Virtue is not SJW, misandry and homophilia [Acts 19]

U’m sitting in one of those times when things are looking bleak and the imitation of virtue is seen as virtue. The Knight is linking to the Telegraph, and talking about a Tory MP saying teaching straight marriage is the ideal == terrorism. Locally, we have the Minister of Justice arguing that we need to make the domestic violence laws even more easy to trigger to stop deaths. Yes, we have had a few: and yes, we ar doubling down on misandry and homophilia.

But God is still in charge. And the imitators of virtue are not virtue.

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

(Acts 19:11-20 ESV)

The seven sons of the High Priest were trying to imitate the genuine thing, which was Paul. They had no power and no authority. Now, the first lesson from this is that there are supernatural elements, and we must repent from flirting with them: the second is it is not acts of power that lead to repentance but failure, massive failure of those around you, which you witness.

But there is also the issue of signalling virtue. WHich is what all this SJW and misandry and homophilia is about It is showing that we are in polite society. The fact that it is riskier for women with all these rules (because brothers and fathers cannot weed the cads out, since they have been removed by the sword of Damocles that is the divorce court) and it is much more frightening to be a homosexual now (because we coddle the Muslims, who do not preach against homosexuality but instead bash them in the West and Hang them where the Islamist rule) is immaterial.

Because signalling virtue trumps effectiveness. As Helen Lewis points out in the New Statesman (hat tip Kiwiblog)

Now imagine those same people tweeting or facebooking their thoughts. Would they be as honest and open about their self-interest? I doubt it. They’d be changing their avatar to a rainbow flag, or ostentatiously sharing the touching story of a girl who needs a new wheelchair but can’t ­afford one. And on 7 May, a large percentage of them would have voted Tory.

This summer, as George Osborne slashes tax credits and makes swaths of southern England off limits to anyone on benefits (thanks to the new £20,000 cap), Labour’s attention should turn to the next election and picking a leader who can beat him.

Instead, a large number of constituency parties are nominating Jeremy Corbyn, even though he doesn’t want to be leader, has never held a leadership position in the party and could never find two dozen fellow-travellers to form a shadow cabinet. Clearly, these CLPs don’t think that Corbyn is their best shot at beating Osborne, overturning his unjust policies and enacting Labour ones instead. They are doing it to signal that they are on the side of right and good.

The American writer Matt Bruenig calls this “purity leftism”. As he wrote in 2012, “When purity leftists do actions and organising, their interest is not in reducing oppression as much as it is in reducing their own participation in it. Above all else, they want to be able to say that they are not oppressing, not that oppression has ended.”

Not all Corbyn supporters are like this. Some are backing him because they think he has the best ideas for the country and want him to challenge the other candidates, or because they admire his many years of ­dedication to his constituents. He is undoubtedly a dogged campaigner, an energetic speaker and a parsimonious public servant.

But I’ve had enough of people describing him as “principled” as if it were a synonym for “holds opinions I agree with”. Liz Kendall, who has been relentlessly called a Tory in disguise – a Facebook Q&A she did was particularly testy on this front – is also principled. If you acknowledge that Corbyn is giving voice to marginalised opinions, you must also acknowledge it takes lady-balls to go to a meeting of Labour activists and say that you support the two-child benefit limit or the 2 per cent defence spending commitment. Kendall is booed at hustings while Corbyn is cheered. Her campaign is faltering precisely because she is saying what she believes.

Well, I like the term ladyballs ;-). And George Osborne has to cut the benefits and boost defence, because Britain has to pay its way, and is facing an invasion from the “camp of the saints” trying to enter the land of benefits. Liz Kendall is correct: and Corbyn is wrong. Moreover, Corbyn is being used as a symbol: the man is principled, but he is a politician, and the symbolism is seen as more important than being effective.

Avoid such status competition. Boycott those who do this. Starve the beast. For the falsehood of the elite is being laid bare, and they will find themselves stripped, shamed and useful warnings.