Orthodoxy, Chesterton

 I find this to be a good summary of the book:

An influential Christian author of the 20th century, G.K. Chesterton wrote Orthodoxy as a defense of the Christian faith. Meant to be a companion to Chesterton's Heretics, Orthodoxy constructs an "alternative philosophy" to the philosophies of the time. Chesterton explains both why he believes that Orthodox Christianity best explains human existence, and why he does not find other philosophies convincing. However, in defending Christianity, Chesterton does not avoid the paradox, wonder, or mystery of Christianity either. After all Orthodoxy is--as the author himself notes--also a spiritual and intellectual autobiography as well, with Chesterton providing illustrations and examples from his own life. In fact, because of the autobiographical element, many readers are pleasantly surprised by the wit and humor with which he tackles the difficult subjects in Christianity. An important defense of Christianity, G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy is a highly recommended, powerful, and winsome book.

Chesterton is an author and thinker that I would love to love -- yet I find him challenging and not nearly as entertaining as many do. I do enjoy many quotations of his work. 

"A Christian is only restricted in the same sense an atheist is restricted. He cannot think Christianity to be false and still be a Christian; and an atheist cannot think atheism to be false and still be an atheist". 

"The sane man knows that he has a touch of the beast, a touch of the devil, a touch of the saint, a touch of the citizen. Nay, the sane man knows that he has a touch of the madman. But the materialists world is quite simple and solid, just as the madman is quite sure he is sane". 

In this age of rampant virtue signalling it is hard to beat; "The modern age is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad".  In reading history, it is entertaining to see that it is always "modern"', which is naturally true.  It is always "modern". "Wokeism", Identity Politics, Mask Shaming and a host of other "modern" maladies are exactly moralism, puritanism, and The Scarlet Letter. The more mankind runs away, the more he runs into himself. 

It is a well loved work and I understand why, it is just "not my cup of tea" and I lament that fact.

 

Automata Inconvenienced With A Soul

 https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-read-society-11819.html

Dalrymple tends to be wordy and a bit pedantic ... tendencies I have reason to sympathize with. He also seems to find and comment on writings that defy the "standard view", something I REALLY like. 

Unlike less reflective observers, Custine asked why the Russian officials should have behaved with such a manner, keenly aware that men inhabit a mental and not just a physical world and that their conduct is determined by their thoughts about the world as they have experienced it. He surmised that these border officials had been deprived of all true discretion and were deeply fearful themselves of the power to which they were subordinate. Custine described them as "automata inconvenienced with a soul": a description true, perhaps, of all bureaucrats fearful for their jobs but truest of all where power is both arbitrary and completely centralized...

As a Christian observing a bureaucratized totalitarian culture, I find that description quite accurate -- although now, rather than just the bureaucrats, it is the entire masked masses. It is even more apparent as a China Virus "survivor" ( I've "survived" a lot of colds and flu in my 64 years as well - many more nasty than the much hyped China Virus), I realize that there is no escape from the derision of the automata. When you have no soul, your "virtue cup" needs to be very frequently recharged with expressions of compliance. The less "common sense" involved, the better! 

Custine grasped that the propensity to deceive and to be (or to pretend to be) deceived lay at the heart of Russia's evident malaise. The maintenance of despotism depended upon this universal vocation for untruth, because without the fiction that the despotism was necessary, that it conduced to the happiness and well-being of all, and that any alternative would be disastrous, the subject population would cease to be controllable.

It really takes very few willing to stand up tyranny -- masks, gay celebration, transgender celebration,  and increasingly, pedophilia celebration (like your Christmas ornaments, Epstein didn't hang himself).  The problem is that humans have a built in urge to "fit in". Being Christian was once sufficient reason to be lion food, and Christianity grew. Then it became dominant, and actually following Christ became reason to be burned at the stake (an "advancement" from lion chow). Dominance breeds cruelty. The non-compliant must be punished "for their own good!" If the punishment is not creating compliance, then more severe punishment is required "for the good of all". 

Thankfully, sometime around gas chambers, Gulags, trenches full of bodies, etc, the God given natural resistance tends to kick in and kill the totalitarian leviathan. Unfortunately, as in the case of disease, it can take quite a bit of time, and the body count can be high. 

Sadly, mass media and technology in general allow despotism to prevail even in the face of significant resistance. In the 2020 US "election", 70 million people desired an end to the bureaucratic charade. No matter -- at least hundreds of thousands of manufactured "votes" allowed the tyranny to deepen. It very much appears that the tide of totalitarianism in Wokeistan will not be reversed by mere democracy -- it will require "other means". 

For the whole elaborate charade of despotism to work, for the pretense that the despotism is both indispensable and conducive to the welfare of all, everyone must appear to believe in it—including the despot himself.

The bureaucratic / media complex was able to invalidate the votes of 70 million -- as of so far, the 70 million seem to believe that a continuation of what they voted against is not worth the "immune system cost" of killing the despotic infection. 

Often, when  infection is allowed to fester, the cost of destroying it becomes even greater. The Lord will prevalent is inevitable, however the wages of sin can be very costly. 

Covid Survivor

 After all the hype, all the fear mongering, it was a little less than the dud we expected if we were among the symptomatic. Of course it COULD have killed us as we were REGULARLY reminded even though we very rarely turn on any media. Couple days of 102ish fever, a "tired week" ... not "bedridden" by any means, some strange taste effects. Nothing special but the hype. I've believed very little that is "settled truth" according to our "elites" for a LONG time. The Russia, Covid and "election" hoaxes haven't really changed anything for me ... just confirmed the flatline of "it's all a Davos / Deep State / MSM house of mirrors" that has increasingly been here for a few decades. 

The fake "election" finally convinced me to delete my Facebook account completely, and take another blessed step away from the fake "made for the sheeple" combination of media, government and corporate (but I repeat myself) "reality". We are told the number of "the deplorable beast", and it is 70 million ... but amazingly, more people than ever in history "voted" for a senile old coot and a woman who rose to "the top" with her ankles behind her ears. If you believe any of that, you likely think that fracking didn't lower gas prices. 

So much for "reality" in this vale of tears. As in every human age, this is another "age of faith" ... this time it is largely in the false god of government. 

My Covid summary was done in September, and there is really nothing to add. It remains "the flu", and AMAZINGLY (ha ha) it seems to have totally wiped out all other strains. Imagine that! An honest look at statistics shows that there never were any "excess deaths". 

I've known that we are so manipulated by mass media that we have no idea of the extent of that manipulation for a long while. Fish don't realize they are wet. "We live in Ted Kennedy's world".

As often happens to me, an old pop song summarizes the unreality for me ... "I'm a Covid Survivor" ... but Marla is only my Homecoming Queen. 

The Modern Mind

https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-019413-0 

I agree with this summary from the linked: 

Unfortunately, for all the book's breadth, Watson's workmanlike approach has the feel of a handful of school assignments cobbled together from encyclopedia articles rather than of work drawn from years of thoughtful reflection and an intimate acquaintance with, and love of, ideas. (Mar. 9)

It is a book best thought of as a shallow encyclopedia that you could look into to find a tiny snippet of the thoughts of MANY thinkers of the 20th century.  As I got to towards the end and ran into thinkers that I was familiar with like Alan Bloom "The Closing Of the American Mind", I was struck with an old thought that I once had on "Consumer Reports" which I used to look at with relish. I realized that if I knew about something ... say cars, stereo, or computers, I TOTALLY disagreed with Consumer Reports! 

Why? Because CR was targeted at some "hypothetical average" ... NOT at the person who paid attention to the specifics of some product area. 

"Modern Mind" is kind of the same in that it assumes the standard of "science is the answer to life, the universe, and everything", "all is stuff (material)", religion is bunk, there is no such thing as "meaning, purpose, morality, etc" ... It does recognize that a most thinkers in the 20th century arrived at the conclusion that all that is true and that fact is damned depressing!

On page 772, it says "Evolution is the story of us all. Physics, chemistry, and biology are international in a way that literature, art, or religion can never be". 

Human mind blindness is the only true universal -- belief in evolution is not falsifiable, and therefore a religion, not science. Science can tell you how to build a nuke or a virus that kills all life -- it has nothing to say on if you "should". There is no should in science. 

So, the book is a reference to lots of "thought stuff", with a surprising amount of attention paid to art, poetry, and literature ... especially given it's conclusion that we just need to realize that we, and everything that "is", is just meaningless stuff. 

Dementia, "You Know, The Thing"!

 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-dementia-early-onset-cnn-ana-navarro-commentator-news-phoenix-rally-a7907696.html

Pretty much as soon as Trump took office (maybe before), the MSM was all over "Trump has dementia!". 

Naturally, even after he aced a mental acuity test, the test was declared invalid, and although the charges became more muted, they didn't go away. 

Anyone that believes in an "unbiased media" will likely not see any difference in the treatment of Biden  -- at least not until they want to replace him with Kamala. 

General Flynn, Hatred As "Justice"

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/529397-flynns-case-finally-ends-but-not-before-judge-sullivan-flogs-a-corpse

I have no doubt that many on the left would find "the Cromwell treatment" to be too good for Trump. 

His action (Sullivan's) in this case has long been controversial and was expressly criticized by appellate judges. It is not, however, unprecedented. Some 360 years ago in England, the body of Oliver Cromwell was exhumed from Westminster Abbey and posthumously chained, thrown into a pit, and then decapitated. Cromwell’s head was put on display and not reburied until 1960. By that measure, Sullivan’s three-year treatment of Flynn seems like a virtual “rocket docket” of justice.

There is absolutely no excuse for the treatment of General Flynn other than blind primitive hatred.  

In Wokistan, that form of hatred is the new "justice". 

Anna Karenina, Tolstoy

The opening line is quite familiar: "Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in it's own way". 

The last line, less famous, is a thought from Levin (one of the main characters) who has experienced something of an epiphany ... "I shall still be unable to to understand with my reason why I pray, and I shall go on praying; but my life now, my whole life apart from anything that can happen to me, every minute of it is no more meaningless, as it was before, but has the positive meaning of goodness, which I have the power to put into it." 

From a Christian perspective, his epiphany fell a bit short -- and there are some lines in the book that would indicate that at one level "he" (Tolstoy)  does know that he actually doesn't have the "power" -- meaning/purpose is a gift from God. 

I made it through it! It is pretty much a romance novel writ large. An easy summary of the book would be "adultery often doesn't work out well". (like one participant "takes a shot" at killing himself, and the other is more successful -- trains are effective! I'm certain that modern "progressive" moralists would argue that it was the rigid social rules that caused the derailment, however "if it feels good do it" as a moral foundation doesn't seem to be working out that well either based on depression, suicide rates and addiction. 

One reason that the book is revered is the EXTENSIVE and DETAILED interior thoughts of the characters. Having read one romance novel early in my marriage, and realizing that the alleged interior of the female mind was not likely to be of use to me (other than realizing"it's hopeless") , it does seem that Tolstoy had some insight into this terra incognita. (note my ability to extrapolate a "rule" from a SINGLE "Danielle Steele" book read 35 years ago) 

At least for me, a good deal of a tug -- but then I've always known I'm an uncultured lout!

Conspiracy, Leakers, Whistlebowers

 https://www.npr.org/2020/12/05/943220215/backing-trump-some-ex-military-officers-spread-conspiracies-urge-martial-law?ft=nprml&f=1001

The Democrat-Media complex definition of "conspiracy" is when a couple people say that some action the liberals don't like is being suggested from the right. Labels do matter! 

Hillary was quite vocal about the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" for years ... even post 2016. From the 2016 election on, we had various groups of people encouraging "faithless electors" to vote for Hillary even though they were pledged to Trump based on the results of the election. Not to mention 25th Amendment pushes, "Not my president", etc, etc. It was more than enough to make "conspiracy" and "crying wolf" everyday phenomenon. Trump being elected was a "crisis" for the left from day 1. 

This fall, "489 security leaders" claimed Trump was "unfit for office". Democrats started talking Impeachment in the summer of 2017 while the baseless Mueller witch hunt was in progress. Does "Crossfire Hurricane", started before Trump was even elected, and done in secret, rise to the level of "conspiracy"? I'm certain it would if the shoe was on the other foot. 

My understanding is that military officers still swear an oath to defend "the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic". In the era where Freedom of Religion can only get at 5-4 decision in the SCOTUS, do we really have a "constitution" at all? When massive voter fraud is ignored, and even attempts to ferret it out are criticized as "undemocratic", why would anyone not in league with the Democrat-MSM-Deep State "trust an election" again?  When your opponent doesn't accept the results of an election, you don't live in a "democracy", and certainly not a Republic for which we used to even stand. 

When the Democrat-Media-Deep State complex fights any attempt at voter ID or other ways to insure election integrity are fought tooth and nail. When the powers of the intelligence community and the "justice" department are used to attempt removal of the legitimately elected president -- when is the duty of the military to defend the Constitution against domestic enemies? 

At a minimum, anyone that calls themselves "america" needs to understand where the following quote comes from, why it was made, and what resulted from it. 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Six courageous states is a good start! 

Swalwell, Leaker vs Whistle Blower

 https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/12/swill-this.php

The Democrat/MSM complex is highly skilled in "spin" ... from the subtle to the very obvious. 

Again, I can’t talk too much about the details of the case even though others may have violated their oath I’m not going to violate mine, but the Axios story made it absolutely clear that no information was ever shared, except, Jim, the people who did share classified information were the people who leaked this story. And to do that against a critic of the president, they may think that they’re going to silence me. They are not going to silence me but what they are going to do is they are going to make others think twice when they are asked to sit down and provide defensive information about people like this.

The Democrat/MSM complex is a lesson in mendacity. If this came out against a Republican, the "Whistleblower" would be a courageous saint"!

Imagine living in a country where supposed "law enforcement" organizations spy on political opponents and then attempt to prosecute them.

That is the "country" (lawless territory" that "live" (masked and locked down) in. 

Chuck Yeager Passes

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/07/341894780/pilot-chuck-yeager-dies-at-97-had-the-right-stuff-and-then-some?ft=nprml&f=1001

The passing of a great man and pilot after a long life well lived. I loved his autobiography that I read and owned in paperback and I sincerely hope did not get "pruned" in our move from Rochester.