This is the first call to repentance that this Reformed Christian has heard from a theologian. Thank you, sir. The gates of hell will not prevail against the beautiful Bride of Christ, but she does seemed very tattered at present. I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will ‘suddenly come to His temple’ and so fill the hearts of all the faithful that God’s truth will move across the world in ways we have not yet witnessed.
One of the hardest aspects of the "pandemic" for me as a devout Catholic was the Church's failure to take a leading role in questioning the narrative. The Church has a global abundance of devout researchers, physicians and theologians, and there was never an attempt to bring this vast resource together to address the situation. My physician husband spoke up in smaller Catholic circles but received no support from our local Bishop, who instead said "We are following the CDC guidelines." Since when did the Church take directives from the CDC? I cannot get into the heart and mind of the Pope - was he "worm tongued" by Fauci? Even after the world finally became aware that the vaccine did not stop transmission (systemically given respiratory vaccines never do - a known fact pre-covid) the Pope continued to urge vaccination for the sake of others.
What a lost opportunity to fight the globalist! What if the Church said, "NO. We will not close down, we will not support mandates. Our own experts tell us that such mRNA vaccines in the past have failed, that such vaccines do not stop transmission, that natural immunity is always more robust than a vaccine."
Rather than realizing this failure and working to prevent such a fiasco again, what do we hear from the Vatican? Nothing - no apology, no recognition it was part of the problem, part of something evil. If the present evil is to be subjugated, only a holy, world wide institution like the Church can do it.
I have no doubt that, had the Church stood firm—refusing to panic, refusing to withdraw its ministries, asking publicly the hard questions, demanding and offering early treatment to the sick in league with conscientious physicians—that even this militarized pandemic exercise would have failed. Instead it played the role of old Théodon, for which role it too was groomed, as I argued in 'A New Catholicism?' and 'Test of Fidelity'. To whom much has been given, from him will much be required. And to whom has been given more than to the Church? The present essay, given the context for which it was prepared, does not go so far as to make that point, but it must be made. Only when the Church recognizes its failure, and the churches individually, will there be real promise of a different future than the one being planned for us by godless men.
I very much enjoyed (even for so sad a topic) my first introduction to your writing:)
My husband wrote this article which appeared in LifeSite on this subject. LifeSite changed the title without permission - and did not change it back after it was requested.
From the beginning of the plannedemic, the warning in Revelations kept coming to my mind and thankfully, I refused to accept what I believed to be the number of the beast - the covid vaccine. I was stunned at how many churches were participating in totalitarian practices such as tracking, masking, and encouraging people take experimental vaccines. I truly felt my faith was being tested and I needed guidance. I prayed and was blessed to find a church leader in my community who not only saw the truth, but also tried to help the blind to see. Sadly, this leader was taken home by 'aggressive cancer'. I thank God I was able to meet him and to learn from him. There is a lot to pray for these days, but mostly, I pray that more people will see the truth before it is too late.
Wonderful piece Douglas , I read and felt uplifted and reinforced. Truly you have touched the core of our misguided detachment from God and our own spirit. We will turn this usurpation around and let the light back in.
I was sent here from Aaron Kheriaty’s substack and read this entire essay with great appreciation and more than one “Amen!” Will be sharing this widely. Thank you for your faith, study, love, and courage. Let God be true, though every man were a liar.
As Aaron Kheriaty is saying in The New Abnormal, and I in 'America's War', so Jacob Siegel in the Tablet: "Something monstrous is taking shape in America... What is coming into being is a new form of government and social organization that is as different from mid-twentieth century liberal democracy as the early American republic was from the British monarchism that it grew out of and eventually supplanted. A state organized on the principle that it exists to protect the sovereign rights of individuals, is being replaced by a digital leviathan that wields power through opaque algorithms and the manipulation of digital swarms." Read Siegel's article at https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation.
Smart cities also have something to do with this. Here's another interview on that subject, this one with Garnett Genuis, MP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2po_92bNHh0. (Unlike the Iron Will interview that is linked in the present article, it is audio only.) See also 'Public Poverty, Private Wealth' here on DBC.
Godspeed to the Douglas Farrows of the world. Christ's bride, His Chuch on earth, took a hit these past three years. It's time to dust off the secularism that tainted Christians and put on Christ's shining armor and fight the advances made by the godless, transhumanist totalitarians recently. Our first task is to admit our mistakes--sins, I dare say--and make a firm commitment to fully embrace our biblical basics and invite the Holy Spirir back into out worship services. I've sent your piece to a member or two of our ministerial staff. It was wonderful. Thank you, Douglas Farrow.
You're welcome. I hope those you shared it with find it helpful. And welcome to new readers and commenters. I read all the comments though I don't try to reply to them all.
I am one of those new readers who found it through AK's substack. I'm sure I'm not alone in finding it difficult to return to church after being told I don't meet the standards demanded by being injected. I've searched but not found a church nearby that didn't comply with Henry's demands. Are there any Bible believing, Bible teaching churches in Vancouver that fought this? I know Chilliwack and Abbotsford have a couple but I'm looking for Christian community closer to home. Denomination isn't important to me, just consistent commitment to God's truth.
I am not in a position to answer your question, but there were Christians, lay and clerical, who resisted faithfully. An example comes to mind. Mark Donnelly, as you will recall, stood up publicly and was fired for it by the Canucks' ownership: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/mark-donnelly-performs-rally-claims-canucks-firing-censorship/. To his further credit, he carried on serving in his parish church as best he could: https://holyfamilyvancouver.ca/2020/03/25/annunciation-music-part-4/. The music, like the liturgy, is rich and deep and beautiful. The Church, I will add, though in our part of the world it proved weak and ill-prepared, remains the Church. There is no Christianity without the Church.
Yes, we must engage in civil disobedience. We must refuse to obey government orders that contradict divine law or natural law. We must repent and take seriously the call to endure the persecution and tribulation that comes with being a Christian. We must strive to build local churches where real discipleship and maturity is taking place, one which displays the love of the brethren for each other, which will grow the numbers of the church and be salt and light in society. I would add that we must take an axe to government and restore a bare-bones Romans 13 view of the role of government: to protect the nation from foreign invaders and to deter the criminal element at home. Any government involvement in meeting the economic needs of the people for healthcare, retirement, education, foreign aid, etc., must be phased out quickly. God gave the Israelites at Mt. Sinai a system of laws to deter bad behavior; there was no provision for government involvement in the economy. God counseled the people through Samuel not to seek a King, who would deviate from this model of the rule of law and rule for his own benefit. Jesus also drew the distinction between rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. The need for a social safety net will always exist - the poor will always be with us, Jesus said. But God's model for this is private acts of charity, as in the landowner leaving the edges of his field unharvested for the gleaners, for the good Samaritan to pay for the injured man's recovery out of his own pocket, because God loves a cheerful giver, not a system of forced tax payments to a corrupt bureaucracy. We must also resist the temptation to view ourselves as unfortunate victims of evil people or the Devil. We are not victims, we are culprits. God has Satan on a leash. He only lets the leash go out a bit farther when His people need chastening because they have forgotten Him or no longer fear Him. The Sermon on the Mount holds the key: "... your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things [food, clothing, shelter, security, safety, etc.]. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." We spend way too much time coming up with human strategies for reversing the technocracy being imposed on us, which are useless unless accompanied by repentance, faith, and obedience to God. We spend way too little time seeking the Lord and being changed from glory to glory.
There is indeed a danger of relying on human strategies to solve what is essentially a spiritual problem. Which is not to say that when addressing spiritual problems the need for human strategy altogether disappears. Grace does not destroy but saves and perfects nature.
Yes, good point, we need to incorporate human strategy in our spiritual battle. The human strategy I put forward is to get back under the US Constitution as written, and I do believe that's the best strategy. I would add here also to get out of the UN. For Canadians and Europeans, the best strategy is to rewrite their constitutions to closer resemble that of the USA. This is because the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is similar to the various UN covenants and treaties, which include clauses which negate the very rights they claim to uphold. For example, the very first plank of the CCRF says it "guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." So they can pass laws reneging on their guarantees as long as they justify it with some vague political posturing. Contrast this with the US Constitution, which says "Congress shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", etc. There are only two exception clauses in the Bill of Rights, quartering troops in homes during time of war, and charging someone with a capital offense during time of war or public danger. And war can only be declared by the people's representatives in Congress. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights says in Article 29: “In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” So if the “purposes and principles of the United Nations” involve drastically reducing world population, for example, to stave off climate change, or to make the economy "sustainable" then billions of people targeted for extermination have no rights or freedoms. Other examples, from the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - look for the innocuous-sounding "exception" clauses: Article 9. “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.” Article 12. “Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own. The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order, public health or morals, or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Covenant.” Article 18. “Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.” Article 19. “Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. The exercise of the rights of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others; for the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.” Article 21. “The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” Article 22. “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” This is the main problem in the world today: governments have unlimited power. The people no longer see the need to force governments, not just people, to be under divine and natural law. This principle was brought to its highest expression in the UK first and even more so in the USA, but we have allowed governments to become tyrannical because of our ignorance and apathy, and now we're paying the price in our poverty, death, slavery, and removal of the most basic freedoms of all, to think, speak, and write about the truth. Again I return to the primacy of the spiritual aspect. God is only concerned with one thing: calling out a body of believers in him to be with him for eternity. Everything the enemy is doing to us is being allowed by the loving hand of God in exactly the measure that he deems necessary to accomplish that purpose. He is chastening us. He is getting our attention. He is humbling us. He is causing us to cry out, to repent, to get back to the basics of the faith, to become Book of Acts Christians, and bring in a great harvest of souls before the Lord's return. The Tower of Babel is being built. The kingdom of the Antichrist is being set up. God destroyed it (Genesis 11:6) because he saw that "nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do". Yuval Noah Harari of the WEF claims that the technology exists to control every aspect of human society, and he's right. He said that every dictator in history wanted this control but could not achieve it until now. Genesis 11:6 is being fulfilled in our day, and God is allowing it to happen. They will afflict and kill us Christians (Matthew 24:9). Get ready spiritually. Man was always able to do this, but God prevented him from doing so by destroying the first Tower of Babel until he could call out a people with the faith of Abraham, both Jews and Gentiles, to be with him for eternity. Now the task is almost complete. This time God will destroy the second Tower of Babel by coming back in person and reigning on the throne of David forever in the New Jerusalem. This is why the spiritual is the most important. Many Christians will be like the five virgins who didn't have enough oil in their lamps when it was time to meet the Bridegroom Jesus. They were not abiding in the Vine. These are good people, moral people, courageous people, leaders in the medical freedom movement. But some of them, some of us, are neglecting the most important thing: making disciples of all nations and following the teachings of Jesus.
When natural and divine law are abandoned by the people, positive law cannot protect them and will tend only to codify and exacerbate the problem. American constitutional law retains some resources for resistance, but the resistance, to be effective, requires repentance. And yes, Babel is being built and will be built. It was destroyed once for the reason you mention, and it will be destroyed once more for the purpose of effecting final judgment and the fullness of salvation. Meanwhile, it can and should be resisted. God sees and honours the resistance, especially but not exclusively where it is martyrial.
The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices - to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own.
Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of Man, that state is obsolete.
Secularism, is probably the most controversial. Who needs God and religion? Carl Jung, the eminent Swiss psychiatrist and father of Depth Psychology, said:
The idea of an all-powerful divine Being is present everywhere, unconsciously if not consciously, because it is an archetype. There is in the psyche some superior power, and if it is not consciously a god, it is the "belly" at least, in St. Paul's words. I therefore consider it wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, for, if we do not, something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid such as only an "enlightened" intellect could hatch forth.
That’s about as secular a way to put it as you can get. You don’t have to see it that way though, but if you are a die-hard atheist, or someone who simply gives no credence to a “higher power,” Jung’s advice should be well considered. What is happening now in our culture is a clear example of Jung’s last words in this quote: it is wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, or else something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid…” Uh…yeah…isn’t that what I have been saying for two years now?
If a people do not accept the Creator as Sovereign, as their Supreme Ruler, as their Source of Rights, they must, perforce, locate sovereignty in some mortal man or in some man-made institution.
Logically, it has to be one or the other. If they locate sovereignty in government - a man-made institution - they have created an authoritarianism they must live with until they revoke it.
From the CHD: “'The greatest perpetrator of misinformation during the pandemic was the U.S. government.' Those words, uttered by Dr. Marty Makary in his testimony before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, should strike fear in the heart of every American."
I see, by the way, that SPR (referencing Aaron Kheriaty) has attempted a summary of the latter: https://swprs.org/the-lockdown-lunacy-in-retrospect/. SPR has stopped short, however, of reckoning directly either with Kheriaty's thesis or with that of "America's War" here at DBC.
Thank you. I watched with dismay as Anthony Fauci was invited to speak and was revered as a conquering hero at a notable Episcopal Church in Washington DC last week.
Good discussion. Appalling the number of those claiming to be good people or Christians are instead complicit in this totalitarianism. And yet they are all instead convinced they are the chosen ones.
Bergoglio insisted that the shot was an act of love and that those opposing the masks were selfish hypocrites and haters of their neighbor, and he shows no signs of repentance. How many Catholics died because of his words?
Bishops have authority in faith and morals, so long as they remain within the Church's tradition; they have no authority over prudential judgments, though they may have wisdom. In this case there was a lack of wisdom, to say the least. But ordinary Catholics who themselves lacked wisdom or prudence cannot blame either the pope or their own bishop for that. Wisdom, both moral and medical, was available for those who sought it.
Thanks Thaddeus. With you and many others, I too have wrestled with these matters and continue. My comments in this thread to Doug Farrows substack offers my own first hand experiences with and responses to the COVID tyranny, and join the calling out of Church leaders and laity who remain silent, and so also complicit in this tyranny.
This is the first call to repentance that this Reformed Christian has heard from a theologian. Thank you, sir. The gates of hell will not prevail against the beautiful Bride of Christ, but she does seemed very tattered at present. I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will ‘suddenly come to His temple’ and so fill the hearts of all the faithful that God’s truth will move across the world in ways we have not yet witnessed.
One of the hardest aspects of the "pandemic" for me as a devout Catholic was the Church's failure to take a leading role in questioning the narrative. The Church has a global abundance of devout researchers, physicians and theologians, and there was never an attempt to bring this vast resource together to address the situation. My physician husband spoke up in smaller Catholic circles but received no support from our local Bishop, who instead said "We are following the CDC guidelines." Since when did the Church take directives from the CDC? I cannot get into the heart and mind of the Pope - was he "worm tongued" by Fauci? Even after the world finally became aware that the vaccine did not stop transmission (systemically given respiratory vaccines never do - a known fact pre-covid) the Pope continued to urge vaccination for the sake of others.
What a lost opportunity to fight the globalist! What if the Church said, "NO. We will not close down, we will not support mandates. Our own experts tell us that such mRNA vaccines in the past have failed, that such vaccines do not stop transmission, that natural immunity is always more robust than a vaccine."
Rather than realizing this failure and working to prevent such a fiasco again, what do we hear from the Vatican? Nothing - no apology, no recognition it was part of the problem, part of something evil. If the present evil is to be subjugated, only a holy, world wide institution like the Church can do it.
I have no doubt that, had the Church stood firm—refusing to panic, refusing to withdraw its ministries, asking publicly the hard questions, demanding and offering early treatment to the sick in league with conscientious physicians—that even this militarized pandemic exercise would have failed. Instead it played the role of old Théodon, for which role it too was groomed, as I argued in 'A New Catholicism?' and 'Test of Fidelity'. To whom much has been given, from him will much be required. And to whom has been given more than to the Church? The present essay, given the context for which it was prepared, does not go so far as to make that point, but it must be made. Only when the Church recognizes its failure, and the churches individually, will there be real promise of a different future than the one being planned for us by godless men.
I very much enjoyed (even for so sad a topic) my first introduction to your writing:)
My husband wrote this article which appeared in LifeSite on this subject. LifeSite changed the title without permission - and did not change it back after it was requested.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/why-the-catholic-church-must-free-herself-from-secular-authorities-on-public-health-issues/
It's a very good article. Alas, too few good people were paying good attention. They should ask themselves why.
And why MPs and other public officials are steadfastly refusing to pay attention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvSHD_n3Lyg
When they asked for vaccine passports, that was a sad moment.
From the beginning of the plannedemic, the warning in Revelations kept coming to my mind and thankfully, I refused to accept what I believed to be the number of the beast - the covid vaccine. I was stunned at how many churches were participating in totalitarian practices such as tracking, masking, and encouraging people take experimental vaccines. I truly felt my faith was being tested and I needed guidance. I prayed and was blessed to find a church leader in my community who not only saw the truth, but also tried to help the blind to see. Sadly, this leader was taken home by 'aggressive cancer'. I thank God I was able to meet him and to learn from him. There is a lot to pray for these days, but mostly, I pray that more people will see the truth before it is too late.
Thanks for writing this very important essay!
Wonderful piece Douglas , I read and felt uplifted and reinforced. Truly you have touched the core of our misguided detachment from God and our own spirit. We will turn this usurpation around and let the light back in.
'Take counsel together, but it will come to nought; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.'
I was sent here from Aaron Kheriaty’s substack and read this entire essay with great appreciation and more than one “Amen!” Will be sharing this widely. Thank you for your faith, study, love, and courage. Let God be true, though every man were a liar.
As Aaron Kheriaty is saying in The New Abnormal, and I in 'America's War', so Jacob Siegel in the Tablet: "Something monstrous is taking shape in America... What is coming into being is a new form of government and social organization that is as different from mid-twentieth century liberal democracy as the early American republic was from the British monarchism that it grew out of and eventually supplanted. A state organized on the principle that it exists to protect the sovereign rights of individuals, is being replaced by a digital leviathan that wields power through opaque algorithms and the manipulation of digital swarms." Read Siegel's article at https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation.
Smart cities also have something to do with this. Here's another interview on that subject, this one with Garnett Genuis, MP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2po_92bNHh0. (Unlike the Iron Will interview that is linked in the present article, it is audio only.) See also 'Public Poverty, Private Wealth' here on DBC.
I agree, the Siegel article is also highly significant, a must read.
Godspeed to the Douglas Farrows of the world. Christ's bride, His Chuch on earth, took a hit these past three years. It's time to dust off the secularism that tainted Christians and put on Christ's shining armor and fight the advances made by the godless, transhumanist totalitarians recently. Our first task is to admit our mistakes--sins, I dare say--and make a firm commitment to fully embrace our biblical basics and invite the Holy Spirir back into out worship services. I've sent your piece to a member or two of our ministerial staff. It was wonderful. Thank you, Douglas Farrow.
You're welcome. I hope those you shared it with find it helpful. And welcome to new readers and commenters. I read all the comments though I don't try to reply to them all.
I am one of those new readers who found it through AK's substack. I'm sure I'm not alone in finding it difficult to return to church after being told I don't meet the standards demanded by being injected. I've searched but not found a church nearby that didn't comply with Henry's demands. Are there any Bible believing, Bible teaching churches in Vancouver that fought this? I know Chilliwack and Abbotsford have a couple but I'm looking for Christian community closer to home. Denomination isn't important to me, just consistent commitment to God's truth.
I am not in a position to answer your question, but there were Christians, lay and clerical, who resisted faithfully. An example comes to mind. Mark Donnelly, as you will recall, stood up publicly and was fired for it by the Canucks' ownership: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/mark-donnelly-performs-rally-claims-canucks-firing-censorship/. To his further credit, he carried on serving in his parish church as best he could: https://holyfamilyvancouver.ca/2020/03/25/annunciation-music-part-4/. The music, like the liturgy, is rich and deep and beautiful. The Church, I will add, though in our part of the world it proved weak and ill-prepared, remains the Church. There is no Christianity without the Church.
Yes, we must engage in civil disobedience. We must refuse to obey government orders that contradict divine law or natural law. We must repent and take seriously the call to endure the persecution and tribulation that comes with being a Christian. We must strive to build local churches where real discipleship and maturity is taking place, one which displays the love of the brethren for each other, which will grow the numbers of the church and be salt and light in society. I would add that we must take an axe to government and restore a bare-bones Romans 13 view of the role of government: to protect the nation from foreign invaders and to deter the criminal element at home. Any government involvement in meeting the economic needs of the people for healthcare, retirement, education, foreign aid, etc., must be phased out quickly. God gave the Israelites at Mt. Sinai a system of laws to deter bad behavior; there was no provision for government involvement in the economy. God counseled the people through Samuel not to seek a King, who would deviate from this model of the rule of law and rule for his own benefit. Jesus also drew the distinction between rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. The need for a social safety net will always exist - the poor will always be with us, Jesus said. But God's model for this is private acts of charity, as in the landowner leaving the edges of his field unharvested for the gleaners, for the good Samaritan to pay for the injured man's recovery out of his own pocket, because God loves a cheerful giver, not a system of forced tax payments to a corrupt bureaucracy. We must also resist the temptation to view ourselves as unfortunate victims of evil people or the Devil. We are not victims, we are culprits. God has Satan on a leash. He only lets the leash go out a bit farther when His people need chastening because they have forgotten Him or no longer fear Him. The Sermon on the Mount holds the key: "... your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things [food, clothing, shelter, security, safety, etc.]. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." We spend way too much time coming up with human strategies for reversing the technocracy being imposed on us, which are useless unless accompanied by repentance, faith, and obedience to God. We spend way too little time seeking the Lord and being changed from glory to glory.
There is indeed a danger of relying on human strategies to solve what is essentially a spiritual problem. Which is not to say that when addressing spiritual problems the need for human strategy altogether disappears. Grace does not destroy but saves and perfects nature.
Yes, good point, we need to incorporate human strategy in our spiritual battle. The human strategy I put forward is to get back under the US Constitution as written, and I do believe that's the best strategy. I would add here also to get out of the UN. For Canadians and Europeans, the best strategy is to rewrite their constitutions to closer resemble that of the USA. This is because the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is similar to the various UN covenants and treaties, which include clauses which negate the very rights they claim to uphold. For example, the very first plank of the CCRF says it "guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." So they can pass laws reneging on their guarantees as long as they justify it with some vague political posturing. Contrast this with the US Constitution, which says "Congress shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", etc. There are only two exception clauses in the Bill of Rights, quartering troops in homes during time of war, and charging someone with a capital offense during time of war or public danger. And war can only be declared by the people's representatives in Congress. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights says in Article 29: “In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.” So if the “purposes and principles of the United Nations” involve drastically reducing world population, for example, to stave off climate change, or to make the economy "sustainable" then billions of people targeted for extermination have no rights or freedoms. Other examples, from the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - look for the innocuous-sounding "exception" clauses: Article 9. “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.” Article 12. “Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own. The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order, public health or morals, or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Covenant.” Article 18. “Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.” Article 19. “Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. The exercise of the rights of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others; for the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.” Article 21. “The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” Article 22. “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” This is the main problem in the world today: governments have unlimited power. The people no longer see the need to force governments, not just people, to be under divine and natural law. This principle was brought to its highest expression in the UK first and even more so in the USA, but we have allowed governments to become tyrannical because of our ignorance and apathy, and now we're paying the price in our poverty, death, slavery, and removal of the most basic freedoms of all, to think, speak, and write about the truth. Again I return to the primacy of the spiritual aspect. God is only concerned with one thing: calling out a body of believers in him to be with him for eternity. Everything the enemy is doing to us is being allowed by the loving hand of God in exactly the measure that he deems necessary to accomplish that purpose. He is chastening us. He is getting our attention. He is humbling us. He is causing us to cry out, to repent, to get back to the basics of the faith, to become Book of Acts Christians, and bring in a great harvest of souls before the Lord's return. The Tower of Babel is being built. The kingdom of the Antichrist is being set up. God destroyed it (Genesis 11:6) because he saw that "nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do". Yuval Noah Harari of the WEF claims that the technology exists to control every aspect of human society, and he's right. He said that every dictator in history wanted this control but could not achieve it until now. Genesis 11:6 is being fulfilled in our day, and God is allowing it to happen. They will afflict and kill us Christians (Matthew 24:9). Get ready spiritually. Man was always able to do this, but God prevented him from doing so by destroying the first Tower of Babel until he could call out a people with the faith of Abraham, both Jews and Gentiles, to be with him for eternity. Now the task is almost complete. This time God will destroy the second Tower of Babel by coming back in person and reigning on the throne of David forever in the New Jerusalem. This is why the spiritual is the most important. Many Christians will be like the five virgins who didn't have enough oil in their lamps when it was time to meet the Bridegroom Jesus. They were not abiding in the Vine. These are good people, moral people, courageous people, leaders in the medical freedom movement. But some of them, some of us, are neglecting the most important thing: making disciples of all nations and following the teachings of Jesus.
When natural and divine law are abandoned by the people, positive law cannot protect them and will tend only to codify and exacerbate the problem. American constitutional law retains some resources for resistance, but the resistance, to be effective, requires repentance. And yes, Babel is being built and will be built. It was destroyed once for the reason you mention, and it will be destroyed once more for the purpose of effecting final judgment and the fullness of salvation. Meanwhile, it can and should be resisted. God sees and honours the resistance, especially but not exclusively where it is martyrial.
Reminds me of The Tower of Babel,
The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices - to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own.
Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of Man, that state is obsolete.
Secularism, is probably the most controversial. Who needs God and religion? Carl Jung, the eminent Swiss psychiatrist and father of Depth Psychology, said:
The idea of an all-powerful divine Being is present everywhere, unconsciously if not consciously, because it is an archetype. There is in the psyche some superior power, and if it is not consciously a god, it is the "belly" at least, in St. Paul's words. I therefore consider it wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, for, if we do not, something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid such as only an "enlightened" intellect could hatch forth.
That’s about as secular a way to put it as you can get. You don’t have to see it that way though, but if you are a die-hard atheist, or someone who simply gives no credence to a “higher power,” Jung’s advice should be well considered. What is happening now in our culture is a clear example of Jung’s last words in this quote: it is wiser to acknowledge the idea of God consciously, or else something else is made God, usually something quite inappropriate and stupid…” Uh…yeah…isn’t that what I have been saying for two years now?
If a people do not accept the Creator as Sovereign, as their Supreme Ruler, as their Source of Rights, they must, perforce, locate sovereignty in some mortal man or in some man-made institution.
Logically, it has to be one or the other. If they locate sovereignty in government - a man-made institution - they have created an authoritarianism they must live with until they revoke it.
From the CHD: “'The greatest perpetrator of misinformation during the pandemic was the U.S. government.' Those words, uttered by Dr. Marty Makary in his testimony before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, should strike fear in the heart of every American."
I would say, rather, that they should strike righteous anger. Particularly in light of the damage done: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccine-injury-deaths-economic-damage/.
Anger and also self-examination, for unlike the CHD (and unlike these folk, e.g.: https://davidzweig.substack.com/p/when-a-renegade-church-and-a-zealous) most Americans remained passive recipients of the lies and quite willing to tolerate the lunacy.
I see, by the way, that SPR (referencing Aaron Kheriaty) has attempted a summary of the latter: https://swprs.org/the-lockdown-lunacy-in-retrospect/. SPR has stopped short, however, of reckoning directly either with Kheriaty's thesis or with that of "America's War" here at DBC.
Listen to our discussion of the role of the churches in all this at: https://abiblicalframe.substack.com/
Thank you. I watched with dismay as Anthony Fauci was invited to speak and was revered as a conquering hero at a notable Episcopal Church in Washington DC last week.
Good discussion. Appalling the number of those claiming to be good people or Christians are instead complicit in this totalitarianism. And yet they are all instead convinced they are the chosen ones.
Bergoglio insisted that the shot was an act of love and that those opposing the masks were selfish hypocrites and haters of their neighbor, and he shows no signs of repentance. How many Catholics died because of his words?
Bishops have authority in faith and morals, so long as they remain within the Church's tradition; they have no authority over prudential judgments, though they may have wisdom. In this case there was a lack of wisdom, to say the least. But ordinary Catholics who themselves lacked wisdom or prudence cannot blame either the pope or their own bishop for that. Wisdom, both moral and medical, was available for those who sought it.
Amen! Thank you for this brave and enlightening essay, which I will share enthusiastically.
Complicit, yes. Civil, why of course. Disobedient? Well, maybe it's time.
Here is my effort at scamDemic unmasking over the last three years: https://thaddeuskozinski.substack.com/
Thanks Thaddeus. With you and many others, I too have wrestled with these matters and continue. My comments in this thread to Doug Farrows substack offers my own first hand experiences with and responses to the COVID tyranny, and join the calling out of Church leaders and laity who remain silent, and so also complicit in this tyranny.