Talking of Which, 30.10.24

Christianity and Disabled Badgers

Oct 30, 2024

∙ Paid

Another mitten of plinths for your last-Wednesday-of-the-month pleasure.

In the News…

The leaders of Civ 2.0 met to have a chat about alternatives to the dollar and sharing all the fuel and other raw materials the West doesn’t possess. | Prince William is going to ‘end homelessness’. | Netanyahu’s Likud issued invitations to an event titled ‘Preparing to Settle ~~‘Greater Israel’~~ Gaza’. | Kamala Harris is offering black people 20 grand of crypto to start flogging weed. | The British government is considering offering Ozempic to fat paupers. | Saudi Arabia applied and failed to join [fellow upholders of justice on] the UN human rights council. | The Holy See launched a new mascot; an anime girl.1 | Russell Brand, now a born-again Christian, is promoting amulets to protect people against wi-fi.

Draw your own conclusions.

Not In the News…

Russia’s victory in Ukraine, more or less guaranteed from the beginning of NATO’s proxy war, draws nearer, putting Europe at the head of the collapse queue. | Left-liberal minds are ‘developmentally delayed’ which is why they speak like children. | The Trumpkin Pumpkin told Bro Rogan in an interview that ‘there’s going to be a huge shift in consciousness like you wouldn’t believe. It’s going to be the grandest thing we’ve ever seen.’ | Everything is speaking; the only thing on earth not saying anything worth hearing is us, because we don’t listen to anyone, or anything, but ourselves. | Time is actually imperfectly perceived space. | You can’t will yourself to be good. | Death is everywhere.

Draw your own conclusions.

Radiochan

Talking of flogging merch, I’ve got a range of gear myself, including t-shirts and a selection of aftershaves. Here’s a portable radio that Expressive Egg industries have been selling for over ten years now. Just get in touch if you want one, although they cost a lot more than money…

I’ve Never Met a Christian

Have you? I haven’t. I’ve met plenty of Paulians, who drink the blood of their slain god, who are ‘submissive to [their] masters with all respect, not only to the kind and gentle but also to the overbearing’ (Peter: 2:18), who are ‘subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution’ (Peter: 2:13)2, who consider themselves sinful and believe that the creator of the universe, a thing which sits outside of the universe, sent his only son down to earth to be horribly tortured for other people’s crimes. I’ve met quite a few of those, but I’ve never met anyone who follows the teachings of the man they call ‘Christ’, nobody who has given away all his earthly possessions (Matthew 19:21), who loves his enemies (Matthew 5:43-48), who is as perfect as God (Matthew 5:483), who is ‘as a little child’ (Matthew 18:2-4), and who does not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:25-34). Not one. Funny that. Perhaps belonging to a nice, warm, slippers-and-pipe club that the infidels can’t join, and ingesting a reassuringly comprehensible milk-and-water philosophy of inspirational, but impotent sound-bites is more important than actually doing what Christ told them to do?

We Are All Christians

I have met plenty of Jews and Muslims, partly because these folk follow teachings which are, essentially, worldly, and partly because one can be a lapsed or non-believing Jew or Muslim, but not a lapsed or non-believing Christian. And yet, we are all, those of us of the West, Christians. As René Girard noted, our way of thinking, freedom from mandatory community and self-critical sensitivity to victims, comes from a tradition initiated by Jesus of Nazareth, even if, as is all too clear, it has been institutionalised and perverted, like the desacralised natural world that all monotheistic religions are heirs to, into a diabolic pastiche of its original intent. On top of that, Christianity is not just a few books written in the age of the donkey, but two thousand years of culture, comprising innumerable works of incomparable depth and beauty; the entire foundation of everything we collectively think and do. To turn one’s back on this and to lay into Christianity (with the critical tools that Christianity provided us with) is to pull out the root of one’s culture, and die.4

Twenty-One Things That Only Happen in Films

People queuing up to fight the hero.
Rich people who are interesting (the penetrating psychologist, the intelligent architect, the successful yet profound artist).
Single punch knock out / Single shoulder-barge door-smash.
Extremely intelligent people behave like wizards (because intelligence is basically magic to the imbeciles who try to script it).
Unprotected sex between two people who’ve just met. Neither one feels sad, used or confused.
Forensic lab test by the end of the day.
Everyone listens to what everyone actually says, clearly articulates exactly what they mean and everyone understands them.
Social collapse happens overnight.
Broke? Bloody nice flat though, eh?5
Need a parking space? No problem.
Dreams that make sense or that precisely parallel waking life (i.e. the boyfriend in real life is the boyfriend in the dream).
Bit of a cough? Dead soon.
Aliens and animals talking like well-connected script-writers.
Likewise, parents having polite, rational discussions with seven-year old children about ‘how school was today’.
Years alone in outer space? Deepest darkest Africa? Night spent on the lam? We’ve got a lipstick and foundation that can handle that.
‘Hi John, I was wondering John, where is the money you owe me John, because I need it to pay back Mr. Big or I’ll be dead meat!’6
Handsome young guy moves house and a beautiful girl lives next door.
Hang up the phone at the end of the conversation. No ‘bye’, no ‘see ya’. Just hang up.7
An inspiring teacher that still has a job. Indeed anyone who is genuinely competent thriving.
Wild crowds comprised entirely of selfish people.
People on acid who are less aware.

Not, I hasten to add, that films should simply document what happens in the world, which is just another way to avoid representing the truth of life (just as, contrariwise, taking cultural cues from the movies is a sure way to transform your character into a parody of itself). If ever truth does appear on the screen it seems so strange that the viewer wonders if perhaps it’s his own life that is the poorly scripted simulacrum.