There's a strange sort of sociopolitical mood in the United States right now. The general population, led by the influencers and pundits, seem to be in an anesthetic atmosphere totally detached from Reality while we're obviously headed towards a major disaster and losing what's left of our national ideals. Journalist and seminarian Chris Hedges posted a good video recently which, despite his Left-leaning perspective, had an excellent explanation of the underlying causes behind this odd phenomenon. It's about 15 minutes long and worth a watch because Hedges sees the bigger picture.
The Political Class, meanwhile, has turned into a parody of itself. Biden has already put his foot in his mouth at the APEC Summit, and a couple of the 'Conservative' clowns in Congress engaged in a shoving-match. In reality, all of these Party hacks and Corporate lapdogs remind me of the kinds of idiots one sees popping up in any average big-city mall or shopping center. The dangerous thing is that they actually hold positions of power where they can do real damage.
There were two stories in both news and opinion coming out yesterday in the Controlled Opposition nominally Christian Conservative wing of the Corporate Media. Let's juxtapose these two stories and see if other Christian Conservatives can discern what's wrong with this picture.
1. As we're writing this article, Zionist Death-Squads have stormed the largest remaining hospital in the Gaza Strip. 'Conservative' news outlets like Fox News Channel are joining with MSM mouthpieces CNN praising the attack. As of today, the Israeli Government and its American overlords have massacred at least 11,000 civilians---about half of whom are women and children---both through a military blitzkrieg and an embargo of food, water, medicine, and fuel. Christian Conservative sites are actually justifying these Crimes Against Humanity including arguing with the absurd logic that by committing a Holocaust of Arabs, Israel is acting in self-defense to prevent another Holocaust against the Jews. By their own admission, the Republican Party welcomes the conflict as a political talking-point.
2. After their humiliating performance in the 2023 Midterms, there have been calls from the GOP leadership to get rid of their nominal Pro-Life position. In a piece titled Abortion, not Trump, is the GOP's Albatross, a parasite at the Conservative Institute, one Matthew Boose, opined that Conservative Christians need to be more 'realistic' about the Abortion Issue. "Because of Dobbs, abortions are much harder to get in a number of states. The right made a bargain to save lives, and the cost is pain at the polls." Boose states. "As the saying goes, 'politics is the art of the possible.' This reasoning strikes many conservatives as devilish, but we live in a fallen world. Republicans can either continue on their self-destructive course, or they can compromise with reality." The Conservative Institute, it should be noted, is run by a self-described Alpha named Shaun Connell who is head of a shady media-consulting group.
So what's wrong with this picture? Just a friendly reminder here, but we are talking about the murder of children. It's really a sad commentary on the state of our society when we have to keep emphasizing and explaining this point, especially when it repeatedly has to be brought up to religious, 'family-values' Conservatives. Given what Jesus' attitudes towards children were, I strongly suspect that He wouldn't approve of in vitro infanticide up to the moment of birth or firebombing children's hospitals---even if the victims don't happen to be American, or live in a Blue State, or even if saving their lives hurts Republican chances at the polls.
In the last three years, on at least four occasions (read about them here, here, here, and here) 'Conservatives' have excused and supported cold-blooded acts of murder on the grounds that the victims were either immigrants or left-wing activists. They've excused criminal behavior among themselves and weaponized the legal system against their opponents for political gain. They've applauded the ethnic cleansing of legal immigrants by forced deportations under inhuman conditions. This list of their crimes could go on, but the bottom line here is there doesn't seem to be any act of tyranny or immorality to which this group will not stoop to or support. As the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin remarked: "There are no morals in politics, there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel." Would anyone care to explain how the present Conservative position differs from Lenin's?
As if this really needs to be emphasized again, supporting or excusing the murder of children, though, is about as clear a 'Red Line' as could possibly be drawn. It's no argument to chant "Oh but the Democrats do it too!" or "The Jihadists do it too!" I don't support Democrats or Jihadists for this very reason; and I'm certainly not going to support Republicans or Zionists for doing it either.
The American Right has lost even its last shards of moral authority that it still possessed. They're no better than the Left: in fact, they're even worse because they compound their evil deeds with self-righteous hypocrisy and even try to justify them in some cases, as Christian morality. Sadly, it's become painfully obvious now that these people are strictly no good from way down deep in their own psyches, and don't deserve the support of any right-thinking person.
Thanks for posting the Chris Hedges video, I hadn't seen that yet. He nailed it on multiple fronts. I appreciate his mentioning both decaying infrastructure and also the war on empathy. Those are two major red flags of tyranny, nothing works as it should and people become convinced empathy just isn't cost effective.
ReplyDeleteRecently I was reminded that CS Lewis put together his book "Mere Christianity," based on a series of fireside chats he was commissioned to do for BBC radio during wartime. Back then it was understood that during times of national stress people needed to be reminded of their higher selves, their purpose in the world, and the need for compassion, for morality.
Hedges also tied Narcissism to the decline of culture and expressed it better than I could. In the 1970s there were social critics warning about the rise of Narcissism and that it would lead to where it did.
DeleteRecall too that as recently as the 1960s, JFK immortalized the phrase "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." I can't imagine a politician saying that today without being hooted down by Media and Academia.
Thank you for the link- one thing he said sticks out in your face- Totalitarian societies are hyper masculine and despise the weak and those that are empathetic- the powerful bully, and seek to destroy those that are weak, this is seen in the Alt Right and also evangelical Christianity too. The sports and pop culture hedonism and narcissism is the escape just as pornography and abortion- those should have been made illegal in the 1970s but most people do not care.
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