The United States today is in the grips of a moral panic, not unlike the Salem witch trials, only significantly larger and more destructive in scope. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance and I’ll tell you why.
We are experiencing a tsunami of violence that has not been seen in America since the late 1960s. This time it is arguably worse because the riots of that era stretched over several years; what is happening today has been contained (so far) within three months and unlike the 60s, it’s being fueled by a novel religion, whose falsity is becoming more apparent by the day.
One could take the position, and I have, that the violence is mostly contained to mismanaged Blue cities such as Seattle, which, by the way, erected a statue of Lenin in one of its parks. But that wouldn’t be completely accurate. The electoral, political and socio-cultural damage done by this moral frenzy is as pervasive as it is widespread. Economically, it is the equivalent of pouring gasoline on COVID-induced fires that forced the shutdown of our nation and the world at large.
And a fearful religion this is! It’s devotees allow no dissent. In just two short months, they have forced the American Establishment to accept its teachings with a vengeance that puts jihadists to shame. Just a few weeks ago, several Congressmen adorned themselves in Kente cloth and bowed in solemnity for nine solid minutes in the Capitol, marking the duration of St George Floyd’s passion.
From the outset, Yours Truly did not buy into this new cult. Indeed, I said some rather unkind words about the late martyr. For the most part, I stand by them. Although there are credible reports that Floyd had struggled to maintain a Christian life, it is now apparent from the release of body cam evidence that he was not on his way to serve at the local soup line. Indeed, the toxicology report, if it can be believed, was damning: he had Fentanyl in his system, a fact that could contribute to death by respiratory failure on its own. In addition, he also had methamphetamine in his system. A curious and toxic combination, if there ever was one.
That’s not the point of this essay, however. As far as I’m concerned, the real issue is the reordering of society based on a false premise. In contrast, when Christ died on the Cross, He set in motion a series of events which overthrew the Roman Empire. Indeed, it changed the world but in a good way.
The death of George Floyd, however, did nothing of the sort. This goes far beyond the destruction of statues and monuments. For all intents and purposes, it has distorted and twisted America into an un-American funhouse, of sorts; a land that is so distorted it is barely recognizable in all its ugliness.
The death and resurrection of the man known as Jesus of Nazareth, on the other hand, brought beauty into the world and for those who believed, the hope for salvation. One only has to look at the stupendous cathedrals of Europe, Gregorian chant, or Byzantine iconography to be thankful for the esthetic wonders heralded in by Christendom. What matters of course is salvation. Through His horrible death, Christ not only redeemed the world, He save each and every one of us.
The religion of BLM, on the other hand, is a grotesque parody of the Church of Christ. In place of strength and beauty, it’s a permanent jackboot stomping on the collective neck of the American people. To achieve salvation, one needs to be like Christ. BLM cannot offer itself up as a model one would want to emulate. Not merely because it is based on a lie, but because it’s capricious and self-destructive. Just when you think that you’ve got it right, the goal-posts suddenly move and you are right back to square one; “you’re a racist.” Without racists, the lynchpin of their movement would disappear. For them to be good, you must be bad and you must stay bad.
BLM is the exact opposite of salvation. The loss of a job, the forced genuflection before another human (or an idea), the destruction of property, the distortion of American history, and yes, even the loss of life and limb, you can never be saved and you will always be found wanting.
This isn’t rocket science folks. Jesus tells us that “by their fruits, ye shall know them”. When you add up all the destruction and mayhem the devotees of this new religion delight in, you’d have to say it’s a pretty damning indictment. One in which the late George Floyd would not necessarily have agreed with. The fruits are bitter, indeed.
The situation is exceedingly bleak. In less than three months we have destroyed the premise of America. We have exposed the deep wounds of a diverse society. Indeed, we have seen the idiocy, the illogic of the entire cult of diversity which has been foisted upon us over the last few decades. As one of our commentators noted, Diversity + Proximity = Conflict. Not that it has to be this way, but thanks to the Cultural Marxists, this is where we are.
The Floyd hysteria is merely the most recent manifestation of a belief-system that seeks to destroy everything that is good about America and erase her memory. A religion that is totalitarian in its scope, underscored by a drive for all-consuming power.
We have all experienced some aspect of its conflicting and illogical manifestations. If you were to say: “I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.” The response you would most likely receive is: “Why do you hate gay people?” Or if you were to postulate: “I don’t think women should serve in combat,” the answer they would scream back at you would be: “You filthy, sexist pig! All you want is women in the kitchen or on their backs!” (Screaming is a tenet of their faith. According to them, only “White Supremacists” are to remain polite at all times.)
These screams from toxic maternalists can wear a man down. Been there, done that. It’s easy to give up and say, “What the Hell?” And so, little by little, one is drummed out of polite society or denied a promotion. When reason no longer exists and critical mass has been achieved, we find ourselves in a moral abyss where things like parents castrating their sons because “little Johnny would rather be a girl” becomes the norm rather than an atrocity. If we didn’t know any better, we’d think it was already too late.
So what to do? The only thing that decent, hard-working people can do: we fight back.
We saw two examples of this recently, both of which took place in the literary sphere. J K Rowling, the hugely successful novelist who gave us Harry Potter has come under fire for believing that there are fundamental biological differences between men and women. For this, she has received great obloquy from people she thought were her friends, including Daniel Radcliffe, the eponymous star of the movies based on the series.
The other example is John Kass, the popular conservative editorialist for The Chicago Tribune. Kass, who has worked for that newspaper for over three decades, was castigated by more junior journalists for “engaging in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories” and removed from his perch. And what was the crime? Kass critiqued the outsized role George Soros played in funding the election campaigns of soft-on-crime prosecutors. In other words, he told the truth. Nowadays, that’s all it takes. Because he commented on a series of accepted, open-sourced documents, as well as Soros’ own comments in this regard, he was demoted. He said nothing about his religion (Soros is an atheist) or his ethnicity, because it wasn’t germane. Soros is no different than the other craptastic oligarchs who rule America, the majority of whom are not Jewish.
At any rate, neither Rowling nor Kass have flinched. That’s good. Contrast them with the hundreds of other celebrities who have literally bowed down to the mob.
Others are starting to join Rowling and Kass: among them Bill Maher and Oliver Stone. Other than Kass, the three so far mentioned are clearly on the Left. I realize of course that all four are fairly wealthy people (Rowling, for example, is a billionaire). Thus, they have a financial cushion which can carry them through the day should they find themselves unemployed. The rest of us don’t have that luxury and so many of us just keep our heads down, hoping the mob will pass us by.
I get it. I, for one, wouldn’t blame you for hunkering down until the madness passes. That’s the normal human reaction. Unfortunately, it’s not one that works for the most part. As Lenin said, “You may not be interested in the war, Comrade, but the war is interested in you“. In other words, you don’t really have a choice; the mob will come for you. Eventually. Because that’s what mobs do.
My advice? Fight back. Don’t be bullied. Oh, you’ll lose friends; family members will call you a racist/sexist/bigot/homophobe/insert epithet here. When so accused, simply say, “I don’t care.” It’ll floor them. They will see how impotent their sting is. You might lose your job. (BTW, I know what this is like.) But at the end of the day, it’s those who believe in lies and propaganda who will have to eat crow. The truth –in the case of Floyd’s video footage from a bodycam– will out and Derek Chauvin will walk. Never forget that everything they believe in is a lie.
And as for those who went along with the mayhem because they loved destruction that salved their consciences with moral preening, they will have to live with themselves. They will know they believed in a lie. For me, that’s condign punishment enough.
As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, “Cowards die many times before their death, the valiant never receive the taste of death but once”. So stand and fight. You might be surprised when they back down. And we may –just may–get our country back.
A civil war is coming. It is unavoidable at this juncture. It will not be a conventional war. It will consist largely of guerrilla warfare. It will be long and costly in terms of lost life and property.
PS…George Floyd had enough fentanyl in his system to kill three people.
George wanted to put that in but I told him to take it out because the reports say he died of asphyxiation! This is the best source I was able to find about what the autopsy showed in Floyd’s system.
Fentanyl 11 ng/mL
Norfentanyl 5.6 ng/mL
4-ANPP 0.65 ng/mL
Methamphetamine 19 ng/mL
Various types of THC: 11-Hydroxy Delta-9 THC 1.2 ng/mL; Delta-9 Carboxy THC 42 ng/mL; Delta-9 THC 2.9 ng/mL
Cotinine positive
Caffeine positive
https://lawandcrime.com/george-floyd-death/authorities-just-released-george-floyds-complete-autopsy-report-read-it-here/
Floyd had 11 ng/mL of fentanyl in his system which is 11000 micrograms. It takes 2000 micrograms to kill you. He had over 5 times the lethal limit, right? Why would the autopsy reports say he died of asphyxiation? How did the fentanyl get into his system?
https://www.harmreductionohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-19-at-11.31.41-AM.jpg
Either he was having a really bad day and injected a lethal dose himself right before some officer was going to put his knee on his neck or those officers injected him.
(I keep going back the math. Is this right?)
Is it not obvious that the white supremacist cops (the majority of whom were Asian or mixed-race) planted the fentanyl in his bloodstream to frame him? I mean, come on. You bigots never fail to assume the worst about Big George the Blessed.
Thank you for doing the math, my Dear. I believe it is correct.
Hello! The math is not working out that way, I fear. Let’s say 5000 mL of blood in the adult male human body (per healthline.com) – Floyd was a bit larger than that, but just to keep the math simplest. 11 nanograms per milliliter thus means a total of about 55,000 nanograms, which is 55 micrograms. 1 micro = 1,000 nano; you may have inverted this ratio.
(Edit: also, as I saw pointed out in a couple of different places, though I haven’t confirmed it for myself, it is suggested that norfentanyl is the metabolic byproduct of fentanyl, which means that one would have to multiply the original amount by half again to get the total originally present.)
So did he take a lethal dose? If so, how many times the lethal dose?
I read that he had 11ng/ml of fetanyl in his system. It was reported that this was three times the lethal dose. That does not take into account possible adverse interactions with the methamphetamine, morphine, and THC he also had in his system.
I am not a pharmacist or a doctor, so I am not familiar with overdose measures and statistics.
The point in my mind is not whether the dose was lethal (though that is, perhaps, relevant). The point, whether one likes it or not, whether it is perfectly just or not, is the old adage that “stupid people die in stupid ways.” No one of any race can reasonably expect to get high on illegal drugs (multiple illegal drugs in this case) and/or choose to resist arrest and expect it all to end well somehow. Most of us here are presumably white. Try it sometime, and do let us know how well it turns out for you.
It is very sad and very unfortunate that Mr. Floyd went down this path for whatever reasons. I’m sorry for him and whatever family he has. I really am. But let’s step back into reality for just a moment.
I am not saying he got what he deserved (only God knows that). I am saying that none of us can have any reasonable expectation that persistent behavior such as his will result in anything approaching a happy ending. Second, third, fourth… chances are sometimes granted to men, but they are not guaranteed.
The reason I was curious about the fentanyl had less to do with Floyd than with the police. I saw the bodycam footage and was kind of shocked to see Chauvin pointing a gun at Floyd’s head so early in the game.
In addition, you could see Floyd’s passenger giving something to the woman in the back before he exited the car. Did he give her something to keep her mouth shut? She told the police she didn’t have a purse. Did she pocket the money (or drugs) on her person? Outside the car, you could see the guy through the glass putting something in his wallet.
I was thinking Floyd may have been set up. That maybe the drug dealer was paid to give him too much fentanyl on purpose because they knew they were going to kill him and use him as the spark to set off the “mother” of all race wars.
Was the guy who was with Floyd putting money into his wallet? If it was money he got from Floyd, he would have had it in his wallet before giving him the drugs. So what was he putting into his wallet outside the car? Maybe one of the cops paid him off as he was standing there. If Floyd had 3Xs the lethal dose of fentanyl, perhaps they thought he’d go down without a fight. Trouble was, he had all this other stuff in his system.
Re: the gun near the beginning of the video. I thought the same thing, but that was a flashlight. There are multiple body-cam videos out now; the other angles make this clear.
On top of this, Floyd asked to be put on the ground because he didn’t want to get back into the car because he was “claustrophobic”. Plus, he was either lying or delusional when he said that he had “just lost my mother”. His mother had died two years ago.
When all is said and done, his bizarre behavior from the first moment of apprehension was due to the very real fear that he was going to go back to prison. Passing a phony bill is a Federal offense.
English law has a verdict open to coroners which seems more accurately to describe the demise of Mr Floyd than any other: DEATH BY MISADVENTURE.
That is an absolutely fantastic term.
And that is why I’ve always loved the higher level of eloquence of those for whom proper English is truly a native tongue. “Death by misadventure” is so much more beautiful than “Stupid people die in stupid ways.”
There is (and I mean this sincerely) an inherent politeness and respect for human dignity in English, as opposed to American, expressions.
Except for “spot on”. I find it really really irrationally irritating.
OK, from now on we will all use “bang on” for “spot on.” I understand it is a legitimate synonym and it’s got kind of a avant garde, je ne sais quoi feel to it.
Oh Gail! I looked up “bang on” and it basically means talking endlessly ad nauseum to the point of boredom. As in ” oh my, how she did bang on in her last post”.
So… best to keep the ever annoying spot on.
Or… people can choose from the plethera of wonderful adjectives available. It’s a shame that many delightful words are falling into disuse and extinction.
We now live in a culture where “meh” is an acceptable response to anything and everything.
Too funny. https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spot-on
Synonyms for spot-on
accurate, bang on [chiefly British], correct, dead-on, exact, good, on-target, precise, proper, right, so, true, veracious
Words Related to spot-on
legitimate, logical, sound, valid
errorless, faultless, flawless, impeccable, inerrant, infallible, letter-perfect, perfect
rigorous, strict, stringent
Phrases Synonymous with sp
Brendan:
can’t wait to use that phrase “Death By Misadventure” next time I hear of a trouble making person who brought it on themself —
like climbers on Mount Everest ?♀️ who drop dead + risk other people’s lives attempting to rescue
Great story about some fortunate mountain climbers. One of my favourites.
http://orthochristian.com/118167.html
Checking around, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction says: “The recommended serum concentration for analgesia is 1–2 ng/ml and for anaesthesia it is 10–20 ng/ml. Blood concentrations of approximately 7 ng/ml or greater have been associated with fatalities where poly-substance use was involved.” Going by that, if Floyd’s concentration was 11 ng/mL or more, and given the absolute soup of other things in his blood at the time according to what we saw earlier in the thread (cigarettes, coffee, meth, weed… no wonder he was a wreck – he had a little bit of everything), it’s certainly conceivable that the fentanyl was enough to kill him, but would not have been by itself, since that and a couple of other authorities I’m checking seem to feel that 2 mg of fentanyl alone is generally regarded as the fatality benchmark dose. Floyd was, as I showed above, well short of a 2-mg dose overall; but it seems the cumulative effects of what he did have plus lots of other stuff could do the job.
Excellent reply, Philip. Thank you!
You’re welcome! A strange way for me to introduce myself to a blog, but I hope it helped. 🙂
Welcome, Philip! Stick around and have some fun!
WOW! Says it all, Gail, thank you! Glad the family gave permission for it to be published! Wonder if any MSM has reported/analyzed objectively???
Gail — If you read the transcript of the arrest, at one point Floyd claims to have been “hooping” earlier. “Hooping,” in street vernacular, often refers to smuggling or administering drugs by inserting them — how shall we say? — “where the sun don’t shine.” That he was not likely referring to playing basketball seems confirmed by the fact that Floyd said he was “hooping earlier” when asked why he had foam around his mouth and why he was behaving erratically.
Woe, woe, woe, woe! I didn’t read the transcript. Not sure I want to, LOL!
I’ll go look for it. He definitely was behaving erratically. He obviously had taken something (many things, apparently). I just wonder if he knew what he took.
It would be so easy to find someone’s drug dealer, haul them off the street, and give them a “get out of jail free” card if they sell what you give them to one of their customers.
In the security cam video from the side of the store where Floyd was initially detained, you can see him clearly drop a baggie of white “stuff” —
At 1:25 into this video, as Floyd slides down the wall, you’ll see him drop a baggie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiSm0Nuqomg
The first 20 seconds of this video offers a clearer, slower view of the above:
https://banned.video/watch?id=5ed52affb1c7d4002fb5cc5a
Thanks, Stephen. I appreciate the links.
If he inserted drugs where the sun don’t shine, how could he get access to them inside his pants with his hands handcuffed? Not saying it didn’t happen but your second link looks like it could have been photoshopped to show something that was not there.
In your clips the passenger door is open as the officers approach the car, however, in the footage I first saw it’s not. There is also a gun pointed at his head at :22. I think someone said it was a flashlight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPSwqp5fdIw&feature=youtu.be
Gail — The videos are identical. The second one is simply magnified. You can see the baggie drop in the first one, too. It comes at around 1:25 in. “Hooping” early doesn’t preclude having more drugs on you. His erratic behavior in getting out of the car may have been intended to distract attention away from trying to get the drugs off of him. He could have had drugs in his back pocket. In any case, since the video of him leaning against the wall has been widely shown on national news, I’m guessing his dropping of the baggie was too inconvenient to fit the narrative established.
In the video I published, the cops sneaked up on him from his blind spot on the left. No police car showed up to alert him they would be tapping on his window. They surprised him.
He was told to put his hands where they could see them. He had trouble cooperating but his hands were visible even as he was flailing around. At no time did he reach down to put something in back pant’s pocket which of course he couldn’t do as long as he was sitting in the car.
Then the struggle ensued to get him out of the car. They pulled him out and handcuffed him. If he had the drugs in his hands, they would have seen them when they handcuffed them.
Later, if you’re handcuffed and sitting on your butt with you back touching a wall, you can’t reach into your back pocket, pull out some drugs and drop them.
But what does it matter? He obviously was on drugs and they found drugs in his system.
What about the car door? My point is these videos are not lining up with the video I first saw. That’s all I’m saying.
When I watch the video (originally aired on NBC) in the magnified version, before he slides down the wall he switches something from his right hand to his left — the hand that drops the baggie. As he slides down the wall, he pauses and then drops the baggie before sliding down further. With his hands cuffed, he was capable of reaching into his pockets or waistband. Why does it matter? Because his unwillingness to get out of the car and his subsequent reaction may have something to do with the fact that he had drugs on him and didn’t want a possession charge. His being on drugs – and in possession of drugs – may have been what precipitated these events. But that’s not the narrative in the press. Why? Maybe you don’t get a flashpoint riot that way?
What you’re describing is a “day in the life” all the way down to the “why” in your paragraph.
Floyd’s unwillingness to get out of the car, his broken life, even the supposition that he had the wherewithal to put his drugs somewhere, encased in smooth plastic that could have easily slipped to the ground during a struggle, in his waistband or in his back pocket, where he was patted down as he was pulled from the car and handcuffed. . . I guess it’s possible (as in all things are possible). He could have slipped the drugs somewhere and later, in handcuffs, seated, with his back to the wall, pulled out the drugs from wherever they were and dropped them. I guess so.
But the point is the cops weren’t looking for drugs. If they had been looking for drugs they would have found them in his hands, his waistband, his pockets, his passengers, and in his passenger’s black backpack (which I thinks was the woman who handed it off to the man; as it served as her purse). . . They didn’t look because they didn’t care. They weren’t interested in the drug dealer, the woman or the door being open for business. They did not haul the drug dealer or the woman out of the car or take them across the street. At one point, they lost site of them altogether, as they began to wander off in two different directions.
The cops were not there because of the drugs.
The cops were not there because of $20 counterfeit bill, either.
My daughter asked me for some money after school so she could go to Del Taco with her friends. They went through the drive-thru. She passed them the money I gave her. The girl in the drive-thru had a scanner and, as I later found out, it is commonplace to scan all cash before they give you your food. Del Taco kept the bill. Her friends paid for her food. She was embarrassed and upset when she came home. I was upset, too, as I was the one who had given her the $50 bill. I called Del Taco and wanted to know how they could be sure the employee didn’t just say it was counterfeit and pocket the money. It certainly looked real to me when I gave it to her! They had their corporate office call me and suffice to say, they knew what they were doing. There was a long paper trail and the bill was turned over to the Secret Service, as I recall.
Anyway, no cops showed up. No one found my daughter and pulled her out of her car while her passengers were selling drugs. No one handcuffed her or put their knee on her neck.
They were there for Floyd, Stephen. He and his drug dealing friends probably made a habit at being on that street during those hours so their customers knew where to find them. Floyd probably went into that convenience store a million times for cigarettes. But this time, the cops were there. They wanted Floyd.
If it just were a drugged out person being a pain in the ass, it would not cause a flash point riot because IT HAPPENS EVERY DAY. Cops get rough. And not just to black people, either. There are A LOT of bad cops out there. Horrible cops. It is the unions that make it impossible to get rid of them.
This particular riot was planned. They took Floyd over to where Chauvin could pose with his knee on his neck. They intended to kill him on camera and they intended to release it to the media, making Floyd look as sympathetic as possible. Meanwhile, these mercenaries were waiting in the wings for their cue. This was there cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-O4rnUToU&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0Xmrg_4B0rJsBNlazczjM3JRuXunB49xY_35SSXmPabUD3o_xh2-pZXyc
Notice that the guy holding the camera was totally blown away by what he was seeing and made sure to say, “I didn’t sign up for this s#$%” The other verisons you’re going to see out there have cut this part out making it seem like the guy just caught it on camera. But this was not random BS, by a long shot. All of it was planned.
These cops came from a precinct that was warned three days in advance before they intended to burn it down, according to George. They knew what was going down. It was planned.
George, thank you for this essay. Thank you and also Gail for writing from your hearts, time and again, on this blog.
This world is growing more insane by the minute. Of all the social issues that could bring current-day Christians martyrdom in the public arena, I would have predicted abortion to have been the primary cause. However, it’s almost 50 years after Roe v. Wade and the one billion Christians on earth have fallen nearly silent on this issue, but are being felled left and right by claims of being “racist”. Never would I have imagined Western Civilization to fall so low so quickly, with our police shot in the streets, violent riots in the cities with no end in sight, pending economic collapse caused by a virus — and the Church rolled over, voiceless, silent, standing by while it all happens. In the collective deafening silence of the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church of every jurisdiction in this country while chaos and revolution becomes more widespread by the day, my trust in the Church has diminished. I will never, ever, ever forget how utterly silent the Church has been during this time of our country’s fall. It has weighed heavily on my heart for weeks now. It is almost unbearable to continue waiting and hoping for some sort of cogent response from the Church as Social Justice Warriors murder our police and even children in the streets and bring such desolation to our society.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
As you have noted before, something has set the stage for this to occur in America. Just like something set the stage for the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. As I have pondered this and even discussed it with friends, I am struck by Fr. Seraphim Rose’s analysis that was begun way back in 1962 and eventually became the book: Nihilism (The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age). I would highly recommend this short work to your readership. We can ponder: How has Nihilism crept into my own thinking? Into the life of the Church? Into society at large? If we sow the wind (there are no religious or moral absolutes) we will reap the whirlwind (rioting and the general breakdown of society).
The essence of Nihilism is two fold: no joy in anything and subjugating everything to one’s personal will. Large and small.
Thus pretty much every aspect of our lives reeks of the nihilist ideology. It is fundamentally the philosophy of a two year old in full tantrum mode. It is a philosophy of death and the evil one. In it there is no joy, no peace, no transformation, no life. No wedding garment. Nihilism seeks to fill the tomb, not empty it. “There can be only one!” The evil one.
Philipians 4 is but one of many instructions in the Bible and throughout the Church to Rejoice always, give glory to God FOR all things (not IN all things).
There is much truth in the exclamation Praise the Lord!
We Orthodox have the depth (if we access it) to understand it and live it.
Rejoice in the Lord always!
How many of our martyrs are shown rejoicing as they are killed?
1 Cor 15: 55-57
If our foundation is Jesus Christ then what do we have to fear.
The whole modern mantra of progress is a form of nihilism, including MAGA. All politics is infected with it. Consumerism is nihilism in action. Each of us is infected with it. It is a false eschatology that tries to take from God His mercy and grace. “Please God, I’d rather do it myself!” Back to the two year old tantrum.
Perhaps the quite difficult but simple antidote is to take joy and satisfaction in the people you love even as they irritate you because they are sent by God; give thanks for the Church even as she fails because her failure is my failure and repentance is there in the the midst of her. “Come unto me ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”☦️
Never forget the joy and resurrection in the midst of death and destruction if our foundation is Jesus Christ.
16 years ago my wife, Pamela, died. Roughly 40 days later was Pascha. I went to the Pascha service still in deep grief. Then, as we were singing and shouting Christ is Risen, I experienced my wife rising with our Lord in joy. The grief was still there but it was transformed by joy. I carry those joyful tears with me to this day. Even as I rejoice in the new wife God has given me, Merry. Ah, does that fit. “A merry heart doeth good!”
That is how Christians fight back. It is not an ethereal, impractical pipe dream but the actual substance of creation. Neither is it a shallow optimism that denies the darkness.
It is easy to fall into despair and think we must use the tactics and weapons of our enemy– trying to impose our will on them and demanding submission. That is not the Lord’s way.
Christ is Risen!
That is always the answer to those who have given themselves over to the way of power and destruction and to the temptation to follow that way ourselves. Romans 8:31
May the mercy and strength of our Lord cover you in peace and bathe you in joy even in the midst of sorrow and destruction.
Thank you Father David! As you likely know, Fr Peter Heers’ “Orthodox Survival Course” on Patreon is modelled on Fr Seraphim’s Orthodox Survival Course and is very much in line with your post above. The Patristic foundation of the Orthodox Church is ever apparent in every work by Fr Seraphim himself as well as in this course both of which seek to awaken us to how this spirit of nihilism/secularism has crept into our culture and tragically the Orthodox Church as well and to reclaim our beautiful and Life-affirming Faith.
Great book. Christian fighting back is to give thanks to God for all His gifts to, rejoice for all things and fear not.
Nihilism is everywhere in all of us: consumerism, the myth of progress and especially our political ideology. Even MAGA is nihilist in spirit.
George wrote: “So stand and fight. You might be surprised when they back down. And we may –just may–get our country back.”Me: And just to be safe, have small (legal) semi-automatic packed away just in case.
May God continue to give you strength and courage to speak for us – the silent (hopefully majority). Marie GM
Marie, CF, thank you for your wonderful compliments. Gail and I promise to keep on keepin’ on, as long as the Good Lord sees fit (and the creek don’t rise!)
P.S. stock up on ammo.
“Stock up on ammo.”
Easier said than done.
Thanks, George. Very insightful thoughts! Earlier this morning, we had more senseless looting in downtown Chicago. The amazing thing is that these people doing the looting don’t even bother to cover their faces—no masks! (If you know about the strict mask rules in Chicago right now, you’d find it very ironic just like I do.) On the one hand we should of course pray for these people that they’ll straighten out their lives, but there should also be serious jail time doled out to send a clear message! (I’m not holding my breath though.)
Alex, one of my Chicago compadres told me that the looting was done on Michigan Ave, where all the high-end stores are.
Clearly, they were looking for bread to feed their starving families.
Your compadre is very much correct, George. And, it addition to looting high-end stores looking for bread to feed their starving families, these culprits also look very well-fed to me. (In fact, many of them should most definitely join a gym!)
Funny the Mayor of Chicago did nothing about the riots until they hit Michigan Ave, and with her “literally shaking right now” faux outrage.
Believe me, I see Ms. Lightfoot’s daily press conferences and updates—and just shake my head in disbelief. Her ‘rubber band’ defense (or strategy) hasn’t worked from day one. And, now that the big corporate entities and their insurance companies are putting pressure on her, you are actually seeing her sweat. (I have a friend that works in Chicago city government—he actually heads a big department—and her internal morning briefings are getting more serious in tone. She knows that she may be a one term mayor!)
Too little, too late. BTW, she looks an awful lot like Admiral Akbar, the leader of the Resistance force in The Return of the Jedi.
George,
Among the many great essays you’ve written for us before, this one is special and a virtual call to arms. Prophetic and precise, it says it all. No longer must we cower in the face of evil. Bravo.
J-RO, I am very flattered by your compliment. And humbled. It’s because of people like you that Gail and I feel the need to press on.
One of the things I learned from my reading of Tolkien’s studies of Norse mythology was his idea of “the Northern idea of courage”. According to the concept of Ragnarok, the Aesir (gods) were locked in a terminal battle with the Frost-giants and that even though the Aesir knew that they were going to lose, they still fought.
Think of how profound this was: the pagan Norse felt compelled to fight even against hopeless odds. We Christians on the other hand, have every hope for ultimate victory. For us to shrink from the face of battle is nothing less than a slap in the face of our God.
“. . . a virtual call to arms”? Please elaborate.
Let us hope that the majority of Americans wake up to what is going on, and there seems to be good indication that they are. This madness is being perpetrated by a minority of people that the media is making us believe (as usual), is the majority of Americans.
Usually I try not to post anything from Orthodox Times, but, on a religious note, have to give credit where credit is due for Patriarch Bartholomew: https://orthodoxtimes.com/ecumenical-patriarch-coronavirus-is-not-transmitted-by-holy-communion-video/
And along with the death of the muzzin at Hagia Sophia, now this: https://orthodoxtimes.com/three-thousand-people-became-infected-with-the-coronavirus-in-prayer-in-hagia-sophia/
We should stop being surprised that the greater the love and desire for Christ, for truth, for righteousness, and the salvation of mankind, the greater the opposition, hatred, and persecution from the evil one and his darkened followers will become. We worship and follow the Lord who told us clearly that “They persecuted Me, they will persecute you” (John 15:20).
“From the moment you become a Christian, you must know that the persecution has begun.” ~ Fr. Arsenie Papacioc
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Not only for every idle word must man give an account, but for every idle silence.” ~ St. Ambrose
“Everyone’s a little bit racist sometimes.
Doesn’t mean we go around committing hate crimes.
Look around and you will find, no one’s really color blind.
Maybe it’s a fact we all should face.
Everyone makes judgements based on race.”
Song by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovF1zsDoeM
Fight back? This is the same catchphrase of groups like Antifa and BLM. They are finally “fighting back”. So who started the fight?
Not us “white supremacists” who are too polite.
It’s more like…defend yourself.
The 109.
Prayer from Psalm 109:
“Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul.”
Joseph, one of my favorite Psalms! King David must have been in the depths of despair when he wrote it.
Never forget the 109.
They did, Joseph. They really did.
I challenge you to find one conservative, Republican, RINO, cuckservative, centrist who has ever picked up a brick and heaved it through the plate-glass of an Autozone. Anywhere.
We accepted the election of that wicked Mahometan as our president. He won the 2008 election fair and square. That’s democracy. These bozos have been howling at the moon ever since Nov 9, 2016 and haven’t stopped since.
George’s advice brings to mind a a scene from a favorite sitcom of my young adulthood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF42ll-y9IQ
For Shame:
The American Dream fulfilled!
Whoever said “Crime Doesn’t Pay” does not live in this Country.
The family (brothers and sister) of George Floyd opened a Go Fund Me account to “help the family”? It has already raised $14,700,000 and still counting from donations as of August 10, 2020. Yes, almost $15 MILLION.
This is for a guy who was arrested NINE times; was a convicted drug dealer (and at a drug deal the day he died); held a gun to the stomach of a pregnant lady while his five buddies robbed her home; did prison time three different times totaling about eight years, and obviously didn’t learn from our penal system. And America is memorializing him by painting murals of the guy on the sides of buildings like he’s a hero? Unbelievable!! You got to be kidding me.
Crime does pay! If you question this check it out by going to the GoFundMe website. It’s true!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/geo rgefloyd
THIS is WRONG on so many fronts…
Indeed.
And those of us who lost loved ones or suffered deleterious health consequences due to the pandemic are being actively prevented by scumbags like Dianne Feinstein from holding China accountable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsnOLzJhju8
Don’t forget that St. George the Robber, Counterfeiter, and Drug Dealer also had the virus, knew it, and still continued with his degenerate dabblings in the meantime. No mask or quarantine for him. I wonder how many people he infected–and in so doing maimed or killed.
Crime does pay in this country.
Dionysia:
Yup, they learnt crime Does indeed pay — from school of corruption, the shady shister, the “Reverend”
Al Sharpton.
It’s tragic All conservative Black leaders are shut down like Dr. Ben Carson or Herman Caine. Beware of all Rev. types who bang the Leftist drum!?
Just like Rodney King, they’ll piddle away that loot within 10 years, tops.
That being said, I don’t dispute your point.
The feast day of St. Moses, the Black is August 28(new calendar). Before he was a saint he was the leader of a gang of robbers and thieves. It seems to me we could be imploring his intercessions in these matters as well.
While you are at it, you could also ask his intercessions for the physical health of his spiritual child, Fr. Moses Berry who is having a second surgery on his amputated leg because the first surgery did not heal well.
Abba Moses we rejoice in you and ask that you pray for us and heal our hearts, minds and bodies, especially your child Moses Berry. Protect us from the depredations of evil and change the hearts of those who would destroy us. Through Christ God, our Lord and Savior.
Michael, in this thread containing a number of inflammatory comments, your words here and further above shine out as messages of Christian restraint and moderation. We need to pray and realize that our kingdom is not of this world.
It is of note that our individual lives followed a similar course in one important respect. We each experienced the passing of a good wife early in the century and we each have been blessed to to re-marry well.
Perhaps our personally experiencing a wonderful spouse’s passing to heaven has caused us to be a little mellow on today’s matters of national tension.
John, thank you but the witness of Fr. Moses Berry has more to do with my perspective than the blessings of my marriages. Although the astounding mercy of God in those marriages does not hurt.
George Floyd was no saint, but his,death turned him into a God.
It is truthfully unacceptable for Law Enforcement to be so terribly physical with any citizen of any color irregardless of the crime.
However, it being an election year, I strongly believe that all of this was very well and concisely orchestrated by the “political machine” and timed to coincide with the COVID 19 pandemic, adding more to the public hysteria.
George Floyd, et al were pawns to bring about an unruly change in societal mores and that of government.
The “Achilles heel” of this country has always been that of race. What better way to get the pot boiling!?
I’m certain somewhere in the Caribbean (or perhaps in Switzerland) there are secret bank accounts for the surviving families, in acknowledgement of the “sacrifice” executed and perfectly documented with the best optics and visuals as per the American media, that cannot dimiss the old addage of ” seeing is believing”
Not so!
We will never know for certain, similarly with the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, the assassinations of President JFKennedy, and his brother, Robert Kennedy, as well as the civil rights activist, Dr. Martin Luther King.
In the passage of time – all just becomes hearsay.
How can a person, the likes of George Floyd surpass the educated and reasonable, and socially conscious legacy of Dr MLKing is beyond full and normal comprehension.
This is an American play with an awful , ugly denouement.
Joe Biden Chooses Kamala Harris as VP Nominee – Who Accused Him of Racism:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/breaking-biden-chooses-kamala-harris-vp-nominee/
Flashback: Kamala Harris Said She Believes Joe Biden’s Accusers, “I Believe Them” (VIDEO):
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/flashback-kamala-harris-said-believes-joe-bidens-accusers-believe-video/
Flashback: Watch Tulsi Gabbard [fellow Democrat] Destroy Party Favorite Kamala Harris – And Expose Her Record as Dirty Prosecutor:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/flashback-watch-tulsi-gabbard-destroy-party-favorite-kamala-harris-expose-record-dirty-prosecutor/
Flashback: Father of Kamala Harris Details on How Their Ancestors Owned Slaves:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/flashback-kamala-harris-said-believes-joe-bidens-accusers-believe-video/
Flashback: Kamala Harris Launched Her Political Career in Bedroom As Mistress of Married Mayor Willie Brown:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/flashback-kamala-harris-launched-political-career-bedroom-mistress-married-mayor-willie-brown/
MSNBC Doctors Image of Biden Calling Kamala Harris and — Doctors Out His Cheat Sheet Script! …Update: Joe Biden Was Holding His Phone Upside-Down:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/huge-cnn-doctors-image-biden-calling-kamala-harris-erases-cheat-sheet-script/
Ig • 4 hours ago
I’m starting to wonder if I live in The Matrix…
MSM is photoshopping out details of historical photos.
Intellectuals are calling 2 + 2 = 4 White Supremacy + that 5 is an equally valid answer.
Both of these are —- straight out of 1984.
Myst:
thanks for informative links — don’t you wish Tulsi Gabbard would renounce Dummycrat party by now? Even President Reagan woke up to hypocrisy of Democrats & joined Repubs.
I like Tulsi… the little I know, but she really wiped floor on Kamala + Hillary big time
Sage-Girl, some thoughts on Tulsi:
I too, admired her. I thought that she represented a way forward from neoliberal warmongering. Had she done better in the primary, or had Sleepy Joe put her on the ticket instead of Mistress Harris, then it would have signaled a new way forward out of the Military Industrial Complex.
Alas, it was not to be.
In order to ensure the MIC’s continued denigration, I pray she runs third-party in order to ensure the reelection of The Golden Don. Let us never forget, that the hatred and calumny that is being poured on the President is because his election was a repudiation of the American warfare state. So far, he is succeeding.
Indeed Br. George – lets hope Tulsi Gabbard runs on 3rd party ?& helps President Trump win again!
I see victory for DJT !
Although I cannot abide Gabbard’s leftist policies on most every other front, her service in the military and her reluctant warrior stance do much to commend me to her. Like Trump, she is not a war-monger and therefore I can overlook pretty much everything else she espouses.
Having said that, she is not as insanely pro-abortion as the other Democrats, so there is that as well.
What I can’t figure out is why can’t the Justice Dept arrest Soros? Lincoln actually exiled Copperhead (CSA sympathizing) Congressmen to Canada during the War Between the States.
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=45376
I mean, DeBlasio is a cretin, we all get that. He couldn’t govern his way out of a paper bag, but it takes honest-go-gosh resources to destroy a major American metropolis like NYC. That’s where Soros comes in with all his billions.
Get rid of the guy! Russia and Hungary have open arrest warrants for him. Why can’t we imprison him and confiscate his wealth?
George, obvious answer is his money. He has spent decades buying local politicians like county clerks who control the election process.
I realize that, and he’s upped his game to DAs and state Attorneys General. Still, I plaintively ask: why can’t the President send him into exile. And confiscate his wealth.
File this one under “Better to be tried by twelve than carried by six”:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/08/17/watch-portland-rioters-drag-man-from-car-and-beat-him-senseless/
Why aren’t the globalists kneeling and inciting more riots and devastation over HIS life?
Vladimir Losky in his book Seven Days on the Roads of France about fleeing the Germans invasion of France wrote the following:
Revolutionaries are always in the wrong, since, in their juvenile fervor for everything new, in their hopes for a better future, and a way of life built on justice, they always base themselves on theories that are abstract and artificial, making a clean sweep of living tradition which is, after all, founded on the experience of centuries.
Conservatives are always wrong, too, despite being rich in life experience, despite being shrewd and prudent, intelligent and skeptical. For, in their desire to preserve ancient institutions that have withstood the test of time, they decry the necessity of renewal, and man’s yearning for a better way of life.
Both attitudes carry within themselves the seeds of death. Is there, then, a third way? Another destiny for society than of always being subject to the threat of revolutions which destroy life, or reactionary attitudes which mummify it? Or is this the inevitable fate of all terrestrial cities, the natural law of their existence?
In fact, only in the Church can we find both a Tradition that knows no revolution and at the same time the impetus towards a new life that has no end. Her theory (understood in the true sense of the word, namely “vision”) is based on a constant experience of Truth. Which is why she is in possession of those infinite resources upon which may draw all who are called to govern the perishable cities of this world.
And Michael Ventura:
“Be careful how you choose your enemy, for you will come to resemble him. The moment you adapt your enemies methods, your enemy has won.The rest is suffering and historical opera”
Further:
Ephesians 6:12 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Our best way to fight back is to repent and do good for those closest to us especially in the midst of widespread death and destruction. All modern political ideologies and the politics they engender have the seed of nihilism at their core.
When you vote, if you vote, you are not choosing anything, least of all one evil over another. That idea is itself the fruit of the poisonous tree of modernism. That we “make a difference”.
That demented phrase is a hook upon which countless passions hang and bedevil us even more deeply into a denial of who we are. But so does the despair of refusing to “choose a lesser evil” out of some twisted arrogance that any morality is involved in voting at all. Personal conscience is such a flimsy rationalization in any case.
Pray, fast, repent and do what you will. God will give the increase. Seek first the Kingdom of God and fear not.
“Not even the Communist revolution was able to declare the Church a non-essential institution.”
Abbot Tryphon on the Essential Church: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2020/08/nonessential/
Glory to God for the Truth-telling monks and priests
Antohny Esolen put out a book three years ago titled “Up From the Ashes” about rebuilding the culture. He says at one point if you do away with patriarchy we will not have rule by women but will sink into chaos.
Why couldn’t I think about crap like this?
https://dailycaller.com/2020/09/03/cancel-myself-george-washington-university-professor-apologizes-pretending-black-jessica-krug/
I mean, really: a cush “teaching” job at a major American university.