On this Remembrance Day, let us pray for the souls of soldiers who fought with integrity for principles we have abandoned without integrity, and also for those who weren't sure what they were fighting for (2 Macc. 12). And whatever Canadian authorities in Canada presume to permit or forbid, let us direct our prayers precisely to the LORD God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How peculiar, and how unacceptable, that a military deprived by the government of physical equipment should seek to deprive its soldiers of spiritual equipment as well.
Great essay. At least in the US, the government and the wider culture seem focused on what remains of our Christian culture with particular focus on the family.
BTW...The Thanatos Syndrome is a great book and Percy was a prophet but my heart belongs to the Moviegoer.
You have absolutely nailed all the issues we are facing in this world today, succinctly and precisely. Personally, I am always reminded of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 these days: "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths."
As one who moved from Montreal to New Orleans I have come to regard Douglas Farrow and Walker Percy as two of the most profound authors of this troubled age. Thank you
"Most dictatorial regimes combine a discourse of victimhood with a need for revenge in order to place themselves outside the law and present their appetite for conquest as a concern to protect the vulnerable. By invoking the persecuted of yesterday, they justify new persecutions that are built under the auspices of freedom and justice. This is particularly evident in the case of radical Islam, which wraps its global and totalitarian ambitions in the language of oppression—Hamas, like ISIS, gave us the human abattoir sanctioned by God... For the oppressed, there is no such thing as human evil, there are only evil circumstances. In the ideology of absolution, an act is nothing more than a symptom and it melts into the surrounding determinism like sugar in tea. Thus, many hurry to excuse Hamas’s barbarism with reference to extenuating context."
Last word to AJH: Worlds apart, you say. There is indeed an enormous difference between those who think that Palestinian grievances justify Palestinian atrocities and those who don't. That is the one point that matters here. Not your or my interpretation of the past, present, or future of Middle East politics, or of Zionism and anti-Zionism in its various forms, to which I have not spoken. You may appeal to your politics. I will appeal to my principles. I don't believe in doing evil that good may come, just as I don't believe in calling evil good or a lie truth. But now this must suffice, since we are merely repeating ourselves.
Really? I read this last night and couldn't make sense of it. And I look forward to what you write.
It makes me wonder if my thinking is lost, that I don't want to massacre Palestinians, that I struggle to find compassion for the Jews - frankly, now, worldwide - that tolerate this poison. That the US is every bit a Nazi nation like Ukraine, like Israel. I wonder if my thinking is broken that I'm not willing to give the Israelis - and Jews too - unswerving support. To send them my money and resources so they can slaughter. Where did I fall off the wagon, what's wrong with me?
Was it Arlo Guthrie? Did he have it right, sitting on the 4w bench getting everyone else to chant "I want to kill". Myabe I'm messing that up with someone else.
IDF snipers shooting children. Really? Out of all the people /in the hospitals/ they shoot at, they target the children?
I was looking forward to your thoughts on "something big". Because there /is/ something bigger going on, but humanity melting down isn't specific enough for my understanding. And yes, it is related to utilitarianism and the general loss of faith as an underpinning for action.
There is something big going on. And it is inside each of us.
On this Remembrance Day, let us pray for the souls of soldiers who fought with integrity for principles we have abandoned without integrity, and also for those who weren't sure what they were fighting for (2 Macc. 12). And whatever Canadian authorities in Canada presume to permit or forbid, let us direct our prayers precisely to the LORD God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. How peculiar, and how unacceptable, that a military deprived by the government of physical equipment should seek to deprive its soldiers of spiritual equipment as well.
Great essay. At least in the US, the government and the wider culture seem focused on what remains of our Christian culture with particular focus on the family.
BTW...The Thanatos Syndrome is a great book and Percy was a prophet but my heart belongs to the Moviegoer.
You have absolutely nailed all the issues we are facing in this world today, succinctly and precisely. Personally, I am always reminded of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 these days: "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths."
As one who moved from Montreal to New Orleans I have come to regard Douglas Farrow and Walker Percy as two of the most profound authors of this troubled age. Thank you
Worth reading: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/simonson-gaza-and-israel-and-peace
Also worth reading, by Pascal Bruckner, though here it is necessary to warn of disturbing content: https://quillette.com/2023/12/12/the-genocidal-imagination/
"Most dictatorial regimes combine a discourse of victimhood with a need for revenge in order to place themselves outside the law and present their appetite for conquest as a concern to protect the vulnerable. By invoking the persecuted of yesterday, they justify new persecutions that are built under the auspices of freedom and justice. This is particularly evident in the case of radical Islam, which wraps its global and totalitarian ambitions in the language of oppression—Hamas, like ISIS, gave us the human abattoir sanctioned by God... For the oppressed, there is no such thing as human evil, there are only evil circumstances. In the ideology of absolution, an act is nothing more than a symptom and it melts into the surrounding determinism like sugar in tea. Thus, many hurry to excuse Hamas’s barbarism with reference to extenuating context."
Last word to AJH: Worlds apart, you say. There is indeed an enormous difference between those who think that Palestinian grievances justify Palestinian atrocities and those who don't. That is the one point that matters here. Not your or my interpretation of the past, present, or future of Middle East politics, or of Zionism and anti-Zionism in its various forms, to which I have not spoken. You may appeal to your politics. I will appeal to my principles. I don't believe in doing evil that good may come, just as I don't believe in calling evil good or a lie truth. But now this must suffice, since we are merely repeating ourselves.
Thank you! This is a great read!
Really? I read this last night and couldn't make sense of it. And I look forward to what you write.
It makes me wonder if my thinking is lost, that I don't want to massacre Palestinians, that I struggle to find compassion for the Jews - frankly, now, worldwide - that tolerate this poison. That the US is every bit a Nazi nation like Ukraine, like Israel. I wonder if my thinking is broken that I'm not willing to give the Israelis - and Jews too - unswerving support. To send them my money and resources so they can slaughter. Where did I fall off the wagon, what's wrong with me?
Was it Arlo Guthrie? Did he have it right, sitting on the 4w bench getting everyone else to chant "I want to kill". Myabe I'm messing that up with someone else.
IDF snipers shooting children. Really? Out of all the people /in the hospitals/ they shoot at, they target the children?
I was looking forward to your thoughts on "something big". Because there /is/ something bigger going on, but humanity melting down isn't specific enough for my understanding. And yes, it is related to utilitarianism and the general loss of faith as an underpinning for action.
There is something big going on. And it is inside each of us.
Enjoy this dance: https://t.me/espiritutemplario/66747
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Much to think about here, thanks.