Mom and Apple Pie

Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 15, 2015 at 04:32

Hi, Tovey

I had my life-changing encounter with Yeshua 42 years ago, when I was in my 20s. At that time, the US was a pretty "Mom and Apple Pie" place: people actually went to board airplanes without having to take off their belts and hold up their trousers; our personal mail was not routinely read by the government, and it was considered strange for transvestites to parade in the streets. Now we live in a world where "free" governments like the US are "Stazi-R-us", evil is praised and good is spoken evil of. So now, our Jesuit Pope is recognizing a terrorist group as the legitimate govenment of an imaginary "Palestinian" state. Is this really news? Or is this just more of the same?

On another post, I provided a link to a Fox interview with John Bolton. In it, John matter-of-factly talked about some of the things we routinely discuss here on Daniel's forum, while the young interviewer looked bug-eyed and almost frozen in terror. What was being discussed? the fact that the Iranians are doing some blockade-busting-type antics in the Gulf of Aden. Will this lead to war? Omigosh! Will it happen this week? Will I have to cancel the garden party I have planned for Saturday? Heaven forbid!

Yes; as you say, we are charging forward to Armageddon; and if people could see it all with a speeded-up camera, they would be shocked. But we don't have a speeded-up camera. What used to be called black is now called white, and visa versa; and this has all happened in the space of about 40 years: shocking, if you view it from a time machine; but unnoticeable in real time.

I'm concerned about China right now, because I have family there. I think many posters here see China as some sort of pasteboard bogeyman, busy mass-producing aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines so they can take over the world. The reality is different: Their economy has hit some bumps in the road, and it is affecting people. And in a culture where leaders are assumed to have the Mandate of Heaven, even little shocks are seen as Divine disapproval of the reigning Emperor. That may sound like Reactionary, outdated nonesense in a presumably modern, progressive society; but it is deeply rooted in the people, and President Xi is keenly aware of this.

Things aren't that different in the US, where our leaders are increasingly being expected to walk six inches above the ground. Seemingly trivial happenings can quickly spiral out of control. After the Dot Com Bust, 9/11, the Housing Bubble Bust, the Islamic Winter, etc. I think people are getting uneasy and looking for larger-than-live heroes to save the day. That's the kind of mentality that produces Stalins and Hitlers; and you know it isn't good. When such a leader comes, the world will feel great relief; and when God's witnesses are slaughtered, they will feel, as it were, saved from a menace. That's where we're headed; but the individual steps we take to get there will probably, for the most part, go unnoticed.

I think I'm preaching to the choir here.

Shalom shalom :-)

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".