Tag: evil

Artur Pawlowski: The Truth and the Lies

Roger Mitchell5 Comments

On Wednesday evening, July 29, I attended a meeting at a local church in Florence, MT, which was focused on the main speaker–Artur Pawlowski. You might recall the name as someone who pastored a church in Alberta, Canada, during the dark, depraved days of the COVID aberration, risking and experiencing arrest and imprisonment because of his resistance to the regime’s orders and restrictions. Yes, the man, live and in person. Because the event was only a few miles away and I had nothing more important to occupy my time, the decision to go was a no-brainer. It would have taken a death in the family to keep me away. I was not disappointed, at least for the first 1-3/4 hours.

I had previously printed off a copy of one of my blog posts which I thought would be relevant (you can access it here) and which I wanted to give to him because he embodied in real life what I tried to convey in spirit. Eventually, at the very end, I was able to put that into his hand as I was leaving. I did not have an opportunity to engage him in conversation, but he did accept the copy and a business card, along with my notice that he could contact me from the information thereon…if he wanted to. As of the time of this posting, I have not yet heard from him. Perhaps I will, maybe not. God alone knows and I am not going to get stressed out about it. If it happens, good. If not, I will shrug my shoulders and move on.

Regardless, I thrilled to his message that the Church, meaning Christians in general, must resist what is being imposed on them. He gave the examples. When the full weight of Canadian authority showed up in body armor, with guns, official orders, and paperwork, he told them where to get off. “Nazis! Gestapo! Murderers! Who do you think you are? Get out!!! This, in full view of the entire world through the immediate lens of internet media, resulting in a video which received more than one billion views (and became the most widely viewed video in history up until that time). This, in contrast to the milquetoast response from the vast majority of pastors who simply rolled over and played dead because the State had told them to, using their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status as leverage over them.

Mr. Pawlowski did not cave. Instead, he stood strong, resolute, and firm in his defiance of man-made, ungodly orders which sought to limit human freedoms instead of expanding them. I give him full credit for his stance and example. His attitude and actions have inspired me to harden my position against the all-encompassing regime of the Satanic State.

Nevertheless… There is always a “nevertheless”, isn’t there?

In this, I am trying to follow the example set by Jesus in Revelation 2 when He spoke to the churches in Ephesus, Pergamos, and Thyatira. First, he praised them for the good things which they were doing, then said, “Nevertheless, I have this against you.” I am not nit-picking Pawlowski’s message, but want to point out that, toward the end, he said some things which I heartily disagree with and which I think contradicted and detracted from the central theme. I might have been the only one in the crowd who caught the inconsistency.

Basically, and these are not exact quotes.

  • Donald Trump really has America’s best interests at heart.
  • Donald Trump really is a good man.
  • Donald Trump’s family are good people.
  • We should support Donald Trump and his efforts to bring good to the world.

Furthermore, Pawlowski brought up the issue of voting. Now, anyone who has been following my postings knows the attitude I have toward voting. For all others, you can read about it here, here, here, here, here, and here. There is, in my opinion, no salvation to be found in voting. Voting is nothing more than choosing whose hand holds the club with which you are beaten. However, where Pawlowski really lost me was that he said (again, not an exact quote) that if we don’t vote, then we are lazy, selfish, inconsiderate, uncaring people who only want to enjoy the good things of life without experiencing any of the responsibility. If there had been an opportunity for me to address this, I would have done it then and there. As it is, the entire world will now be able to see my opinion of his inconsistent worldview and I invite you to decide which of us has the better argument.

#1) Donald Trump is NOT a “good” man. He is a liar, a cheat, a thief, and a murderer. He is uncaring toward others, especially those who are under his authority. He is antagonistic towards anyone who dares to defy him or thinks differently. He tries to destroy his enemies instead of loving them as the Word instructs. He is a narcissistic braggart with an out-size ego which is so large that he cannot admit he is ever wrong or that he made a mistake. He constantly builds himself up from a spirit of pride. He makes decisions based on hubris. He has enriched himself, his family, and his close associates to the tune of billions of dollars while average, ordinary Americans are struggling to make ends meet. He is using the power of his office to get what he wants without any concern for those he is supposed to be watching out for.

No, Donald Trump is not a good man. Artur Pawlowski, I call you on that. Quit trying to make something good out of something which is decidedly evil.

#2) As to the voting issue, I will only say that voting for the lesser of two evils still results in a triumph of evil. (See the links above.) Shall we do evil so that good may come?

Nevertheless, again… I left the meeting with a mixed bag of feelings. On the one hand, I was extremely pleased that the people who heard Pawlowski were encouraged to pluck up some courage and do what is right, regardless of the consequences. Hey, the seed has been planted and it might actually sprout and grow. On the other hand, I was disappointed that there was such an emphasis placed on “trusting” in the “leaders” to do what is right without ever proclaiming what happens to societies and nations which depend on “kings” to manage their affairs. (See I Samuel 8).

All this proves only one thing–that we cannot trust men (or women) who claim to be in line with truth. We can only trust The Truth.

I would like to be able to sit down with Mr. Pawlowski over numerous cups of coffee some day and talk about these things. Whether that ever happens is up to him…and God.

Turning Our Heads Away so We Don’t See

Roger Mitchell3 Comments

“How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?”—Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ in the Wind”

I’m starting this blog post exactly the same way that John and Nisha Whitehead started theirs a few days ago because I wonder about the same thing which Bob Dylan did, and I simply cannot comprehend the amount of stretching of neck muscles and blinking of eyelids which must accompany that. But, then, this is nothing new. People see what they want to see and close their eyes to the rest.

We live in a time when moral boundaries have been distorted to the point of near-total erasure, recalled only when it is to one’s benefit to remember them. The Whitehead article focused on the hypocrisy of those who completely abhor the destruction of unborn children in the wombs of their mothers, but applaud and encourage the murder of those who have managed to live beyond the first nine months of life IF it is politically convenient. On the other hand, there are those who think nothing at all about destroying infants before they are born (and even call it empowering), yet are aghast that innocent children are blown apart by bombs because they live in the wrong part of the world.

Human life, if it is to be honored and held sacred, should be and must be equally recognized regardless of age and/or development and/or decline. To do otherwise is to play games with God which cannot be won. This phenomenon, this aspect of human nature, however, encompasses all of life. Evil is everywhere rampant today, yet how many are there who will call it out wherever it shows its face, regardless of its composition and character.

Let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? As Christians, believers in Jesus Christ as “…the way, the truth, and the life…” are required to “…be innocent of evil…” and many of us pride ourselves on keeping ourselves squeaky clean in that respect. “We don’t smoke, drink, or chew, and we don’t go out with girls that do.” Yet, as Bob Dylan wrote, we turn our heads away from rampant, vile evil and pretend that we see nothing at all.1 More importantly, if we do notice, we ignore it by pretending that it doesn’t exist, at least in our circles and neighborhoods. Furthermore, if it did occur close to home, we would find some reason, some excuse, to do nothing at all to counter it, usually, at least in Christian circles along the lines of, “It’s the end of the world. Jesus is coming to rescue us out of the mess we have created. Besides, Donald Trump is working on our behalf to set things right.” Kind of like financial “experts and leaders” kicking the can down the road hoping that the sure reckoning can be postponed at least until they are safely ensconced in a fat pension-supported retirement.

Shades of King Hezekiah!2

The thing is, we know that procrastination on fiscal matters will eventually come to an end, yet prefer to “turn our heads and pretend not to see.” We know that making threats of violence and war against other countries will eventually result in wars with disastrous consequences, yet we turn our heads. We know that continual decline of morality will eventually destroy our society from within, yet we pretend not to see. We know that killing unborn children is wrong, yet applaud when fishermen on small boats, who are doing nothing more than trying to provide for their families, are blown out of the water. We vigorously protest the slaughter of Gazan women and children as an abominable crime, yet celebrate when our political opponents are the ones led to the guillotine. We know, oh, yes, we know, but it is easier to pretend than it is to act on the information.

We are hypocrites. Shameful hypocrites. And we say nothing, nothing at all, as if the evil among us does not exist. As if, by keeping quiet, the evil will go away.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” — Albert Einstein

“The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth” – Aldous Huxley

“It is an eternal truth that those who practice genuine faith in the presence of the cowardice and derisive fatalism of the mob will be persecuted for their temerity rather than merely ignored. This is part of the pattern of destruction of the ideal characteristic of the descendants of Cain. None of this excuses failure to stand up and be counted when the time comes.” — Jordan Peterson, We Who Wrestle With God, page 433. (Emphasis mine.)

  1. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan, in which the Pharisee who was squeaky clean with respect to The Law nevertheless went around the badly wounded man on the road and did not stop to help him so as to keep his clothes and hands untainted. It is also likely that he didn’t want to tarnish his reputation. ↩︎
  2. 2 Kings 20:19. “Well, that’s not so bad, really. At least it won’t happen in my lifetime.” ↩︎