Trump goes nuke:

_{kairosfocus

October 9, 2016

Amorality, General interest, governance, Lessons of History, Politics, worldview}

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” . . . you would be in jail.”

[youtube qwe34MIYYEk]

(To make certainty on non endorsement etc clear, snip. KF)

The pivotal issue relevant to UD here, is not whether either major candidate is of any great promise ([again to be utterly clear, snip. KF]), but instead, the revelation of utter media bias and manipulation. The issue, then becomes, how do we stand against the tide of a civilisational march of folly, complete with agit prop agendas dressed up in lab coats?

How does this speak to preserving a modicum of sanity and respect for facts and logic in discussion of serious issues; often in the face of all sorts of agit prop or trollish distractions, with the future of our civilisation obviously in the stakes?

Let me add, issues like this:

Whatever the answer, to actually keep our heads when a civilisation is patently going mad all around us, is going to be hard.

Very hard.

But, we gotta try. END

[A NOTE FROM UD’S EDITORS: As a 501(c)(3) organization, UD neither supports nor opposes candidate for political office. While the above post mentions a political candidate and alludes to another, we consider it to be a commentary on the decay of Western Civilization, not a political endorsement or opposition. KF, is of course free to hold his personal view of the candidates, which he states above. This should be considered a statement of his own personal views and not the position of Uncommon Descent, Inc.]

Comments

D, yes, even the songs testify against us. H, Sobering. I am on record here at UD and elsewhere that the mass slaughter of posterity in the womb is the pivotal, mind blinding and conscience benumbing evil of our time. It is the worst holocaust in history, taking Guttmacher's 50+ mn per year globally and using a simple linear growth model for 40 years (likely conservative), we easily see 800+ millions. We are a dark, evil age and should hang our heads in shame before our ancestors whom we love to denigrate. We must all wake up and stop this evil, first by speaking the truth firmly but respectfully, and then working to change hearts, minds and laws back to sanity. KFkairosfocus_{October 12, 2016
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Here is how it looks to this Christian: Trump, for all his vulgarity and worldliness, is still working with Pro-Lifers and has promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who will reverse Roe vs. Wade. Hillary is a staunch advocate and supporter of Roe. What does this mean for Christians? First we must get the big picture. Every age has its bigotry, which sometimes results in things like slavery and Jew-gassing being “legalized.” The day will come when our butchering of children in the womb, children who are often as old or older than babies routinely cared for in modern newborn intensive care units, will be looked upon with the horror with which we now see slavery and Jew-gassing. The children being murdered today are the victims of the bigotry of our times. There is no political issue that can have a higher priority for Christians than ending the “legal” murder of innocent humanity by the millions. Genuine Christians understand the essentials of morality, fundamentals like “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Fake Christians, like Tim Kaine, fail to apply this basic morality to innocent children in the womb, the least of the brethren of Christ, who are “legally” murdered in our midst by the thousands every day. Nor do they apply basic morality to how they vote. For the genuine Christians of our times the thinking behind their voting decision, which takes into consideration the essentials of morality, goes something like this: What if it were me and mine who were the victims of the bigotry of the times? What if it were me and mine who it was "legal" for others to choose to kill? What if there was one candidate who many Christians didn't like for various reasons, but who was at least working with those Christians who wanted the law to once again reflect the intrinsic illegality of killing innocent human beings. He promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn the ruling that "legalized" killing people like me and mine. There is another candidate who has made it clear that she is an advocate and staunch supporter of that ruling. And there are third party candidates who there is no reason to believe will actually win. Who would I hope the Christians would vote for? After such consideration of basic morality, genuine Christians then know how they should vote. They will do for others what they would want others to do for them. Not voting wouldn't be an option. There is no moral choice except to vote for Trump. Supposedly Christian intellectuals who lead Christians to believe any other choice is legitimate might as well officially announce their renunciation of Christ in the least of His brethren, and shout “Crucify Him! Butcher Him in His least brethren! We have no king but Caesar!” That is not hyperbole. That is a fact. Caesar has claimed for himself authority over innocent human life that belongs only to God. We are to render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and unto God that which belongs to God. To do otherwise is idolatry. Legitimizing voting for one who is a staunch of advocate of state authorized murder of innocent humanity, besides signaling one's approval of Caesar's usurpation of God's authority, is in fact shouting “We have no king but Caesar” and handing Christ in His least brethren over to Caesar's executioners. The contemporary bigotry, the victims of which are innocent children, will eventually be dispelled. The supposedly Christian intellectuals' intentional legitimization of the bigotry of our times by refusing to come down hard on the side of life and on the side of Christ Himself in the least of His brethren will scandalize future generations of Christians for centuries to come. The election of Hillary will result in packing the Supreme Court with justices – who will remain there for decades – who will further entrench and expand the “legal” murder of innocent humanity in American society, which will lead to the murder of countless more innocent human beings who will be spared if Trump gets to appoint Supreme Court justices. A very reasonable case could be made that the election of Hillary will put the final nail in the coffin of the great American experiment in government the very purpose of which is to protect the inalienable rights of humanity. For any genuine Christian the decision to vote, and to vote for Trump, is a “no brainer.” Am I being too simplistic? Google up abortion trash and then click Images. You will find a photograph of a large trash container filled with dead babies bigger than newborns you have held in your arms. Literally millions of such children have been murdered since the world-wide anti-life juggernaut began its evil destruction of the traditional Western ethic and civilization itself. I am not being too simplistic. I am addressing the simple reality. Read Matthew 25:31-46 for a very simple discussion of the consequences of abandoning Christ in the least of His brethren. The Scriptures make clear that idolatry doesn't end well, either.harry_{October 12, 2016
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KF, Couldn't the loud cry be heard long ago even in some popular secular lyrics in the second half of last century? The famous English band Pink Floyd's album "The dark side of the moon" -considered by many critics a progressive / psychedelic rock music- included interesting lyrics. The song "Time"
examines the manner in which its passage can control one's life and offers a stark warning to those who remain focused on mundane aspects; it is followed by a retreat into solitude and withdrawal in "Breathe (Reprise)" [Wikipedia]
The lyrics for that song starts:
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town Waiting for someone or something to show you the way
Emphasis added. Note the spiritual vacuum in that loud cry: Waiting for someone or something to show you the way We try filling that vacuum with all kinds of things (drugs, alcohol, instant gratification fleshy pleasures, travels, exotic religions, confusing philosophical ideas, etch) to no avail. All in vane. There’s only one true Way. The rest are fake. It’s the superior duty of Christ’s followers to proclaim that Way to the lost world. But we must start from ourselves. Full integrity is the high requirement of the day. Our "locker room talk" must be exactly the same in substance as our most public expressions. We can’t have any credibility if we point to a Way we ourselves don’t want to follow accurately. Being sinners eternally reconciled by God’s amazing grace, we must truly confess and repent of our faults. We must forgive as we are forgiven. We must dispense grace as we have greatly benefited from it too. Let the world deal directly with our Creator. We proclaim the Good News, but not mediate, and much less impose their acceptance. We leave that to Christ Himself. PS. When the above mentioned musical album was released I was studying engineering in college, at the bottom of the spiritual abyss, completely lost and totally blind.Dionisio_{October 12, 2016
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Text:
Esther 4:12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” [ESV]
In the face of a genocidal threat to a people in exile and captivity, a threat driven by slander and centuries deep blood feud hate. The Mordecai challenge is a challenge at kairos, with everything on the line. Today, our civilisation stands at kairos. Who will stand? Today? KFkairosfocus_{October 12, 2016
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KF, Mordecai also issued this sobering warning: "Do not think to yourself that in the [earthly] king's palace you will escape any more [...]" Could that also relate to the potential consequences of ignoring the sobering warnings issued by Francis Schaeffer, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and other serious thinkers, regardless of which side of the political debate one may be at any given point?Dionisio_{October 12, 2016
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KF, As you so well summarized the "when?", "where?" and "who?" in three fundamental "why not...?" challenges, does this question by Mordecai also apply to each and everyone of us at some point in our lifetime?
And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Dionisio_{October 12, 2016
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D, yes. We need to ask them, given the issues in what I just put up: https://uncommondescent.com/media/wikileaks-hits-the-jackpot-an-unaware-and-compliant-citizenry/ KFkairosfocus_{October 12, 2016
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KF,
[...] we are back to the Mordecai challenge: why not now? why not here? why not us?
Good questions.Dionisio_{October 12, 2016
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F/N: My more elaborate response (personal, not endorsed by UD, Big Brother): http://kairosfocus.blogspot.com/2016/10/on-unaware-and-compliant-citizenry.html KFkairosfocus_{October 12, 2016
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Folks, Smoking gun email on what the manipulator class has been doing: https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/3599 --> Ask yourself, are ALL the moneybags on one side? (E.g. Koch vs Soros. [And no, I am not endorsing or opposing any parties or individuals, I am pointing out balancing facts given the known tendencies of pundits to give half of the story.]) --> Ask yourself, what have the education unions, media houses etc done about straight civics [CSPAN aside] for decades? --> Ask yourself, about trends of affiliation and agendas in the education and media sectors? --> Ask yourself, what the churches and their leaders have been doing in recent decades? --> Include in that, how we have responded when voices such as Francis Schaeffer have come to us? --> Ask yourself, about what has been dressed up in lab coats and sold to us as science (as in, only an IDiot questions "science")? --> And more. Then, take time to read here, on the Acts 27 case study. I do not think anybody comes up smelling like roses on this one. KFkairosfocus_{October 11, 2016
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Here is something I posted last Spring over at The Stream that I think fits here very well:
Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? It wasn’t because some of its citizens tolerated, accepted or even celebrated gays and lesbians along with other forms of unnatural sexuality. It was because their society would not tolerate anyone who did not accept and approve of their self-invented “enlightened” morality (see Genesis 19.) Fortunately, as a society, we’re not yet to that point. God did not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah till there were less than ten righteous or traditionally moral people left (Genesis 18:20-33.) Nevertheless, the slippery slope in the past few years has become very steep. On the other hand, unfortunately, because we live in a free and open democratic society, God won’t have do anything in terms of direct judgement. Democracies which lose their moral foundation tend to implode. That’s why John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” In other words, Adams was saying, if we don’t have a religious or moral citizenry our form of government won’t work. Democracy, Adams observed, “never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” It looks like that’s where we’re headed. Christians [as has already been mentioned here at UD] are more than partly to blame here. Jesus told his disciples, “You are the light of the world…” (see Matt. 5:13-16). This is the mission of common grace. Besides preaching to the lost we’re commanded to be a moral influence. We’ve been failing here—failing miserably. Is it too late? I pray to God it isn’t.
https://stream.org/cannot-ignore-war-gender/john_a_designer_{October 11, 2016
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DfO, Let us pray that our civilisation will repent, undergoing renewal, revival and reformation, so that salvation, blessing and transformation may spread across the earth in our time. The alternative is too horrible to bear detailed discussion just now. For such to happen, the first to repent must be us, the churches and the people who are called by the Name. KFkairosfocus_{October 11, 2016
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D, if the church is in need of reformation, it is because we have been stubborn in the face of the voice of our Lord on our duty to be salt and light, on our responsibility to fill all things with his grace and fullness, of our task to break false arguments that lead people away from acknowledging God, and failure to provide prophetic intellectual and cultural leadership -- or, to listen to such leadership when it comes (how many really took Schaeffer seriously? And subsequently those who built on his legacy?). That text in Rev 3:20 on Jesus locked out of a club called a church, in Laodicea, likely was rooted in his sending someone but the leadership locked him out. He called them poor, naked and blind while imagining themselves the opposite and called them to fix the problem. Is that what we are seeing, a Laodicean era of smug complacency and material wealth at the price of spiritual soundness? That may mean we are in for a chastening to wake us up and call us to our responsibilities. As you can see from the links, I am actively and seriously working on mechanisms for reformation. KFkairosfocus_{October 11, 2016
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KF, Thank you for the very insightful, sobering and timely comments @10 and the links @11 & @12.Dionisio_{October 11, 2016
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Folks, let's have a talk about how to try to rescue a civilisation on a road to ruin. Just, we must avoid endorsing or opposing any specific political parties in and around the US insofar as that may communicate a claimed position of UD. With the sort of point and shriek, mob rule internet riot mentality now on the prowl across our civilisation, that is important. KF PS: In case you think the above marked up map is not much, notice how Gorbachev is worried: https://www.yahoo.com/news/gorbachev-warns-dangerous-point-us-russia-ties-sour-090340767.htmlkairosfocus_{October 11, 2016
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F/N: attempt to update a blogger page to add some images has led to a dropped page on prelims. I have sent f/b to Google. Interim preliminaries page: http://nicenesystheol.blogspot.com/2016/10/interim-replacement-preliminaries-page.html KF PS: The proper page is back but the in page anchors don't work: http://nicenesystheol.blogspot.com/2010/11/preliminary-some-context-and-useful.htmlkairosfocus_{October 11, 2016
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D & JM: Sobering words regarding an institution and movement supposedly salt and light in a dark world. The failure of the church to live up to its mission is indeed part of our concern and leads to a call to reformation. Where, just to point out a fact of history, the US founders and framers saw the church, the scriptures and the gospel ethics they contain as key stabilising influences that made self-government of a free people possible. I think they were right to a great extent and the failure of what Francis Schaeffer termed the Christian Consensus is a key component of the destabilisation of leadership and sober, sound, widely understood cultural, circumstantial and geostrategic vision that are needed in an increasingly dangerous world. The resulting proneness to marches of ruinous folly is a direct result. Where, yet again, I point to Ac 27 for Luke's mini case study based on a disastrous actual voyage that responds so chillingly to Plato's parable of the ship. KF PS: Acts 27 is, in my view part of the teaching failure of the church. The political analysis side of Jesus' ministry and especially the schemes and machinations of Passion Week are another. And, I have been of the view in recent years that we should educate our people in the rudiments of the Nicene Creed and at the next level, a critical mass should do a widely available web based Associate Degree in Christian Service that would include as a key component a systematics offering based on the creed, cf here as a "show and tell." For socio-cultural vision, I point to the fulness of Christ theme of Eph 1 and 4, and suggest that the seven mountains of influence theme is a way to give this concrete expression, cf here on in its context. For geostrategic vision for C21, the little marked up map in the OP is a start-point. I know that even national level leaders are utterly ignorant and are often complacent at that level; much less, church leaders.kairosfocus_{October 10, 2016
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jimmontg @8 Interesting comment. Thank you. Perhaps Jesus has many fans, but not as many followers. The true church includes only the latter group. See if you can open and watch this: https://www.youtube.com/embed/lt8a041S1mQDionisio_{October 10, 2016
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To 7 Dionisio, even the 5 solas are not believed by many in the church either. The American Church is as divided as it's politics with so much media that is Christian based and different from each other and many of the biggest ministries are health and wealth gospel based. I remember the many fiascos and scandals of the last 30 years. Oral Roberts, "God is going to take me home if you don't send me $8 million." was the image of the church to so many outside it. I'm glad I'm not one of those preachers come Judgment Day as poor as I am. Sadly they were just a reflection of our commercialized society, only in America could such nonsense, bordering on blasphemy in many cases have happened or I should say developed. I met a young lady raised in a church, 18 years old who did not know that Jesus was God. Needless to say she got a quick lesson on the Trinity and salvation. There are too many like her I think? What are our churches teaching?jimmontg_{October 10, 2016
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Our hope is only in the One who made both candidates and made everybody else including us, as it is unambiguously written:
All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. [John 1:3 (ESV)]
Why is our hope only in Him?
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)]
Sola Scriptura Sola Fide Sola Gratia Solo Christo Soli Deo Gloria Apocalypse 22.21Dionisio_{October 10, 2016
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UD Editors, Disclaimer acknowledged and appreciated. I am not an American and endorse no particular party or individual; however due to the influence of US media, events and personalities globally, the US is often a bellwether for global/ civilisational trends and likely impacts. The main concern therefore is those trends, which are patently dangerous, as the geostrategic picture in outline above indicates. Likewise, the warning by Plato 2350+ years ago. As a civilisation, we need to pause and ponder carefully just where we are headed, above and beyond personalities, scandals, talking points, emotional manipulation, party platforms, interests/agendas and more; especially given the inherently unstable nature of democracies across 2500 years and the problem of marches of ruinous folly. I do confess to extreme pessimism about our civilisation and its prospects in coming decades on current trends. KFkairosfocus_{October 10, 2016
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TWSYF, good points. Delicious that Wiki has to document it, too. One a martyr, the other faced challenges all along. KFkairosfocus_{October 10, 2016
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How do we stand against the tide of a civilisational march of folly, complete with agit prop agendas dressed up in lab coats? Answer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer Answer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis And numerous other examples.Truth Will Set You Free_{October 10, 2016
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F/N2: added, quick overview of the global geostrategic picture. Note, there is currently saber-rattling over events in Syria. KFkairosfocus_{October 9, 2016
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F/N: Added vid clip. KFkairosfocus_{October 9, 2016
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A first warning from history, courtesy Plato in The Laws, Bk X, 2350+ years ago on what happens when the reprobates and nihilists take over opinion leadership in society:
Ath [in The Laws, Bk X 2,350+ ya]. . . .[The avant garde philosophers and poets, c. 360 BC] say that fire and water, and earth and air [i.e the classical "material" elements of the cosmos], all exist by nature and chance, and none of them by art . . . [such that] all that is in the heaven, as well as animals and all plants, and all the seasons come from these elements, not by the action of mind, as they say, or of any God, or from art, but as I was saying, by nature and chance only [ --> that is, evolutionary materialism is ancient and would trace all things to blind chance and mechanical necessity] . . . . [Thus, they hold] that the principles of justice have no existence at all in nature, but that mankind are always disputing about them and altering them; and that the alterations which are made by art and by law have no basis in nature, but are of authority for the moment and at the time at which they are made.-
[ --> Relativism, too, is not new; complete with its radical amorality rooted in a worldview that has no foundational IS that can ground OUGHT, leading to an effectively arbitrary foundation only for morality, ethics and law: accident of personal preference, the ebbs and flows of power politics, accidents of history and and the shifting sands of manipulated community opinion driven by "winds and waves of doctrine and the cunning craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming . . . " cf a video on Plato's parable of the cave; from the perspective of pondering who set up the manipulative shadow-shows, why.]
These, my friends, are the sayings of wise men, poets and prose writers, which find a way into the minds of youth. They are told by them that the highest right is might,
[ --> Evolutionary materialism -- having no IS that can properly ground OUGHT -- leads to the promotion of amorality on which the only basis for "OUGHT" is seen to be might (and manipulation: might in "spin") . . . ]
and in this way the young fall into impieties, under the idea that the Gods are not such as the law bids them imagine; and hence arise factions [ --> Evolutionary materialism-motivated amorality "naturally" leads to continual contentions and power struggles influenced by that amorality at the hands of ruthless power hungry nihilistic agendas], these philosophers inviting them to lead a true life according to nature, that is,to live in real dominion over others [ --> such amoral and/or nihilistic factions, if they gain power, "naturally" tend towards ruthless abuse and arbitrariness . . . they have not learned the habits nor accepted the principles of mutual respect, justice, fairness and keeping the civil peace of justice, so they will want to deceive, manipulate and crush -- as the consistent history of radical revolutions over the past 250 years so plainly shows again and again], and not in legal subjection to them [--> nihilistic will to power not the spirit of justice and lawfulness].
KF PS: Luke's reply to Plato's parable of the ship of state, by way of historical example in miniature in Ac 27 has much to teach us, too. Particularly note the role of Mr Moneybags and that of his bought and paid for technico in leading the majority into a march of folly.kairosfocus_{October 9, 2016
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