Caught between East and West, and embroiled in the New Great
Game, Tajikistan continues to exist as an authoritarian state which while
mostly secular, panders to Islam in an attempt to counter the narratives of
extremist groups like al Qaeda, ISIS, and even the Taliban.
28 April 2019
The Knights of Malta Controversy and Wikileaks
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/01/31/wikileaks-releases-documents-on-knights-of-malta-controversy/
This is in reference to an ongoing scandal within the SMOM or
Knights of Malta, a famous if secretive lay Catholic religious order that
ostensibly is involved in charity work but has always been suspected to have a
wider agenda. From its ties to the old Catholic nobility to its many members
involved in power politics, the Establishment and often the 'Deep State', the
Knights along with Opus Dei and other Vatican entities have elicited no small
degree of inquiry and fascination.
26 April 2019
NATO, the Military-Industrial Complex and Trumpism
One aspect of the US push for an increase in military budgets
on the part of its NATO partners is closely wed to the fact that such spending
all but demands large purchases from US military contractors. The Europeans
know this and yet they are torn.
Butina Addendum
A follow up to my December 2018 piece on the Butina case:
Maria Butina has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and
then faces deportation.
15 April 2019
Le Feu: Notre Dame de Paris
In light of the fire at Notre Dame, I thought another perspective was in order so I decided to link this short piece from 2010.
Orlandi and the Vatican Scandals of the 1970's and 1980's
I think it unlikely that the true story will ever be told.
This notorious case has been overshadowed by one salient fact... the Vatican
itself has been the chief force of obstruction to the investigation. These
articles contain some valid information but as usual the real meat is found in
what is left out.
07 April 2019
The Evangelical Blitzkrieg Against the Kingdom of Christ
They think they're doing God service but in fact they're
waging war on the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. They have confused power, wealth,
prestige and pride with the ethics of the Kingdom. Rejecting the cross they
have taken up the sword. They have also taken up the trowel but it's not
Jerusalem's walls they seek to rebuild. Instead they're building a new Babel or
perhaps they're repairing the breaches of an old one. It's a Babel crowned by a
cross of gold, a cross antithetical to the splintered blood stained tool of
execution and shame that we're called to bear.
06 April 2019
The Christian Right and Lega
The Dominionist Machine Comes to Italy via 1994's ECT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/30/christian-right-summit-in-verona-draws-massive-protest
This article grabbed my attention because the World Congress
of Families (WCF) is run by Allan Carlson. I've heard him interviewed on more
than one occasion.
He appeared not long ago on Issues Etc. offering praise for
Viktor Orban. While I can understand what is motivating Orban, I don't think I
can offer him praise or compliment , let alone work with his party as Carlson's
WCF is wont to do.
04 April 2019
Ford Motor Company and Argentina's Dirty War
As
Christians I don't believe we cannot support labour unions and yet at the same
time I understand why people form them and on one level it's hard to not be
sympathetic to their concerns.
02 April 2019
Bakker: Blind Leading the Blind
What is more sad, that Jim Bakker after all he's been through
is still as lost as ever? Or that he is still granted a voice within the
spectrum of Evangelicalism?
30 March 2019
Myanmar Woes
It is unclear as to whether the anti-Christian policies of
the United Wa State Army (UWSA) are emulations of Chinese policy or are in fact
being encouraged by Beijing.
Myanmar or Burma has been embroiled in a series of
overlapping civil wars since its independence in 1948 and many outsiders have
played a part. The US has officially been uninvolved since they airlifted
Kuomintang (KMT) remnants out of the country in 1953 but only the willingly
blind would believe such a story. The truth is Washington has been deeply
involved in the Karen struggle as well as some of the other 'internal
conflicts' which continue to plague the Southeast Asian nation.
28 March 2019
(North) Macedonia, NATO and the EU
Who has the most power and who is most invested in the
Balkans being wed to the Atlantic order?
While the EU would certainly like to see a Balkan
consolidation, given the tensions and financial struggles of recent years the European
Commission is going to be a little more cautious when it comes to bringing on
more instability. Various European powers have their doubts about a full
commitment to Skopje and I don't doubt that some fear yet another beach-head
for Russia within the EU's structural dynamic.
25 March 2019
Venezuela and the Mainstream Propaganda Campaign
Even though this article is already two weeks old, many will
have missed the story. And I must say that in the past two weeks the propaganda
campaign has escalated. The coverage has been unrelenting and yet profoundly
dishonest both in its assumptions and in the way the narrative is being framed.
24 March 2019
Good News Out of Africa: CAR, DRC and Nigeria
For once there are good reports coming from Africa. Over the
past several months a peace has been negotiated in the Central African
Republic. Let us hope it holds.
22 March 2019
Ukrainian Autocephaly and Schism
On the one hand one can sympathise with those in distress
over the schism and the way in which it has divided Ukrainian society.
20 March 2019
Nigerian Prosperity Politics
It is sad and disheartening to read of the corruption and
heresy that has overtaken much of the African Church. And thanks to
American-style Dominionism they (through the efforts of Theonomists,
Evangelicals and Charismatics) have learned about 'worldview' and the need to
capture the culture.
17 March 2019
Berlusconi Scandals That Won't Go Away
This death may or may not be connected to Berlusconi. She may
have been murdered or it may be something else.
But that's not why it's getting all the headlines.
16 March 2019
Traditionalist Catholic Responses to the Abuse Scandal: The Case of Pell
I found this article both refreshing and audacious at the
same time. In our current climate of accusation and Neo-McCarthyism few have
been bold enough to stand against the tide and resist the trend of presumed
guilt and the abandonment of due process.
But when it comes to the crimes of Rome and its sodomite
priesthood I believe that not only are most of the accusations true, we've only
seen the tip of the iceberg...
The Compromised Pence
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is an unabashed sodomite and
brought his cohort with him on his recent visit to the White House. The event
made the news because Varadkar upbraided US society for not being pro-sodomite
enough its outlook. Most people interpreted the comments as being directed
particularly at Vice President Mike Pence who was present and in fact hosting
the event.
12 March 2019
The Breaking of Honduras
Honduras is suffering. It has become a textbook example of
how globalisation is a form of imperialism in which the market subjugates the
people, strapping them with massive debt for infrastructure projects they don't
benefit from. From corrupt business deals to the NGO's and old stand by's like
USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to the ways in which Wall
Street can manipulate the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the
imperial hydra is bleeding the nation dry.
10 March 2019
Sodomite Story Hour
By now many will have encountered this story but many readers
will not understand just how shocking and surreal this is.
This would have been absolutely unthinkable a generation ago.
This kind of perversity was relegated to the back alleys and the seedy parts of
town. Mainstream society, Christian or not did not view such things favourably
or even with much amusement.
If there was amusement it was mocking, shock-value type of
amusement represented in popular songs like Lola
and Dude Looks Like a Lady. It was
something you laughed at but at the same time it was something shameful and
dirty. If you saw a cross-dresser out in public it was the sort of thing your
blocked your kids from seeing.
09 March 2019
The Raw Power of the Military-Industrial Complex on Display
This is why the murder of Jamal Khashoggi doesn't matter. The
Saudis are not only in an informal alliance with the United States and Israel,
they are pursuing US interests in Yemen and vis-à-vis Iran.
This is not to say that there aren't Saudi and American
interests upset with the recent turn in Saudi politics under bin Salman.
Nevertheless the pressure is great to 'let it ride'.
When billions of dollars are at stake, there's a lot of
pressure and influence that come to bear and since there are 101 ways to bribe
and payoff people and with plenty of money to spare.... the people who sit atop
the Wall Street-Defense industry-political-military nexus... the Military
Industrial Complex have a lot of power. They get their way and get rich at the
same time.
06 March 2019
The V4, Likud, Aachen and Atlanticism: New Blocs, New Structures
These events are already
old news in terms of the high-tempo news cycle but they passed without proper
reflection.
To start with, the V4
countries are often spoken of in relation to anti-Semitism. Far Right parties
and politics are active in the V4 and thus it seems strange to many that they
would meet in Israel.
04 March 2019
The Threat of China According to The Guardian
The rise of Xi Jinping continues to re-shape China and it's
becoming clear the New Silk Road or One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative is
about more than commerce or economic security.
Historically China (when powerful) has remained more or less within
its geopolitical sphere. A dominating regional Hegemon, many have argued that
its contemporary resurgence represents little more than an attempt to revert to
the historical pattern. The lords of Beijing wish for China to recapture its
historical place and position in the global order. Its aspirations are regional
and restricted.
And yet some wonder if under Xi the vision has shifted and
China is moving more in the direction of a global empire akin to the old European
empires but with a special reliance upon the model of the United States.
03 March 2019
UMC Traditionalists Score a Pyrrhic Victory
These 'conservatives' believe they have won a great victory
in that the UMC just voted down full sodomite inclusion... and yet the margin was
fairly narrow. And the story is hardly over. The conservatives do not control
the judicial apparatus within the denomination. If they can't enforce the
traditional position and start punishing and excommunicating the sodomite
factions, then things will go on as they are.
In reality it's clear the UMC is headed for a split, both
globally and within the United States. The real debate will be over the
mechanics of the split and the all the ugly (and sinful) court battles over
properties and trust funds along with all the other rubbish that reveals
denominationalism as a harmful anti-Scriptural distraction.
26 February 2019
Apocalyptic Roman Catholicism
Traditionalist Catholics have been engaged in a quiet (and no
so quiet) civil war for the past fifty years. They desperately want to overturn
the changes that took place with Vatican II. The problem is there are other conservatives
who embrace the changes in part, and then of course there are the large and even
overwhelming numbers of Catholics who not only embrace the changes but want
more.
Francis has not enacted any major doctrinal changes but he
has altered the tone and change is certainly in the wind. The innumerable scandals
as well as the rapid and seemingly unstoppable social changes are building
momentum and some traditionalists are beginning to despair.
24 February 2019
The Den of Iniquity
Recently I encountered an episode of The Wonder Years, a
television show that was on in the late 1980's and early 1990's. To be honest I
didn't watch it much at the time and in subsequent years my feelings about it
are mixed. On the one hand it is both a humorous and reflective period piece
that has some occasional value. On the other hand its humour is often out of
bounds and reveling in Middle Class Americana is not exactly my cup of tea.
That said what struck me the other night was a shift in
culture and a profound one at that. In the episode the Arnold family's daughter
Karen has (while away at college) moved in with a boyfriend and the episode is
about how this comes to light and the reaction on the part of the family.
13 February 2019
The Third Rome Brings Down the Hammer
The Kremlin, seemingly at the behest of or in collaboration
with the Moscow Patriarch continues to wage its war against all 'sects' as well
as groups with perceived ties to the West.
The Watchtower Society also known as the Jehovah's Witnesses
have been banned and forced underground and now some of their leaders are being
sent to prison.
10 February 2019
Interpreting Providence
Sarah Huckabee Sanders assures us that God wanted Donald
Trump to be president. Indeed in terms of God's Eternal Decree, it's true,
Donald Trump was ordained to win the 2016 US presidential election.
But what exactly does this mean?
08 February 2019
Italian Isolationism: A Cardinal Sin
This latest move by the Italian coalition government is sure
to anger Washington. One thing the United States won't stand for is Non-Alignment.
During the Cold War it led to serious opposition on the part of the United
States.*
30 January 2019
A GWU Graduate in Caracas
It cannot be proved that Juan Guaido is an agent of the
United States, or rather I would say that one would be hard pressed to conclusively
prove such an accusation. However I find it more than coincidental that once
again the political opposition is led by someone with connections to the US
Establishment.
27 January 2019
The Stone-Wikileaks Syllogism
The media is desperate to perpetuate the conspiracy of
Russian collusion and the latest twist involves the indictment of Roger Stone.
This was hardly unexpected and has been anticipated for some time even by Stone
himself.
Once again the now two year investigation struggles to find a
smoking gun and the media continues to do all it can to keep the public engaged
and stoke anger. Now in light of the Stone indictment we're informed once more
that 'this is it', the evidence we've been waiting for.
Apartheid Mercenaries: The West and Africa
Was Dag Hammarskjöld assassinated in 1961? His DC-6 went down
over Northern Rhodesia under suspicious circumstances and his death proved
convenient to some who opposed his mission.
It's been a longstanding question and yet to some there's
little question at all. There's a long history of South African, Rhodesian, Francophone
and Portuguese African mercenary figures directly or loosely connected to the
military and intelligence agencies of their respected 'fatherlands', whether
Belgium, France, Portugal, the UK or the United States.
20 January 2019
Trump +730: Who's in Charge?
Politics always has its twists and turns but between Brexit
and Donald Trump one never knows what is coming next. What a tumultuous time.
On 20 January 2019, Trump will have been in office for
exactly two years or 730 days. It's a good moment to take a moment and reflect
on many points but something has really been glaring to me as of late.
As far as Trump is concerned it is legitimate to ask 'who is
in charge' as there have been definite occasions in which his rhetoric and orders
seem to be countermanded.
19 January 2019
Further Controversy Regarding Opus Dei
This story is hardly earth-shattering or surprising but it's
still worthy of consideration.
One, it adds to the growing file of controversy and
corruption that surrounds the mysterious semi-cultic organisation of Opus Dei.
Unfortunately there's a lot of false information out there, due in part to Dan
Brown's specious novel The DaVinci Code.
15 January 2019
As a Dog Returns to His Vomit
The Gospel Coalition doesn't disappoint, it continues to put
out a stream of Dominionist filth, glorying in what should be a mark of shame.
In the name of the so-called Cultural Mandate the organisation
celebrates the Christian defection of Frank Reich. This man, famous in the NFL
for one of the biggest comeback games in history... incidentally it was the
last NFL game I ever watched. I had turned it off at halftime and only later
discovered what had happened. Not too long after I became a Christian and my
interest in the NFL (and many other things) all but evaporated. I had wasted
too much of my life on such things which I immediately realised were worthless
and a waste of time.
08 January 2019
Accountability at the Vatican Bank
Some will celebrate this news. It's a watershed moment in the
history of the IOR (Vatican Bank). Many will herald this conviction as a
historical moment in which the Vatican Bank 'turned the page' and left behind
its decades long history of corruption.
05 January 2019
An Oft Repeated and Heretical Lie
I was reading the latest issue of the Evangelical Times and
as usual I have come to expect a bit of mixed bag. I read it for the
information knowing full well that I will often disagree with much of the
analysis and many of the assumptions.
04 January 2019
Divergent Missionary Legacies in The Middle Kingdom
The sad thing is that the Chinese government has a point. All
too often Western missionary work has functioned as a form of cultural
imperialism if not rank and overt tool of imperialism.
26 December 2018
An Instructive Episode: Leftist and Establishment Responses to Trump's Syria Withdrawal
Trump's recent orders regarding US troop withdrawal from
Syria have generated a political and media firestorm. He has (wittingly or not)
undermined a key plank of US imperial policy with regard to the Middle East.
Syria was but part of a larger strategy and the battle against ISIS, like the
larger war against al Qaeda, (and the interminable 'War on Terror') are but a
pretense, a means to an end in a series of larger geostrategic goals.
23 December 2018
In Defense of Anonymity – In Christian Cyberspace and Beyond
There are calls on both sides of the Atlantic to eliminate Internet
anonymity. The arguments are made on the basis of social discourse, the
preservation of democracy, legal concerns and questions of security. Once again
the Establishment is indicating that the Internet project has gotten away from
them and has spiraled dangerously out of control.
22 December 2018
Orwell and the Bolivarian Dream: When the Law Becomes Sin
This is of course a somewhat self-serving article on the part
of Reuters as the news agency is in this case serving the Anti-Chavez/Maduro
campaign that has been mounted by the West.
And yet, it is disturbing to say the least. As the Bolivarian
experiment has collapsed, the rulers of Venezuela (Maduro and the military)
wish to retain control and are apparently willing to open some dark doors to do
so. I don't think Simon Bolivar would approve.
17 December 2018
The Atlantic Article on Empty Church Buildings
This article has been getting some attention as of late.
While listening to 'Christian' radio the other day I heard an interview
premised by it and they had a local pastor on the show to discuss the demise of
the Church. It was yet again a case of blind leading the blind. The pastor had
nothing to offer. He wasn't even able to offer the normal combative narrative
that it's the liberal churches that are closing. In the end he said, it comes
down to poor leadership.
16 December 2018
The Cruelty of Theonomy and its Counterfeit Zion
A response to a garden
variety sermon called 'The Cruelty of
Piety'
N.B. - The Sermonaudio link seems to be dead and so I've provided a substitute.
Though I am convinced the New Testament stands in diametrical
opposition to Theonomy I cannot but help and have a certain affinity with some
of its advocates. I share in their anti-Establishment attitude and frustrations
with regard to the Reformed mainstream. I too have no love for the OPC or PCA
and have been at times angered by their bureaucracies and frankly with the
deceit of some of their officers. At one time I was on a course to be ordained
in one of these denominations and yet today, I wouldn't even consider attending
one of their congregations.
That said, apart from a conflict with bureaucracy and
institutionalism I have no commonality with Theonomists and their wayward and
even twisted interpretations of Scripture.
13 December 2018
Butina: Mainstream Media Hype and Deception
Marina Butina entered the scene making splashy headlines. A
pretty Russian spy seeking to infiltrate US political circles and sleeping her
way to the information at that. The media loved it, especially as Trump had
just met with Putin and angered many in the American Establishment. It was like
something from a television programme or a movie.
But then they had to back off. The portrait they painted of
her started to fall apart. Well now with her 'guilty' plea deal they've got some solid
evidence. Right?
The Vocational Fog
Though I disagree with the foundational premise of the
article I am appreciative of the fact that the author is at least willing to
admit that all jobs are not equal and
that some occupations in fact contribute
little to the Kingdom of Christ... even to the Dominionist view of the
Kingdom advocated by The Gospel Coalition.
09 December 2018
The End of Christendom and Evil Unleashed
Overall I am greatly appreciative of Martyn Lloyd-Jones when
it comes to the Kingdom and issues regarding Christendom. He was repeatedly
sceptical regarding attempts to forge a Christian society and deemed all such
endeavours as doomed to failure.
And yet he was not always consistent. Often he would assume
that Christendom produced a general morality and that society in some ways had
reflected Christian values and was (in the 20th century) departing
from them.
08 December 2018
A Watershed in Genetic Experimentation
There was great consternation at the recent report regarding
genetic modification experiments being conducted in China. While such
experiments have been done openly on embryos and in other contexts, this was a
live experiment done on a viable human being. In this case the gene edited
babies were made immune to HIV.
06 December 2018
Some Comments on the Mueller Probe
On this point it must be admitted
that Donald Trump is right. The Mueller probe has destroyed lives. It is a case
of McCarthyism reborn, a trend which seems to be popular these days. We're also
seeing it (in a different form) with the #MeToo movement.
Under this type of investigation
there's no assumption of innocence, there's no due process, the verdict all but
precedes the investigation. The prosecutor is also the judge (in many cases)
and guilt does not have to be based on evidence, but largely rests on
association.
05 December 2018
Rehabilitating and Revising Collective Memory
It used to take a generation or so for the revision to begin.
And then as we entered the Internet age, things began to change. The
information age turned out to be the age of myth, the age of ignorance. Reagan
was scarcely in the grave and already the legend was being written and the mythology
created about his deeds and legacy. We'll now see the same with regard to
George HW Bush.
04 December 2018
The US and Bahrain: The War Machine Marches On
Bahrain, viewed by some as a Saudi puppet state is certainly
less than autonomous. The nation hosts the US Fifth Naval Fleet and thus is
closely allied with and influenced by Washington.
02 December 2018
Kazakhstani Intrigues and a Plot in Italy
I won't pretend to understand all the details of this case
but it's safe to say there are multiple facets and layers. It's the story of
Mukhtar Ablyazov, a corrupt figure from Kazakhstan. It must be remembered that
in the 1990's Central Asia and indeed all of the former USSR were to some
degree in a state of chaos. It was the age of the oligarchs, big business deals
and lots of disappearing money.
25 November 2018
The Blind and Dangerous Hypocrisy of Sacralism
As a Christian, this article made me quite angry but I am
thankful that Walter Russell Mead and Mary Habeck are clear in what they
advocate. Though couched in deceitful terms and reliant upon a perversion of
Christian doctrine, their transparent idealism accommodates an attempt to
expose their error and indeed the evil they advocate. And it is just that. Their
form and framing of it and their ideals that govern them are especially
pernicious in that their agenda is promoted in the name of Christ.
24 November 2018
The NASB 2020
updated April 2019
There are some noteworthy changes taking place in the pending
edition of the New American Standard Bible, set to be released in 2020.
I count these changes as unfortunate and the episode serves
as yet another warning. Though the publishers of the NASB defend their use of
gender-inclusive language on non-feminist/non-egalitarian grounds, I am not convinced.
Not one bit.
False and Dangerous Coverage Surrounding the INF
I have listened to several reports dealing with the US
withdrawal from the INF, or Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty which was
signed by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987.
Almost all the reports I've heard give only the US side of
the story and buttress Washington's claims that Russia is in violation of the
treaty and thus since it has been rendered practically obsolete, the US
withdrawal only reflects the on-the-ground
reality and will afford Washington the legal cover for further production
of intermediate range weapons. Russia is clearly made out to be the villain.
But this hardly the whole story.
23 November 2018
A Murder in Mali
I had almost deleted The Intercept from my bookmarks. The
news magazine started out as one of the most interesting and cutting edge news
websites in the aftermath of the Snowden affair but has since been appropriated
and even dominated by reporting more or less in line with the Left-wing of the
DNC. It went from being Anti-Establishment to being reformist and advocating
many of the pseudo-Left views represented by people like Bernie Sanders. For
some time it has seemed like Glenn Greenwald is about the only reporter left
who has anything interesting to say.
18 November 2018
Reformation Myths
This article typifies the myth-making surrounding the
Reformation. First, we're told that before the Reformation you couldn't read
the Bible in your own language. It's as if until the Reformation no one had
even tried or attempted to translate the Scriptures. The only way you could
access it (we're told) is if you had taken holy orders.
17 November 2018
Bolsonaro's Biblical Principles
The symbolism was both powerful and by some estimations
poignant. With the Bible and the Brazilian Constitution on the table before
him, Jair Bolsonaro proclaimed the people must learn to 'coexist with the
truth'.
The Real Economy
The economy is booming we're told. It's the best ever, the
president assures us. Of course economics is hardly an exact science. Or some
would argue it is no science at all. Even many of the markers, statistics and
concepts used to illustrate and explain it are in many cases subjective.
I drive around and see a lot of 'Help Wanted' signs and
indeed a lot of people seem to be upbeat about the economy. The stock market
has certainly climbed to unprecedented levels.
But does this really mean the economy is booming?
11 November 2018
Tibetan Turmoil and Intrigue
The current Dalai Lama is 83 years old.
His death will create something of a crisis as the Panchen
Lama is incognito. Effectively second in command the Panchen Lama also plays a
critical role in the selection of the new Dalai Lama. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima who
was selected as the Panchen Lama was taken by Beijing in 1995 when he was but
six years old. He hasn't been seen since but it is believed that he is still
alive in captivity.
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