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…
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.
Imho, left to our own devices, (unintended pun) until we actually evolve beyond our fail-safe amygdalas, we will continue to repeat our cycles of destruction.
If we actually knew the number, we'd surely have Divine Intervention on speed-dial.
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.
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."
Churches can meet in China but sinicisation is being demanded. Chinese Christians are doing their best to be thoughtful and true to the Bible which is a great challenge. My regular I formation from open doors. Barnabus and the VoM is that Christianity continues to grow in Chiba but has many challenges.
Not sure why you add the gospel coalition. As far I can see they are ok. I am using one of their books for a Bible study on great Christian women who gave their all for the gospel. Women live Elizabeth Eliot, Joni Earejson Tada, Phillis Wheatley and more.
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)
So have many here. The most faithful churches are non-denominational, with the leaders having strong affiliations with other alike churches, and a heirarchy that prevents a lone wolf.
This promotion does not aim to increase the numbers attending church, but simply spread another layer of legitimacy to the slander.
There is this saying: "It gets worse before things improve" (or similar).
The pace at which we see the left being the left and doing lefty things has increased to a staggering rate. There is not a single day without a scandal.
But let's stay hopeful. The 70% absentia at the elections for the Major of Ludwigshafen last Sunday are a strong gesture that shows, even West-Germans are getting that things are very bad and that to duck and to shut up don't really cut it.
Of course, there was still 29% participation (minus the 9% that invalidated their ballots), but I expected worse.
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?
Bible believing Christians teach faithfulness in relationships, that God didn’t make a mistake when he made us men and women, that same sex relationships are sinful, that sleeping around and living a rackety life is harmful and sinful. That getting married, working hard, going to church and living an ordinary life is how we should live. Or embracing singleness and chastity is a good choice too. So of course the left hate us and call all this hate speech and worse. It’s called conviction of sin. Jesus died to make us free from sin and not fear death.
The mistake lots of right of centre commentators make is to ‘embrace ‘ Christianity without repentance and complete change.
Once there was a very rich magician who had a great many sheep. But at the same time this magician was very mean. He did not want to hire shepherds, nor did he want to erect a fence about the pasture where his sheep were grazing. The sheep consequently often wandered into the forest, fell into ravines, and so on, and above all they ran away, for they knew that the magician wanted their flesh and skins and this they did not like.
At last the magician found a remedy. He HYPNOTIZED his sheep and suggested to them first of all that they were immortal and that no harm was being done to them when they were skinned, that, on the contrary, it would be very good for them and even pleasant; secondly, he suggested that the magician was a GOOD MASTER who loved his flock so much that he was ready to do anything in the world for them; and in the third place, he suggested to them that if anything at all were going to happen to them it was not going to happen just then, at any rate not that day, and therefore they had no need to think about it. Further, the magician suggested to his sheep that they were not sheep at all; to some of them he suggested that they were lions, to others that they were eagles, to others that they were men, and to others that they were magicians.
And after this all his cares and worries about the sheep came to an end. They never ran away again but quietly awaited the time when the magician would require their flesh and their skins.
Many churches and pastors are fully demoralized. The devil has subverted them. Anyone with a “hate has no home here” 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 think most of us Christians who attend church are just trying to follow Jesus. Most are not politically aware and get their news from MSM so make mistakes. We prayed for Charlie’s family yesterday in church. Grace for the sadness that we all feel for the world is what we try to exercise. That is as it has always been. We wait for the Lord’s return and know this world is not all there is.
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 .
Dear Chixbythesea, it took a bit of digging but Isis seem to call for this every few months. I have no doubt given the silliness of the UK elite that Isis know a few empty threats can get cash flowing to them.
Well, dear Chixbythesea, it could be we both think there could be something in all of this. Starmer & Co are giving major assets away, giving cash away, and denying the public the same level of support as everyone else..... very little of this is accidental.
By the way. The hurrumph letter against the Unite the Kingdom rally by mainly C of E types was published on 20th Sept:
This article is interesting because Brendan Cox, Co-founder of the Together Coalition - surfaces. Yes, Brendan 'NGO' Cox. The State was not amused with the people going along to the rally.
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?
“Attercop” is what Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit (Tolkien’s original book, not Jackson’s films) shouts tauntingly at the giant spiders in Mirkwood. Tolkien of course was a world class etymologist.
I think so - kopf is so similar it must be related. Kop in Dutch is usually used only about animal heads, not human ones. In some languages of Germanic descent and with Latin influence (caput) it also means cup. In Swedish, we use "kopp" for cup, but "huvud" for head, which is going the long way derived from the same PIE word that kop comes from originally.
We can also look at "cupping" the old medical practice (koppning in Swedish) to see how the root word's meaning of round/swollen is carried through. And in expressions such as "copping a feel". Of course, we run the risk of confusion too, with terms such as "cop" meaning police which does not - to my limited knowledge - share origin with "kop".
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.
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?”
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.
I think their TikTok exaltations were manifestations of the oh-so-close assassination of PDT. Their blood lust has been simmering ever since, eagerly awaiting the killing of someone, anyone, recognizably MAGA. The scary part is that their joy will soon turn to ashes and they'll long for another murder.
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.
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.
He's not talking about the hatred, he's talking about the party line. The american media hates kirk, but they toned down the party line for public consumption in a rare move of sanity.
Why is the germdn media not taking american cues? 1. Ongoing US-EU tensions. 2. Lack of clear direction from left-wing american sources, but most of all 3. Because the SPD finds itself surrounded and under seige, and is thus taking the hard line. They see the CDU as having crossed the firewall. Therefore they must attack not only rightists but consetvatives as such.
Charlie kirk was a conservative. Attacking him allows them to attack their own coslition partner by proxy, without actually dissolving the goverment (which would render germany incapable of forming even a minority government)
Unrelated, since Antifa has been in classified a terrorist organisation in the USA and some other places, now is the time for anyone with a Twitter/X-account, or Instagram and so on to go look for pictures of left-wing celebrities and politicians posing in Antifa-colours, clothing, symbols and so on, and forward these images to the US state dep.
Because as the Engländer say, "turnabout is fair play".
I welcome this long overdue progress. Unfortunately, legal beagles have pointed out that there is no US official designation known as "DOMESTIC terrorist organization," so it's not clear what the executive order accomplishes. Still, it's not as it the situation hasn't raised its head before, with the KKK, so I'm hoping the same accommodation is reached.
That's funny, I distinctly remember a poster released by the Department of Homeland Security during Covid wherein I technically qualified as a domestic terrorist. Not a whole organization, though.
There was a cartoon about this. Nighttime. The FBI is staking out a house. Through the window, we can see a guy at a computer, with Catholic paraphernalia around him. Outside, one FBI man says to the others, "We caught him trying to order pre-1963 missiles online."
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 .
The reason the Left are so angry and defensive is that they believe in so many things that are ridiculous on their face. Transgenderism, DEI, the benefits of mass migration, man-made climate change and green energy. All of these ideas are so idiotic as to be indefensible. Thus, to hold these ideas is to live in a bubble of unreality so fragile that it cannot stand the slightest perturbation by factual information from outside the bubble. That is why the ideological Left requires constant affirmation of its ideas via various month-long celebrations of their stupid ideas. When every shred of available empirical evidence directly contradicts your beliefs you need a lot of positive feedback to keep the charade going.
To boot, far too many of these people lack the rhetorical skills to mount a coherent defense, even if these ideas were at all defensible. Much less can anyone on the Left match the rhetorical brilliance of someone like Charlie Kirk.
So, Charlie Kirk presented the perfect storm for the deluded Left. He presented factual information in a manner that they simply could not answer. If his life was a shockwave to their beliefs, his murder is near extinction level event. In life he completely tore down their bubble. The manner of his death inflicted more damage, not on their beliefs, but on their beliefs about themselves. His dying alone wasn't enough to restore the tranquility of the bubble. Therefore, not only the man's ideas, but the man himself, even in death, must be completely destroyed.
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…
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.
Imho, left to our own devices, (unintended pun) until we actually evolve beyond our fail-safe amygdalas, we will continue to repeat our cycles of destruction.
If we actually knew the number, we'd surely have Divine Intervention on speed-dial.
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...
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.
Churches can meet in China but sinicisation is being demanded. Chinese Christians are doing their best to be thoughtful and true to the Bible which is a great challenge. My regular I formation from open doors. Barnabus and the VoM is that Christianity continues to grow in Chiba but has many challenges.
Very astutely stated!
The only real Christianity in China is the underground church, and it is very much alive.
Not sure why you add the gospel coalition. As far I can see they are ok. I am using one of their books for a Bible study on great Christian women who gave their all for the gospel. Women live Elizabeth Eliot, Joni Earejson Tada, Phillis Wheatley and more.
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)
The Catholic Church in Germany is also the worst and most liberal Catholic Church in Europe. Germanys mainstream churches have been very corrupted.
So have many here. The most faithful churches are non-denominational, with the leaders having strong affiliations with other alike churches, and a heirarchy that prevents a lone wolf.
Religion of Peace
Truck of Peace
Knife of Peace
Grooming for Peace
Aloha Snackbar
Very Brautigan!
"Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt"
This promotion does not aim to increase the numbers attending church, but simply spread another layer of legitimacy to the slander.
There is this saying: "It gets worse before things improve" (or similar).
The pace at which we see the left being the left and doing lefty things has increased to a staggering rate. There is not a single day without a scandal.
But let's stay hopeful. The 70% absentia at the elections for the Major of Ludwigshafen last Sunday are a strong gesture that shows, even West-Germans are getting that things are very bad and that to duck and to shut up don't really cut it.
Of course, there was still 29% participation (minus the 9% that invalidated their ballots), but I expected worse.
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
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.
I am so proud of your readers that no one talks about how attractive she is.
Bible believing Christians teach faithfulness in relationships, that God didn’t make a mistake when he made us men and women, that same sex relationships are sinful, that sleeping around and living a rackety life is harmful and sinful. That getting married, working hard, going to church and living an ordinary life is how we should live. Or embracing singleness and chastity is a good choice too. So of course the left hate us and call all this hate speech and worse. It’s called conviction of sin. Jesus died to make us free from sin and not fear death.
The mistake lots of right of centre commentators make is to ‘embrace ‘ Christianity without repentance and complete change.
Once there was a very rich magician who had a great many sheep. But at the same time this magician was very mean. He did not want to hire shepherds, nor did he want to erect a fence about the pasture where his sheep were grazing. The sheep consequently often wandered into the forest, fell into ravines, and so on, and above all they ran away, for they knew that the magician wanted their flesh and skins and this they did not like.
At last the magician found a remedy. He HYPNOTIZED his sheep and suggested to them first of all that they were immortal and that no harm was being done to them when they were skinned, that, on the contrary, it would be very good for them and even pleasant; secondly, he suggested that the magician was a GOOD MASTER who loved his flock so much that he was ready to do anything in the world for them; and in the third place, he suggested to them that if anything at all were going to happen to them it was not going to happen just then, at any rate not that day, and therefore they had no need to think about it. Further, the magician suggested to his sheep that they were not sheep at all; to some of them he suggested that they were lions, to others that they were eagles, to others that they were men, and to others that they were magicians.
And after this all his cares and worries about the sheep came to an end. They never ran away again but quietly awaited the time when the magician would require their flesh and their skins.
Many churches and pastors are fully demoralized. The devil has subverted them. Anyone with a “hate has no home here” 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.
'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.
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? 😉🙂
Honestly, the world has me pretty demoralized too. :-/
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 think most of us Christians who attend church are just trying to follow Jesus. Most are not politically aware and get their news from MSM so make mistakes. We prayed for Charlie’s family yesterday in church. Grace for the sadness that we all feel for the world is what we try to exercise. That is as it has always been. We wait for the Lord’s return and know this world is not all there is.
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.
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.
Dear Chixbythesea, it took a bit of digging but Isis seem to call for this every few months. I have no doubt given the silliness of the UK elite that Isis know a few empty threats can get cash flowing to them.
Well, dear Chixbythesea, it could be we both think there could be something in all of this. Starmer & Co are giving major assets away, giving cash away, and denying the public the same level of support as everyone else..... very little of this is accidental.
By the way. The hurrumph letter against the Unite the Kingdom rally by mainly C of E types was published on 20th Sept:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/church-leaders-condemn-tommy-robinson-35937413
This article is interesting because Brendan Cox, Co-founder of the Together Coalition - surfaces. Yes, Brendan 'NGO' Cox. The State was not amused with the people going along to the rally.
A former priestess?
Her opinion is irrelevant.
Irrelevant but with a huge platform to spread her malevolence
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!
“Attercop” is what Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit (Tolkien’s original book, not Jackson’s films) shouts tauntingly at the giant spiders in Mirkwood. Tolkien of course was a world class etymologist.
I think so - kopf is so similar it must be related. Kop in Dutch is usually used only about animal heads, not human ones. In some languages of Germanic descent and with Latin influence (caput) it also means cup. In Swedish, we use "kopp" for cup, but "huvud" for head, which is going the long way derived from the same PIE word that kop comes from originally.
We can also look at "cupping" the old medical practice (koppning in Swedish) to see how the root word's meaning of round/swollen is carried through. And in expressions such as "copping a feel". Of course, we run the risk of confusion too, with terms such as "cop" meaning police which does not - to my limited knowledge - share origin with "kop".
Hate speech works only in one direction? Double standards as usual in Europe
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.
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 ?
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?”
Now that is a good observation.
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 their TikTok exaltations were manifestations of the oh-so-close assassination of PDT. Their blood lust has been simmering ever since, eagerly awaiting the killing of someone, anyone, recognizably MAGA. The scary part is that their joy will soon turn to ashes and they'll long for another murder.
I'm watching the Charlie Kirk tribute. I think they are going to start tasting those ashes right about now.
I think it's possibly as simple as political opportunism.
Is it, in part, because he helped get Trump elected?
Possibly, but many people, Elon for example, helped get Trump elected.
Yes and they HATE him
I think they could not forgive him forgiving them.
Been watching it.
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.
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.
She is well 'past-'er' best. :)
"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.
He's not talking about the hatred, he's talking about the party line. The american media hates kirk, but they toned down the party line for public consumption in a rare move of sanity.
Why is the germdn media not taking american cues? 1. Ongoing US-EU tensions. 2. Lack of clear direction from left-wing american sources, but most of all 3. Because the SPD finds itself surrounded and under seige, and is thus taking the hard line. They see the CDU as having crossed the firewall. Therefore they must attack not only rightists but consetvatives as such.
Charlie kirk was a conservative. Attacking him allows them to attack their own coslition partner by proxy, without actually dissolving the goverment (which would render germany incapable of forming even a minority government)
Unrelated, since Antifa has been in classified a terrorist organisation in the USA and some other places, now is the time for anyone with a Twitter/X-account, or Instagram and so on to go look for pictures of left-wing celebrities and politicians posing in Antifa-colours, clothing, symbols and so on, and forward these images to the US state dep.
Because as the Engländer say, "turnabout is fair play".
I welcome this long overdue progress. Unfortunately, legal beagles have pointed out that there is no US official designation known as "DOMESTIC terrorist organization," so it's not clear what the executive order accomplishes. Still, it's not as it the situation hasn't raised its head before, with the KKK, so I'm hoping the same accommodation is reached.
That's funny, I distinctly remember a poster released by the Department of Homeland Security during Covid wherein I technically qualified as a domestic terrorist. Not a whole organization, though.
'I wouldn’t place too much significance on this mumbo jumbo, especially now.'
I thought it was funny then, and I still do.
There was a cartoon about this. Nighttime. The FBI is staking out a house. Through the window, we can see a guy at a computer, with Catholic paraphernalia around him. Outside, one FBI man says to the others, "We caught him trying to order pre-1963 missiles online."
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 .
The reason the Left are so angry and defensive is that they believe in so many things that are ridiculous on their face. Transgenderism, DEI, the benefits of mass migration, man-made climate change and green energy. All of these ideas are so idiotic as to be indefensible. Thus, to hold these ideas is to live in a bubble of unreality so fragile that it cannot stand the slightest perturbation by factual information from outside the bubble. That is why the ideological Left requires constant affirmation of its ideas via various month-long celebrations of their stupid ideas. When every shred of available empirical evidence directly contradicts your beliefs you need a lot of positive feedback to keep the charade going.
To boot, far too many of these people lack the rhetorical skills to mount a coherent defense, even if these ideas were at all defensible. Much less can anyone on the Left match the rhetorical brilliance of someone like Charlie Kirk.
So, Charlie Kirk presented the perfect storm for the deluded Left. He presented factual information in a manner that they simply could not answer. If his life was a shockwave to their beliefs, his murder is near extinction level event. In life he completely tore down their bubble. The manner of his death inflicted more damage, not on their beliefs, but on their beliefs about themselves. His dying alone wasn't enough to restore the tranquility of the bubble. Therefore, not only the man's ideas, but the man himself, even in death, must be completely destroyed.