BLM's
'Trained Marxist' Radicals
|
The
opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent
the views of Townhall.com.
The
murder of George Perry Floyd Jr. by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin could have been a unifying moment for
a country badly in need of one. After all, nearly everyone across the political
spectrum, from Ilhan Omar to Rush Limbaugh strongly condemned the actions of
Derek Chauvin and his partners and agreed that reforms must be made to ensure
that horrific tragedies like this aren’t repeated. But rather than unite around
our common revulsion for racism, liberals have launched an incredibly divisive
cultural revolution that’s claiming scalps but also repelling ordinary
Americans who still love their country and don’t want to scapegoat out-of-favor
groups and revered historical figures.
If you have the stomach, peruse National
Review’s cancel
counter, a fantastically depressing list of (at the moment) 82
people, monuments and artistic works that have been purged in the last few
weeks. Here are just three examples of notable purges. Grant Napear was fired from his job as the Sacramento
Kings play by play announcer after tweeting “All lives matter…every single
one.” The President of the Poetry Foundation and another official at the
organization was forced to resign after penning a
statement condemning racism that failed to praise Black Lives Matter. And a
school principal in Vermont was placed on leave for tweeting, “I firmly
believe that Black Lives Matter, but I DO NOT agree with the coercive measures
taken to get to this point.”
I could
go on but what I find almost as objectionable as the vilification of revered
historical figures and the shredding of our Bill of Rights is how seemingly
every entity in our country from corporations to sports teams to big media to
educational institutions have dutifully participated in the purges or cheered
them on at the very least.
The left has used the killing of Mr. Floyd to effectively
intimidate the rest of us into supporting Black Lives Matter, a group whose
founders have described themselves as “trained Marxists.”
The group’s signature policy proposal is a “national defunding of police,”
perhaps the most dangerous idea that’s been taken seriously in decades. As a
nation, we’ve retreated into a dark place where those who profess anything
short of undying, blind fealty to Black Lives Matter, risk losing their jobs
and being ostracized from polite society.
A recent Rasmussen poll indicates that BLM now has a 62% approval rating among likely voters.
But how many Americans who are now expressing support for BLM have bothered to
check the group’s website or Twitter feed? Not many, I suspect. The group’s
Twitter feed offers a web link not to a page expressing its viewpoints, but to
a shop selling BLM merchandise, including $40 t-shirts and $60 hoodies. Perhaps
this reflects the reality that BLM merch is now a fashion trend.
The top of the BLM homepage currently features a banner
#defundthepolice headline. This link leads to a petition that states very
clearly in bold type, “we
call for a national defunding of police.” Liberals will tell us, “Oh, no
they don’t really mean that,”
but this is wishful thinking—they’re projecting their desire for BLM to be more
moderate even though it clearly is anything but. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
recently confirmed as much, insisting that New York City’s $1 billion cut to
the police budget isn’t enough. “Defunding police means defunding police,” she
said.
A recent Yahoo News/You Gov poll indicated that
only 16% of Democrats and 15% of Republicans support defunding police. At the
same time, there was strong bipartisan support for ideas like outfitting police
officers with body cameras and creating early warning systems to identify bad
cops. But those ideas aren’t crazy enough for BLM and they don’t appear
anywhere on their website.
There is no mention of the scourge of black on black violence
anywhere on the BLM website, and, in fact, there’s a consistent effort to deny
this reality by claiming that violence is “inflicted” on the black community by
“the state.” BLM’s “What we believe” page reads like it was written by the
folks who distribute Marxist literature outside fair trade coffee shops in
college towns like Burlington or Madison. One section proclaims, “we are self-reflexive
and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black
trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately
impacted by trans-antagonistic violence.”
BLM’s meandering statement of beliefs, full of references to
“comrades,” also includes promises to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear
family structure requirement,” and “foster a queer affirming network.” The
corporate titans now embracing BLM might also be pleased to know that when the
group meets, it does so with “the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight
grip of heteronormative thinking, or rather, the belief that all in the world
are heterosexual.”
Their bankrupt manifesto is absent of any tangible proposals
that would actually enhance black lives. Reducing unskilled immigration from
developing countries would benefit black workers but the group has consistently
advocated for the repeal of immigration laws. BLM claims to be working toward
increasing “access to quality education” but a former leader of the group in
Minnesota quit in 2016 over the group’s opposition
to school choice, which has broad support in the African-American community.
Black women also have the highest abortion rate at 27.1 per 1,000 women
compared with 10 per 1,000 for white women, but no BLM leader would dream of
promoting adoption as a viable alternative to abortion because apparently
unborn black lives do not matter.
BLM’s
signature issue—police brutality—is best addressed by rooting out bad cops.
This can’t be accomplished without taking on the powerful police unions which
fight tooth and nail to keep everyone, even the worst cops, employed, no matter
how many misconduct complaints they accrue. But because BLM is made up of
doctrinaire liberals, and liberals love unions of all kinds, you won’t hear
them address this problem. Just like they’ve studiously ignored commenting on
the carnage in Chicago, which has taken the lives of 38 (mostly black) people
in just two weekends last month. Several children were among those killed, but
their (black) lives didn’t even merit a single tweet from BLM because their
deaths, which came at the hands of black civilians, not white police officers,
don’t fit the narrative BLM is promoting.
Democratic politicians, like Senator Tim Kaine, who recently
said on the floor of the Senate that America “created slavery,” continue to bogusly
push the notion that America is a uniquely racist country. This is an article
of faith on the left. The truth is that minority groups, whether they are
members of a minority religion, tribe, or ethnic group suffer from
discrimination in every country on the planet. I make this point not to
minimize racial discrimination in this country but to illustrate that the
problems we face aren’t unique to America, they’re universal.
We can’t have an honest debate about BLM and their policy
objectives in the present climate because people are terrified to criticize
this now untouchable group of radicals posing as civil rights activists for
fear of being branded a racist. The tragedy is that bullying Americans into
supporting this fundamentally extreme group could inspire more racial animosity
and resentments. Those of us who detest racism but also want to live in a
country where the rule of law is respected must have a voice because no amount
of rebranding can change the fact that BLM ideologues and their new allies
don’t represent mainstream Americans of any color.
Dave Seminara is the author of Bed, Breakfast & Drunken Threats: Dispatches from the
Margins of Europe, and Breakfast with Polygamists: Dispatches from the Margins
of The Americas.
Black America: Before Y'all Sign On to BLM...
BLM Agitator's Advice Could Turn Road Blockers into Road Kill or Lifers
A (Caucasian, by the way) woman in a Black Lives Matter hat posted a video in which she describes a simple method for breaking a car window, cutting the driver's seat belt, and "removing" the driver "if necessary." It looks as though her idea will work in terms of (1) getting the driver beaten like Reginald Denny or (2) death or serious injury for the perpetrator along with potential felony burglary or murder charges. While nothing in this article constitutes legal advice, we will see how this individual has advised Black Lives Matter rioters (not "protesters") on how to commit acts that could turn them into roadkill or get them sent to prison for life. In addition, possession of the tool in question for forcible entry into (rather than escape from) a vehicle could be construed as possession of burglary tools, which can be charged as a felony in some jurisdictions and a misdemeanor in others.
It is a basic principle of armed self-defense that you can use deadly force only to protect yourself or others from an immediate violent threat, such as being dragged from a car and beaten, that would put the law's hypothetical person in reasonable fear for his life. You cannot use any kind of violence on somebody who is not a physical threat to you. Some states also require you to retreat from the threat (e.g., by turning your car around and going the other way) if you can do so in complete safety. Even if the state has a "stand your ground" law, you should try to avoid the confrontation. George Zimmerman's decision to stand his ground earned him a thorough beating along with devastating legal costs.
In addition, if you fire a handgun inside your car, you are likely to suffer serious hearing damage if you do not have hearing protection, which is illegal to wear in many jurisdictions. You should therefore, as depicted by Kenny Rogers in "Coward of the Country," walk (or drive) away from trouble if you can. Only if the aggressors leave you no other option do you need to proceed to the end of that song: "Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man." Then it's you or them, and whatever happens is both legally and morally on them.
Many states have a "castle doctrine on wheels," which treats an occupied vehicle like an occupied dwelling. Arizona, for example, imposes no duty to retreat from an aggressor who "was attempting to remove another person against the other person's will from the residential structure or occupied vehicle."
How a Car Window Turns Misdemeanor Assault into a First-Degree Felony
A man was shot after he punched a driver through the window of his car. The Democrat-run city of Seattle arrested the driver, but if I were on the jury, I would not even want to hear the driver's side of the story before I voted to acquit. Why waste my time, the defense lawyer's time that he is billing to his client, the judge's time, and the rest of the jury's time after the prosecution stipulates, as it will have to do, that the other man admitted to reaching through the car window to grab the steering wheel and then punch the driver in his face? This, along with the fact that Seattle is allowing looters and rioters to run rampant, is a strong argument for every working person and every employer to move out of the city and let it rot, and elect a Republican governor and Legislature to ensure that state money is not used to carry Seattle.
A Google search on this issue led me to Florida, where a car window turns what would ordinarily be misdemeanor battery into a first-degree felony punishable by life in prison. Fla. Statute 810.02 defines burglary as unlawful entry into a conveyance (like a vehicle) as well as a dwelling "with the intent to commit an offense therein." This escalates to a first-degree felony if, during the course of the burglary, the offender "makes an assault or battery upon any person."
PIC
It is a general rule in most states that a violent felony puts the victim in reasonable fear for his life, which is the prerequisite for immediate deployment of deadly force.
Felony Murder
Suppose that X acts on the BLM woman's advice, breaks a car's window, and reaches inside to cut the driver's seat belt to remove him from the car. The driver is in reasonable fear for his life, so he floors his accelerator to get away from the threat and, as X is next to the car rather than in its path, X remains unharmed. The car, however, strikes and kills peaceful demonstrator Y, which puts felony murder charges on the table — not for the driver, but for X.
Remember that X has just committed what most if not all states define as a felony. Georgia defines felony murder as follows: "in the commission of a felony, he causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice," and also, "[a] person convicted of the offense of murder shall be punished by death, by imprisonment for life without parole, or by imprisonment for life." Another example might involve X shooting at a police officer who returns fire only to have a stray round hit and kill Y. As long as the officer's use of his weapon was reasonable and not reckless, the death would probably be on assailant X and not on the cop. Florida defines as second-degree murder "[w]hen a human being is killed during the perpetration of, or during the attempt to perpetrate, any ... burglary ... carjacking" and does not seem to require that the perpetrator do the killing.
This does not by any means entitle the driver to use indiscriminate force to escape the threat, but, as long as the driver's actions are reasonable, the aggressor's decision to create a "him or me" situation puts any resulting fatalities on the aggressor as far as I am concerned, and that would be my decision as a juror.
As a final note, I cannot give legal advice, so:
- Please review the deadly force laws that prevail in your state, including any duty to retreat and, regardless of whether you can legally stand your ground, retreat if you can do so in complete safety. That is a sure guarantee that you won't get beaten up or killed, and that you won't have to pay a lawyer because you had to kill somebody else.
- Know and obey your state's concealed carry laws. Some states permit open carry without a permit, but your "open carry" becomes concealed carry, and a crime if you don't have a permit, the instant you get into a vehicle.
- Take a concealed carry course from a qualified law enforcement professional and learn exactly when you can and cannot use deadly force.
- If silencers or suppressors are legal in your state, consider paying the federal license fee to get one so you do not destroy your hearing if you have to fire a handgun inside your vehicle.
- Exercise your discretion as a juror should a prosecutor charge the driver instead of the rioter in any incidents of this nature.
Civis Americanus is the pen name of an American Thinker contributor who remembers the lessons of history and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way.
A (Caucasian, by the way) woman in a Black Lives Matter hat posted a video in which she describes a simple method for breaking a car window, cutting the driver's seat belt, and "removing" the driver "if necessary." It looks as though her idea will work in terms of (1) getting the driver beaten like Reginald Denny or (2) death or serious injury for the perpetrator along with potential felony burglary or murder charges. While nothing in this article constitutes legal advice, we will see how this individual has advised Black Lives Matter rioters (not "protesters") on how to commit acts that could turn them into roadkill or get them sent to prison for life. In addition, possession of the tool in question for forcible entry into (rather than escape from) a vehicle could be construed as possession of burglary tools, which can be charged as a felony in some jurisdictions and a misdemeanor in others.
It is a basic principle of armed self-defense that you can use deadly force only to protect yourself or others from an immediate violent threat, such as being dragged from a car and beaten, that would put the law's hypothetical person in reasonable fear for his life. You cannot use any kind of violence on somebody who is not a physical threat to you. Some states also require you to retreat from the threat (e.g., by turning your car around and going the other way) if you can do so in complete safety. Even if the state has a "stand your ground" law, you should try to avoid the confrontation. George Zimmerman's decision to stand his ground earned him a thorough beating along with devastating legal costs.
In addition, if you fire a handgun inside your car, you are likely to suffer serious hearing damage if you do not have hearing protection, which is illegal to wear in many jurisdictions. You should therefore, as depicted by Kenny Rogers in "Coward of the Country," walk (or drive) away from trouble if you can. Only if the aggressors leave you no other option do you need to proceed to the end of that song: "Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man." Then it's you or them, and whatever happens is both legally and morally on them.
Many states have a "castle doctrine on wheels," which treats an occupied vehicle like an occupied dwelling. Arizona, for example, imposes no duty to retreat from an aggressor who "was attempting to remove another person against the other person's will from the residential structure or occupied vehicle."
How a Car Window Turns Misdemeanor Assault into a First-Degree Felony
A man was shot after he punched a driver through the window of his car. The Democrat-run city of Seattle arrested the driver, but if I were on the jury, I would not even want to hear the driver's side of the story before I voted to acquit. Why waste my time, the defense lawyer's time that he is billing to his client, the judge's time, and the rest of the jury's time after the prosecution stipulates, as it will have to do, that the other man admitted to reaching through the car window to grab the steering wheel and then punch the driver in his face? This, along with the fact that Seattle is allowing looters and rioters to run rampant, is a strong argument for every working person and every employer to move out of the city and let it rot, and elect a Republican governor and Legislature to ensure that state money is not used to carry Seattle.
A Google search on this issue led me to Florida, where a car window turns what would ordinarily be misdemeanor battery into a first-degree felony punishable by life in prison. Fla. Statute 810.02 defines burglary as unlawful entry into a conveyance (like a vehicle) as well as a dwelling "with the intent to commit an offense therein." This escalates to a first-degree felony if, during the course of the burglary, the offender "makes an assault or battery upon any person."
PIC
It is a general rule in most states that a violent felony puts the victim in reasonable fear for his life, which is the prerequisite for immediate deployment of deadly force.
Felony Murder
Suppose that X acts on the BLM woman's advice, breaks a car's window, and reaches inside to cut the driver's seat belt to remove him from the car. The driver is in reasonable fear for his life, so he floors his accelerator to get away from the threat and, as X is next to the car rather than in its path, X remains unharmed. The car, however, strikes and kills peaceful demonstrator Y, which puts felony murder charges on the table — not for the driver, but for X.
Remember that X has just committed what most if not all states define as a felony. Georgia defines felony murder as follows: "in the commission of a felony, he causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice," and also, "[a] person convicted of the offense of murder shall be punished by death, by imprisonment for life without parole, or by imprisonment for life." Another example might involve X shooting at a police officer who returns fire only to have a stray round hit and kill Y. As long as the officer's use of his weapon was reasonable and not reckless, the death would probably be on assailant X and not on the cop. Florida defines as second-degree murder "[w]hen a human being is killed during the perpetration of, or during the attempt to perpetrate, any ... burglary ... carjacking" and does not seem to require that the perpetrator do the killing.
This does not by any means entitle the driver to use indiscriminate force to escape the threat, but, as long as the driver's actions are reasonable, the aggressor's decision to create a "him or me" situation puts any resulting fatalities on the aggressor as far as I am concerned, and that would be my decision as a juror.
As a final note, I cannot give legal advice, so:
- Please review the deadly force laws that prevail in your state, including any duty to retreat and, regardless of whether you can legally stand your ground, retreat if you can do so in complete safety. That is a sure guarantee that you won't get beaten up or killed, and that you won't have to pay a lawyer because you had to kill somebody else.
- Know and obey your state's concealed carry laws. Some states permit open carry without a permit, but your "open carry" becomes concealed carry, and a crime if you don't have a permit, the instant you get into a vehicle.
- Take a concealed carry course from a qualified law enforcement professional and learn exactly when you can and cannot use deadly force.
- If silencers or suppressors are legal in your state, consider paying the federal license fee to get one so you do not destroy your hearing if you have to fire a handgun inside your vehicle.
- Exercise your discretion as a juror should a prosecutor charge the driver instead of the rioter in any incidents of this nature.
Civis Americanus is the pen name of an American Thinker contributor who remembers the lessons of history and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way.
How Antifa and Black Lives Matter Compare with Satan
John Milton understood evil. Some say he understood it so well that he made Satan, not Man, the most interesting character in Paradise Lost (1667). Regardless, what he recorded in that epic of Man's fall from Grace is one of the central and enduring myths of mankind. It is also a good explanation for what's going on in Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, and a dozen other cities hit by radical protests.
Milton tells of Satan's rebellion against God and his defeat and banishment to Hell. After his defeat by a band of angels loyal to God, Satan travels from Hell to Earth in order to corrupt Adam and Eve. He tempts Eve into partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve are then expelled from paradise into a world of suffering and pain.
The crucial point about Satan has to do with his motivation. Why should one of God's most capable and valued followers wish to rebel in the first place? The answer is that Satan is swollen with pride and incapable of submitting to authority of any kind. He views the universe in the way today's anarchists do. They see themselves as godlike creatures who should not have to submit to authority. While today's radicals claim to be struggling for racial justice or equality, they are really interested in something very different: the illusion of total free will and limitless power. That was Satan's motive as well, and Milton understood the danger it posed.
It is impossible to know just what goes on in the mind of a young protester while he is looting, setting fires, and engaging in other violent crimes. But it is possible to know what he is attacking. He is after those who are affluent, those who believe in goodness and decency, and those who support law and order. One of the primary objects of attack is the police. So far in 2020, over 30 police officers have been murdered by gunfire or other means. Far more have been seriously assaulted, many of them by Antifa or other protesters.
Based on calls to defund the police in many cities, our police officers have become a special focus of attack. Obviously, there have been cases of excessive force, but those rare events cannot explain the animosity of the young toward the police. Most adults realize that the police are all that stand between themselves and criminal violence, and most of us deeply respect the men and women who protect us. But there are thousands of protesters who truly despise those same police officers.
To a person attacking others, looting, and burning, the police are all that stand in his way. They are the equivalent of God's army of faithful angels preventing Satan's takeover of Heaven. They are also, in some cases, the only persons who have ever set limits on their behavior. No wonder the protesters are enraged and seek revenge. Those who throw bricks and bottles, or who gather around to beat a fallen officer in the street, are expressing their wrath because, for once in their lives, someone has told them "no." The police may be the only real authority they have known, and they are filled with rage.
In the absence of the police backed up by strong city and state government — not the kind that exists in our liberal states — radical protests would literally burn down our country. Decent Americans would cower in their homes, defending themselves as best as they could and waiting on help that never comes. The weak — the elderly, the disabled — would become the particular targets of roaming gangs of thugs. More and more "autonomous zones" would spring up, each ruled by a murderous warlord heading a small legion of heavily armed predators.
That was Satan's vision of what the world should look like. When he was stopped, he corrupted Adam and Eve and led them to violate God's trust. After their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam was condemned to labor for a living and Eve to suffer the pain of childbirth. Worse yet, their innocence was lost. Afterward, they lived with suspicion and doubt and with the knowledge of their own corruption.
America, I believe, was once close to the Garden of Eden. There were justice and opportunity for all, or nearly all, and the basis of that happy condition was a shared moral code. Looting, vandalizing, murder, and rape were uncommon. Even when adjusted for a higher population, the number of violent crimes soared during the 1960s and 1970s and has remained high to this day. There were 9,110 murders in the U.S. in 1960, rising to 16,000 in 1970; 23,040 in 1980; and 23,440 in 1990. By 2010, that number had declined, but it began rising again in 2015.
There was a time when the police were respected for their role in maintaining law and order, and they could operate with a light touch because of the cooperation they received from the public. Traffic stops did not often turn into shootouts, and arrests did not often involve suspects struggling with and fleeing officers. Nor did the public accuse officers, or anyone else who stood in the way of criminality, of racism. That tactic itself is another arrow in Satan's quiver.
At the heart of Satan's rebellion as depicted in Paradise Lost is the sin of pride. Satan rebels against God's authority because his sense of self-importance will not allow him to bow to any authority outside himself. Milton understood that pride, in this negative sense, creates an endless cycle of resentment and hostility. For those who truly believe they possess unlimited free will, there is no end to their rebellion. It may begin with George Floyd, but it soon leads to smashing windows, looting, and burning. It may begin with the statue of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, but it quickly takes aim at George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Abraham Lincoln.
At the heart of today's protests is a refusal to accept authority. It may feel godlike to swarm through the streets, smashing, burning, and assaulting the police, but that sort of criminality can only lead to worse things. When Satan was defeated in his rebellion against God, he was condemned to spend the rest of his days in Hell. He spent eternity as a bitter outcast, seeking revenge and plotting against God.
That gives us some idea of what's in store for the radicals protesting in the streets today. While many will be saved, others will spend decades joining whatever protests arise, acting out their hatred of authority. Their story is not so different from that of Satan in Paradise Lost. Milton understood what happens when an individual is eaten up by pride and when he rejects every form of authority, even that of those who wish only to protect him.
Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).
John Milton understood evil. Some say he understood it so well that he made Satan, not Man, the most interesting character in Paradise Lost (1667). Regardless, what he recorded in that epic of Man's fall from Grace is one of the central and enduring myths of mankind. It is also a good explanation for what's going on in Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, and a dozen other cities hit by radical protests.
Milton tells of Satan's rebellion against God and his defeat and banishment to Hell. After his defeat by a band of angels loyal to God, Satan travels from Hell to Earth in order to corrupt Adam and Eve. He tempts Eve into partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve are then expelled from paradise into a world of suffering and pain.
The crucial point about Satan has to do with his motivation. Why should one of God's most capable and valued followers wish to rebel in the first place? The answer is that Satan is swollen with pride and incapable of submitting to authority of any kind. He views the universe in the way today's anarchists do. They see themselves as godlike creatures who should not have to submit to authority. While today's radicals claim to be struggling for racial justice or equality, they are really interested in something very different: the illusion of total free will and limitless power. That was Satan's motive as well, and Milton understood the danger it posed.
It is impossible to know just what goes on in the mind of a young protester while he is looting, setting fires, and engaging in other violent crimes. But it is possible to know what he is attacking. He is after those who are affluent, those who believe in goodness and decency, and those who support law and order. One of the primary objects of attack is the police. So far in 2020, over 30 police officers have been murdered by gunfire or other means. Far more have been seriously assaulted, many of them by Antifa or other protesters.
Based on calls to defund the police in many cities, our police officers have become a special focus of attack. Obviously, there have been cases of excessive force, but those rare events cannot explain the animosity of the young toward the police. Most adults realize that the police are all that stand between themselves and criminal violence, and most of us deeply respect the men and women who protect us. But there are thousands of protesters who truly despise those same police officers.
To a person attacking others, looting, and burning, the police are all that stand in his way. They are the equivalent of God's army of faithful angels preventing Satan's takeover of Heaven. They are also, in some cases, the only persons who have ever set limits on their behavior. No wonder the protesters are enraged and seek revenge. Those who throw bricks and bottles, or who gather around to beat a fallen officer in the street, are expressing their wrath because, for once in their lives, someone has told them "no." The police may be the only real authority they have known, and they are filled with rage.
In the absence of the police backed up by strong city and state government — not the kind that exists in our liberal states — radical protests would literally burn down our country. Decent Americans would cower in their homes, defending themselves as best as they could and waiting on help that never comes. The weak — the elderly, the disabled — would become the particular targets of roaming gangs of thugs. More and more "autonomous zones" would spring up, each ruled by a murderous warlord heading a small legion of heavily armed predators.
That was Satan's vision of what the world should look like. When he was stopped, he corrupted Adam and Eve and led them to violate God's trust. After their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Adam was condemned to labor for a living and Eve to suffer the pain of childbirth. Worse yet, their innocence was lost. Afterward, they lived with suspicion and doubt and with the knowledge of their own corruption.
America, I believe, was once close to the Garden of Eden. There were justice and opportunity for all, or nearly all, and the basis of that happy condition was a shared moral code. Looting, vandalizing, murder, and rape were uncommon. Even when adjusted for a higher population, the number of violent crimes soared during the 1960s and 1970s and has remained high to this day. There were 9,110 murders in the U.S. in 1960, rising to 16,000 in 1970; 23,040 in 1980; and 23,440 in 1990. By 2010, that number had declined, but it began rising again in 2015.
There was a time when the police were respected for their role in maintaining law and order, and they could operate with a light touch because of the cooperation they received from the public. Traffic stops did not often turn into shootouts, and arrests did not often involve suspects struggling with and fleeing officers. Nor did the public accuse officers, or anyone else who stood in the way of criminality, of racism. That tactic itself is another arrow in Satan's quiver.
At the heart of Satan's rebellion as depicted in Paradise Lost is the sin of pride. Satan rebels against God's authority because his sense of self-importance will not allow him to bow to any authority outside himself. Milton understood that pride, in this negative sense, creates an endless cycle of resentment and hostility. For those who truly believe they possess unlimited free will, there is no end to their rebellion. It may begin with George Floyd, but it soon leads to smashing windows, looting, and burning. It may begin with the statue of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, but it quickly takes aim at George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Abraham Lincoln.
At the heart of today's protests is a refusal to accept authority. It may feel godlike to swarm through the streets, smashing, burning, and assaulting the police, but that sort of criminality can only lead to worse things. When Satan was defeated in his rebellion against God, he was condemned to spend the rest of his days in Hell. He spent eternity as a bitter outcast, seeking revenge and plotting against God.
That gives us some idea of what's in store for the radicals protesting in the streets today. While many will be saved, others will spend decades joining whatever protests arise, acting out their hatred of authority. Their story is not so different from that of Satan in Paradise Lost. Milton understood what happens when an individual is eaten up by pride and when he rejects every form of authority, even that of those who wish only to protect him.
Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).
Black America: Before Y'all Sign On to BLM...
During the opening monologue of his show, Arsenio Hall included a running gag titled, “Things that make you say hmmm.” To my fellow blacks, here are things that should make you say “hmmm” about Black Lives Matter.
During the opening monologue of his show, Arsenio Hall included a running gag titled, “Things that make you say hmmm.” To my fellow blacks, here are things that should make you say “hmmm” about Black Lives Matter.
BLM's mission statement says they want to destroy the nuclear family. Rejecting BLM's war on the family, black former NFL star Marcellus Wiley offered these stats. “Children from single-parent homes verses two-parent homes. Children from single-parent homes are 5 times more likely to commit suicide -- 6 times more likely to be in poverty -- 9 times more likely to drop out of school – 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances – 14 times more likely to commit rape – 20 times more likely to end up in prison and 32 times more likely to run away from home.”
BLM's founders admit they are “trained Marxists.” These disciples of Karl Marx have launched a revolution against capitalism to implement socialism which will morph into communism. Communism means elites dictate every aspect of your life. They sucker you in by promising everything for free. Their promise always falls short because someone has to work to produce goods and services. When government confiscates the majority of what you earn to redistribute equally to people who do nothing, human nature asks why should you bust your butt? Communist dictators live high on the hog while the people live on the crumbs that fall from their table. Do you see anything related to George Floyd or empowering blacks in BLM's Marxist agenda?
To please BLM, Democrat city councils, mayors, and governors have begun disbanding, defunding, and ordering their police to stand down. Mainstream media (fake news media) won't tell y'all this, but when the police go away, black folks suffer most. Consequently, in six weeks there have been six hundred murders, mostly blacks killing blacks, in Democrat-controlled cities; New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Baltimore.
For years, black-on-black homicides continue to reach record-breaking numbers in Democrat cities. Why isn't BLM dealing with this real issue costing black lives? How come black lives only matter when they are killed by a rare white person?
This will come as a shock, but rock-solid data confirms that police have been the greatest defenders of black lives for several years. Fake news media and Democrats lie about everything; using y'all as useful idiots. They have manufactured extreme racial unrest hoping blacks will blame Trump and vote for Biden.
Systemic racism is a lie. Blacks are only 13% of the population. Therefore, white America voted for the first black president two times. Oprah is worth $2.6 billion. Can we please stop the systemic racism nonsense?
Before the COVID hysteria, Trump had blacks experiencing unprecedented prosperity and historic low unemployment. Why did Democrats and BLM worked so hard to destroy Trump's booming economy? Answer: BLM said their top priority is to force Trump to resign. Screw black jobs and prosperity. BLM burned down black businesses, chased businesses from black areas; suicides, domestic violence, and black suffering has skyrocketed due to BLM's and Democrats' joint efforts to crush the economy to get Trump out of office.
Sacrificing babies in worship to a false god, BLM and Democrats strongly support and defend Planned Parenthood. Do y'all know PP was founded by racist Margaret Sanger? Sanger thought blacks were inferior and must be exterminated. In a 1939 letter Sanger wrote, “We don't want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population...”
Still today, 70% of PP dead-baby chop-shops (they illegally sell the parts for profit) are located in black neighborhoods. Black women are only 14% of the child-birthing population and yet 36% of all U.S. abortions are black babies. Blacks are engaged in their own genocide via abortion. Why do those black lives not matter?
It truly amazes me that so many corporations, Democrat politicians, fake news media, and Christians have no problem with the glaring reverse racism demanded by BLM. BLM is a cult whose zealots demand that whites actually kneel in worship and beg forgiveness for being white. Is this what Jesus wants?
BLM operatives have white middle school students hating themselves, taught that they were born racist. Does Jesus want people (kids) hating themselves? BLM had a sportscaster fired for daring to say, “all lives matter.” Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross because all lives matter. If you support BLM's racist mandates and agenda, the love of Christ is not in you. Your Christianity emits a putrid odor.
So there you have it. I have given you several easy to confirm truths to consider before signing on or joining the cheering team of BLM. Some will still rather believe the 24/7 deceptions, distortions, and lies of fake news media. I believe there is an evil spiritual component attached to such willingness to be deceived. The Bible speaks of those who prefer to believe a lie over the truth. “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.” (Jeremiah 7:8)
But then, why should you believe me? I am nothing more than a self-hating, Uncle Tom, black Republican, Conservative, Christian, stupid n*****, and a traitor to my race; seated firmly aboard Trump Train 2020.
Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American
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