"Army considers scrapping ranks including Guardsman and Rifleman because they are too masculine in move to make regiments more inclusive."

It is headlines like this that cements the idea in my mind that our fight is not between Democrats or Republicans or conservatives and progressives. The real battle is between those of us who want to live in the real world and those who simply want to destroy it.

In contemporary politics, economics, and science, there is a neo-Epicureanis m that has taken hold in America.

Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. This neo-Epicureanis m is also materialist to its core, it is the denial of providence and the immortality of the soul, and the consequent rejection as invalid any theology and metaphysics anchored to "divine” revelation, especially on issues such as the immortality of the soul, punishments, and rewards in an afterlife. In other words, there is no heaven or hell so YOLO (you only live once) and whatever you want to do is cool.

For example, if the world is just a physical machine grinding out automaton after automaton according to established laws, then there is no room (or need) for qualitative concepts like love and charity. These concepts would be as indefinite hatred and rape – and therefore, love and charity could never be judged superior or more desirable - but because we, as humans, understand the difference, there must be some other grounding of those concepts, something beyond just atoms bouncing off each other.

Marx’s dialectical materialism refused that man’s gods, myths and intimations were evidence of supernatural influence – and that forms the basis for gaps in his theories that cannot be explained through his rhetoric, so Marxists just ignore them.

Andrew Klavan, the American essayist, video satirist and a conservative commentator, noted:

"Materialist fascism and Communism slaughtered more people in a single generation than all the crusades, pogroms, and inquisitions since the year zero. But logic too is on scripture’s side. As Genesis repeatedly intimates, the human quest to seize the moral high ground from God—to force the advent of our imagined utopias—brings us constantly into conflict with the good life we so desperately desire. Those who put their faith in princes inevitably end up rationalizing and imitating the ugly actions of their idols. And as for Marx’s ‘ruthless criticism of all that exists,’ note how Critical Theory always starts out identifying a problem—racism, misogyny, power imbalance—and ends up becoming what it beheld—racist, misogynistic, power hungry. It is a rat caught in the circular maze of reality.”

Contemporary "Faucian science” is also most certainly Epicurean in nature. Yesterday, Jerry "The Zipper” Nadler claimed, despite all the peer reviewed data, that not masking toddlers during the pandemic was child abuse.

I still remember running into my first atheist "scientist” way back in college, some forty-odd years ago. We locked horns in a debate (required to pass an elective speech and debate class). He brought stacks of notecards (we didn’t really have the Internet back then) that included immaculately prepared cites for his positions regarding the origin of mankind, all based on physics and advanced mathematics. He believed that matter just did what it did because it was matter and it had to follow the laws of physics. I ended the debate when challenged him with this:

"Your claims appear to be based on the concept that chaos creates order out of chaos because there are laws. This argument seems circular to me, so please cite from any source you choose who or what created the laws of physics – not who discovered or revealed any certain law, but from whence it originated.”

The debate jury decided in my favor because they found my challenge to be entirely relevant to his argument and my opponent had no answer – but that’s always the endpoint of any debate with an Epicurean. They can never take the debate to the endpoint, mostly because they don’t think they need to. It’s science, you see, and science explains everything – even when it doesn’t.

To understand what it means to be human, there must be the supernatural, and that supernatural is God.

Spencer Klavan, Andrew’s son, and a brilliant classicist intellect in his own right, tells us in his book "How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises" to:

"Seek the people who want to live in reality, and you may find yourself side by side with hunters and environmentalis ts, Trump voters and old-school feminists… None of these things is going to transform the course of history on its own. But all of them will get you back in the saddle of your own life and give you real agency. They will get you thinking like a citizen of a republic, with friends and fellow citizens at your side. There are still times, thank God, when we are called upon to vote and campaign and demonstrate—for presidents and senators and congressmen—who have power to shape national politics. When we do, we should demand that they show seriousness about representing our real interests...”

Seems like really good advice.

1 It's intriguing to see the diverse range of opinions and philosophical reflections that can arise from a single headline. Engaging in constructive dialogue can lead to a deeper understanding of complex issues. Thank you for sharing this. | Click here.

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