Feminism Triumphant in the Evangelical Sphere

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/15/987552105/the-making-of-biblical-womanhood-tackles-contradictions-in-religious-practice

Extra-Biblical ecclesiology, bad hermeneutics, and bad doctrine in general have opened the door to feminism and they are now triumphant in the Evangelical world. So triumphant in fact, that things are beginning evolve.

The Guns of August in the Asia-Pacific

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/8/us-warns-china-over-moves-on-philippines-taiwan

These types of articles appear almost daily. The US continues to rattle its sabre and draw lines in the sand – and yet faint lines that can easily be withdrawn. Washington is pushing for war but it's clear there's still a good degree of timidity.

Asia is Marching Toward War

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/20/japan-must-speed-up-defense-says-minister/

Though it is often presented as a preventative measure, a type of peace through strength, the truth is militarism always results in conflict. And Japan has been rattling the sabre for some time. The Japanese Right is eager to re-arm and re-assert its traditional role in the Asian theatre. They view Japan as a great power on par with Western nations and now 75 years after its defeat in WWII – it's time for Japan to re-assume its place.

Brussels and Beijing in a Standoff

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/5/20/eu-warns-china-no-business-investment-deal-if-sanctions-remain

Brussels and Beijing are caught in something of a standoff. Both political entities have thrown down the gauntlet and now neither knows how to get out of the situation. And you can be sure that if a way can be found, the United States will pour fuel on the fire.

Who needs the other more? Who can outlast the other?

In other words, it's a test.

A Shocking Act: Ryanair Flight #4978

So said the US government in regard to the RyanAir flight diverted by Belarus to Minsk. Ostensibly threatened by a bomb, all admit the move was made by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko in order to seize an opposition journalist with Western ties.

Mainline Lutheranism's Utter Apostasy and its Historical Roots

https://www.npr.org/2021/05/09/995271758/megan-rohrer-elected-as-1st-openly-transgender-bishop-in-u-s-lutheran-church

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has been apostate for many years but the recent full inclusion of every extreme form of sodomy seems shocking to some – but it shouldn't be.

Sunday and the Triumph of Mammon

https://evangelicalfocus.com/life-tech/11589/us-one-in-four-protestant-churchgoers-works-at-least-one-sunday-a-month

If these people want to impact culture, this isn't the way. This isn't being salt and light. This is capitulation. I'm not a Sabbatarian though I will say the Church has always met on Sundays are there are doctrinal reasons for doing so. It's not essential as the Church can certainly meet on other days as well – and should. But Sunday worship, the first day of the week in connection to the Resurrection, is ancient and found in the New Testament itself.

Cyborg Warriors

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/05/05/us-space-chief-human-augmentation/

The reason this is being discussed is because it's probably already happening. Either the West is already involved in human augmentation, the Chinese are doing it – or probably a bit of both.

Netanyahu's Latest Ploy – The 2021 Gaza War

It is tragic to watch yet another chapter of violence unfold in the Southern Levant. Israel and Hamas are at war again. People are dying in Gaza. Homemade rockets, the paltry weapons of a desperate people are fired into Israel and yes, some have died. We've seen this play out before. But in this case, there's an extra layer of cynicism and depravity at work as all this centers around the evil that is Benjamin Netanyahu, the current and longtime prime minister of Israel.

Turkey's Foreign Policy, the Kirghiz-Tajik Conflict, and the Armenian Genocide

https://armenianweekly.com/2021/02/17/turkeys-pivot-in-central-asia-a-calculated-risk/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/24/us-formally-recognized-armenian-genocide-why-now-century-later/

Under Erdogan's leadership the Turkish state has shifted from being a Western-oriented and zealous member of NATO to a position often described as Neo-Ottomanism. Related to the Byzantine heritage, Neo-Ottomanism seeks to straddle the East-West divide and utilise its central geographic position as a means economic and geopolitical leverage. Instead of embracing the secularist nationalism of Kemalism, Erdogan has sought to rekindle the Islamic identity of the Ottomans.

Libertarian Distortions of the Gospel

https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/woman-arrested-at-bofa-for-no-mask/

I do not endorse Lew Rockwell's website. I visit it just to see what's being said in those circles. On occasion there's some foreign policy insight but generally speaking the Libertarianism of the site is contrary to New Testament doctrine and ethics.

And yet, there are many Christians taken in by their ethos and values. It's a bit of strange brew – a lot of Traditionalist Catholicism, Bircher-types, sometimes beyond-the-pale conspiracy stuff, mixed with Neo-Confederatism and a lot of other things. Sometimes there's something interesting but often it's more of an occasion to shake one's head.

Germ Warfare in Korea

https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/04/09/new-revelations-on-germ-warfare-its-time-for-a-reckoning-with-our-history-from-the-korean-war/

In 1998 the Wilson Center concluded that the many longstanding claims regarding American use of germ agents during the Korean War were not only not credible, they were based on a hoax. In response to this I would argue that anyone who has spent any time looking into the Wilson Center would have known the germ warfare denial was all but an endorsement of its reality. In other words if the Wilson Center is denying it – it probably happened.

Vietnam and the Anti-China Coalition

https://thegrayzone.com/2021/04/08/pentagon-vietnam-military-china-us-war/

Just a few years ago it seemed the Hanoi and Washington were on the cusp of becoming formal allies. The controversy that surrounded Bill Clinton's restoration of diplomatic relations with Vietnam in the 1990's is long past. Though Vietnam still suffers the effects of the US war in terms of Agent Orange and the like, they are clearly a resilient people and have moved on – ready to deal with contemporary realities. The American War now belongs to another generation. The fear today is with regard to the ancient enemy – not the Americans across the ocean but the neighbour across the northern border, China.

The Afghan Withdrawal

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/04/16/pentagon-unclear-if-contractors-will-leave-afghanistan/

The US strategy to secure Afghanistan has failed. A continued combat troop presence will only further tie down Washington and leave it committed to the internal politics of the country. The plans for pipelines have been abandoned – for now.