Monday 20 December 2021

Archbishop Vigano - correct diagnosis, flawed prescription

Archbishop Vigano (of the Roman Catholic Church) has made a characteristically incisive intervention concerning the nature and reality of the 2020 global totalitarian coup, led by the demonic powers of evil. 

I value Vigano, because I know of nobody in public life who has done a better job of diagnosing the heart of that corruption which has so rapidly accelerated to cover the world; with the compliance of large masses of the populace.

Yet, when it comes to describing what those who agree with his diagnosis ought to do about it; the Archbishop's recommendations are inadequate. 


For a start; he envisages an 'anti-globalist alliance' as the basis for future opposition. 

But this would not be a positively-motivated movement. Instead Vigano proposes a 'double-negative' basis for alliance - i.e. a grouping of those who are Against Evil. 

Such a movement (and there are many already) would certainly be weak because diversely and feebly motivated. At best an anti-evil alliance could only slow the advance of evil; because it offers no a superior alternative basis of life. 


Evil is itself oppositional - oppositional to God/ the good/ divine creation - and ultimately oppositional Christianity with its offer to all Mankind of eternal life in Heaven. A Christian alternative to evil should not itself be oppositional! Christianity has the inestimable advantage of offering positive good - and this ought to be reflected in its aims. 


What is needed, therefore, is an alliance of those who are positively For God, good/ divine creation and salvation. In other words a Christian alliance.  

In the past this would have suggested A Church - or perhaps an alliance of Churches. However, our problem is that the churches are - overall, but decisively - on the side of the powers of evil; they fail to recognize, discern, and reject global totalitarianism - and indeed all major 'Christian' churches embraces more than one of the core strategic instruments of evil

This means that before any putative Alliance of Good could get off-the-ground and achieve anything; it would first need to reform and turn-around the major Christian churches. But this is not happening - and instead the churches are getting worse, more evil, by the month. 

Anyone Christian who hoped to join a church and fight totalitarian evil by the means of offering a positive and transcendent alternative; would immediately find himself confronted by an organization that already served exactly that evil he intended to oppose! 

Before opposing global evil, that person would need to embark on a fight against institutional evil; when the institution was embedded in an already evil world; and its evil qualities were being supported by all powers in the global totalitarianism - laws, officialdom, police, the media etc.

Anyone Christian who wanted to fight for good would be faced by inevitable - and probably prolonged - delay; before he could even begin: If he did so via a church! 


(On the other hand, if Christian found a small but uncorrupt church; a church who recognized the coup and opposed global evil - he would instead be faced by the immediate problem of growing that church to such a size that it could exert effective socio-political power.) 


So what does an individual who agrees with Vigano's diagnosis actually do? 

To my mind, any generally proposed solution should be possible for any person, anywhere; and, given the the fact that failure to resist evil leads to more and greater evil - the answer needs to be one which every individual can start to act-upon immediately

This rules-out institutional (including church) solutions, since all these regard the individual first trying to persuade other people - and we don't have time for that; nor can we afford to delay beginning our own opposition. 

If we wait until after we have attained a local majority of sufficient size, until after we have achieved sufficient institutional reform; if we put-off our own active opposition until after we can persuade enough 'other people' to join with us in some kind of significant 'movement' - then nothing will happen

Most of us are isolated, surrounded, outnumbered - thus nearly-everybody will end-up waiting for some other people to start something that they can then 'join' - so... nothing will happen. 


Once we have ruled-out what we cannot or should-not do; the answer to what we should do becomes obvious:

We should do what we personally can - starting now, not waiting for anybody else; and relying upon divine providence to amplify and organize individual activities into something greater

After all; if we are doing the right thing, then God will be on our side; and God is the creator - therefore God can and will use whatever we personally do to advance His agenda. 

We really must do the positively-right things Now - so far as we are able - and trust in God to deal with strategic considerations. 


Such a personally-focused attitude can be made to sound feeble and ineffectual compared with daydreams of a large international anti-evil alliance clashing head-to-head with the demon-controlled corporations and governments...

But the difference is that the one Will happen, starting instantly; insofar as any individual person wants it to happen...

Whereas the other is purely aspirational. 


7 comments:

Francis Berger said...

I had similar thoughts when I first encountered V's call for a global alliance. You are right, V is spot on when it comes to diagnosis, but his prescription - though, presumably, well-motivated - offers no viable solution to our current challenges for the same reasons calls to get involved in politics or use the System to "hack" the System offer no viable solution (and if they did, the solution would not be Good).

Though I admire V's perspicacity, his call misses the essence of what is required in this time and place. I chalk up his 'systemized' prescription to his being embedded within the system of a rigorously systemized church structure. Any and all challenges to the System must originate at the level of the individual and must originate outwith the System. And, as you note, the challenge to the System cannot be purely an 'against' movement. On the contrary, the challenge must stem from a positive 'for.' If this occurs, it will set the stage for Divine Providence to amplify and organize individual activities, as you suggest.


V's prescription is largely reactive. These times call for Christians to be creative.

Bruce Charlton said...

@Frank - Yes, well said.

The Roman church could certainly be a significant part of the answer - if those Catholics who were in range of specific local uncorrupt priests and parishes would straightway join, immediately (without negotiation) detach spiritually from the System Church, and become active as ready-groups- in addition to each person's immediate and personal activity.

That would be great.

But there is no time to wait for hypothetical long-term institutional solutions; and if we insist on them as a priority, then all Good and Positive energy and motivation will rapidly dissipate and/or be diverted.

Bruce Charlton said...

Zeno has left a comment:

I think something very strange has happened and is happening.

Many people, including me, felt instinctively, almost from the start, that there was something wrong about the way this birdemic was being "fought". The novel methods of lockdowns, social distancing, and all the paraphernalia of control, which have now taken us to the extreme of mandating a useless or perhaps even harmful peck every few months, and the diabolical and equally useless and harmful "peck passports" to go anywhere. It all just feels very, very wrong.

This instinctive feeling that something was wrong or off was felt, I think, in particular by Christians. Most secular "conservatives" were on the side of "Science!" and the pecks, at least until the farce became too obvious.

But, while many or even most Christians could feel that something was wrong, the hierarchy and bureaucracy of the Church, of all Churches, both Protestant and Catholic, from the start was on the side of the "great reset" and the pecks. Even now, most churches in many countries are requiring "peck passports" to enter.

Now, even from before the birdemic, you could see that the Church as an institution was diverging from churchgoing Christians (with many churches supporting "gay marriage", etc), but now the separation is almost complete. The Church, at least the official church, appears to be in complete opposition to Christians, and totally secularized. Following "Science!" and whatever tyrannical rule government decides, it's fine by them.

I do not know how to interpret that. But no wonder many people, even many Christians, feel lost.

Let us hope for the best. Merry Christmas!

Skarphedin said...

Well said and I completely agree.

In my own head I think of it as heliotropism or eutrophism.

As the sunflower follows the sun, I as a Christian need to follow Christ and not keep my face turned to the current spectacle.

Christ provides.

Merry Christmas!

c matt said...

Interesting how it is exactly parallel to the secular political world. If you wait until the GOP, Tories, or whatever party are "reformed" nothing will happen because they are completely embedded into and aligned with the very system you are trying to oppose.

Wiseagle said...

Good Augustinian point. Evil is just anti-good/true/beautiful. So being anti-anti evil isn't an inspiring path to victory. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. Build a local Christian community. Build philia and storge from the foundation of agape in a world obsessed with eros. Homeschool or have kids Christian school educated, else nothing you do will matter anyway.

Bruce Charlton said...

@W These are good things, but are long term strategies and not possible for all Men. The great need is for what any one can do, starting immediately.