Despite the lies and manipulations flowing from FOX, NBC and
certainly Bob Costas have been taking constant digs at Putin. And it's
interesting the commentary is more or less the exact criticism levied by
someone like Mohler. The only exception would be with regard to the issue of
homosexuality.
Other than that, the worldviews are essentially the same.
The underlying philosophical foundation is that America is
good and right and continues to stand for these positive values all around the
world. Russia and any other country that won't do what the United States
demands is therefore immoral.
This is a completely normal pagan outlook. Pagans always
will create Babel-nations which to them represent the mandate of heaven.
Whatever god or gods they worship are 'with' or 'dwell in' their nation. It is
essentially a theocratic view of society and that can be true even if the
society doesn't believe in a specific god. The state is conflated with the god
or with the supreme ethic which has been deified and conflated with the
nation-narrative.
To question the state or on a larger scale the ethic of the
social consensus is treason and heresy.
This is quite typical throughout history and needs to be understood.
This is the foundation of Medieval society, and every other pagan system that
has ever been devised.
The New Testament fundamentally broke with this model by
creating an Anti-Babel a new international movement that because of its
otherworldliness transcends all political and social boundaries. It rests not
in race, land or politics, but in a transcendent spiritual Kingdom.
As Christians we would understand this pagan impulse to
create heaven on earth is quite primeval and hearkens back to the lost vision
man had in the garden. It is right for man to look beyond the circles of the
earth to an idea that has been lost. But as Christians we know that heaven will
only exist in the person and work of Christ. It is in the context of
redemption, forgiveness of sins that we find Zion, the New Eden as it were.
This world will be destroyed by fire. Only then will the New Heavens and New
Earth appear. Only in the work of Christ will this new Eden be born.
All other roads and paths, all other attempts and visions
are counterfeits. They are essentially false gospels. The most dangerous and
destructive variety is the 'Christian' version which has dominated Church
History and is championed today by virtually all our leaders.
Old Testament Israel was a true 'Theocracy' that prefigured
this, it was at the same time a reminder of Eden and replaying of that lesson
and a symbolic prefiguring of the Kingdom established by Christ at his coming.
As Christians we are already translated into the Kingdom and we await the
conclusion of this earthly order, this age, when all will be reconciled and
consummated.
Pagans seek another way to bring this about and paganism
entering the Church in the era of Constantine has fundamentally transformed
Christian theology in seeking to establish this physical kingdom on earth in
space and time and most importantly in political and social rather than
redemptive terms.
While Mohler may claim to be offering a Christian Worldview,
he is in fact offering the same pagan outlook that Bob Costas is echoing on
NBC. There's nothing Christian about it at all. This conflation of American
society and power with the Moral Goodness and Truth (i.e. the Kingdom of
Heaven) is an old blasphemy and a false gospel.
I expect it from pagans like Bob Costas, Ronald Reagan or
Abraham Lincoln.
But it's Judgment on the Church when it comes from the mouth
of Christian leaders. It is God sending strong delusion and as a result the
people embrace lies....the lie of deification, the very thing pagans do by
divinizing their states and societies. You shall be as gods the serpent said.
Stamping the divine sanction on the symbols and consciousness of your nation
without true Divine warrant is the rebellion of Eden played out over and over
again. It is the voice of Satan speaking within the Church.
Albert Mohler rather than offering Christian commentary from
a Biblical Worldview is often teaching the people of God to think as pagans and
reject the Biblical teaching concerning the Kingdom, the Christian life and our
relation to this world. It's a serious charge but one I do not hesitate for a
moment to make. I've followed the influence of his 'ministry' and a host of
others like him for many years. I have no doubt regarding where they stand and
what they stand for.
This is a false religion and every religion contains within
it a framework of ethics. When you've thrown in with America (or any other
country, Russia is no exception), then you see the world through that lens. Your
ethics are informed by the spiritual commitment.
And from an outsiders standpoint this can lead to tragic,
comic and even obscene hypocrisy. It is a moral atrocity for Bob Costas and
Albert Mohler (for they share more or less equivalent commitments) to speak of
Russian evils while they willing turn a blind eye to American activity.
Does Russia oppress people? Does Russia have political
prisoners? Does Russia support dictatorships and immoral regimes? Are its leader's
evil immoral hypocrites? Does it have a dark past? Is it meddling in the
affairs of other countries?
Of course, but it is far surpassed by the activities of the
United States. I have no wish to defend Russia. Both Putin and Russia and
certainly the Russian Orthodox Church can be rightly criticized but the one
country that has no right to do it is the United States.
As an American I can do it, because my American citizenship
is meaningless and inconsequential to me. I would happily surrender it and
count it as dung. I am a Christian a follower of Christ who serves the Kingdom
of Truth. The nations of this earth and all their works will burn in the fire.
By divorcing myself from my American commitments and being wedded to Christ I
can be renewed in my mind and be given eyes to see.
This is not a view shared by either Costas or the
'Christian' thought of Albert Mohler.
Thus they are blind to America's long dark track record of
oppressions, tortures, assassinations and endless manipulations. They are blind
to its activities out in the world taking place as you sit and read this. They
are blind to the criminality and murder of Globalism, the geo-political and
economic foundation of our society.
They are even blind to America's activity within Ukraine and
its posture toward Russia for the past twenty years. You cannot just sit and
kick a dog over and over again and expect that it some point it will not bite
back.
Do they think John McCain was just taking in the sites of
Kiev? Do they think John Kerry was just meeting with the opposition to have a
few drinks? Do Costas and Mohler not know about the American role in the Orange
Revolution? Do they not realize American agents have a long record of funding
and fomenting social unrest and riots in other countries? Does anyone but those
who share Costas-Mohler worldview doubt that Ukraine is currently crawling with
Western (American) intelligence agents?
Do they not know that Tymoshenko (whether she deserved to be
imprisoned or not) has a long record of corruption and collaboration with the
West especially during the years the United States sought to undermine and
control post-Soviet economies?
Are they aware of the unresolved social tensions in the
country that arose in the context of World War II? Are they aware of the role
Ukrainian Nationalism played during that conflict?
Are they unaware of America's long track record of
supporting brutal dictatorships and in not a few cases genocide?
If they're not aware of any of these things they have neither
the credentials nor moral standing to comment as they do.
And yet again, it's interesting how similar the moral and spiritual
foundations are.
Both are idolaters and have embraced a system that has no
grounding in the Truth or frankly any interest in it.
Costas is just a silly sports commentator whose career has
no real meaning or value. But with Mohler the same cannot be said. It is
sobering to consider the spiritual and moral bankruptcy at work in the
leadership of the Christian Church.