Category Archives: Current Events

Democracy Sucks

By Colby Malsbury

So, as of this writing (Nov. 17, 2020), it appears to be president-in-waiting Kamala Harris, is it?

Well, color me pleasantly surprised.

Oh, please don’t get me wrong. It’s hard to comprehend a more unmitigated disaster for the country at large than Joe Biden, a man who should have been retired to the old folks’ home a decade ago and who, when asked to pick his cabinet, likely will opt for an oak-paneled one that contains lots of extra space to store booze and children in. But that is exactly what we both require and deserve at this point in time. Anything that has the potential to entirely disabuse the Right of the idiotic notion that casting a lot in an electoral system so putrid that it would make Boss Tweed eschew politics in favor of missionary work in the Congo is worth their time, money, and efforts can only work to our good. A ‘record turnout’ this election? If you care about the future of your children and your volk, that stat can only depress you. We’ll only know that our clans have finally clued in as to what ‘illegitimacy’ entails when voter turnout degenerates into the single digits, at least among whites. Assuming there ever is another election, anywhere in the western world. And never say never. read more

If John Piper Actually Believes This Then He Should Resign

 

By Davis Carlton

John Piper manifests the absolutely worthless contribution to political discourse being made by prominent mainstream evangelical pastors (Big Eva). Piper posted on Desiring God with his thoughts on voting and moral priorities in the upcoming election. The article is noteworthy for Piper’s glaring and entirely unacceptable moral hypocrisy as well as his thoroughly unchristian understanding of history.

Piper doesn’t mention either Donald Trump or Joe Biden by name, but it is abundantly obvious that Piper has Trump supporters in mind when he thunders condemnation at the “many Christians [who] consider the sins of unrepentant sexual immorality (porneia), unrepentant boastfulness (alazoneia), unrepentant vulgarity (aischrologia), unrepentant factiousness (dichostasiai), and the like, to be only toxic for our nation, while policies that endorse baby-killing, sex-switching, freedom-limiting, and socialistic overreach are viewed as deadly.”

The reason that Piper gives for his disapproval is the sins attributed by Piper to Trump; sexual immorality, boastfulness, vulgarity, and factiousness, “are sins that destroy people. They are not just deadly. They are deadly forever. They lead to eternal destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9). They destroy persons (Acts 12:20–23). And through persons, they destroy nations (Jeremiah 48:29–31, 42).” This is true, but this applies to any unrepented sin. All unrepentant sinners are condemned to Hell. The issue is that Piper draws a false equivalency between relatively minor sins like “vulgarity” and “factiousness” with sins like murder, homosexuality, and transsexuality which are identified in the Bible as abominations.

John Piper poses as a Reformed pastor, but evidently utterly rejects reformed clarity on the issue of the severity of sin. Does Piper really “think it is baffling and presumptuous to assume that pro-abortion policies kill more people than a culture-saturating, pro-self pride?” Question and Answer #83 in the Westminster Shorter Catechism addresses this very issue, “Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.” The Larger Catechism expands upon the topic of how some sins are more heinous than others. It is dishonest for Piper to equate “arrogance” with murder even if arrogance and anger can lead to murder. They aren’t the same and they are not interchangeable. Not even close! It shouldn’t be necessary for me to have to explain basic theology to one of America’s most prominent “reformed” pastors.

Piper also dishonestly equates Trump’s personal flaws with the horrible Democratic Party platform. Donald Trump certainly suffers from pride and arrogance, but these aren’t integral to his campaign platform the way that abortion, sodomy, and anti-white hatred are issues that the Democrats are specifically promoting. Evangelical Trump supporters aren’t voting for Trump based upon his checkered sex life or his obnoxious Tweets, but on the policies that Trump has campaigned on. I also agree with AD Robles who states that Trump’s reputation for arrogance is over hyped by the media. Essentially Piper is uncritically accepting the anti-Trump narrative of the mainstream media which blames Donald Trump for all the political unrest in the country as though his rhetoric has forced BLM and Antifa activists to violently rob, loot, and attack innocent bystanders.

While Piper’s drawing a false equivalency between relatively minor sins and grave abominations seriously calls his judgment into question, this is far from his worst offense. This isn’t simply a case of unnecessary preening about how Trump is “divisive” or in Piper’s words “vulgar” and “factious.” If Piper were overly concerned with minor sins this would be annoying, but Piper’s whining about Trump’s sexual immorality and factiousness is rife with blatant hypocrisy.

John Piper presents himself as a committed Christian willing to be ostracized from society for defending his Christian convictions, but an examination of his commentary on political and social issues demonstrates just the opposite. Piper imagines himself bravely singing “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also” as he’s lead to the scaffold prepared to give his life for his uncompromising Christian commitment. The truth is that Piper almost never speaks up when matters of actual Christian morality. Piper rejects “gay marriage” while choosing not to speak out in favor of a Minnesota constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being between a man and a woman for fear of his church losing its tax-exempt status. At the time Piper’s spokesman David Mathis stated that Piper “wants to avoid the political realm as much as possible. The Christian Gospel is not left, it’s not right. It is what it is.” Of course, Piper has plenty to say about “social justice” issues.

After rejecting the BLM movement due to its radical attack on the family, Piper caved to pressure from black Bernie Sanders supporter Ron Burns and decided to direct people to the BLM website so that people could be educated on race relations by self-described “queer black women.” You’ll forgive me if I’m suspicious of the claim that Piper is above political issues. All of the social issues that Piper weighs in on (invariably on the wrong side) are political issues because politics always concerns public morality. Piper chooses to remain silent on issues that concern actual biblical morality like homosexuality while repeating patently false narratives about black victimization. Piper condemns evangelical Trump supporters by drawing a false equivalence between abortion and Trump’s supposed “factiousness.”

Piper isn’t merely overly concerned by the supposedly nation-destroying effects of Donald Trump’s tweets because in this article Piper admits that he would be open to voting for a non-Christian; someone who by definition is living in soul-destroying sin. After complaining about Trump’s moral failures Piper imagines someone responding, “So what? Rejecting Jesus as Lord also leads to death, but you are willing to vote for a non-Christian, aren’t you?” To which Piper responds, “I am, assuming there is enough overlap between biblical uprightness and the visible outworking of his character and convictions.”

Evidently John Piper believes that Donald Trump’s personal moral flaws have rendered him unfit for office because his “character and convictions” don’t sufficiently “overlap…biblical uprightness.” This might be a valid critique coming from someone else, but not John Piper who complains about Trump’s “unrepentant sexual morality” while praising Martin Luther King as one who “gave his life to change the world” (no, he isn’t talking about Jesus). Piper participated in the MLK50 conference, calling it “risky and righteous” in which he praised King as an agent of divine providence to bring about the end of segregation. Piper did allude to King’s heterodox beliefs while ignoring his sexual indiscretions, which is simply inexcusable given that even mainstream sources now acknowledge the substance of King’s sexual profligacy.

This is nothing other than glaring hypocrisy. Piper treats Trump’s sexual immorality as disqualifying him from office while turning a blind eye to the far worse sexual sins of King, who has influenced contemporary American culture to a far greater extent than Trump has or ever will. This is simply another instance of John Piper utter lack of discernment in his political commentary. Piper complained in 2009 when newly elected President Barack Obama defended the right to abortion, but in so doing so stated that he “wept for joy” at Obama’s inauguration. Why would Piper weep for joy at the election of someone who he acknowledged was a radical pro-abortion candidate to the Presidency? Piper considered the election of a black man as President to be “thrilling,” “amazing,” and “a golden moment.”

John Piper states that voting for Donald Trump undermines “authentic Christian witness” to the extent that he cannot understand how any Christian can vote for Trump in good conscience, but when Piper was asked about pastors at Bethlehem Baptist Church (Piper’s church in Minneapolis) voting for Obama, Piper responded that they could and suspected one of them or possibly more did. Piper insisted that if one took the “whole package” of how Obama was likely to impact the culture, “I would be hard-pressed to say that it is impossible for a solid, reformed, Bible-saturated Christian to make the judgment that at this point in history it might have been a good thing for him to be President.” One of the considerations that Piper said could be considered along with Obama’s “views” and “philosophy” was his ethnicity. According to Piper, it’s possible for a Christian to favor Obama because he is black in spite of the manifest evil of his stated positions presumably because having a black President would be highly symbolic and instrumental in improving race relations (such predictions certainly haven’t aged well). I suppose no price too steep to pay to end “structural racism,” even if it means voting for the most radical pro-abortion candidate for President in American history.

For those keeping score; John Piper speaks out frequently on “social justice” causes, but doesn’t get involved in politics when it comes to issues like the definition of marriage. Piper condemns Donald Trump for his unrepentant sexual immorality, but lauds Martin Luther King without uttering so much as a word against his far worse sexual transgressions. Piper castigates Trump supporters for displaying too much attachment to the material comforts of American institutions by prioritizing policy over character, while Piper himself only manages to speak out on issues within the Leftist mainstream and ignore character issues when it suits him. When Piper does speak out on an issue like abortion, it is to

whine about “black genocide” or “ethnic cleansing” read more

You Will Be Silent, O Chattering Class: Why a Revolt Against the Mainstream Media Must Be in Deadly Earnest

 

By Colby Malsbury

You know what? I’m feeling uninformed today. Let’s remedy that by going to Twitter and checking out some breaking news stories.

“Trump fatigue is setting in hard at the worst moment for his campaign.” – MSNBC

“Sam Elliott narrates Biden ad premiering during the World Series: ‘There is only one America.’” – The Hill

“Obama trolls Trump saying ‘his TV ratings are down’ while campaigning for Biden at drive-in rally in Miami.” – The Daily Mail US read more

Covid’s Very Own Levitical Priesthood: the Modern Medical Profession

 

By Colby Malsbury

Dr. Anthony Fauci is Jim Jones.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the facts. Both commanded/command unwarranted total adherence (not untouched with grievous fear) from a mighty congregation that, to be blunt, was/is not overly bright. Both were/are courted by progressive municipal pols eager to be associated with such great humanitarians. Both could/can proffer any socialist heterodoxy they wanted as ‘received wisdom’ and not be questioned about it. Both had/have needless humiliations and deaths on their resumes that they will be answering for on that great and wonderful Day. And both had/have execrable taste in eyeglasses. read more

Some Speculative Thoughts on QAnon

 

By Davis Carlton

The media is abuzz over QAnon. QAnon is supposedly an operative within American intelligence with “Q level” top secret clearance. Q first appeared in the message board of 4chan and posted about how President Trump was going to bring down the Clinton cabal and initiate mass arrests of the globalist elite who were controlling the world’s economy as well being involved in sex trafficking and pedophilia. You can read the InfoGalactic summary of the history of QAnon to get a basic rundown. This phenomenon has received considerable attention from mainstream media as a means of trying to discredit the Trump administration and/or Trump supporters. read more

Todd Friel’s Patently Hypocritical Defense of John MacArthur

 

By Davis Carlton

I’ve recently criticized Todd Friel for his insistence that Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 require Christians to obey mask mandates (Part 1 and Part 2). I certainly don’t intend to beat a dead horse, especially in light of Colby’s recently published piece on why wearing masks isn’t “loving thy neighbor.” Quite frankly there isn’t much more that needs to be said about the coronavirus or government policies, especially in light of the CDC’s recent concession that 94% of patient deaths attributed to coronavirus were cases in which co-morbidities contributed to death. The overwhelming majority of people who contracted COVID-19 who were otherwise healthy did not die and recovered without lasting detriments to their health. Many who test positive for coronavirus report only mild symptoms, if symptoms are even present at all. At this point there is simply no justification for the continued restrictions that state and local governments have imposed in order to protect people from the spread of coronavirus and the only possible motivations for continuing these measures are malicious. read more

Five Reasons Why Wearing a Mask Does Not Constitute ‘Loving Thy Neighbor’

 

By Colby Malsbury

Ya know, I don’t even care that much anymore that the Scarybug LARP has gone just a wee little bit over the proscribed ‘two weeks to flatten the curve’. Governments being composed exclusively of sociopathic tapeworms, they’re gonna lie. It’s what they do.

What gets my gander up these days is the plethora of people who treat their voluntary mask servitude as some kind of overweening civic duty and who will make damn good and certain you fully understand the levels of martyrdom they inflict upon themselves. ‘I wear this mask so you won’t get sick!!’ Gee, thanks, Marcus Welby. If I had a hero cookie, I’d give it to you, but I doubt the cloth barrier draping your big mouth would be able to allow you to enjoy it. read more

Continued Response to Todd Friel on Mask Mandates

 

By Davis Carlton

As a traditionalist with a high view of authority I can appreciate what the Apostles taught in regards to submission to lawful authority. Submission to the government flows from God’s own authority, Who “rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Dan. 4:17, 5:21). Barabbas is a useful example of what Christians are not supposed to be. Barabbas is guilty of sedition (Lk. 23:19, 25), murder and insurrection (Mk. 15:7), as well as robbery (Jn. 18:40). Barabbas used legitimate grievances against Rome as an opportunity for sin. Barabbas should have been punished by the Romans as an evildoer. Whatever questions about the legitimacy of the Roman government in Judea were in the first century, they did not justify breaking just laws against sedition, murder, and robbery. read more

Todd Friel Face Plants on Face Masks

 

By Davis Carlton

Todd Friel of Wretched Network has recently released a video explaining why Christians who don’t support mask mandates should joyfully submit to the mandates of our governments for the sake of Christ. He hopes to impart to his Christian listeners a “Wow, I get to wear a mask!” mentality. Friel acknowledges that many Christians resent the many mask mandates being imposed upon them and many intend to ignore them. Friel objects citing Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 which command Christians to submit to governing authorities “for the Lord’s sake.” Friel also alludes to Jesus’ exhortation to “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s” (Matt. 22:21/Mk. 12:17/Lk. 20:25). Friel states that he cannot see exceptions to the principle of submission taught in these passages unless we are specifically being told to do something sinful.

Friel suggests that the widespread opposition to mask mandates stems from “21st century Western ideals, particularly American ideals” which reflect America’s “rugged individualism” which insists that the government “keep [their] masks off my body”, as though opposition to mask requirements follows the same logic used by those telling anti-abortion activists “my body, my choice.” Friel did receive pushback from listeners via email and Facebook. In a follow-up video Friel reads a selection of some of the comments opposing his position. Many comments stated suspicions that these mask mandates are politically motivated. Others questioned submission to nonsensical mandates which are pointless at best but could even prove potentially harmful. Friel in many cases acknowledges these complaints and suspicions, but always winds up repeating the same refrain after virtually all of the comments; “submit to the government.” I find virtually everything that Friel says on the subject to be problematic.

Friel makes several arguments to try to advance his case. First is the nature of authority itself. Rom. 13 and 1 Pet. 2 definitely do teach the need to submit to government, but does this necessarily entail that we must do whatever we are told by anyone involved with civil government regardless of their actual authority to make pronouncements on these issues? In the case of mask mandates, many have pointed out that governors and mayors do not have the authority to mandate the wearing of masks because their words are not law. This was even mentioned in one of the comments that Friel read in his follow-up video. Friel mentions the conflict over masks in Georgia in which Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has overrode the mask mandate of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Instead of acknowledging the substance of this argument, Friel instead states that the “scales should tip towards obedience.” Friel’s suggestion is recipe for tyranny, as it would allow anyone in power to cloak any of their opinions with the mantle of authority reserved to their office, even if their opinions on any number of subjects have nothing to do with the office being held.

Friel states that when 1 Peter was written “Nero was the king of nasty,” and from this Friel concludes that we are to submit to any governing authority no matter how evil or “nasty” they might be. This is an overly simplistic reading of 1 Peter that fails to take into account the broader context of this passage and the circumstances in which it was written. Taken at face value one would think that Christians would be required to submit to the vile tyrants even to the point of death. Friel even seems to allude to this possibility when he states that “Jesus submitted to the government; whose nature we are reflecting when we submit. Jesus submitted to the point of death.”

I was astonished when I heard Friel say this because Jesus’ willingness to die was not born out of a sense of absolute submission to government at all but rather submission to His Father. Jesus willingly submitted to death in the confidence that He would take His life up again in order to conquer death and deliver His people from God’s wrath against sin. Up to the point at which His “hour had come” Jesus persistently evaded arrest even when Jewish authorities sought to try him on charges of blasphemy. Jesus did not sheepishly place His head in the guillotine, but actively resisted the Jewish authorities and called out their hypocrisy and reserved for them His most scathing criticism. And when His case was turned over to Rome, Jesus did not submit to the will of Pontius Pilate when the latter was initially inclined to find no fault in Him. Jesus was no rabble-rouser, but He also did not feel compelled to obey the arbitrary and hypocritical decrees handed down by His Jewish opponents.

Jesus acknowledged that the Pharisees held legitimate authority and even sat “in Moses’ seat,” and commands His disciples, “do and observe whatever they tell you” (Matt. 23:2-3). This sounds like the kind of endorsement that Friel imagines that Paul and Peter give to secular civil governments, but Jesus clearly didn’t feel bound to observe arbitrary and hypocritical rules imposed by those who did not keep the rules they themselves imposed: “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger” (Matt. 23:4).

Jesus frequently ignored Pharisaical injunctions against healing on the Sabbath, noting that those who accused Him of breaking the Sabbath would have at least have been willing to exert themselves to feed their animals on the Sabbath, so why should Jesus have been condemned for healing on the Sabbath? Jesus ignores a Pharisaical hand-washing ritual and once again notes the Pharisees; hypocrisy in imposing arbitrary burdens while ignoring the Law of God (Matt. 15:1-9/Mk. 7:1-13). Jesus’s teaching to obey those in authority was not a demand to slavishly and unquestioning obedience devoid of reason.

The hypocritical nature of lawmakers seeking to impose mask mandates calls to mind Jesus’ words, “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers” (Lk. 11:46). Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York has been one of the most outspoken purveyors of the corona myth was spotted in Georgia without wearing a mask. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot imposed drastic measures which shutdown hairdressers, but this didn’t prevent her from getting her own haircut. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s husband dropped her name to a northern Michigan dock company in an attempt to get his boat serviced earlier than scheduled due to his wife’s imposed quarantine. When this was exposed Whitmer attempted to dismiss this as her husband’s “failed attempt at humor” while still trying to cover it up. Lincoln County, Oregon has exempted non-white “persons of color” from their own mask mandate. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has banned virtually all gatherings including churches gathering for worship, but has decided to exempt Black Lives Matter protests because COVID doesn’t spread when protesting on behalf of “social justice.”

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s family members violated his own shelter in place order so that they could travel to family properties in Florida and Wisconsin which did not close down to the same extent. When questioned about this Pritzker became indignant that journalists

would dare to bring his family into politics read more

There’s Just No Reasoning with John Andrew Reasnor

 

By Davis Carlton

John Andrew Reasnor of The Kids Are All Blight fame has written an article on Lamb’s Reign suggesting that Christians ought to become thoroughly conformed to the image of this world and support the Black Lives Matter movement. I’m sure that Reasnor has a really good and well-articulated argument that is sure to convince skeptics. Actually no; he doesn’t. The sole reason that Reasnor gives for supporting Black Lives Matter is “It’s true.” In other words: Reasnor argues that Christians should support Black Lives Matter because black lives really do matter. If that doesn’t convince you I don’t know what possibly could. You must be an incorrigible bigot who simply hates black people. If you are one of those people and you have a few possible rejoinders in mind when you read Reasnor’s “argument,” don’t worry. Reasnor has already thought of your objections and provides very thorough explanations of why you’re wrong. The whole of Reasnor’s article is a response to potential counter-arguments to the BLM movement. read more