Thirst Trap (Shouty Man, Four.)

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

But he that had received one went and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckon with them.

And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou delivered unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

Thou ought therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we that thee hungered, or was athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. ~Matthew 25, King James Version.

...

Cassian Andor: What? To steal from the Empire, what do you need? A uniform, some dirty hands, and an Imperial toolkit. They’re so proud of themselves, they don’t even care. They’re so fat and satisfied, they can’t imagine it…

Luthen Rael: Can’t imagine what?

Andor: That someone like me would ever get inside their house, walk their floors, spit in their food, take their gear.

~From the Star Wars series Andor.

My Mom and I went on a road trip down to Midland and Saginaw the other day, as we were leaving the city my Mom took a wrong turn that had us off-track for a couple minutes until we could find a spot to turn around and go get on the freeway.

Before we got that far, we went by this place, "Heaven's Elect Christian daycare center." I saw that and I seriously was like...what??

And next to it? A bunch of "Wealth Management" businesses in a little strip mall.

Needless to say none of this is actually aimed at kids, I went to Christian schools and if I'd seen a place like that when I was a little kid, I'd have probably responded the same way and I knew, in a basic sort of way, what those words meant.

At that point, it hit me; American Christianity has become nothing more than a hand-job for basic narcissists, a scam, a thirst trap...and it's dragged conservatism right along with it.

Why else would somebody like Matt Gaetz even be in politics??

Like, seriously I bet if somebody like Nancy Mace had to actually conduct herself as a Christian or conservative person according to what those words traditionally have meant in terms of conduct and self-governance in order to keep her place in the magical city, she'd leave or she'd switch parties. This isn't somebody who gives a rat's ass about conservative values, let alone Jesus. She wants attention and money and shitty internet fame.

And nothing else matters.

These fucking people don't want a resurrected, living Christ that might have an opinion about how they conduct themselves and judge them for it, they want a dead Jesus, a skeleton in a stone tomb as a rationalization for all the fucked up shit they want to do anyway and as a totem for their "Tribe."

The conservative version of Jesus is basically just a dead rabbit on a stick, a leering Tiki at the edge of the camp, the message? 

"Fuck You, I've Got Mine."

Like, what the fuck is the difference between These Fucking People and Bashar Al-Assad except for what religion they chose not to follow??

Like, what's even the damn point?? 

This dude wasn't a dictator so he could promote the ideals of Pan-Arabic Socialism or the watered-down Communism that lots of Soviet-adjacent states like Syria practiced during the Cold War. No, the motherfucker became a goddamn Dictator so he could have and keep a garage full of fancy cars, and if the price of that was a whole bunch of motherfuckers got murdered in places like Sednaya Prison, he didn't care.

All these people like Bashar Al-Assad and Donald Trump, promoted in turn by "Conservatives" and the far-Left, they don't give a damn about any of that stuff. They're just thirsty for Power and Wealth and a bunch of losers are willing to give it to them...not because they believe in anything, either, but because they're shitty little narcissists who think they're gonna get something out of it, or they want a narcissistic champion so they can feel "special" or some shit.

See that picture? There's a guy under that blanket. I deliberately went back and snipped it here 'cause you really don't want to see the kind of shape that guy was in.

He hadn't seen food, water or sunlight in three months.

That right there is the consequences of this kind of shit, it's what happens. This is the consequence of cruelty as State policy and hell, it happens in American jails on a regular enough basis to make the news now.

And the people who do this kind of shit to other human beings don't actually give a damn whether you say you're on their side or not...because the only "Side" they're picking is that of their own cruelty and narcissism and, increasingly, vision of themselves as somehow Sanctified and godlike. Yes, in a North Korean-like ideal, Hafez Al Assad (the guy who started this whole mess) was called the "Sanctified One." Also, according to Islamic belief, a man being given or claiming such a title is actively Blasphemous

But ya know, living in a situation where you have to tolerate some asshole blaspheming God out of their own damn narcissism every damn day or you get shot or thrown into prison is exactly how a hell of a lot of the global Other Half has had to live at one time or another...and I'll remind you that throughout his first term, "Conservative" Christians turned a blind eye to Trump doing exactly that on a regular basis.

Here's the thing, though.

If you fight back, these fucking people run like bitches. I saw a video yesterday of Russian troops...the same troops that propped up Assad for a decade...setting land speed records with Infantry fighting vehicles and MRAP's fleeing Syria. 

These motherfuckers aren't invincible, hell, they're barely even the least bit competent most of the time because one and all, their main focus isn't even on trying to do their actual jobs, it's on trying to satisfy their narcissism and keep that shit fueled up so they don't have to think about being the shit people that they are in real life. But narcissism is, fundamentally, an itch you can't scratch and a thirst you can't slake. Nothing is ever going to be enough, and that's what always ends up destroying these fucking people in the end.

If you take away their ability to act on their cruelty, their power, their wealth...or whatever they think gives them license to do this shit...they fold, they take their ball and go home. Downsizing, "Peace with Honor" and standing down in the face of oncoming enemies from the North Vietnamese Army to the fucking Taliban is just what these assholes do when people actually stand up and fight back. To them, even war isn't about actually defeating an enemy, but about ideology and money and...far too often...convincing the smooth-brained American idiot that "Something is being done." Never mind the question of whether or not it's something we should do. See also, the Iraq War.

All you have to do is stand up and fight back, and these assholes are terrified that you'll do exactly that.

So do it.

Power is supposed to fear the People...and as the situation in South Korea should instruct you, that's supposed to be true whether they're armed or not.

The Right wants a piecemeal Civil War so it can use it to destroy America, it don't want class war, a large-scale uprising or mass resistance that carries actual risk and doesn't feed its toxic BS, and mind you, the "Elect Of Heaven" types are positively turgid with the hope that somebody will resist them in particular 'cause they think they'll get to claim "Persecution" and get glory for it.

They don't even realize that what Persecution really is...is the guy hiding under a blanket for three months out of fear of his jailers.

These idiot "Christians" think "Persecution" is the ability to go on Facebook and whine about some person saying "Happy Holidays" to them at the store. They think it's Persecution that their personal whatever isn't forcibly maintained at center stage with everybody else forced to clap and cheer for them. (And they have no concept that many other people, Christian or otherwise, observe Christmas, because to them the rest of us simply don't really exist.) Hell, in all too many cases they think persecution is going to jail because they committed an actual crime like child molestation.

Far too many Americans think luxuries like guns and pickup trucks and wealth or even getting their narcissism and sadism jerked off are necessities. They're not even thinking about stuff like food, water or sunlight. let alone the possibility that the Big Government they like to bitch about while pointing it at other people could turn against them. I mean, fuck, people like Elon Musk think "Freedom" is little more than the capability to say racial slurs. They have no concept that they could do or say the wrong thing and lose their actual freedom and think it's funny to undermine the system that could give them recourse against that...because it also gives the common people some degree of ability to resist.

People who'll casually metaphorically slip a brick into somebody else's backpack for no better reason than because they think it's funny are in for a rude awakening. When the Shouty Man turns against the Church and starts telling the "Christians" what to do, I guarantee you these idiots will have the nerve to be surprised. When the American oligarchs start meeting the same fate as a lot of the Russian ones and getting tossed out of windows and shit, I guarantee you they'll think it's the worst thing ever.

I mean, look at how people reacted to one CEO getting shot.

And the people who should care the most if they believe as they say they do...regardless of whether it's about some poor guy in Syria or some rich guy in New York City...don't. In their mentality "Thou Shalt Not Kill" comes with a whole hell of a lot of fine print.

Cuz they might say they're the "Elect of Heaven" but the truth is what they're after is slaking a thirst for power and glory in This World. 

How many of these fucking people would even be Christians if they got told they couldn't use that to judge or persecute somebody else...be it Transgender people or otherwise? How many of these people would be Christians if they got persecuted (for real) instead of getting recognition and worldly power while getting to pick on somebody else??

Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world.

Note this isn't Belief on my part, it's just basic reading comprehension.

Sooner or later these people are gonna fuck around and find out, even if it's when they die and find out that Jesus wasn't a Dead Savior On A Stick after all.

Block the Thirst Trap, avoid the Church.

Слава Україна!

My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't
dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted against morning.

I turn this way—the stone lets me go.
I turn that way—I'm inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke.

I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet's image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I'm a window.
He's lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman’s trying to erase names:
No, she's brushing a boy's hair.
~Facing It, by Yusef Komunyakaa, US Army Veteran

Three

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan