Satan and Cameras

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

I think I’ve come up with an analogy to describe how Satan works. Imagine five cameras filming a scene from five different angles. The same scene, but five perspectives. Now, imagine that each camera contains a computer virus controlled by the same entity. The virus distorts each image in subtle ways that allows the resultant image produced be manipulated to nefarious ends. One camera will show a slightly different shade of green. Another, will show an extra finger on a glove. Now, each cameraman can only look through one camera and probably won’t notice the manipulation. But Satan is really good at this manipulation; he can use it to set us at each others’ throats. And he will.

To clarify: we are the cameramen. The cameras are our perceptions. And the scene viewed is “Reality” The virus is, of course, Satan.

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

Behavior in the Time of Coronavirus

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

There is growing unrest between the pro-freedom and pro-safety members of our society regarding how we should deal with the coronavirus. The pro-freedom group argues, citing the Bill of Rights, that the government has become Totalitarianistic and draconian in their efforts to thwart the coronavirus. The pro-safety group argues that if our efforts save just one life, they will be worth it. For myself, I’m on the pro-freedom side. I believe it comes down to a matter of informed consent. For one, the scientific community does not have unanimous consent, and even if they did, I still think informed consent should still rule the day.

Ignoring Satan stuff, I pretty much believe in science … mostly. But I don’t believe in scientific certainty no matter how many models or “proofs” you throw at me. Regarding coronavirus precautions, when I go out I always bring a mask with me and I have hand-sanitizer in my vehicle should I deem that I need to use it (if I’m going grocery shopping or whatever). I also do my best to practice social distancing. In other words, I follow the CDC guidelines, and they are guidelines, not laws. And they shouldn’t become laws. We have too many of those already. As for businesses, I really think the easing of restrictions should continue. If you disagree, and want to stay at home and not frequent the businesses that do open up, you are free to do so.

Clearly, I think, having some concern for someone else who might be at more risk than you is the right thing to do when you are in their presence.. But trying to micro-manage everyone else’s behavior is misguided.

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

God and Power

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

God is omnipotent. Yeah, I got that. But there is a part of me that just says, “So?” Yeah, I know it’s impressive that He can do anything, but is that what makes Him God? I don’t think so. For those of us who believe in the existence of Satan, I can almost imagine that this is the sticking point that Satan doesn’t understand. He thinks that God is God because He’s omnipotent, or maybe because He’s omniscient, or maybe even because He’s both those things. But I’m kind of inclined to think that both omnipotence and omniscience are accidental properties of God and not essential properties of God. That is, neither omnipotence nor omniscience are what make God God. What does, then? Everyone always says God is Love, maybe that’s it. Maybe if God is all Loving, the essence of Love, and the source of Love, that is all He needs to be. Everything else flows from that. Divine Love necessitates the capacity to create from nothing something to Love. And maybe Divine Love necessitates complete knowledge of that which is Loved. I don’t know. But I find it somewhat off-putting when religious individuals put God on His throne because of His power or knowledge. Like that whole bit where you are supposed to “Fear the Lord,” I really don’t like. If God loves me, I don’t think He’s going to be cruel or vicious towards me. Why should I fear Him? Because He’s bigger than me? That would be stupid. And very unChristian.

I know many people probably don’t believe in Satan these days, but I do. And I’m convinced that when Satan looks at God, all he sees is Power (and Knowledge … which will give him Power). Anyway, those are my reflections on God for the day.

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

Hoping for the Rapture, but Preparing for the Apocalypse

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

I think the title sums up the appropriate attitude we should have here. Maybe we’ve passed the worst of the coronavirus. Maybe not. Regardless, the next likely difficulty facing our planet will be, at the very least, some form of economic stress, if not collapse. I live in a suburb in the United States so I really can’t comment on what to do in other countries whose economics are such that I wouldn’t recognize what constitutes an adequate standard of living. Similarly, I don’t know what someone living in a city should do.

Depending on how severe the economic downturn is going to be, the first priority is food. If you have room, start a garden, please. You may have plenty of spare time to do so these days and the weather is starting to get warmer. I think the ideal for the suburb is every home becoming self-sufficient. I have no idea how to achieve that, but that thought occupies my mind a lot. Feel free to offer suggestions in the comment section below. After food, the next priority should probably be heat. We have a wood stove and a nice supply of wood for an emergency. Next comes electrical power, and this is where my concern for simplified technology becomes most pronounced. Most modern technology is linked to computers. This is both good and bad. The good is obvious, the bad needs to be pointed out. And it can be summed up in one word: complexity. Any technology you get, you need to ask the question: can I fix it, if something goes wrong? If the answer is no, you can’t; you need some specialist to fix it for you; then you are not self-reliant. Cars, for example, are now so complicated they need to be attached to a computer in order to be fixed. Investing in a bicycle as a back-up is probably a good idea. Everything is becoming more and more complicated these days and as a result that makes our economy highly specialized, very productive and powerful (at least it was before coronavirus), yet at the same time extremely fragile. For that reason, I suggest that any technology you bring into your home be as simple as possible, or, if it is not, make sure you can do without it in a pinch. For example, you can substitute a large bucket for a washing machine and a clothesline for a dryer, in a pinch.

All of this, of course, falls under the heading “Preparing for the Apocalypse” above. I’d much rather experience the Rapture, but I suspect the reality of the coming months will probably be something in between.

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

Science and Authoritative Truth

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

I recently wrote a post about Authoritative Truth in which I mentioned science. I’ve decided that science and its relationship to Authoritative Truth warrant an entire post of their own. I think this is actually a problem for our society today because when science becomes accepted as Authoritative Truth it transforms into scientific totalitarianism … which isn’t good.

Science has been successful; more successful than any other belief system with respect to making accurate predictions and solving problems. As a result, it has kind of earned “top dog” of all belief systems. It has a very potent grip on the psychology of our society. When the scientific community agrees on something it is generally regarded as factual and true, another jewel in the treasure chest of human “knowledge.” But scientific “knowledge” is never truly knowledge in the purest sense of the word. There is always some degree of uncertainty and doubt … and I don’t have to refer to Heisenberg to draw that conclusion. Just look at the history of science, the way it repeatedly proves earlier theories wrong or inadequate. And there are other more philosophical reasons which I have discussed elsewhere on this blog, but I won’t repeat them here. Science doesn’t produce knowledge, rather, it produces well-justified rational belief (WJRB for short). Some people may think I am splitting hairs here, but I think in light of the draconian measures some states are taking because of the coronavirus it is worth making a point of this. Do I believe in science? I think most people would answer that question yes. I’m actually a bad example here because of my Satan issues. Regardless, what I most emphatically don’t believe in is scientific certainty. As a result of that, I don’t think I should become a slave to the dictates of another human being even if he’s got a Ph.D. or an M.D. or whatever and I don’t. At one point in time, we supported the notion of informed consent. I think we should revive that, most emphatically. In the case of a pandemic, it’s the job of the scientific community to provide us with information and maybe suggestions and guidelines. It’s our job to take such into account and run our own lives in light of that.

All right, let’s look at this from another angle. The scientific community consists of a collection of individuals with scientific training and expertise in their respective fields. As a general rule, any two scientists will possess roughly the same amount of knowledge. What will differ is the details of that knowledge. One may be a biologist; the other a physicist. Etc… The respective knowledge (I know, it should really be WJRB not knowledge) of any two individuals will not be identical even when they are in the same field. Two cardiologists, for example, will not possess the exact same knowledge. Granted, a significant portion of it will likely be shared, but as our scientific knowledge base continues to expand at a rate far in excess of the increase in human intellectual abilities, the amount of shared knowledge will likely continue to decrease through time. Each individual will become more and more specialized.

Anyway, the result of this is that the opinion of any particular scientist (with allowances for differing credentials) is roughly equal to the opinion of any other particular scientist. Dissent should be accepted as a natural occurrence in the development of scientific thought. It should not be squelched. Silencing other scientists because they don’t agree with the Authoritative Truth is anathema to scientific thought. After all, the Authoritative Truth in science is simply the consensus opinion of the largest group of scientists that agree on a matter. Historically, science progresses by tearing that Authoritative Truth down and replacing it with something stronger. Hindering such a process, hinders scientific progress. Newtonian physics gave way to Einstein’s relativistic physics; that couldn’t have happened if all of Einstein’s writings were regarded as heretical and suppressed by the scientific community. So, if Youtube or Facebook bans scientists who disagree with the WHO, Youtube and Facebook are interfering with the scientific process. Using the concept of Authoritative Truth to squelch dissent has no place in the scientific process. I can see that there may be a desire to label the consensus opinion as authoritative but that must be done with a hefty asterisk on that label in the light of the history of science. And such a label, when so tentatively given, should have no political implications; that would interfere with freedom of speech and thought.

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

The Authoritative Truth

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

Back when I was in college lots of people were arguing about truth. I usually argued for the existence of truth; adversaries often argued against, saying “There was no absolute truth,” or, even more drastically, “There was no truth.” It tended to be the Leftists who were fond of those latter two positions. Which I find ironic, as it is now the Leftists who are arguing in favor of the “Authoritative Truth.”

What is the “Authoritative Truth?” Well, please note we are talking about the Authoritative Truth as opposed to Absolute Truth, or more generally, truth. Okay, what are the differences? Let’s work backwards. What is the definition of truth? Well, I’m a Correspondence Theory of Truth guy (there are other theories), but rather than harp on those details, if we are just looking for existence, can’t we just say, “Well, you know when you are telling the truth to someone and you know when you are lying, don’t you?” If yes, then truth exists in some sense. How about Absolute Truth? For this one, I’ll just give you an example: “I am NOT omniscient.” Okay, so absolute truth exists because I just gave you one, I think—although I might not be using the correct definition of absolute there; then again, I just might be. But we’ll ignore that for now.

How about Authoritative Truth. Does that exist? If so, what is it? For those unfamiliar with logic and math and philosophy, there is an actual logical fallacy related to this. It’s called the Appeal to Authority. Basically, it is considered a logical mistake to build an argument on the authority of an individual or a doctrine or whatever (the irony of my antichrist issues is quite evident to me regarding this). The Catholic Church is probably the usual example cited here. “The Earth is flat because the pope says so.” The pope, who is (or was) the authority, and who made such claims several hundred years ago (I believe) was wrong according to the scientists of today. Are there other possible examples of “Authoritative” truth. Any particular religion will claim to be such, most likely, not just the Catholic Church. Other than that, there are philosophical doctrines like those of the Founding Fathers here in the United States. That’s probably a likely candidate. As well as, science in general.

So if we hearken back to the arguments of my college days, were my adversaries really trying to say, “There is no Authoritative truth?” If so, at this point, I may be inclined to agree with them. So, is the claim “There is no Authoritative truth,” self-defeating? That is, is it putting itself forward as an Authoritative truth? I don’t think that has to be the case. It clearly isn’t self-evident as we’ve had plenty of promulgaters of “authoritative” truth in the past from religions to philosophers to political movements. I kind of think it’s a true statement that we had to learn the truth of as opposed to have had it given to us. And all it says is that if someone is claiming something is true, don’t accept as true merely on the basis of some authority (like Jesus, the antichrist, the President, the Pope, or maybe even God Himself). It must earn your assent through self-evidence, argument, gathered evidence, or some other means that is acceptable. It may still be true, but not on the basis of authority.

For example, the practice of human sacrifice is immoral. Don’t believe that on the basis of a declaration of such by the Pope, although I am sure he happens to be correct in this regard. Rather, believe because you have been swayed to the position by some form of argument. Although in this case, I don’t think it’s an argument that wins the day but some form of internal morality detector that just says, “Human sacrifice? Ick. That’s wrong.”

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

I Sort of Hear Voices

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?

Just for the information of the general public, some times I hear voices in my head. They generally are not like the voice of a person you might hear talking to you in physical reality, more like the voices you might hear on the edge of your consciousness as you drift off to sleep. For example, I recently wrote a blog post on science and Satan and I heard a voice say, “You are a moron” in that edge-of-consciousness way. I’ve heard other things from “I love you,” to “Ignorance is love” to all sorts of other things. Some positive. Some very unfriendly. Just figured readers of my blog should know that.

Satan is a Liar. And Jesus Christ is the Lord. Repent and be saved. Yeah, I know you’ve heard it before. But have you ever heard it from the antichrist before?