First - none of us pay you enough for this type of thoughtful coverage. You are holding the red hot iron of the original sources, with these people, and making sense of it. Not from an addled leftist brain - but just sheer common sense.
There is this odd dynamic tension between the fact that we are living in extraordinary times - times of immense technological acceleration, times of explosive human population growth, times of space exploration. This time requires a new way of seeing the world, humanity, and its interconnectedness.
But "end times" theology can't accommodate the change. They are in a fever dream that the "end times" must be NOW - and they have the tools of destruction to force something. A catastrophe of unimaginable consequence, hoping it will force Jesus to return. (Who has been gone for 2000 years already, btw).
Back in the day, there was a wonderful author named Daniel Quinn. He wrote a book called "The Story of B" and in the book discussed what happens when a cultural story no longer works to make sense of the world. It precipitates cultural collapse.
End times theology is in a state of cultural collapse. It cannot realistically help people cope with the extraordinary moment of human history we are living through. It is trying to prove that it's real at the cost of reason, democracy, sanity, peace, prosperity - everything that matters. It is collapsing, but it going down swinging. And religious fanaticism in one sect is going to inflame religious fanaticism elsewhere. The fanatics are holding the future of humanity hostage because their theology is simply too limited to explain and guide humans through the massive change we are living through.
Thank you for giving me the space to respond to your articles. I have been waiting for your next posts and they are spot on.
First of all, thank you for this tremendous compliment. Secondly, I must read this book. This is a really powerful point and not one I've thought about in this context. My favorite book, Deep Survival by Lawrence Gonzales, describes this phenomenon as "bending the map" in the context of wilderness survival, and we are bending the map HARD here in 2026. Maybe that explains the rise of mysticism in general right now--our old ways of figuring out information aren't working anymore so we're fumbling for something, ANYTHING, to lead us out. Which won't work, of course
Because of your recommendation, I read Deep Survival last year and found it powerful and insightful. It created a permanent shift in how I view the world. I will be curious to hear your thought on The Story of B should you pursue it. Daniel Quinn is best known for his book Ishmael. But I think you will find something interesting in The Story of B regardless if you have read Ishmael or not.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
Sounds like nuclear winter capped by one final nuclear blast. The sign of the Son of man is a mushroom cloud.
When I see Trump's dwindling poll numbers, I tend to focus on the 30-40% who still approve of him and wonder WHY anyone approves of him. This article, and an article by Lady Libertie today, "What if the King is a Moron" helps me understand a bit better. There are factions in our society, that hold sway with a significant portion of the population, pushing for Trump to prevail so that their interests or motives (ex. all-powerful executive, return of the Messiah, defeat of cultural enemies-libs, etc.) are realized. More difficult to understand why my neighbor who drives a gravel truck and receives medicaid for his family maintains such loyalty. Why does the "working man" remaining in Trump's thrall, unless the "working man" also wants a strongman/advocate/messiah?
Or, it simply reduces the volume of Cognitive Dissonance between the ears when trying to figure out all the answers that follow the question "Why are we here?" Especially if we take the unnamed narrator at its word and believe Maker to be One of Compassionate Mercy...
I am reading Philip Almond's The Antichrist: A New Biography. I am only 50 pages in, but already it is clear to me that the American evangelicals do not understand their own eschatology. First, humans on earth now cannot force or even encourage the return of Jesus for his thousand year reign and the final judgment. He will come when He Comes. Second, before Jesus returns, the Antichrist must appear, and present himself as the Son of God. And he will do great wonders and many, maybe most, will follow him. He is the great deceiver, so very few will be able to tell he is not Jesus returned. In their own beliefs, then, Trump is probably the Antichrist, if anything. Finally, Christians, true believers or not, will suffer and die in great numbers. Like everything else about these American end times promoters, they are lazy and want the easy path to final glory. If there is to be a final judgment, they will not get to ride up on the cloud to everlasting paradise.
In retrospect, we rightfully see the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as horrific. At the time, from the perspective of the Japanese government, they were just two more cities levelled, just quicker. Tokyo was in no better shape than those two cities.
The reason Japan surrendered was that the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan, as it had promised Roosevelt. For Japan, war against the US was business. War with Russia was personal.
If Japan had held out longer, it would have been Japan that was divided in two, not Korea.
Oh lordy, Laura. Section 4 is likely to bring on night sweats. Thank you for pulling this all together in such a clear and compelling way. Even if I get the night sweats.
I can't say it as well as Ek Ong Kaar Kaur did, but thank you for all of the work you put into this.
I have some relatives whose Facebook feeds I keep tabs on. For the most part, I think they are in Group 2, with maybe a dash of 4. They mostly repost stuff from their feed. Not too much about the war at all, though a recent one said Trump had to do this because of everything Obama gave Iran. Most of what I see is still focused on Immigrants. Posts highlighting immigrants that committed and crime and others praising ICE and other law enforcement for protecting us. And personal responsibility is a strong theme as well, no handouts, work hard and you will succeed. Their online experiences are thoroughly captured by the right-wing outrage machine. I don't know that anything that happens near in the Persian Gulf will affect them enough to break through their worldview. These relatives are nice in person, though we rarely see them, and we never talk politics when we do.
The profound disconnect between what you discuss in section 4, and particularly the Matthew 24:9 cite is that the "they" in that is not supposed to be followers of Jesus. The followers are the victims of the wars fought by the rich, mighty, and powerful, not the initiators of those wars.
First - none of us pay you enough for this type of thoughtful coverage. You are holding the red hot iron of the original sources, with these people, and making sense of it. Not from an addled leftist brain - but just sheer common sense.
There is this odd dynamic tension between the fact that we are living in extraordinary times - times of immense technological acceleration, times of explosive human population growth, times of space exploration. This time requires a new way of seeing the world, humanity, and its interconnectedness.
But "end times" theology can't accommodate the change. They are in a fever dream that the "end times" must be NOW - and they have the tools of destruction to force something. A catastrophe of unimaginable consequence, hoping it will force Jesus to return. (Who has been gone for 2000 years already, btw).
Back in the day, there was a wonderful author named Daniel Quinn. He wrote a book called "The Story of B" and in the book discussed what happens when a cultural story no longer works to make sense of the world. It precipitates cultural collapse.
End times theology is in a state of cultural collapse. It cannot realistically help people cope with the extraordinary moment of human history we are living through. It is trying to prove that it's real at the cost of reason, democracy, sanity, peace, prosperity - everything that matters. It is collapsing, but it going down swinging. And religious fanaticism in one sect is going to inflame religious fanaticism elsewhere. The fanatics are holding the future of humanity hostage because their theology is simply too limited to explain and guide humans through the massive change we are living through.
Thank you for giving me the space to respond to your articles. I have been waiting for your next posts and they are spot on.
First of all, thank you for this tremendous compliment. Secondly, I must read this book. This is a really powerful point and not one I've thought about in this context. My favorite book, Deep Survival by Lawrence Gonzales, describes this phenomenon as "bending the map" in the context of wilderness survival, and we are bending the map HARD here in 2026. Maybe that explains the rise of mysticism in general right now--our old ways of figuring out information aren't working anymore so we're fumbling for something, ANYTHING, to lead us out. Which won't work, of course
What a time.
Because of your recommendation, I read Deep Survival last year and found it powerful and insightful. It created a permanent shift in how I view the world. I will be curious to hear your thought on The Story of B should you pursue it. Daniel Quinn is best known for his book Ishmael. But I think you will find something interesting in The Story of B regardless if you have read Ishmael or not.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
Sounds like nuclear winter capped by one final nuclear blast. The sign of the Son of man is a mushroom cloud.
This occured to me also and I don't like it
And I beheld a Man and in his hand was book with 7 seals and the first seal was broken
Behold a white horse and he that sat upon him held a bow and he went forth to conquer
The nihilistic death cult (Evenglicals) are not working for God they worship the other guy because they are idolators.
When I see Trump's dwindling poll numbers, I tend to focus on the 30-40% who still approve of him and wonder WHY anyone approves of him. This article, and an article by Lady Libertie today, "What if the King is a Moron" helps me understand a bit better. There are factions in our society, that hold sway with a significant portion of the population, pushing for Trump to prevail so that their interests or motives (ex. all-powerful executive, return of the Messiah, defeat of cultural enemies-libs, etc.) are realized. More difficult to understand why my neighbor who drives a gravel truck and receives medicaid for his family maintains such loyalty. Why does the "working man" remaining in Trump's thrall, unless the "working man" also wants a strongman/advocate/messiah?
Or, it simply reduces the volume of Cognitive Dissonance between the ears when trying to figure out all the answers that follow the question "Why are we here?" Especially if we take the unnamed narrator at its word and believe Maker to be One of Compassionate Mercy...
Tio Mitchito
TM
I am reading Philip Almond's The Antichrist: A New Biography. I am only 50 pages in, but already it is clear to me that the American evangelicals do not understand their own eschatology. First, humans on earth now cannot force or even encourage the return of Jesus for his thousand year reign and the final judgment. He will come when He Comes. Second, before Jesus returns, the Antichrist must appear, and present himself as the Son of God. And he will do great wonders and many, maybe most, will follow him. He is the great deceiver, so very few will be able to tell he is not Jesus returned. In their own beliefs, then, Trump is probably the Antichrist, if anything. Finally, Christians, true believers or not, will suffer and die in great numbers. Like everything else about these American end times promoters, they are lazy and want the easy path to final glory. If there is to be a final judgment, they will not get to ride up on the cloud to everlasting paradise.
In retrospect, we rightfully see the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as horrific. At the time, from the perspective of the Japanese government, they were just two more cities levelled, just quicker. Tokyo was in no better shape than those two cities.
The reason Japan surrendered was that the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan, as it had promised Roosevelt. For Japan, war against the US was business. War with Russia was personal.
If Japan had held out longer, it would have been Japan that was divided in two, not Korea.
Oh lordy, Laura. Section 4 is likely to bring on night sweats. Thank you for pulling this all together in such a clear and compelling way. Even if I get the night sweats.
I can't say it as well as Ek Ong Kaar Kaur did, but thank you for all of the work you put into this.
I have some relatives whose Facebook feeds I keep tabs on. For the most part, I think they are in Group 2, with maybe a dash of 4. They mostly repost stuff from their feed. Not too much about the war at all, though a recent one said Trump had to do this because of everything Obama gave Iran. Most of what I see is still focused on Immigrants. Posts highlighting immigrants that committed and crime and others praising ICE and other law enforcement for protecting us. And personal responsibility is a strong theme as well, no handouts, work hard and you will succeed. Their online experiences are thoroughly captured by the right-wing outrage machine. I don't know that anything that happens near in the Persian Gulf will affect them enough to break through their worldview. These relatives are nice in person, though we rarely see them, and we never talk politics when we do.
The profound disconnect between what you discuss in section 4, and particularly the Matthew 24:9 cite is that the "they" in that is not supposed to be followers of Jesus. The followers are the victims of the wars fought by the rich, mighty, and powerful, not the initiators of those wars.
Which side of that line is Hegseth on?
Oh, right...