The Rise of the Surveillance State

Aug 8, 2021 by

The Rise of the Surveillance State

by Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch: The virus is the perfect excuse for Statism, globalism, and 24/7 surveillance: We dare not be unaware of what is taking place in the world, including some very ominous and threatening developments. The rise of Big Brother statism is one such issue that we should always be aware of and alert to. And the rise of the Total State is not confined to Communist dictatorship, past or present. We see the West increasingly moving in this direction – especially using...

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America & Hungary’s Orban

Aug 7, 2021 by

America & Hungary’s Orban

by Mark Tooley, Providence Magazine: There’s a debate among some U.S. Christians about Hungary’s Victor Orban as a model or at least inspiration for America.  The socially conservative and increasingly authoritarian prime minister has governed since 2010 without strong opposition as his party commands two thirds of the parliament. Rod Dreher, a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy and author of The Benedict Option, has been blogging from and about Hungary during Tucker Carlson’s visit and hailed Orban...

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A Tale of Two Cultures

Aug 2, 2021 by

A Tale of Two Cultures

by Bill Muehlenberg, Culture Watch: The West is at war with itself: It does not take astute analytical abilities, incisive perception, or acute political awareness to see that the West is fraying at the edges. Indeed, it is a world splitting apart. The older I get, the more I grieve over what I see happening in America, in Australia and in the West. There is a major war going on and it is ripping the West apart. Let me examine three aspects of this: first, I draw upon a recent article looking...

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Here comes the new tribalism

Jul 30, 2021 by

Here comes the new tribalism

by Peter Mullen, The Conservative Woman: THE establishment in Europe of constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament – or of a republic with a president and an elected house of representatives or/and a senate – took 1,000 years. It was evolutionary and with many hiccups along the way. Most importantly, and contrary to our irrational ideas of ‘progress,’ this developmental process can go quickly into reverse. All that is required for government by consent to be overthrown is for enough...

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Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside’: Ecclesiastes for the Internet Age

Jul 20, 2021 by

Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside’: Ecclesiastes for the Internet Age

from The Gospel Coalition: Bo Burnham may be this secular generation’s closest approximation to the Preacher from Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes 2, the Preacher searches high and low to find lasting meaning apart from God: in pleasure (v. 1), comedy (v. 2), alcohol (v. 3), sex (v. 8), wisdom (vv. 12–27), and work (vv. 18–23). This wide-reaching search yields no lasting benefit or purpose, only despair (v. 20). Everything under the sun is vanity, a vapor. In his Netflix comedy special, Inside,...

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Muggeridge On the Decline of Civilisations

Jul 20, 2021 by

Muggeridge On the Decline of Civilisations

by Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch: Prophetic insights from Muggeridge on the decay of cultures: When I penned a brief biographical piece on the great Malcolm Muggeridge two days ago, I did not envisage it turning into a trilogy. But yesterday I wrote about his views on suffering. I mentioned that this was one of several clear themes found in his writings. Another was that of civilisational decline. That second article is found here:...

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