As with all such “joy” campaigns in the history of modern totalitarianism, they end up tacitly stating that “misery is joy.” It’s like being beckoned into a sado-masochistic relationship in which inflicting and receiving pain is supposed to be pleasurable. Enthusiasm becomes mandatory.
Not only is a “joy” campaign meant to distract attention from the track record of tyrants, but with media control it imposes an Orwellian anti-definition, similar to the novel 1984’s delusional slogan “freedom is slavery.” Or like the passage in Isaiah 5:20 about those who would call light darkness and darkness light, those who would call good evil and evil good.
…The intentional stoking of hatred is most obvious in today’s replay of old Nazi propaganda to get everyone to “hate the Jews” or else be shunned by society. The result is that Jewish people everywhere, especially college youth, are losing friends because of blind obedience to that Hamas-written script. An Oxford student explained it’s “as if ending a friendship with a Jew is a way of supporting the Palestinians.”
…Indeed. In 2008, influential “behavioral economists” Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler published their prescription to “nudge” the electorate into mass compliance by using peer pressure. Their book was a turning point. Now there are “nudge units” at the highest levels of government focused on using social pressure and propaganda to induce compliance. Thankfully, more people are now paying attention to this process.
Stella Morabito | “Joy Rhetoric Is An Orwellian Attempt To Hide Democrats Hatred” | August 29, 2024
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I hate to say it, but everything Stella says is unfortunately true. It’s taken me a long time to figure out the how and why people think the way they do towards politics in general and specific political figures in particular. Pragar has said the same thing – that he’s been trying to figure political movements out for many years – but he’s finally come to the conclusion that the Left just wants “chaos.” I agree, but only if I conclude that they think “chaos” is necessary in order to usher in the State for control of everything (because we ourselves aren’t capable of making sound decisions alone), which is pretty much what Stella is saying. So…y’all who openly support and vote for these far Left progressives, what will you be thinking in the end when the State will tell you what to read and what not to read, what to eat and what not to eat, how to dress and how not to dress, what medical services you can have and those to which you will not be entitled, etc.
So… I was coming home through an upper middle class neighborhood following an energizing bike ride through a forest preserve this morning when I spotted a sign in the front yard of someone’s house that said, “Harris/Walz” with another line underneath that saying, “We’re not going back.” Here we go, fasten your seat belts.
I think if you’ve been watching these political campaigns, (I speak only of 2024) you would come to the conclusion that both main parties want “chaos” and immoral freedom. It has always been true of every country and place, but it is especially easy to see here in America 2024 how both non-christians and “christians” are fighting for their first love:
unhibited freedom and self-expression, whether through the republican party or democrat. It is sad to see christians yoke themselves to this open cause. We must pray in these next few months especially!
Ben – I was careful to refrain from anything having to do with either “christian” or “non-christian” in my comment about Morabito’s article or this blog post. Yes, both sides are guilty of “unhibited” (I think you mean “uninhibited”) freedom and self-expression to some extent. But would you not agree that the Leftist illiberal faction is far more guilty of supporting gender preference, abortion, illegal border crossing, than those on the “right”? Whether this is the proper blog site on which to raise these issues or not, the things at stake this election year have far more to do with the survival of our country (and it’s taking for granted ‘freedoms’ by much of its populace) than anything to do with religion. I am not and likely never will be in favor of a “Christian Nationalism” to address these issues.
However, if you study “evangelical” history in this country over the past 200-300 years you will see all kinds of chaotic variations of how we should address and believe what our scriptures have to say about our daily living versus what to believe from science, the government, and so-called intellectual elites. It’s clear to me that those in this “elite” category have sold out to the whims of the aforementioned in a vast manner. Is Trump some kind of savior from the encroachment of this movement? Certainly not! Is the Republican Party such a hedge against such things? Not a all! But they ARE at least somewhat of a stop-gap against the further demise of our culture, either for better or worse on the surface of it.
Yes my apologies, I did mean uninhibited. Spelling error…
No, personally I wouldn’t agree. We had Trump and Vance (the two current Republican figureheads) confirm recently that they are for abortion pills, pro IVF, that they would veto an abortion ban, etc… The Republican platform was also changed by Trump and Co this year to be indifferent to both abortion and same sex marriage. I have yet to see the Republican party (not individual Christians) take any stance against their leaders spoken positions.
Regardless of who wins, our country will survive, Christ does and will reign, and we can continue to preach and live the gospel. My worry is that many Christians have hitched their ideology if you will to political parties that have degraded more and more (again I’m speaking of both mainstream parties at least) and since we are so hitched to our party many will rather go down with the ship then rethink their approach. I mean the Democrats have clear support for evil with some positions, but let us be clear, much of the Republican party is evil as well. At the recent RNC we even had Trump platform a porn star as a special guest speaker.
All this to say, I am NOT pessimistic in the slightest about our country, or our faith. I do however fervently pray that we stop hitching ourselves to either of these parties/candidates that have so many damaging (and at times sinful) policies.
I certainly agree with your later sentiment, if we think a candidate is better, vote for them! But I hope we can do so with a healthy detachment.
Twas an xlnt article. Lotsa Truth! I still like this Truth=‘One with God is a Majority!’✝️📖🙏👍😊
Such writings are also colored by the massively biased “news” that is virtually all most Americans get via highly censored & controlled media. The horrific genocide being attempted by Netanyahu deserves condemnation. Evangelicals continue to equate this country created by the Balfour Declaration with that of the OT. Roughly 1/3 of Israel are “Ashkenazi Jews”. And who are they?
Go back to the ‘table of nations’ documenting Noah’s descendants. Shem => Semitic peoples, including Abraham & his biological offspring. OTOH, Japheth’s first son was Gomer, and his first son was Ashkenaz. These people from central-eastern Europe are not “Semites” or Abrahamic descendants, they are people who were proselytized by Jews who survived & escaped the destruction in 70AD. Look at the distortions of the OT canon by Rabbis down the centuries. I would add that apparently within Israel, those who identify as Ashkenazi do have a less hostile attitude towards their Palestinian neighbors.
The entire middle east is a dumpster fire, and while I eagerly await the Lord doing whatever is described in Romans 11, I would challenge believers, ESPECIALLY Reformed believers, to examine such issues thoughtfully. The level of uncritical support of modern Israel by evangelicals shows how successful the propaganda has been. While the authoritarian leftists are wrong about ALMOST everything, support for persecuted Palestinians IS the “right side” of this issue.
Oy
ApoloDoc – thanks for your comments here. Interesting, this Ashkenazi business. And I see what you mean about the Palestinians being the underdogs in the skirmishes over there. Having said that, however, my view of post-1948 Israel is that they represented at least a kind of hedge against the rapid spread of Islam throughout the Middle East and Europe. Since European nations liberally opened their borders to immigrants from war torn countries, however, the spread has taken on far greater proportions than anything Israel can do about.
And in the U.S. the spread of Islam is far greater than it was since the mid-50’s and it has reached a “critical mass” in most of the larger metropolitan areas. Hence, the protests, mainly on college campuses, as one would expect from this cultural upheaval. While I agree that God has the larger perspective of all of these goings-on that what we can see, I still find it disturbing that members of a militant false religion can influence the thinking of many Americans so profoundly. Please provide your views on some of these issues. Thanks.
Doc,
There are secular reasons for supporting modern Israel. George has mentioned one or two. It is by far the most tolerant state in the region. There are Israelis of all sorts, many serving in the military. I agree that the media is heavily censored and biased in favor of the Palestinians. I think we are being lied to constantly. E.g., I don’t see how anyone can accept the casualty numbers coming from Hamas-controlled sources. The recent attack on the hospital resulted in 9 actual civilian deaths, which is a tragedy but the original numbers, reported within seconds of the attack were completely false and yet reported dutifully by the American media and the Biden admin as though they were accurate. How on earth did Hamas know how many were there and killed before anyone had done any looking. Most who died were Hamas combatants.
Further, I don’t see why Hamas isn’t blamed for all the deaths in Gaza. It’s Hamas that hides behind civilians, in Mosques, and in hospitals.
A nation has a natural right of self-defense. I hope that Israel wipes out Hamas. Militant Islamists are a far greater threat to the USA and global stability than Israel.
Take a look at Germany or Dearborn, MI if you want to know what happens when Islamists dominate. Go stand on the corner and preach the law and the gospel is Dearborn. If you aren’t attacked first, you will be contacted by PD and told to shut up because of public safety because if you don’t shut up you will be attacked.
The vast majority of Palestine want to see all Jews dead. That’s true globally for most followers of the prophet. They want them and us dead. Polls have shown this repeatedly.
I know that there are Palestinian Christians and I’m sorry for their suffering. The war is a terrible thing and it always brings about injustices (as Augustine said) and tragedy but from all I can tell Israel has conducted herself about as well and responsibly as she could have done under the circumstances.
I don’t mean to be piling on here after what RSC has so accurately stated, but consider the 9/11/2001 attacks on the U.S. by Islamic extremists. During every anniversary event of that disaster all one ever hears and sees are memorial commendations for the first responders at the scene. Never, ever have I seen any mention and condemnation of the attack itself by the Islamic extremists who flew those planes. The news media is definitely biased against any anti-Islamic portrayal of the event.
Dear ApoloDoc, I couldn’t agree less. Israel is not committing genocide against the people of Gaza, the great majority of whom support Hamas. Legitimate reporting, that not distributed by Hamas, speaks of an astonishingly small rate of civilian casualty, despite the scale of the war. The war Israel is waging is described, accurately IMO, as precision targeting. The latest hostage was freed from an area under one of the aid distribution centers. Hospitals, mosques, and schools have housed and hidden Hamas terrorists and weapons. To the north, Hezbollah and terrorists based in Syria attack Israel daily, and they really do target civilians.
Most importantly, it is part of the definition of nationhood that the nation’s government can protect and defend against actively hostile agents. The nation of Israel and its government are, again IMO, perhaps the most legitimate nation state in the Middle East.
Nevertheless, I do realize that such arguments as these do not persuade those who believe the people of Gaza are victims, and Israel is illegitimate.