Comments by "Itinerant Patriot" (@itinerantpatriot1196) on "Hillsdale College"
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I appreciate what the gentleman is getting at, but the problem runs a lot deeper than what he calls "Frenchism." It's not a left vs. right issue, and we were warned of the consequences a very long time ago:
“For although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give Him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools…Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper.” ―Romans 1
“But understand this: there will be terrifying times in the last days. People will be self-centered…abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreligious…hating what is good…conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…Reject them.” ― 2 Timothy: 3: 1-5
“For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.” ― Timothy 4: 3-4
“But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” ― Revelation: 21:8
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!’ ― Matthew 18
So much for david french's "Christian" arguments and positions. And what about those who try to claim toleration of sin is a Christian Imperative?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ― Matthew 7:21-23
“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” ― Matthew 12: 36-37
A time for choosing. Choose wisely. I say this as someone who swam far too long in the Devil's lake. Redemption is possible, but only if you seek it.
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The title is more than a bit misleading. The guy talked about the current problems within the CIA, at least as he sees them. What about the Rise and Fall? To begin with, the CIA was not created in response to Pearl Harbor. Harry Truman created it because he realized he needed a spy agency to rival the Soviets, who were always better at that sort of thing than the Americans, dating back to the days of the Czar. Truman didn't like secret police and he didn't want, in his words, "An American gestapo" so he disbanded the OSS. He wanted something sleeker, more professional, an agency that would report to the president, not some commanding military officer. His intent was for the outfit to be an intelligence gathering agency, but he figured out pretty quickly during the Korean War that you had to have human intelligence, not signal intelligence if you wanted to get things right.
So he hired Bedell Smith, Ike's former military assistant to run the thing because of the Allies success with covert ops in WWII. The problem was they ended up with an eclectic group of cowboy-types, outlaws, soldiers of fortune, and former special forces guys from WWII who were bored. They gave em a bunch of money and all they got for the most part was a lot of dead Korean's they dropped behind enemy lines. Then, when Ike became president, he hired Allen Dulles, the mediocre brother of his secretary of state to run the thing and he was a covert action guy, not an intel guy. That's how they rose. The Church Committee neutered them to protect the Kennedy's and their shenanigans in Cuba and other places and from that time forward they were handcuffed and driven to mediocrity. But their track record never was that hot to begin with. Guatemala and Iran were pushovers. Cuba and Vietnam proved to be much more formidable.
As for 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the mastermind of that, not Bin Laden. Bin Laden provided the cash and helped recruit the evil crazies to carry it out but it was the brainchild of Khalid and his sick twisted nephew Ramsey Yusef. For 20 years Mohamed has been fed, clothed, and housed by the U.S. taxpayer. Timothy McVeigh went on trial in 1997 and was executed in 2001. Why is this POS who killed close to twenty times as many people still vertical? And what about Khobar Towers? People always seem to fail to mention that bombing which was clearly an Al Qaeda operation. Are we still worried about offending "Saudi sensibilities?"
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I have been referring to this allegory for a long time now to explain how our culture has devolved and how the role of critical thinking is not only diminished, it's discouraged. Social media has really accelerated this process. People are consumed with pithy soundbites that are shared and attract likes. It's the great distraction, the modern day wall of the cave. The powers that be, the ones pushing the great reset are more than happy to let people engage in the food fight going on in the Twitterverse. It keeps their eyes off the prize.
This saddens me. I'm not ancient but I'm no spring chicken so I won't be around to see the real carnage. This is only the beginning. I do my best to encourage people to step beyond the cave but nobody really listens. I'm not trying to place myself on some kind of pedestal as someone who has all the answers, and who knows maybe it's me, maybe I'm the one who doesn't get it? Maybe I'm just as hung up on my own cave wall. But I do know this, truth has been relegated to the back of the bus for now anyway, and I have always been someone who seeks the truth, however uncomfortable that may be.
Some people want to leave the cave, but like it was in Plato's time, too many do not. But I'll stay at it, Father Mackenzie, writing the words to a sermon that no one will hear. I'll do what I can and pray for us all. Lord knows we need it.
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In order to win a battle you must start by understanding the nature of the enemy you are up against and the landscape of the battlefield. This is spiritual warfare. I know not everyone will see it that way, but no other generation of Americans has ever faced a situation where reality itself is at play. But then again, no previous generation has turned their back on God the way this one has. No previous generation of men have abdicated their traditional role as leader in the home and outside of it in such mass numbers. This has always been Satan's domain and we are no match for him.
For those who dismiss that, at least think about the good that comes from a culture rooted in a Judeo-Christian value system. Benjamin Franklin did and he stated that such a value system is a stabilizing force for good on the societal level. Outside of Thomas Paine who was a full-blown atheist, Franklin was probably the most irreligious thought leaders of the American Revolution. Even Richard Dawkins is saying the west needs Christianity to straighten the ship. We will only get out of this mess if we return to God. That has to be step one.
Want to protect your kids? Start by being involved in their lives in a meaningful way. Attend church and live the way God wants us to. There is an old saying that states the family that prays together stays together. There is a lot of truth in that. As someone who fell down in that regard and paid a heavy price I speak from experience. Have a genuine relationship with your kids and be a leader, a mentor, and a teacher. If you don't someone will. Kids want boundaries. It lets them know you care enough to set them. Stand up to teachers and school boards if you can't afford any option outside of public education. Be brave and trust in God. St. Paul wrote about what happens when you try to handle things your own way, when you try to live a life based on your will:
"The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what He has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord Him glory as God or give Him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools...Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies...Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper." ― Romans 1: 18-28.
Even if you don't believe, you can't deny the veracity of Paul's words. That's todays culture in a nutshell. So again, know your enemy and understand you cannot defeat him on your own. We aren't powerless, but we have to want God's help. Otherwise as C.S. Lewis put it, He will say to us; "Your will be done."
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I enjoyed that talk. Andrew gets it in the sense that our culture has actually gone past the tipping point and needs a serious course correction if this country is to survive. As Lincoln put it, a house divided cannot stand.
However, while he's going down the proper route he's missing the mark as far as the role faith should play. He expects the awakening that will move young people away from Post-Modernism will occur along spiritual lines but then he adds that it will happen at an intellectual level. That's fine on one hand, people should examine scripture and Christian beliefs from an intellectual perspective but his reference to the way young people are going about it is problematic. "They're trying to reinvent the Gospels for a new age which I don't think is a bad thing...I don't think the Gospel's were meant to freeze us into a First Century morality, that's not the way they read to me at all." That is one of the Church's biggest failings, especially within Protestant branches. This notion that we can rewrite or reinterpret scripture to make it more palatable for the masses has resulted in a lot of people, especially young people, being led astray. It is like they want to remake God in order for Him to be a more proper fit for their lives instead of giving their lives over to Christ which is what Christianity requires. It's "His will be done," not ours.
I've seen this tendency to intellectualize and make compromises in other videos he has made where he talks about Christianity. Like I say, there is nothing wrong with hearing opposing viewpoints and having discussions on what scripture means, but the idea that you make religion more accommodating is a slippery slope. I don't doubt Andrew's conversion, I saw a video where he became quite emotional talking about the time God reached into his heart, but his statement about reinventing the Gospels to prevent us from being locked into a First Century morality is way off the mark. Maybe it's the influence of the churches he attends. Having not grown up in the faith he has to have help as far as how it works and if he believes that I question the message he is receiving. Like that mega-church he attended with all the showmanship. They may pack them in but a lot of those churches have a serious problem when it comes to preaching the prosperity gospels.
Or maybe it's just Andrew's Libertarian bent. I see this with Dennis Prager as well. Dennis Prager is quite smart and he gives great advice but I have heard him take the Libertarian side in everything from drug use to sex-trafficking. The sex-trafficking video disturbed me so much that I unsubscribed from his channel. I still watch some of the videos but I can't get behind someone who will challenge the guest the way he did on that one or argue the free-choice angle on a topic like that, even if it is just to play devils-advocate. There is a time to talk and a time to listen and he was way out of line that day in my opinion.
It's the same with Andrew. I enjoy his talks on other subjects but his Libertarian streak gets in the way of what scripture requires of us so I generally steer clear of videos where he discusses Christianity. It's not because I doubt his faith, it's because I believe he misses the mark. That's just my opinion of course and people are free to disagree all they want. I have been called names for questioning him on this stuff before. The most common argument is, well, he's sticking up for our side so you need to give him a break. Or, what do you know about it. Are you a preacher? The thing is, where Christianity is concerned, it's not a matter of sides or credentials, it's a matter of truth and faith. I have faith that The Gospels are the true word of God and don't need to be reinvented. That is when the church gets in trouble. Just like I believe there is no room for compromise when it comes to the gay lifestyle or other areas I have heard Andrew argue for a more Libertarian sort of tolerance. Sin is sin and it's not okay to say, well, you can continue to sin that way as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Know who it hurts? It hurts the sinner, and God.
Anyway, this has been a long rant and it will be my last word on it. I doubt anyone will ever take the time read it but if you do keep this in mind, I like Andrew and what he stands for, but when it comes to Christianity, I think his messaging misses the point. I am so far from perfect it scares me. And that is precisely why I don't want to reinvent God's word or try to fit Him into a box that is more comfortable for me. I think we have failed our young people enough already. We don't need to reinforce their misunderstanding of how faith works by telling them it's okay to craft God's message in a way to fit a narrative it was never intended to fit. Watch "The Enemy Within" if you don't believe me. The church needs to clean up it's act or risk being devoured by the spirit of the age.
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