Green Energy
A friend of mine wrote to me today to criticize my criticism of people like Robert Spencer and Mark Steyn. I don't have a lot of time to write a complete post on the subject today, so I'm just going to excerpt bits of our email conversation.
Let me start by saying my criticism of Mark Steyn is that all he does is relentlessly tell us about how and why we are going to lose. I have questioned over and over what woud happen if a football coach would do the same thing. In other words, what would happen if a coach went into the locker room for his pre-game speech to the players, and instead of presenting a game plane, proceeded to tell them about why they are going to lose.
The answer is, of course, the team would likely become demoralized, and they would lose.
We need more talk of winning, of winning strategies, and of our willingness to do whatever it takes to kill our enemy.
Now, here is the conversation, as far as it is as of now:
You said: Mark Steyn is all about jolting people into the reality that yes, this is a deadly serious situation, and that's why he sounds grim.
I say: Yes I agree. I don't think Steyn is a bad guy, or whatever. He serves his purpose.
However, as you say, those who are aware will tune into LGF or IBA. The people who read IBA and LGF need to be told how to win, instead of about the inevitability of our losing. They need to be challenged to fight. As old time IBA writer, Thomas the Wraith said (quoting from the movie The Untouchables), "What are you willing to do?
Honestly, dude, we need to be willing to fight it ourselves, if our government won't.
I have a hard time believing that if I lived in France the past couple years that I would have remained a non-violent person.
You say: With a Democrat in charge, we may avoid a catastrophic terrorist attack, but that would come only through our gradual accomodation of Islam, which is also on the Dems' platform. That is the worst case scenario for me, that we don't even fight back.
I say: Did you ever read Milton's Paradise Lost? There is a scene towards the beginning of the book which wonderfully illustrates the character of evil. A third of the angels have just been thrown out of heaven, and they have landed, and they are regrouping. They are making their plans about how to overthrow God.
Thing is, the fallen angels fall to fighting amongst each other over all manner of things, from who is most fit to lead, to strategy, and even as to why God is the evil one.
Point being, evil is destined to destroy itself.
And always remember the saying "Pride goeth before the fall."
The beginning of evil is always pride.
That's why, though I do believe the Jihadis have a sound strategy by which they are currently working, I do not believe they will be able to keep it up.
They will, inevitably, overreach, because that's what evil does.
This might sound like a bunch of superstitious, ignorant mumbo jumbo, but then again, I know you believe in a kind of fundamentalist Catholicism, even though you aren't into practicing it all the time.
You and I have a lot in common in that way.
Anyway, I believe that the fundamental ideas of Christianity and, thereby, of Western Civilization are sound. I think we will eventually (indeed we are already seeing) a mass return to Christian and Western ideals. I think faith has deepened for many people. I think it is an inner strengthening that is going on, and it is silent.
However, if you talk to people like me, and realize that I was a Chomsky-reading idiot just six and a half years ago, then you see what I mean.
There are many people like me, though I am among the most vocal.
The other phenomena we are witnessing is a separation of the cell of America, like mitochondria lining up to break apart. We are seeing this, and it will happen inevitably. We may have some sort of Civil War, or we may just have massive resistance, as we did during the beginning stages of WWII. Roosevelt, like Lincoln, and Reagan, was among the most hated of Presidents.
That's a fact.
Sure, he was elected four times, but that doesn't mean he was also hated by the Lindbergs and the Fords (the Soros' and Moore's of their time) and all their followers.
We're going to get through this, but it's going to be a bloodbath on many levels.
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- "you Are My Comrade In Arms. Our Opponents Are Leftists. Conservative Are Too Genteel. You Are Warriors And Warriors Can Not Get Tired." -- Fallaci
“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men.” - Edmund Burke. Before reading any further, if you haven't already please read the post by Citizen Warrior earlier today. It's ok, I don't mind. I can...
- The Lights Are Going Out On Liberal Society
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Hugh Hewitt points two main things out from Ahmadinejad's speech for the UN general assembly. 1- He "repeatedly attacked the legitimacy of the State of Israel" 2- He "made a lengthy attack on the legitimacy of the Security Council" 3- The third point...
Green Energy
Why Evil Will, Inevitably, Destroy Itself
A friend of mine wrote to me today to criticize my criticism of people like Robert Spencer and Mark Steyn. I don't have a lot of time to write a complete post on the subject today, so I'm just going to excerpt bits of our email conversation.
Let me start by saying my criticism of Mark Steyn is that all he does is relentlessly tell us about how and why we are going to lose. I have questioned over and over what woud happen if a football coach would do the same thing. In other words, what would happen if a coach went into the locker room for his pre-game speech to the players, and instead of presenting a game plane, proceeded to tell them about why they are going to lose.
The answer is, of course, the team would likely become demoralized, and they would lose.
We need more talk of winning, of winning strategies, and of our willingness to do whatever it takes to kill our enemy.
Now, here is the conversation, as far as it is as of now:
You said: Mark Steyn is all about jolting people into the reality that yes, this is a deadly serious situation, and that's why he sounds grim.
I say: Yes I agree. I don't think Steyn is a bad guy, or whatever. He serves his purpose.
However, as you say, those who are aware will tune into LGF or IBA. The people who read IBA and LGF need to be told how to win, instead of about the inevitability of our losing. They need to be challenged to fight. As old time IBA writer, Thomas the Wraith said (quoting from the movie The Untouchables), "What are you willing to do?
Honestly, dude, we need to be willing to fight it ourselves, if our government won't.
I have a hard time believing that if I lived in France the past couple years that I would have remained a non-violent person.
You say: With a Democrat in charge, we may avoid a catastrophic terrorist attack, but that would come only through our gradual accomodation of Islam, which is also on the Dems' platform. That is the worst case scenario for me, that we don't even fight back.
I say: Did you ever read Milton's Paradise Lost? There is a scene towards the beginning of the book which wonderfully illustrates the character of evil. A third of the angels have just been thrown out of heaven, and they have landed, and they are regrouping. They are making their plans about how to overthrow God.
Thing is, the fallen angels fall to fighting amongst each other over all manner of things, from who is most fit to lead, to strategy, and even as to why God is the evil one.
Point being, evil is destined to destroy itself.
And always remember the saying "Pride goeth before the fall."
The beginning of evil is always pride.
That's why, though I do believe the Jihadis have a sound strategy by which they are currently working, I do not believe they will be able to keep it up.
They will, inevitably, overreach, because that's what evil does.
This might sound like a bunch of superstitious, ignorant mumbo jumbo, but then again, I know you believe in a kind of fundamentalist Catholicism, even though you aren't into practicing it all the time.
You and I have a lot in common in that way.
Anyway, I believe that the fundamental ideas of Christianity and, thereby, of Western Civilization are sound. I think we will eventually (indeed we are already seeing) a mass return to Christian and Western ideals. I think faith has deepened for many people. I think it is an inner strengthening that is going on, and it is silent.
However, if you talk to people like me, and realize that I was a Chomsky-reading idiot just six and a half years ago, then you see what I mean.
There are many people like me, though I am among the most vocal.
The other phenomena we are witnessing is a separation of the cell of America, like mitochondria lining up to break apart. We are seeing this, and it will happen inevitably. We may have some sort of Civil War, or we may just have massive resistance, as we did during the beginning stages of WWII. Roosevelt, like Lincoln, and Reagan, was among the most hated of Presidents.
That's a fact.
Sure, he was elected four times, but that doesn't mean he was also hated by the Lindbergs and the Fords (the Soros' and Moore's of their time) and all their followers.
We're going to get through this, but it's going to be a bloodbath on many levels.
- 10 Years Later: Daddy, Why Did Osama Bin Laden Hate Us And Want Us Dead?
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, my daughter was 3 years old. As we watched the buildings collapse, I began to weep, regretting that I had brought her into a world so cruel, dangerous, and unstable. But, just as quickly as tears came to my eyes,...
- The Reason That I Fight
When you wake up every morning and you don’t have to worry about what to say and how to pretend for the rest of the day about who you are, you seem to forget how precious freedom is. It’s because you lose touch with the reality that you once lived...
- "you Are My Comrade In Arms. Our Opponents Are Leftists. Conservative Are Too Genteel. You Are Warriors And Warriors Can Not Get Tired." -- Fallaci
“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men.” - Edmund Burke. Before reading any further, if you haven't already please read the post by Citizen Warrior earlier today. It's ok, I don't mind. I can...
- The Lights Are Going Out On Liberal Society
From Melanie Phillips (with thanks to Deb): The lights are going out on liberal society – and it is the most liberal societies with their fingers on the `off' switch. The thesis of Mark Steyn's book America Alone, that Europe was succumbing...
- Ahmadinejad's Special Little Prayer
Hugh Hewitt points two main things out from Ahmadinejad's speech for the UN general assembly. 1- He "repeatedly attacked the legitimacy of the State of Israel" 2- He "made a lengthy attack on the legitimacy of the Security Council" 3- The third point...