Francis Berger
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It May Not Be The End Times, But It Is Certainly The Anti-Times

5/26/2020

9 Comments

 
My imagination is far too weak to properly comprehend eschatology. I know one thing for sure, none of the end-of-the-world predictions I have encountered in my life ever panned out - at least not in the manner in which the prophets described them.

Interpretation is the crux of the problem. What is meant by 'end'? What about 'times'? Will it truly involve some sort of rapture? People floating up to empyrean, glorified by the light of the Lord as angels rain fire on the damned? 

Somehow I doubt it. 

But I would be hard-pressed to deny that something is undoubtedly ending . . . now. The world I have known - this half-rotten, corrupted old sphere that was still somehow capable of birthing genuine moments of reprieve, insight, and joy, seems to have tilted and capsized. Yes, genuine moments of reprieve, insight, and joy remain, but the atmosphere around these gentle pockets of illumination has darkened considerably. I don't expect the world to end, but for all intents and purposes, the world has ended. 

It may not be the End Times, but the Anti-Times are now in full effect. Anyone with eyes has seen the mounting opposition against Goodness over the past few decades - the sustained, thinly-veiled secret war against Truth, Beauty, and Virtue. Well, the veil has slipped; the war is not a secret anymore. Those with eyes can see this; those without? What's that saying about the blind and the blind? 

The front has expanded now. The destruction of Divine Will and Creation remains the primary objective, but the dark forces seem intent on destroying the virtual world they have erected to hide Reality as well. They want to bring it all down - in one fell swoop. All the idols they deified - society, economy, politics, freedom, equality, humanity - are being pulled down, one-by-one. 

For decades they worked to remake society, to make it kinder, gentler, and more accepting. They raged against social constructs, against oppression, against marginalization. They fought for an open world that would include everyone and everything but the Divine and those who live by the Divine; a society that would inevitably emancipate everyone - even the oppressors.

That society is now anti-society. 

For decades they argued for open borders, the free movement of goods, the mobility of labor - all for the gradual but imminent enrichment of the world. Tens of millions have been shut out of work these past few months. Debts continue to increase. The infrastructure continues to crumble. People are going hungry. Yet stock markets around the world are once again close to all-time-highs.

That economy is now anti-economy.

And politics is now anti-politics. Nations are anti-nations. Laws are anti-laws. Culture is anti-culture. Religion is anti-religion. Truth is anti-truth. Beauty is anti-beauty. Virtue is anti-virtue. Goodness is anti-goodness. 

Why? Because humanity is now anti-humanity. Humanity is not aware it has become anti-humanity. Humanity is unaware of nearly all antis. The bulk of them see nothing but pros. 

Anti-humanity silently longs for its anti-savior. And when the anti-savior appears, the End Times will finally arrive. 

After that, it will make absolutely no difference at all if the world actually ends . . . or not. 
9 Comments
William Wildblood
5/27/2020 18:31:31

You've summed it up, Francis. There is a sense of inexorability at the moment, of things moving towards some kind of inevitable conclusion when decisions made by each individual, often unaware they were actually making a decision, will bring about their consequence.

Reply
Francis Berger
5/27/2020 20:05:55

Thanks, William. Yes, we've been discussing this for what seems like ages, but that sense of inexorability you mention has never been more palpable.

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bruce charlton
5/27/2020 19:53:42

Great stuff!

I'm finding this current 'phoney war' period very strange. There is this - surely inevitable - massive collapse of... so many thing - stored-up, waiting, dammed back, imminent; but as yet everything seems just suspended.

We've had a beautiful spring, with - what? - three months of dry sunny weather (you know how unusual that is around here); things are quiet; and plants and animals more evident. It's difficult to believe in the big picture.

But - evil is triumphant; and what's next? I get a strong feeling that neither our national government nor our mainstream media has a clue what is coming (i.e. they don't know what they are going to be told to do next).

The whole situation is bizarre; and I find that I can hardly think/ plan even a couple of days ahead.

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Francis Berger
5/27/2020 20:12:59

Thanks, Bruce. I agree with your insight about government and media cluelessness. It's as if they have been led into a dark wood and are now lost . . . with no idea about how to come out.

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William James Tychonievich link
5/27/2020 20:56:13

I looked up from this post to the bookshelf above my desk and see an old book by a thinker of genius, the greatest of the anti-prophets, and its title seems strangely appropriate: The Twilight of the Idols, or How to Philosophize with a Hammer.

Old Fred was right about the coming “transvaluation of all values,” but I’m sure he never dreamt it would be quite like this!

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Francis Berger
5/28/2020 07:42:45

Wm - No, I very much doubt he ever dreamed it would be like this. In connection to that, every time I address Nietzsche in a post, I inevitably get some irate evangelical commenting about how 'inappropriate' it is to refer to a thinker who declared God to be dead.

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William James Tychonievich link
5/28/2020 11:21:35

Really? I certainly make no secret of my very deep respect for Nietzsche, but I've never received any comments like that. I guess my blog just attracts a better sort. ;)

Dutta
5/27/2020 23:32:24

It definitely looks like we are living in the end times and not just from the Christian perspective. Here is the sequence of events from the perspective of different religions and they all seem to match our current situation: www.judgmentday.info

Reply
Francis Berger
5/28/2020 06:29:21

@ Dutta - Thanks for the comment, but I can't say I agree with much of anything in that link you posted.

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