Against the Jellyfish. [Acts 8]

I have no time for the jellyfish. Those who are polite, and decent, and will not fight. Who think that being polite and kind will change our enemies. It will not. It will mean that they treat us as a doormat. Their tactics come from Alinsky: we do not need to be honest and truthful and decent but you do.

There is no place within the church or in a sane society for such. The Jellyfish argue that there is.

Perhaps Clinton’s most effective ad against Trump was the one in which children watched his uncouth statements on television. I say this as a dad who has to explain to my son why the President-elect is calling people rude names, when I teach him that is wrong.

A big part of what conservatives are meant to conserve is decency, decorum, and respect. We should oppose shouting expletives at those we disagree with. We should oppose public shaming and boycotts. We should oppose cruel mockery as a legitimate means to achieve our ends.

Those on the alt-right and their apologists tell us that we must use the Left’s tactics to defeat them. This is wrong. It’s wrong because there is no distinction between tactics and politics, you cannot defeat something by becoming it.

Simon Magus was one of the first who entered the church with another agenda. His was power: he was a sorceror and eh wanted to be able to do the acts of power that Philip did. It is worth noting that he immediately stayed constantly with the apostle, being amazed by what he did.

But his heart was not taken over by Christ. The love of power had removed his spine. And he thought he could buy these abilities.

Acts 8:1b-13

8:1bThat day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. 2Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.

4Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. 5Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. 6The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, 7for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. 8So there was great joy in that city.

9Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. 10All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.

We have but one job. To preach Christ crucified, and to live for him. This will mean caring for our wives, and for our wives, it will mean caring for their husbands. we need to care for our children.

And when the elite decide they will turn our churches into charnel houses and destroy the innocence of the young, it is right to not call that normal, and to fight back. When the left recoil with horror, hit harder.

As adults, we need to pay our own way. We do not want to be training up a generation of spineless wimps. The narrative of the left does a good job of making humans jellyfish, floating in a current leading to destruction.

We should not be them, or like them.