Heaven’s Gate Cult

The Leader - Tribeca Festival

Remember Heaven’s Gate Cult? Variety has a review of a movie about it:

‘The Leader’ Review: Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga Are Creepy and Powerful in a Disturbing Drama About the Heaven’s Gate Cult by Owen Gleiberman

Good reading since we seem to be seeing a lot cult-like behavior these days.

Funny Quote of the Day

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar. ©  Christian Marquardt/Getty Images

From RT: 

The country’s foreign minister has said religious persecution is “impossible,” given constitutional guarantees on freedom of faith - Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar

Propaganda & Religion

Best summation of the British Press ever, and still as painfully true today as four decades ago.
Jaka Parker

I wanted to write something about propaganda & religion & and how we mostly just do what we are used to doing, and we picked up most of that in childhood. We're constantly being shaped by our experiences, but by the time we are adults our character is pretty much fixed. But then I came across this video and he does a good job of covering the topic so I'll post it instead.

And while I am here, I don't want to hear anyone exhorting people to think for themselves anymore. I just can't imagine that it does any good. Most people are too busy being themselves to think. There are a few people who think for themselves. Neither group is going to be affected by such exhortations. Are there any people who ever get persuaded by exhortations to think for themselves?

The Buckingham Murders - Netflix Movie

The Buckingham Murders | Official Trailer | Kareena Kapoor Khan
Netflix India

Curious kind of show. It's an Indian production about Indians living in England. All of the leading characters are Indian, but there are plenty of English cops around, but they are all just background. The story is twisted as all get out. School-age boy goes missing and is eventually found dead, by drowning, sitting in a car, so we've got a murder. We also have drugs and a faggot who rather be convicted of murder than sent back to India. There is also have usual panoply of generic misbehavior: adultery, dysfunctional families, and misogyny. Worst of all, there is vengeful a woman. Not a happy story.

Goddess of Kannon Statue

Goddess of Kannon statue, Japan

Sendai Daikannon, officially known as the Sendai Tendou Byakue Daikannon, is a large statue located in Sendai, Japan. It portrays a woman, the bodhisattva Byakue Kannon holding the cintamani gem in her hand.

It is the tallest statue of a goddess in Japan and the tenth-tallest statue in the world, at 330 feet. The statue itself is 302 feet tall, while the pedestal brings its total height to 330 feet. At the time of its completion in 1991, it was the tallest statue in the world, but it was surpassed by Ushiku Daibutsu in 1993. - Wikipedia

Today's Chuckle

Saw this headline on Aljazeera  and just howled.

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about the Israel-Iran conflict, aboard Air Force One on June 24, 2025, while traveling to attend the NATO's Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague in the Netherlands [Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

Did God want Trump to bomb Iran?

Invoking God to bomb Iran, Trump is reviving a deadly tradition of religiously justified US violence.

Like Iran's mullahs haven't been promoting religiously justified violence since forever.

 

Russophobia

Attack Of The Savage Division On The Austrian Infantry - Viktor Viketyevich Masurovsky

Terry Cowan is talking about Russophobia in a post on New Notes from a Commonplace Book. He seems to be as confused as I am by the hatred for Russia evidenced by most of the leaders of Western Europe. An excerpt:

So that brings us today, and the real subject of this post. As bad as we are, we are not in the same league with the British. Lindsey Graham cannot hold a candle to Keir Starmer or David Lammy when it comes to Russophobia. We have been their eager students, but they remain the Masters. A recent piece has highlighted the historical roots of this psychosis. A former Canadian diplomat in Russia in Anti-Russia Through the Years writes of the long history of Russophobia, finding it in full blossom 170 years ago. He’s an old Russian hand, and I highly recommend his site.

I suspect Russophobia is a religious belief, passed down from one generation the next, and nurtured for their entire life, and as such is impossible to discuss in a rational manner.

I am beginning to suspect that people have an innate need for a certain amount of violence in their lives. Whenever things are too quiet and peaceful for too long, some people will start to boil and violence will erupt.

Thunder

The lunch bunch was jabbering away about the new Pope and Trump and the discussion devolved into how could the church possibly change policy? I mean, the Pope talks to God, so he's getting the straight dope, so how is that burning heretics used to be the thing to do, but now it's not? Hearing this, it occurred  to me that listening to God might be much like listening to a thunderstorm. I mean, even if you've been listening to clouds all your life, could you be certain that you are receiving the message correctly? I'm not saying God is in the clouds, I'm saying God isn't speaking English, he's speaking directly to your brain, so how you turn that message into words to pass on to others is entirely up to you. Hopefully, the message was clear and you were able to translate it accurately, but people are funny, their thoughts don't always match their words, and their words don't always match their actions. We're just lucky that sometimes what people say makes sense.

TDS on Display

TDS stands for Trump Derangement Syndrome. It seems to have infected a large portion of the population. People who are so afflicted are convinced that Donald Trump is the devil incarnate and everything he says or does is just more evidence that he is a bad, bad man.

I watched this video short of the Army Chorus performing at the White House. I was curious as to why the poster found this humiliating. It was hard for me to understand the lyrics, but after some rooting around I found them. It's the finale from the Broadway musical Les Miserables.

I looked in the comments to see what people were saying and they all seemed to be suffering from (or enjoying) their TDS.

I'm sorry, I don't see it. I see Trump as the liberator of the oppressed, downtrodden, deplorables from fly-over country. I thought about telling the poster that I disagreed, but you can't argue people out of their religious beliefs. I suspect the only thing that will change their minds will be when the 2 by 4 of reality hits them over the head. That 2 by 4 hasn't hit yet, but it's coming. I hope.

Do You Hear the People Sing?

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes.

Islamist is just another word for Commie

Palestinian Protest - Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

Fine story about the danger of radical ideologies:

America Can’t Ignore The Warning Signs Of Radicalization by Isik Abla

There was a time in my life when I lived in the shadow of terror — not just as a distant observer, but as someone who felt its grip firsthand. I was born into a world where radical Islam was not just a belief system, but a way of life — a force that dictated what I could wear, how I could think, who I could marry, and whether I lived or died. I have seen the face of oppression up close. I have felt the cold breath of death whispering lies of hopelessness into my soul.

And yet, by God’s grace, I escaped. I ran from that life and stepped onto foreign soil, hoping to leave the nightmare behind. But the nightmare was not confined to one land, it has followed me. It has followed us all.

I came to America believing I had reached a place of true freedom — a nation that stood tall in the face of tyranny. Today, however, the more I watch, the more I realize America is sleeping.

I see the same signs I saw growing up. I recognize the rhetoric, the infiltration, and the subtle shift in public sentiment that paves the way for radical ideologies to take root. America needs to wake up.

Read the whole thing here.

Nettley Abbey

Inside the East End of Nettley Abbey by Michel Angelo Rooker (British, 1746-1801).

Foxifier links to a Roger Pearse who links to Original Douay Rheims Bible (1582 & 1610) where I found this cool drawing. I'm no bible scholar, but I am slightly curious about the history of Christianity, and hey, look, links to follow.

Wikipedia has a page about the Nettley Abbey:

Netley Abbey is a ruined late medieval monastery in the village of Netley near Southampton in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1239 as a house for monks of the austere Cistercian order. Despite royal patronage, Netley was never rich, produced no influential scholars nor churchmen, and its nearly 300-year history was quiet. The monks were best known to their neighbours for the generous hospitality they offered to travellers on land and sea.

Mao & The Ten Commandments

Ten Commandments

I am trying to understand why the Christian religion is dominate in some countries and not others.

I like the ten commandments and I try to follow them. I found this list on BibleGateway:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

I'm not sure about number two. I take it to mean it's okay to make images, but it's not okay to worship those images. Pictures Ferraris and Playboy Bunnies will undoubtedly doom me. We aren't going to talk about number three, but the rest of them are very fine.

Anyway, for a while now I've been kind of suspicious of Asia. Why is that place such a mess? They have plenty of smart people, but they seem to be constantly mired in squabbles. Then I read that story about what's wrong with India, and I go wondering - is that what's wrong with all of Asia?

And then I remember Mao's actions during WW2, when he took his army west and let the Nationalists fight it out with Japanese, and then when the Japanese were driven out, Mao swooped in and drove out the Nationalists. Wikipedia has pages on this.

Now I'm wondering if the Nationalists were a similar to the Indians as described in the linked story, and Mao was sick of their shit and decided to do something about it, and WW2 gave him the opportunity.

Now Mao was no Christian, but if you are dealing with a wretched hive of corruption and villainy, maybe a Christian approach is not what you need. At least not modern, Western one.

V8

V8: The Engine of America | Full Documentary
MotorTrend Channel

This video is not as technically dense as my usual selections, but it does give a wide overview of the history of the engine and the culture surrounding it. Don't think I've ever seen such a collection of V8 worship before. Never really thought of the V8 engine as a religious icon before, but it certainly fits.

Funny Words

Are Trad Catholics a Protestant Sect?

JMSmith has a post up today about Martin Luther versus Traditional Catholics. I am nominally a Lutheran, and I have certain problems with the Catholic Church, but I often enjoy what JMSmith writes. Some of his stuff is wonderful and some of it is inpenetrable. Today's post is borderline, bunch of words I didn't know.

Scala Santa to open for limited time with the original marble stairs Jesus walked
ROME REPORTS in English
Pilate’s Staircase (also known as the Scala Sancta). Video is five years old.

Funny words:

• Greater Catechism - catechism is a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians. Evidently there is a bigger one (the Greater Catechism) and a smaller one.
• Novus Ordo -  short for Novus Ordo Missae, which means the "new order of the Mass".
• propitiatory - an action intended to please someone and make them feel calm, or to reconcile or appease.
• sedeprivationist - Sedeprivationism is a doctrinal position within Traditionalist Catholicism which holds that the current occupant of the Holy See is a duly-elected pope, but lacks the authority and ability to teach or to govern unless he recants the changes brought by the Second Vatican Council.
• sedevacantist - Sedevacantism is a traditionalist Catholic movement which holds that since the death of Pius XII the occupiers of the Holy See are not valid popes due to their espousal of one or more heresies and that, for lack of a valid pope, the See of Rome is vacant.
• simony - the act of buying or selling spiritual things, church offices, or roles that are closely connected to the spiritual. The term comes from Simon Magus, who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, tried to buy the power to give the Holy Spirit to others from Jesus's disciples.
• sola fides - a Latin phrase that means "faith alone".

More funny words that I think I know the meaning of, but mostly I'm too lazy to look them up.

• apocalyptic
• consecrate
• epiphany
• epiphenomenal
• facetiously 
• liturgy
• paraphrase
• perfunctory
• piously
• prelates
• schism
• secession

Update next day - replaced video. Original wouldn't play here.

The Divine Economy

Money Changes Hands

Liz Hinds talks about the church and money:

Continuing with the religion theme, this morning Husband pointed me in the direction of an article in The Economist reviewing a new book called The Divine Economy. An interesting and fun read - the article not the book, the "scope of which is big as are many of the words."

Snippets from the article.

The book compares the Roman Catholic Church to McDonalds, in their uniformity of service, whether you're in the Vatican or Venezuela you get the same thing. Also the two most popular brands (Christianity and Islam) have replaced smaller religions in the same way Tesco and Morrisons have replaced the corner shops.

In the 1960s Tom Lehrer declared that if Catholics "really want to sell the product" they should improve their music. He suggested, "Two four six eight, time to transubstantiate."

But this is the scary bit: in 2016 a study of American faith-based organisations found that they had revenues of $378 bn, which is more than the revenues of Apple and Microsoft combined. And churches usually don't pay tax.

And the best bit is the reviews the bible gets on Amazon.

"A boring read."

"The plot is not cohesive."

"The main protagonist is a bit full of himself."

"Disappointing."

"The font is extremely small."

 

Crusades

Why The Crusades Were Awesome, Actually
Pax Tube

I remember that there was a time when I wondered why western Europe had engaged in the Crusades. It seemed like a bunch of religious nonsense. Why are we traveling thousands of miles to fight the Moslems? Just to take over Jerusalem? It never occurred to me that the Moslems were encroaching on Christian lands, even though I knew they had invaded Spain. El Cid:

El Cid 1961 Trailer
Screenbound Pictures

WW2 was basically a religious war against the Nazi and Japanese belief systems, and the Cold War was against communism. We have fought numerous small wars in Moslem countries, but they were always against terrorism, never against Islam in particular.* I suspect it is because Moslem countries have not shown themselves to be much of a threat, but rather have shown themselves to be less than competent. Perhaps because their belief system doesn't place much value on actual competence, but rather on obedience.

*  I said 'in particular' instead of saying 'per se' because I've developed an aversion to that phrase, not sure exactly why.

Merry Christmas

Trinity Church and the John Hancock Tower in Boston, Massachusetts

My wife and I went to a Christmas service last night at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, Oregon. Haven't been to church in a while but we went last night.

The sermon was mostly about Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), pastor extraordinaire of Trinity Church in Boston. He is also the author of O Little Town of Bethlehem. He was inspired to write this tune when he visited Bethlehem in 1865, which is when the American Civil War came to an end.  

While the pastor is talking about Phillips Brooks and peace, he throws in that Pax Romana (Peace of Rome), the ruling order in Bethlehem back in the day, wasn't really about peace, it was about order, which is one of fundamental precepts of any kind of civilization. Well, now he's got my attention, which means I'm going to need to write a blog post, and here we are.

Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts

From Wikipedia:

[Trinity Church] is the birthplace and archetype of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, characterized by a clay roof, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower. This style was soon adopted for a number of public buildings across the United States.

Man, that is one ugly building. Reminds me of the Licking County Jail in Newark, Ohio.

Licking County Jail, Newark, Ohio

Ayaan Returns

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Christian Marquardt/Getty Images)

Why I am now a Christian by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She makes a fine argument for being a Christian. I suspect part of the problem is we did not understand how much of a unifying force our religion can be, nor did we understand how different our religion is from others. Nor did we understand how much our culture is entwined with our religion. Those differences started to become apparent when air travel became commonplace but it's the tremendous growth of electronic communications in this century that is making those differences ever more apparent. 

We need a religion we can all believe in. Christianity is the best one available. The problem with the Democrats is they don't have a religion other than the off-stated belief that Trump is a demon. That might unify a mob but it's not going to unify the country, it's just going to divide us.

A brief summary of Ayaan's history: Ayaan started as a nominal Muslim, became a more devout, perhaps even radical, Muslim under the tutelage of the Muslim Brotherhood. She had her eyes opened by an old essay by Bertrand Russell (an atheist). After observation and reflection she decided to become a Christian. Her essay gives a much more eloquent description.

Ayaan is pretty great. She has appeared here before.

Science of Salvation

Galveston after the fire of 8 June 1877

JMSmith starts with a quote:

“She called him ‘a half-hammered, kinky-headed, limber-legged, yaller negro who knew nothing about the science of salvation or the refined instincts that make up the cream of Christian piety.” - Galveston Daily News (Sep. 27, 1877)

and then fills in the story. Oh, Christian Brotherhood, how affable though art.

In 1877 Galveston may have had a population of 15,000. Wikipedia doesn't mention the fire.

Belief in God

G. K. Chesterton - Daniel Adel

From G. K. Chesterton's autobiography: 

A man of that impossible sort, of finer spiritual culture and, therefore, of less fame or success, was Johnston Stephen, who was, I am proud to say, my friend…. He once made to me the very sensible remark, “The only little difficulty that I have about joining the Catholic Church is that I do not think I believe in God. All the rest of the Catholic system is so obviously right and so obviously superior to anything else, that I cannot imagine anyone having any doubt about it.” And I remember that he was grimly gratified when I told him, at a later stage of my own beliefs, that real Catholics are intelligent enough to have this difficulty; and that St. Thomas Aquinas practically begins his whole argument by saying, “Is there a God? Apparently not.” But, I added, it was my experience that entering into the system even socially brought an ever-increasing certitude upon the original question. For the rest, while a fierily patriotic Scotsman, he had too much of such sympathy to be popular with many Scots. I remember when he was asked whether the Church was not corrupt and crying out for the Reformation, he answered with disconcerting warmth, “Who can doubt it? How horrible must have been the corruption which could have tolerated for so long three Catholic priests like John Knox and John Calvin and Martin Luther.”

Via Yard Sale of the Mind