https://eurasianet.org/kyrgyzstan-authorities-seek-expanded-powers-to-regulate-religious-affairs
This new set of laws is in keeping with everything we've come to expect with the authoritarian states of Central Asia which emerged with the fall of the Soviet Union. The Eurasianet article is incorrect. Kyrgyzstan is not a secular society at all, but rather one in which Islam is the officially favoured religion with other traditional groups (such as Eastern Orthodoxy) tolerated.
The news broke today regarding a Gaza ceasefire. Let us pray that it holds true. I reflected for a moment when someone pointed out how the fire devastation in Los Angeles has struck a chord with the American public. The pictures look not unlike the devastation in Gaza which is many magnitudes greater - but it doesn't impact the American public the same way. There's no comparison. It makes one think doesn't it?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/7/indonesia-joins-brics-group-of-emerging-economies
Even as the US seeks to expand its Eastern footprint and re-establish and strengthen military ties with Indonesia - the new Prabowo regime is seeking a path of triangulation.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/11/05/israel-blackmail-the-presidents/
Not a few historians, analysts, and commentators wonder just who is in charge? Who is calling the shots in terms of the US-Israel relationship? At times it almost seems like Israel has the upper hand and steers the American ship - at least with regard to Middle Eastern policy.
Right-wing and Evangelical media are already lavishing praise on Trump for the supposed stability that he's bringing to the world order. In the latest episode of delusion, these factions believe that Trump stands for stability and calm and that the US is respected while he stands at the helm.
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/04/nx-s1-5123626/christian-nationalist-election-workers-lance-wallnau
I know - everyone is tired of the 2024 US election. I'm no exception, but as the dust settles it helps to consider all the angles in order to understand what happened and why - especially in the context of the Church. This will help us (the Church) to understand what's coming in the years ahead.
It was something to see, a historic moment I thought. To see German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock (along with French counterpart Barrot) walking about Damascus with HTS leader al-Julani should have generated a media buzz - but it didn't. The media is to be blamed for this lack of response - they have lulled the Western public to sleep.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/10/18/police-escalate-britians-war-on-independent-journalism/
The recent Israel-Gaza War has been eye-opening. We're literally witnessing the normalizing of a genocide. I feel it's something of a watershed. This sort of butchery has taken place before - in Vietnam for example. And while everyone talks about the media's role in reporting that war and supposedly undermining it, the truth is they barely scratched the surface. The fact that their on-the-ground reporting was (and is) considered controversial by some is a testimony to how well conditioned the public was up to that point. It was not adversarial (by my estimations) but just the reporting and the footage was enough to upset the public and lead to a questioning.
https://rainforestjournalismfund.org/projects/army-jesus
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/rise-narco-militia-pentecostal-brazil-en/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/10/cpac-argentina-milei-maga-trump-musk
This is disturbing but not at all surprising. And given that within a decade Brazil will likely have the largest Evangelical population on the planet - it's a moment for sober reflection.
I picked up Timothy Egan's A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of Faith, because I have enjoyed such travel books in the past. Years ago I read many of HV Morton's travel works, particularly those in the 1930's and enjoyed the narrative, historical information, and the style of writing. Morton was not a Christian (that I could see) but was clearly interested in Christianity and its place in history.
This is just one of the endless outrages and hypocrisies associated with this war. One of the many war crimes ignored by the West as Israel pursues it genocidal campaign in Gaza.
https://www.politico.eu/politico-28-class-of-2025/
As expected, Giorgia Meloni is ranked as the most powerful person in Europe. When Angela Merkel stepped down it was Macron's time but he squandered it and was sidelined by his own domestic troubles. Meloni has (in part) triangulated the Right and as such stayed within the fold of the EU Establishment. At the same time her triangulation has allowed her to stay within the sphere of elements far to her Right but most importantly of all - she has successfully shifted the EU itself to the Right. Ursula von der Leyen has embraced Meloni for her own political survival.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/opinion/the-brief-europes-guantanamo/
Syria has been out of everyone's mind for a number of years and as such the public has forgotten about these prisoners - tens of thousands of ISIS members and affiliates still held in prison camps. The article is absolutely correct in pointing out that the Turkish backed militias could lead the Kurds to abandon these camps and thousands of these Salafist fighters could be once more on the loose.
https://reihotakeuchi.substack.com/p/the-new-japanese-prime-ministers
Ishiba who assumed the office of prime minister in October is important because he represents new thinking in terms of Japan's role in the Asia-Pacific and its relationship with the United States. A member of the Far-Right Nippon Kaigi faction (which has a significant presence in the ruling LDP), he seems to represent two tendencies - one, to strengthen Japan's relationship with Washington and build a NATO-type alliance in the Pacific, and two, resentment of US domination and a wish for Japan to re-establish its autonomy and take its place among the great powers.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/04/senators-response-chinese-hack-us-telecoms-00192728
Just as Trump prepares to enter office, the Blue Team, the Anti-China lobby has been given a gift. It's now confirmed that Beijing has been engaged in a major hacking/surveillance project within the United States. The Right-wing is calling for retaliation.
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/10/16/gaza_doctor
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-doctors-gaza
Eighty years after World War II we have an army (ironically a Jewish one) behaving very much like the Nazis, and yet those who protest its actions and conduct are condemned and castigated for their immorality. The mainstream media supports this army and writes apologias for it and in some cases when it cannot stop the story - it censors photos or does whatever it can to soften the effect and the public's ability to perceive the nature and extent of Israeli war crimes.
https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/ports-logistics/attacks-on-red-sea-shipping-bankrupt-israeli-port
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/eilat-still-shipless-houthis-strangle-port-city/
This is a story that has received little attention and it's noteworthy because it actually represents one area in which Israel has suffered economic harm from its wars - this even as Assad's rule over Syria collapses, Hezbollah is broken, Gaza is in ruins, and Iran is cowering, and more than fifty thousand have died. Yemen is the one exception, the holdout that continues to defy Israel and its American ally.
I had the misfortune to listen to American Family Radio (sic) the other day. As expected they were having a field day with the pardon of Hunter Biden. I'm certain that with the Harris loss, the president feared that if the sentencing wasn't harsh enough, the Trump Justice Department would continue to hound his son. So, Biden broke his word and pardoned him and any time questions are raised about Trump pardoning January 6 insurrectionists - the Right will point to Hunter Biden.
In what seemed like a power grab, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law but when challenged he backed down. Now the fallout.
https://baptistnews.com/article/people-are-dying-in-africa-but-the-world-doesnt-notice/
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/1/13/european_migrant_crisis_rescue_volunteers_trial
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/7/12/dead_calm
Over the past decade, tens of thousands of refugees have died attempting to get to Europe. Many are war widows and orphans attempting to escape impossible situations. They're coming from as far away as Afghanistan and Sub-Saharan Africa. Many have fled the wars in places like Libya and Syria.
Evangelicals are excited. There's a new Bonhoeffer movie coming out from Angel Studios, the same people who produced The Sound of Freedom - based on Tim Ballard, a Mormon QAnon advocate and liar. And from everything I've read, this Bonhoeffer movie is basically another example of twisted history and propaganda. But this is nothing new. Bonhoeffer was hijacked by the Evangelicals years ago.
If facing resistance from the Senate, the incoming Trump administration has indicated it would like to utilise 'recess appointments' for incoming cabinet members - a provision granted in the Constitution. The new Senate majority leader John Thune has signalled he may be willing to facilitate this by taking the body into recess for no reason other than allowing Trump to push his cabinet nominees through.
I more or less dispensed with these 'miscellany' posts in the summer of 2023 due to the ongoing stalemate. There wasn't much to say.
The big events or developments since then are the August 2024 Kursk Offensive in which Ukraine tried to flip the narrative and invade Russian territory. After some initial and yet modest gains the situation turned into another stalemate and now as 2024 comes to a close, they are rapidly losing this captured territory to Moscow.
https://americanreformer.org/2024/11/the-death-of-thanksgiving/
Dunson is upset because of the commercialisation of Christmas and the fact that the 'season' starts in conjunction with Halloween. Thanksgiving is skipped over.
The answer to this is obvious. We live in a capitalist society and with a retail economy, Christmas is critical. Thanksgiving is only a boon for the grocery industry. The Utilitarian ethics of capitalism make it so and make it right. If he has a problem with this, critique the system and the values its spawns - but don't hold your breath. He is writing after all for the American Reformer.
It has been disconcerting to listen to Chris Arnzen interview German Theonomist pastor Tobias Riemenschneider on various subjects, but in particular in connection to German history and politics.
https://theaquilareport.com/presbyterians-mia-missing-in-actions/
I must say it again - Larry Ball never disappoints. He is consistent in his production of doctrinal error, ethical filth, and the celebration of worldliness.
This article can best be described as glorying in one's shame. He would celebrate Presbyterianism's supposedly august role in shaping the American Empire but like all afflicted with the soul-destroying disease of idolatry (in this case nationalism) he is utterly blind to the evils he in fact celebrates.
https://danhult.com/2024/09/19/as-for-me-and-my-house-americas-household-idols/
A great deal could be said about the arguments put forward by Hult. Not a few would take issue with his prioritisation of family over Church but for me the most glaring problems are found elsewhere.
And it should be noted that he's right regarding the fact that idolatry is often equated with adultery and/or fornication. This is why I think it unfortunate that many of the newer translations choose terms like 'sexual immorality' in the book of Revelation as opposed to the more flexible term of 'fornication'. I think often what's being condemned is idolatry as opposed to specific sexual activities. This does not make light of the latter but rather many openly engaged in idolatry/adultery/fornication can render these passages as non-applicable because they see them as only referring to forbidden sexual activity.
This brings us to Hult's rendering of household gods which represents a departure from Scriptural thinking or rather a sleight-of-hand exchange - moving from Bible to Right-wing politics without missing a beat.
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/reagan-moviea-great-reminder-of-what-a-president-should-be.html
The myths and legends were emerging even before his death in 2004. Now twenty years later they've blossomed into full-blown fantasy. This latest film (praised by Richard Land) is undoubtedly an exercise in both hagiography and revisionism.
The original request made by Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters was for Bibles that included the Pledge of Allegiance, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence. The scandal in the media played up the fact that this seemed to be an order for Trump Bibles.
Parties and politicians formerly aligned with Eurosceptic elements have accumulated a great deal of power and now stand near the pinnacle of the EU hierarchy. They're not there yet and they remain divided but were these Right-wing nationalist groups to come together - Brussels could be theirs.
Even though this story is but a theological and ethical commentary on a well established story that ran in mainstream newspapers and is further supported by testimony under oath, Google's Anti-Intelligence (AI) software has chosen to flag it - undoubtedly due to the fact that it perceives some kind of controversy or conspiratorial angle, suggesting I might be misleading the public or promoting some kind of dangerous idea. Or perhaps Google is simply concerned about the reputation of Chuck Colson - but I doubt it. Welcome to the future people - the age of of AI is upon us and already it's wreaking havoc in the world of banking, insurance, and many other spheres. We can only hope its failures and inadequacies will become self-evident and the project (mostly driven by greed) will be abandoned. Here's the story that was censored:
I don't believe in the American system. I've made this very clear but it continues to baffle me how these Evangelicals (and others within the orbit of the Christian Right wave their flags and step over each other to display their patriotism) have (in the Trump era) turned to actions that fundamentally undermine the system they profess to love and believe in. Everything they do testifies to the fact that if it means they lose - they don't believe in it either.
https://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc877/
I've been listening to Christ the Center since about 2009. An interesting podcast most of the time, this episode was an exception. After realizing the guest was a law professor at Liberty University, I almost turned it off. I struggle to take anyone associated with Liberty seriously, but I decided to give it a listen.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/09/13/czgh-s13.html
It had been a few years since I picked up Russ Bellant's Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party, the 3rd edition published in 1991. The scandals he reports surrounding World War II-era fascists and the Nixon, Reagan, and GHW Bush administrations have been all but forgotten. And yet it was the Ukrainian angle that drove me to revisit the work - and it revealed some interesting bits of information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1ckd_Jx_obk
https://clearlyreformed.org/on-culture-war-doug-wilson-and-the-moscow-mood/
It's been a year since Doug Wilson released his 2023 No Quarter November/Thanksgiving video. I saw it at the time and followed some of the responses to it. I thought DeYoung's comments were fairly astute but missing one important element regarding the 'mood' - Donald Trump.
It's enough to make you take to your bed. The media storm has become such a morass, such a realm of chaos. It's often case of liars calling out liars and answering distortions with what can only be described as manipulation.
To make sense of this story or exchange it helps one to think of clash between the Roman Empire under the Late Republic and the threat of Sullan Dictatorship. Both were evil entities and yet the political winds are noteworthy and applicable. Lives were affected as was the course of subsequent history. That's no less true today. As Christians we live in this society and even though we're strangers and pilgrims it behooves us to understand what is happening.
I caught this story the other day on PRX's The World. It more or less typifies what's wrong with shows like this. Twenty-five years ago I was excited to have access to this show as international news was hard to get. The show frequently carries interesting stories but there's a terrible pro-Western bias in all its coverage and this story was no exception.
It's all over Christian media - two protesters shouted 'Christ is King' and 'Jesus is Lord' at a Kamala Harris rally. Though the nature and context of her response is disputed, she replied by telling them they were at the wrong rally. They were (like all protesters) removed by security. The two men proceeded to hit the interview circuit and have been making as much hay as possible out of all this - insisting they were verbally and physically abused. The narrative is meant to imply persecution.
We all know that 1 John 2 says that anyone who denies the Son is antichrist - therefore (it's argued or implied) Harris is antichrist.
The other day I caught Robby Price on the Family Life Network express surprise (even irritation) at the notion that the US was spying on Israel. This was in reference to the leaked plans of Israel's coming attack on Iran - which is now underway. The US had satellite data and other intelligence tracking just what Israel was putting together for the attack - that is assuming it wasn't a deliberate and misleading leak. Of course the American's are privy to this information anyway and have sent one hundred US troops to Israel with missile defense batteries in preparation - yet another escalation of the growing Middle Eastern War.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/13/alito-supreme-court-far-right-ties
If you follow Right-wing politics in Europe or even Traditionalist Catholic politics then you're sure to encounter Gloria von Thurn und Taxis. The Guardian article in question provides a quick overview of the circles she inhabits which overlap with those of Samuel Alito. Her activities are not illegal - the article is focusing primarily on the corruption within the US Supreme Court and the ever expanding circles of Right-wing Catholicism.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/15/liz-cheney-ginni-thomas-january-6-investigation
Since opposing Trump, participating in the January 6 investigation, and be ousted from office, Liz Cheney is often presented as some kind of moderate. In reality she remains a Far Right member of the Republican Party and an advocate of the Neo-Conservative policies championed by her father. She rejects Trump and his movement but this does not make her a centrist. One might argue that right or wrong she retains some principles and convictions as opposed to the raw fascistic power-grab represented by Trumpism. It's a case of Bush-era Far Right politics vs. outright fascism.
https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/turkiye-and-brics-step-toward-more-multipolar-future
https://www.trtworld.com/turkiye/turkiyes-brics-bid-is-response-to-eu-membership-delay-18210122
Erdogan announced that Türkiye would be joining the ever expanding BRICS bloc in 2022, but just last month (September 2024) he made it official and Ankara has now officially applied for membership.
Imagine the vitriol that would be expressed in Western Mainstream media if the Chinese MSS, Russian SVR, Iranian VAJA, or North Korean RGB openly advertised online to recruit agents - agents specifically tasked to target the United States, NATO, and nations like Japan and South Korea.
At the end of September, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or QUAD met in Delaware. This is the most comprehensive of the new network of alliances created by Washington to combat China. The Quad is comprised of India, Japan, Australia, and the United States. This is in addition to AUKUS which has a more robust security element. What's important about the Quad is that it incorporates India and as such is critical to the US 'Indo-Pacific' framing of geo-politics and strategy vis-à-vis Beijing. AUKUS has more teeth but the Quad has the potential to be more important.
The article began relating events surrounding the Balochi insurgency in southwest Pakistan but as it progressed I realized it was an anti-China piece critical of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the larger Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The port of Gwadar has been an object of interest for some time and tangible evidence of the breakdown of US-Pakistani relations. India is also less than keen on the project.
https://www.breakpoint.org/the-horrific-attacks-of-october-7-a-year-later/
Stonestreet never disappoints. If you're looking for distortion and Evangelical perversions of Biblical doctrine, ethics - and reality, look no further. This disciple of Charles Colson consistently labours to outdo the mendacity and deception of his mentor and this piece on the October 7 attacks is no exception.
Consider his opening:
One year ago, on October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists entered Israel and attacked civilians, killing some 1,200 Jews, the largest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Among those killed were soldiers and civilians, men and women, children and adults. They were killed simply because they were Jews.
I've written many times about Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of a rebel leader who turned into Moscow's faithful satrap. Usually when Kadyrov's name comes up, it's in reference to his corruption, authoritarian rule, or the hunting down of Chechen rebels abroad - men that would consider him to be a traitor and thus he's proven quite zealous in pursuing these men.
Francis has given his critics more fuel to pour on the already raging fire surrounding his papacy. Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu, the Bishop of Mingdong is a Beijing appointee that was originally ordained in a CCP-sanctioned rite in the year 2000. Viewed as illegitimate, he was excommunicated by the Vatican, a move that was revoked in 2018 when Francis signed the accord with Beijing. Zhan Silu was one of seven Beijing-appointed bishops embraced by the Vatican - a move that many Traditionalists found repugnant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BcZlxGt3xs
Since he was named by Time Magazine as America's Best Theologian in 2001, Stanley Hauerwas rightly raises some eyebrows. He's at his best when he's applying New Testament ethics and yet his theology is bankrupt. Sadly those sacralists and Right-wing adherents who oppose New Testament teaching can use Hauerwas' theological liberalism as a vehicle to discredit and dismiss what he says about ethics - even if it reflects apostolic teaching. This is why he's always frustrated me a bit. I have not found his books to be helpful and I never recommend them and yet he often makes decent standalone statements and has plenty to offer in the way of historical and cultural commentary.
Since I've been reading and writing about Abraham Kuyper as of late this interview clip caught my eye.
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/13/sudan
The war in Sudan is tragic and like all Africa stories in the West, it gets little attention or traction. To most people the wars in Africa are just repeating loops of video showing fighters in pick-up trucks with AK-47's and suffering women and children in refugee camps. The politics are beyond most people's ability to understand - and they're not going to take the time to look into them. And while Western leaders speak out, levelling condemnations and offering aid - nothing much seems to change.
https://thedefensepost.com/2024/09/17/canada-aukus-alliance-china/
Even as Justin Trudeau's government is on the ropes, the Canadian Establishment is moving to bring Ottawa into the growing Pacific alliance. The UK's membership is rooted in historical interests and the fact that it is America's essential ally. Or perhaps it should be worded the other way around? Australia has gone through a stream of scandals and failed governments to finally come to the right conclusion that Washington wanted all along - membership in a military alliance against China. Japan has now made moves to join and South Korea and New Zealand have expressed interest.
https://theworld.org/segments/2024/09/18/democracy-is-under-strain-across-the-globe
Advocates for democracy are concerned. The once seemingly inevitable and unstoppable 'progress' of their system seems to be struggling. Some would say it's under strain, others would put in more stringent terms and simply say that democracy is in a state of crisis. They would point not just to the rise of authoritarian regimes but the strain on democracy within Europe and the evident fragility of the American system - supposedly the very nexus of modern democracy, the nation upon which the narrative depends.
We're told the Zelenskiy regime in Ukraine stands for freedom and liberal democracy. In the United States the First Amendment is often invoked as the foundation from which all the other freedoms spring. This would include the freedom of religion and nations like Russia and China are frequently castigated for denying these rights and freedoms. And yet, we see the Zelenskiy government (which embraces the fascist remnants and permutations of the World War II era) denying these basic freedoms to large sections of its population. Kyiv has intervened and has banned expressions of religion that it does not approve of - those elements of Orthodoxy that retain historical and liturgical ties to Russia. Though the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (UOC) denounced the 2022 Russian invasion and has broken formal ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, this is insufficient in the eyes of the Zelenskiy government. Because the UOC was part of the Moscow Patriarchate it must be eradicated.
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-ziklag-secret-christian-charity-2024-election
The Christian Right's fundraising and lobbying machine is a veritable labyrinth and this is by design. Money is effectively laundered and the smoke and mirrors make it all but impossible to tell where the money is coming from and where the power is located. There are certain names that always seem to appear - these are in some cases key agents or actors. Sometimes they are the powers, the 'movers and shakers', other times they are the action-arms of the powers - which are often very wealthy people or the people that manage the wealth. It's complicated.
https://theworld.org/stories/2024/09/06/the-rise-of-an-armenian-church-opposition-leader
Yerevan continues to signal its shift to the West. There's little doubt that Moscow is alarmed as now Armenia seeks to re-orient its nuclear energy programme to the West and to cut out the Russians.
There's evidence of US meddling in the politics of Ecuador. Personally I did not find any of these revelations to be shocking. While the explicit evidence wasn't always there, these types of machinations are well known to those who have been paying attention. Wikileaks also played a role in bringing some of these things to light and by some reckonings, they're not all scandalous but are simply descriptive of how governments work with and relate to one another. It's often something other than what people think.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/children-deserve-uniform-standards-in-homeschooling/
Homeschooling has exploded, especially in the aftermath of Covid and it is sending up red flags among the Establishment. There have been numerous articles as of late critical of the movement and for every one of these there are multiple responses issued from the Christian community - which by all accounts dominates the homeschool spectrum.
https://apnews.com/article/viktor-orban-hungary-romania-eu-3ea649669de75d13b0ba3585c0e83239
The lead article alludes to the Habsburg Empire but then proves less than accurate in some of its historical statements. Orban does indeed have Habsburg allies but the article isn't really about the Habsburgs. The article touches on his grand vision, the supposed reconstitution of the Habsburg realm, but the story is really in the numbers. These reveal the rightward shift that's taking place in Europe and (I think) sheds light on Orban's more immediate machinations. It's clear he's thinking a couple of steps ahead, preparing for the next European Parliamentary election in 2029.
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/08/05/us-russia-prisoner-swap-cia-chechen-jihad/
This GrayZone article also caught my eye. I was glad to see that in all the hysteria regarding Russia, there's a story about Chechnya that's been largely forgotten.
https://eurasianet.org/russia-rages-over-us-military-exercise-in-armenia
These military exercises signal Yerevan's shift to the West and yet another Western incursion on the borders of Russia, another invasion into its historical sphere.
