King David’s Sin

 

Often when a celebrity pastor falls into terrible sin, like adultery, or even multiple adulteries with women he met in or through his ministry or because of the prominence his ministry gave him, and then seeks to get back into ministry there are people who say he should not do this and others who say, “What about David?”

It is my belief that when someone’s public ministry and platform is part of their fall that avoiding public ministry should be part of their repentance. Because it was his position previously which gave him so much access to the women he sinned with. He clearly has a severe problem in controlling himself in this environment and hence it is not good for him, for others, or for the public image of the gospel for him to be a public minister of others again. Let me reiterate the principle: When your public ministry is part of your fall, avoiding public ministry should be part of your repentance.

But what about David? Some people like to bring up David here, because David was forgiven. But I think most people learn the wrong lesson from David.

Firstly, you are not a king.

Secondly, even if you were a king, kings in our age are not untouchable like in David's age.

Thirdly, and very significantly, God cursed David and he, his family and his kingdom suffered terribly for his evil crime: the sword shall never depart your house, was the curse, remember.

For one he lost multiple sons as a direct punishment for his sin. His daughter was raped by one of those sons. Another violated his wives, that he left behind when David fled for his life away from that son. His kingdom faced a civil war, in which fathers killed sons and brothers killed brothers. And his kingdom was ultimately split in his grandson's time as a direct result of his sin, as that grandson was a product of his son by the woman he stole from a righteous man.

By his own words David declared to Nathan he deserved death. By his own words.

David is not an example of rosy restoration. He is an example of how a king has so much power that no one can even punish him how he deserves to be punished, just as God implied would happen, when God told Israel how the kings would take so much from them. They would lose so much of their rights, but they chose to have a kind, anyway.

God made David suffer awfully for his crimes. Yes, he did forgive him, but he also disciplined him. That is the lesson we should take.

Yes, he will forgive us, but bad things happen even to the people we lead if we follow what David did. We should look at David's curse and fear, we should not see his situation as an out for pastor's who have abused their position.

Is there no fear of God in men today? A pastor should have too much fear of God to commit such an act.

The Anti-Feminists Knew

The anti-feminists knew and they were right.

It is so important to read history and old books to realize that many of our ancestors were far wiser and more insightful than we even might already think they were. Here are a few of my reflections on an anti-suffragette book I have been reading recently.

On Feminist Mental Load

Why do so many women report record levels of burnout?

There used to be a wider community of women to share the domestic load together.

“There is, among others, this fundamental difference between the business life of men and women. For men who pursue occupations outside the home, there are women to manage that home. For women who pursue occupations outside the home, there are, not men, but other women, to manage the home. The final domestic care of the world must come upon women. The final attention to social life must come upon women. In behalf of the women who are constrained, or who choose, to sacrifice their share in this part of the world's necessary work, some other women must do double duty. That this rule has seeming exceptions does not make it less the universal rule.”

Helen Kendrick Johnson, 1894, Woman and the Republic

I have heard countless young mothers say that staying at home feels isolating, and many go back to work just to avoid this feeling. Many also lament how their mums, sisters or friends are working so it is harder to share the load.

Isn’t it fascinating that this 19th century woman Helen Johnson, predicted this would be exactly one of the problems women faced because of the advent of feminism?

Our instinct today is to mock feminists who complain about “mental load”, but they are giving voice to a deeper problem: the community of women has been severely broken, and it makes life harder. Women are expected to do way, way more in modern society in most households, and it burns them and their relationships out in massive numbers.

The solution? The complete unwinding of feminism.

On Equal Pay

They once knew how to attract more men into teaching:

“In New York I heard Superintendent Jasper, I think it was, say: "I am in favor of equal pay for equal work, for the two sexes; but we cannot give it here. We can get twice as many good women teachers as men teachers, and when we need men we must pay at a higher rate."”

Helen Kendrick Johnson, 1894

Considering the state of education in Australia, and the fact that schools are crying out for more male teachers, old solutions should be considered.

Especially considering that in today’s climate, a man takes a far greater risk being in a school environment than a woman. By that I am referring to the potential for false accusations and the like.

He also is far less likely to leave or go part time to have children. And he is far more likely to have to support dependents.

Hence, higher pay is reasonable, would attract more men and make a big difference to the state of modern education in schools.

Of course, modern ideology precludes sensible solutions like this. But this would be a smart solution.

On Chivalry

What happened to chivalry?

You hear that asked a lot. What happened was feminism. By upsetting the natural order between women and men it made chivalry not only old fashioned, but unsuitable. Remember chivalry was created in hierarchical Christian societies to honour the hierarchy and ensure it was protective of the weaker individuals in society. But it also required that those weaker individuals provided respect back on up the chain of the hierarchy. Feminism is the chief opponent of such a society:

“Before the Committee of the Constitutional Convention, Mrs. Ecob, of Albany, said: "You speak of chivalry. We scorn the word! What has your chivalry done for the weaker sex? Women are the unpaid laborers of the world—outcasts in government." Mrs. Hood, of Brooklyn, on the same occasion said: "Who dares insult our American manhood by declaring that men will be less courteous to mother, wife, and sister, because they are political equals? Woman's equality in the industrial world has to-day produced a nobler, better chivalry than was ever conceived by the knights of old."

Helen Kendrick Johnson, 1894

Mrs Ecob and Mrs Hood obviously never worked in a mixed factory and saw how men and women speak to each other in that environment. Those who predicted that making men and women both into worker drones were absolutely correct that such an arrangement would destroy chivalry.

Chivalry makes sense when women are more likely to be dependent on a man. It means every man expects other men to treat women with high honour, as she is another man’s honoured treasure. But in our society she is your competitor, she uses her sexuality against you and other men, she would just as soon see you fired for a joke or a comment as talk to you, and she rules the HR departments of the world and government bureaucracies in such a way that your rights and freedoms are squashed more and more. In this world chivalry is insane.

Of course, many women would cry out, “Not all women are like that.” To which I say, of course, I understand that. Every many understands that. But he also does not necessarily have the time or the inclination to work out which woman is which kind. Men and women are now forced to be competitors and this simply erodes the conditions in which chivalry can be fostered. Chivalry requires both hierarchy and that the hierarchy be honoured and treasured.

And the original opponents of feminism saw this.

They were incredibly insightful.

I have been finding Woman and the Republic an insightful read. Some of the specific information is out of date, for instance statistics about who works in which fields and information like that is largely out of date. But the sentiment of the book which calls into question the entire legitimacy of the feminist movement is spot on.

We had wise ancestors who predicted the insanity we face today. If only they had been listened. In some ways Helen Kendrick Johnson is a bit like Cassandra, and we all know how that ended up.

The Problem is Worse Than You Think

 

This picture is pointing to a truth, economically it was easier to get ahead in the past, at least in countries like the US and Australia that still had factories after World War 2. Many of the things people associate with that era of prosperity existed because of that core advantage.

Things are now a lot harder. Renting or buying is insanely expensive. Education costs more than ever before, and often allows for less of a payoff in the job market. Unions were stronger and that mattered for job security.  

But the biggest factors crushing birthrates are:

The pill,

Abortion,

Women pursuing advanced education and focusing on career.*

These three things are going to prove more deadly to the West than any invading army. Think about it, feminism has managed to do what the Mongol's, the Barbary pirates, Communism, the Ottoman Empire and other invading armies and poisonous ideologies could not do: kill the West.

People fear mass immigration, and how this will change our societies, but if our birthrate declines continue other nations will simply walk into empty houses and suburbs and tell stories and legends about the ghosts who once inhabited them.

This is why only repentance and faith can save the West. Ironically there are Bible passages challenging our approach to all three of the main things killing the West; abortion, the pill and women pursuing careers over motherhood. The pill would be challenged, biblically, by the proscriptions against pharmakeia, which incidentally also refers to abortion drugs, and Paul says in Titus 2 that Titus should teach the older women to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children and manage the home. In fact, that one verse challenges all three of the things which are crushing our western societies.

The Covid lockdowns should have caused a baby boom. People were locked down with not much else to do. But instead we saw no increase in births, in fact a decrease.

Why?

For the same reason that salted soil cannot bear crops. Rome salted the ground around Carthage. Today the West is doing the same thing to its own future, for ideological reasons.

*(If Vox Day is correct about what modern genetic science says about the human genome in the Frozen Gene, then also the human genome is degrading so fast this is effecting birthrates too).

 

A Man of Honour

 

David's Song about Saul and Jonathan when he finds out about their deaths, is pretty powerful. Especially when you factor in how Saul treated him while he was still alive.

“17 Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18 and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher:

19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places!

How the mighty have fallen!

20 Tell it not in Gath,

Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon—

Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,

Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

21 “O mountains of Gilboa,

Let there be no dew nor rain upon you,

Nor fields of offerings.

For the shield of the mighty is cast away there!

The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

22 From the blood of the slain,

From the fat of the mighty,

The bow of Jonathan did not turn back,

And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

23 “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives,

And in their death they were not divided;

They were swifter than eagles,

They were stronger than lions.

24 “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,

Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury;

Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

25 “How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!

Jonathan was slain in your high places.

26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;

You have been very pleasant to me;

Your love to me was wonderful,

Surpassing the love of women.

27 “How the mighty have fallen,

And the weapons of war perished!” (2 Samuel 1:17-27).

There is something noble about being willing to view someone who is basically on the same team, but at times was against you, this way when they pass.

Saul may have been David's enemy at times, but he was also his father-in-law, his king, and the leader of his people. And it was worse for him to see this man fall before their enemies, than to focus on how he had opposed him while he was seeking to be his steward.

David was clearly a man who genuinely and truly believed in the divine hierarchy, not just as it applied to him, but also how it applied to others. Though he would fall into disgrace some time after this event, as his power to some degree went to his head, he was especially a man of honour in his younger years, and this caused many men to flock to his side.

There is something hollow about our anti-hierarchical culture that is permissive of pulling down every structure. People with that perspective cannot be trusted to build for the future, whereas David could be and did.

If we are going to rebuild this ruined civilisation we are going to have to learn to honour those that are working for the same thing, even though they may be flawed at times. David knew Saul was a tormented man, he probably deeply pitied him. Jonathan was everything David was, and would have made a very good king. But the responsibility passed to David, who believed in the structures and society he was building. We need more of that in these days.

 

God is God of the Pagans Too

 

For sanity to return to the West, we need our leaders to do what Nebuchadnezzar did:

"34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever..." (Dan. 4:34).

Only after he lifted his eyes to heaven did his reason return to him.

Insanity will continue to prevail for as long as our leaders refuse to do this. We live in a day and age where many of the men, and sadly women, who seek to lead our societies look to building their own little kingdoms and they have forgotten that there is a Lord in heaven who looks down on all the earth and claims it as his own, because it is His.

Increasingly we are seeing the fruit of this rejection of God take root in all of our formerly great western lands.

Nebuchadnezzar was proud, and God in his mercy humbled him and caused him to look to heaven and honour the Lord God who created him and all he had. May God be so merciful to turn the hearts of our leaders to him. May God be merciful to never let us forget to be humble before him, ourselves.

Watching the World Pass Us By

 

There's many things we can't know. Many things.

But of all the things that can be known for sure, of all the possibilities that can be known, we can know, for sure, with absolute clarity and certainty, that Australian government regulators took one look at the new flying Tesla and thought, "We'll ban it. Or at least regulate it so hard that no one can ever have that much fun in a car." 

You know it's true. These same people see a burnout as a reason to crush a car. They see a car with too low suspension as a hanging offence. They see a car with an exhaust slightly too loud as a reason to pass a new law to punish people for driving past their Tesla battery, Chinese solar and garaged Chinese PHEV home once when they've gotten home from a long day of thinking up new laws. 

No wonder our society is so backwards. While Tesla seeks to exploit the laws of physics to achieve new things. Australian regulators just look for new things to ban. Why think when you can ban? Why have fun when you can ban? Why even try to be creative when you can ban?

This country is so lame sometimes. Wait, is saying that now banned?

So That’s Why Alien Tech Was Like That?

 

I know this is not about AI, but I still think that is relevant.

The advent of AI, I believe, is going to lead to the systematic decoupling of much technology from WIFI. Who here is annoyed that their new toaster, their new fridge, or their new treadmill, needs to update occasionally to work properly? I read the other day that a woman’s printer was updated to reject off brand cartridges. People are annoyed enough as it is with an overconnected world.

But now? Look what hackers can already do. Destroying supermarket stock with a hack.

AI just recently rendered video game copyright redundant, with decompiling and recompiling made exponentially easier and possible with AI tools.

The music industry is reeling, as music is able to be produced at a quality that shocks most people when they actually here.

Hollywood is next. From replacing long CGI processes, to eventually creating personalized entertainment, massive disruption is coming.

The interconnected hyper tech world is going to be impossible now that AI can exploit programs the way it does. Everything is too exposed, like villages without walls across eastern Europe in the days of the wandering steppe tribes; everything is an easy target.  

Imagine what AI directed by hackers could do to a network of self-driving Tesla's?

I think the future will be more analogue than we expected. Maybe not Butlerian Jihad analogue, but more analogue. Maybe Alien style.

If you are not sure what I am referring to there, I’ll explain. The Butlerian Jihad was a war in the Dune universe where humanity overthrew sentient machines and outlawed most computer technology because it was too dangerous. Instead, they used genetically engineered people who have computer like minds for such tasks. They are called Mentats.

And of course all the computers in the Alien universe are not that different to the types that existed in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Very basic machines, that look far behind anything that you would find in the average person’s home today.

Maybe this explains why in these universes technology appears so backward, because they lived through what we are likely about to see?

Who needs a fridge to be connected to the internet anyway? What are the possible advantages? Why does a treadmill need to be updated every few months to work? A lot of this interconnected technology was made to look cool in movies, but in reality it is just more trouble than it is worth. I think we are going to see a great decoupling from the internet of many devices in our lifetime.