The world is in turmoil and at such a degree and tempo that it's almost impossible to keep up with events. I could post multiple articles a day and it would not suffice. We are in a rather intense news cycle at present. Many of these issues qualify as mere 'news' and as such are somewhat beyond the purview of this project which among other things seeks to contextualize the Church in the world we live in today and explain how history, events, and ideas are impacting the Church for good and evil. Given the failures of Church leaders and in many cases their capitulation to the world, or in other cases their heresy and their corruption, I believe this task is important even if few will hear it.
The world is seemingly on fire and we've not see this level of turmoil since the dark and heady days in the aftermath of September 2001. And yet we also know that compared to the first half of the 20th century, the situation is still relatively tame. That said, some thinkers (with reason) point to the 1930's by way of analogy - in addition to the economic depression, there was the Spanish Civil War, Japan's invasion of China, and the Italian expansion in East Africa. Hindsight allows us to see that these events in reality represent the opening salvos of the world war that would not officially begin until Hitler invaded Poland in September 1939. This line of thinking is warranted as we are also witnessing small wars that seem to be preambles to larger conflicts. We're also experiencing economic and political crises that threaten the existing order and all these factors contribute to a general unease and angst regarding culture and life and it would be remiss not to note the role technology plays in this.
This is big picture thinking - the stuff of not just books but series. I only touch on a few points here.
The price of gold has been increasingly at a fairly impressive clip. Some economists and commentators connect this to fears concerning the US dollar as investors seek safer ground for investment. This is perhaps counter-intuitive given the dollar's short term strength. But that strength isn't just about numbers or literally dollars and cents. It's about perception and even as the UN recently assembled in New York, not a few were and are commenting on the decline of US power and influence. Biden's project of re-assertion initially scored some impressive successes and yet they reached a plateau and the cascade of world events have exposed some inherent US weaknesses that are the result of not just Trump but the terrible miscalculations of the Bush and Obama era. Biden is finishing his tenure from a position of decline and weakness reflecting in some respects his own personal downgrade. And with this there is a moral element and the question of hypocrisy. Western media presents his administration as striving but failing to secure peace in the Middle East. This is completely misleading as are the statements of Antony Blinken the US Secretary of State. The US is fully complicit and could stop Israel in the blink of an eye.
Even as Israel began its bombing campaign of Lebanon and escalated the war by assassination Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, the US appropriated another eight billion dollars in aid. This glaring hypocrisy is on full display for the rest of the world. The only people who remain ignorant of it are the American public. The pager terrorist attack conducted by Israel as well as its targeted assassinations would have resulted in widespread condemnation had it been any other country. If Russia or China had engaged in such behaviour they would be labeled as terrorist states but as Israel drops bunker busting bombs in downtown Beirut they are hailed by US political leaders and Netanyahu the Butcher of Gaza is allowed to freely travel to New York and deliver a warmongering speech in front of the UN General Assembly.
Western media has completely ignored the Israeli employment of concentration camps, torture, and the like. Even mainstream media figures at CNN have admitted that coverage of the Israel-Gaza war constitutes something akin to journalistic malpractice.
Indeed, the US-led post-war geopolitical order has reached a breaking point. For years the narrative has been perpetuated by pay-offs, threats, and other smoke and mirrors tricks. They're not working anymore. All that's left is the bombs.
Biden, Blinken, and even Harris are dripping with blood and it will be interesting to see if this plays any role in the upcoming election. Given the endless and insulting nature of the ad campaigns which are all but inescapable, and the mind-boggling degree of monetary corruption surrounding the election - one wonders just what motivates people to vote at all.
The connection between gold and the dollar is further amplified by the rise of BRICS which represents a direct challenge to the G7 economic order - one of Washington's mechanisms for empire. When the petro-dollar system collapses (and the threat of this is even now on the horizon), then US power will be in serious decline. American hegemony and the strength of its empire are being challenged on multiple fronts and as some feared the US Establishment is sending out signals that it is prepared to unleash global conflagration rather than go quietly into decline. Some had hoped that the US would simply and humbly retreat and fade into the realities of a multi-polar order and yet the stakes are too high. Make no mistake, this basic question overshadows world events and much of the turmoil. As I wrote in a recent piece, even the upheaval and chaos in a place like Ecuador is not unrelated to this question.
The world economic crisis is being fomented by a complex of issues and it's so complicated that few will even be able to agree about not just the questions but the very nature of the questions, let alone their cause. It's a story of debt, banking practices, the investor market vs. the real economy, labour, inflation, monopoly, resources, and technology. There are a thousand different factors and many nuances - but the end result is frustration.
PBS Frontline recently ran a programme tracing the lives of two Wisconsin families from the early 1990's to 2024. The Black family endured many struggles but overall it could be said their situation and that of their children improved - though it's not entirely clear how they turned the corner. It may very well be that the father of the family made a good bit of money as a pastor even while working what were otherwise low-end jobs. The wife as a realtor did not seem to excel and yet there may have been more money brought in than acknowledged.
On the contrary the White family in the story was in many ways a depiction of American middle class decline. These people who grew up middle class were struggling and while jobs were abundant in the 1990's, wages were down. They were in a house that was too expensive for them and ironically over time even after struggling and sacrificing to save it, the neighbourhood went into steep decline. The father worked endlessly making sometimes foolish decisions (such as working a grave shift for $1 more an hour) and consequently the family unit and the marriage broke down, followed by divorce. It seems clear enough that their kids have not done very well and struggle to make ends meet. Their own poor decisions involving multiple children with multiple 'partners' doesn't help. The one daughter earned a college degree but (apparently confused about marriage and relationships) took up with a man that can only be described as a stay-at-home loser. The wife in the story ended up losing the house in the end. Their family was shattered and it's a story of decline and defeat. I am confident they're all rabid Trumpites for in many ways they typify the sort of people in the Rust Belt and Middle America that gravitate toward his movement. They're angry and he provides an outlet for them. And the violence of Trumpism has not yet expired. No one knows what will happen in the aftermath of the November 2024 election. And the threat of instability is affecting not only US standing in the world but its ability to project stability and authority.
And this connects the West's economic stresses with politics. The situation in Europe is different but the end result is more or less the same. There has been a resurgence of ugly nationalism predicated on anti-immigrant sentiment. The immigrants and refugees serve as the scapegoats and there is a great deal of anger and blame directed at central government whether it be in Washington or Brussels.
This political crisis has generated violence and insurrection in the United States and trouble is brewing in Europe as well. Hungary's Viktor Orban is facing censure from the EU and the growing multi-pronged Right-wing movement (of which he is a leader) threatens to take over the EU and potentially reconstitute its very nature. In France, even after Left-wing parties scored a victory in parliamentary elections, President Emmanuel Macron has maneuvered to install a Right-wing government. The AfD, a far right party with fascistic ideology and connections continues to wax bold and gain seats in the German Bundestag as well as individual state and the EU parliaments.
While celebrated by some, others view the rise of the AfD, and groups like Italy's FdI and the Lega parties as a warning of fascist resurgence and a sure sign of both societal and political crisis. The Right is continuing to gain ground in not just Hungary, Italy, and Germany but in Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, and elsewhere. And while these groups are recognized for their historical links to fascist ideology and historically fascist parties and political movements, this history is spun in the United States - sometimes deliberately and other times by political and Christian leaders who are ignorant of history and politics. The nature of World War II-era fascism is not understood by most Right-wing and conservative Americans who have been misled to associate it with contemporary Left-wing politics. As such, they are blind and wide open to deception. For my part I think this blindness is also the result of seared consciences and judgment upon them.
Israeli politics are also in turmoil. Before the Gaza (and now Lebanon and maybe soon to be Iran) War there was open talk of civil war within Israel and not a few believe Netanyahu has leveraged the October 7 attacks in the way Bush did September 11. He (along with his racist and fascistic Far-Right coalition) is trying to launch a state of permanent and transformative war. The minute the fighting stops the protesters will return to the streets calling for his ouster and prosecution. As such it's in his interest to continuously escalate and expand the conflict. He knows he has US support and he's realized this is the moment in which the geopolitical goals of Likud can be realized. Somehow he hopes to escape the consequences at home and it seems clear enough that he intends to extend this war all the way to Tehran. He hopes for a new order and a new Israel, indeed a new Middle East and a Final Solution to the Palestinian problem. The only setback so far has been the failure to oust Assad in Syria. And yet, he is neutralized and in addition to US troops occupying the east of the country, Israel continues to attack Syria on a regular basis - a point mostly ignored by the West's Establishment media.
And the state of the media has also generated a crisis. The rise of the Internet and in particular social media has destroyed any form of cultural consensus and sent basic assumptions and even epistemology into a tailspin. While some aspects of this reality need not be lamented by Christians, there are some real problems nonetheless. There is a great deal of false information out there and in many cases it's being countered with false or misleading information. The media frames issues to the benefit of the Establishment and omits critical data and historical facts necessary to understand events. It's a case of fake news being used to counter fake news. This reality along with the severe dumbing down of information and its reduction to memes and tweets is generating epistemological chaos. The dumbing down of the public (which has reached staggering levels) doesn't help either.
Historically this breakdown/collapse scenario has produced conflict, the most grievous example that comes to mind is the Thirty Years War. That was about politics and religion but the turmoil was in part generated by a breakdown of basic societal understandings, the consensus of how the world works, what is right and wrong, and the basis of authority. We should take note because this culture continues to creep toward conflagration and any of these facets could prove to be the tripwire that unleashes widespread violence and something akin to an asymmetrical state of civil war.
Sudan is being torn apart and famine knocks at the door. This could unleash a new wave of immigration and a new refugee crisis. The situation in South Sudan and the Horn of Africa remains volatile. There are small-scale wars and insurgencies taking place all across North Africa and the US is involved in many of them. The Ukrainian stalemate continues though Kyiv and its Western backers have sought to change the equation by means of a stalled offensive in Russian territory. The F-16's meant to challenge Russian air supremacy have proven to be ineffective so far. The reasons why are still being debated. And so with the deadlock, the American-led West in its desperation to break the challenge represented by Russia, the SCO, and BRICS is willing to push Putin into a corner and risk nuclear conflagration in order to secure this victory. They are willing to gamble that he won't be pushed over the edge.
The Middle East as already mentioned is on fire and with the death of Nasrallah it stands poised to open up a new and wider chapter of war.
And as AUKUS expands, tensions with China increase. Beijing experienced an embarrassing setback with the malfunction and sinking of its latest nuclear submarine - an even that will drive Xi to try and save face, a rare Chinese failure that may embolden its US-led adversaries. The region is in peril due to militarism and while China once was limited to regional aspirations, the US has driven China into rivalry and antagonism - driving Xi to expand Chinese interests and pursue a wider economic and security footprint.
And we shouldn't forget the growing troubles in Latin America, the political tensions, and the chaos in states like Ecuador. There will be economic ramifications and fallout in terms of refugees and political upheaval. Venezuela remains on edge and the political situation in Bolivia is volatile to say the least. In every case, the US is involved.
The very nature of warfare is also in crisis. The recent uses of technology in Gaza, Lebanon, and Ukraine demonstrate this. Phones and drones are playing a big role, along with satellites, new hypersonic weapons, and cyber-warfare. This is generating uncertainty and fear. Some leaders are literally sick at the thought that years of planning and strategy might be rendered moot in a matter of minutes on a real battlefield. This too can generate desperation, rashness, and a kind of destructive fatalism. Though the technology is completely different, one thinks of Spain in the 1930's and the harbingers of the coming war with the advance of aviation technology and munitions. There was a sense that the coming war would represent something new and terrible. In our case, the one hope is that such wars are not likely to drag on for years. Things are likely to be decided pretty quick. In the case of Ukraine the war would have been over within weeks but for Western intervention and a willingness on the part of Zelenskiy to sacrifice his own population in order to advance NATO goals and interests.
In some respects these troubles are nothing new but anyone paying attention right now can feel the tension and the pressure on the global order. The order that emerged in the 19th century was shattered in 1914. A new order emerged in 1945. George HW Bush hailed yet another New World Order in 1991 with the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War and the end of the Cold War. This was an expansion of the order created in 1945. His son sought to amplify this yet again in 2001. In 2024, the American-dominated order is set to expire - its economic, political, and cultural energies having run their course. A new order will emerge. Will it come peacefully? This is unlikely. The American Establishment will not just stand down. They are perfectly willing for thousands, even millions to die and I think much of the US public will also prove willing - a population that includes vast numbers of professed Christians.
But the public must be managed and we see the campaign at work in the media, in the crushing of labour and dissent, in the channeling of anger - Trump may be a buffoon but some quarters deem him useful.
The American Church is already deeply compromised. The vast majority of American Christians reject the religion of the New Testament and have replaced it with a hybrid religion combining American ideology and nationalism with certain and select aspects of Christianity. It's clear that for most the American loyalty is primary and the Christian aspect is only of value insofar that it can supplement and augment the other. As such, Christians will be (and already are) part of the deception and the ever growing conflagration. The Evangelical Church is already dripping with blood and doing the work of Satan - teaching God's people to worship idols, mammon, and to take up the sword in the name of their Babel masquerading as a counterfeit Zion. The still dominant heresy of Dispensationalism merely adds yet another element to the blood-guilt.
In every case whether it be the economy, the politics, the geopolitics, or media, the American Church (and I limit this term to the bodies that remain viable with some form of confession that has a basis in Scripture and history) are on the wrong side and have embraced positions antithetical to the New Testament. This is not to say the 'Left' is correct or ought to be embraced. By no means is this so. But because these churches and Christians have allowed the world to shape their thinking, and set the parameters of their thought, they have restricted and trapped themselves and like the people in Gaza - there is no way out. But for the grace of God they and their false faith will perish. They will cry persecution but their sufferings are not rooted in commitment to New Testament doctrine but in their embrace of evil and the wrath and vengeance of the state - and Providence we might add. The American Church has spread its evil deceptions around the world and with the collapse of this order we will witness a great chapter of apostasy in the annals of Church History. It's already under way. In the Middle Ages, Christianity was everywhere but nowhere. The real Christians were underground, persecuted by False Christianity. That 'Christian' age was one of apostasy.
Unless these people are able to seize power (which I doubt), this will not be the scenario we face. Even if they succeed it wouldn't last for very long. We are seeing the rise of a new order and with it a new consensus. Instead of acculturated worldly Christianity we are witnessing the rise of a new Materialist religion that is coming to dominate the assumptions of all people in the West - even those who remain religious and retain outward forms. They too are being affected by the values and assumptions of secular liberalism - the rotten seeds planted by the Enlightenment revolutionaries and Founders of the United States and all modern states in the West.
Religious Materialism as a rival faith system and sacral order will indeed persecute Christianity and many (having confused godliness with gain) will simply abandon their faith. In other cases the faithful will be persecuted because of the misguided violence perpetuated by those who profess Christ and yet do not know Him. The moral bankruptcy of American Christianity has repeatedly been demonstrated. One need only to listen to Evangelical and Catholic radio to discover this. They are purveyors of lies, historical revision, and other disinformation. The fact that the American Church was more than willing for over a million of its fellow citizens to die during the Covid pandemic exhibits not just a lack of moral compass but a cold and frightening complicity that hints of a capacity for great evil and episodes of horror yet to be revealed. There is no coming back from this. I really and truly believe that. This order to which the Church has sold its soul is coming to an end. It will be awful but it seems that it's necessary. This of course does not mark the end of the Church - the very notion is absurd, but we will enter a period of change, remaking, apostasy, and hopefully - hopefully some kind of reform and revival even if on a scale that is barely noticed by the world and yet marked in heaven.
We were told there will be wars and rumours of wars. We're also told not to be troubled. So let's take that to heart, but we should understand what is happening and why - and how it's going to affect the Church. The Old Testament faithful in Judah could write off the Dan and Bethel cults of Israel and certainly the Baal cult operating within the confines of the covenant land - and yet they needed to pay attention to what was happening. Their leaders were unfaithful and false prophets ran amok. And increasingly we are not living in ecclesiastical Judah (so to speak) but among the dissidents in ecclesiastical Samaria-Israel - in the midst of the idolatry and false teaching. Will we join with the false prophets who proclaim 'peace, peace' - God is pleased with you and on your side even as you spit in His face, or will we stand with the remnant calling God's people to repentance and living the lives of pilgrims and martyrs?
We already know how the False Church will respond to all of these things. How will we?