The origin of the universe and life are unfathomable *even to science*.
Why is God considered any less likely than meaninglessness?
If we allow for the existence of God, should we not search for Him (substitute pronoun of your choice)?
Would He perhaps reveal himself to us? Would He do so in different ways, as we societally advance up Mazlow's hierarchy of needs?
Is there no claim of Revelation that you find morally compelling? Even if the claims imply things that can't be explained by science? If science can't explain beginnings, do you expect it to explain ends?
This was a really good one, Sasha. It triggered a lot that I wanted to say, but I will have to return. Our family went through four terrible years under a RINO judge
in a case that went to our state Supreme Court. At the basis of the case was the question of whether the parents had the authority over the child. The militant left
wants the control over the child, that is the State (Government) to have authority over the child and to do whatever they please. It is the most disrupted goal they have in mind for the demoralization of child and parent. The person who took up the cause to get the Judge removed from the bench was a very smart lawyer, a yellow dog Democrat,
whose own clients were being hammered by the anti legal opinions that this Judge was rendering. The lawyer mobilized the 700 families in this court, put his research in the paper, which became a front page headline which ran for two weeks. The lawyer was a Christian in the Greek Orthodox Church. Our case was about to enter its final stages
Where this judge could have ruled just as he/she pleased, no matter what the law or facts of the case revealed. The Marshall of the Court found cause to remove this Judge and removed this person from the post and turned such person over to the State Judicial Ethics Board.
During this period we had a totally Republican Congress and a Republican White House. They had a bill which had passed both houses stating the the parent was the sole
authority over the child to make this into Federal Law. This was the Republican group who embarrassed us all and let us down on this very important bill. Had they worked and finalized it, these vultures that have destroyed families, children, school systems, education, libraries, sports, etc. iDemocrats would have never had a grip on our children.
So here the Christian lawyer put his faith in action as was RECORDED “ At that time the disciples came to Jesus. Saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?And calling to Him a child. He put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5. Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me; but WHOEVER CAUSES ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES WHO BELIEVE IN ME TO SIN, IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR HIM TO HAVE A GREAT MILLSTONE FASTENED TO HIS NECK AND TO BE DROWNED IN THE DEPTH OF THE SEA.” Do you think that Jesus had mutilation of children in mind?
Sasha, amazing piece. So righteous, passionate and moving. You have such a gift. You write with a conscience and moral indignation, saying things that need to be said. Thank you so much.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. The bigger question is why wasn't this a unanimous decision? I can't imagine how the minds of the 3 liberals on the court work.
Are you forgetting the bloodbaths in Europe like the 30 Years War? Christianity is not what made Western culture succeed. It was Christians and others who lived the values Jesus upheld and not those who conflated religion with politics.
I see moderate religion as a different kettle of fish from extreme religion.
It is religious extremism -- just like political extremism -- that causes trouble.
Any set of beliefs taken to extremes will enter totalitarianism. The 17th century Puritans and those who carried out the Spanish Inquisition were totalitarians, rather than loving Christians. They needed to reel it all back and lighten up.
Ac really fantastic article Sasha, God doesn't make mistakes! I'm 57 and didn't find Christianity until 4 years ago. I'm still a very critical thinker and sometimes that makes it hard for me square Christianity with my past secularism but I just accept that there are not always answers for everything and believing that Jesus is my Lord and Savior is a much better life than not believing. I'm so flawed and definitely struggle to be a good Christian but I find that struggle well worth it and much better than when I thought being a Christian was the worst thing that a person could be.
Well Steve, I grew up conservative Roman Catholic, attending Catholic schools run by Orders of Sisters. There was no such thing as too much Mass attendance. Some of us went daily.
When I became an adult I learned that this is considered scrupulosity, and is actually frowned-upon by some in the Church, because it leads to extremism. I understood their point. Living by the Middle Way is best. Living through extremism just builds your Shadow.
I do not need to be in Church to believe in and to practice Christianity (though sometimes I may choose to be). That was never the point of it all.
The Spanish Inquisition was conducted because false converts infiltrated the Church, were preaching heresy from pulpits, and were working with Muslims to invade Spain. Many lies are told about it: https://www.fisheaters.com/spanishinquisition2.html
I think the misunderstanding here is that several commenters are approaching it from the historical angle, whereas I am trying to explain the Psychology behind it. Two different types of focus.
Absolutely. My friend was tutoring an Afghan refugee who was learning about the Puritans in school. Her comment was "They sound like the Taliban."
Jesus, and spiritual teachers from other religions have said the commandment "treat others the way you would want them to treat you if you were in their position." Too many religious fanatics are following a different commandment "treat others the way I think they deserve to be treated." The first commandment is very hard to live by and leads to salvation. The second commandment is easy to live by and creates hell on earth.
It's grace or law. Jesus fulfilled the law on the cross and the two Commandments cover it all. Love the Lord God with all your heart mind and soul, and love others as yourself.
I keep having a frightening thought. And that thought is a 4th Turning climax (and a coming-together spring afterwards) won’t occur until a nuclear weapon is freshly deployed. By who I can’t say. But most likely, Israel against Iran. Or just as plausible - Iran detonating a bomb in their own desert to display they have it, and Israel/USA - back the f*ck off. I can hardly see any other way for cyclical history to reset without this ever crazy world being viscerally reminded of this destructive and Satan-loving weapon. We are now so far removed from the shadow of Hiroshima & Nagasaki that I think it must happen again to show our youth this insanity and (hopefully) shake us all back to our senses.
A missed swing at "Christian nationalism" and its conflating religion and politics. Rather, Max Weber had much to say about this in his "Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" However, Weber missed too in his ignoring the very important role of the Jews in Western economy and culture.
God loves you, Sasha, more than you can possibly imagine and wants you to spend eternity with Him!
You seem to me to be so fearless. Why are you so afraid to investigate the claims of Christianity and go deeper in your exploration of God and His Son?
You committed to fully learn about the Trump/MAGA world through courage, hard work and openness. Why not do a similar plunge into God, Christianity?
Don’t wait! The resulting joy and peace God provides passes all understanding.
Sasha, I always love your writing but this, this was so transparent, so focused. I have been a Christian almost my entire life yet am still learning, growing, sometimes losing my way. Belief comes first, then one sees. Start with the gospel of John. See how those ordinary men and women received revelations beyond all knowing. Simple faith. “May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” ❤️
"After Trump won, we became an unhinged, hysterical, angry mob of women who felt it was our right to convict Justice Kavanaugh of rape in the court of public opinion."
I am a woman who has always had serious problems with feminists and the way they behave, the thoughts they think.
I used to have to turn away from the news clips showing yet another mass mob of deranged women marching gleefully somewhere because the law had just given them the ability to legally kill their own unborn children.
They have a stronger kinship with the radical feminist movement, than their own families.
What evilness must lurk in the heart of a woman who would deliberately have multiple abortions, then brag to others how many abortions that she has had?
Once upon a time, in my youth, I had a family friend several years ahead of me who came home from university boasting that she intended to join the coolest female social group on campus -- in which membership included having to have had at least one abortion.
I thought she must be joking. Now I realize that she wasn't. It still shocks me.
It truly is a sign of a sick society, when women go on these abortion marches, and it says on their shirt "I've had 9 abortions," and that person is celebrated by the crowd.
Sick, sick, sick. Ominous sign of a very sick society.
Also, celebrating that a baby whose due date is tomorrow, can be aborted today. Very sick. Because pretty soon they'll be discussing the disposal of their 2-year-olds that they've gotten tired of.
I suspect that many women who do this feel the need for group validation above their moral and maternal needs. They are willing to sacrifice the unborn for this validation.
From eight or nine years old until I grew into Christianity in the last couple years (mid-fifties) I too had a very tough time with religion. I just had no faith.
It was astrophysics and particle physics, plus having to lock our doors at night, that brought me back, so it can come from anywhere.
Anyway, don’t stop looking. It can come from anywhere to anyone, and you don’t need other people.
I worked in hospitals for over 30 years, and one of the most difficult things to witness were obvious cases of Munchausen's or worse yet, Munchausen's by proxy.
I believe that most of the children claiming they're the wrong sex are victims of Munchausen's by proxy. When you see/read interviews with couples on stories regarding children, the mother is controlling all of the answers, and the father is usually relatively quiet, or parroting his wife. She is reveling in the attention/adoration she's getting from other women about having a 'special' child.
I can't imagine what it would be like to be the father and watch as your child is maimed. It wouldn't be as bad as those mothers who live with a husband that's committing incest, but not much less.
Autism has nothing to do with mutilating anyone. The right can preach "there are only 2 genders" ad nauseum, but it is a fact that not everyone is born "neurotypical". Examples include autism, people with masculinized brains in female bodies or vice versa, and variety of other conditions. I can empathize with the struggles that a parent with a transgender child goes through, while the right just hates them.
"Neurotypical" and "neurodivergent" are new catchphares that attempt to justify the barbarianism of child transgender mutilation from puberty blockers to the removal of body parts. Great Britian has severely limited anything "gender-affirming" for childern because of the lack of science and facts (another catchphrase that's been perverted by the left). Nowhere in human history has any society attempted to encourage its childern to believe that their sex is mistaken and therefore should be surgically altered. And by the way, anyone who defaults to unserious trope of "the right hates..." undermines whatever limp argument they've attempted to make.
As the parent of a son with autism, I can assure you that neurodivergence is real. I think there are also variations in brain development that lead people to be homosexuals or even feel they are trapped in a body of the wrong sex, gender dysphoria.. I have talked to transgenders who have said they felt that way their entire lives. That doesn't mean I think the surgeries are a good idea. I think they should be discouraged because they are so invasive. Parents of adolescents have a dilemma because the transition is more successful especially for male to female if they don't go through puberty which gives them deep voices, facial hair & larger skeletons so I emphasize with them. Most transgenders I know are satisfied with the results of whatever treatment they have chosen (not all have surgery) and don't feel they should disappear. As far as I can tell, the right hates them & transgenders are afraid
You're talking about a very minor part of the population. But the Democrats want to convince everyone that it's a widespread problem.
Why do about 2% of the kids in Indiana consider themselves transgender/ LGBQ while in California, 25% are LGBQ?
Hmmm 🤔🤔
Grooming, anyone?
If children are allowed to go through their hormonal changes in puberty, and not encouraged to misinterpret what their confused feelings are, in the VAST number of incidents of confusion, kids grow through things and are normal afterwards. It's only normal for a kid to be confused at that age because they have all kinds of new hormones going through their system.
That doesn't happen if they're encouraged to get masectomies or castration.
"CA, the most populous state in the nation, is home to the country’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population—2.8 million people (7.1%). TX is second, on both counts, with an LGBTQ+ population of 1.8 million (5.75%). These numbers are based on the Household Pulse Survey, an initiative of the US Census, which was conducted from Feb. through April,2024. TX is a conservative state which has almost as large a percentage of LGBTQ+ as CA. Do you think there is a lot of "grooming" in TX?
CA's LGBTQ+ community includes a broad range of identities, over half (52%) of LGBTQ+ adults in California describe themselves as bisexual. One in 5 young adults in California identifies as LGBTQ+, compared to only one in 20 older adults. Among LGBTQ+ young adults, the VAST majority (72%) describe themselves as bisexual."
In the past, there was not much publicity about being "bisexual" and probably many people who call themselves bisexual today would have considered them selves "straight" in the past; probably their dominant attraction is to the opposite sex.
The first post was mentioning specifically so-called transgender kids, in regards to Munchausen Syndrome, not autistic or otherwise developmentally impaired kids. Because so called gender care is the maiming of kids by parents or doctors (mastectomies and castration) but no damage is done to the kids, by the parents or doctors, in autism or the like.
I am pointing out that people are born who are not "neurotypical" including people with autism and those that fell their sex is the opposite of their body.
I've adopted the term “Transhausen by Proxy”, it narrows things right down to those disgusting people who would harm their children. As for the “dads”, any father who would sit quietly and let that happen isn't a man at all, and there's a special place in hell for those pansies.
Sasha, I too thought religion was a panacea. Jesus is right there watching, listening, beckoning. He is a perfect gentleman. He waits for you to reach out. He knows you better than you know yourself. I was energetic, willful and very stubborn. He stepped into my life anyway and still uses those traits to bless and interact with others. Bless you.
In all the millennia that man has walked the earth, Transgenderism was unknown apart from being a rare mental illness. Even eunuchs in the ancient courts were eunuchs only because it had been forced on them.
In the past decade or so.....there have been persons on a regular basis who state they are afflicted by this pseudo-reality. Where in blazes did this rare body dysmorphism come from, in such great numbers....all of a sudden?
It came from a mind-virus....a social contagion. An evil idea which took over vulnerable minds that would have been taken over by cults or by Eating Disorders in the recent past.
Now the fashionable meme for mental slavery is to believe you are Trans-gendered. And voila! Tens of thousands of them voluntarily allow this mind-capture.
Gender dysphoria, a psychosis, appears to have become transgenderism, a social victim class, as western culture abandoned the Judeo-Christian view that the purpose of human sexuality as stated in Genesis 1:27-28 "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him: male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth ..." And that culture further accepted as stated in Genesis 2:24 "therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife: and they shall become one flesh." (Which is likely one of the Christian conservative values that Sasha found so bigoted and dangerous.)
With the influence of Luciferian Franco renaissance "luminaries" (Voltaire, Rousseau, Robespierre and the Jacobins) eros resulting in copulation was no longer restricted to marriage and, therefore, no longer restricted to procreation. Not surprisingly, Malthus ( a Brit) comes along and claims the earth is overpopulated amplifying the practice of birth control, Eugenics, sterilization and abortion. A generation later brings Auguste Compte and what his critics would call "scientism" or treating science as religion, in turn inspiring Secular Humanism. (Which, IMO, became the de facto state religion of the U.S.A.)
From my perspective, the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s western culture adopted the value that eros leading to copulation or at least orgasm, including statutory rape - pedophilia, is an individual human right. Is it any wonder that forcible rape has become practically unprosecuted?
"Not surprisingly, Malthus ( a Brit) comes along and claims the earth is overpopulated"
It has been amazing how many people took Thomas Malthus seriously and allowed his ideas to rule the roost. Unless of course, they wanted those practices enshrined anyway, and Malthus' work was just the excuse.
I have heard it said that the war in Ukraine is just another form of eugenics too.
The values ushered in during the 60s/70s were Neo-Marxist values, mean to distort and ultimately destroy society. It wasn't about Love/Peace/Freedom/Human Rights at all. But maybe you know that.
Dozens of teachers from several midwestern states hosted an online chatroom this week to discuss how to secretly help students "transition" genders without consent from the parents.
The session was hosted by Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center (MAP), an organization funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education. More than 30 teachers from Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio attended the session.
During the four-hour workshop, the teachers discussed how to subvert new laws in Republican states that protect children from gender ideology in schools. One teacher explained how to hide a student’s transgender name and pronouns from their parents.
“We’re working with our record-keeping system so that certain screens can’t be seen by the parents … if there’s a nickname in there we’re trying to hide,” said Kimberly Martin, the DEI coordinator for Royal Oaks Schools in Michigan.
Also, a new enlightenment started with the COVID epidemic. That era really gave parents a chance to see the crap that gets forced on kids in schools. Since then, parents are fighting back against Leftist indoctrination. Hope it's not too little, too late.
There's a whole generation of indoctrinated, misinformed idiots in high schools and on college campuses, now.
I found it in the Daily Wire which I am not sure I believe. "Many Daily Wire stories repackage journalism from traditional news organizations while adding a conservative slant. Fact checkers have said that some stories shared by The Daily Wire are unverified, and that The Daily Wire sometimes misstates facts to advance a partisan view."
The article claims that "36%, opposed teaching transgenderism at any level in K-12 education." Do you believe that any of the children from ages 5-18 might encounter any LGBTQ+ people in their lives or families? Some children have "2 mommies" or "2 daddies." Are they supposed to act like they don't exist?
Some of you claim that conservatives accept homosexuality and same-sex marriage. I think Project 2025 wants to eliminate all of it.
“ The Bradshaws accepted their teenager’s new gender identity, but not without trepidation, especially after he asked for hormones and surgery to remove his breasts. Doctors had previously diagnosed him as being on the autism spectrum, as well as with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, PTSD and anxiety. He had struggled with loneliness during the pandemic, and, to his parents, seemed not to know exactly who he was yet, because he had repeatedly changed his name and sexual orientation.
Given those complexities, Mrs. Bradshaw said she resented the fact that the school had made her feel like a bad parent for wondering whether educators had put her teenager, a minor, on a path the school wasn’t qualified to oversee.
The public school that Mrs. Bradshaw’s son attends is one of many throughout the country that allow students to socially transition — change their name, pronouns, or gender expression — without parental consent.“
You know, you can formulate and hold your very own belief in God without professing it or ever going into a church. That's where I've landed at 68 after being largely atheistic most of my life. I think that's the journey you're on.
Too bad you have not been attracted by the fellowship of a church (ecclesia, or gathering). That fellowship's foundation is love for each other and its doctrine. And if that fellowship and doctrine is loving, you will long to attend.
The late Richard Wurmbrand had the same ambivalence towards faith, God, and church as you. But he had a curiosity of what motivated others to attend church services. So, he would go in to services where he observed others doing so with the vague expectancy that if God existed He/She/It would reveal Itself to him. In retrospect he learned that expectancy he had was a prayer that God answered in power and love but not in a church.
What is Christ's invitation?
Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light
Can you imagine thinking this thought back in normal-land, say...in the 70s or 80s? It would have been too bizarrely extreme a thought even for Monty Python to deal with. Though they did make a tiny attempt at it.
Who would have believed that any average person could see the world this way?
If Western civilization survives this long bout of mass insanity, the books will never stop coming, trying to describe and analyze how so many people could have become so mad. Future normies will be astonished that this could have taken place amongst once-civilized humans on the planet earth.
We did see something quite similar though in 1930s/40s Germany....
I have studied the situation in cross-disciplinary ways for many years. When no one else was the least bit interested. It is a small niche field.
My opinion -- which I have stated for years -- is that both the Nazism of Germany and the mass insanity across the West today are examples of mass Shadow Possession. Carl Jung gave us the concept of the Shadow.
Yeah but the Puritans executed about 20 witches while the Germans, both Catholic and Protestant did thousands. About half were peasants whacking midwives and herbalists. But the other half was done by the government or the churches. They had a system whereby the official witch hunters were funded by confiscations from the executed. Worked like our system of confiscations supporting LE.
The American Puritans were a tiny population in comparison, though. They had the same blood-thirst as the witch-hunters in more populous Europe. The same predator-scapegoat issue.
You also find this issue in radical Islam today, of severely punishing the "heretics".
The Spanish Inquisition burned a lot of of heretics but that was a different thing than witches. The heretics were mostly Secret Jews that were forced to convert but were accused of of doing their rites in secret and Secret Muslims who did the same. The French did the same with the Cathars as heretics. This was the source of the phrase "Kill them all and God will find his own." Or in the modern vernacular Kill them all and God will sort it out. Lots of executions of heretics during the Wars of Religion, more or less ending in 1648
Fortunately, with the Muslims it is mostly Shia vs Sunni (and various subsects). We are not heretics but infidels.
The common denominator for all the groups you describe is that religious extremism eventually turns into totalitarianism. This is not to say that religion itself is at fault. The fault-factor is extremism. Moderate religion has nothing to do with this.
Totalitarianism happens with extremism on either the left or the right. But on the right it tends to be religious extremism.
Either right or left, the patterns of behaviour are the same. The totalitarians are predators, though they consider themselves righteous. Anyone not adhering to their narrative/belief system will be met with SHUN/SMEAR/PUNISH.
I’m sure Sasha looks back at the four years of Garland as AG and rejoices that he was stopped becoming a Supreme Court Justice. Whew, dodged a bullet. Another big dodge was Harris-Walz. Can we imagine how badly the shape of our country would be if Trump had not prevailed. Obama/Biden’s 4 years did major damage. Thank goodness and God, we have a fighter as our current President!
The "De-transitioners" remind me very much of the "Redactors" some years after the False Memory Syndrome of the 1980s and 90s.
False Memory Syndrome and the Transgenderism cult are examples of the same thing, essentially, only the transgenderism is more extreme. It is mind-capture that leads a person to do harm to others or themselves, while believing fervently that they are in the right. And that they have a firm grasp on reality, while actually being in a state of collective psychosis.
These are forms of Collective Psychosis/Folie à Deux/Mass Formation/Madness of Crowds.
> " 'Gender-affirming care' for minors. That is the most grotesque example of soft language ever invented by my former side. Call it what it is - sterilization. Top surgery is a double mastectomy. Bottom surgery is castration."
Amen to that. Time to call a spade a flaming shovel. In the same vein, "trans women are women" has to qualify as a mantra to top Orwell's "2+2=5". It still chaps my hide that Canada's own erstwhile "fearless leader" -- Justin Trudeau -- had peddled that schlock, that rather toxic Kool-Aid on, of all times, International Women's Day:
Yes I know I had a typo -- "runneth" not "runeth" - it's fixed now!
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-23/
1 (A Psalm of David.)
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
-------
Praying for you, Sasha.
God bless you and your family and your efforts!
Unfathomable is not the same as unreal.
The origin of the universe and life are unfathomable *even to science*.
Why is God considered any less likely than meaninglessness?
If we allow for the existence of God, should we not search for Him (substitute pronoun of your choice)?
Would He perhaps reveal himself to us? Would He do so in different ways, as we societally advance up Mazlow's hierarchy of needs?
Is there no claim of Revelation that you find morally compelling? Even if the claims imply things that can't be explained by science? If science can't explain beginnings, do you expect it to explain ends?
"The origin of the universe and life are unfathomable *even to science*."
But But....David Farina (Professor Dave Explains) says we do. And He has a popular Youtube channel...so It Must Be True!
This was a really good one, Sasha. It triggered a lot that I wanted to say, but I will have to return. Our family went through four terrible years under a RINO judge
in a case that went to our state Supreme Court. At the basis of the case was the question of whether the parents had the authority over the child. The militant left
wants the control over the child, that is the State (Government) to have authority over the child and to do whatever they please. It is the most disrupted goal they have in mind for the demoralization of child and parent. The person who took up the cause to get the Judge removed from the bench was a very smart lawyer, a yellow dog Democrat,
whose own clients were being hammered by the anti legal opinions that this Judge was rendering. The lawyer mobilized the 700 families in this court, put his research in the paper, which became a front page headline which ran for two weeks. The lawyer was a Christian in the Greek Orthodox Church. Our case was about to enter its final stages
Where this judge could have ruled just as he/she pleased, no matter what the law or facts of the case revealed. The Marshall of the Court found cause to remove this Judge and removed this person from the post and turned such person over to the State Judicial Ethics Board.
During this period we had a totally Republican Congress and a Republican White House. They had a bill which had passed both houses stating the the parent was the sole
authority over the child to make this into Federal Law. This was the Republican group who embarrassed us all and let us down on this very important bill. Had they worked and finalized it, these vultures that have destroyed families, children, school systems, education, libraries, sports, etc. iDemocrats would have never had a grip on our children.
So here the Christian lawyer put his faith in action as was RECORDED “ At that time the disciples came to Jesus. Saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?And calling to Him a child. He put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5. Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me; but WHOEVER CAUSES ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES WHO BELIEVE IN ME TO SIN, IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR HIM TO HAVE A GREAT MILLSTONE FASTENED TO HIS NECK AND TO BE DROWNED IN THE DEPTH OF THE SEA.” Do you think that Jesus had mutilation of children in mind?
Sasha, amazing piece. So righteous, passionate and moving. You have such a gift. You write with a conscience and moral indignation, saying things that need to be said. Thank you so much.
Nit pickey people….🙄
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. The bigger question is why wasn't this a unanimous decision? I can't imagine how the minds of the 3 liberals on the court work.
"I can't imagine how the minds of the 3 liberals on the court work."
I don't believe they do.
I hear ya’!!! I chalk it up to crazed liberals who are not working for the good of the American people!!
Don't do that. We don't want (or need) to see your confession of a typo pinned to the top.
If that's her worst mistake, let her have her Moment. Sir.
The main reason for the success of
Western Culture is Christianity.
Are you forgetting the bloodbaths in Europe like the 30 Years War? Christianity is not what made Western culture succeed. It was Christians and others who lived the values Jesus upheld and not those who conflated religion with politics.
I see moderate religion as a different kettle of fish from extreme religion.
It is religious extremism -- just like political extremism -- that causes trouble.
Any set of beliefs taken to extremes will enter totalitarianism. The 17th century Puritans and those who carried out the Spanish Inquisition were totalitarians, rather than loving Christians. They needed to reel it all back and lighten up.
Ac really fantastic article Sasha, God doesn't make mistakes! I'm 57 and didn't find Christianity until 4 years ago. I'm still a very critical thinker and sometimes that makes it hard for me square Christianity with my past secularism but I just accept that there are not always answers for everything and believing that Jesus is my Lord and Savior is a much better life than not believing. I'm so flawed and definitely struggle to be a good Christian but I find that struggle well worth it and much better than when I thought being a Christian was the worst thing that a person could be.
I consider myself a moderate Christian, Heidi. Never extreme. Sometimes this includes attending church. Sometimes it doesn't.
"not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Hebrews 10:25
In Other Words Go To Church!
Well Steve, I grew up conservative Roman Catholic, attending Catholic schools run by Orders of Sisters. There was no such thing as too much Mass attendance. Some of us went daily.
When I became an adult I learned that this is considered scrupulosity, and is actually frowned-upon by some in the Church, because it leads to extremism. I understood their point. Living by the Middle Way is best. Living through extremism just builds your Shadow.
I do not need to be in Church to believe in and to practice Christianity (though sometimes I may choose to be). That was never the point of it all.
Right there with you.
The Spanish Inquisition was conducted because false converts infiltrated the Church, were preaching heresy from pulpits, and were working with Muslims to invade Spain. Many lies are told about it: https://www.fisheaters.com/spanishinquisition2.html
I have read many versions of the Inquisition.
I think the misunderstanding here is that several commenters are approaching it from the historical angle, whereas I am trying to explain the Psychology behind it. Two different types of focus.
Absolutely. My friend was tutoring an Afghan refugee who was learning about the Puritans in school. Her comment was "They sound like the Taliban."
Jesus, and spiritual teachers from other religions have said the commandment "treat others the way you would want them to treat you if you were in their position." Too many religious fanatics are following a different commandment "treat others the way I think they deserve to be treated." The first commandment is very hard to live by and leads to salvation. The second commandment is easy to live by and creates hell on earth.
Radical Islam is rightwing totalitarianism to the same extent that was found in those Puritans or the medieval Spanish persecutors.
It's grace or law. Jesus fulfilled the law on the cross and the two Commandments cover it all. Love the Lord God with all your heart mind and soul, and love others as yourself.
I keep having a frightening thought. And that thought is a 4th Turning climax (and a coming-together spring afterwards) won’t occur until a nuclear weapon is freshly deployed. By who I can’t say. But most likely, Israel against Iran. Or just as plausible - Iran detonating a bomb in their own desert to display they have it, and Israel/USA - back the f*ck off. I can hardly see any other way for cyclical history to reset without this ever crazy world being viscerally reminded of this destructive and Satan-loving weapon. We are now so far removed from the shadow of Hiroshima & Nagasaki that I think it must happen again to show our youth this insanity and (hopefully) shake us all back to our senses.
Or by Trump to show off or get revenge on someone.
That's not how he rolls. If that's what you think of him, you are reading too many left wing lies.
Doing a thing "in the name of" a thing does not make it that thing.
But you knew that.
A missed swing at "Christian nationalism" and its conflating religion and politics. Rather, Max Weber had much to say about this in his "Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" However, Weber missed too in his ignoring the very important role of the Jews in Western economy and culture.
Amen. So well said in so few words.
God loves you, Sasha, more than you can possibly imagine and wants you to spend eternity with Him!
You seem to me to be so fearless. Why are you so afraid to investigate the claims of Christianity and go deeper in your exploration of God and His Son?
You committed to fully learn about the Trump/MAGA world through courage, hard work and openness. Why not do a similar plunge into God, Christianity?
Don’t wait! The resulting joy and peace God provides passes all understanding.
I second that truism!
Great idea.
Sasha, I always love your writing but this, this was so transparent, so focused. I have been a Christian almost my entire life yet am still learning, growing, sometimes losing my way. Belief comes first, then one sees. Start with the gospel of John. See how those ordinary men and women received revelations beyond all knowing. Simple faith. “May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” ❤️
"After Trump won, we became an unhinged, hysterical, angry mob of women who felt it was our right to convict Justice Kavanaugh of rape in the court of public opinion."
I am a woman who has always had serious problems with feminists and the way they behave, the thoughts they think.
I used to have to turn away from the news clips showing yet another mass mob of deranged women marching gleefully somewhere because the law had just given them the ability to legally kill their own unborn children.
Is there a word more apt here than "sinister"?
Sinister, yes.
Feminists on Parade.
Three women voted no.
Two have no children.
One has two children, is married to a prominent surgeon, but can’t tell us what is a woman.
And they claim that men are the violent ones.....
Sinister, yes.
They have a stronger kinship with the radical feminist movement, than their own families.
What evilness must lurk in the heart of a woman who would deliberately have multiple abortions, then brag to others how many abortions that she has had?
Sinister cult.
Once upon a time, in my youth, I had a family friend several years ahead of me who came home from university boasting that she intended to join the coolest female social group on campus -- in which membership included having to have had at least one abortion.
I thought she must be joking. Now I realize that she wasn't. It still shocks me.
It truly is a sign of a sick society, when women go on these abortion marches, and it says on their shirt "I've had 9 abortions," and that person is celebrated by the crowd.
Sick, sick, sick. Ominous sign of a very sick society.
Also, celebrating that a baby whose due date is tomorrow, can be aborted today. Very sick. Because pretty soon they'll be discussing the disposal of their 2-year-olds that they've gotten tired of.
In Canada, of course, there is no abortion law at all. Since 1988.
I was taught properly, as a child.
When a hamster at school ate all her babies, we were told that "there was something wrong..." for her to do that. Stressed out.
NOT that it was healthy, and should be celebrated.
I suspect that many women who do this feel the need for group validation above their moral and maternal needs. They are willing to sacrifice the unborn for this validation.
It's tragic.
From eight or nine years old until I grew into Christianity in the last couple years (mid-fifties) I too had a very tough time with religion. I just had no faith.
It was astrophysics and particle physics, plus having to lock our doors at night, that brought me back, so it can come from anywhere.
Anyway, don’t stop looking. It can come from anywhere to anyone, and you don’t need other people.
He sends us signs, if we are alert to them...
I worked in hospitals for over 30 years, and one of the most difficult things to witness were obvious cases of Munchausen's or worse yet, Munchausen's by proxy.
I believe that most of the children claiming they're the wrong sex are victims of Munchausen's by proxy. When you see/read interviews with couples on stories regarding children, the mother is controlling all of the answers, and the father is usually relatively quiet, or parroting his wife. She is reveling in the attention/adoration she's getting from other women about having a 'special' child.
I can't imagine what it would be like to be the father and watch as your child is maimed. It wouldn't be as bad as those mothers who live with a husband that's committing incest, but not much less.
I have a special child (autism) and certainly never got any attention or adoration for it.
I have an autistic brother NW. I feel you 🙌
Conflating autism with the trans-mutilation of childern is odd.
Autism has nothing to do with mutilating anyone. The right can preach "there are only 2 genders" ad nauseum, but it is a fact that not everyone is born "neurotypical". Examples include autism, people with masculinized brains in female bodies or vice versa, and variety of other conditions. I can empathize with the struggles that a parent with a transgender child goes through, while the right just hates them.
"Neurotypical" and "neurodivergent" are new catchphares that attempt to justify the barbarianism of child transgender mutilation from puberty blockers to the removal of body parts. Great Britian has severely limited anything "gender-affirming" for childern because of the lack of science and facts (another catchphrase that's been perverted by the left). Nowhere in human history has any society attempted to encourage its childern to believe that their sex is mistaken and therefore should be surgically altered. And by the way, anyone who defaults to unserious trope of "the right hates..." undermines whatever limp argument they've attempted to make.
As the parent of a son with autism, I can assure you that neurodivergence is real. I think there are also variations in brain development that lead people to be homosexuals or even feel they are trapped in a body of the wrong sex, gender dysphoria.. I have talked to transgenders who have said they felt that way their entire lives. That doesn't mean I think the surgeries are a good idea. I think they should be discouraged because they are so invasive. Parents of adolescents have a dilemma because the transition is more successful especially for male to female if they don't go through puberty which gives them deep voices, facial hair & larger skeletons so I emphasize with them. Most transgenders I know are satisfied with the results of whatever treatment they have chosen (not all have surgery) and don't feel they should disappear. As far as I can tell, the right hates them & transgenders are afraid
You're talking about a very minor part of the population. But the Democrats want to convince everyone that it's a widespread problem.
Why do about 2% of the kids in Indiana consider themselves transgender/ LGBQ while in California, 25% are LGBQ?
Hmmm 🤔🤔
Grooming, anyone?
If children are allowed to go through their hormonal changes in puberty, and not encouraged to misinterpret what their confused feelings are, in the VAST number of incidents of confusion, kids grow through things and are normal afterwards. It's only normal for a kid to be confused at that age because they have all kinds of new hormones going through their system.
That doesn't happen if they're encouraged to get masectomies or castration.
Well, that is YOUR theory, certainly not proven.
"CA, the most populous state in the nation, is home to the country’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population—2.8 million people (7.1%). TX is second, on both counts, with an LGBTQ+ population of 1.8 million (5.75%). These numbers are based on the Household Pulse Survey, an initiative of the US Census, which was conducted from Feb. through April,2024. TX is a conservative state which has almost as large a percentage of LGBTQ+ as CA. Do you think there is a lot of "grooming" in TX?
CA's LGBTQ+ community includes a broad range of identities, over half (52%) of LGBTQ+ adults in California describe themselves as bisexual. One in 5 young adults in California identifies as LGBTQ+, compared to only one in 20 older adults. Among LGBTQ+ young adults, the VAST majority (72%) describe themselves as bisexual."
In the past, there was not much publicity about being "bisexual" and probably many people who call themselves bisexual today would have considered them selves "straight" in the past; probably their dominant attraction is to the opposite sex.
Bisexuals don't usually have surgeries.
See https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-lgbt-population/
You were not responsible for his autism.
Physically maiming your own child is something totally different.
See reply above to Jen Todd.
The first post was mentioning specifically so-called transgender kids, in regards to Munchausen Syndrome, not autistic or otherwise developmentally impaired kids. Because so called gender care is the maiming of kids by parents or doctors (mastectomies and castration) but no damage is done to the kids, by the parents or doctors, in autism or the like.
I am pointing out that people are born who are not "neurotypical" including people with autism and those that fell their sex is the opposite of their body.
I've adopted the term “Transhausen by Proxy”, it narrows things right down to those disgusting people who would harm their children. As for the “dads”, any father who would sit quietly and let that happen isn't a man at all, and there's a special place in hell for those pansies.
Sasha, I too thought religion was a panacea. Jesus is right there watching, listening, beckoning. He is a perfect gentleman. He waits for you to reach out. He knows you better than you know yourself. I was energetic, willful and very stubborn. He stepped into my life anyway and still uses those traits to bless and interact with others. Bless you.
In all the millennia that man has walked the earth, Transgenderism was unknown apart from being a rare mental illness. Even eunuchs in the ancient courts were eunuchs only because it had been forced on them.
In the past decade or so.....there have been persons on a regular basis who state they are afflicted by this pseudo-reality. Where in blazes did this rare body dysmorphism come from, in such great numbers....all of a sudden?
It came from a mind-virus....a social contagion. An evil idea which took over vulnerable minds that would have been taken over by cults or by Eating Disorders in the recent past.
Now the fashionable meme for mental slavery is to believe you are Trans-gendered. And voila! Tens of thousands of them voluntarily allow this mind-capture.
Gender dysphoria, a psychosis, appears to have become transgenderism, a social victim class, as western culture abandoned the Judeo-Christian view that the purpose of human sexuality as stated in Genesis 1:27-28 "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him: male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth ..." And that culture further accepted as stated in Genesis 2:24 "therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife: and they shall become one flesh." (Which is likely one of the Christian conservative values that Sasha found so bigoted and dangerous.)
With the influence of Luciferian Franco renaissance "luminaries" (Voltaire, Rousseau, Robespierre and the Jacobins) eros resulting in copulation was no longer restricted to marriage and, therefore, no longer restricted to procreation. Not surprisingly, Malthus ( a Brit) comes along and claims the earth is overpopulated amplifying the practice of birth control, Eugenics, sterilization and abortion. A generation later brings Auguste Compte and what his critics would call "scientism" or treating science as religion, in turn inspiring Secular Humanism. (Which, IMO, became the de facto state religion of the U.S.A.)
From my perspective, the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s western culture adopted the value that eros leading to copulation or at least orgasm, including statutory rape - pedophilia, is an individual human right. Is it any wonder that forcible rape has become practically unprosecuted?
"Not surprisingly, Malthus ( a Brit) comes along and claims the earth is overpopulated"
It has been amazing how many people took Thomas Malthus seriously and allowed his ideas to rule the roost. Unless of course, they wanted those practices enshrined anyway, and Malthus' work was just the excuse.
I have heard it said that the war in Ukraine is just another form of eugenics too.
The values ushered in during the 60s/70s were Neo-Marxist values, mean to distort and ultimately destroy society. It wasn't about Love/Peace/Freedom/Human Rights at all. But maybe you know that.
Social media exchanges between young girls all night made it seem cool and normal. Made them more acceptable in their clique.
The Left made their fatal error when they came for our young children in public schools.
They woke up the sleeping bear parents.
When did they do that?
June 20, 2023
What happened then?
Dozens of teachers from several midwestern states hosted an online chatroom this week to discuss how to secretly help students "transition" genders without consent from the parents.
The session was hosted by Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center (MAP), an organization funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education. More than 30 teachers from Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio attended the session.
During the four-hour workshop, the teachers discussed how to subvert new laws in Republican states that protect children from gender ideology in schools. One teacher explained how to hide a student’s transgender name and pronouns from their parents.
“We’re working with our record-keeping system so that certain screens can’t be seen by the parents … if there’s a nickname in there we’re trying to hide,” said Kimberly Martin, the DEI coordinator for Royal Oaks Schools in Michigan.
Sick and disgusting.
Also, a new enlightenment started with the COVID epidemic. That era really gave parents a chance to see the crap that gets forced on kids in schools. Since then, parents are fighting back against Leftist indoctrination. Hope it's not too little, too late.
There's a whole generation of indoctrinated, misinformed idiots in high schools and on college campuses, now.
See reply to Scott below. Why do you say "this week" when it happened in 2023? Anyway, I thought Trump was shutting down the Dept. of education.
I found it in the Daily Wire which I am not sure I believe. "Many Daily Wire stories repackage journalism from traditional news organizations while adding a conservative slant. Fact checkers have said that some stories shared by The Daily Wire are unverified, and that The Daily Wire sometimes misstates facts to advance a partisan view."
The article claims that "36%, opposed teaching transgenderism at any level in K-12 education." Do you believe that any of the children from ages 5-18 might encounter any LGBTQ+ people in their lives or families? Some children have "2 mommies" or "2 daddies." Are they supposed to act like they don't exist?
Some of you claim that conservatives accept homosexuality and same-sex marriage. I think Project 2025 wants to eliminate all of it.
“ The Bradshaws accepted their teenager’s new gender identity, but not without trepidation, especially after he asked for hormones and surgery to remove his breasts. Doctors had previously diagnosed him as being on the autism spectrum, as well as with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, PTSD and anxiety. He had struggled with loneliness during the pandemic, and, to his parents, seemed not to know exactly who he was yet, because he had repeatedly changed his name and sexual orientation.
Given those complexities, Mrs. Bradshaw said she resented the fact that the school had made her feel like a bad parent for wondering whether educators had put her teenager, a minor, on a path the school wasn’t qualified to oversee.
The public school that Mrs. Bradshaw’s son attends is one of many throughout the country that allow students to socially transition — change their name, pronouns, or gender expression — without parental consent.“
. -NYT, Jan. 22, 2023
Lol, NW. You are not sure you believe the Daily Wire.
Welcome to the real world.
The other 50% of the country doesn't believe the Mainstream Media. Bunch of Democrat hacks.
You know, you can formulate and hold your very own belief in God without professing it or ever going into a church. That's where I've landed at 68 after being largely atheistic most of my life. I think that's the journey you're on.
Too bad you have not been attracted by the fellowship of a church (ecclesia, or gathering). That fellowship's foundation is love for each other and its doctrine. And if that fellowship and doctrine is loving, you will long to attend.
The late Richard Wurmbrand had the same ambivalence towards faith, God, and church as you. But he had a curiosity of what motivated others to attend church services. So, he would go in to services where he observed others doing so with the vague expectancy that if God existed He/She/It would reveal Itself to him. In retrospect he learned that expectancy he had was a prayer that God answered in power and love but not in a church.
What is Christ's invitation?
Matthew 11:28-30
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light
That is possible Steven, but it’s not an easy path for most. There is a reason the 4 main religions of the world have flourished.
Of course. It works for me. Your mileage may vary. God and I made a deal, ultimately.
"a violation to misgender someone"
Can you imagine thinking this thought back in normal-land, say...in the 70s or 80s? It would have been too bizarrely extreme a thought even for Monty Python to deal with. Though they did make a tiny attempt at it.
Who would have believed that any average person could see the world this way?
If Western civilization survives this long bout of mass insanity, the books will never stop coming, trying to describe and analyze how so many people could have become so mad. Future normies will be astonished that this could have taken place amongst once-civilized humans on the planet earth.
We did see something quite similar though in 1930s/40s Germany....
I have found myself thinking of that period 30’s to 40’s in Germany as eerily similar.
I have studied the situation in cross-disciplinary ways for many years. When no one else was the least bit interested. It is a small niche field.
My opinion -- which I have stated for years -- is that both the Nazism of Germany and the mass insanity across the West today are examples of mass Shadow Possession. Carl Jung gave us the concept of the Shadow.
And the witch burnings in 1600s Germany. There is something about the Germans.
The group of Puritans in Massachusetts who founded Harvard University were also eventually the witch-hunters.
17th century Puritanism turned into witch-hunts and executions across Europe and in the new American Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Yeah but the Puritans executed about 20 witches while the Germans, both Catholic and Protestant did thousands. About half were peasants whacking midwives and herbalists. But the other half was done by the government or the churches. They had a system whereby the official witch hunters were funded by confiscations from the executed. Worked like our system of confiscations supporting LE.
The American Puritans were a tiny population in comparison, though. They had the same blood-thirst as the witch-hunters in more populous Europe. The same predator-scapegoat issue.
You also find this issue in radical Islam today, of severely punishing the "heretics".
The Spanish Inquisition burned a lot of of heretics but that was a different thing than witches. The heretics were mostly Secret Jews that were forced to convert but were accused of of doing their rites in secret and Secret Muslims who did the same. The French did the same with the Cathars as heretics. This was the source of the phrase "Kill them all and God will find his own." Or in the modern vernacular Kill them all and God will sort it out. Lots of executions of heretics during the Wars of Religion, more or less ending in 1648
Fortunately, with the Muslims it is mostly Shia vs Sunni (and various subsects). We are not heretics but infidels.
The common denominator for all the groups you describe is that religious extremism eventually turns into totalitarianism. This is not to say that religion itself is at fault. The fault-factor is extremism. Moderate religion has nothing to do with this.
Totalitarianism happens with extremism on either the left or the right. But on the right it tends to be religious extremism.
Either right or left, the patterns of behaviour are the same. The totalitarians are predators, though they consider themselves righteous. Anyone not adhering to their narrative/belief system will be met with SHUN/SMEAR/PUNISH.
Such a great article. Thank you.
I’m sure Sasha looks back at the four years of Garland as AG and rejoices that he was stopped becoming a Supreme Court Justice. Whew, dodged a bullet. Another big dodge was Harris-Walz. Can we imagine how badly the shape of our country would be if Trump had not prevailed. Obama/Biden’s 4 years did major damage. Thank goodness and God, we have a fighter as our current President!
The "De-transitioners" remind me very much of the "Redactors" some years after the False Memory Syndrome of the 1980s and 90s.
False Memory Syndrome and the Transgenderism cult are examples of the same thing, essentially, only the transgenderism is more extreme. It is mind-capture that leads a person to do harm to others or themselves, while believing fervently that they are in the right. And that they have a firm grasp on reality, while actually being in a state of collective psychosis.
These are forms of Collective Psychosis/Folie à Deux/Mass Formation/Madness of Crowds.
> " 'Gender-affirming care' for minors. That is the most grotesque example of soft language ever invented by my former side. Call it what it is - sterilization. Top surgery is a double mastectomy. Bottom surgery is castration."
Amen to that. Time to call a spade a flaming shovel. In the same vein, "trans women are women" has to qualify as a mantra to top Orwell's "2+2=5". It still chaps my hide that Canada's own erstwhile "fearless leader" -- Justin Trudeau -- had peddled that schlock, that rather toxic Kool-Aid on, of all times, International Women's Day:
https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2023/03/08/statement-prime-minister-international-womens-day