Tag: Christianity

China is cracking down on Roman Catholics:

China will enforce new restrictions on religious groups, organizations, meetings, and other related events starting on Feb 1. The country’s state-controlled media announced the new policy on Dec. 30, after Chinese authorities moved to further suppress Catholics in the Archdiocese of Fuzhou who are refusing to join the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

According to UCA News, the new “Administrative Measures for Religious Groups,” which consists of six sections and 41 articles, will control every aspect of religious activity within China, and will mandate that all religions and believers in China comply with regulations issued by the Chinese Communist Party, which must be acknowledged as the higher authority.

I don’t know that one can consider this a persecution of actual Christians, though. At this point, anyone who swears allegiance to the so-called Pope Francis is pretty damn suspect in my opinion. Whatever god it is that cult of grotesqueries worships, I’m fairly confident it isn’t God the Father, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, or even anything related to the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Where is the Inquisition when you need it?

I have to admit, I really don’t quite know where to start with the “hurr durr Vox thinks China are the good guys” crowd.

Let’s start with observing that the very formulation contains a category error. Nations and governments are not people. Therefore, they do not have friends, only interests. Nations and governments are also not moral agents. Therefore, they cannot be “good guys”, or, for that matter, “bad guys”.

This is why I detest the inevitably disastrous attempts of my intellectual inferiors to summarize my thinking.

Let me be perfectly clear: I do not think China are “the good guys”. I am aware that it is a nation ruled by the Communist Party. I am familiar with Chinese history and I am cognizant of the fact that its current rulers are persecuting Christians.

You may recall, that I picked up an East Asian Studies major to go with my Economics degree while I was at university.

However, unlike my critics, I am also aware that the Chinese governments persecutes Christians with considerably less vigor than it persecutes Tibetans, Uighurs, and corrupt government officials. In fact, it is only ranked 23rd on the list of religious persecution, and is not known to have executed a single Christian in 2020. This hardly ranks with Diocletian or North Korea.

Furthermore, who could honestly condemn a nationalist government that persecutes Christians, at least so-called Christians of the sort who are actively aiding and abetting the ongoing invasion of the West? I’d very much like to see a dedicated persecution of those Churchians myself.

Finally, I invite my critics to contemplate this conundrum: a socialist system based upon a planned economy does not work because it is unable to allocate resources effectively due to the lack of price signals, as per Mises and The Contradictions of Socialist Economies. The Chinese economy features both price signals and effective resource allocation, as well as considerable economic growth.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

But he’s certainly going to try to impose The Mark of the Beast on a fallen world. And no one can reasonably claim they didn’t know:

You have GOT to be kidding me, chapter 837: The enzyme that is used in the Quantum Dot ID that Bill Gates will use for the Mark of the Beast fake vaccine is called… wait for it… Luciferase.

If, at this point, you’re not a Christian, you’re either devoted to evil, blinded by evil, or you’re simply not paying any attention at all. This level of purposeful revolt against God and His Creation, the intensity of this war against the Good, the Beautiful, and the True, simply cannot be mere happenstance.

The logic defies disbelief.

Any self-professed Christian who uses the term “hurting your witness” in an attempt to police the behavior of Christians is almost certainly worshipping something that is not Jesus Christ.

Sadly, Christians seem to be disproportionately fooled by conspiracy theories. I’ve also said before that when Christians spread lies, they need to repent of those lies. Sharing fake news makes us look foolish and harms our witness.

We saw this in the last election when some of the troll factories focused on conservative, evangelical Christians. Here we go again.

What now?

First, we need to speak up— particularly to those fooled yet again— and lovingly say, “You need to go to trusted sources.” Social media news feeds are not a trusted source. That’s why we created coronavirusandthechurch.com, to provide credible information for pastors. But, there are plenty of credible news sources— generally from outlets that do not have a track record of conspiracy peddling.

Second, God has not called us to be easily fooled. Gullibility is not a Christian virtue. Believing and sharing conspiracies does not honor the Lord. It may make you feel better, like you are in the know, but it can end up harming others and it can hurt your witness. 

I’m not saying this guy actually has small bodies buried in his garden or has visited Epstein’s island, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to learn that he is a massive fan of Star Trek. Christians are supposed to follow the truth, and if there is one thing that we have learned over the years, it is that the truth is one thing in which “credible news sources” absolutely do not traffic. They are, in fact,  the primary factories of fake news.

You can always tell the Churchian because his primary concern is to avoid looking foolish in the eyes of the world.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
– Matthew 28: 1-10

He is risen. Have a Happy Easter.

This crisis is not primarily one of disease. There is a very good reason why the spiritually sensitive around the world have been reporting an increase in demonic activity worldwide:

“A great heaviness has entered into my priesthood. This time has been the biggest test of my priesthood, and I guess of my life,” said the priest, known for his cheerfulness, work ethic and devotion to Our Lady. “I do think the Evil One is hitting the priests hardest now. His number one tool is his spirit of discouragement. His M.O. is to make it seem like we’re accomplishing nothing as a priest. Why pray? Why sit by the window [for outdoor confessions] when no one comes. Why make another [senseless] video on the need for prayer during COVID-19 when no one watches? It’s like his voice says, ‘You’re worthless now as a priest – you’re detached from your people, and they aren’t praying or paying attention anyway’….

I phoned an exorcist in Washington D.C. I asked if demonic activity had increased since the Eucharist had been held back and many church doors had been locked.

“Exorcists and those gifted individuals with insights into the spiritual realm have seen more intense demonic activity now. There has been a definite uptick,” he said, “Satan’s taken advantage of this crisis to meet his own ends, It seems demons have been given a free hand now.”

I called a layperson active in the deliverance ministry, who wished to remain anonymous.

“The intensity of the suffering has increased. It’s the spirit and voice of condescension that speaks loudly now,” the individual said. “At the same time, the call to prayer is like a tsunami now. I feel like I don’t need to sleep. I just want to pray throughout the night – this seems to be the same experience of the priests I’ve been working with. There is a ferocity and intensity about what they are seeing now in the spiritual realm.”

But there is no need for despair. Is it not conflict that confirms our purpose? The more the face of evil is revealed, the more it underlines the reality, indeed, the absolute necessity, for our faith in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is not those who are devoted to the Good, the Beautiful, and the True who are breaking down and crying on air. It is not those who worship at the Cross who are cracking under the strain. The demons are raging because they, their master, and his human slaves are all being defeated.

Tanith Lee, the late, great dark fantasy writer, rather succinctly describes the putative appeal of the ticket to those who take it in Le Livre Safran:

“It is Lucifer, Lord Satan, who rules the world,” said the priest. “To survive here, we’re bound to worship him.”

He showed them a drawing on parchment, a rose transfixed by a dagger.

“Remember this sign. We meet here, under the old church. You will be obliged to render passwords. In time, who knows what riches and power we shall accumulate, through the favour of our Master. I myself,” he said, “survived the plague. That was his sign to me. God smote me, but Satan raised me to do his work and glorify him. You’re an artist of the City. Who spoke to you of this secret society?”

“Several,” said the young man. “But Motius the Artisan was once my tutor.”

“The magician? Yes. His house was burned up and flaming fiends carried him to Hell. You understand, there’s no escape at last. It ends in fire.”

“Hah. Yes.” The young man smiled.

“But meanwhile, a life of wishes fulfilled. His servants he never cheats. All the joys of the flesh, full dominion over others. The end is horror, but you may have three hundred years of pleasures before that payment comes due.”

Of course, even when the prince of this world purports to be telling the truth, he deceives. He ALWAYS cheats his servants; indeed, they are the only souls over whom he has total power to use and abuse as he sees fit. And when a servant ceases to be useful, he is, like Hawkins in The Dark is Rising or Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood, hurled from the Black Rider’s high horse to break upon the ground.

This is the primary danger of atheism and nihilism. These false philosophies render one susceptible to the illusion that one trades nothing for something of value when one is offered the ticket. But the reverse is considerably more close to being true.

The following exchange with my old friend Jamsco amused me. Mostly because I was pretty sure we’d been over this before. Keep in mind we’ve known each other since we were children and he is one of the two early Selenoth readers, so we are pretty straightforward with each other.

VD: It’s always easy to detect the inversionists. They cannot tell the truth because, knowingly or not, they serve the Father of Lies. Piper’s words directly belie the words of Jesus Christ himself. That tells you everything you need to know about the man and his teachings.

JS: I suspect, Vox, that if you actually read Piper’s devotional you’d (1) agree with 85{de336c7190f620554615b98f51c6a13b1cc922a472176e2638084251692035b3} of it, and (2) see that the above description is whole inaccurate and deceptive.

VD: Every single thing of Piper’s I’ve read to date has not only been materially wrong, but egregiously so to the point of being insulting to the intelligence. I still haven’t forgotten how tornadoes are the murderous fingers of the Jesus Christ as he slays the innocent and the wicked alike as per God’s perfect plan.

JS: I see you haven’t forgotten it, nor did you learn it from him. He said nothing of the sort. Read it again. Confirmation bias is real.

VD: You claimed that Piper “said nothing of the sort”, Jamsco. That may or may not be true. But he certainly WROTE it.

“Why would God reach down his hand and drag his fierce fingers across rural America, killing at least 38 people with 90 tornadoes in 12 states, and leaving some small towns with scarcely a building standing, including churches?

“God alone has the last say in where and how the wind blows. If a tornado twists at 175 miles an hour and stays on the ground like a massive lawnmower for 50 miles, God gave the command.

“Jesus rules the wind. The tornadoes were his.

“But before Jesus took any life in rural America, he gave his own on the rugged cross.”

JS: I didn’t know he’d written this. Obviously I agree with what he says here (and I think it’s biblical), but you’re correct – he wrote it.

Just to be fair to Jamsco, I will point out that the fact that I previously posted on the subject doesn’t mean that he read that post. Also, I have not read the referenced devotional, and so it is possible that the description to which I reacted is inaccurate and deceptive. I tend to doubt it on the basis of every previous reading of his writings, but I admit that it is possible.

And no, I’m not going to bother to check, because I was neither created nor destined to take the man seriously. I am content to leave it up to you, gentle readers, to adjudicate the truth of the matter.

Dostoevsky understood that when the Church becomes the State, it ceases to be the Church, as he described in The Brothers Karamazov:

In many cases there are no churches there at all, for though ecclesiastics and splendid church buildings remain, the churches themselves have long ago striven to pass from Church into State and to disappear in it completely. So it seems at least in Lutheran countries. As for Rome, it was proclaimed a State instead of a Church a thousand years ago.

The State Churches of Great Britain, Norway, and Sweden bear testimony to this perspective. Temporal power has always been the great temptation of the Christian, as it was of Jesus Christ himself.

The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 

Of course, Dostoevsky very well understood that others accepted the offer that Jesus Christ rejected.

All that I can say is known to Thee already. And is it for me to conceal from Thee our mystery? Perhaps it is Thy will to hear it from my lips. Listen, then. We are not working with Thee, but with him–that is our mystery. It’s long–eight centuries–since we have been on his side and not on Thine. Just eight centuries ago, we took from him what Thou didst reject with scorn, that last gift he offered Thee, showing Thee all the kingdoms of the earth. We took from him Rome and the sword of Cæsar, and proclaimed ourselves sole rulers of the earth, though hitherto we have not been able to complete our work. But whose fault is that? Oh, the work is only beginning, but it has begun. It has long to await completion and the earth has yet much to suffer, but we shall triumph and shall be Cæsars, and then we shall plan the universal happiness of man.

Beware those who preach the unity of Man and the healing of the world. Those who do have taken the Grand Ticket.

Our suggested devotional for Lent is by John Piper. What an absolute trainwreck. He starts by making sure that everyone knows that Jesus death was through Divine determination before creation and who killed him is irrelevant as he chose to die. But then turns around and scolds Christians for the Holocaust and the Crusades.

If it’s all decreed without human choice being involved then all of it, including the aforementioned, was just as decreed as every other atom. 

What a joke. 

It’s always easy to detect the inversionists. They cannot tell the truth because, knowingly or not, they serve the Father of Lies. Piper’s words directly belie the words of Jesus Christ himself. That tells you everything you need to know about the man and his teachings.