When I read the lectionary some mornings the brain is not working. I was worried last night because there ar enquiries at work, and did not sleep well. The boys still have university and school, and it’s moving into winter, so we were up before dawn.
And then I had difficulty choosing which passage: but in the end I think this one is the most timely. For Paul was writing to a church under persecution. And we are in a place where this is all too true.
It doesn’t matter what you say when trying to articulate why the President of the United States of America probably doesn’t need to release an official White House statement to congratulate someone for being gay and athletic.
It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Nothing is acceptable but complete and total adherence to the prevailing cultural dogma. You are only allowed to think a certain way about these kinds of things. Any thought, or statement, or phrase, or utterance that deviates from the zeitgeist by even the slightest degree will earn you the label of homophobic bigot, and that’s just all there is to it.
So, while I’m not a bigot, and while I’m not ‘homophobic,’ and while I generally carry about my day very much unconcerned with the sexual proclivities of football players from Missouri, I nonetheless feel the need to be a voice of reason amidst this whole spectacularly ridiculous charade. Therefore, I will be called a bigot, because that’s how America has been trained to react to anyone who questions popular opinion.
The fact Matt Walsh has to say he is not a bigot is an acknowledgment of the spirit of this age, where homosexuality is not reached the Spartan stage where it was compulsory, but praising anyone who has the courage to be gay is. Where we are told to shut up. To “check our privilege”.
"Check your privilege" == "Not of approved caste so be silent". That I will not be. #racist
— Chris Gale (@pukeko60) May 14, 2014
Needless to say, conversations like this are leading to me being called a troll. Pointing out logical fallacies leads to you being blocked.
We have not reached in the West the point where we are being killed. But we are being told that we cannot speak. And this silencing is a red flag, a harbinger: when this has happened before the society has rotted, both from the head and the tail.
And Paul, in a period of persecution, did what he could. He could not travel, so he sent Timothy. He could not teach, so he prayed.
1Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens; 2and we sent Timothy, our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith, 3so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for. 4In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 5For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.
6But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us – just as we long to see you. 7For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 9How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
11Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Paul was encouraged that the church had stood firm. And so must we. For all truth is good, and all that is worthy of praise should be used to build up the church. Silence is not part of this, and being scared to name what is going on because of the fear that we are not allowed to speak is an anathema. The answer to that is more speech, regardless of what happens.
It’s appalling that the Wintry Knight has to add the qualifying paragraph to this teaching. As if being a minority qualifies him, when it is the data he’s talking about (and he is quoting a debate in Science magazine) should suffice.
You know, a lot of people blame racism when some minorities underperform at school. But if that were so, then why aren’t Asians affected? The answer is that underperforming at school has nothing to do with race or racism. It’s all about strong marriages, strong families and hard work. Discipline.
…
For the record, I’m not white. I’m writing about this as one of those overperforming brown-skinned people.
Yeah, well I am white: I’m a Kiwi mutt with ancestors from all over the British Islands — and apparently there is even some French/Polish blood via one Grandfather.’s grandma, if that matters. For the knight is correct.
I got to work yesterday and commented that I’d made breakfast for the son and he was off to lectures at seven. Well, the statistics lady on my floor (who works for the best researcher in the department) said that she had to be on the bus at six when she was going to university. I agreed: I was on the bus at six myself when I went to the same university (from a poorer suburb that she lived in, both when I went to university and when she went two decades or more later). Her comment was that he’s soft, that the six hours of study he’s doing apart from lectures is not enough. He should be studying to midnight.
And she’s in her early 20s, and of the same minority as my ex-wife. A culture of hard work and discipline matters. And if this is now called “privileged” and is something to be ashamed of, the rot has truly taken hold.
