Bravo. Well said, Bruce. Evil takes many forms. It's not just stealing, lying and murder. It's fundamentally the rejection of God because at root of this rejection is the self-centredness of the ego and these NLOLs have as big an ego as anyone. it just takes an NLOL form. Fear and self-concern are sins even if they go with a cup of tea and a biscuit because they deny God.
A majority of the little old ladies in my parish are furious at the lockdown and demonstrate a rather encouraging insouciance towards it all. There's some hope...….
*>giving a ridiculously wide berth, or cringing in terror if someone passes*
Yes, I've noticed. The most extreme example I remember might have been a younger person _his or her face was so wrapped up it was hard to tell_ who *shrank* against the vegetable aisle in a local supermarket as I passed.
It reminded me of the Nazgul in the animated 1978 Lord of the Rings. Odd really since of course that creature was seeking rather than shrinking away:
Bruce, spot on as usual! It has been a shock to the system to see this in action.
16 November 2020 at 16:29
Andrew said...
As in "The Great Divorce", I think it was surprising to me during the reading that everyone he describes trapped in hell were completely normal people.
Do you think there is a chance for repentance post-life? I have acquittances at Church so overcome with fear that it has made them turn to evil. I don't know their hearts, but these mostly are the same "baby boomers" you describe. Their reaction to me is exactly as you describe - eyes averted to the floor in terror, head dropped down, trying to walk a broad circle away as fast as possible.
"All Men Do make a choice; all Men Are responsible for that choice; and that choice has eternal; Consequences."
Just to be clear, because this is important, what is the choice that men must make?
16 November 2020 at 19:49
as said...
My office team of 12 people recently had a picnic at a park.
This is the first time I had seen my colleagues in person since March when we all started working from home full time. One colleague didn't show because his wife thought it was too risky.
Everyone took care to sit spaced apart at picnic tables and on camp chairs while eating lunch and chatting.
At the end of the picnic, we decided to take a photo of the group.
I realized only later when I saw the photo that everyone else had slipped on their masks for the 30 seconds or so we were standing close together while the picture was being taken and then must have taken off their masks the second we moved apart.
It’s good to live in Taiwan. No one cares about the two-meter nonsense, and only once in the course of the whole panic has anyone given me a dirty look for not wearing a mask.
@WW "Fear and self-concern are sins even if they go with a cup of tea and a biscuit because they deny God." - Very good!
@Andrew "Do you think there is a chance for repentance post-life?" - I believe that it is possible for someone to make a permanent committment - this is necessary for Heaven to be possible (we must be able permanently to commit to God).
So, your question is whether it is possible to make a similar permanent committment to evil. I would say yes it is, but that while we can commit to Good in an instant; I think that for most people there must be a long-term and incremental corruption before a permanent committment to evil can happen.
I believe that everyone who incarnates is capable of rejecting evil (or else they do not incarnate, and remains spirits - demons). However, a few people seem to be born with a strong disposition to choose the side evil; and it may be that they make a permanent committment to evil very early in life.
@Wm - It's clear that there are better and worse places - even in England. But it is also clear that everywhere is going in the same direction; and that nowhere will be allowed to stand apart for long (assuming that the current regime continues). Any person, group or nation who tries to stand apart will surely be labelled as one or more of: killing people, and racist, and destroying the world by climate change, and *phobic.
17 November 2020 at 06:56
Gary Bleasdale said...
At any rate, I think that the main point of Dr Charlton´s post is not fundamentally about these nice little old ladie´s attitude towards the birdemic per se - rather, as I understood it, that evil can enter into the most hallowed, revered and really unexpected places. Even the places we really would like to believe are impervious to evil. Such as little old ladies...
In fact, based on my own very direct experience, evil does make use of little old ladies quite a bit, since most of them are actually secular leftists, or strongly embimbed of that value system.
However, since evil knows that all of us have soft spot for NLOLs, and the NLOLs invite evil in when seduced/invited into the heart (because they are, fundamentally, this-worldist, hedonistic and short-termist), they are in fact as much a vector for evil as any other. Perhaps in a sense even more so since their evil tends to go undetected (by assumption).
As an aside (since this post mentions the birdemic) I feel compelled to issue a reminder: let us not forget, that the birdemic is not something to worry about, neither are the pathetic agendas of the establishment. Let us not forget that these people are not even dust on the feet of God. And indeed, are destined to fail and perish even in this world - how could their nonsense succeed against him who has Christ within... who, in a very real sense, has become (a) Christ, even if on a small scale and in a flickering way?
When we are participating in the original power of the Creator, how can the chaotically/evil/abysmally/darkly-inspired nonsense of the establishement agenda really manage to destroy us? It cannot.
"If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28
I am thoroughly convinced that those who really open their hearts to Jesus Christ and say No to evil, will not be allowed to perish, even in these times of (apparently) triumphant evil. Open your heart, love Christ, and fear not - He WILL Take care of you, He will not give you faulty instructions, and will work thousands of miracles in your life, mostly unseen, and many of which will only become apparent at a later date. Learn to love, lead with the heart, and then
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." John 4:18
"But it is also clear that everywhere is going in the same direction; and that nowhere will be allowed to stand apart for long (assuming that the current regime continues)."
Here in Sweden we have new restrictions, more severe than the initial, though no lockdowns as such yet. It is quite clear which way we are heading though.
I saw a Youtube-video comparing the Establishment to someone who beats his wife. For periods such a person might let up and become caring so the victim fools herself thinking that he is actually good, only to become gradually worse and worse. It might be something to that comparison.
@AnteB - It's a bit like that - except that our rulers keep telling us explicitly where this is going, on the public record; but the masses refuse to take it seriously - dismissing anyone who points out these plans as (yawn...) conspiracy theorists.
@Doc - Another way of understanding it is that evil is intention, wicked is action - and the two can dissociate. For example a slave may be compelled to do wicked actions - the alternative being torture and death (which they may not have the strength to choose).
To atheist materialists, who acknowledge only actions; this leads to moral relativism = team Satan.
But for Christians, the slave always can repent, and remain on the side of God.
#Doc - "It is difficult for many to identify because it is not obviously wicked in nature. " In my experience it usually IS obvious. There is a certain type of woman (especially but not exclusively, older) here, that seems to have had their entire being whittled down to neurosis and anger. They simply look crazy, even children can see this.
19 November 2020 at 21:34
Ben said...
Thanks for the article Bruce.
And thanks for that very nice and edifying comment Gary.
21 November 2020 at 17:40
You have probably seen plenty of these, as I have, over recent months. Little old ladies (and men) who are walking everywhere swathed in 'face coverings' ,and who treat all other people as rabid-leper-zombies by giving a ridiculously wide berth, or cringing in terror if someone passes nearer than the official two yards; and who yearn for more lockdowns, less freedom, more masks for everyone... more destruction of everything. Am I really saying that these terrified little old ladies are evil*? Well, yes! Of Course they are evil! And very obviously so. And why should they Not be evil? They are mostly people who grew up from the 1950s to the 70s; during the time of mass Christian apostasy, New Leftism, and the enshrinement of sexual hedonism as a Human Right. They are almost-never Christian, almost-always significantly leftist (whether socialist, feminist, antiracist, sexual revolutionist or whatever) - therefore, their highest values are likely to be niceness/ leftism and their own health/ life extension. Instead of recognising fear as a sin, they regard chronic terror as a moral duty. Instead of repenting their own fear, they celebrate and advertise cringing as a mark of supposed virtue. And they want, demand, that everybody else be forced to behave like themselves - because they hope that doing so will extend their own lives by just a bit more...What happens to their family, neighbours, nation, civilization is of no concern. If bringing down the world is the cost of giving them having another month or year of life: then so be it. By rejecting God, Jesus and the spiritual life (which ought to be the life priority in old age) - they open themselves wide to manpulation by demonic powers, and by the human servants of evil. Evil knocks, is welcomed, and invited in. That the nice little old ladies can easily be terrorized is not their fault. That responsibility lies with the Establishment and their 'advisors'. But that NLOLs live in continual fear but regard that fear as A Good Thing, and do not repent their own fear; certainly is their fault. That they want/ demand/ support legislation that everybody else also live in fear (and get angry when they do not) certainly is their fault. That they continue to be as hedonically selfish and wedded to their 'human rights' regardless of consequences, certainly is their fault. Christianity is a tough religion. Nobody gets off the hook; because all are required to make a choice, the choice cannot be avoided, and neither can responsibility for that choice. All Men Do make a choice; all Men Are responsible for that choice; and that choice has eternal; Consequences. And evil has many guises. Including little old ladies. But we know evil when it impinges on us. *Note: Here I am using my understanding that evil means 'on the side of Satan': on the side against God, Creation and The Good. Assuming it is valid; this conceptualisation is - I find - a powerful and clarifying discriminator.
"Evil? Those nice little old ladies walking around in masks and cringing with fear?"
17 Comments -
Bravo. Well said, Bruce. Evil takes many forms. It's not just stealing, lying and murder. It's fundamentally the rejection of God because at root of this rejection is the self-centredness of the ego and these NLOLs have as big an ego as anyone. it just takes an NLOL form. Fear and self-concern are sins even if they go with a cup of tea and a biscuit because they deny God.
16 November 2020 at 09:46
A majority of the little old ladies in my parish are furious at the lockdown and demonstrate a rather encouraging insouciance towards it all. There's some hope...….
16 November 2020 at 09:59
*>giving a ridiculously wide berth, or cringing in terror if someone passes*
Yes, I've noticed. The most extreme example I remember might have been a younger person _his or her face was so wrapped up it was hard to tell_ who *shrank* against the vegetable aisle in a local supermarket as I passed.
It reminded me of the Nazgul in the animated 1978 Lord of the Rings. Odd really since of course that creature was seeking rather than shrinking away:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrzrOyeo5o8
16 November 2020 at 11:06
Bruce, spot on as usual! It has been a shock to the system to see this in action.
16 November 2020 at 16:29
As in "The Great Divorce", I think it was surprising to me during the reading that everyone he describes trapped in hell were completely normal people.
Do you think there is a chance for repentance post-life? I have acquittances at Church so overcome with fear that it has made them turn to evil. I don't know their hearts, but these mostly are the same "baby boomers" you describe. Their reaction to me is exactly as you describe - eyes averted to the floor in terror, head dropped down, trying to walk a broad circle away as fast as possible.
16 November 2020 at 16:30
"All Men Do make a choice; all Men Are responsible for that choice; and that choice has eternal; Consequences."
Just to be clear, because this is important, what is the choice that men must make?
16 November 2020 at 19:49
My office team of 12 people recently had a picnic at a park.
This is the first time I had seen my colleagues in person since March when we all started working from home full time. One colleague didn't show because his wife thought it was too risky.
Everyone took care to sit spaced apart at picnic tables and on camp chairs while eating lunch and chatting.
At the end of the picnic, we decided to take a photo of the group.
I realized only later when I saw the photo that everyone else had slipped on their masks for the 30 seconds or so we were standing close together while the picture was being taken and then must have taken off their masks the second we moved apart.
16 November 2020 at 20:08
@BfC- The primary choice is which side to take in the spiritual war: with God; or against God (with Satan).
16 November 2020 at 21:19
It’s good to live in Taiwan. No one cares about the two-meter nonsense, and only once in the course of the whole panic has anyone given me a dirty look for not wearing a mask.
17 November 2020 at 04:00
@WW "Fear and self-concern are sins even if they go with a cup of tea and a biscuit because they deny God." - Very good!
@Andrew "Do you think there is a chance for repentance post-life?" - I believe that it is possible for someone to make a permanent committment - this is necessary for Heaven to be possible (we must be able permanently to commit to God).
So, your question is whether it is possible to make a similar permanent committment to evil. I would say yes it is, but that while we can commit to Good in an instant; I think that for most people there must be a long-term and incremental corruption before a permanent committment to evil can happen.
I believe that everyone who incarnates is capable of rejecting evil (or else they do not incarnate, and remains spirits - demons). However, a few people seem to be born with a strong disposition to choose the side evil; and it may be that they make a permanent committment to evil very early in life.
17 November 2020 at 06:52
@Wm - It's clear that there are better and worse places - even in England. But it is also clear that everywhere is going in the same direction; and that nowhere will be allowed to stand apart for long (assuming that the current regime continues). Any person, group or nation who tries to stand apart will surely be labelled as one or more of: killing people, and racist, and destroying the world by climate change, and *phobic.
17 November 2020 at 06:56
At any rate, I think that the main point of Dr Charlton´s post is not fundamentally about these nice little old ladie´s attitude towards the birdemic per se - rather, as I understood it, that evil can enter into the most hallowed, revered and really unexpected places. Even the places we really would like to believe are impervious to evil. Such as little old ladies...
In fact, based on my own very direct experience, evil does make use of little old ladies quite a bit, since most of them are actually secular leftists, or strongly embimbed of that value system.
However, since evil knows that all of us have soft spot for NLOLs, and the NLOLs invite evil in when seduced/invited into the heart (because they are, fundamentally, this-worldist, hedonistic and short-termist), they are in fact as much a vector for evil as any other. Perhaps in a sense even more so since their evil tends to go undetected (by assumption).
As an aside (since this post mentions the birdemic) I feel compelled to issue a reminder: let us not forget, that the birdemic is not something to worry about, neither are the pathetic agendas of the establishment. Let us not forget that these people are not even dust on the feet of God. And indeed, are destined to fail and perish even in this world - how could their nonsense succeed against him who has Christ within... who, in a very real sense, has become (a) Christ, even if on a small scale and in a flickering way?
When we are participating in the original power of the Creator, how can the chaotically/evil/abysmally/darkly-inspired nonsense of the establishement agenda really manage to destroy us? It cannot.
"If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28
I am thoroughly convinced that those who really open their hearts to Jesus Christ and say No to evil, will not be allowed to perish, even in these times of (apparently) triumphant evil. Open your heart, love Christ, and fear not - He WILL Take care of you, He will not give you faulty instructions, and will work thousands of miracles in your life, mostly unseen, and many of which will only become apparent at a later date. Learn to love, lead with the heart, and then
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." John 4:18
17 November 2020 at 11:44
"But it is also clear that everywhere is going in the same direction; and that nowhere will be allowed to stand apart for long (assuming that the current regime continues)."
Here in Sweden we have new restrictions, more severe than the initial, though no lockdowns as such yet. It is quite clear which way we are heading though.
I saw a Youtube-video comparing the Establishment to someone who beats his wife. For periods such a person might let up and become caring so the victim fools herself thinking that he is actually good, only to become gradually worse and worse. It might be something to that comparison.
17 November 2020 at 15:23
@AnteB - It's a bit like that - except that our rulers keep telling us explicitly where this is going, on the public record; but the masses refuse to take it seriously - dismissing anyone who points out these plans as (yawn...) conspiracy theorists.
17 November 2020 at 16:36
@Doc - Another way of understanding it is that evil is intention, wicked is action - and the two can dissociate. For example a slave may be compelled to do wicked actions - the alternative being torture and death (which they may not have the strength to choose).
To atheist materialists, who acknowledge only actions; this leads to moral relativism = team Satan.
But for Christians, the slave always can repent, and remain on the side of God.
18 November 2020 at 17:28
#Doc - "It is difficult for many to identify because it is not obviously wicked in nature. "
In my experience it usually IS obvious. There is a certain type of woman (especially but not exclusively, older) here, that seems to have had their entire being whittled down to neurosis and anger. They simply look crazy, even children can see this.
19 November 2020 at 21:34
Thanks for the article Bruce.
And thanks for that very nice and edifying comment Gary.
21 November 2020 at 17:40