what a stripper told me one night as we critically, but casually, surveyed the other Independent Professional Entertainers on the floor. (Don’t ask me. Something to do with taxes.) She said, “The hair color we were born with adorns our body as beautifully as possible. It matches our face and skin and complexion perfectly.”

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Lastly, some hope. I overheard an elderly patient on one of my flights this week lament upon hearing that she still had to put on a mask when we landed at the gaining hospital. “But I’ve had both of my vaccinations,” she declared irritated. In this case, like most, the customer is always right. As the hospitals return to normalcy, the public will too. And hopefully we’ve learned to never again trust health experts while we have our health. Or Democrats.

Remaining Unmolested in the Time of Perversion

My title comes from the fact that I’m an Eagle Scout. I was in the Boy Scouts of America since 4th grade, and I was awarded the highest rank shortly before my 18th birthday.

This achievement is probably the biggest reason I was accepted into USAF pilot training—plenty of fellas have good grades and a pilot license. Nowadays, if I’m at work and in front of a television set I can’t help but be struck by the amount of commercials having to do with how the Boy Scouts were apparently the second worst organization in human history as measured by how many little boys the adult men in charge molested.

I was never molested. None of my friends were molested.

Also all over the news right now is the Oprah interview. Hopefully it’s Oprah’s last. I refuse to watch it, but am confident the folks at Charlie Hebdo have summed it up quaintly.

We live in the time of perversion.

Meghan and Harry are not royalty any more than LeBron is king.

Oprah didn’t “conduct an interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex”, anymore than Trump “incited the January 6th insurrection.”

America is not a democracy—nor an oligarchy—anymore than Somalia is under rule of law.

When my friend and I had cars and driver’s licenses, we were sure to enjoy the newfound and rare freedom to linger whimsically after Monday night Scout meetings ended. The rest of the boys were picked up by their parents in timely fashion with little say about the matter. Most leaders were themselves parents, but there often would be one thirty year old single dude who just liked camping and giving back to the organization that formed him so strongly.

One night, this thirty year old and my friend and I were chatting in the parking lot. The Scoutmaster came over and stood for a bit—almost seeming impatient. Finally he did seem impatient and I said, “We’re okay. You don’t have to stay.”

I’ll never forget the feeling in my gut when the Scoutmaster gave me a look that said, “How stupid can you be?”

As we turned to get in our respective vehicles, in an attempt to save face with my friend, I think I overcompensated and actually said, “I still don’t understand why we have to have two adults,” even though I knew darn well that child molestation was a thing.

For this post, the aspect I’m drawing attention to is the silent shame that I was made to feel for being stupid, for ignoring reality, for trying to pretend there are no patterns in life.

My life is overflowing with men and women who made me feel shame for being stupid.

And my-unmolested-self couldn’t be more grateful.

How about you? Feel like you learned anything here today?

If You’re Angry, Then You’re Cain (And They’re Abel)

Here’s a post on practical application of the Bible. Why? Because it’s Sunday and because today I found myself looking up what the word “anger” meant as far as the Bible writers were concerned because I didn’t want to believe that I was angry—because I didn’t want the Word to apply to me.

Recently, my stepson and I have been reading some ol’ timey stories and the characters often say, “Be careful! Or I’ll warm you!”

Contextually, we knew this was a threat to fight, but we also knew that we didn’t quite understand it. Then, in one of the stories, an author took time to explain that “warming” someone has to do with how your opponent (the one about to be ‘warmed’) is presently calm and cool, but after a fight will be hot and sweaty—or warm. (“Painting your cheeks red” has similar meaning, again depending on context.)

Suffice it to say that this is what the biblical writers meant by “anger.” And this is still contemporary anger, too. Anger is being hot.

Cain kills Abel. He kills him after the LORD warns him that there is no reason to be angry.

How to cool off? Transfer the heat via radiation, convection, and/or perspiration. But I don’t know if this is the right question.

If you’re angry, then you’re Cain. Instead of cooling off, maybe don’t get angry. How to not get angry? Total perspective change. Here’s mine.

I’ve now come to be happy that the LORD has chosen my ex-wife to parent our daughter.

Why does it work? Because I have no fucking idea why He chose Abel; and His choice in this matter is likewise mysterious. (And because I’m not Cain.)

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I’m Over Conservative Pundits. Off Button, Please.

Two days ago, I looked at the world through the eyes of Bill Gates. What I saw was not quite that he wanted to turn humans into batteries—Matrix-style—but that he (as an inventor of a powered tool) valued perpetual energy over human liberty. Today, I want to look at the conservative pundits through the eyes of a marketer. Why? Because my YouTube “feed” makes me feel shame before my maker.

Whether Shapiro, Prager, Tucker, or Elder (not to mention Knowles who I click on most for some unknown reason), when viewed from a marketing perspective, they all contribute more to the Left’s publicity than anything pushed by the Left. If ratings are to be trusted, this observation is even more damning.

I would never know that “chestfeeding” is a term or that the “classics” are being banned if I didn’t read and listen to the conservatives. Why wouldn’t I know? Because the Left doesn’t market themselves. Instead, the Left marches along, shaming any dissenters. The Left doesn’t shout, “We’re changing the language!” Instead, they change the language and shame dissenters. The Left doesn’t shout, “we’re banning the classics!” Instead, the Left bans the classics and shames the dissenters.

I’ve already written that if conservatives are not writing to incite war, then they’re wasting their time. Here again, I’m writing that if you’re calling attention to the Left’s actions, you’re simply acting as their marketing team. There’s no such thing as bad publicity. I’m saying here that I now believe that the conservative pundits help the Left, or, in other words, I’m arguing that conservative pundits are out of alignment with their own goals. You don’t put McDonald’s out of business by creating ads that tell people how cheap (in price or quality) their burgers are.

If the Left (or pure evil) understands anything better than the conservatives, it is that we do not live in a world of ideas. We live in a concrete world, a world where action matters most. “Raising awareness” is not action. And the Left, despite its claims to the contrary, never raises awareness. Instead, they shame dissenters. Shame is not an idea. Shame is the targeted illumination of specific actions for the purpose of conformity. Ben Shapiro revealing that the Left just passed another evil law does nothing but advertise that the Left is winning.

In any case, I’m done with conservative pundits. I own too many unread good books to waste time reading and listening to conservative pundits, now known to me as the Left’s marketing team.

Good day, Sir!

I Don’t Know Why It Evokes Such Emotion

Yesterday as I listened, I kept thinking, “If you’re not careful, you may end up highlighting who really incited the demonstration…yourselves,” as the Left made its case.

Today, when I watched the opening statement and the barrage of montage highlighting the utter hypocrisy of the Left, I cried.

Apparently I can take the dose from the Left when offered daily.

Apparently I am overwhelmed by the administration of many of the Left’s daily doses into one five minute period.

Oh. And the rest of the “very fine people” response now seems like the most sensible sentiment he ever uttered. Anyone else find that to be true? Separation makes the heart grow fonder, I guess.