Suicidal Society

Suicidal Society

Mattias Desmet

I guess you remember how a few years ago, the media called everyone who refused to wear a mask or get vaccinated a ‘grandma killer’. To protect the elderly, to save every minute of their lives – that was all what mattered.

Here is something to think about: Last week, I stumbled upon an article in a Dutch mainstream newspaper which declared in a technical and deliberate way that the ‘mysteriously persisting excess death’ has certain advantages: it saves the state hundreds of millions of costs of taking care for old people. I checked my calendar. An April fools’ joke maybe? No – it was no joke.

One could argue, of course, that this is just one article. What am I making a fuss about? Let me give you another example. A few weeks ago, the director of a government health insurance fund stated in an article published on the website of Belgian national television that euthanasia should be considered as a solution for the rapid ageing of the population. Exactly. Old people cost too much money. Let’s kill them.

These too are the words of only one man. Yet such words are not printed in the newspapers in such a guileless way if there is not a certain tolerance for such messages in society.

Let’s face it: some people want to get rid of the elderly. And these people look suspiciously lot like those who blamed you for being a heartless criminal when you suggested that the corona measures would do the elderly more harm than good.

Upon a closer examination, the sentimental ‘protection of the elderly’ during the corona crisis was rather cruel and absurd. For instance: why were the elderly dying in hospitals not allowed to see their children and grandchildren? Because the virus could kill them while they were dying?

Beneath the surface of the state’s concern about the elderly lurks exactly the opposite: the state wants to get rid of the elderly. Soon there might be a consensus: everyone who wants to live beyond the age of seventy-five is irresponsible and egoistic – a grandson killer. At least these old bastards must pay a carbon tax.

And in the end, not only the old people have to die. Humans cause climate change – they are a detrimental virus proliferating on the surface of the earth. The planet would be better off without humans.

How did we come to this point? Is there an elite who used propaganda to make us think like this? There is much more than that.

Jacques Ellul taught us that, for propaganda to be successful, it must always resonate with a deep desire in the population. Here is what I think: society is suicidal. That’s why it is more and more open to propaganda suggesting death is the best solution to our problems. That’s why so many people sleepwalk into war with Russia; that’s why so many people don’t really care about the ‘mysteriously persisting excess death’ or even think ‘it has certain advantages’.

And think about the corona measures: They wrecked the economy, destroyed the psychological well-being of people, ruined the health and wealth of children and adults, stripped us of our democratic rights. And all this without any reasonable degree of certainty that the measures would protect us from anything at all. Many people even participated in a quasi-ecstatic way in the cv measures

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Pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters clash as UCLA allows both groups to express their views on campus

Pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters clash as UCLA allows both groups to express their views on campus

 REUTERS and TOI STAFF

Protests at US universities have showed no sign of slowing over the weekend, with more arrests on campuses and a brief skirmish between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators at California’s UCLA, where a tent encampment was set up last week.

As the size of an anti-Israel encampment at the University of California at Los Angeles expanded in recent days, counter-protesters have become increasingly vocal and visible on the campus, although both sides remained peaceful until today.

The tone turns ugly at around midday when members of two groups of protesters clashed – shoving one another and shouting, and in some cases trading punches.

Posts on social media say that at least one person was injured during the clashes.

Security guards attempt to keep the two sides separated, while campus police stand by and watch the brief skirmish, according to a Reuters photographer who witnessed the scene at around noon local time.

The dueling demonstrations involve at least some people from outside the university, which issued a statement saying it had allowed two groups on campus to express their views.

This is @UCLA where people have shown up in force to stand up to the pro-terror mob. Notice there is no screaming or genocidal chants and no masks. Just a sea of Israeli and American flags.

Dutch Fear More Antisemitic Attacks; Jews Consider Fleeing

Dutch Fear More Antisemitic Attacks; Jews Consider Fleeing

Stefan J. Bos 

 Dutch legislators want April 25 to be an annual national day against antisemitism after a rising number of violent incidents against citizens of Jewish descent.

After an emotionally charged debate at the House of Representatives, a proposal was adopted to have a yearly parliamentary debate on that day about hatred towards Jews.

The initiative comes as the Netherlands prepares for the annual May 4 ‘Remembrance of the Dead’ when the Dutch remember Jews and others who died in World War Two and post-war armed conflicts or peacekeeping missions.

Legislators fear pro-Palestine groups will interrupt the live televised two minutes of silence for victims, including the roughly 102,000 Jews deported from the Netherlands and murdered in Nazi death camps.

Caroline van der Plas, who leads the Farmer–Citizen Movement party (BBB), blamed antisemitism at least in part on the massive Muslim migration to the Netherlands, long seen as Europe’s most tolerant liberal nation.

She cited research showing that most people in Islamic nations do not condemn the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 people in Israel. Van der Plas recalled that the “German government requires newcomers to acknowledge the Holocaust and pledge to protect Jews.” She said she wants the Netherlands to demand a similar pledge from asylum seekers.

In an emotional speech, she wondered how someone who died in the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, would feel about the Netherlands now.

Van der Plas noted that the Netherlands had become a nation where supermarkets remove products from Israel, where a rabbi has been mistreated in a shop, where a Jewish singer was attacked on stage by pro-Palestine protesters, where a theater makes a difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Jews, with ‘good’ Jews meaning those who support Palestine.

In addition, there have been reports of people swearing and spitting at Jewish Dutch people, including Holocaust survivors or their relatives, even during the recent opening of the Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam.

Anti-Israel protesters have also been linked to defacing synagogues and shouting slogans such as “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free!” at train stations and other locations.

Dutch police said they received 880 reports of anti-Semitism last year, over 300 more than in 2022.

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Brentner: Five Popular Lies About The Gathering Up Of The Church

5 POPULAR LIES ABOUT THE RAPTURE

J BRENTNER

One of the most unpopular beliefs among Christians today is that of the pre-Tribulation Rapture. Many not only scoff at our expectation of meeting Jesus in the air, but also ridicule those of us who believe it could happen at any moment.

The resulting silence in most pulpits today regarding our “blessed hope” has opened the door for a great many misconceptions about it to flourish. For many, social media and Internet searches have replaced sound biblical teaching regarding our “blessed hope.”

Below are five popular lies about the Rapture.

1. BELIEF IN THE RAPTURE BEGAN WITH JOHN DARBY

Despite clear and overwhelming evidence to the contrary, most Christians remain convinced that belief in the pre-Tribulation Rapture began with John Darby. They claim that since no one in the church held this viewpoint prior to the nineteenth century, we shouldn’t ascribe to something no one believed before the time of Darby.

This assertion is blatantly false.

In AD 180, Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies to refute the errors of Gnosticism. In Book 5, Chapter 29, of Against Heresies he wrote these words:

And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall be Tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.”[1]

In the above quote, this early prominent early church theologian used the same Greek word for “caught up,” harpazo, that Paul used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, a favorite Rapture verse of many. He clearly had this passage in mind.

While his words don’t specify a pre-Tribulation Rapture, they do reveal Irenaeus’ belief that the event portrayed in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the harpazo, would come before a time of extended Tribulation on the earth as presented in Matthew 24:21ff during which time the church would be absent from the earth.

His words also confirm an early belief in Jesus’ appearance for His church that’s separate from the Second Coming. He didn’t combine the two events as most do today.

In my book, The Triumph of the Redeemed, I document beliefs similar to that of Irenaeus in the following documents or writers:

• The Shepherd of Hermas (about AD 140)

• Cyprian (AD 200–258)

• The Apocalypse of Elijah (Third Century AD)

• Ephraim the Syrian (AD 306–373)

• Morgan Edwards (1722–1795)

Each of the above examples, which predate John Darby by an exceptionally long time, express the belief that Jesus would remove His church from the earth before a period of extended judgment upon it. Ephraim clearly believed in a pre-Tribulation Rapture although Morgan Edwards placed it at the midpoint of the Tribulation.

Ongoing research into the history of the church continues to uncover more occurrences of a belief in the removal of the church from the world followed by a time of tribulation and after that, the Second Coming.

In his book, Dispensationalism Before Darby, Dr. William C. Watson devoted an entire chapter to instances of belief in the Rapture during seventeenth century England. In a few of the cases, writers used the word “Rapture” while others referred to some who would be “left behind.” Church history is full of references, long before the time of Darby, that place Jesus’ appearing for His church before a time of tribulation that precedes the Second Coming.

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Are the Rich Making Exit Plans as America Struggles to Survive?

Are the Rich Making Exit Plans as America Struggles to Survive?

Joe Schaeffer

It’s no secret that America is a deeply troubled nation. Runaway crime, inflation, soaring obesity rates, poor health outcomes, the breakdown of social comity… the list is as well-known as it is interminable. Perhaps the most significant class divide in the next few years will be between those rich enough to walk away from the mess and those with no choice but to stay put and endure it.

“Wealthy US families are increasingly applying for second citizenships and national residences as a way to hedge their financial risk, according to a leading law firm,” CNBC reported earlier this month.

“The wealthy are building these ‘passport portfolios’ – collections of second, and even third or fourth citizenships – in case they need to flee their home country,” the financial news site writes. “Henley & Partners, a law firm that specializes in high-net-worth citizenships, said Americans now outnumber every other nationality when it comes to securing alternative residences or added citizenships.”

If the Titanic is approaching the iceberg, the immensely well-off are ensuring they have secured their place in the lifeboat. “Recent high-profile examples of second citizenships include billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, who added a citizenship in New Zealand, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who applied for citizenship in Cyprus,” CNBC notes.

It’s hard not to see the trend as an inevitable outcome of rich Americans aggressively embracing globalism in pursuit of additional revenue streams. Glenn Hutchins, a powerful private equity investor who donates heavily to Democrat causes, was quoted in The Atlantic 13 years ago saying:

“A person in Africa who runs a big African bank and went to Harvard might have more in common with me than he does with his neighbors, and I could well share more overlapping concerns and experiences with him than with my neighbors….

 

“Beijing has a lot in common with New York, London, or Mumbai. You see the same people, you eat in the same restaurants, you stay in the same hotels. But most important, we are engaged as global citizens in crosscutting commercial, political, and social matters of common concern. We are much less place-based than we used to be.”

The gulf between average Americans and the rich and super-wealthy is only growing as middle- and lower-class citizens struggle mightily with runaway inflation during the Biden years.

“The wealth of the top 1% hit a record $44.6 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter [2023], as an end-of-year stock rally lifted their portfolios, according to new data from the Federal Reserve,” CNBC reported in March. “The total net worth of the top 1%, defined by the Fed as those with wealth over $11 million, increased by $2 trillion in the fourth quarter. All of the gains came from their stock holdings. The value of corporate equities and mutual fund shares held by the top 1% surged to $19.7 trillion from $17.65 trillion the previous quarter.”

In contrast, the rest of America is hurting. Even Democrats and their media allies are beginning to grasp the extent of the rising discontent, and its potential political ramifications.

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