I’ll get right to it:
What we are seeing presently is nothing less than Maoism, specifically the tumult, chaos, anarchy and terror that Chairman Mao presided over during the Cultural Revolution, minus (so far) the wanton destruction of millions of innocent lives.
I won’t get into the details except to say that this was a period in modern Chinese history in which everything –and everyone–was up for grabs. History, genealogy, culture, even people were not safe from the madness of the masses. Students turned on teachers, who were then forced to wear dunce caps and admit that they were “capitalist running dogs”. Children turned on parents, neighbors ratted out neighbors. This is how pervasive the madness was.
Think of it as a massive “prisoner’s dilemma”. You don’t know what the rules are mainly because there are no rules (except you can’t touch Mao [Obama] and his circle but even that’s no guarantee). You –as a mere peon–only know that you’ve done nothing wrong but that fact alone won’t insulate you if somebody decides to throw you under the bus. In Red China “under the bus” could have been prison, a reeducation center or even death.
What to do in such a chaotic situation? Simple: be the first out of the box with an accusation against Person X and hope that this will immunize you from prosecution down the road from Person Y. Under such a regime, due process is a not even a legal fiction; it is a dead letter.
Now compare that with America today. People are groveling before Antifa and BLM protesters. Some are actually kneeling; others are washing the feet of BLM “mourners”. This is nothing less than blasphemy, pure and simple. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with “white privilege”. That’s just the excuse du jour that these miscreants are using to justify their criminality.
And this is where it gets really interesting: the major corporations are going along with this because they have zero intention of improving the lives of black citizens. It is merely an inoculus to prevent anybody from accusing them of doing nothing. See? It’s not that they’re “doing nothing”, they’re “doing something” if by “something” you mean holding sensitivity training seminars for their employees where the employees admit their racism and shelling out the big bucks to the BLMers. As for ordinary black folks? Nada. In the meantime, ka-ching!
And it fools all the SJWs and BLM shakedown artists out there that said corporations are sufficiently “woke”. It’s no different than when Hugh Hefner went from being the publisher of a sexist magazine which made its money from peddling female pulchritude to being a “feminist”. He didn’t change his brand, he merely fooled the SJWs of his day into thinking that he was on their side so he could continue along his merry way objectifying women. Brilliant if you ask me. And yes, many young men back in the day increased the notches on their belt by going along, pretending to be feminists. (Or so I am told.)
Unfortunately, this clever scheme has expanded to our governing classes. Recently, a Senate committee voted to rename two military bases because they bear the names of Confederate generals. David Petraeus even went so far as to call Robert E Lee a “traitor”. A far better general than he, named Eisenhower, set the likes of him straight decades ago as to this calumny.
But this is where it gets interesting. It’s not just Confederate statues which are being beheaded and torn down, it’s all statues and monuments. Outside the Indian Embassy in Washington, the statue of Mohandas K Gandhi has been vandalized. In London, England, the statue of Abraham Lincoln has been desecrated. In Boston, the monument dedicated to the 54th Colored Regiment (which was memorialized in the movie Glory) has been vandalized. In London itself, a government-schooled woman was asked what she felt about the Churchill statue she was defacing. Her reply? “I don’t know anything about him.”
(For those who may not remember, Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and the 54th fought on the side of the Union. The side that freed the slaves.)
This is what I mean by an American cultural revolution. And like the Chinese one, it won’t look pretty in retrospect once we get on the other side of this. As in China, there will be a lot of recriminations among many, mostly on the other side. Some will regret their actions when the mob comes for them, as it did for Robespierre and Danton during the first Reign of Terror. Others will have their consciences pricked and feel genuinely sorry.
The question, as we suffer through this is: when will we get to the other side? Because eventually, we will get to the other side.
Why? Because this is madness, pure and simple.
Now, even a person’s mode of dress during a private outing is enough to get him defenestrated. In the picture below, you will see Mike Gundy, the head coach of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys, wearing a tee shirt that says “OAN”:
And what exactly is “OAN”? Who the hell cares? Why should it matter what a man wears on a fishing trip? As far as I’m concerned, it makes no difference if he wore this tee shirt or a mesh shirt and fishnet stockings. (I guess a man is allowed to wear fishnet stockings during a gay pride parade.)
Unfortunately for Gundy, however, one of his star players, Chuba Hubbard, lost it. You see, OAN is a 24/7 cable news network, one that President Trump likes to watch every now and then. So Mr Howard, a 6’0″ 201 running back for OSU, clutched his pearls and passed out on the fainting couch in the parlor. I suppose someone had to grab the smelling salts to revive the poor dear.
There is an Achilles Heel to all this. And we in America are suffering because of this Achilles Heel –the fantasy that all men are “equal”, that there is no hierarchy. It would be apropos at this time to quote Alexis de Tocqueville:
“When inequality is the common law of a society, the strongest inequalities do not strike the eye; when everything is nearly on a level, the least of them wound it. That is why the desire for equality always becomes more insatiable as equality is greater.”
This, too, will be the poison pill (if you will) of this present madness. Because what we are witnessing is not the equalization of the various peoples of the United States but the creation of a new, fantastic, and unsustainable hierarchy. We are witnessing nothing less than the birth of a new caste system, a resegregation if you will. Even odious “liberals” like Bill Maher are sensing this.
Consider: white actors are being prohibited from voicing black and other non-white characters in cartoons. Cartoons. And the great blackface scandals are ensnaring dozens of liberal actors and actresses. Take a gander at this:
https://youtu.be/mL1fLB3UsUk
In this milieu, I doubt that a movie like Tootsie or Some Like it Hot can be made. Mel Brooks has even said that not only could Blazing Saddles not be made today, but it can’t even be watched. This is “progress”?
This a type of puritanism (perhaps our nation’s greatest defect) that is beyond obnoxious; it is wicked. One that is in fact, not only unsustainable, but one that is unenforceable. Do we really want to go down this route? Then black entertainers like Beyonce Knowles should stop straightening her hair and dying it blonde. Seriously. After all, isn’t this a type of cultural appropriation?
Let us go further: when black entertainers don non-native hairstyles, are they not implicitly buying into white supremacy in doing so? When movies like the latest iteration of Mary, Queen of Scots are made in which black actors are playing English earls is this not a type of cultural appropriation as well? Rumors abound that Idris Elba is going to be the next James Bond, a fictional character I grant you but nonetheless a man whose father was Scottish and mother was French. Where is the hue and cry against this among white people?
I ask all reading this to think deeply about this: do we really want to take this madness to its logical conclusion? I think not.
And that is why –eventually–this idiocy will burn itself out.
The question is not a matter of if, but when. In the meantime, how many innocent lives –black and white–will be destroyed before normalcy returns?
Another example of Even Liberals Are Not Immune to the Revolution:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-purity-spiral-turns-as-courage-goes-missing_3404905.html
I especially like how they’re going after J K Rowling, a foolish liberal who had the temerity to criticize the absurd effort to call women “people who menstruate”.
That’s hilarious — J.K. Rowling + assorted other liberals getting eaten by their own…
how … Richly Deserved!
I’m still waiting to see entirety of lefty comedians doing blackface … George + Gail or someone, can ya send for our entertainment?
check the main story. I found the clip. Caution: not safe for work!
Another liberal bites the dust:
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/06/28/alyssa-milano-faces-renewed-backlash-for-2017-cornrows-photo/
And the hits just keep on coming:
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/06/29/washington-post-opinion-editor-white-women-are-lucky-we-are-not-calling-for-revenge/
It’s gotten to the point that I feel like even the re-election of Trump isn’t enough to help us. Short of labeling BLM/Democrats as terrorist organizations, nothing is going to change. I fear that we as a country are on an inevitable trajectory towards a civil war type conflict. The country has become so polarized that it seems like it is the most likely outcome. The best we can do is get close to God, keep adhering to the sacraments, and arm/protect ourselves. I usually try not to be doom and gloom because it is unproductive, but, I can’t help but think that Jews in the 1930’s or Russians before the revolution had to have had the same feeling
The best hope, at this point I think, is a peaceful partition of the country – as peaceful as possible.
Let the South/southern Midwest/Southwest/Rockies continue as the USA. Let the Northeast, upper Midwest, and Left Coast split off to form the Communist States of America.
For those of us who grew up in terrible family dysfunction, watching this play out in real time relives the trauma. The two “sides” of our country bring totally opposite assumptions to the table and have irreconcilable world views. The only way to coexist is for one to agree to be ruled by the other, which I don’t see happening anymore. Regardless of whether Trump wins in November, it’s a “heads I win, tails you lose” scenario.
I love my country and this breaks my heart, but you need a critical mass of shared values, mutual trust, and healthy accountability for a democracy to survive. We no longer have that critical mass.
Benjamin Franklin said “here’s your Republic, if you can keep it.” It was a good go, but it looks lost beyond hope. If there are those who want to keep it, they’re too silent and impotent to be effective.
I pray that after the disintegration of North America that missionaries from Russia come to fully evangelize this land, to continue the work of the saints of Alaska and North America.
Communist States of America—CSA. Cute.
Funny indeed.
FTS:
?that’s a great post — sounds like America is heading for divorce …
”but, let not your heart be troubled”
Very well put FTS. I am in the process of moving to Anchorage, AK over the next 2 weeks. I was originally a little apprehensive about moving so far away, but, now I feel like I’m going to be thankful for the isolation. Plus the perk of having a lot of Orthodox parishes around
Well, the Democrats are clever. There are other dummies out there like the Bangaloo that might have been in some of the ritos and the Dems love to used them to blame them and not Antifa or Blacks Lives Matter.
Too clever by half.
But not very bright…
Truth be told George, this coming election will define the REAL state of our union. What we see on the news is not realty(hopefully), even for those of color. All things being fair, Trump should win easily against Biden. Most likely it will be a close election, because it will NOT be a fair election(voter fraud, media lies, etc). Now if we get a gross fraudulent election, and/or a leftist wave, worst than imagined, it will truly be the end of the greatest nation ever conceived on earth, not perfect by any means, just the best so far, given the natural sinful nature of man. The final straw will come, if Biden is elected. things will be very baaaad very soon. All sing along, or else! Four legs good, two legs bad, or is it better? ???https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebk71P_b5vk
Re your video clip: the major question to my mind is: who will be Napoleon once our Republic is destroyed?
The American Right is running on fumes at the minute. There will be no Thermidor.
Basil, the Thermidor did not last. That’s the point: Napoleon came in and ended the leftist nonsense.
It was a more conservative transition towards the Napoleonic regime. It was possible because there were still some sensible people around to steer things that way. All we have now are Cuckservatives.
We need Tucker Carlson to become a brutal warlord; maybe that’s the only way. You can’t cuck the Tuck.
“It was a more conservative transition towards the Napoleonic regime.”
Mais non:
Scottish philosopher and historian Thomas Carlyle later famously recorded that, on this occasion, Bonaparte gave his opponent a “Whiff of Grapeshot” and that “the thing we specifically call French Revolution is blown into space by it.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_Vend%C3%A9miaire#A_whiff_of_grapeshot
The passage you quote goes on to say “13 Vendémiaire marks the ending of the French Revolution.”
I didn’t say that the conservatives (or Royalists) won, but that a more conservative element began to take over.
To use wikipedia, Thermidor “was marked by the end of the Reign of Terror, decentralization of executive powers from the Committee of Public Safety, and a turn from the radical leftist policies of the Montagnard Convention to more conservative positions. Economic and general populism, dechristianization, and harsh wartime measures were largely abandoned, as the members of the Convention, disillusioned and frightened of the centralized government of the Terror, preferred a more stable political order that would have the approval of the affluent. The Reaction saw the Left suppressed by brutal force, including massacres, as well as the disbanding of the Jacobin Club, the dispersal of the sans-culottes, and the renunciation of the Montagnard ideology.”
Basil, I just wanted to quote Carlyle.
I like him. He had class.
He also understood The Revolution. 🙂
Basil ? that’s SO well said…
good for the Tuck
Tough one, on our “Napoleon” George,
My first thought was egomaniac Mark Cuban, because he appeals to all sides, especially to people of color, and sport nuts. On top of that the deep state/MSM know he is leftist businessperson.(the left’s Trump).
But, after a second thought, he still has two huge strikes, on the long list of the woke’s creed of acceptance. He looks too white, and is on the wrong side of true biological male sex.(not trans,female or male)
Hence their creed, it would come down to Oprah or Mrs. Obama. Creepy, but not them now, but the next generation of Obama, or Oprah types might be the Anti-Christ.Like: Don’t cry for me Alexandria!(Ocasio-Cortez)
This is the way I see it, two options:
1. Trump wins reelection and unleashes the DoJ to start cracking skulls. This would actually be the preferred, less chaotic choice. (Remember, the chaos we see is a controlled operation and even at the height, it never had more than 50,000 “mourners” nationwide. Or,
2. Trump loses and the Left goes ape-sh!t and unleashes fury on the majority –normies included. This will burn itself out because the Left doesn’t know their kolo from a hole in the ground and the economy will crash amidst all the ginned-up violence. Hence, because they’re unproductive by nature, they will be like the virus which kills its host.
Option #2 happened in France during the Reign of Terror. It was unsustainable. It also happened in Wiemar Germany (and we know you-know-who came in and set things straight). In any event, Option #2 will devolve into complete anarchy. Worse, our degraded military will not be able to sustain the American Empire. (If the Chinese are smart, they’ll destroy our Pacific Fleet when the quarterly ship-board drag show is going on and/or everybody from the admirals down to the Swabbies is undergoing a three-day sensitivity training in which they all admit their racism to each other.)
At that point, I can see the American oligarchy gathering at Bohemian Grove and deciding that somebody like Tom Cotton needs to be selected President and he’ll be given carte blanche to unleash the National Guard on Portlandia and other misruled hell-holes. In addition, he will be given authority to drain the Pentagon of all the Trannies and SJWs, which will probably be easy to do because under Option #2, we would have suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of our enemies, a conflict which would have happened because the newly-energized Neocons/libs will think that we can push major countries around because Orange Hitler is not around to stop their natural aggression.
This would be Option #3: 2024 and it would happen when enough white suburbanites are burned out of their homes and enough white women lose their jobs because of well-deserved “revenge” against them.
This is what I mean about the mob starting to eat its own:
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/bryan-preston/2020/06/29/seattle-mayor-durkan-very-upset-that-chops-summer-of-love-has-landed-on-her-doorstep-n588111
When you add insanity like the above to the fact that tens of thousands of ordinary, decent, hard-working people are going to lose their jobs and eventually their homes because they’ve been fingered by the thought police, then you will see real civil disobedience. Because at that point, the productive classes will say “why the hell not? I’ve got nothing left to lose” and then they’ll start going all Braveheart on their new masters.
This will accelerate the big boys to meet at Bohemian Grove and try to decide what they need to do before things get completely out of control. Especially when the police stop going after the normies and join up with them.
The main wild card at that point is what will the combat forces of the Army and Marines do? Given that the Pentagon is full of snowflakes like Mattis and his ilk, I can’t imagine that they would come to the aid of the productive classes –far from it, as they need their jobs. However, I can see mass desertions and/or orders not being followed, arsenals being sabotaged, things like that.
https://thepostmillennial.com/antifa-arrested-in-washington-jackson-statue This is Jason Charter. The dude told Jack P to get out since he was a nazi and was in a craze. I think this is happpening since lots of young white males don’t have a religion so they get obessed with hating nazis and fascist.
And yet, it is they who are the true fascists and brown-shirts, is it not?
?What’s up with that dull video, the black speaker not allowing public to watch entirety of Howard Stern in blackface? Why are Stern’s videos + others being blocke — I’m curious, never saw them + why is Stern getting away with it?
Cause he’s a liberal?
Sage-Girl, I’m desperately trying to find the original offending video that Stern and Robin Quivers, his black, female sidekick made. I saw it last week and was absolutely horrified at its grotesqueness. Nevertheless, the great Liberal Blackface Scandal of 2020 continues to ensnare at least two dozen liberal entertainers so far, including Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Robert Downey Jr, Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey and two of the Golden Girls.
? Thanks muchly Geo — don’t forget, that crude, obnoxious Sara Silverman is worst of the bunch; she’s been heard yelling in skits, she’d “kill Jesus again if she could”…
Be certain, Karma ain’t forgetting Ms. Silverman
As they say, “Karma’s a b!tch!”
This cultural revolution will be different from Russia’s in one aspect: there will be no state run corporations, because the corporations and the state are already matching in lock step. Better than Lenin’s wildest dreams.
The so called “oppressed” on this country have total institutional power, and the “oppressors” (white men in particular) have none. The entire power dynamic is the opposite of what they say it is.
Case in point, the white Boomers who defended their house yesterday. They were totally in the right, yet the mob attacked them, doxed them, and they were forced to sign this fake letter supporting BLM.
And speaking of revolutions, John Roberts did it again. He voted 5-4 against the Louisiana abortion law DESPITE voting in favor (in the minority) of a similar Texas law. His reasoning? He said the Texas case, though wrongly decided, was now precedent and it is important for the court to uphold precedent.
So the one branch of government that can decisively change things, cannot do so if it breaks precedent. (if it’s a leftist cause)
Hey Republicans, how long will you keep thinking we can vote ourselves out of this mess? Next election we’ll get em! Just get one more conservative justice and we’ll win!
Antiochene Son & Misha:
with all this Madness going down, we all should reach for Vodka ? – even my Russian Elder prescribes it for any ailment… regarding that gun carrying couple, the Boomers — video was terrifying not to see Police — where were the Police?!
Where’s National Guard? Where’s our President?
That couple was foolish. I couldn’t believe what they were doing when I saw the video. All they did was make themselves a target. Street-smart people know to never let them know what you are thinking. So you stand in your doorway smiling and waving with your weapons alongside the door out of their sight but within easy reach if needed, God forbid. By brandishing their weapons and yelling at the trespassers to “keep moving” they opened themselves up to future harassment. Sadly, I would not be surprised if eventually their dog is killed and their house is burned down.
Sorry to here, they were force to sign a letter saying Black Lives Matter.
Yeah, this is the thing I keep thinking about all these wannabe resisters. If you’re going to oppose the mob prepare to be a martyr. Get that through your head and be comfortable with it. Be ready to loose everything and still stand up not cower it it gets too hot. Sadly their caving on signing a letter of support to the marxists shows they love their comfort too much.
Ya gotta wonder what they got on good ole Johnny Boy…
Stefan Molyneux has been canceled from YouTube. Must have gotten too close to the mark with something. He’s a bit of a gateway drug to naughty thoughts.
He is indeed at that!
They’re not going to win. There, I said it. I stand by it.
I have never encountered a crisis that could not be resolved through the ingestion of three healthy (Russian) shots of vodka.
Never.
As the third shot passes your lips you will feel the beginning of stability restored and the Answer will arise spontaneously. You will state it in a loud clear voice as if it were common sense (which it is).
We get too deep into it and can’t see the forest for the trees. They have hit a wall and part of them knows it. Socialism won’t work and perversion will never become accepted as commonplace. That’s just the way things are.
They hit the wall economically under Reagan. You just can’t tax people that much and expect the economy to flourish. Now it’s the whole enchilada. Social issues as well. They simply went too far, as they had to to continue expanding.
Misha, I will try the three shots of vodka you prescribe. I will let you know tomorrow.
Well, this doesn’t fit the narrative, does it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj1GaX_-E-E&feature=youtu.be
Seems a former vice president thought that it was perfectly acceptable for his wife to brandish a double-barreled shotgun on their property.
Oops.
Follow the money. BLM donations do not go “directly” to the DNC. But they do follow a tortured route to anything but black lives.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/donations-to-black-lives-matter-group-dont-go-to-dnc/
Follow the money…
This is all telling us things we know. It is not time for complaints but for analysis and action. No, this will not simply burn out on its own. What is going on is (1) the deflection by the ruling class of the source of real problems onto historical and cultural symbols and language and (2) an obvious political ploy by mainline Democrats to manipulate radical rhetoric and street thugs to demoralise their opponents and ride a high turnout wave into 2020. If the problem were to suddenly die down, it will only be once Biden is elected and Dems win both houses of Congress. Then, and only then, there is just a chance we might see the media decry “extremist” violence. Pretending it will just go away is not an option. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution lasted for many years.
The trouble with this, Borg, is that the Revolution always eats its own. And then there’s the fact that the productive classes will riot, metaphorically speaking. They can do this by checking out of the official culture, hoard their assets, move to exurban/rural areas, and of course, continue arming themselves to the teeth.
A BLM/SJW official culture is unsustainable without he tax receipts of the productive classes.
Thanks GM –
finally saw disgusting “act”of Howard Stern,
if liberal TV played entirety of this revulsion + repeatedly, Howard Stern would not only be finished + his property burnt down. All on board with the vicious Left get protected ?
I think they’ve found their next hoax: Russian bounties for American soldiers.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-dems-head-to-white-house-for-briefing-on-bounty
This is so utterly transparent as to be laughable. It’s like the war in Albania from the movie Wag the Dog.
Why would Russia put up such a bounty? What is the difference between giving armed assistance and supplying the Taliban and putting up a bounty? Why per soldier? Do the Russians know of the secret number of casualties that is the max we are willing to lose? If there were some evidence of such bounties, would it violate the long standing rule that Russian soldiers and American soldiers do not come into direct lethal contact? If the Russians were going to do this, would they leave any evidence?
And where is this sh*t coming from? The Intelligence Community, of course. “Six ways from Sunday at getting back at you . . .”, indeed.
Very odd assertion. It only makes sense if you evaluate it for its political propaganda use here in the United States. Bad ole Russkies paying for the scalps of our brave heroes. It’s using the soldiers as a political weapon. It’s clever. How do you disprove it?
Hopefully the American people are not so gullible to fall for this latest Big Lie.
Americans have become so accustomed to blaming others for what they themselves have done that they don’t even realize that they are “projecting.”
The government just put a bounty on the head of Maduro, for crying out loud. A head of state! The hypocrisy is unreal.
Plus, Afghan freedom fighters don’t need financial motives to fight our forces; our being on their land is enough.
https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1278023724399116289 This is Andy Ngo which is a moderate Gay Vietnamese conservative that has exposed Antifa for years in Porltand. Last year they beat him up.
Too little, too late:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/30/seattle-police-chief-says-enough-is-enough-after-teen-fatally-shot-in-chop/
I guess this wasn’t the Summer of Love after all.
Yeah, and a kid had to die for them to figure it out. Summer of Love, indeed.
Gone are the days when we all used to sit around, listen to music and get high. Two people disagree, you’d hear one of them say, “Yeah, that’s not my bag, but it’s cool. Want to light up?” Nobody was afraid of anyone. No one pushed little old ladies into fire hydrants. Black and white people marched side by side. That’s why reform came out of it. The country wanted it. Was it spot on in taking care of the problem. No. But the effort was there.
Flash forward to today. Nobody, not black or white, is going to support the rabid dogs that have been unleashed on society perpetrating indiscriminate acts of violence, looting and the destruction of property. I, for one, will do everything within my power to support our local government to jail each and every perpetrator. Don’t care if they ever see the light of day. No sob story is going to mitigate the supreme arrogance of thinking what they’re doing is justified. My state, the good ‘ole State of Oklahoma, has got it right. These people are terrorists. Let them terrorize each other behind bars. We’ll take care of their kids and raise them right.
You tell em Gail – right on!
As my dad used to say:
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!?
The Red Guards have absolutely no sense of proportion. It’s because of crap like this:
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/06/30/boston-statue-depicting-a-freed-slave-kneeling-before-lincoln-coming-down/
that Trump is going to win again.
Perhaps…but that may only work the once.
Unless the statues are restored, the next generation
will likely have no idea what the fuss was about.
Les Effaceurs are playing the long game…
This would be funny, years ago, but now must be taken seriously. Saint Constantine has the demons attention. Slave owner, never mind emperor, (They nay)Saint Constantine is being threatened by mob removal, in England. Civil authorities are considering having it removed. Woke is a mental disorder, and demonic. And has crossed too many lines. The backlash from whatever sane is left on earth either comes very soon, or it never will. I imagine the coming election will tell us all we need to know. Time to dust off the barbells and bench. This is beyond real and very dangerous. Christians have been fair game for a long time, and now evil will strike us.
The west:
“Whoever has known the spiritual beauty of the Underground Church cannot be satisfied anymore with the emptiness of some Western churches. I suffer in the West more than I suffered in a Communist jail because now I see with my own eyes Western civilization dying. Oswald Spengler wrote in Decline of the West: You are dying. I see in you all the characteristic stigma of decay. I can prove that your great wealth and your great poverty, your capitalism and your socialism, your wars and your revolutions, your atheism and your pessimism and your cynicism, your immorality, your broken-down marriages, your birth-control, that is bleeding you from the bottom and killing you off at the top in your brains —can prove to you that there are characteristic marks of the dying ages of ancient states—Alexandria and Greece and neurotic Rome.” Spengler wrote this in 1926.
From Richard Wurmbrand.
For more visit: http://www.oodegr.com/english/empeiries/finishing_the_race.htm
Father Andrew has a hopeful vision for Russia:
http://www.events.orthodoxengland.org.uk/1-july-the-new-constitution-for-the-russian-federation/
Very good article, I have been following the changes to the Russian constitution.
I took Russian in college (before I became Orthodox), and have seriously been considering moving there over the next couple of years depending how things go here in the States.
Are things perfect in Russia? Nope. Nowhere is. But, Russia has been moving in the right direction since the fall of Communism, especially the last 10 years.
I’m 100% sure there would be hardships, but, thinking of my future and the future of my potential children (God willing), I have a hard time thinking that great Christian hope is going to be had here in America any longer, even in Texas where I currently live.
The United States is young, and we are not an infallible country. The United States cannot save us, the government/president cannot save us, only Jesus Christ can.
We may be right behind you.
It’s unfortunate that it even feels like it could very realistically get to that point.
Heads up, it’s fairly easy to get a visa in Russia, but, to fully move there you have to be fluent in Russian (I believe that’s one of the requirements?)
It says: can provide proof of basic command of Russian language. Yikes.
It’s actually not terribly hard. Once you get the alphabet down it’s decently easy bc it’s a phonetic language. It’s easier for me to read a Russian word written In Cyrillic than when it’s written in Latin script
I’m going to try
Gail and Petros,
Have y’all gotten the impression from the Russian Faith website that it is difficult to make a living there for transplanted Americans? Father sounds rather in need and I have wondered, given that I am sure they live quite simply and frugally.
Congrats on your move to Alaska Petros. Just beautiful and lots of booklovers there. Texas’ loss.
??
Nicole
Also, I’m moving to Alaska next week so I’m hoping that insulates me a little for the time being lol
Which part?
Moving up to Anchorage. The move is unrelated to everything going on but it’s a pleasant coincidence
I loved this little parish when I was there. https://www.sainttikhon.org/
Saint Tikhon of Moscow Orthodox Church
15396 Old Seward Highway, Anchorage Alaska 99516 +1.907.240.1888
Eagle River? I’ve heard interesting things about St. John’s up there
I have some friends of my former parish in Eagle River. If you end up there, let me know so I can tell them you’re coming.
That’s actually where I’ll be! I just said Anchorage because I figured more people would know it
Perfect. Email us your contact info and we’ll make sure you’re taken care of.
Yeah, this is problematic. And, he’s apparently communing folks with multiple spoons despite the Metropolitan’s clear, strict prescription otherwise:
https://publicorthodoxy.org/2017/02/16/taking-orthodoxy-to-america/
Apparently Richard Wurmbrand converted to Orthodoxy while he was in prison, but never admitted it later. I think I read that in Saint of the Prisons.
In any event, he is a saint.
I had read that when the Stalinists had organized an ecumenical symposium in Bucharest, all were asked to swear allegiance to Stalin. Wurmbrand’s wife –also Jewish–told him “Darling, we can’t do this” (or something to this effect). Both husband and wife realized that this type of apostasy would be punished with imprisonment. He refused to bend the knee and suffered years in prison.
Yes, he was a saint.
He might be a righteous man, but he is no saint. Only Orthodox Christians can be saints. The Church has boundaries.
What is ‘a saint’? Is ‘saint’ a title or a description? The Greek word ‘ayios’ (‘hagios’) can just as well be translated as ‘holy’. If we say someone is ‘a saint’s, can we not just be saying that person is ‘holy’?
I think a rigorous legalism is not always appropriate.
You have a point Brendan.
“What is ‘a saint’? Is ‘saint’ a title or a description? The Greek word ‘ayios’ (‘hagios’) can just as well be translated as ‘holy’.”
The word ἃγιος (‘hagios’) is mentioned many times in the NT and Professor P.N.Trempelas interprets it as Christian OR Faithful OR Baptized, OR combinations of these!
A similar case maybe the 14000 saints, (29th Dec), the babys killed by Herodes. Theologians say they are saints and they were baptized in their blood, not in water.
Correct me if I am wrong, there have been some border-line cases like: A non-Christian soldier is murdering a saint, and at that moment he (the soldier) believes in Christ, he tells the king so, then they kill him too, and the Church says he is a saint too? And he has not been baptized (properly in water).
Wurmbrand told (I think Christensen) that he wasn’t worthy to become Orthodox. He did not denounce Orthodoxy, but himself.
He suffered because he believed in Christ.
It does look as if we have such a border-line case now, doesn’t it?
If he will not not deny Christ before others,
Christ will not deny him before his Father.
Only Orthodox people can be officially venerated as saints by the Church. Looked up St. Alexander Schmorell yet.
Yes, of course. I read the book about him when it came out a couple of years ago and, I have to say, I was extremely unimpressed. Now, I don’t deny the Church’s glorification of him – he did what he thought was right, based on his Christian convictions, and died for them – but I didn’t see anything in his life that was ‘saintly’ or particularly Orthodox.
What troubled me was that Germany gave him and his family refuge from Bolshevism, yet he wanted to overthrow the government of that nation when it was in the midst of a death struggle with said Bolshevism. It is a terrible form of treachery, no matter how you slice it.
The other members of the White Rose movement weren’t living particularly righteous lives either. I read something about drug abuse a while back.
Put it this way: he was a member of ROCOR and that church not only supported Hitler during the war (as did the vast majority of White Russian emigres) but its mission to the newly-liberated territories like Belarus and Ukraine flourished. Remember that the entire hierarchy of the Orthodox Church in the German-held areas, with a couple of exceptions, followed the Germans out when they retreated, along with millions of Orthodox Russians, many of whom fought for the Reich against Bolshevism.
There’s room in the Church for both sides.
Basil if you read the article I posted you would see that when offered Christmation he refused because he was not worthy to be Orthodox. Yet the majority of us seem to be of the BMC group and just want to get the hell out of town before the bad guys come in on the train.
Shoot I find it difficult to endure not being able to go to Church when I want.
God forgive me
That’s why I wrote ‘later denied it.’ The book I am referring to states that he did, in fact, accept some form of rite of reception into the Church.
From what I know he was apparently chrismated in the States after gaining freedom.
Neptic, I would love to find information regarding this (if true).
There is something to be said for not fleeing the place of one’s martyrdom but I may just be jealous since I and my wife are in no position to move.
In another cultural revolution, Russia’s constitutional amendment which enshrines heterosexual marriage passed with 78% of the vote.
https://orthochristian.com/132282.html
By tragic accident I heard just a snippet of Glenn Beck yesterday, and he was saying “America is still the world’s best hope.” I’m gonna say nah.
You know, Glenn’s not a bad egg, just a hysteric. Every time I hear him I say “bless his heart”.
Glenn Beck is also a Morman. He gravitated there once he gave up booze. Yeah, irrational hysteric about fits.
Well, a lot of folks have bad theology or are even atheist that are on the right, but that doesn’t mean they are not right on some other issues. I admire Heather Macdonald usually on crime stats and Andy Ngo on information on Antifa and Black Lives Matter. Both are not christians or mormons just agnostic or atheist. Glenn Beck is the typical populist style on the right. In fact I kind of like the Heather Macdonald style better, but the pop right style of Glenn Beck or Breitbart is preferred.
“Russia’s constitutional amendment which enshrines heterosexual marriage passed with 78% of the vote.”
Glory to Jesus Christ! This is what happens when a culture has borne the full weight of the fruits of godlessness. Apparently our awakening has yet to occur.
George,
Epstein’s ‘madam’ Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested, Jewish daughter of Mossad and Soviet agent Robert Maxwell. Robert Maxwell is buried in Jerusalem, whose funeral had “no less than six serving and former heads of Israeli intelligence.” Both have ties to the Clintons, of course, and with the hammer coming down on Ghislaine, I can’t help wonder the timing between these arrests and BLM, Soros, Biden, our current cultural revolution, etc.
LonelyDn, perhaps the question we need to ask if she is going to be the latest fatality associated with that strange malady called Arkancide?
Perhaps we should start a pool as to the unfortunate date?
It’s well known that Bill Clinton had an affair with Ghislaine Maxwell, though the Clinton mafia and their collaborationist media will forever shield and deflect attention from the former President. A real investigative news media would’ve been all over this story already.
Excellent Podcast: “A look inside the mysterious demise of Jeffrey Epstein”
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/federalist-radio-hour/id983782306?i=1000476935994
Dear to Christ Basil: “Only Orthodox Christians can be saints” . . . “The Church has no boundaries.” These statements are contradictory: “only” . . . “no”. Fortunately, Christ God will make the judgment and not we. He knows His sheep. There are ordinary means of salvation . . . . and then there are extraordinary ones that may be extended through the abundance of His limitless grace in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. In event event let us pray for our brother, Richard.
Christ is in our midst,
lexcaritas
I got a little worried there that I did a heresy and looked at my post. I didn’t write that the Church has no boundaries.
Saint Gregory (the Theologian or of Nyssa, I can’t remember) says that we are not to inquire into whether or not the non-Orthodox are saved, and I don’t question that. Nonetheless, within the context of the Church, the title ‘saint’ should only be applied to those whom the Church has glorified as such.
Remember, Wurmbrand, no matter his righteous life, was a Lutheran pastor. Therefore he preached heresy and put souls in danger. Let that sink in before you jump on me.
Very much agreed, Lex.
All is not lost, at least in Great Britain.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/07/02/delingpole-black-lives-matter-the-backlash-begins/
The push-back against this present evil that is BLM has begun there. Thank God for tender mercies.
Yet: ‘HarperCollins has dropped David Starkey as an author, saying that the racist views the bestselling historian expressed in a recent interview were “abhorrent”.
On Thursday, Starkey told the rightwing commentator Darren Grimes that “slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? You know, an awful lot of them survived”.’
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/david-starkey-dropped-by-publisher-and-university-positions-after-racist-remarks/ar-BB16ikMC
On another note, we can all rest assured now that noted Italian bodyguard Hiluigi Clintonelli has been assigned to guard Ghislaine Maxwell while she’s in custody:
https://babylonbee.com/news/federal-prison-hires-top-rated-italian-bodyguard-hillena-clintonelli-to-protect-ghislaine-maxwell
I believe that the Left has jumped the shark.
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2020/07/cool-hand-trump.html
We’ll see tonight how loud their screams will be during the Mt Rushmore rally and if it will register on the Richter scale.
Well, the Antifa bunch are like Jerry Rubin not pretending to be peaceful progressives, but storming the barracks. They tear down and burn things for a month. I bet in 5 years the movement disappears for being too obious on the vandalism and so forth.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause—there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th’unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovere’d country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.”
If you do nothing else, please read the first three paragraphs of this otherwise excellent essay:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/a-lesson-from-robert-e-lee/
Ah, nothing like the moral ambiguity of the human race. We are all hypocrites. It is the human condition it seems. Probably a major attraction of nihilist political systems
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/12/red-november-democratic-party-has-brought-america-brink-socialism/
Plus documented better contemporaneously than the first. New book entitled Red November about the Demshevik caucases. I’m sure it will be all the rage.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/young-white-mother-killed-black-lives-matter-mob-allegedly-saying-lives-matter-national-media-fully-ignores/
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/three-churches-burned-just-24-hours-wouldnt-know-watch-national-news/
https://www.rt.com/usa/494468-joseph-fair-nbc-coronavirus-fake/
At this rate, the Left will have this fully wrapped up, before the Right even accepts what is going on.
Just read something that suppose to get my sympathy. Antifa 26 year old gets hit by federal agents after rioting and vandalizing for a month. His parents are complaining and the local government in Portland wants the federal agents out. Antifa boy should have thought if you want to be an anarchist you can be seriously hurt. It shows his parents have baby him for years.
File this one under “We Are Doomed”:
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/07/21/george-stephanopoulos-wife-says-she-watched-porn-with-their-teenage-daughters/
I guess all that GOA catechism finally paid off.
Did she enjoy it? Did they?
Please don’t answer.
I don’t want to know.
I wonder if he receives Communion.
I read somewhere he went to seminary. It’s a blessing he didn’t enter the priesthood.
It’s official: the world is completely insane.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trans-man-sues-hospital-after-hysterectomy-is-canceled/ar-BB17430A?ocid=iehp
GEORGE,
HAD ENOUGH! When will someone come forth to fight this evil, someone outside of Trump, that we can support? Our Church won’t speak up, if fact they give awards to the likes of Gov. Cuomo(an applauded 3rd term out of womb abortionist). March with Marxists, like BLM INC. They are leaning with the evil forces. Every night I fume, what can I do. All answers that come to mind are evil thoughts that will contribute to the evil that has over taken our now “Orwellian” world . This how the devil works, confusing us into a sinful state, but must we lay down like sheep, in the face of evil?.https://torontosun.com/news/national/youngest-dangerous-offender-gets-dd-breast-implants
Yes only a movie clip, but the Devil’s Advocate movie ending speech by Al Pacino, playing the role of Satan, gave me fright, and chills then, but I said to myself 20 years ago, this could never happen. Well that time is here! Evil is at our door! WARNING:its R rated.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xqjZHPL31I
Watching all four parts(link is 3rd) is creepy, and a bit scandalous, but maybe needed to awaken us. This is part 3 of “satan’s speech”, where satan predicts, he and his demons running the courts, and overturning crimes against humanity. This is very close where we find ourselves in reality now with our current overturning courts, swaying leftist lobbyists, all forms of mind altering media, education systems, vanity, and now the mob state we find ourselves in.(mobs backed by local/state guvs)This covid virus is a byproduct from evil forces of the Chinese Communist nation to counteract the economy here going so well, to one of recession, confusion, and fear.
It is much worse than we think. Satan truly has taken control of this world. No one with a right mind comes forward, all are afraid to protest the insanity, in fear that we will be labeled the insane, not tolerate, Lgbqtxyz phobes/haters and racists. Worse for those in our clergy who seem to think they must be partnered with their governments, to be relevant.(vanity) If there is not a huge human majority swing to the right, and real justice not given to these evil demons, then all we can do is pray for a quick end from our Lord. Sanity and justice now, or Apocalypse now! LORD SAVE US, AND HAVE MERCY ON US!
It’s like all these insane people have been lying in wait. Where did they come from?
Four years ago, after Hillary lost the election, we saw her supporters crying like babies in the wings. They ran to their “safe places” because they were so afraid of their shadows.
Then a blinding rage came over them and the “orange man” began to occupy their every thought. Their reaction was literally visceral to the point where his profile on the golf course enraged them because he was simply too fat! (That an app might have been used to make him bigger never occurred to them, as they click away taking selfies, shaving off pounds and smoothing out their complexions in the process! Many of these people are long on passion and short on logic.)
And for whatever reason, Trump wanted, and continues to want, to draw fire with his constant tweets. He pokes and pokes and pokes. I remember saying to George I felt like he was a motorboat going at breakneck speed while we, his supporters, churned in his wake trying to educated the baffled and appease our families and friends who began hating us because they hated him.
By way of example, within my family, I used to part the crowd when I walked into a room, not because of anything I did but because of who I was. I was the only grandchild of our beloved matriarch and because she loved me fiercely, by proxy, they loved me, too. I continued to have this celebrity status long after she passed. And then Trump happened. At our last family gathering in 2017, not only did I not have a seat at the head of the table, with people kneeling on either side to catch up on the latest news, my daughter and I didn’t even have a chair! We had to seat ourselves across the room. I kid you not. Their love for me (which clearly was NOT love) had turned into a blinding hatred. They barely acknowledged me with a nod as I walked by their table. My daughter and I sat quietly in our own little booth, as the rest of my family, who saw each other frequently BTW, chatted among themselves as if we didn’t exist. At some point, Jessica said to me, “Mom, why are we even here?” I had no answer, so we pushed back our chairs, leaving our food on the table, and said our good-byes before they had bothered to say hello. We traveled 10 hours to see them and this was the reception we got.
If I didn’t know better, I would think their brains were infected with a virus like in the Walking Dead, turning them into mindless zombies, ready to devour us and every thing we hold dear at every turn. Even the expressions on their faces are distorted these days. Complete strangers will come up to you and demand you remove your clothing because they find the idea of Making America Great Again so repugnant. Tears of helplessness have turned into tears of rage and the color red inflames them, like a matador’s cape inflames a bull.
How do we get out of this mess? If Trump wins in the coming election, they will burn down the nation. If he loses, we will be put in chains from which we will never break free.
Some people say we are looking at another civil war, but it is so much worse than that. In 1861, the North didn’t hate the South and the South didn’t hate the North; they just disagreed. What we’re seeing today is totally different and completely frightening.
The big difference is that for decades now republicans always tried to play and make nice, like we do with very young children who did not know any better, might hurt themselves and have no real power over us. Well now the little small wits/twits still do not know any better, but do have the power, the numbers, and a social monopoly over us, and we are still playing nice as if it will change their hostile actions towards us. Even their own are not safe if they are not complete anarchists or true racial dividers.https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/23/watch-portland-mayor-joins-violent-protest-booed-by-protesters-tear-gassed-by-feds/
They do not really care about black lives, as they would rather keep their cities like war zones, actually worse than some war zones. They would rather see dead poor blacks than, help from bad orange man. ps://www.breitbart.com/crime/2020/07/23/black-lives-matter-sues-to-stop-trump-from-sending-help-to-fight-crime-in-chicago/
Such hate and mind control can only come fro evil forces, programmed from very young ages. Notice the difference when Obama was president, yes many on the right really did not care for Obama, but there was not rage on the streets, or 24/7 Trump hate news networks reporting every single day how horrible he was. Civil folks, reason with others thru discussion, and later their votes. Not destroying what they claim they love. What we are witnessing is pure evil, and pure evil only comes from the evil one. Yes many are infected as you say, we have allowed it, because for decades we believed in our system of government, and free speech, but these true evil fascist play by a different set of rules, and the goalpost never stop moving. Time to push back, and let the chips fall were they will. Proverbs 13:24 applies to this childish society with find ourselves in, at least for the next generation, if we see one.
Also, Isaiah 3, wherein we read that Jerusalem at that time was ruled by young, effeminate men who were “mockers” and immodest women.
looks bad as a “man,” probably looked a lot worse as a woman.
Nothing to see here: move along now.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/07/23/portland-mayor-says-i-saw-nothing-that-provoked-use-of-tear-gas-as-rioters-set-courthouse-on-fire-n674337
He’s high on his own supply. Surely a local elected representative engaged in such activities directed against federal authorities is sedition, no?
Admittedly. Nevertheless like many liberals, he will be lined up against the wall when the Red Guards decide that he isn’t woke enough.
Hahahaha… Bullies can (and will) eat crow…!!!
Children’s news website apologises to JK Rowling over trans tweet row
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/23/childrens-news-website-apologises-jk-rowling-trans-tweet-day
That’s good to know. It also demonstrates to us how normal people can stand up to bullies. I commend Rowling for not giving in to the mob. (Admittedly, the fact that she’s a billionaire gave her a great cushion to soften the blows that hammered her senseless.)
Oh well, at least the good guys won a battle.
I guess this would be the “Attorney General” of Minnesota’s advice to women who are rape victims? That they should just lay back and enjoy it?
https://www.theblaze.com/news/cops-shouldnt-be-responding-to-rapes?utm_content=buffer1599b&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=tw-theblaze