073 Pentecost: Ask It Why
073 Pentecost: Ask It Why
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. ~ Psalm 143
Ask It Why
The next time you are afraid, ask it "why?"
Don't act. Don't move. Don't fix. Don't save.
Instead, feel the fear. Breathe it. Find it pulsing in you bones like an energy.
A fire.
There, burning in your fear, but not driven by it, learn the message for your soul: the clarity of your weakness.
This is ferocious hope. This is potent insight. This is heavenly knowledge.
To know your fear is to know your idol or your God.
To know your weakness is to know where to strengthen.
But you can't learn any of this while running from a tiger...
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
Jonathan Fisk
Clickbait Paradise
Equity ≠ Equality
Dr. Koontz shared a weighty article with the Us the Chill Discord crowd, written by Christopher Caldwell. Caldwell argues in his piece that "equity," as it is used by the progressive Left, is not what most people assume it is. He writes that many view equity as being a new name for the decades-old concept of "affirmative action." But in reality, he warns, what is being promoted by government, corporations, Hollywood, and the education system is a "radical redefinition of American ideas of fairness."
Caldwell cites examples of vaccine rollouts, government handouts, and programs that exclude white people in the name of equity. While he applauds the goals of civil rights laws, he writes that Equity 2.0 is an open-ended, nebulous affair, with the dangerous potential to create "neo-segregation." Segregating is the logical end of Critical Race Theory, because it pits ethnicities against each other in a hierarchy of oppression.
Caldwell is right to warn against the consequences of CRT but it isn't hard to find examples of this new racism already. Progressive politicians are openly admitting that they prioritize the needs of people from particular minorities or ethnicities, in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Seems kind of uniform, partial, and exclusionary to us, but what would we know?
So Mad Christian, it is definitely worth asking people what they mean when they use the word "equity." The solutions fallen humanity concoct to fix inequality always end with everybody crunched into one mold, mediocrity for all. Yet God, in his creativity and wisdom has designed us each as unique individuals. To borrow again the helpful analogy, we are like stones not bricks.
Real equity is not created through mandates or coercion, it comes from a sincere love for others. Critical Race Theory promises equity but can never deliver.
A breath of fresh air
Megan Molteni wrote an interesting article in Wired recently, following one scientist's bid to challenge accepted thinking on the transmission of viruses. Lindsey Marr is an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech and also studies infectious diseases. Marr was one of a group of scientists who tried to warn the WHO at the beginning of the pandemic that its thinking on aerosol spread was faulty.
Marr was puzzled by the WHO's definition of "airborne" as anything over 5 microns in diameter. She knew from her work that much smaller pathogens can become airborne and are often more dangerous— they do not need the dreaded droplets to spread. "To combat droplets, a leading precaution is to wash hands frequently with soap and water. To fight infectious aerosols, the air itself is the enemy."
Marr decided to find out where the seemingly arbitrary five micron cut-off had come from. She found it had been pulled out of context from a study on tuberculosis in the 1960's, influencing public health practices for the worse, for decades. Marr put her theories into practice, convincing the owner of her local gym to focus on ventilation, rather than physical distancing and testing. The result: no one has caught COVID at her gym.
Hearts and minds
The Supreme Court has decided to take an abortion case that could challenge Roe vs. Wade. The case involves a Mississippi law which banned abortions from 15 weeks. In other news, Texas governor Greg Abbott has signed a "heartbeat" bill, making abortions illegal from about 6 weeks onward.
Mad Monday readers will be aware of the pro-life successes we have seen in the last couple of years legislatively, yet a piece on the Progressive site Washington Monthlyshows the commitment the supporters of abortion have to their cause. [Here's your trigger warning].. The opinion piece is full of falsehoods and half-truths and calls for President Biden to "stop playing defense" on abortion. The writer urges Democrats to fill courts with pro-abortion judges and normalize abortion as medical "care."
So, let us not grow weary in standing up for life. Pray for our President, that whatever residual Catholicism he has will be stronger than his desire to appease the pro-death lobbies.
Like make believe
Last week saw an uptick in the government efforts to encourage people to take COVID vaccines. The governor of Ohio announced that vaccinated people would have a chance to win $1M. NJ residents lucked out - their lottery prize is just dinner with the governor.
But Spiked pointed out last week that it is actually elites who fuel suspicion of the vaccine. Sean Collins writes that the media narrative of uneducated Trump voters obstructing the vaccine rollout is convenient for liberals but too simplistic. He wonders why Dr. Fauci's "trusted messengers" are celebrities, not health experts. (This guy's Fauci impressionoffers a clue.. :))
The Federalist's Madeline Osburn reached similar conclusions, outlining how the CDC's contradictory advice has destroyed their credibility altogether. In spectacular examples of mission-creep, the CDC threw its weight around with teacher unions and put a moratorium on rental evictions. Even when it was just sticking to "the science", the political theater was hard to ignore. ZeroHedge reported that government advisors now admit they used "totalitarian"-style fear tactics to gain control of the population. Off -Guardian reports how the CDC manipulates data to "prop up vaccine effectiveness."
You've got to wonder why the elites won't admit the emperor has no clothes here... We even have a ten-year old calling out his teachers for their hypocritical stances on mask wearing. And this based gym bro saw through the lies last year, with remarkable clarity! (You really should watch this guy..)
We should probably take Sean Collins' advice as he concludes his article: "Rather than badger those who are reluctant to get the vaccine, it would be better for us to stop listening to Biden, Fauci and the CDC, take off our masks, and just get on with our lives. They will eventually catch up to us."
Elsewhere...The African nation of Seychelles is bringing back restrictions despite having 60% of its population vaccinated.
And from the Chill Discord, Unbiased Mike recommended this podcast from Jeremy Hammond. He discusses lockdowns, vaccines and groupthink.
Your mission should you choose to accept
Here's a novel idea, Facebook wants us to actually read articles before we share them. A study found that most people share news without reading anything beyond the headline. Facebook's newest preachy feature will prompt you to open the article before sharing it.
An NPR report has suggested that there is a growing body of evidence, linking Facebook use and depression.
The Attorney Generals of 44 states have written to Facebook recommending the company scrap its plans for a kid's version of Instagram.
Monday: it's an acquired taste
Take this job and shove it
Tennessee Governor, Bill Lee, has opted his state out of federal unemploymentsupplements and other benefits, saying that people need meaningful employment, not government handouts. Businesses across the country are struggling to find workers, as stimulus payments outstrip wages in retail and hospitality jobs.
President Biden says people want to work - but only if the price is right.. Teen Vogue, ever a bastion of morality and sense (we jest), agreed, suggesting we should give socialism a try. A new normal can be "weekly government financial aid, universal health care, and choosing to work from home if you want to, or not at all." After all, the writer says, America wasn't really built on "tenacity and industry" but rather on "exploitation and enslavement." And there it is..
The magical thinking Modernland promotes, that living off others is a good thing, is not what God has said in his Word. Solomon, the wisest man who lived, concluded in Ecclesiastes that finding satisfaction in your hard work is a good thing. St Paul exhorted the Ephesians to work so that they would have something to share with one who has need.
Mad Christians know that even in the Garden, it was a delight for our first parents to work, doing the tasks God had given them. He dignified mankind with vocations, stewarding creation, raising our families and helping our neighbors. Echoing Martin Luther, Gene Veith wrote, "God is hidden in vocation. Christ is hidden in our neighbors."
Ball of confusion
The Church of Sweden, the largest Lutheran body in Europe announced last week that it supports transgenderism.
Hailey Davidson, a biological male has won a professional woman's golf championship in Florida.
A federal judge has ruled against the College of the Ozarks in Missouri, saying that the college must allow students to share intimate spaces, including bathrooms with whatever gender they wish.
That wars may cease
Team Mad Mondays feels a bit out of our depth commenting with any sense on the violence between Israel and Palestine. But UnHerd laid out recent disputes over land and property while Spiked suggested that Hamas has lost its way as a liberation movement and is now consumed with the destruction of Israel.
Daily Wire reported on the ceasefire which was brokered by Egypt.
Photos and footage of the Iron Dome intercepting Hamas' rockets are mind-boggling.
And it turns out, flags often burn faster than you expected..
Quick Hits for the Eyebuds
🐬 Dolphins seem to get high off pufferfish toxin
💸 Short seller is betting against Tesla
🤸🏿♀️ Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles is on fire
🐦 Bird is the word: Surfing seagull
🚯 Goodwill stores: please stop donating trash!
🇨🇳 Anything you can do: China has a rover on Mars
🚴♀️ Don't ride and selfie
♟️ The ten-year old chess champion
🪓 Alaska man built his own sawmill to combat rising lumber prices
= Comedian Ryan Long wants full gender equality in the workplace
⁉️ It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Elon Musk's satellites
🚌 Hijacker sends everybody off school bus safely, after kids ask too many questions
🚬 Don't use hand sanitizer while smoking
🤔 Does Amazon know what it sells?
🐱🏍 The curious incident of the President and the truck
Promo of Friends
Rev. Fisk is always trying to convince you to move to Rockford, IL. What more do you need than a faithful LCMS church with a strong leader and an emerging men's group set out to change the world? If Illinois is not your style, Nathan MacPherson of BeatIRS.comhas put together a document comparing the free-ness of twenty different states in the MacPherson Freedom Index Free States Chart. See how these states compare in the following categories and which rights you'd have:
Land Overview- basic land and water information
People Overview- population, population density, and transportation
Fourth Commandment- laws affecting the filial relationship
Fifth Commandment- laws affecting the rights to defense of self and others
Sixth Commandment- laws affecting the marital relationship
Seventh Commandment- laws affecting the taking of your property by the state
Life from Land-the ability to be self-sustaining on the land which the Lord your God gives you
Sweetness You May Have Missed
Lutheran Tongue Speaking
Pentecost 202X
Cartoons Change, Channels Don’t
Let us pray: O God, on this day You once taught the hearts of Your faithful people by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy consolation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.