Your last sentence sums it up. We don't know we are at war and we don't fight our enemy because we don't recognise or even acknowledge it. But actually it's worse than that. Many of us do fight but on the side that is actively dedicated to our own spiritual destruction.
It's often been said that the devil's masterstroke is to get humanity to think he's a childish fiction but he's recently gone one step better and got large sections of humanity to fight on his side believing themselves to be defending the good.
"large sections of humanity to fight on his side believing themselves to be defending the good" - I don't know what they really think about what they are doing; but I find it increasingly hard to give them the benefit of the doubt (indeed, benefit of the doubt is a false ethical imperative - we should be concerned about the truth, not benefit of the doubt). ...
It makes perfect sense to me that demons run the world. The longevity of their plans(generations of men changetheir plans). This has been incremental, consistent and occurred over many generations. The sheer scale and genius seems beyond human. The sheer magnitude of their works. All encompassing, saturating every aspect of human society. People know intuitively that we are talking conspiracy, but even the most informed and intelligent secular thinkers, discount the idea because “ no one could have possibly done it”. Which is true. The question for one such as myself who knows of the existence of god but has yet to have accepted Christianity or Christ, or been accepted by Christ despite having tried and having no true knowledge of the existence of demons. Is how would demons excercise control over the world. One can only imagine secret societies performing ritual evil under the control and direction of strange spirits for eons. Ofcourse the biggest question is why would god allow it?
@whitestone - I feel I have attained a sufficient understanding of the answer to your question by reflecting on the work of William Arkle. I think we may be able to understand our own specific situation in mortal life - however, we cannot ever understand the whole thing, or everybody's lives.
But there will probably, eventually come a point where the situation on earth does more harm than good, or does no good - and the experiment/ experiences of mortal life on earth will be ended.
Could I add that I think God allows it because of free will. Seeing through it is a way of sorting out the sheep from the goats. Maybe the tests of Job are a clue as well.
5 October 2017 at 17:33
The paradox of modern Western life is usually missed. Officially we live in a materialist and secular world, in which the religious and spiritual is excluded from all serious and official public discourse; and where public priorities are selfish personal values such as prosperity, comfort, convenience, thrills and entertainment.
Yet if this was the whole story then public discourse would be much more Right Wing than it actually is - because materialism implies some form of selfishness - probably enlightened self-interest.
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However, as we all know - in fact even the secular Right perspective (traditional patriotic conservatism or Republicanism, even libertarianism) is excluded from public discourse by harshly imposed censorship backed by multiple personal sanctions. To the very limited extent it is allowed, the Right perspective is never engaged-with at the level of argument (but only by ignoring, misrepresenting, changing the subject, demonising, attacking etc.)
For example, mass, open-ended immigration is very clearly lethal to prosperity, comfort, convenience, thrills and entertainment - yet this objection is taboo.
Another example: The sexual revolution and antiracism are both having multiple and severe damaging effects on economic, military and educational effectiveness and efficiency - and on legal coherence and consistency; and this is causing an ever-clearer decline in prosperity, comfort, convenience, thrills and entertainment... Yet objections to such principles are likewise taboo.
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What this tells us is that the secular-materialist perspective is not the ultimate one in the Modern West - because it is only allowed to operate within a 'higher', much more powerfully-enforced ideological-ethical framework.
Since this overall framework is not materialist - it is in fact necessarily immaterial, indeed the framework is spiritual.
Yet the ruling spiritual framework which constrains materialism denies its own existence. It is there, it is pervasive, it is compulsory, it is enforced by rewards and sanctions... yet it denies its own existence!
There is no explicit statement of the spiritual beliefs, principles, aspirations of the governing ideology of the modern West - on the contrary it is claimed that there is no such ideology, but that The West operates in the absence of any ideology. It is claimed that we are a materialist and pragmatic society without religion - and at the same time everything demonstrates implicitly that we are ruled by spiritual values.
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Why would the ruling Establishment deny their own spiritual ideology? Why would they deny that they have an ideology? Surely it would be better to make the ruling ideology clear, and try to get everyone to agree with it... this was certainly what happened in past civilisations.
Well, why do you think? To me it is obvious that the existence and nature of the ruling ideology is denied and kept secret because it is evil, hence indefensible.
Explicit, strategic, purposive evil can only succeed by lying and misdirection - and that is precisely what we have.
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What kind of 'people' would, or could, actively and consciously pursue long-term plans and policies (stretching over many decades) that lead to the destruction of precisely those material values which they simultaneously say are the only true values... This is surely a recipe for absolute spiritual despair, and rejection of all values... Surely a recipe for self-hatred and spiritual-suicide...
To me this seems obviously the work of immortal demons who seek the self-chosen damnation of Men; and that therefore I infer that demons rule this world: at the highest level, they are in control.
More detail than this, I don't know; and I don't feel I need to know more. That fact is enough. The large shape and individual fingerprints of demonic activity are everywhere.
This is spiritual warfare - and only if we recognise the fact can we win.
"The West is only superficially secular and materialist, but fundamentally controlled by an overall ruling spiritual framework"
5 Comments -
Your last sentence sums it up. We don't know we are at war and we don't fight our enemy because we don't recognise or even acknowledge it. But actually it's worse than that. Many of us do fight but on the side that is actively dedicated to our own spiritual destruction.
It's often been said that the devil's masterstroke is to get humanity to think he's a childish fiction but he's recently gone one step better and got large sections of humanity to fight on his side believing themselves to be defending the good.
29 September 2017 at 16:07
"large sections of humanity to fight on his side believing themselves to be defending the good" - I don't know what they really think about what they are doing; but I find it increasingly hard to give them the benefit of the doubt (indeed, benefit of the doubt is a false ethical imperative - we should be concerned about the truth, not benefit of the doubt). ...
29 September 2017 at 20:09
It makes perfect sense to me that demons run the world. The longevity of their plans(generations of men changetheir plans). This has been incremental, consistent and occurred over many generations. The sheer scale and genius seems beyond human. The sheer magnitude of their works. All encompassing, saturating every aspect of human society. People know intuitively that we are talking conspiracy, but even the most informed and intelligent secular thinkers, discount the idea because “ no one could have possibly done it”. Which is true. The question for one such as myself who knows of the existence of god but has yet to have accepted Christianity or Christ, or been accepted by Christ despite having tried and having no true knowledge of the existence of demons. Is how would demons excercise control over the world. One can only imagine secret societies performing ritual evil under the control and direction of strange spirits for eons. Ofcourse the biggest question is why would god allow it?
5 October 2017 at 16:29
@whitestone - I feel I have attained a sufficient understanding of the answer to your question by reflecting on the work of William Arkle. I think we may be able to understand our own specific situation in mortal life - however, we cannot ever understand the whole thing, or everybody's lives.
But there will probably, eventually come a point where the situation on earth does more harm than good, or does no good - and the experiment/ experiences of mortal life on earth will be ended.
5 October 2017 at 17:26
Could I add that I think God allows it because of free will. Seeing through it is a way of sorting out the sheep from the goats. Maybe the tests of Job are a clue as well.
5 October 2017 at 17:33