When R.J. Rushdoony wrote this essay, thirty years ago or so, the Western intellectual mind (pardon the oxymoron) had not yet degenerated to “your truth, my truth, no truth.” But as he so often did, he saw exactly where it was heading and could tell you exactly where it came from.
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/invisible-rulers
There’s a lot of meat to this essay, but stick with it–because it tells us how we got here and points us back to God.
Postmodern poop that rests on such philosophical gems as “I is reality” has no future.
“But is it harmless to live a lie? Never before in all of history have people lived so extensively in terms of their dream worlds rather than reality. They watch television by the hours, see movies, read fiction, and they believe that the world of their imagination is better than God’s reality.”
I think this is very significant. A lot of people live a mock reality which is based upon television and movies. Some of these people seem to lose track and can no longer distinguish reality from the overwhelming tide of drama and comedy they surround themselves with. Turn off the TV and skip the next comic-book based movie. It’s just fine to live in the real world.
But if you’re going to consume fantasy, at least read my books!
There’s a big difference between books and TV. Books require effort, TV can get through with little effort on the part of the viewer, beyond minimal consciousness.
I will read tonight, thank you.
Reblogged this on Logos Speaks.
Rushdoony calls a spade a spade – that’s why he is so hated. Telling the truth is not popular. It’s like the saying, “If you want people to like you, tell them what they want to hear.” Or the saying, “If you make people think they are thinking they will like you, but if you really make people think they will not like you.” Funny how the word “imagination” when used in the Bible is always negative.
Thanks! Rushdoony is always right on target. This piece is timeless.
Good ol’ Rushdoony!
Upon rereading this, six years hence, this sentence stood out: “ They use Biblical language with idolatrous purposes.” OMG, this is so true. Recently, I’ve watched several YouTube videos about people who have left the Amish. As devout as they seem, IMO, they are a perfect example of using Biblical language with idolatrous purposes.
Everything is couched in scriptural paraphrases, frequently with no regard for scriptural context, but these paraphrases are used to bolster manmade teachings; the customs and ordinances which permeate their lives, down to which colors are acceptable for clothing, are not truly biblical, but if you parse scripture and support manmade regulations with fragmentary phrases it can give the illusion of biblical support.
The results are disastrous. People remain convinced until the facade breaks down, and in many cases, they are so put off, that they react in the other extreme, many times rejecting God, completely. I once met a man who had at one time been groomed for a leadership position in his parent’s denomination. Once he saw what was happening behind the scenes, he was so stumbled that for years, he barely believed in God, considering himself a deist. It took decades to recover, but this is another example of invisible rulers, at work. Once this man saw that it was all a bluff, it all but killed him.
Very often people will go to the extreme, when disillusioned of “throwing the baby out with the bath water” and rejecting all.
Exactly. I think that the response can be traced to their motives for belonging to the religion they left. In some cases they only went along because of family or social pressure, and didn’t really care about the devotional aspects of their denomination.
The fellow I mentioned above, did return to faith, but he spent more than a little while reorienting. In this case, he was highly offended by what had happened and reacted against what had been, essentially, forced upon him. But he did love God, and realized that God exists apart from his (former) denominational viewpoint.
I used to be able to listen to a minister on the radio–Steve Brown. He was a very earthy and practical man. He often said “If you go to Heaven, you may be quite surprised at who is there–and who isn’t there.”
There’s a reason that humans are not assigned a judgment role, over other humans. I once had a guitar student who seemed quite retiring and shy in person, but I ran into him again at a church gathering and he seemed quite zealous and sincere.