I've always been enthralled by 20th century dystopia fiction: Orwell's 1984, Huxley's Brave New World, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and McCarthy's The Road. What intrigues me most about these particular works, except the last one, is their pointed critique of society's trajectory and their eerily prophetic gaze into a future (for them) that has in many ways become, quite frighteningly, the reality in which we presently live.

Today, I'm thinking about a word made infamous in Orwell's 1984, “Doublethink.” The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as “thought marked by the acceptance of gross contradictions and falsehoods, especially when used as a technique of self-indoctrination.”

Specifically, given the hostilities between Israel and Iran over the past few days, the notion of doublethink is on my mind. For instance, think about the following ideas we are supposed to hold simultaneously regardless of how contradictory they might seem:

• Israel's pre-emptive attack on Iran is 'self-defense,' but Iran's response to being attacked is 'aggression' or 'terrorism' (see Footnote)

• Israel claims the right to develop/maintain nuclear weapons for itself, but Israel rejects Iran's right to develop/maintain the same type of weapon

• Iran and the U.S. intelligence community claim that Iran is not capable (or nearly capable) of fielding nuclear weapons, but Israel's intelligence claims otherwise, in spite of the fact that U.S. intelligence rejects Israel's 'evidence'

Before jumping to conclusions and name-calling, I am NOT suggesting Iran is morally right or morally superior to Israel or the U.S. I am not. At the same time, however, I am not going to be so hypocritical or arrogant as to suggest that the U.S. or any other nation has the right to decree what technology other nations might develop and possess. The decisions made by nations, like all choices, come with their own benefits and consequences.

Let us not pretend that any nation in history has consistently acted as a disinterested, benign actor seeking the best interest of the world at large. That is delusional. Let's at least be honest and realize that every nation acts only in its own self-interest, and that creates friction, conflict, atrocities, suffering, and war. This will not change until Christ comes to set all things right, so our prayer must always be 'Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.”

#politics #theology

(Footnote): Interestingly, the idea of pre-emptive self-defense is consistently and historically rejected by the Christian Just War tradition. George W. Bush articulated the idea that a nation (specifically the U.S.) has the right to take military action against perceived threats before actual attacks...an idea that has taken root in the U.S. but has been consistently rejected through history as incompatible with the Just War tradition. I continue to be on the side of tradition and reject pre-emptive self-defense as an oxymoron.

On the Destructive Nature of the Left and the Proper Response of the Right

I read an article today that described the fundamental nature of the Left as 'negative,' i.e. opposed to things, typically the historic status quo. I think I would go further than that and say that the Left is fundamentally destructive / de-constructive and characterized by the desire to create disorder (more quickly than entropy disorders things in a fallen world). Over time, the immediate causes will change and adjust, according to the soft spots or easy gains that present themselves to this philosophy. This explains why the cause of the day has shifted from sexual and reproductive 'freedom' to political correctness to LGBTQ-alphabet soup to wokeness to antisemitism to...whatever will come next.

This is very negative, I admit; however, I am not especially charitable about my understanding of the Right as it is currently understood and exemplified.

The Right, it seems to me, is also characteristically 'negative' but in a different way. Instead of being focused on the destruction of the current state of things, the Right generally defines itself by being against the Left. It seems very rare to me, indeed, that anyone on the Right actually puts forth a genuinely positive position that is not a reaction to something the Left has already tried to destroy (e.g. being 'pro-life').

Understood this way, it is clear that the general, 'big picture,' macro drift of a society will NEVER be anything but to the Left. It will always drift leftward over time if the Right is not genuinely FOR ideas but reacts only against the destruction attempted by the Left. The Right, in this paradigm, is also fundamentally negative. Both sides work together to move a society, at greater or lesser speeds over time, toward self-destruction and societal suicide.

This is Satanic and demonic, full stop. If you don't believe me, think back on the just the last two hundred years of world history.

That this view is correct is self-evident if we pause and reflect on the positions currently held by the Right in the United States that are FAR left of positions held by the Left even less than a century ago. Contrast the views of Donald Trump on abortion or same sex marriage with Bill Clinton—who is more to the Left? Compare the theological views of 'conservative' churches today on female clergy or premarital sex with mainline churches of 50 years ago—who is more to the Left?

The Right, as it operates today, is a retardant to leftward motion rather than a genuinely creative or positive agent acting in society. To recover a truly positive influence, the Right must define itself by what it supports and not by what it is against, AND it must stop repeatedly conceding ground and drifting left itself.

Said positively, the Right (i.e. “Conservatives”) must stop trying to conserve things and start trying to recreate and restore them according to the Word of God and His intention for individuals and society.

Instead of the Right being 'conservative' it must be 'restorational.'

We ought not be trying to simply slow down society's movement to the left but restoring God's intended order, beliefs, and practice.

Who is up for such a monumental task? Certainly none of the political class or academia. It must come from God's people individually, who themselves are recreated and restored, and corporately, as the Body of Christ.

It will not come from anywhere else. Indeed, it cannot.

#culture #politics #theology

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