the road less travelled
As I mentioned in the first installment, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was both burdened and blessed with the misery of the Russian gulags. Burdened because he was a victim and witness to horrors that most cannot begin to imagine. Blessed because he learned the lessons that the gulags had to teach.
I want to explore one such lesson here today. A lesson about the face of evil and the ways in which ideology gives evil the necessary fuel to really take off and soar into space.
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Wow, cool, the event is called “Shot Famz”, haha. I call my family “Famz”, and we say “shot” as a colloquialism for thank you, but they made it into a pun, hahaha! So relatable. I bet that’ll be lit[1] because they’re using the same slang words as me! Hang on a second… Kai boxes[2] and candy packs??? Now I’m definitely getting an irreversible medical procedure. Yooooo… DJ music! That’s so hip hop. I’m gonna call all my usos,[3] and we finna[4] turn up! Lesh go![5]
[1] Lit: When something is turned up or popping … John: did you go to that party last night? Daquan: yes that shit was lit
[2] The Māori word for food is kai.
[3] In Samoan, “Uso” means brother.
[4] Finna: Abbreviation of “fixing to”. Normally means “going to”… I’m finna go da’ sto!
[5] Leshgo: NZ SLANG MEANING: Let’s do this, excited, let’s go… Yo leshgo have some cones gee!
One of the most common arguments that has been repeated again and again across the last year and a half is that we should all get vaccinated to protect the vulnerable. Or in Christian circles, we should get vaccinated as an act of love for our neighbours. The expanded version goes on to talk about how we might not be worried for our personal health with respect to COVID, however, if we are unvaccinated and gather in groups, we place others at risk. We should not stubbornly hold on to our personal rights and preferences at the expense of others. To do so would be unloving and selfish. If we can reduce the risk that others face from COVID why would we not get the vaccine? Some even go further and suggest that because of these considerations, it is right and just for the government to mandate vaccines for large swathes of the population.
While I can see the appeal of this kind of argument, I am convinced that this reasoning is massively inconsistent with the Biblical framework for ethics.
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Welcome to part four of this series looking at a Biblical theology of government and certain applications to our current cultural moment. For links to the other installments, see the list below.
Welcome to part three of this series looking at a Biblical theology of government and certain applications to our current cultural moment. For links to the other installments, see the list below.
In today’s episode, we are looking at the third principle and thinking about the fact that all nations are, in fact, theocracies. The question is, which God is in charge?
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Welcome to part two of this series looking at a Biblical theology of government and certain applications to our current cultural moment. For links to the other installments, see the list below.
In today’s episode, we are looking at the second principle regarding the limited authority of civil governments.
Read MoreProfessor John Gibson of the School of Accounting, Finance and Economics at Waikato University has released a couple of interesting posts on NZCPR (here and here) highlighting his research into the NZ lockdowns.
Below I’ve reproduced the three figures from his data, which can be found here.
Here in New Zealand, we have once again been subjected to a nationwide lockdown. Churches are closed, the nation is on house arrest, and you can only go to work if the government deems your work essential.
I am convinced that one of the premier problems facing the Christian church is a disgraceful complicity with the idolatry of the state and a woefully lacking theology of government.
By the end of this series, I want to make the suggestion that churches and church leaders are morally obliged to disregard our government’s lockdown orders and reopen the church as soon as possible. But before we get there, we must lay some Biblical foundations. Foundations that have been eroded for decades and are about to cause a collapse of the entire house.
What I want to do here is lay a ground-up foundation for Biblical principles regarding our theology of government and then make application to our current cultural moment. My hope is that we might all be able to take a step back and reconsider some of our assumptions about the role of government and our obligations before God in relation to government edicts.
Across this series, we will look at three core principles and then some applications regarding our current cultural moment. here is where we are heading:
This first installment explores principle one. Enjoy.
Read MoreReaders of The Sojournal will be aware that we are not huge fans of the Pink Haired Scientist. We’ve complained about her lectures here, and political bias here. Having left home we feel that we do not need to be hectored and bossed around and mothered. While many citizens seem to love being treated like little children, we prefer not to be molly-coddled by females in the public sphere who in some strange paradox deny the natural order of domesticity and motherhood, and then attempt to domesticate and mother the world.
Needless to say, there was anger and frustration in some quarters when the BFD broke the story of Siouxsie’s lockdown jaunt and the ignoring her own advice to mask up when leaving the house. The mainstream media had sat on the story and eventually they were forced to mention it when the BFD published further details which showed that Siouxsie had extended her bubble to include another scientist who seems to enjoy lecturing us about following the lockdowns ‘properly dammit’. Of course the bought and paid for government whore media painted this as an evil right-wing plot and the pink-haired maiden called it misinformation. Yes, Siouxsie, whatever you say. Let’s hope all the drones wake up and smell the hypocrisy of our elites and start asking questions.
The reality is, we now know that Siouxsie does not think this virus is as dangerous as she has led us to believe. She doesn’t seem to think she needs to wear a mask while sitting outside next to a friend, so why should we. As one wag pointed out, “It would be hypocritical of me to complain, as I’ve always ignored her advice as well.”
At least watching this video can give you a bit of light relief in these dark times.