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On Epstein
Not that Epstein. The sicko Epstein.
Writing over at some website I have never heard of, a Christian pastor I’ve never heard of has this piece. The final paragraph says:
Epstein was right. Our semi-Christian sexual standards are a historical aberration. He called our bluff, and forces us to make a choice: Either we embrace Christian standards, or we create a world of Epsteins, a world where Jeffrey Epstein looks a little less monstrous – because we’ll all have become monsters.
That strikes me as pretty much correct. I, being so smart and whatnot, have said it for a long time. I said it when Billy Boy was doing his business with interns in the White House. I said it about Donald Trump and his proclivities. I said it about the gratuitous sex in TV and movies. We are sliding backward toward our historical norms about sexuality. We no longer value the societal gains we made because of Judeo-Christian values. We are in fact slouching toward Gomorrah, as one noted statesman put it.
Published in General
It appears that rather than a hand basket, we appear to be on the bullet train.
Yeeeehaaaaa!
Spin,
This is an idea that I have repeated a number of times even on Ricochet. The most underestimated institutional protector of human rights is heterosexual monogamy. For women, this is the first institution that puts them on a par with men. This is the first institution that demands that the lord of the manor respect a man’s wife & children.
Heterosexual monogamy became the religious gold standard of morality in the 11th century. Both Judaism & Christianity adopted it. However, it may be of interest that Islam did not and never has accepted it. I have often speculated that if a society wouldn’t accept heterosexual monogamy why would it then accept modern abstract political norms like one man one vote. Democratic institutions have been very slow to develop in Islamic countries.
Good post.
Regards,
Jim
The Democrat handbasket can easily go 60 mph and is still accelerating. The stodgy old Republican handbasket maxes out at 55 mph. Therefore, vote Republican.
A Democrat train to hell leaves Hollywood at 60mph and GOP train to hell …
It feels to me like we have a problem in that “global elites” are the ones acting above the law and Christian morals are for the serfs. Whether it is political elites, financial elites, or even religious elites it seems like there are two standards of conduct.
We have to take aim at the culture around us.
If we are open, honest, and unapologetic, it will suck for a while, but maybe we’ll come back stronger. Give the Chinese church something to pray for us about.
Big words. I’m not all that brave myself. Maybe just start.
I think we’ve already slouched there.
Could this be why Communism is so popular with the elites? It essentially is non-hereditary Feudalism that allows for a class of serfs that aren’t bound by the land, so it actually can work in a society where farming isn’t the primary occupation of most people.
If you look through history “the elites” always lived differently than the serfs, but they pretended to adhere to the standards. The elites were hypocritical, but most understood the importance and the value of societal standards. This was described by Rochefoucauld as “hypocrisy being the homage that vice paid to virtue.” Well! No more! The elites now seem to promote their behavior as a norm for the masses. They, with their wealth, can afford the consequences of that behavior; the rest of us not so much. (As a way of examples: 1.) Who sleeps with whom in Hollywood and get caught cheating on the latest partner is of no consequence to their image and wealth. In fact, it sells magazines and their “artistic” products. A high school girl doing same in most cases is not so successful, or worse. 2.) Jeff Bezos can laugh it off and pay his wife billions in divorce settlement when existence of certain pictures become public, or not so public, knowledge. Majority of high school students who get caught engaging in the same type of behavior pretty much have their futures ruined…)
Back in 1972, when I was a young man, I was certain that people would be strolling around nude and having sex in the park within 20 years. I longed for that day.
Now, thankfully, it never occurred. But there is always a “let us do what we want” strain in the human race. Victorian England was well noted for being straight laced sexually, but the truth in the upper classes was much different. The legend of the English weekend was well known.
It is generally accepted that Winston Churchill’s mother (Jennie, born in US) had relations with the Prince of Wales, among others. But there were standards. If you had sex with someone the previous night, you generally avoided them the next day.
Note: Dorothy MacMillan had a long affair with Robert Boothby that was well known (Harold knew, she didn’t divorce him as it would hurt his political career).
But elites have long held different standards (the Borgias being a fun example), and the rest of us to a certain extent. Then toss in favorites like Henry VIII, even Jefferson. But there are some who were much better (George Washington was in love with the wife of his neighbor, Sally Fairfax of Lord Fairfax) but never acted on it).
But Epstein is not that different from a number of powerful and well placed men. And we could drill into the lives of such notables as Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, etc…
If you look at the records, the republicans ain’t doing that bad.
We could start with Eisenhower (but I personally don’t consider this an affair), though times of war offer different challenges (read a history of London during the war, and DC wasn’t far behind). And more than a few of the other major republicans had their issues (e.g Newt Gingrich).
As humans, we are all sinners, all weak. With power and wealth we do not get an extra does or moral fortitude.
I want to be a contrarian on this, but I can’t really.
Why do you hate me so?
Don’t take it personally. He hates everyone.
I think he has taken a special interest in contrarianing me because I won’t toe the line on his KayDeeDub articles. Ha ha!
Change is not necessarily decline.
I like the challenge.
It doesn’t seem like a challenge worthy of your intellect.
Nor is it necessarily an improvement.