tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post4684696834838133216..comments2024-03-29T06:58:28.383+13:00Comments on Anglican Down Under: 2023: what a year, and it's only 16 January!Peter Carrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-57659821564384016302023-01-26T21:50:42.365+13:002023-01-26T21:50:42.365+13:00Thanks BW for the (1:49) info above
King's NV...Thanks BW for the (1:49) info above<br /><br />King's NVR is well known but I also see he called for "radical changes in the structure of our society"..<br /><br />"Until his death, King remained steadfast in his commitment to the transformation of American society through nonviolent activism. In his posthumously published essay, “A Testament of Hope” (1969), he urged African Americans to refrain from violence but also warned: “White America must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society.” The “black revolution” was more than a civil rights movement, he insisted. “It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws—racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism” (King, “Testament,” 194)." <br /><br />~ https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/introduction<br /><br />and demanded immediate action.. <br /><br />“For years now, I have heard the word ‘Wait!’” King wrote. “This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never’” (King, Why, 83). He articulated the resentment felt “when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait” (King, Why, 84).<br /><br />He explained that the purpose of direct action was to create a crisis situation out of which negotiation could emerge.<br /><br />~ https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/letter-birmingham-jail<br /><br />The 'anti-woke' party doesn't cut the mustard.<br /><br />MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-16108883272481273542023-01-26T13:49:22.751+13:002023-01-26T13:49:22.751+13:00Hi Liz
Quick thoughts.
Military veterans, black ...Hi Liz<br /><br />Quick thoughts.<br /><br />Military veterans, black and white, were among those who marched in protest with America's Civil Rights Movement. To the Nashville theologians who were its strategists, their *non-violent resistance to evil* was not the same as the *Pacifism* that mostly ended with the Second World War.<br /><br />If need be, the two can be separated: violate unjust laws, but shoot enemy invaders.<br /><br />The former-- let's abbreviate NVRE-- applies to domestic conflict, has support in the scriptures, and at least quotes St Augustine as saying that "an unjust law is no law at all." In your travels, have you perchance read Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience or Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail?<br /><br />The latter, Pacifism, opposes war between nations, is perhaps in some tension with the scriptures (eg Canaan), and is philosophically rather Kantian (cf Kant's On Perpetual Peace). Liberal Protestants reacting against the Great Power wars of the C19 preached Pacifism from late in the C19, and pressed Woodrow Wilson among others for a League of Nations to outlaw war. Most Protestant churches tacitly abandoned Pacifism with the outbreak of the Second World War.<br /><br />That said, several small *historic peace churches* have theological commitments to NVRE that takes up the old Pacifism and goes somewhat beyond it. Mark's beloved Quakers are already familiar to readers here. The others (including my maternal ancestors) resiled against the tangle of religion and violence in a series of conflicts-- Hussite Wars, Bundschuh, German Peasants' War, the bizarre and tragic Münster Rebellion, the Thirty Years War-- in central Europe. <br /><br />That is, they emerged from the milieu that sparked what we know today as evangelicalism. If the Enlightenment resiled from the wars over state religion by minimizing religion to achieve secularity, these groups instead minimized the legitimacy of state violence to free the heart for faith.<br /><br />Fleeing the terms of the Peace of Westphalia for the relative freedom of colonial America-- especially the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania-- these Europeans encountered African slaves and indigenous religion. Without hesitation, all the peace churches condemned ownership of persons. From this natural experiment, one might suspect that churches that found it hard to take this step were log-eyed by their toleration of too much coercion in the social order as a whole.<br /><br />Each peace church was in its own way intrigued by both non-Christian and Christian variants of the religion of the Eastern Woodland tribes. One group, the Moravians-- yes, the calm ones that reassured John Wesley in that storm-tossed sea as he sailed to Georgia-- were so good at missions work among the Indians that one observer in the C18 felt sure that they were destined to spread over English, French and Spanish domains to the Pacific, a multi-racial church spanning the continent. <br /><br />Not every good idea is a new one.<br /><br /><br />BWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-39021980755821716482023-01-25T15:39:29.333+13:002023-01-25T15:39:29.333+13:00BW, interesting discussion I've kept, in '...BW, interesting discussion I've kept, in 'The Washington Post' from July 2022, with Rachel Kleinfeld, a specialist in political conflict.<br /><br />"One of the things we know about other countries that descend into greater political violence is that violence is preceded by a dehumanization phase. America is well along in that phase..."<br /><br />"Sometimes it’s against Republicans who are not part of the antidemocratic faction. Sometimes it’s against Democrats. But either way, dehumanization normalizes the idea that harming those dehumanized opponents is legitimate."<br /><br />"We know from other countries that have descended into really serious political violence that this is a trajectory, and we’re on it. We’re actually pretty far advanced on it."<br /><br />[Here's THE important part]<br /><br />"The research on leaders is incredibly clear. If enough Republican leaders started denouncing political violence — saying there’s a line in the sand in a democracy, and violence is it — we would see much less political violence."<br /><br />There's more worth reading in the article so here's a 'gift' link for anyone interested and you *should* be able to use the link below without being a WP subscriber.<br /><br />Gift LINK >> https://wapo.st/4021gpp<br />MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-15835585101025152932023-01-25T12:28:15.076+13:002023-01-25T12:28:15.076+13:00Hi BW. In response to 6:49
I'm not rejecting ...Hi BW. In response to 6:49<br /><br />I'm not rejecting the practice of non-violent resistance! But it may have its limits, and I can't truthfully describe myself as pacifist. <br /><br />MLK's position was firmly founded on his belief in democracy but what would he say to his people if American democracy itself were on a knife-edge?<br /><br />A few thoughts in my mind.. not arguments.<br /><br />My father went to military camp and trained to go overseas in WWII but in the end was asked to stay here - he was an orchardist. His twin brother saw service overseas. Another close relative was a conscientious objector but served as a medic, including at Monte Cassino. My mother's older brother served in the Navy, killed when his ship was destroyed. I feel only respect for these members of my family who did their duty.<br /><br />Bonhoeffer, because of his position in society could avoid active service but had in-depth knowledge of what the Nazis were doing. The decision for him was immensely difficult *but* he participated in the plot to kill Hitler and it cost him his life. Do I think he was wrong? No.<br /><br />Many young men from wealthy families in America avoided the draft for the Vietnam war. John McCain served. Do I respect their avoidance of the draft and not respect John McCain's service? No.<br /><br />Also, recalling Luke 3:14 (NIV) Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” Jesus didn't tell them to leave their job.<br /><br />###<br /><br />What do you do if one group in a democracy falsely deny the validity of elections, subvert the system in their own favour, aspire to enforce a "biblical worldview" on others including christians who don't agree with them.. and their worldview is rooted in white christian nationalism? Not to mention their massive resistance to meaningful gun control legislation despite much loss of life in the USA, including many children. What if they're willing to fight for their ideology in a battle they portray as good vs evil with Democrats *demon*-ised by default? This may've been unthinkable to most folk until the Capitol insurrection, but now?<br />*<br />MLK ('The Other America': "And so I refuse to despair. I think we're gonna achieve our freedom because however much America strays away from the ideals of justice, the goal of America is freedom." <br />*<br />Could he still say this with certainty in today's USA?<br /><br />~btw I can see your 'postscript' but will respond separately<br />MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-11733976267073854222023-01-25T10:57:14.770+13:002023-01-25T10:57:14.770+13:00Postscript
"pressure, threaten, and intimida...Postscript<br /><br />"pressure, threaten, and intimidate"<br /><br />Since the Second World War at the latest, there have always been a few who have ranked their deep seated opinions above democratic civility. But down the Cold War decades, conservative parties could win elections without their support. <br /><br />Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Republicans have had steadily declining success in national elections. Now that they need the votes and dollars of the not so democratic few, they cannot refuse them a certain presence on their platform. <br /><br />In the eyes of some others, this legitimates a scepticism of government and institutions that frays democratic norms. Whether this can also happen in a Westminster party system is an interesting question.<br /><br />BWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-67818672011323161822023-01-25T06:49:10.063+13:002023-01-25T06:49:10.063+13:00Hi Liz
Are you then rejecting MLK's practice ...Hi Liz<br /><br />Are you then rejecting MLK's practice of non-violent resistance? For those actually in Christ, it seems to have been commanded.<br /><br />BWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-8766601419192407202023-01-24T16:18:42.520+13:002023-01-24T16:18:42.520+13:00Hi Mark.. about what you posted re PM J.A.
You qu...Hi Mark.. about what you posted re PM J.A.<br /><br />You quoted: "..showed anti-vaccination sentiment was a driving force of a number of threats, and opposition to legislation to regulate firearms after the 15 March mass shooting in Christchurch was another factor."<br /><br />and: "1. What's happening, culturally, spiritually, with this?"<br /><br />Sharing a couple of things..<br /><br />1) RNZ article, March 2022, suggests a few factors behind the vitriol:<br />https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/463428/from-pretty-communist-to-jabcinda-behind-the-vitriol-directed-at-jacinda-ardern<br /><br />2) After J announced the stepping-down decision, T.Carlson shared it on FoxN with glee calling her an appalling leader twice, the most authoritarian leader that country has ever had, appalling abuser of human rights of her own people, ushered in an era of near totalitarianism,... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGobp3vsfTA<br /><br />If he's aired similar views before it doesn't help but regardless of him, the firearms and covid measures on their own attract vicious rhetoric from outside NZ.. (see also my 3.20pm comment just above).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-26925941883558456822023-01-23T15:20:01.342+13:002023-01-23T15:20:01.342+13:00Just came upon this at RNZ..
A lot of the willin...<br />Just came upon this at RNZ.. <br /><br />A lot of the willingness to consider violence against the PM had been "imported" from the United States, Buchanan said, pointing out that some of the most influential outfits peddling conspiracy theories here were funded by similar, larger outfits in the US.<br /><br />~Paul Buchanan, political scientist and former intelligence worker<br /><br />Radio New Zealand, article 22 Jan 2023 7.46pm<br />https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/482916/jacinda-ardern-will-need-more-ongoing-protection-than-any-pm-in-nz-s-historyMsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-4839396457373695642023-01-23T13:28:37.814+13:002023-01-23T13:28:37.814+13:00"However, considering the low levels of exces..."However, considering the low levels of excess mortality in countries in which COVID-19 transmission, infection and mortality rates were low during some of the analysed period (for example, Malaysia, Mongolia, Uruguay in 2020) or its entirety (for example, Australia, Japan, New Zealand), suggests that in many countries the greater proportion of excess deaths can be attributed to COVID-19 directly."<br /><br />Analysed period: 2020/2021<br />Title: The WHO estimates of excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic ~In 'Nature', article published 14 Dec 2022<br />Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05522-2<br />MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-37138747996425981592023-01-23T11:24:31.704+13:002023-01-23T11:24:31.704+13:00Mark,
Here is some disturbing information disclose...Mark,<br />Here is some disturbing information disclosed by John Campbell's latest YouTube video on 'Excess Deaths among Young Adults 20-44", from statistics issued by the British Society of Actuaries:<br /><br />Excess deaths in 2022 were 7.8% higher for ages 20-44 compared to 2019.<br />In the UK, in the second half of 2022 there were 26,300 excess deaths, <br />compared to 4,700 in the first half of 2022.<br />The number of deaths registered in England & Wales in week 1 of 2023<br />was 3,437 higher than if mortality rates had been the same as in week 1 of 2019; equivalent to 30% more deaths than expected.<br /><br />Young men 20-44 don't typically die, so something strange and disturbing is going on; but the UK government is keeping tightlipped on this.<br /><br />I know there are excess deaths being reported in Australia and America, and we really need some proper independent investigation of this.<br /><br />The whole programme is worth watching but it is disturbing, especially in the question of US and UK indemnification of Pfizer (whose vaccine was released without any clinical trials) in December 2020. No explanation of this policy has been given. Do you have any ideas?<br /><br />Pax et bonum,<br />William Greenhalgh<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-25961174634191276982023-01-23T10:30:50.677+13:002023-01-23T10:30:50.677+13:00"against parties and politicians far far away..."against parties and politicians far far away."<br /><br />Unfortunately what happens in the USA impacts directly on us in NZ e.g. 'Counterspin Media' that was stirring up strife here in NZ during the pandemic is funded via Steve Bannon. When Jacinda moved quickly to bring in gun control measures after the Christchurch massacre, Judith Collins from the opposition recalled that when she'd try to bring in stricter gun controls when she was in government it'd been difficult to achieve anything meaningful because of fierce opposition from local gun lobby groups being supported by the NRA.<br /><br />And the dominionists in the US Religious Right are determined to take their gospel global.<br />MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-29046997771328243882023-01-23T08:08:52.140+13:002023-01-23T08:08:52.140+13:00Mark, have a look at John Campbell's youtube c...Mark, have a look at John Campbell's youtube channel.<br />Dr Campbell is a British nurse educator of many years and the author of standard textbooks on physiology. He has done a lot of medical education in Africa as well, and his physiology instruction videos have been watched by millions over the years. (I understand he is a Protestant Christian and occasional preacher as well but he never discusses his faith on his programme, which is strictly medical.) He's a very generous man and he gives away his scholarship free.<br />Campbell basically accepted and promoted the (UK) Government narrative on lockdowns and vaccines for a long time and he has presented daily programmes on the pandemic and all things covid-related, usually commentating on statistical data as well as explaining the evolution of pathogens. He is double vaccinated and has had a booster (as I have).<br />About a year or more ago, he began to take a more critical analytical view of matters and started raising questions about side effects, the incidence of myocarditis among men under 45, what vaccines can and cannot do, AstraZeneca and why it has been dropped, why Denmark rejects covid vaccines for men under 40 (contrary to the American CDC), and the question of excess deaths that nobody in government is talking about - the subject of his programme yesterday. <br />If you have never watched him, I think you will find him very interesting.<br />(As for politics, I don't really have a dog in that fight. The internet has enabled all kind of nutcases to seek their 15 minutes of fame, and actual violence cuts both ways. I can recall all those hotheads who called for violence against Maggie Thatcher - and the IRA came close to murdering her. Then there was the American "comedienne" who posted pictures of herself with the 'head' of Donald Trump. And we all know what happened to the Charlie Hebdo staff.) <br /><br />Pax et bonum,<br />William Greenhalgh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-88042235249731136382023-01-23T07:03:22.228+13:002023-01-23T07:03:22.228+13:00Good morning Liz
"So...'Woke' used i...Good morning Liz<br /><br />"So...'Woke' used in a disparaging context is a red-flag word for me, signalling American RW views."<br /><br />Fair enough. Nowadays, I only hear *woke* being used in conversation on the American right, or in quotations of it here or abroad. The trajectory of the word from left to right is about the same as that of *political correctness*.<br /><br />The phrase *right wing* assumes a certain slice through the pie. It implies (a) that the American right is unified, (b) that the policy preferences of Republican and Democratic voters are clearly and consistently different, (c) the institutions (eg Hoover, AEI, Cato, Manhattan, etc) and ideas (eg David Brooks, Bill Kristol, Ross Douthat, William French, etc) of the non-left are creatures of the Republican Party or Donald Trump or even Rupert Murdoch. All of these are false.<br /><br />Yes, a postmodern can form an identity around almost anything with an emotional charge and an echo chamber, and being a political wingnut is one way of doing that. So there are persons at the far edge of both of our two political parties who live as though all of the propositions above are true. And between the elections that actually distribute political power to state decisionmakers, the everlasting war of those extremes gets the most clicks. But again, they are motivated in part by delusion that rationalises antipathy.<br /><br />If we are in Christ, we cannot be wingnuts on either edge. The First Commandment aligns our loyalty toward YHWH alone. Full stop. Security in his love removes all occasion for the fear, hate, and resentment of wing-nuts. Further, that security frees us to "try all things and hold fast what is good," which dissolves the delusions necessary to wingnut identities. And obviously one cannot participate in Christ's reconciling work by amplifying humanity's divisions. The Sermon on the Mount actually enjoins us to love our enemies and do the work of making peace. A person who lives out baptism and eucharist cannot think, feel, speak, or act as a wingnut does. <br /><br />Between the hating extremes, those in Christ have plenty of room for civic action. As the aforementioned St Augustine famously explained, this is motivated by our calling under providence to a particular place and our proper love of its common good under heaven. There is a certain defiance of providence in doing little or nothing for love of the place where one works and sleeps while filling the mind with an intricate web of animadversions against parties and politicians far far away. <br /><br />We celebrated Martin Luther King Day with a big party last Monday, so the Black church theology of non-violent resistance is the example on my mind. When protesters like the late John Lewis faced enforcers of Jim Crow laws like Bull Connor at places like the bridge in Selma, Alabama, they did so as the embodiment of a blessed community without injustice that they invited each battering, bruising, bloodying, breaking officer to join. Effectively: "Abandon your rebellion against God. You can only enforce injustice by doing moral injury to yourself. If you join us in building the just community that God desires for each of us, you will no longer harm yourself this way, and you will be received with open arms." Political action in Christ removes occasions of injustice and seeks the good even of those who oppose it. As William Temple also said ;-)<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lewis<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches#%22Bloody_Sunday%22_events<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lawson_(activist)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-68810470178624561742023-01-23T06:52:33.061+13:002023-01-23T06:52:33.061+13:00Hi William,
I'm very open to this conversatio...Hi William,<br /><br />I'm very open to this conversation: to seeing how things could have been done differently, how our health systems produced quite narrow responses, to properly reviewing when the state over-reached *as well as* when it's actions were vital in saving many lives (as is largely the case, from what I can see, in Aotearoa)....to seeing when the language of individual rights came short - "body sovereignty" - as the virus painfully emphasized our interconnection....<br /><br />...to weighing up the cost (mental health, economic) of lockdowns, as well as the surprising benefit (ecologically, mental health, huge drop in premature births and heart attacks during this time).<br /><br />In my professional field, I have been outspokenly pro-vaccine but anti-mandate for many reasons etc. I do think vaccine mandates were largely unnecessary in Aotearoa, and helped to create the polarisation and extreme resentment that drove the parliamentary protests. <br /><br />But I became increasingly disturbed as I saw some of my friends who held the above concerns become attracted to some very paranoid and frankly weird conspiratorial thinking, as well as being disturbed by the new level of open aggression and violent threat levelled at our politicians. With Jacinda Ardern, that aggression seemed especially intense as well as toxicly woman-hating. Mark Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499278196265491516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-39890341162158054022023-01-23T06:30:29.559+13:002023-01-23T06:30:29.559+13:00Hello, Bowman
I wonder if you saw my questions qb...Hello, Bowman <br />I wonder if you saw my questions qbove in reply to your quitation of a Saudi Arabian Wahabi cleric.<br />I refered to the Chrustmas Day sermon in the Washington National Cathedral by Episcopal Bishop John Chane of Washington in which he said God inspired the Quran and Muhammad is a Prophet of God. <br />Is this actually the docttine of the Episcopal Church?<br />I would really appreciate some clarification on this from you as an American Episcopalian.<br />I am glad you have come across the work of Stephen Meyer. I have read a couple of his books, in particular "Signature in the Cell", which isn't an easy read. Meyer and his colleagues have repristinated the design argument in a way infinitely more sophisticated that William Paley could ever have imagined, as well as uncovering ghe flaws in the pre-molecular understanding of life processes in Darwin's thought.<br />A closely related question concerns Origin of Life Studies. I would encourage you to look at the studies of this question by the organic chemist and nanotechnology expert Professor James Tour, a Jewish Christian academic at Rice University in Texas,<br />I am surprised if anyone hasn't come across the word "woke", which has been around for years. The word itself has ben around for years (it is from American black English vernacular for "awoken") and is similar to that 70s word "conscientized" which entered Marxist thought from the Portuguese and the Brazilian Marxist Paolo Freire. <br />You will find a very helpful discussion (actually a profound intellectual demolition job) of "Critical Race Theory" and the Catholic Church's understanding of race and prejudice in "All One in Christ" by Professor Edward Feser, one of the most able exponents of Aristotelianism-Thomism today, and easily the funniest philosopher in print today. His takedown of Dawkins, Dennett and Harris in "The Last Superstition" had me laughing out loud. But do read "All One in Christ" to understand the background of "woke", you will find it very helpful.<br /><br />Pax et bonum, <br />William Greenhalgh Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-88854357136809857912023-01-23T06:00:06.043+13:002023-01-23T06:00:06.043+13:00Mark, the world would have done better if it had f...Mark, the world would have done better if it had followed the example of Sweden - after their blunder over care homes, which was repeated in New York State by Andrew Cuomo. An emergency lockdown was needed but the whole thing went on far too long and deep with a massive overreach of state powers into the lives of ordinary people. Closing schools was unnecessarily harmful to children, especially the poor. The rocketing inflation in food prices is also disproportionately harmful to the poor.<br />I encourage everyone with an open mind to read the Great Barrington Declaration and the considered thoughts of Professor Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford and Professor John Ioannides of Johns Hopkins. Everyone knows the great majority of deaths was among the over 80s and among people with underlying conditions (obesity, diabetes, heart disease): the median age of death in Britain was 83 (81 for men, 85 for women). Some older nedical staff who had underlying health conditions were among those who died. But the still standing advice of the American CDC that children over 6 months of age should be vaccinated is totally absurd. Denmark has been far wiser than the CDC in its vaccination advice.<br />Mark, I encourage you to check out the YouTube channel of Dr John Campbell who has an independent voice and a balanced appraisal of the issues. As Dr Campbell says, "I would prefer to have a world of questions without answers rather than answes without questions."<br />Even the Papacy has apologised for the way Galileo was treated, you know!<br /><br />Pax et bonum,<br />William Greenhalgh Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-25528423853066836032023-01-22T21:34:36.179+13:002023-01-22T21:34:36.179+13:00Sadly, William, there are also some people who hau...Sadly, William, there are also some people who haunt the blogosphere who also think they are 'the sole source of truth', They constantly quote authors who bolster their own biases - in the belief that their own bias has some authenticity. Donald Trump is still clinging to his own macho beliefs that have suited the agenda of his supporters among American red-necks (some of them purporting to be religious). I changed my political affiliation on the basis of Jacinda's charism of love and charity toward the Muslims in our community who were assaulted by reactionaries, who thought themselves to be the defenders of another - secular - faith. Father Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17062632692873621258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-1959256041063784372023-01-22T20:10:47.668+13:002023-01-22T20:10:47.668+13:00"...a secularised, hyper- form of Christianit..."...a secularised, hyper- form of Christianity, which we call *wokeness*"<br /><br />--Stephen Meyer at 1:03:30<br /><br />Hi Liz<br /><br />Have you watched the video only once? ;-)<br /><br />I first heard *woke* used as an adjective when a black man living in a homeless shelter used it to describe himself. He was working his way out of that place by designing tee shirts and selling them online. When Donald Trump was later elected president, he was deliriously happy. Why? "He's woke too!"<br /><br />Although uses of the adjective do have a family resemblance, its meaning depends on who is using it, when they use it, and to whom they refer. <br /><br />When the black man used it (2015), he was boasting. As he saw it, being woke was being shrewd. He was one of those who realised that, although black Americans had won procedural equality in law and politics, there were also hidden forms of social inequity that he himself would have to overcome. He could do that, he was sure, building his own business and wealth.<br /><br />After George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis (2020), I heard more people call themselves woke. This time-- COVID lockdown-- they were white liberals who were marching in the streets to stop police brutality against black folk. Woke? They had learned to see their society, they said, though the lens of the centuries-long experience of blacks in America. They trusted blacks to lead change. <br /><br />But in yet a third usage, Stephen Meyer at the end of 2022 was using the adjective to refer to Other People-- academics, influenced more or less by Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault, who teach that European civilisation has fostered inherently oppressive societies (eg ours). More often than chance alone would predict, these cultural gate-keepers are materialist, yet they press an inhospitable secularism that is only intelligible as a byproduct of Christendom. They do not like his books.<br /><br />Is Meyer then "anti-CRT, anti-environment care, and generally anti- many things I care about?" I do not know. But here up yonder, one could almost define *conservative intellectual* as *one who aspires to be interviewed by Peter Robinson on Uncommon Knowledge*. Whatever he thinks about your topics, Meyer does so as a thinking conservative.<br /><br />https://www.hoover.org/research/does-god-exist-conversation-tom-holland-stephen-meyer-and-douglas-murray<br /> <br /> <br /><br />BW<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-26688832396795852292023-01-22T18:05:01.839+13:002023-01-22T18:05:01.839+13:00There is no such "growing consensus", Wi...There is no such "growing consensus", William! But there is a growing number of aggrieved, powerless citizens left behind by neo-liberal capitalism who are attracted to a staggering range of weird ideas, violent behaviours, and, sometimes, authoritarian leaders. <br /><br />Death threats and misogynistic trolling is *not* "democracy, folks", nor is it a politician fairly "facing the consequences of their actions". In America, politicians are shot; in Britain knifed to death. That hasn't quite happened in NZ so far, though we are getting perilously closer. Mark Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499278196265491516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-64459660644238149492023-01-22T16:04:00.437+13:002023-01-22T16:04:00.437+13:00In my email feed today, btw and this is a FREE lin...In my email feed today, btw and this is a FREE link as I'm a subscriber to the Washington Post and can 'gift' a limited number of articles:<br /><br />Article dated 21 Jan, in-depth Florida, DeSantis and anti-wokism<br /><br />Please read...<br /><br />https://wapo.st/3GWEWoMMsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-91430584874005301172023-01-22T14:19:00.454+13:002023-01-22T14:19:00.454+13:00"There is a growing consensus around the worl..."There is a growing consensus around the world that the events of the covid pandemic were an extraordinary overreaction.."<br /><br />Tell that to the doctors and nurses across the globe who slaved long exhausting hours through the pandemic (and in too many cases lost their lives in their service to others).<br />MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-77554937231270012662023-01-22T14:02:12.030+13:002023-01-22T14:02:12.030+13:00Re "woke": since I asked the Q a link ca...Re "woke": since I asked the Q a link came through on my twitter feed that was helpful and timely.<br /><br />Ron DeSantis general counsel had to give a definition in court which was given as: “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” [And note the next line: "Newman added that DeSantis doesn’t believe that there are systemic injustices in the United States."]<br /><br />The word originated from Black people themselves (in Harlem) and 'implies an alertness to “important societal facts and issues,” especially those of racial and social injustice.'<br /><br />Link for above info: https://www.okayplayer.com/news/ron-desantis-woke-defintion.html<br /><br />The same publication has done 3 articles on 'The Origin of Woke', of which I've only read the first so far. Here's the link: https://www.okayplayer.com/tag/the-origin-of-woke<br /><br />So..'Woke' used in a disparaging context is a red-flag word for me, signalling American RW views. Read the article - there's more there about what such views mean in actual practice.MsLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14981341478737424122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-8278358294926805852023-01-22T11:40:13.988+13:002023-01-22T11:40:13.988+13:00There is a growing consensus around the world that...There is a growing consensus around the world that the events of the covid pandemic were an extraordinary overreaction that could only have been possible in the day of the internet, 24 hour TV, globalisation, and the creation of a new clerisy invoking "science" with all the self-assurance of medieval clerics fighting "witchcraft". <br />The great majority of the population were not at serious risk from the virus, as the actual mortality figures and the age and health condition of those who died will show. But the damage to human rights, the education of children, the mental health of vulnerable people, and the economy (with rocketing inflation and small business failures while the mega-rich and big pharma got even richer) has been immense. All across the western world we are seeing significant excess deaths after the end of the pandemic (thanks in large measure to the omicron variant which gave herd immunity) which may be due to the denial of regular health care during the pandemic.<br />So it is only right that politicians (and their academic surrogates) who inflicted these unjustified measures on the population face the consequences of their actions. <br />That's democracy, folks! If it's OK to vent on Trump et al, the goose must expect similar sauce. <br />The problem is that too many people - and their careers and reputations - are still too close to these events for them to be objective. A bit like the good burghers of Salem in 1693.<br />One thing we can all take away: be very cautious of politicians who say "We are the sole source of truth."<br /><br />Pax et bonum,<br />William Greenhalgh Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-74701415263443270022023-01-22T08:19:45.640+13:002023-01-22T08:19:45.640+13:00Re "woke": think we need a Bowman commen...<br />Re "woke": think we need a Bowman commentary here. The word gets used occasionally in NZ, usually by someone like Winston Peters, and sheds more heat than light. <br />Mark Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499278196265491516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-33020183646464827562023-01-21T10:35:57.371+13:002023-01-21T10:35:57.371+13:00Mark, this is also happening here up yonder.
Pas...Mark, this is also happening here up yonder. <br /><br />Pastors-- even somewhat Trumpy ones-- have experienced this as much as the politicians. Nor are bitterly divided congregations rare.<br /><br />Broadly speaking, when persons up here believe that material symbols of their identity are being disrespected by the same mass elite that they otherwise distrust, they take this disrespect personally. To conserve their agency and self-respect in the face of that, they opt out of a politesse and "act out" to show that.<br /><br />The other side? Polarised by certitude that the aforementioned symbols are immoral, unjust, etc, they struggle to comprehend that-- <br /><br />(a) they may not own the symbols that they want to change, <br /><br />(b) some support the established order only so long as it secures those symbols, and <br /><br />(c) they are not unreasonably perceived as a powerful plurality taking from one minority and giving to another.<br /><br />Ressentiment is a social force.<br /><br />BWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com