If you're so beholden to the world of social media that you post this:
You might want to reconsider remaining on social media. I tried to remember a time when I - or anyone I knew - would feel inclined to mention the passing of a relation while tacking on her politics, and I'm at a loss. There might have been many things I would think of, some good others not, but it wouldn't have dawned on me to mention a "dead acquaintance (+ politics)*" .
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| When you remove God, the State happily steps into the void |
*I notice he doesn't mention vaccinated, unvaccinated, masked or anything. It appears enough to politically label the deceased.
Sounds like he's subtly saying only rightwingers die if they get covid
ReplyDeleteThat is certainly the desired narrative. Whether that is what he intended or not, I don't know. That's because when I see dead acquaintances, I don't feel inclined to emphasize their political affiliation as somehow the important thing. But in keeping with the Left's emphasis on the State Alone, it apparently become very important to the good deacon,
DeleteMore precisely, only rightwingers DESERVE to die of COVID.
DeleteIf he were forced to talk about a non-rightwing relative who died of COVID, you can bet that the narrative would be that he must have gotten it from rightwingers and thus it was a tragic injustice that he died for something that he did not deserve to get.
This meme is very Chestertonian: “Once abolish the God and the government becomes the God.”
ReplyDeleteAside from that it seems to me that someone would benefit from rereading 1Cor13:1,4-7
“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have charity, I am a resounding gong or clashing cymbal...
Charity is patient, charity is kind. It is not jealous, charity is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick tempered, it does not brood over injury; Charity does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
Everyone remembers “patient and kind” but there are a few other descriptions of charity underneath them that deserve some reflection as well, especially in regards to social media usage.
Yes, that is a famous - and often cherry-picked - passage to be sure. Like so many things today, it's easier to take the broad path that is so easy to find, especially when society now advises it. I think we are about to learn the difference between a culture that is influenced by Gospel principles no matter how it fails to live up to them, and a society that rejects Gospel principles and succeeds in living up to those non-Gospel ideals.
DeleteDon't think it has much to do with social media as a vector. It's just that Greydanus is a strange and unpleasant person.
ReplyDeleteWell, he wasn't. He and I used to get into some pretty long debates in years gone by. I never cared for his post-modern approach to movie reviews, but I thought he was a descent enough fellow who debated in good faith. But as I've said, while it's hardly unique to those on the left, the tendency to abhor debate and discussions is almost a universal trait among the left. And that goes hand in hand with the increased obsession with seeing the left and its politics in anything and everything.
DeleteThe phoniness of his nice guy routine is extremely transparent.
ReplyDeleteIt depends of you are discussing A DISEASE or politics. It appears you really do belong to the "everything is politics" camp, which is why you are unaware that there are whole circles within social media to discuss dietiing or depression or diabetes or Down syndrome or dementia; and, for that matter, military history, gun restoration, or how to play the concertina.
ReplyDeleteAh, a dig. Let me retort. I focus on politics here because that is something I've focused on in general throughout my life. It was my initial college major, though I realized that the world of politics was a big shark tank in which this little guppy would not survive. There is nothing wrong with focusing on politics. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Nonetheless, for all my focus, I wouldn't look at a dead relative and say 'but politics!', especially when the intention of the inclusion isn't hard to figure. That's the difference. Focusing on anything is one thing, seeing the same thing in anything focused on is another. Get the difference?
DeleteFor that matter, a Google blogspot blog (like this one) is itself a specific social medium, and you yourself frequently volunteer details about your own family, including comments your sons have made regarding politics. Now suppose that one of your sons, rather than sharing a witticism, had been deployed to Afghanistan and had died there, and that afterwards you found yourself drawn into a discussion about how America really made no sacrifices in Afghanistan, but that all the suffering was on the part of the Afghans. Don't tell me you would be able to keep your own counterexample out of the conversation when you cannot resist much weaker temptations to personalize whatever point you are making. If you are to be consistent, then, you might want to reconsider remaining active on blogspot.
ReplyDeleteYes I do. I cheer my family on. I celebrate what my family does. I post fun times at Halloween. I also like hearing my sons give their account of the world and let me know what their peers are saying. I admire their honest perception. Which I know Deacon Greydanus is fond of doing. Which is fine. The fun of social media.
DeleteBut there is a line you seem unable - or perhaps unwilling - to grasp. First, you don’t know what I would do in a situation like you suggest, since neither do I. Your reliance on preemptively assuming in order to make a point strongly suggests the weakness of your point. Second, that is merely a version of 'oh yeah, well so do you!' instead of looking at the problem I noticed with his injection of politics where it didn't matter, or at least in saner days, wouldn't have mattered. Continuing to try to deflect, as with so many cases where accusation or distraction make up the bulk of a point, again suggests a big weakness in the point.
He's now a (minor) member of the courtier class. You have to make sacrifices just to stay there, let alone ascend. Deriding a dead relative for wrongthink is de rigueur.
ReplyDeleteSoon enough, it will be phone calls to employers and the authorities, if it hasn't happened already.
And it's been sad to watch. Again we used to have robust discussions about various topics. But in keeping with the trends we see so often, he has lost his stomach for debating with those who question his swing to the left. A shame.
DeleteI'm 'Right Wing', over 70, co-morbidities [stents, a-fib] and I've NEVER had C19. And I regularly dance tango in classes and social gatherings where I am in contact with multiple partners. Close PHYSICAL contact. I've given the virus EVERY opportunity. It apparently runs shrieking in terror when it sees me.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the Ivermectin recommended by Ann B. really does work. A blessed lady doing the Lord's work.
Covid has been brought to us almost entirely by media propaganda. We were never informed about Covid, we were told only what interests demanded we be told - or not told as the case may be. Anyone who thinks we know about the Covid pandemic should meet me in St. Louis - there's a Brooklyn Bridge their I have to sell them.
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