Francis Berger
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Secular Nationalism Is Still Leftism; Hence, Not Good

4/1/2020

7 Comments

 
That the Establishment and their crony governments around the world would be using the birdemic as a pretext for a massive power grab is a subject I addressed several times on this blog over the past few weeks (this post provides a good overall summary of what I perceived was happening the world over as the birdemic virus began to spread). The power grabs and soft totalitarian takeovers have been in full swing ever since I published that post nearly two weeks ago. 

As far as I can tell, the most blatant power grab to date has happened in the country I now call home. A couple of days ago the Hungarian government voted to grant Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the power to rule by decree with no end date. 

Reactions to this ruling have been both revelatory and predictable. On the one hand, the EU and other liberal-globalist governments and organizations around the world are wailing about the death of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, fundamental values, and all the rest of it. On the other hand, those on the secular right are praising the news of Orbán's 'coronavirus coup' as a clear sign of globalism's decline in the face of rising nationalism. 

The liberal/globalist reaction has been both foreseeable and hypocritical. Organizations like the UN and EU have lambasted Hungary and Orbán over backsliding on democracy, the rule of law, fundamental EU values, and human rights. These most recent protests essentially amount to little more than the liberal elite turning up the volume on the same song they have been singing about Hungary for  nearly ten years. What makes the objections even more meaningless now is the uncomfortable fact that liberal/globalist governments all over the West are basically doing exactly what they are criticizing Orbán of doing. All countries in which the birdemic lockdowns have been imposed have become de facto dictatorships. The only difference between them and Hungary is this - the totalitarianism in Hungary is now de jure rather than de facto. 

Secular rightists and secular nationalists appear to understand the de jure aspect of Hungary's liberal/globalist democracy-distancing and have been embracing it with open arms. Those on the secular right interpret Orbán's maneuver as a blow against the ruling progressive/liberal/globalist power structure. They also perceive it as a positive development against the Establishment, which has been using progressive, liberal, and democratic principles as a means through which to weaken nation states in order to usher in a one-world totalitarian government. 

I share no accord with liberal/globalists. All liberals and globalists, whether secular or religious, are squarely rooted in Leftism; and since Leftism is so blatantly antithetical to Christianity, I cannot break bread with them.

The same holds true for secular rightists and secular nationalists. Though I am positively inclined to some of the tenets and beliefs the secular right promulgates, my affinity with them is limited by their own antithetical stance toward Christianity. To me, terms like right wing and left wing have become fundamentally meaningless.

In my view, only two realities exist here and now - you are either for God, or you are against God. Put another way, one is either religious or a Leftist. Secular rightists and secular nationalists are, obviously, not religious; hence, they are necessarily Leftitsts. Now people can pick on me all they want about faulty syllogisms and the like, but in the here and now, that is what Reality comes down to for me. Granted, rightists might be a great deal less Left than most Leftists, but at the most meaningful level they are still of the Left. At best they are the Reft or The Least Left.

This point is extremely crucial here and now, and will, in my opinion, become even more crucial in the coming weeks and months. Those who view the world from a religious perspective - more specifically from a Christian perspective - must not allow themselves to be tricked into regarding any possible secular rightist or secular nationalist gains in the coming weeks and months as being necessarily Good. Yes, secular gains on the right might include some good, but this does not immediately make them Good. We mustn't forget that secular nationalist advances are underpinned by purely material concerns. Put another way, they are prone to contain no foundation in the Divine, as Bruce Charlton points out in this must read post:

We should not be surprised if recent SJW/ Woke crusades - such as the Trans agenda, Global Warming, Western population replacement by mass migration - are simply thrown under the bus over the next few weeks and months.

The world may suddenly appear to be more (so-called) 'Right Wing'.
. . . 

But this is not a good sign! - from any point of view. All it means is that the gloves are off, and the totalitarian agenda is being pursued under another and more effective justification: the Establishment posing as saviours from the masses gripped by abject fear of death.

[Establishment: You are all going to die horribly, unless you allow us to convert the world to North Korea. The Western Masses: Fine by us... Well, what are you waiting for? Get on with it already!]

The real agenda of the Establishment is not Leftism but evil . . .


This brings us back to the subject of Viktor Orbán's power to rule by decree. Well, I can tell you first hand that Hungary does suddenly appear to be more right wing, but as far as I can tell, this shift to the totalitarian right does not, as of yet, appear to be expressly rooted in the Divine. 


Orbán's first official break with the liberal/globalist agenda began roughly six years ago and became rather glaring at the height of the 2015 migration crisis. At that time, Orbán touted illiberal democracy as an alternative to liberal/globalist world order epitomized by the EU. Though I supported Orbán's illiberal stance, I recognized the inherent limitations it contained.

A few years later, the Hungarian government made a rather  dramatic shift in its rhetoric. Christian democracy replaced the term illiberal democracy. Orbán began to extol the virtue and necessity of Christianity and Christian culture, and indeed, many of his policies and laws - such as family support and childbirth programmes and a stance against Christian persecution - began to reflect Christian principles. It was at this time that I began to explore whether or not Viktor Orbán was in fact a real Christian leader. 

Though I have found Orbán's initiatives impressive and, for the most part, Good, I also understand that purely secular governments had also enacted many of the same policies he was touting as Christian-inspired. Case in point, the former communist government in Hungary launched its own family support program and childbirth incentives in the 1970s. Yes, these too can be aligned with Christian principles, but it would be a stretch to claim that the communists were inspired to begin the programs in order to align themselves and their society with the Divine. 

Secular nationalists welcome Orbán's sudden authoritarian power grab because it aligns perfectly with their own agenda. For them, there is no higher thing than nation. Any action that frees a nation from the tentacles of globalism and, thereby, ensures self-determination is viewed by secular nationalists as an ultimate good. 

I accede - such actions do contain some good, but this in itself does not make them Good. 

As of right now, I do not bemoan the loss of democracy because, for all intents and purposes, democracy has been hijacked and drained of all moral responsibility in nearly every place it is practiced. At best, democracy is little more than an abstraction - a cold, crushing system that offers little more than the illusion of participation in power and governance. One need look no farther than at what most Western democracies are currently doing with their trillion dollar bailout packages to understand who really runs democracy and what its real purpose is. I will go as far as to say that democracy itself is evil - that is, it has become, in every conceivable way, antithetical to Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. Thus, I shed no tears over the suspension of democracy.

Nonetheless, Orbán has used the current birdemic crisis to suspend democracy and grab power, just as nearly every other leader and government has used the birdemic to grab power. This in itself is certainly not Good. At the same time, this does not entail that leaders or governments that have not locked down their citizenry are Good by default. If that were the case, the country of Sweden - that bastion of progressiveness - is now one of the most virtuous countries on the planet. 

That Orbán snatched the reigns of power on the flimsiest of excuses is inarguable - Hungary currently has fewer than 500 diagnosed coronavirus patients and a grand total of 16 deaths have been attributed to the virus. What Orbán intends to do with his newfound powers remains unclear.

I can nurture only one, faint hope at the moment - perhaps Orbán's moves have been guided by the Divine in some way. If they have, Hungary has a chance. Good can come of this.

However, if the Hungarian government's recent actions have been driven by nothing more than secular, material concerns . . . well . . . 

For the time being, I am taking a guilty until proven innocent approach to the whole matter. That is, I am assuming the power grab was not Divinely inspired, which means I have become a citizen of a totalitarian, secular, right wing dream-come-true of a country. 

And that, despite what secular nationalists may say, is definitely not Good.  

Note added: One measure that was passed when Orbán was granted his decree was a stricter form of media regulation. The legislation allows up to five years of imprisonment for anyone who publishes false or distorted facts that alarm or agitate the public, or undermine the successful protection of the country. In light of this, I could theoretically face up to five years imprisonment for having written this post. I don't believe the government will come after me for this, but technically they could . . . but maybe that was always the case anyway.   
7 Comments
bruce charlton
4/1/2020 11:59:31

Good stuff Frank. It's really very simple, but so easy to become confused - by looking at micro-issues! Elections are suspended here, too; and they will almost certainly be stopped nearly everywhere within days or weeks.

Most of the crit of VO up until now was that he was too 'populist' i.e. too democratic, too much influenced by mass opinion. Now suddenly the crit is the opposite. But either way, as you say, it's just infighting among the global establishment - and the actions (and justifications) and the way-of-thinking are exactly the same in Hungary as everywhere else. They all follow the same core (Antichrist) agenda.

You remember how Terry Boardman said we had three main crises brewing, and one of them was world war

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdpwZMhvDEg

Not all, but some of the powerful global Western Establishment want war with China and Russia. I think I can see early signs of preparing the ground for this, over the past few days - eg in the mass media very explicit blaming of China for the birdemic, that it was a deliberate thing. I saw a list of the bad-things that Ch is doing - all of which The West has been and is doing, and to a greater extent.

Such moods can escalate very fast, if the media get behind them.

If it actually happens, it is possible-likely that we will both be on the losing side; not that there would be any significant 'winners'.

But we might need to add The Bomb to the list of catastrophes that are approaching.

Reply
Francis Berger
4/1/2020 13:08:06

@ Bruce - 'But we might need to add The Bomb to the list of catastrophes that are approaching.'

It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

In connection with your observations concerning war and China, I have been utterly infuriated and disgusted with Rod Dreher since this birdemic broke out. The man is a bonafide menace.

Here he is banging the war drum over China (in a post from 4 days ago):

" Take a look at this 13-minute report from 60 Minutes Australia, which details how decisions made by the Chinese government (including silencing whistleblowers) are responsible for this global pandemic and economic collapse. The Chinese people were the first victims of their government; now, the entire world is suffering like never before in history, because of Beijing’s communist leadership:

The St. Louis branch of the Federal Reserve released an estimate today saying that the US unemployment rate could reach over 32 percent. Think of the Chinese Communist Party when you’re standing on the unemployment line. When this crisis finally passes, the United States must do some very hard decoupling from China. Bring all those manufacturing jobs back to America. We will have millions of unemployed people who will be happy to have good jobs again.

The entire world should understand that all this death, all this suffering, is primarily the fault of the Chinese government. Not the Chinese people — the Chinese Communist Party and its leader, Xi Jinping. It’s not scapegoating if the alleged malefactor really is guilty."

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/coronavirus-china-assault-on-the-world-xi-jinping/

I'm seriously tempted to write about a post called "Rod Dreher Can Go You-Know-What Himself." I really am.

Reply
Ingemar
4/2/2020 04:15:59

I understand your ire at Dreher banging the war drum against China; it's not wise to breathe death threats that could bring the other nations to its knees. But is he wrong that the West should decouple from China?

Sean Fowler link
4/1/2020 21:03:27

Sweden has recently expanded its terrorist laws to include dissident behavior. They’ve been pushing at it for a while, but rammed it through on the back of the birdemic.” Fake news” is a danger to the stability of government and a serious danger to society and can therefore be regarded as terrorism. Not far to go now before anyone preaching the Christian message can convicted of a hate crime or terrorism. Much as it was under soviet Bolshevism.So, Islam is the religion of peace, Christianity is the religion of hate, talking about rape gangs is terrorism, corvid 19 is the Black Death, and men can have periods.

Reply
Francis Berger
4/2/2020 07:00:08

@ SF - I still choose Orbán's dictatorship over Sweden's democracy any day.

In light of this - I have a feeling a lot of this woke, SJW nonsense is going to fall by the wayside in the coming months/years. Decadence is ending. People will have, more real problems to deal with.

Reply
Francis Berger
4/2/2020 07:06:28

@ Ingemar - I am no fan of China, but isn't it amazing how suddenly everything is the Chinese government's fault - the birdemic and the economic collapse?

I don't like the Chinese communists, but why doesn't Rod Dreher ask the unemployed American to think of their own government and businesses as well when he or she is standing in the unemployment line?

You know, to think a little about those elites who have embraced doing business with a godless communist country for nearly half-a-century - a half-century during which the vast majority of the West's production capacity was essentially transferred over to China for the promise of increased profit in what amounts to one of the biggest, if not the biggest, wealth transfers the world has ever seen. These same people have caused massive wealth inequality, both in the West and in Asia, and who have replaced a growth in real wages in the Western countries with cheap debt.

It's very easy for Dreher to just say - hey, bring all those jobs back. Why doesn't he mention how they got there in the first place?

No, let's not think about any of that. Let's just all shake our fists in rage at the guilty, lying commies because it is they who are primarily responsible for all this evil and suffering.

Reply
Ingemar
4/2/2020 16:08:36

You're right. It is a bipartisan betrayal of the American people.

In a just America, the biggest sufferers of the Chinese decoupling would be every business that offshored its operations to China and every politician (almost all of them Democrats) bribed by the CCP.

On an aside, I've got cousins in the San Francisco Bay Area with a very "blue pill" view of the crisis. Then again, one works for Facebook, one works for Google, and several work for the medical establishment.

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