oligarchy is the default
there is a unique [trend] that has now died
- everything was, for a small window of time, VERY centralized (~1940-2010)
- that centralization created many things:
- big-time movies
- only a few news sources
- [megacorporations]
this is NOT the natural state of humanity
- we tend to have enough [conflicts] among each other that the “stasis” is essentially an oligarchy across all fields (where the divisions create factions that split all the time and fight with other factions, and no individuals or smaller groups will survive for long without allying with a faction)
this balancing always expresses:
- when things get centralized, [leftist] thinking slowly decays it, and the centralized groups break apart into factions
- when things break apart a lot into little groups, those groups ally with each other, making bigger factions that stand up against each other
describe how we really need a King and are designed for one
- indicate how libertarianism is the safest in a society of bastards, but can’t fundamentally work because of our dominance hierarchy tendencies
- i.e., we will submit our power, eventually, to SOMEONE, for the sake of convenience and simplicity
describe how all political systems are bad except benevolent monarchy
indicate how we were never meant to self-govern
all present systems are demonstrations of how we can’t run ourselves
- capitalism shows our selfishness
- democracy shows our corruptibility
therefore, all political experiments are destined to fail
as an American or any other nation, we must submit to a greater King
We Are Too Volatile
WE ARE DUST
All our glory is dust
We are mere images
God designed us as reflectors
Like the devil, we prefer to overstate our importance and grab more for ourselves
But, God designs it all to fail
our only way out is humility and submission, which God will lavish
We are powerless in God’s presence
Our ego can’t stand
We are, after all, an image
- this is why we have a hard time with self-determination not inspired by a source, complete autonomy, and why anti-institutional thinking doesn’t work
We Are Too Needy
we are spiritually hungry (blessed are those who hunger for righteousness)
- however, we never received what we needed
- the result is “spiritual anorexia”
the symptoms are the same as anorexia:
- withdrawal
- purge/extreme as an [addictive] behavior
- shame that feeds withdrawal
we need God’s peace and guidance, but we have to accept we need it
- we really do need it at least a few times a day, but often try to avoid doing it more often than once a day, if that
- this lack of [daily exercise] in spiritual connection to the One who designed us is the basis of why we then fall into [habitual sins], even when we know better
We Merely Bear Images
It is why it is so hard to self-identify without an outer source
However, it is images of God
It is why we can long for goodness that we have never seen
God’s nature is implicit
romans 1:19
2 self evident truths
1 His eternal power
2 His divine nature
how is His divine nature self-evident?
- the moral basis of all things
we are inescapably without excuse
this means that our efforts are doubly bad
- we run s hard as we can from what God has stationed as obvious
they want the darkness
the world loves darkness
Christian thrillers and horror gives too much hope for audience appeal
eternal conscious punishment theology: God simply removes Hos grace and we do it to ourselves
(the answer is simple), but the world doesn’t want it