December 30, 2020

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I think that unless we make very rapid progress towards entering a more enlightened age and getting much more morally, religiously and civically grounded as a people, the era of democracy is probably pretty close to over. Furthermore, if we do not make such rapid progress, I think that may actually be a good thing. Democracies are not designed to deal with the sort of situation we have just seen in the American presidential election, where there is such an extreme difference in candidates and roughly half the country supports either one, with a large proportion of those on either side doing so very passionately. It also simply isn't a viable or workable form of government for a deeply immoral, self-centered, irreligious, ignorant, fearful or fanaticized people. If we do not make very rapid forward progress, we're almost certainly going to end up with some sort of oligarchy one way or the other, and this would probably actually be better under those kinds of circumstances than continuing with an increasingly shaky democracy. The degree of tyranny would be less under an oligarchy—even one substantially controlled by a corrupt elite—than it would be under a democracy where the majority of the populace is as immoral, unhinged, fanatical, ignorant, self-righteous and reactionary as they are fast becoming. If we move any further in that direction or the demographic balance of power moves even further towards the social justice warrior mob, the all but inevitable end of democracy in any meaningful sense of the word would function almost as a merciful coup de grace.

I think there is still much hope that in America, Canada and other countries the people will prove themselves worthy and capable of governing themselves. In fact, there are a lot of positive shifts and developments pulling in such a direction in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. But there are a lot of shifts and developments pulling in an opposite direction as well. And the time frame for sorting out which way the chips are going to fall doesn't look like it's going to be a very long one.

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December 22, 2020

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There’s been a lot of talk about how hopeful people are that things will soon return to something resembling normal in the nation and the world. This has been amplified by a number of things, such as the year 2020 finally drawing to a close, vaccines being rolled out, the presidential inauguration coming up, radical leftist riots having largely sputtered out, and the like. I think this is a fairly unlikely prediction, which I’d like to take the chance to explain.

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The first thing to recognize is just how far from normal the world has been for quite some time. When you look at things like abortion, gender nonsense, mass migrations, government corruption, the state of education, and the significant breakdown of many of our institutions, it’s pretty clear that things had gotten pretty extreme and ridiculous well before they departed so much more palpably from “normal” in this past year. Where we were before things took a major turn towards greater craziness was at a point of fairly rampant moral, social, political and spiritual decline. And however you want to look at it, remaining at such a point without things snapping one way or the other was never really going to be sustainable for very much longer. Things could not and still cannot but take a significant turn either for the better or the worse. And the truth appears to be that we are still not really prepared to go firmly in either direction, nor have we really resolved as yet which direction it will be. Furthermore, there’s simply been too much stirred up, exposed, awakened and upset over the course of this tumultuous year to settle back for long into anything resembling the condition things were previously in.

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If we’re going to enter a new era of greater spirituality and peace, we’re by all accounts not there yet. People en masse haven’t really learned the lessons they need to learn, come to the resolutions they need to come to, or turned to God to the extent that will prove necessary. There is undoubtedly more of an accelerated karmic descent in store before we firmly settle into such an era, whatever that may look like. And furthermore, those who are so adamantly opposed to having the nation and the world settle on such a course aren’t through with their opposition, their raging, or their antics. Socialism, China, the power elite, reactionary tendencies and fanatical elements at home and abroad have all been far from defeated or put in their place.

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On the other hand, if we’re going to settle the other way, people en masse (thankfully) haven’t yet significantly resigned to that either. There’s still too much spirituality, too much of a spirit of freedom, too much goodwill, too much resilience, too much independence of thought, too much of a fighting spirit, and too much of a reaction to the menace of overbearing government. If a globalist reset, the dominance of China, debilitating communism, a failed state at home, and/or whatever exactly a negative future might hold in store are going to be our lot, there’s almost certainly going to be a fair bit more of a messy tug of war before we firmly settle into that.

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And so, I think it’s fairly safe to say that things are likely to get crazier before they get less so, although just what this will look like is difficult to say. I for one am willing to bet, in any case, that 2021 will be remembered as a more tumultuous, challenging and perhaps even more consequential and surprising year than 2020. I’m also willing to bet that we will eventually make a fairly explicit choice to go forwards rather than backwards. I believe God’s still intends to save this planet. I believe He’s still playing to win. I believe He still has a fair bit up his sleeve. And I believe He still has enough of a critical mass of all that’s good in the world to work with. That large numbers of people appear to be becoming significantly more conscious about being part of that critical mass and significantly more aware of some of what that entails may well be the most encouraging thing to come out of this past year. And this is important to see, because getting through the next one may well demand all of the encouragement we can muster.

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December 3, 2020

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We live on a pretty ridiculous planet. I think this is a realization that has been getting through to a lot of people of late, to a significantly greater extent than used to be the case. And this might not only be seen as a pretty positive development in itself, it might also be quite plausibly seen as a significant part of what we are all intended to learn and to come to terms with during this tumultuous period.

If the world is all too ridiculous a place, you really can’t afford to identify with it too closely or to think of yourself as more than temporarily passing through it. It can be a lot harder to dissociate yourself from the world in the right sense of the word when that world comes across to you as a relatively stable, sensible, fair and reasonable place, than when it becomes all too obvious that it really isn’t any of those things. This brings to mind an insightful question posed by Henry David Thoreau, who asked: “what is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” Well, it’s becoming pretty clear that we don’t have a very tolerable planet to put a house on at present. But if we can do without a semi-permanent habitation here for the moment, why can’t we do so indefinitely?

Now, I do not at all mean to say that what happens in the world is not important, nor that we should cease be concerned about which way certain things go. But I do think that if large numbers of people were to take the world itself a whole less seriously than they have been wont to take it—as well as relate to their experiences and responsibilities in the world more explicitly from the context of a mere temporary sojourner within it—that would almost certainly be very conducive to having the world end up a lot less messed up a place quite quickly. Recognizing how ridiculous a place the world can be and then internalizing the personal implications of such a recognition may well be right among the most crucial requisites to fairly expeditiously making the world into as relatively reasonable a place as we can and ought to make it. And of all of the lessons we are intended to be learning during this present period (and there are doubtlessly many), this is probably far from the least important.  

Once you are in a position where you are able and inclined to relate to the world from the standpoint of a mere temporary sojourner within it, it also becomes a lot easier and more intuitive to relate to it as a classroom. And this is very important, because the world is not just set up as a place for souls to pass through (as opposed to a place for them to semi-permanently dwell in per se), it is also quite explicitly set up as a place for them to learn and to be tested. Seeing this can be very helpful for the sake of coming to terms with the downright surreal nature of much of what has been going on in the last little while.

I remember from when I was in high school how different an environment a classroom could suddenly become on the day of a major exam. The desks would be spaced far apart, instead of being where they usually were; you were no longer allowed to talk to other students; some of the educational material on the walls was removed; the schedule of the day was likely to have been quite different from that of an ordinary instructional day; and the teacher morphed into a peculiar sort of petty cop. Now, it can be very helpful to be able to look at what’s been going on in the country and the world over the last year (or number of years) in a somewhat analogous light. So much about life has become significantly less familiar, stable and secure. Many individuals, governments and institutions have been behaving very bizarrely, to put it mildly, and often very erratically to boot. Truth and facts suddenly seem a lot more difficult to ascertain about a whole lot of things. Many institutions and organizations that used to be (or at least appeared) reassuringly competent and impartial have become (or else revealed themselves to be) threateningly partisan and/or unsettlingly incompetent. And so forth.

All of this not only attests to the fact that we are going through a major period of testing and the completion of a cycle, it also reinforces the need to relate to the world as a schoolroom and as a place that we are mostly just intended to pass through, as opposed to a place to semi-permanently settle. The two sides of this are quite closely connected. And they are also quite closely connected to individually and collectively figuring out how to nevertheless make of the world as reasonable as possible a place to spend time in. Questioning the use of a house on an intolerable planet—or the need of a house on any sort of planet—may well help considerably to get us to a point where the planet as a whole will start to much more closely resemble our true home.

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November 22, 2020

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The idea has often been expressed of late that the past few years (and this last year in particular) have revealed America to be a nation in serious decline. I think that there is both truth and falsity in this statement, and it might be worth clearing this up. The West in general has been going through a period of considerable moral, spiritual, cultural and political decline for at least a number of decades. This has been evident on many different levels and in many different fields. But many people who are very quick to pronounce the US in particular as being in a condition of serious decline are almost certainly interpreting as signs of decline things that ought also to be seen as attesting to the fact that its decline is being more vigorously challenged than is the case in most other countries.

An analogy may be helpful. Someone who is addicted to drugs is likely to come across as being in a relatively poor state. But as long as he keeps fairly discreetly feeding his addiction while going about his daily life, he is also likely to come across as reasonably civil, pleasant and composed most of the time. But if and when he starts to seriously try to kick his habit, his short-term comportment will almost certainly take a considerable turn for the worse. In order to make a fair assessment about America’s state of decline based on much of what has been going on in the last little while (the rioting, the embarrassing state of its media and academic institutions, the mess of an election it just had, etc.), this sort of a point of perspective needs to be taken into account.

Countries like Canada and much of western Europe are in as bad or worse a shape as the US is when it comes to their moral, spiritual, cultural and political condition. But this may not be as powerfully evident, largely because in many of those countries that state of decline is not being as effectively challenged. It is also almost certainly the case that most of those countries are not under the same level of attack from powerful nefarious forces both from within their own borders and from abroad. To turn back to our analogy, these countries are neither as seriously trying to kick their negative habit, nor are they surrounded by the same level of peer pressure to continue engaging in it.

All of this is not at all to say that America’s very real state of decline is not a major problem. It certainly is a major problem. And it is a problem that certainly cannot be adequately addressed purely through politics or social reforms. It will rather demand a deep-seated and far-reaching process, which process will need to begin at the level of the individual and involve a powerful spiritual element. To the extent that such a process of challenging what needs to be challenged is successfully persevered in, let us hope that other nations will be encouraged to follow in America’s footsteps despite all of the embarrassing and disconcerting fallout that may continue for some time yet to be on display.

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November 16, 2020

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At this juncture, while the final outcome of the presidential election is still undecided, it may be worth reiterating to what an extent this whole moment of decision and the lead-up towards it has fit into the mold of what you tend to see at the point of a supreme test in the life of a soul. The nation as a whole has been going through something very closely analogous to what an individual soul goes through when it comes to a point where a fairly definitive choice needs to be made between the higher self and the lesser self (the right-handed path and the left-handed path).

Such a choice almost always occurs in the context of what in much spiritual parlance is referred to as a “dark night”—a period where the soul is more than usually weighed down by its karma, cut off from God, and/or under siege from the world. The net effect of such a dark night is that the soul then finds itself in a place where it feels above-averagely burdened, confused and alone. And that burden, confusion and aloneness are then not only things that it needs to confront and deal with in and of themselves, they also serve to frame the moment of choice it is intended to face and the personal sacrifice or surrender it is intended to make.

Now, a period of exceptional burden, confusion and aloneness is a very apt description of what much of the world—but also most particularly the nation of America—has been going through this year. Burden obviously in the sense of a heavy karmic return in the form of the pandemic and the measures that have been taken in the name of combating it. Burden also in the form of the egregious degree of condemnation that has been hurled at the populace under the pretext of exposing systemic racism and all of the other moral vituperations of an increasingly unhinged and radical left. Confusion from a media that appears to have forfeited most of its capacity for insight and objectivity, right alongside its impartiality. Confusion also from the whole general ethos of the times, where truth comes across as increasingly relative, shifting and subjective, and where it seems so incredibly difficult to get a clear sense of just what is and isn’t going on with regard to the pandemic, the election, or just about anything else. Aloneness as an upshot of the great degree of polarization in the nation with all that it entails, along with the general sense of living in a deeply divided country. Aloneness also in the sense of the majority of people in many of the countries with which the US has the greatest affinity and the strongest ties rooting overwhelmingly for the anti-American candidate. And aloneness furthermore in the sense of so many institutions and organizations that used to be impartial conspiring as it were to force a particular choice and a particular narrative.

It is important to realize that things have in an important sense of the word been set up so as to allow these various factors to come together in the sort of way in which we have seen them coming together. And although there are no small number of malicious and compromising individuals in the world who have played their various roles in this regard, a key part of the explanation for why things have played themselves out as they have also comes down to God’s role in setting the stage for the sort of moment of choice he would have the nation face in this hour. There are all sorts of negative forces and dynamics at work in the world, but a significant part of the reason for why so many of them have come together so as to reach a serious fever pitch and to produce the extraordinary (and extraordinarily challenging) circumstances we have witnessed in this particular year and cycle, is that God has seen fit to allow this sort of a crucial period of trial and choice to descend upon the country.

Now, it can be very powerfully encouraging if you are able to see things for what they are in these sorts of terms. And it can then also be very encouraging to bear in mind that God never tempts any individual or any nation beyond what they are able to bear or beyond what they are able to successfully pass through. Both the test itself and the circumstances that frame the test are always tailored to what the soul (or the nation, or the planet) is able to handle and is able to rightly respond to. And the greater the challenge and the darker the night, the more a right choice can (and ought to be) anticipated to prove a very powerful, definitive and consequential thing. It is also worth stressing in this regard that the scope of the choice which the nation and its citizens have been facing goes beyond just the election itself (although that is certainly a key part of it). It also extends to decisions, shifts and a coming to terms that need to be made on an interior and personal level. These, together with the right outcome in the election itself, are intended to set the nation up for what we should certainly hope and expect to be a bright new morn.

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November 9, 2020

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If there was major fraud in the US presidential election, and if that fraud is exposed, and if the results are thereby overturned so that Trump ends up beating Biden after all, then this will have the effect of making the implications of his win that much deeper and more consequential. The repudiation of “the world” by “the people” will be that much stronger, after the world has rallied around Biden’s supposed win. The judgment upon those who have conspired against Trump and his administration during the last five years will be that much more forceful, if a significant number of them prove to have been either complicit in or willfully dismissive of electoral fraud. And the implications of what was and is at stake in the election will be that much more apparent, if Biden and the democrats’ transition plan and agenda moving forward are already in motion before the final verdict is pronounced. Furthermore, we would be all but guaranteed to see a significantly greater level of mob violence, mayhem and general hysteria if Trump ultimately wins even after Biden’s supposed win has already been pronounced, celebrated and taken for granted, than would have been the case if Trump had won outright in the first place. All of this would have the effect of throwing the divisions and the polarization in the country to the fore all the more powerfully, which could well be seen as playing into a divine intent to have this election and this year more generally serve as a real turning point in the battle between light and darkness, and in setting the course of the nation for the next few decades and beyond.

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I am not sure if the election was in fact stolen or not. It is also possible that the American people and America as a nation really did fail the test that this election represented, and that they will now have to live with the consequences. But it certainly seems quite possible that it was—perhaps even probable. And seeing the potential implications if that was in fact the case in these sorts of terms can be very helpful for the sake of maintaining a sense of hope and perspective as things move towards a more definitive conclusion. If Trump is ultimately declared the winner—after his loss has been so broadly feted, accepted and embraced by the left and by many world leaders; despite losing the popular vote; and with the reluctant involvement of the supreme court—we might well conclude that the whole test and trial which the election represented will have played itself out in such a manner as to force to the greatest degree possible a very serious and deeply consequential coming to terms. This might in fact be just what is needed in order for the nation to ultimately most quickly and effectively pass through what it needs to pass through, and then to find itself well positioned to confidently stride into a new era of greater enlightenment and peace. Or is all of this just wishful or apocalyptic thinking at this point?

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October 22, 2020

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When I see people embracing or enforcing pandemic measures so religiously, I often can’t help but think that if people generally approached religion itself half as religiously, it’s unlikely we’d long have a pandemic at all. What if each time we encountered someone policing, reinforcing or droning in things like wearing a mask, washing your hands or keeping your distance, we instead experienced a powerful prodding or pricking of the spirit to turn to God, keep the flame, offer prayers and fiats, and the like? What if the whole focus on shaming or coercing people to embrace the new normal gave way instead to a growing spirit of repentance? What if physical measures to combat the disease were quite explicitly presented as a useful adjunct to spiritual measures of so doing, rather than the latter (insofar as they’re not ignored altogether) being overwhelming viewed as a mere afterthought to the former?

Have any political leaders pushed for repentance in the face of what is effectively a major descent of karma? Repentance as individuals and as a society for things like abortion and teaching young children in schools to question their gender, for example? Neither the idea that religion and spirituality could be a key part of the solution to the pandemic, nor the idea that our disregard for life and for basic standards of behavior could be a key part of what made us as a society so vulnerable to it in the first place appear to be gaining much traction. But both sides of this may not only be integral to a reasonable sense of perspective on the whole situation, but also key parts of the lesson we are intended to learn through what we are going through.

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September 20, 2020

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In reading some of the comments to news articles on the death of supreme court justice Ginsburg, I found a significant number which expressed an idea to the effect that there was something pre-ordained about what was happening and when. “It’s fate,” one person simply wrote, while another responded to a statement to the effect that Ginsburg hoped to outlive Trump’s (first) term with “but God had other plans.” This sort of a sentiment about how both the general course of events and the timing of particular developments within that course are indicative of the active role of divine providence appears to be a growing one.

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It is certainly true that God has a plan for how things are to develop in the nation and the world, as well as that specific developments and when and how these occur can at times be quite plausibly read as indicators of his active role and influence. Something that is important to see in this regard, in any case, is that God’s primary goal insofar as he directs events to unfold in a certain manner is often to effect a requisite level of exposure and to give people all of the proof and clarity they need in order to see where things really stand and to evaluate the individuals and issues involved for who and what they really are. Another supreme court justice confirmation spectacle at this particular point in the game is very likely to deliver just that, and so it might quite reasonably be interpreted as an event designed to give to the people all of the evidence they could possibly require in order to choose wisely come election day.

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Projecting from the last such confirmation hearing and the way things have developed since then, what we are now likely to witness is an additional step-up in reactionary and self-destructive hysteria and antics. This can and should serve as very powerfully revelatory with regard to what is at stake in the election and where candidates and leaders really stand. Insofar as this is likely to come with significant disruption, destruction and strains on social cohesion, it is good to reflect on how things could have been allowed to develop to the point where the populace needs that sort and level of display as a lead-up to a key moment of choice. It is also worth noting that a significant part of the reason for why some of the more astute on the left are so eager to avoid a nomination battle at this point in the game is almost certainly because they fear such additional exposure and its potential implications.

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Of one thing we can in any case be sure, whatever God’s active role in the timing of Ginsburg’s death or any other development: God knows what he’s doing. And a large part of what He’s doing (now as always) is to set His people up so they are in a position to know what to do. That both sides in the battle we are currently in are becoming increasing aware of this as that battle intensifies is probably to be expected.

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September 19, 2020

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One of the most noteworthy developments that have come from the whole situation with the pandemic and our reaction to it has been how much more patronizing and condescending so many governments and political leaders have become—as if they weren’t patronizing and condescending enough to begin with. Seeing political figures on the news chiding people for their irresponsible behavior and attitudes in the face of continued or rising infections has pretty much become a daily occurrence in many places. There is this increasingly dominant and entrenched narrative, which goes something along the lines that people are so inherently inclined to keep irresponsibly behaving like people naturally behave, that they need a government that’s constantly pushing, compelling and cajoling them to act responsibly and to confront their inner weaknesses.

Besides everything else that the virus and our reaction to it have unleashed, one very significant thing it has given rise to is this sort of a greatly intensified and nearly continuous flow of condemnation. This should not just be seen as a mere side effect or secondary implication of the whole situation, but rather as a fairly key part of the whole challenge and trial which the pandemic presents us with. It also plays powerfully into (and sets things up for) other avenues of condemnation, such as that embedded in the whole systemic racism narrative, as well as that surrounding climate change.

Our governments have long been way too predisposed to condescendingly heap condemnation upon the populace, but we have perhaps never seen as intense, widespread and deeply problematic a manifestation of this as we do at present. The whole system has largely come to be predicated along such lines, so that many well-meaning individuals who enter into a position of political leadership quite naturally come to see it as their role to assume such a line, at the same time as the populace becomes ever more inured and conditioned to their government relating to them in such a manner. This is a very harmful situation, and one in which the sort of victim consciousness which we repeatedly see being pushed upon (and often embraced by) various minority groups is also being pushed upon (and largely embraced by) the people as a whole.

People increasingly look to the government for redemption, rather than to God. This is a major factor when it comes to setting things up for socialism, communism, authoritarianism, a breakdown of democratic ideals, and a repudiation of objective values and standards, at the same time as it is also a consequence of having been moving in that direction for quite some time. This whole situation quite urgently needs to be seen for what it is, so that we can all individually and collectively snap out of the downward spiral that threatens to engulf us and to destroy our civilization.

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September 17, 2020

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In order to understand all that’s going on during these tumultuous times, it’s crucial to realize that we’re in the midst of a transition to a new age similar to that which occurred at the time of Jesus’ ministry. There are particular cycles which govern the spiritual evolution of the Earth and the souls assigned to embody upon it, among the most significant of which are the astrological ages which are somewhat over two thousand years in length.

Besides triggering an accelerated and intensified karmic return, periods of spiritual transition and reorientation entail a serious coming to terms. In a more than ordinary manner, people then end up both individually and collectively confronted with a fairly stark choice to either come up higher or descend lower. During such periods of transition, more than at any other time, almost everyone ends up compelled to align more closely to objective values and to reject the downward-spiraling ways, norms and standards of the world. When people either cannot or will not do so, they then become very susceptible to seriously losing it. It really kind of comes down to either catching the wave of a divinely-ordained shifting and coming to terms, or else being swallowed by that wave.

We’re currently seeing a lot of both sides of this around the world in general, and in the United States in particular. America is very much at the forefront of the inner changes that are occurring, because as a nation it’s intended to play a key role in anchoring this new age with all that it portends. And so, all over the world—but here most notably—you see a lot of people either waking up in the sense of becoming more grounded, or else losing it in a fairly deep-seated sense of the word. Many people are getting seriously unhinged—and it doesn’t just come down to Trump, or politics more generally, or the pandemic, or social issues, or anything and everything else that’s going on in the world on the outer, although these all help to set the stage. It also comes down to something spiritual and deeply interior.

Large numbers of people are becoming increasingly radicalized, fanatical, driven by fear, and experiencing a serious degradation of their sense of perspective. This can only really be understood if you’re able to see things in this sort of light. People being swallowed by the wave of a divinely-ordained shifting and coming to terms—hand in hand with an accelerating karmic return and the ever more desperate antics of the wicked—this lies behind much of the madness that we see playing itself out.

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September 12, 2020

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The coronavirus pandemic has produced a degree of fear and of loss of perspective that are seriously out of proportion to the actual severity of the direct threat it poses. Furthermore, this fear and loss of perspective have played a very large role in bringing about a situation where the overall negative repercussions (those of the virus itself, combined with those of the measures that have been taken in the name of combatting it) are a lot worse than they could and should have been. There are a number of reasons for this. But among those reasons, there’s one that’s played a very significant role, but that’s (not too surprisingly) been hardly acknowledged at all. Namely, what I’m referring to is the truth that the high degree of fear, overreaction and loss of perspective which the pandemic has brought about is due in significant part to the fact that its appearance so obviously represents a major karmic retribution, as well as that it so obviously portends a divinely-ordained shift in world affairs and a serious coming to terms.  

Even when people don’t explicitly recognize this for what it is, their limited intuitive sense of where things stand in this regard is nevertheless likely to have an affect on how they come to internalize and deal with the whole situation. People feel or intuit something of the karmic weight behind what’s come upon their country and planet, as well as of the process of inner and outer reckoning which this portends. Even if they don’t recognize this for what it is, it nevertheless has an effect on them and (side by side with the media and a whole host of worldly factors) sets them up to feel more threatened and victimized by the whole situation than they otherwise would. Understanding this is not only central to understanding the situation we presently find ourselves in, but also to gaining a reasonable sense of how to move forward in the context the pandemic provides. When you allow yourself and your nation to be overrun by a sense of victimization which is triggered by some form of karmic retribution, you also set yourself and your nation up to be overrun by that event itself to a much greater extent than you otherwise would.

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September 10, 2020

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It’s quite remarkable how polarized the political and social situation in America has become, not to mention how quickly that polarization has been building and continues to intensify. It’s not just a matter of the two parties and their supporters moving further apart ideologically, and of the majority of people becoming increasingly deeply set in their support for one side or the other. It’s also the extent to which this is being reflected in almost all aspects of life and society.

You have all sorts of companies threatened with boycotts by one side or the other over positions they have taken or support for candidates, policies and movements they have expressed. You have the politicization of sports, hand-in-hand with many sport leagues’ newfound and contentious attitude towards advocating controversial social issues and movements. You have increasingly partisan news networks, along with a situation where supporters of one or the other side overwhelming each follow their own networks. You have a politicization of the justice system, with an ever more evident and consequential divide between liberal and conservative justices, district attorneys, and the like. And you even have a situation where it looks like adherents of the two parties will overwhelming vote in different ways, with Democrats predominantly doing so by mail and Republicans in person. Furthermore, there’s increasing strains on civility between adherents of the two sides in public interactions, as less tolerance seems to exist for people who advocate or support political and social positions contrary to one’s own. This also appears to be increasingly penetrating into families, as you read more and more statements to the effect of “my brother/wife/whoever is Republican/Democrat, but I still love them,” as though that’s suddenly something that needs to be defended or isn’t as much of a given as it used to be.

Now, I don’t mean to suggest that all of this polarization and the tension that goes along with it is a good thing, nor that it ought to be encouraged. But I do think that it’s important to realize that what we see happening in this regard is not just an unfortunate side effect of all else that’s going on (or of what public figures and the news have been saying or doing), but rather also a largely unavoidable aspect of the whole situation surrounding the major choice the nation’s facing and the magnitude of the potential repercussions of that choice. In effect, it’s a sign that we’re facing an Armageddon-like confrontation and moment of decision. And it really ought to be recognized as such. All of this polarization and tension—whatever else it may be, and whatever sort of outer causes and events may be contributing to it—is a sign of the crucialness of the test the nation is facing and of the magnitude of what’s at stake both on the outer and on the inner.

The type and level of polarization and tension we’ve been witnessing and the manner in which this has been playing itself out ought also to be seen as a clear indication that there’s a major differential of good and evil at play. We couldn’t have what we have in this regard if both sides were similarly good or similarly bad—although this obviously doesn’t mean that either side is perfect or that both sides don’t have well-meaning individuals in their ranks. It can only have come about because we’re facing a situation where Good and Evil as absolutes are very consequentially present in the equation, and where however imperfect either option and however muddled the whole situation may be, there’s nevertheless a well-defined right and wrong way to go.  If we had a situation where both sides were similarly bad, we could well have a lot of tension, but that tension would both be and feel different.

It’s also important to recognize that we haven’t just gotten to this situation on our own, as a consequence of the words and actions of particular individuals, or because of the way in which developments and affairs just happen to have played themselves out. Rather, there’s a major sense in which the hand of providence has been active in bringing the country to the position it’s presently in. America is, in effect, intended to not merely face another reasonably consequential election like many it’s faced in the past, but rather to face at this particular moment in her history a particularly stark choice with particularly far-reaching repercussions—a major point of the “Y” on the road, where a collective choice to either go to the left or go to the right is forced upon its people. This fact in itself—the fact that’s it’s a divinely intended test and turning point, whatever else it may be—is something that’s making itself quite keenly felt. And people are inadvertently reacting to this, even inasmuch as they may not recognize it for what it is in those sorts of terms. Furthermore, when a majority of people feel the great moral weight of what the country is facing, yet many of them fail to discern which way things fall, both sides tend to get more militant, entrenched and zealous. All of this is part of the dynamics of how these sorts of watershed moments in a country’s trajectory work–the mechanics, if you will, of how highly consequential turning points in national or world affairs build up to what they end up being, within a context where both human and divine factors converge.

It can be useful and valuable to examine how you’re prone to respond to the polarization and tension that’s currently going on as a phenomenon in itself. How, in other words, are you prone to react not only to the gravity of the issues and developments—and to the policies and personalities on either side—but also to the widespread polarization and tension surrounding all of this taken in itself. And how are you predisposed to respond to a felt inner strain accompanying a felt outer strain, and to factor that into your attempts to discern where things stand and what is the right way to go? Responsible citizenship ultimately demands responsive “soul-ship.” With this I mean that meeting all of the demands of upright living and making well-informed political and social choices will ultimately require both turning to God and tuning into greater spiritual sensitivity. And attempting to come to terms with some of the broad implications of the particularly acute moment of decision the country is presently facing may prove very conducive to this, even as having significant numbers of people doing as much may prove altogether requisite to having the nation both emerge on the right side and get through the whole ordeal in reasonably good order.

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September 8, 2020

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With all of the absurd positions many people are taking and all of the unhinged and reactionary ways they’re behaving in the current social and political climate, it’s important to come to terms with a key reason for why the majority of them are doing so. Although there are a significant number of individuals who are malicious or deeply corrupt who are furthering the sorts of divisive narratives, fake issues, spurious causes and overblown responses we’ve been seeing, the majority of people who buy into all or much of this do so because they’re eager to be moral but have no idea what so being actually looks like. Masses of people who are desperate to do what is commendable, right, ethical or praiseworthy, but who have hardly any clue about how to go about it: this is a defining characteristic of the current social and political landscape and the current tumultuous times we are living in. And it’s something that’s very important to see and acknowledge, while so seeing and acknowledging is also very central to maintaining a charitable mindset. With this I mean that recognizing the extent to which well-meaning people gone astray can come to be so deeply, dangerously and ridiculously conditioned to the ways of the world is almost certain to prove requisite to avoid finding yourself moving towards condemnation.

We so desperately need a widespread individual and societal return to basic and fundamental principles. In the absence of such a return, people will keep making ever greater fools of themselves as they grasp after ideals, values and standards in the only way in which they know how to do so from the impressionable, hypersensitive and self-righteous perch they have secured for themselves in a relativistic social and moral set up. The ever-shifting contours of that set up are substantially controlled by individuals for whom division and degeneration are goals, for whom the manipulation of moods, trends and norms are a game, and for whom disdain for those they purport to be in the business of raising up is second nature. It is totally beneath the dignity for the majority who really ought to know better to fall for this, and yet so many of them do. But it’s quite imperative that you retain a key sense of that dignity in your attempts to come to terms with this problem, as well as in deliberating on how best to address it.

A civilization eventually gets to the point where it either spiritualizes or collapses, and inasmuch as it either flirts with or wholeheartedly embraces the latter course, it’s almost bound to make a religion and a cult out of all sorts of things in the process. We can only hope and pray that much of the current madness gripping the nation will prove to be but a temporary fling, and that people by and large retain a great enough capacity for self-reflection as to eventually have a gnawing sense of how ridiculous and feeble they’re becoming spur a renewed search for a real peg on which to hang their ardor and zeal.

A very key lesson that everyone needs to learn is that you cannot escape the fact that the great commandment is the cornerstone and foundation of any genuine morality. If you don’t know what it means and implies to obey this commandment (to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength), you urgently have to learn. And if you don’t feel you have a capacity and inclination to do as much, you urgently have to work on developing such a capacity and inclination. There’s simply no way around the primacy of this commandment and all that that primacy implies. There’s no other tenable way to move forward, and when you approach upright living in a way that fails to acknowledge this, that is both the height of folly and a clear sign of immaturity.

If people continue to insist on grasping at ideals in a way that bypasses the great commandment, their idealism is bound to prove hollow. If they continue to go the way of worshiping the creation more than the creator, they are bound to do much harm in their attempts to right wrongs. If they don’t turn the innately devotional disposition of the soul in the direction it needs to be turned, they’ll find themselves in a downward-spiralling rut of idolatry that’s very likely to give way to ever more dangerous and ineffectual fanaticism. And if they continue to bypass what it really takes to fortify their character and grow in inner stature of soul, even as they pursue all sorts of outer goals that glisten with a virtuous sheen, the principal positive implications of any changes they bring about in the world are likely to be along the lines of highlighting to others how dangerous it is to be conditioned to worldly ways and standards. Let’s hope and pray that significant numbers learn and assimilate this lesson before the burden of proof is so great that it’s too late to turn things around.

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September 6, 2020

A lot of the emphasis in response to recent developments in the United States has been on how crucial it is to resist the concerted thrust for anarchy, communism, indoctrination and condemnation we are presently witnessing, to re-elect president Trump and Republicans more generally, and to hold together the country in every sense in which it needs to be held together. This is very understandable and certainly well-founded. But something we cannot afford to overlook in the process is just how valuable a thing the exposure that has been going on as part and parcel of all of this is in itself. To put it somewhat bluntly, evil and its roots and workings have been laid bare in all (or much) of their repugnant subtleties and extravagancies to an extent that hasn’t happened for quite some time, and this exposure is something that continues to intensify. Many individuals in positions of leadership who have long been pitted against life, principle, objective values, sensible government and the innate innocence of the majority of the populace are suddenly behaving so explicitly and manifestly for just who they are, that a lot of people who never used to take much notice suddenly almost can’t help but do so. And a lot of others who are deeply caught up and implicated in the ways of these malicious individuals and in the ways of a world gone seriously astray are acting in so deranged, unhinged and reactionary a manner as to throw into very clear light just how crucial it is not to allow oneself to be so caught up and implicated.

All of this exposure and the sort of tensions it has given rise to ought not just to be seen as a mere side effect or unfortunate implication of the positive strides that have been made or of the generally turbulent times in which we are living, but rather as a major and defining aspect of the whole process we’re going through (and are intended to be going through). This exposure—for all of the disruption and distress that has gone along with it—ought to be seen as a blessing for what it is in itself, as well as a most necessary and portentous development that is playing itself out right alongside a host of other necessary and portentous developments. It is also rather important to recognize in this regard that evil is very much in a position of acute weakness when it is clearly brought to light, for all that its intensified huffing and puffing at such a time may threaten to blow many things down. But the American people (and those of other nations who may not be as far from a similar brink as they might believe themselves to be) crucially need to recognize such exposure for what it is and to act upon it. What’s been going on—and all that increasingly obviously lies behind those goings on—needs to be heard by the many as a powerful rallying cry. And that rallying cry must not only be responded to politically and socially, but also introspectively and spiritually, as we each try to come to terms with the broad scope of what meeting the challenges of the times will demand of us individually and collectively.

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September 1, 2020

It’s interesting to note how the 2020 election is falling into a very similar pattern as that of 2016, but at a more intense level. The same voices in the media, the political establishment, Hollywood and elsewhere are parroting almost the exact same message as they did then, with the same sort of hysteria, explicit and unapologetic bias, self-righteous moralizing, and the like. They’re still stuck on the line of Trump being a racist, a sexist, dangerously erratic, and all the rest of it. The Democratic party once again finds itself saddled with a candidate that’s both very obviously corrupt and deeply uninspiring, and that candidate has once again been very clearly propelled to the position he’s in more by the machinations of the political class than by the voice of the electorate. Furthermore, that candidate faced off against the exact same principal opponent in the primaries as Clinton did four years ago, which opponent presented almost the exact same message as he did then and brought almost the exact same level of groundswell support.

Trump hasn’t changed very much. And his opponents have by and large fallen into almost the exact same reactionary patterns of behavior as they previously fell into, pretty much despite themselves. It’s almost as if most of them simply couldn’t behave and respond differently than how they are in fact behaving and responding, even if everything they hold near and dear depended upon it. This is very interesting to observe.

The current election almost feels like a repeat of the last, and yet at the same time it’s so clearly more than just a repeat. In order to understand this, it’s useful to compare the situation the country’s facing to that of someone who’s been trying to kick a negative addiction such as smoking or drinking. Relatively many people manage to quit for a number of weeks or even a month or two, but relatively fewer succeed in doing so permanently. And many individuals fall into such a pattern numerous times, as they repeatedly quit, while never quite managing to do so definitively, but rather keep ending up eventually falling back into their old habits. This is because of the way that cravings and everything that goes along with those cravings (in terms of self-pity and psychological dynamics and the like) are liable to come back a few weeks or months down the road—almost as it seems out of nowhere—and do so with a real vengeance. It then takes a deeper level of resolve, along with some significant soul searching, to secure a more definitive victory. And when people do succeed in doing as much, they usually end up quite likely never to smoke or drink again. (For those who are familiar with this sort of parlance, what I’m talking about here has to do with the two-step process of binding and then casting out the dweller on the threshold.)

The thing Trump’s (and the American people’s) enemies in Washington and the media have been most desperate to avoid over the past four years is for his presidency to become broadly normalized in the eyes of the populace. For people to realize that life not only goes on, but that it does so fairly reasonably. For them to realize that his presidency doesn’t represent an acute national catastrophe, whatever the extent to which they might disagree with some or many of his policies and actions. For them to realize that breaking with much of the political establishment and a significant part of the globalist world order doesn’t mean abandoning basic principles of sensible government and sensitive diplomacy. For them to realize that he’s fairly conservative, populist and nationalist in where he stands, but hardly extreme or radical for all of that in most of what he believes and does. For them to realize that he’s obviously quite different from most of his predecessors, but hardly beyond the scope of some of the more colorful characters the nation’s given rise to in the past, or that the citizens of a republic as dynamic as theirs should expect to see popping into the limelight from time to time.

This is somewhat analogous to the situation with the much-touted second wave of the coronavirus which we’re supposedly going to be facing this fall or winter. We’ve all learned that the virus can be nasty and that it’s more than just another strain of flu. But everyone now also crucially knows that it’s nowhere near as apocalyptic as it was originally presented (or framed) to be.

The current thrust for anarchy, rioting and a breakdown of law and order—as well as much else that’s been going on this tumultuous year—ought to be understood in this sort of context. Individuals in the Democratic party, the media and elsewhere who retain a sufficient capacity for reflection can’t help but see themselves largely stuck in the same sort of reactionary rut as they previously fell into, while being swept to much the same sort of confrontation which bruised them so grievously four years ago. And in their desperation to avoid a repeat outcome, many of them will do well nigh anything that they (rightly or wrongly) believe might sufficiently shake things up as to change the fundamental equation. The American people similarly need to realize that their nation’s barrelling towards an almost eerily similar, yet at the same time presciently different, electoral showdown from that which it faced a few short years back. Whether (and to whatever extent) they may see in this the hand of providence, the outworking of impersonal social and historical forces, the whim of circumstance operating within the peculiar confines of human nature, or the continued outplaying of deep-seated national stresses and strains, they really need to come to terms with just what this might portend.

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August 30, 2020

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To condemn historical figures from America’s early history as racist for not having been more adamantly against slavery is closely analogous to condemning their modern-day counterparts as child haters for not being adamantly against abortion. Both slavery and abortion are terrible things, but they also are (or were) each in their respective time very deeply entrenched evils. If you can find someone who condones slavery in America today, you could very justifiably and convincingly present them in a terrible light. Similarly, someone who condoned killing babies in the womb in eighteenth century America would have been seen by their contemporaries in a very similar guise. To condone something that is wrong when its practice is not to any significant degree entrenched, established, customary, routine or broadly accepted is much more powerfully indicative of a serious flaw of character than to do so when that is not the case. This is not to say that there are not objective and timeless standards of right and wrong. There most certainly are, and we ought each to do our best to discern those standards through all of the societal norms of our day, and to live up to and champion them. But we are all bound to approach this task in the particular context of the times in which we live.

When you lose the sense of perspective that comes with acknowledging this (along with the charitable disposition that goes hand-in-hand with that sense of perspective), you will very quickly find your propensity to condemn others to be a rapidly inflationary one. Your condemnation of some will swiftly become condemnation of many, and then of well-nigh everyone—yourself not excluded. Condemnation will become a way of life, if you do not allow elements of what has (or had at the time) become a way of life to factor into your assessment of individuals and their legacies. When you appreciate this, you are also likely to appreciate the great import of Christ’s teaching that you really ought to judge and condemn no one. Furthermore, you will be likely to appreciate that this teaching does not at all advocate relinquishing a keen and informed capacity for discernment, evaluation and appraisal, but rather implies honing that capacity by conditioning yourself to the precepts of charity.