Is for evil men (and women) to fully embrace evil, that's what. You have to have that to have evil do anything. Evil men and women must embrace evil, sell their selves to the powers of Hell, and become instruments of the demonic and the damned. That's the first thin you need for evil to triumph.
The second thing necessary is for good men not to do nothing. In fact, people seldom do nothing. They almost always do something. And the second thing needed for evil to triumph is for otherwise good men (and women) to jump on the evil bandwagon. If the Nazi leadership was the full embrace of evil, those guys gunning down naked Jews in trenches were the ones who made it possible. And in most pictures, they aren't weeping either. They're grinning big grins as they're ready to massacre the innocent. That's the next thing needed for evil to triumph. Those who were not initially part of the evil jump into evil with both feet.
So is the next thing the do nothing good men? No. Again, men seldom do nothing. The next thing needed is for the good men who see what is happening to essentially make lame excuses or actually side with the evil, though they technically know it's wrong and don't support it. That's happening a lot today. I see people admit they see the clouds on the horizon, but at the first chance, they will excuse this or that: Well, in that case the police were wrong, or maybe banning a book with really bad content is good, or maybe it's right to point out that an entire ethnicity might always be guilty of something when there is a good argument. They know it's BS, and they often say so. But boy do they look for the chance to excuse surrendering the latest yard.
Now we're getting close. The next group isn't making lame excuses, but they're not doing much to stop it. They're not doing nothing. They see the evil, the problems, the racism, the tyranny, the shadows - but they're just not doing much about it, but not by doing nothing. They're fighting it, at least on paper. But with all the passion of a limp noodle. Perhaps they don't want to be mocked or laughed at, or worse lose their situation, but they draw a line between what they will do - fuss a lot on the Internet perhaps - and what they won't do (jeopardize their livelihoods).
Finally, when all that is done, I'm sure there might be the odd individual who does nothing. If that's the case, however, it's often that they're simply ignorant, or one of the masses of uninformed just trying to eke out a living and with no time to do more than look at the occasional headline. They're the ones in the rural countryside who probably never heard of National Socialists in the German government in 1933. By 1945, however they had heard. By then, of course, it was too late.
So there you have it. As we see the officially sanctioned racism and discrimination, as we see the hate and endorsed vengeance, as we see the anti-American rage and destruction, the killings and attacks, the tyranny and oppression, the open calls to destroy everything to do with the Christian West, the excuse making to support bearing down on Christ's Church, we wonder how it's happening and happening so quickly. That's not because good men are doing nothing. It's because evil men (and women) are doing what they do, and that's pushing evil. The rest are falling into their own category of being active enablers of the evil. Just as men and women have done for eons. And just, as we're seeing, they will no doubt continue to do for eons to come.
I'd say I'm in the category of those who do nothing because we literally have no clue what the heck is even going on. CNN, FOX, MSNBC and all the rest say various things, and we have no clue what's true and what isn't. Did Trump have Russian collusion in 2016? Did Biden hack voting machines in 2020? Were the BLM events mostly peaceful with some violence? Were they actually mostly violent with some peaceful people? Were the non-violent protesters still mostly in the "All Cops are Bad, America is Nazi Germany," camp? Or was that crowd just the vocal minority? How do I even know? Unless I were to travel to Minnesota and those other places, unless i were to investigate Election fraud and illegal immigration personally (which I can't do while also having a job keeping up my rent) I just have to take the word of The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, FOX, NBC or one of the other million and a half news outlets. When they're all giving wildly contradictory presentations of what's going on, how the heck am I even supposed to know. If tommorow I saw a report CNN saying purple Martians landedin Nashville, while FOX claimed they were actually green Venusians and MSNBC said nothing actually happened, how the Frak am I supposed to know who's lying? Maybe they're all lying and it's actually Blue Plutonians. I don't live in Nashville, so unless I were to drive there and see for myself, I would have to trust one or another of the networks. Everything is just so confusing. Most people are probably overloaded. Maybe that's part of the plan. Who even knows?
ReplyDeleteThat is a big problem today. I've often said I get the impression I know less about the goings on in the world than a medieval peasant would have known. There are simply too many examples of the press clearly packing the narrative to ever take them at face value. But in doing so, who do we listen to? It's not as if one outlet or another is any better. How do we know what is happening? Things have happened so quickly, it's tough. I don't mean to say everyone in the list above is doing what they do for the worst reasons. Some of it is no doubt just trying to react in some way to everything happening. It's just as I watch things unfold, I realize many who are reacting, even if for the best of reasons, invariably feed into the very problems they see happening.
DeleteI was in the same camp as you in not knowing what to believe. Now I just pray for discernment of the truth and let God guide me. My responsibility in this world is my soul. I am taking care of my soul first. I refuse today to become anxious at things I cannot control. I know this much. The msm has lied to us very very often so no, no more trusting their stories especially their headlines. And as you say, what can we do? Vote?? We DO vote but our votes get stolen. So NOW what do we do? I'm telling you, the prospect of our nation engaging in civil war seems to me to be rapidly coming. I hope not. I truly hope not, but right now....
Delete"Well, in that case the police were wrong,"
ReplyDeleteIf you think that never happens, presumably you think a police state is a great idea.
"... or maybe banning a book with really bad content is good,"
Child pornography is a thing. There are other ideas that are just as dangerous. Even when you were a child, there were topics kept secret by the government, either because of a transient threat (like a detailed presidential route) or a more enduring threat (like how to make small, powerful, and efficient nuclear weapons). Of course, the contents of a sacramental confession have ALWAYS been secret. Yeah, I know: When you were a kid, Schoolhouse Rock told you "Knowledge is power!"
"... or maybe it's right to point out that an entire ethnicity might always be guilty of something when there is a good argument." Is that really any less plausible than suggesting that an entire ethnicity might be "our elder brothers in the faith of Abraham"? Look, you are an American, so you are an individualist, and there is something in that. It can be taken too far, though; God clearly sees something in bloodlines. You see this in the Tenth Plague and the LORD's war on Amalek from generation to generation as well as in the special bloodlines of Jacob, Aaron, and David.
Just because our adversaries oversimplify is no excuse for us to oversimplify as well.
That's exactly my point. Of course traditionally we believed a society has every right to regulate things, even behavior, for the good of individuals and of the whole. But somewhere, we were told that was wrong. What right does anyone have to do such a thing? If individuals choose to do whatever, that's their right. If they say, paint, sing whatever, so be it. Let total freedom reign supreme. Now, that's no longer the case. Those who said complete tolerance for all views are now rushing through and banning that which offends them in a way that would make Bradbury blush.
DeleteBut then we come along and, well, agree. So when there was a spate of editing or simply banning various offerings for children just a month or so ago, many conservatives rushed out and said - yeah. I guess that's fine. Really? Is it fine? The ones doing it said it wasn't fine. In fact, the ones doing it said as recently as my sons' lifetime that for even a private business to self-censor was a win for fascism.
Sure we would object to child pornography - or any for that matter. But we lost that fight by giving in. Going back and agreeing now does little good but enable the ones who clearly have more than child porn in their cross-hairs. Perhaps a different strategy is in order. And not always thinking if we concede a point here, we'll really get them next time. That certainly hasn't done the trick yet. I think we can find ways to be consistent and true to what we've always believed without empowering what we're seeing today.
The saddest part is that it's too believable. I remember a story ages ago about the rise of young white men becoming Neo-Nazis. That was back in the 90s easily. I thought then can we be surprised? By then they had been told they, their ancestors, their culture, their values, their nation, and everything about them was nothing but racist Nazism in serious need of being wiped from the historical whiteboard. Did we not imagine that might be the result, rather than them embracing the left's 'thank goodness our superior generation has come along' attitude?
ReplyDelete