One of the longest-running traditions in German broadcast television is the “Word for Sunday” – a brief sermon delivered for Das Erste after the Tagesthemen news programme on Saturday evening.
Couldn't really find a way to work into this post, but this same pastor Behnkin caused a small scandal on 7 March 2020, when in another "Word for Sunday" sermon she demanded that people "storm the parliaments" to drive out the "neofascists," whom she said were terrorising people in the same way as the Corona virus. She is really, really crazy.
It’s really sad that with the dwindling numbers attending church in Germany, they seem to promote crazy pastors on purpose, to ensure its demise. Meanwhile, mosques abound…
Megan Basham wrote a book about how American Evwngelical churches have been co-opted by the open society agenda through $$. Really interesting even if you are not into religion
As you read the following just realize that the only difference between organized religious institutions in Germany (and ALL western nations) and organized religious institutions in China is: Honesty.
Germany and the western nations maintain a carefully constructed façade, illusion of separation of Church and State, religious freedom. China also professes to maintain religious freedom. With provisos. Those provisos are transparent, overtly declared: These are the rules your religious freedom must adhere to. Religious freedom in the west is experienced exactly the same way as in China, with provisos for the religious institutions themselves to adhere to. That are not transparent, are covertly imposed. Public-private partnerships (open $ociety?) shielded from the sunlight of transparency.
In that sense China is a more honest actor. It's up to us in the west to expose the public-private religious institution partnerships to sunlight. Pretending this same structure doesn't exist, that western laws and traditions protect religious freedom aids and abets the illusion, shelters it from disinfecting sunlight. Live not by lies.
"The CCP officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism. The activities of state-sanctioned religious organizations are regulated by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), which manages all aspects of religious life, including religious leadership appointments, selection of clergy, and interpretation of doctrine. Christianity in China is overseen by three major entities: the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the China Christian Council, and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. To register as a state-sanctioned Christian organization, religious leaders must receive training to “adapt” doctrine to government and CCP thinking. China does not differentiate among Christian denominations beyond Catholicism and Protestantism."
"Article 36 of the Chinese constitution protects freedom of religion. Yet that protection is limited to so-called “normal religious activities,” explicitly stating that “no one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the education system of the state.” These provisions provide authorities with flexibility when determining which religious practices are consistent with party policy and which fall outside the party-state’s guidelines. The constitutional provision goes on to specify that religious bodies cannot be subject to foreign control."
"Yes, Christianity in China is legal, and yes, churches can meet publicly under the TSPM banner. But this comes with consequences. The TSPM reserves the right to censor and control their churches to the extent they deem necessary and appropriate."
I'm sure that could make its way back into their version of the Bible, if there was any utility in it. And then scrubbed again when the utility passes.
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book [including the Bible] rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - George Orwell
Brings stringent fresh epistemological focus onto definitions of scientific hypotheses ,in the west .Such as if each disparate fact is to be falsified ,at what juncture does ontological synchronicity become falsifiable ?
Have a rock under study over 20 years ,oil shale antarctic lage strasse ,simply suffering 'from the west'.
It brings to mind Jesus’ ‘Parable of the Unjust Steward’ which was preached in my church today; “ you can not serve God and wealth’ - it’s worth a read: Luke (16:1-13)
Jesus’s life and teachings were an inflection point in world history. He created a paradigm shift. The ancient world was brutal and very violent. The Romans inflicted brutality and even the Jewish tribes were fighting with each other - everyone was at each other’s throat. Jesus’ presence provided an alternative life, a vision of a possible world of love and beauty if one strived to follow his teachings. He said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 There’s a reason why his teachings are so important. Hope and pray that more people see that light.
Indeed. Though, on the other hand, the Catholic Church is another entirely different kettle of fish. I'm reminded of a classic, and paradigmatic article of faith from the founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola:
Wikipedia: That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity[...], if [the Church] shall have defined anything to be black which to our eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black."
An early precursor to Orwell's "2+2=5". Which is, in turn, the "essence" of "trans women are women" -- arguably the denial of which by Kirk, his "heresy", being the proximate cause of his assassination. The smoking guns for which all appear on the Democrat/Leftist side of the ledger.
Nah. Not so long ago (and most especially during the Middle Ages) all people were Christian, and they were also very, very violent. It is obviously quite possible for a society to follow Jesus in name and casually mete out the most appaling agression if it suits them.
You know…. The fact she’s bringing it up will make some people question what’s going on with the narrative to begin with! Now she has brought it to everyone’s attention.
Do you know if there's a difference in how the law is applied if something is said in a sermon/other religious ceremony that would be actionable as incitement/hate speech if said in a public place such as a beer-hall or similar?
Many churches and pastors are fully demoralized. The devil has subverted them. Anyone with a “hate has no home” lawn sign would be happy if you met the same fate as Charlie Kirk.
I see those types of yard signs all the time in Portland, OR, knowing that if I were to knock on the door with a MAGA hat on they'd gleefully douse me with gasoline and light me up.
If I rang a doorbell on one of those homes with said lawn sign, at told them I voted for Donald Trump three times, I wonder what would be their response…
I have a question about this term "demoralized" in the hooray for assassination world we all now inhabit:
Have those jumping for joy moved from demoralized to amoral? Demoralization contains a tinge of sadness, a fait accompli rendered through repetition; have these people not shown their actual sociopathic credentials and forgone any bit of grace those of us who mourn might have given them?
I agree . What we are seeing in the USA is that “ the left “ is losing . They are running scared . They don’t know what to do . They tried their old playbook with Kirk and the backlash was ferocious. The Democrats are polling lower than ever recorded and they are now turning off the independents . It’s great to witness . No one takes them seriously anymore .
She should look up what "diabolos" means in the original Greek. One of the meanings is "distorter". She is - as these people always do - describing herself when she denigrates others.
She ought to consider the fate of Loke, whom she clearly emulates in her words:
Bound naked on a rock, tied down with the guts of one of his sons, a serpent dribbling etter* in his lidless eyes, there to suffer until Ragnarök.
*Etter/Atter = Old Germanic wrod for "poisonous/venomous bodily fluid".
> The poison is called hatred, and incitement, and lies. It works across all of society. You see it when people who stand up for freedom, justice and democracy are bombarded with so much hatred they can no longer bear it and have to withdraw.
And from "etter" and "kop" we get edderkop which is Danish (and Old Swedish dialect) for spider. "Kop" is Old or even Proto-Germanic and means something round and/or swollen. English eq. being attercop, but I think that's archaic and not in use nowadays?
I was always amused by the British Airways invitation to offset my carbon footprint by paying a toll on top of the air fare. I used to think, “where does this money go to? God?”
Hm, I see where you're coming from in the article and I do agree anti-religion is not a misnomer as such.
I would however, coming from a different angle of approach (humanities, social sciences and pol-sci, I'm a retired teacher and have seen all of this grow and develop from the inside of the belly of the beast, so to speak) I'd be leery of using the anti- prefix, seeing what happened to anti-racism and all the other anti- slogans/movements/ideas: not finding that which they proclaimed to fight, they had to become it instead and start projecting what they had turned themselves and their ideas into onto others.
More specifically, anyone and everyone questioning or opposing them, since to someone projecting that hard and creating themselves via that projection, being questioned is akin to being assaulted, emotionally speaking.
But that is as I said largely a difference in from where we look at the same thing. At the core is an ages-old impulse that the new in order to bloom and function as promised by its prophets must first destroy and devour the old, lest the new always be measured against the old and be found wanting.
They are very much failing the "do not cause suffering" and "increase the good" parts of Aristotelian ethics.
Well, it is always so that the inadequate feel such rage against those who are natural leaders and moreover who use their gift for good rather than evil.
And we see now that it's not the great evils we need to fear so much as it is the evil of the weak. Takes so much longer to recognize and when it bursts out of those we know in our ordinary life we realize no place is safe. You can flee a monstrous tyrants but you're stuck with everyone else if they're everywhere.
Seems like there's a war on religion, Christianity mainly.
What's with the leftist media villainising Charlie Kirk (and the AfD party) in Germany? Has the subversion always been this bad, or it got progressibely worse over the years?
Seems like a coordinated hit on any resurgence in religion (which the left is definitely trying to stamp out, heck even many of the churches are doing it themselves by getting politicized) and the threat of the youth finding a different voice to follow. Kirk and his words really resonated with young people on the campuses, particularly after covid, where they now find themselves completely adrift from any connection to these completely disassociated politicians. That existential threat alone probably pushed German media to twist the knife in Charlie’s back.
Exactly . They are losing , especially the youth vote . The truth about Kimmel was that his viewership of 19-35 yr old was 120,000 . He was hemorrhaging money for ABC and the affiliates were already in revolt . Joe Rogan routinely gets a million views in that age group . The good Pastor is right about one thing ….things are about to get uglier for progressives .
So, she's an unhinged lunatic, a dreadful woman (and former Protestant "pastor" [pastrix?]) named Annette Behnken, who preached piety and virtue AT all of us.
I love your description of her. You have brought me many laughs today. Thank you.
"I don’t pretend to know where this is coming from"
But we do know where this is coming from. It is the marxist left who recognise we are beginning to see through their veneer of respectability. As a result we see the politicians and thei allies in the correct light as polemicists at beat.
I thought TDS was bad, but this new strain "CKDS" is just mystifying. How did run-of-the-mill liberals develop such hatred for a man who didn't hold any public office and had no direct power over them? This was not just a tactic to save the victimization hierarchy, it was an instant, gutteral reaction to his death. The only time I would expect such a reaction is during a war, where the leadership of the enemy country is suddenly killed. I thus have to assume that we ARE in a war, but right now it's more spiritual than kinetic. However, Charlie's death and Trump's near-death are signaling that this is changing. It will most definitely become much more kinetic.
It is hard to hear someone explain to you that things you are doing are evil, especially when your conscience backs him up. You have to silence one of them.
"my Christian faith is actually entirely political"
Spinoza already noticed the difference between belief and religion, qualifying the latter as a political construct. No wonder that modern socalled 'progressive' beliefs are religion look-alikes.
Couldn't really find a way to work into this post, but this same pastor Behnkin caused a small scandal on 7 March 2020, when in another "Word for Sunday" sermon she demanded that people "storm the parliaments" to drive out the "neofascists," whom she said were terrorising people in the same way as the Corona virus. She is really, really crazy.
It’s really sad that with the dwindling numbers attending church in Germany, they seem to promote crazy pastors on purpose, to ensure its demise. Meanwhile, mosques abound…
Megan Basham wrote a book about how American Evwngelical churches have been co-opted by the open society agenda through $$. Really interesting even if you are not into religion
As you read the following just realize that the only difference between organized religious institutions in Germany (and ALL western nations) and organized religious institutions in China is: Honesty.
Germany and the western nations maintain a carefully constructed façade, illusion of separation of Church and State, religious freedom. China also professes to maintain religious freedom. With provisos. Those provisos are transparent, overtly declared: These are the rules your religious freedom must adhere to. Religious freedom in the west is experienced exactly the same way as in China, with provisos for the religious institutions themselves to adhere to. That are not transparent, are covertly imposed. Public-private partnerships (open $ociety?) shielded from the sunlight of transparency.
In that sense China is a more honest actor. It's up to us in the west to expose the public-private religious institution partnerships to sunlight. Pretending this same structure doesn't exist, that western laws and traditions protect religious freedom aids and abets the illusion, shelters it from disinfecting sunlight. Live not by lies.
Christianity in China
Council on Foreign Relations, October 11, 2019
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/christianity-china
"The CCP officially recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism. The activities of state-sanctioned religious organizations are regulated by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), which manages all aspects of religious life, including religious leadership appointments, selection of clergy, and interpretation of doctrine. Christianity in China is overseen by three major entities: the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the China Christian Council, and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. To register as a state-sanctioned Christian organization, religious leaders must receive training to “adapt” doctrine to government and CCP thinking. China does not differentiate among Christian denominations beyond Catholicism and Protestantism."
"Article 36 of the Chinese constitution protects freedom of religion. Yet that protection is limited to so-called “normal religious activities,” explicitly stating that “no one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the education system of the state.” These provisions provide authorities with flexibility when determining which religious practices are consistent with party policy and which fall outside the party-state’s guidelines. The constitutional provision goes on to specify that religious bodies cannot be subject to foreign control."
What Christianity in China Is Really Like
The Gospel Coalition, March 19, 2017
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-christianity-in-china-is-really-like/
"Yes, Christianity in China is legal, and yes, churches can meet publicly under the TSPM banner. But this comes with consequences. The TSPM reserves the right to censor and control their churches to the extent they deem necessary and appropriate."
So, I guess the Chinese scrubbed the bit about render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's from their version of the Bible?
Apparently, Chairman Xi thinks he can make himself live forever by murdering people for their organs. He's got a big surprise in store for him.
I'm sure that could make its way back into their version of the Bible, if there was any utility in it. And then scrubbed again when the utility passes.
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book [including the Bible] rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - George Orwell
Very astutely stated!
Brings stringent fresh epistemological focus onto definitions of scientific hypotheses ,in the west .Such as if each disparate fact is to be falsified ,at what juncture does ontological synchronicity become falsifiable ?
Have a rock under study over 20 years ,oil shale antarctic lage strasse ,simply suffering 'from the west'.
It brings to mind Jesus’ ‘Parable of the Unjust Steward’ which was preached in my church today; “ you can not serve God and wealth’ - it’s worth a read: Luke (16:1-13)
Jesus’s life and teachings were an inflection point in world history. He created a paradigm shift. The ancient world was brutal and very violent. The Romans inflicted brutality and even the Jewish tribes were fighting with each other - everyone was at each other’s throat. Jesus’ presence provided an alternative life, a vision of a possible world of love and beauty if one strived to follow his teachings. He said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 There’s a reason why his teachings are so important. Hope and pray that more people see that light.
Indeed. Though, on the other hand, the Catholic Church is another entirely different kettle of fish. I'm reminded of a classic, and paradigmatic article of faith from the founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola:
Wikipedia: That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity[...], if [the Church] shall have defined anything to be black which to our eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_Higher_Secondary_School,_Dindigul
An early precursor to Orwell's "2+2=5". Which is, in turn, the "essence" of "trans women are women" -- arguably the denial of which by Kirk, his "heresy", being the proximate cause of his assassination. The smoking guns for which all appear on the Democrat/Leftist side of the ledger.
Nah. Not so long ago (and most especially during the Middle Ages) all people were Christian, and they were also very, very violent. It is obviously quite possible for a society to follow Jesus in name and casually mete out the most appaling agression if it suits them.
No matter, there's a reason why the teachings of Jesus have endured for over 2000 years...
Absolutely. But peacefulness ain't it.
I encourage you to study the development of the Christian Canon. To read history and no doubt some readings on ‘human nature’. 🙏🏻
Can we get a rules check, here? That kind of incitement is okay, but calling a politician "poopy-head" isn't?
Anarcho Tyranny 101
selective prosecution is the key
You know…. The fact she’s bringing it up will make some people question what’s going on with the narrative to begin with! Now she has brought it to everyone’s attention.
A politicised religious leader is so willing to disregard the teaching of Jesus. Remarkable.
I humbly suggest she is a fraud.
Do you know if there's a difference in how the law is applied if something is said in a sermon/other religious ceremony that would be actionable as incitement/hate speech if said in a public place such as a beer-hall or similar?
And now she realizes she is losing …which makes her dangerous.
The more crazy she is, the more she diminishes her point- just like in USA. The public reaches a tipping point.
‼️On point and very informative: ‼️
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLdKtT8w1Y
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy2ju_qPtuM&t=2s&pp=2AECkAIB
Many churches and pastors are fully demoralized. The devil has subverted them. Anyone with a “hate has no home” lawn sign would be happy if you met the same fate as Charlie Kirk.
I see those types of yard signs all the time in Portland, OR, knowing that if I were to knock on the door with a MAGA hat on they'd gleefully douse me with gasoline and light me up.
If I rang a doorbell on one of those homes with said lawn sign, at told them I voted for Donald Trump three times, I wonder what would be their response…
Exploding heads?
🙂 Life imitating art? 😉🙂
They’d scream at you and call the police.
I have a question about this term "demoralized" in the hooray for assassination world we all now inhabit:
Have those jumping for joy moved from demoralized to amoral? Demoralization contains a tinge of sadness, a fait accompli rendered through repetition; have these people not shown their actual sociopathic credentials and forgone any bit of grace those of us who mourn might have given them?
'Anyone with a “hate has no home” lawn sign would be happy if you met the same fate as Charlie Kirk.'
This accords with my local observations.
Honestly, the world has me pretty demoralized too. :-/
The people who get the vapors over "hateful rhetoric" the fastest are the ones who seem the most terrified of Kirk's MO: respectful, civil debate.
A former priestess?
Her opinion is irrelevant.
This is the death of a political movement.
All forms of 'left' are being purged and those who like power on the 'left' have only name calling as well as violence to push their agenda.
This is the most dangerous time - just ahead of lasting change.
Liberalism will re-emerge, but what we see today of the 'left' will be destroyed.
I agree . What we are seeing in the USA is that “ the left “ is losing . They are running scared . They don’t know what to do . They tried their old playbook with Kirk and the backlash was ferocious. The Democrats are polling lower than ever recorded and they are now turning off the independents . It’s great to witness . No one takes them seriously anymore .
They turned off this independent in 2021.
Hate speech works only in one direction? Double standards as usual in Europe
She should look up what "diabolos" means in the original Greek. One of the meanings is "distorter". She is - as these people always do - describing herself when she denigrates others.
She ought to consider the fate of Loke, whom she clearly emulates in her words:
Bound naked on a rock, tied down with the guts of one of his sons, a serpent dribbling etter* in his lidless eyes, there to suffer until Ragnarök.
*Etter/Atter = Old Germanic wrod for "poisonous/venomous bodily fluid".
I found this part particularly ironic:
> The poison is called hatred, and incitement, and lies. It works across all of society. You see it when people who stand up for freedom, justice and democracy are bombarded with so much hatred they can no longer bear it and have to withdraw.
Like... lady, check the beam in thine own eye.
Which is why poisonous snakes are known as Adders. Etymology is so much fun!
And from "etter" and "kop" we get edderkop which is Danish (and Old Swedish dialect) for spider. "Kop" is Old or even Proto-Germanic and means something round and/or swollen. English eq. being attercop, but I think that's archaic and not in use nowadays?
Yes, etymology sure is fun!
Last time I've hear the "Wort am Sonntag" it was already empty sanctimonious drivel. I see they managed to make it way worse since then.
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-secular-state-reinvents-the-inquisition/
It's a religion with an Inquisition, but without any of the fairness or Truth.
Indeed it is religious, a kind of inversion of Christianity. There is a devil (Hitler), but no God. Sin, but no salvation. Really quite perverse.
Like! Sorry my like button is broken…
I thought the devil is now Trump?
Seriously, if the nuts continue on this path, pretty soon they'll be comparing Hitler to Trump, rather than vice versa.
There is no god because the adherent assumes that role.
SO TRUE!!!
And when it comes to climate change you can buy indulgences!
I was always amused by the British Airways invitation to offset my carbon footprint by paying a toll on top of the air fare. I used to think, “where does this money go to? God?”
Yes. Now you can buy a forest which is Al Gore’s discharge for his mega-power use mansions.
More like an inquistion without religion.
I'd say it's an anti-religion, as the argument from authority functions similarly to God's revelation.
That part I argued here: https://brownstone.org/articles/reflections-on-brownstones-conference/
Hm, I see where you're coming from in the article and I do agree anti-religion is not a misnomer as such.
I would however, coming from a different angle of approach (humanities, social sciences and pol-sci, I'm a retired teacher and have seen all of this grow and develop from the inside of the belly of the beast, so to speak) I'd be leery of using the anti- prefix, seeing what happened to anti-racism and all the other anti- slogans/movements/ideas: not finding that which they proclaimed to fight, they had to become it instead and start projecting what they had turned themselves and their ideas into onto others.
More specifically, anyone and everyone questioning or opposing them, since to someone projecting that hard and creating themselves via that projection, being questioned is akin to being assaulted, emotionally speaking.
But that is as I said largely a difference in from where we look at the same thing. At the core is an ages-old impulse that the new in order to bloom and function as promised by its prophets must first destroy and devour the old, lest the new always be measured against the old and be found wanting.
They are very much failing the "do not cause suffering" and "increase the good" parts of Aristotelian ethics.
Is it not easier to say Vance (&Netanyahu by proxy) posits empathy as a subjective hijacking of sympathy ?
Well, it is always so that the inadequate feel such rage against those who are natural leaders and moreover who use their gift for good rather than evil.
And we see now that it's not the great evils we need to fear so much as it is the evil of the weak. Takes so much longer to recognize and when it bursts out of those we know in our ordinary life we realize no place is safe. You can flee a monstrous tyrants but you're stuck with everyone else if they're everywhere.
Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil".
Indeed.
Seems like there's a war on religion, Christianity mainly.
What's with the leftist media villainising Charlie Kirk (and the AfD party) in Germany? Has the subversion always been this bad, or it got progressibely worse over the years?
Seems like a coordinated hit on any resurgence in religion (which the left is definitely trying to stamp out, heck even many of the churches are doing it themselves by getting politicized) and the threat of the youth finding a different voice to follow. Kirk and his words really resonated with young people on the campuses, particularly after covid, where they now find themselves completely adrift from any connection to these completely disassociated politicians. That existential threat alone probably pushed German media to twist the knife in Charlie’s back.
Exactly . They are losing , especially the youth vote . The truth about Kimmel was that his viewership of 19-35 yr old was 120,000 . He was hemorrhaging money for ABC and the affiliates were already in revolt . Joe Rogan routinely gets a million views in that age group . The good Pastor is right about one thing ….things are about to get uglier for progressives .
So, she's an unhinged lunatic, a dreadful woman (and former Protestant "pastor" [pastrix?]) named Annette Behnken, who preached piety and virtue AT all of us.
I love your description of her. You have brought me many laughs today. Thank you.
"I don’t pretend to know where this is coming from"
But we do know where this is coming from. It is the marxist left who recognise we are beginning to see through their veneer of respectability. As a result we see the politicians and thei allies in the correct light as polemicists at beat.
I thought TDS was bad, but this new strain "CKDS" is just mystifying. How did run-of-the-mill liberals develop such hatred for a man who didn't hold any public office and had no direct power over them? This was not just a tactic to save the victimization hierarchy, it was an instant, gutteral reaction to his death. The only time I would expect such a reaction is during a war, where the leadership of the enemy country is suddenly killed. I thus have to assume that we ARE in a war, but right now it's more spiritual than kinetic. However, Charlie's death and Trump's near-death are signaling that this is changing. It will most definitely become much more kinetic.
It is hard to hear someone explain to you that things you are doing are evil, especially when your conscience backs him up. You have to silence one of them.
Or both
I think it's possibly as simple as political opportunism.
Is it, in part, because he helped get Trump elected?
"my Christian faith is actually entirely political"
Spinoza already noticed the difference between belief and religion, qualifying the latter as a political construct. No wonder that modern socalled 'progressive' beliefs are religion look-alikes.