156 Epiphany 1: Remember the TruLore
"The LORD sits enthroned as king forever." ~Psalm 29
Remember the TruLore
(Part 13 in the multipart series "Where We Stand")
There is a time to laugh.
War is rarely that time.
Not when the standards are raising. Not while the arrows are flying. Not when the lines crash to meeting in a hazy violence of flesh and metal.
Laugh in the barracks as you have need, but do not laugh on the field.
At the very least, in this age of memes and branding, in this time of mass formation psychosis under the image of the Beast, this means that vain laughter is a distraction at best, and an addiction at worst. In the war to liberate souls from the regime of Molech and his lies, the quest to be sober-minded, to pay attention, to wake up is its own kind of joy, sweeter in flavor than all the sweetly flickering blue-light nostalgia of programmed chuckles that you can imagine.
I am not saying that laughter is not enjoyable. I am only saying that honor is not fitting for a fool.
Be careful, or you may become enlightened. That is what comes of reading the Bible like it is true. This is the path of believing that you are part of what it says, a thread in the tapestry, a member in the body, a Son in the King’s army, here to wage the beautiful resistance against Baal of Nimrod, lifting up holy hands in prayer that God would lop off the bough of our Enemy like the heads of Oreb and Zeeb, and fleeing through this wilderness for time, times, and half a time in full assurance that the river will not drown you, the dragon will not eat you, and the fire shall not have you.
Remember the true lore and walk out of your grave. This is what you’ve been missing. This is what you are after.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
The Mad Christian
Clickbait Paradise
A heart's desire
What do people want? Tears for Fears was certain that everybody wants to rule the world. Some would say we all want figgy pudding and even children know that we all scream for ice cream.
If we're following the logic of Charles Darwin's theory, eating ice cream or figgy pudding might just seem instinctual – we want food because we're hungry. We want a friend because we're lonely. But there are a whole raft of things humans want that meet no basic need. Why would someone want to rule the world? Sounds exhausting.
Puzzled by inexplicable human desires, philosopher René Girard proposed that people largely just want what others want. For better or for ill, we mimic each other. Girard's theory of mimetic desire contends that wanting to copy others can be channeled for good – if we witness someone acting bravely, we feel the desire to do the same. But as writer Luke Burgis writes in a recent piece on Girard's theory, wanting the same things also creates rivalry, which sounds a lot like Saint James in his epistle: "What causes fighting among you? You want what you do not have".
Girard is right in his observation that to be a human in this fallen world is to experience all sorts of desires but in attempting to account for every yearning, mimetic theory leaves a lot of questions. Can anyone avoid being pulled through life by one desire after another? Is being a good person just a matter of finding a good model to mimic?
While the mind science cults teach that we can reverse our desires and Eastern religions aspire to be free from any desire at all, Jesus Christ goes to the source, promising us a new heart, one that is being conformed to his desires. He is also our model, the God-Man who knows all our human frailty, yet was never driven by godless desires.
In his Word we see the brutal truth about the war our sinful desires create within us – we don't do what we want to do. But there is hope for wretched men like us – Jesus will save us from the body of death and we will be like him. "He is risen and he won't be long anyway." This is true comfort and joy.
Please like me
It seems hard to believe these days, but once upon a time, there was no such thing as a "like" button on social media. An article at Fast Company outlines how Facebook's "like" button came to be and follows the nuclear cascade it unleashed. Will Ormeus argues that the seemingly harmless ability to express your approval of posts online has led to "the shifting of the entire media toward pandering, manipulative discourse". It's a big claim, but not an implausible one.
Could the whole category of clickbait exist without social media likes? Or micro-targeted ads? What about customized news feeds? These questions clearly weren't in the minds of the developers at the time. But Ormeus writes that the like button provided fuel for all sorts of algorithms, driving Facebook's news feed to "become the single most influential distributor of information in many societies".
While most folks involved in the formation of the "like" button would say they wanted to "increase positivity in the system", the seismic changes it created are being felt much further afield. A study of adolescents just published found that kids who habitually check social media are "becoming hypersensitive to feedback from their peers". Frequent social media use was associated with increased activity in the reward centers of participant's brains and "could have long-standing and important consequences for adolescents’ neural development" according to co-author Mitch Prinstein.
Speaking of getting away from devices...
An upside-down
Mad Christian Alisha sent us a fascinating story about "Luddite teens". The piece follows some teenagers from Brooklyn who are aiming to live life without phones. Or at least set on reducing their phone time. The Luddite Club meets together every week – rain, hail, or shine – to draw, paint, read, or enjoy nature. Logan Lane, the 17 year-old girl who founded the group at school, says being low-tech is like being a social misfit. But realizing she is no longer a slave to her online life, she has embraced it.
Teenagers in the story talk about their newfound interest in sewing, poetry, history, and wandering 'round their neighborhoods. One young man says discarding his smartphone helped him "weed out who I want to be friends with. Now it takes work for me to maintain friendships."
While parents worry about keeping their kids safe, in this case the kids are definitely on to something. As with breaking any bad habit, August Meyrat points out at The Federalist, reducing screen time is harder to do alone. So maybe adults should learn a lesson from the Luddite Club – it only takes one to start, but rejecting Modernity can be contagious.
Battle royale
After fifteen rounds of voting, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has secured the position of Speaker of the US Congress. A group of "holdout" Republicans was unwilling to support McCarthy without some concessions, leading to the most ballots since 1923 (but it was by no means the longest!). The holdouts managed to get Speaker McCarthy to agree to a few things, including transparency on lawmakers salaries and to guarantee votes on term limits and border security. McCarthy also promised that he would bring key bills to the floor for congressional voting, such as pro-life amendments.
While President Biden and various commentators insisted the Republicans were embarrassing themselves and America, many sensible heads observed that it was refreshing to see politicians actually debating. Congressman Justin Amash tweeted that the amount of bills actually being debated has dropped precipitously in the last 6 years. He warns that political maneuvering on the part of successive Speakers means bills are pre-screened, which shuts down Representatives' ability to actually do their jobs.
Elsewhere, Amash claimed that Congress is an oligarchy, where just a few powerful folks make all the decisions. This may well have been the case for a long time, but his efforts to shine a spotlight on the problem are indeed welcome.
Crossing lines
The Supreme Court of the USA has extended the COVID era use of Title 42, a ruling that allows asylum seekers to be expelled from the US on public health grounds. The decision divided the Court 5–4, with dissenting justices noting that the "current border crisis is not a COVID crisis." Supporters say the ruling will help deter the record number of people hoping to enter America illegally. In the meantime, the New York Post says that a giant tent for processing immigrants has been erected near El Paso, in preparation for expected flood of arrivals when Title 42 eventually ends.
President Biden visited the border for the first time in his presidency last week. Reuters reports "his visit was not expected to result in new policies, but rather to demonstrate that he is taking the issue seriously and to strengthen relations with Border Patrol agents".
In border-related news, Not The Bee wrote that Air Force stealth planes used to track fentanyl smuggling are being retired and argued that this makes it more likely the deadly drug will reach American streets. The Drug Enforcement Agency said they seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every single American. This picture shows how tiny a lethal dose is.
Breaking the spell
Late last year, USA Today reported the story of Dr. Steve Lome, a cardiologist who saved two men's lives after they each collapsed during the half-marathon in which he was competing. It could be a case of the Baader-Meinhof illusion, but it's not just us who's noticing that an awful lot of people – many young and healthy – are collapsing or dying. In a new poll, nearly half of Americans believe COVID vaccines are causing unexplained deaths, and a fourth say they think they know someone who died from an adverse reaction to the shots.
As Georgi Boorman lays out in her article at The Federalist, suspicion is not proof, but "the sheer prevalence of such suspicion should prompt serious inquiry" from medical authorities. Boorman wonders whether health officials know that the cost of admitting that these vaccines are dangerous is "too terrible" to face. But for justice to be done and for lessons to be learned, a lot of questions need answers. So don't hold your breath, but do pray! As with many things in this vale of tears, we should ask, as the Psalmist does, that God would deliver us from lying lips.
And here's a hot tip: If you don't know CPR, consider learning how – it may be you who saves a life!
Golden geese a-laying
The Pittsburgh National Bank has once again crunched the price of a "twelve days of Christmas" gift list for your true love. PNC found that the cost of five gold rings is up 39% from 2021. At least with all those French hens and geese a-laying, you might be able to offset the cost of eggs! Housing, fuel, and most everything else were more expensive in 2022. We're not economists, but between people working less, massive spending on COVID measures, and now bolstering Ukraine's war effort, it seems plain that you can only kick the can of fiscal consequence so far down the road.
Some year-end spending was necessary to avoid a government shut down, but the House outdid itself passing an omnibus bill worth as much as $1.76TR. A number of lawmakers complained that reading the final 4000-page bill in 48 hours before voting was too tall an order, but given the indecipherable nature of "legislative language", US Newssuggests "reading a bill is not the best way to figure out what it does" anyway. That, apparently, is a job best left to your team of legislative specialists – but even they might need a bit more than two days to read through this one!
It's good to know that someone in Washington is wide awake and worried about monetary recklessness. Senator Rand Paul released his annual Festivus Report, outlining what he sees as the most wasteful government spending. Watching hamsters jacked up on steroids fighting or determining whether Thanos could do the snap while wearing the gauntlet are not things we had on our Government Spending Bingo card.
Cash is king
Here's weird factoid about our strange age... there were no bank robberies in Denmark at all last year. No disrespect to Danish cops, but it sounds like it may not have been the prowess of law enforcement that lead to this result. Most Danish banks no longer carry cash – if you want to steal digital money, we guess you can do that from home.
Speaking of cashless societies...A former broker joined the UnHerd podcast for a conversation about crypto, national digital currencies, and how banking corporations benefit from automated money. While banking and card companies have encouraged the cashless and "contactless" economy, especially during the pandemic, Brett Scott warns that society will be worse off if power over our money continues to be concentrated into the hands of a few. Though it's inconvenient, Scott encourages listeners to use cash more.
Any car you want as long as its electric
Toyota Motor Corporation's president, Akio Toyoda, has told reporters that most people would like to have more choice in cars than just electric vehicles. He believes that a "silent majority" of folks in the auto industry think betting all the chips on electric cars is not a good idea.
But that might not be enough to dissuade progressive elites from pushing a green agenda. In 2019, Sacramento California put vague ordinances in place to punish anyone who tried to do minor repairs (brakes, oil change, changing tires) to their car. California has vowed to phase out gas-powered cars by 2035.
In other automotive news, Porsche has starting producing synthetic fuel at a plant in Chile. Hydrogen and CO2 are used to make a form of methanol, which is touted as a carbon-neutral EFuel.
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Headlines from far away
Violence has broken out in Mexico after police arrested the son of notorious cartel boss "El Chapo". Furious gang members set fire to cars, killed police and shot at a passenger plane (BBC)
Venezuela's opposition party has removed interim president, Juan Guaido. Guaido has been heading up a parallel and largely powerless, government after the disputed reelection of Nicolas Maduro (Hot Air)
Brazilian Soccer great, Pelé has died. (FoxSports)
The former Pope, Benedict XVI, has died, aged 95. (Guardian)
A shipment of American LNG has arrived in Germany (AP News)
In an unexpected move, China's government has decided to lift COVID restrictions and let citizens travel internationally. Western authorities have branded the move "irresponsible" and several countries, including the US, will require negative COVID tests from anyone arriving from China (ZeroHedge, BBC)
The Taliban has banned women and girls from higher education (CBS)
John Michael Jones Gets a Life is produced for Mad ⳩ Mondays by E. Darwin Hartshorn. Episodes can also be found on Tuesday, along with previous episodes, on Bunny Trail Junction at bunny-trail.com.
Quick Hits for the Eyebuds
♼ Folded paper models of vintage computers
🌋 What are mud volcanoes?
🇮🇳 Visualizing populations of India's states compared to nations of people
🤩 Tiny train carved in a builder's pencil
📦 Amazon has started drone deliveries in California and Texas
🦑 Six wild and weird animal behaviors
🇮🇱 The Pool of Siloam has opened to the public
🧯 This guy made his own trebuchet (warning: salty language)
👓 Gold coating stops glasses from fogging up
🎲 Smithsonian's picks for the best board games of 2022
🇨🇦 Abandoned town in Canada is like a 1980s time capsule
A Good Word: Links from the Show Notes
What's a vacation for Jonathan and Meridith? They've been on every week through this Christmas season. In case you missed something in these weeks, here's what came up.
The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse by Fernando "Ferfal" Aguirre
Our Heritage of God’s Gifts- BHoP #121
Almost Amish: One Woman's Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life by Nancy Sleeth
Earth- a Substack novel in-progess by Jonathan Fisk
The Easy Peasy Way to Quit Porn- a free ebook
Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Fruit of Her Hands: Respect and the Christian Woman by Nancy Wilson
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking by Sönke Ahrens
Writings on Smart Notes by Jonathan Fisk
Gashmu Saith It: How to Build Christian Communities that Save the World by Douglas Wilson
Promo of Friends
Rev. Dr. Koontz was hosted by Steve Gould on the Podcast "Things Police See: Firsthand Accounts" to discuss the history and media's portrayal. Check out the episode here: Policing Born In Racism? A Brief History Of Policing With Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz
And the good Rev. Dr. also made another appearance on The Gottesdienst Crowd podcast. In this episode, Adam Koontz talks about how males and females are Related and Distinct.
Sweetness You May Have Missed
Let us pray: Let us pray. Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.