A recent conversation led me to revisit the Austin Bombings
back in 2018. In some respects I'm surprised there hasn't been more of this
sort of thing – more Christian Terrorism as it were.
There are many people of similar mindset and developing in
the same matrix of ideas. Some can't deal with all the implications and
pressures and become radicalized.
Many embrace Rushdoony's 'From the Ashes' mindset – the idea
that culture is going to collapse and that from its ashes a new generation of
dominionist leaders will emerge to take over the culture. We're now more than a
generation into this ethos which has motivated and inspired many Christian
homeschoolers.
For some, the motivations are not merely opposition to the
humanistic secularism of the public schools or out of a desire to provide their
children a specifically Christian education – which more often than not is less
than what it claims to be.
I've encountered not a few who seem really driven by the
motivations of survivalism. They're fully expecting a dystopian future and as
such they are consumed with preparing for the Mad Max-like scenario. Along with
this approach to life which includes a focus on food preparation and
preservation, often with alternative energy sources, guns and the like – comes
a theologically-derived impetus to breed an army. Their large families are not
just the result of a faith-driven approach to reproduction but represent a
deliberate attempt to populate the earth with warriors and outbreed the imploding
populations of the pagans.
But as the years pass I've seen so many of these hyper-family
models go wrong – not all reach the point where one of their sons is out
setting off bombs, but I've seen a lot of apostasy, and rebellion, and I fully
expect to see more bombings and shootings in the future. We are headed toward a
type of dystopia and I believe authoritarian polities and political structures
are likely to dominate the future. There's going to be more violence. Some will
experiment with a libertarian Wild West scenario but they're going to find that
most people don't actually like it and in light of such chaos and banditry they
will happily turn toward an authoritarian state.
I think disillusion plays a role in the sad stories of these
young people gone astray and that's only going to get worse over the next few
decades.
A lot of these militant homeschooling types actually have an
ambivalent attitude toward education. They push a certain kind and in certain
fields but it's very limited and that only adds to the tragedy as these
disillusioned and often angry young people find that they've been cheated and
many are sorely lacking in basic education and struggle in society as a result.
There are of course others who are committed to so-called Classical Education
and push for their kids to be highly motivated professional types. They're
often cut from a different cloth but at times these two impulses can overlap.
In these more radical survivalist-leaning circles there's
actually very little focus on Scripture apart from Old Testament verses
completely divorced from context and misapplied mutatis mutandis to a contemporary American context – along with
all the contradictions born of combining a Theocratic polity with Enlightenment
Libertarianism.
The conversations are rarely about the text of Scripture but tend
to focus on issues like diet, guns, dress, patriotism, politics, a worldly
masculinity/warrior ethos, home births, and sovereign citizen issues and
narratives – though they may or may not use that nomenclature.
There's nothing wrong per se in talking about some of these
things. There's nothing wrong with men being men and women being women, or
discussing modesty in our present sluttish and sodomitical context. But these
are conversations that go off the rails and are often rooted in false
assumptions from the very beginning.
The end result is a functional loss of the gospel – or rather
the gospel becomes equated with these secondary and often off-base issues. And to
have this discussion we certainly must factor in a host of additional
influences – everything from Right-wing media and its propaganda machine to the
disinformation campaign surrounding Covid-19.
But for many of these young people as they reach adulthood,
things just don't work out. They experience deep assimilation problems, there
are evident gospel problems as they are confused and cannot discern what is
Scriptural and what is merely cultural and political. They seem dominated by
anger and frustration and a growing even gnawing angst.
In some cases some of them seem to be not quite in 'the
group' (the ultra-dominionist community to which their families belong), but they're
not able to fully escape either. They want to explore other things – sometimes
sinful, but they're isolated and inept – and trapped.
There's a simmering frustration as some seem overly eager for
the apocalyptic showdown that just doesn't seem to be arriving despite the
endless failed predictions of their fathers and church leaders.
Dominated by let downs, it seems like life just isn't working
and for some this leads to what is effectively an adult temper tantrum and an
explosion of violence, resulting in a literal death spiral. It's very sad and
while I can be angry with some of these people and the parents who encourage their
sons to march on the capitol alongside the men in camouflage and carrying
assault rifles, my real anger is directed toward the leaders of the movement
who inhabit the media sphere, the minor celebrities in these circles that circulate
manipulative misinformation, spin the truth in the name of worldview, and twist
the Scriptures – even while they grow rich. That once small list is starting to
become substantial and this too is a warning to the Church and even society at
large. Sadly, the pagan media, politicians, and law enforcement are not going
to be able to navigate the nuances of thought and will not be able to easily
understand how someone who is an ardent advocate of Scriptural authority (such
as myself), who believes in home-schooling, and the domestic calling of women,
can at the same time utterly repudiate these people as deceived and at times
evil. From the vantage point of Babylon, we're all cut from the same cloth and
so when the axe is brought down – it will affect us as well.
In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul speaks of the false teachers who
glory in their status and their power. These false apostles and deceitful
workers transform themselves into angels of light – akin to the Satanic prince they
actually serve, a lord of death to be sure.
While we cannot lay claim to fully grasp the experiences of
Paul and the hardships he endured, we can sense the dynamics of his suffering
and his vigilance. He faced not just the hardships associated with nature and
travel but was endangered by the Jews that sought to kill him, and the heathen
that viewed his message as a threat to their gods or their empire. But he also
speaks of being in danger of false brethren – a peril we would do well to
consider.
The Austin Bomber is to be pitied. His family and church
failed him and for those who would raise up Dominion armies, they would do well
to consider the consequences of their failure. The stakes are high. Children
are a blessing to be sure – if they're raised in the Lord. Otherwise, you're
not just unleashing pagans into the world but apostates, which is far worse.
And there are apostates inhabiting the Church even now, all the more when the
gospel is lost and replaced by an ear-tickling worldly message in which the
mammon and vengeance-minded thinking of the lost can find a home. What will the
next decade or so bring? I shudder when thinking about it.
See also:
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2015/06/a-healthy-response-to-duggar-scandal.html
https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2022/02/cawthorn-and-testimony-of-dominionist.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2022/12/a-new-phase-for-homeschooling-movement.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/11/homeschooled-stormtroopers.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/10/homeschooling-extremes.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/05/evangelical-femininity-and-power.html
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