Francis Berger
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System Distancing Has Become A Spiritual Imperative

11/19/2020

8 Comments

 
Back in March I wrote a post about the need for system distancing, which I outlined as follows:

Pundits and laymen the world over are stressing the necessity of social distancing, but in my humble opinion the only distancing that truly matters in this place and time is System distancing.
 
System distancing involves measures taken to reduce or stop the spread of the evil System within one's own individual being and the hope that such action might help to reduce or stop the spread of the evil System in the greater world.
 
The extent to which people will be able to distance themselves from the System will depend on individual circumstances, and individual outcomes will inevitably vary; nevertheless, I believe the effort must be made.
 
The most significant step any individual can take in this time and place is to sincerely acknowledge, once and for all, that the System, together with the Establishment that runs it, is evil - meaning it is anti-God, anti-spiritual, anti-Truth, anti-Beauty, and anti-Goodness.
 
This simple acknowledgment doesn't seem like much, but it is incredibly significant. At its very core, it is the choice of good over evil; virtue over sin; truth over lies; courage over fear; reality over unreality; salvation over damnation; love over hate; and hope over despair.
 

Look at this way: The more we distance ourselves from the System, the closer we draw to God and Creation. Thus, this movement away is simultaneously a movement toward.
 
The Establishment has imposed social-distancing upon almost all of us; let's use the time wisely to distance ourselves from the Establishment and its System and close the distance between ourselves and God.

 

In the eight months that have passed since I wrote that post, System distancing has evolved into what I would term a 'spiritual imperative'.
 
As mentioned above, the first and most crucial step is to acknowledge the System as evil – not merely corrupted or slightly debased, but evil – evil in motivation and evil in design.
 
Part of this acknowledgment involves the understanding that the evil in the System is, fittingly enough, systematic.

More specifically, that the evil present in the System is not the result of unfortunate but inevitable glitches, flaws, defects, screw-ups, missteps, mismanagements, or malfunctions occurring in an arrangement that is otherwise fundamentally “good”, but the realization that the evil in the System is intentional, planned, orderly, organized, routine, efficient, precise, methodical, all-encompassing, and businesslike.
 
This acknowledgment does not dispute the existence of what I would term “strains of good” within the System, either in the form of individuals or some small associations of individuals. Instead, it acknowledges that these "strains of good" are inherently incapable of reforming the System in much the same manner fish are inherently incapable of swimming across the Sahara Desert.

The System has become incredibly efficient at identifying these strains of good as  pathogens - pathogens against which it has thoroughly immunized itself. Put another way, the System has become “good proof”.

Any attempt to utilize any part of the System to reform, rejuvenate, or re-align the System as a whole is not only futile, but counterproductive. Rather than bring reform and rejuvenation, attempts to use the System for good are quickly absorbed, inverted, and used for evil by the System itself. 
 
Thus, System distancing involves the comprehension that any faith or belief in the System as a principal force for Good is not only false, but enslaving.

The choice to spiritually distance yourself from the System is literally the choice between freedom and slavery. 

Note added: System distancing will inevitably involve a great deal of repentance, which only becomes possible once one stops believing in the System as a principal force for good.
8 Comments
bruce charlton
11/19/2020 15:16:37

Yes it's true. And it's very difficult too - because we must use the system to srivive.

It's a bit like a permanent diet. The reason that fewer people can go on a permanent diet than can quite heroin is that one can give up heroin but not eating. Everyday we must eat - so we must eat and then stop before we want-to, several times a day for the rest of our lives.

Same with The System and all its subcomponents. We 'use' the System many times a day (I am, of course, using it now) yet must keep soiritually rejecting it. Tough.

It's a case for that 'double-repentance' thing - I should continually repent, but I can't, so I repent that I cannot always repent... Something like that.

BTW there is a type in your Note added.

PS: It is Just So Obvious that the whole thing is coordinated centrally. After all, the Great Reset has only been A Thing in the public consciousness for a few weeks, yet this massive Establishment 'Arts and Humanities' Festival in the UK (which has probably been planning for more than a year) has Exactly the same talking-points, the same message, as the IEF/ UN etc. If you watch the first minute or two of this (excruciatingly bad!) video by a... 'poet', the Litmus Tests are all ticked-off (birdemic, antiracism, climate change), all stated to be the same basic thing, and the Build-Back-Better message that this is a great opportunity is obediently reiterated.

https://beinghumanfestival.org/

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Francis Berger
11/19/2020 20:00:44

@ Bruce -Yes, those are good points. Whether we like to admit it or not, we cannot help but be dependent upon the System and we all participate in it to some extent, however, I think clear distinctions can be made as to how dependent we are and how we participate.

For example, there's a big difference between believing that the System is freedom and truth and knowing that System can never really provide freedom and truth. The former is easy and is indicative of slavery, while the latter is difficult and hints at freedom.

In my view, this is where consciousness becomes crucial. Seeing the System as a primary force for good - as the individuals in that video so enthusiastically do - is the sign of a degraded and, ultimately, alienated consciousness. People with such consciousnesses not only fall into slavery, but learn to love it and, as you have put it so many times, crave more of it.

I think of this as spirit alienated from itself. Man essentially allows himself to become a thing within a system of things, which is much different from the sort of consciousness that understands itself as a Being.

I think the manner in which we use the System also matters - this is where creativity comes into play. An uncreative person uses the System to make more System and cannot conceive of anything of value outside the System.

A creative person uses the System to create beyond the System because he or she knows true value can only exist outside the System. As you say, this is difficult to do, let alone maintain . . . thankfully, we have Christ to help guide us.

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bruce charlton
11/19/2020 20:50:48

One very striking thing is the degree of value-inversion at work.

For the past several generations, mass unemployment, shrinking economy, loads of businesses going bust, vast numbers on welfare ('furlough'); arts, hobbies, sports shut-down; little or no travel, populations in hostile isolation - would be regarded as Very Bad Things.

But the Establishment mouthpieces have created a climate where it is antisocial to mention/ complain-about/ want to stop the catacysmic scale of destruction. And in the past couple of months are beginning to say that this is actually a Good thing, to be celebrated, exciting, herald of a Better world.

This is By Far the most advanced, extreme, widespread, 'official' evil I have ever heard of, in human history.

Francis Berger
11/19/2020 21:51:31

Bruce - I'm probably going to fly beyond Pluto here, but perhaps that has something to do with the alienated consciousness I referred to in my previous comment.

If one believes oneself to be a thing in a System of things, one cannot effectively respond to the loss of things or the perceived weakening of the System of things of which one is a part. Since this alienated consciousness cannot conceive of anything higher than things, it immediately seeks out a new System of things to replace the one that is crumbling beneath it - and since it believes the System is the only possible good, it accepts whatever things the System offers to be inherently good, even when the new things are obviously inferior to the old things they are replacing. Modern people simply cannot accept that anything can exist outside the System. All notions of metaphysics begin and end there.

At the very least, I used to think modern people would rise up if their sordid pleasures and trivial distractions were compromised in any way. Boy, was I wrong about that!

I regard the value inversion you refer to as a form of extreme objectification - a deeply impersonal objectification has crushed nearly everyone. I imagine previous generations maintained some awareness of their subjectivity (their spirit) - that is, they still possessed, at the very least, a faint sense of true values. Moderns appear to have lost this ability altogether. This really is unprecedented.

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bruce charlton
11/20/2020 00:26:11

"I regard the value inversion you refer to as a form of extreme objectification"

That's very interesting - but I'm not sure I fully get it. Could you explore/ explain further in blog post/s?

Reply
Francis Berger
11/20/2020 07:45:45

Bruce - Yes, certainly.

Magnus Stout
11/19/2020 22:12:10

I really like that clever phrase, "System Distancing." Very true.

I know others have touched on the idea of not fearing, and I have come to see that this can be a real opportunity for us to share God's love. Things will get worse. Others may get shaken out of their materialistic trance as the "normal" (itself toxic) never returns.

When we look at other really bad times (ex: Plague of Cyprian--a real pandemic), Christians were the only ones to instill hope and minister to the sick and dying. Our faith is made for times like this.

God can use our talents for His purposes. We just need to keep faith, have hope (as to His will and the saving of souls), and listen to the Holy Spirit. Maybe some will stash food and medicine, maybe others will start small schools and churches, etc... The command to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" seems very apt for us in these times.

Reply
Francis Berger
11/20/2020 07:51:42

@ Magnus - I've expressed this on the blog before - and many others have expressed it well before me - but I am of the firm belief that the spiritual ends at the precise point fear begins.

I agree with your assessment of what Christians can and should do as times continue to get tougher, but we must be wary not to fall into any of the traps organized Christianity is laying for us - traps like Pope Francis's "Tutti Fratelli" and the Vatican's "Humana Communitas" and other offerings from other denominations - which are essentially extensions of the System itself. No, our efforts must be concrete and personal (as you so well allude to in your comment).

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