Semi-Random Musings (36)

For years, conservatives have conserved next to nothing, hamstringing their own cause by refusing to use the very effective cancel culture tactics of the militant left. These are certainly unpleasant, but a philosophy that maintains it is better to lose nobly than win ugly and which disapproves of what you say but defends to the death your right to say it (even when it’s rank wickedness) simply does not work in war, however dignified and mature it may appear.

That includes culture war.

That losing strategy is changing as conservatives come to realize what’s actually at stake. It’s one thing to turn your own cheek, quite another thing to turn your children’s. When one of the teachers reporting to Oklahoma School Superintendent Ryan Walters openly endorsed the assassination of former President Donald Trump in a public Facebook conversation, he had this to say:

[Double-click on image for a larger and better quality version.]

Deplatforming, outing and disemployment are not features of the traditional Republican playbook, but parents concerned about the example schoolteachers set for their children are not lining up to complain about Walters’ tactics. It’s also not the first teaching certificate Walters has summarily yanked. In 2023, a teacher in Norman was shocked to find the superintendent uninterested in supporting her right to free speech so that she could use it to promote banned books and gender queer ideology to public school students. “What did I do?” wondered Summer Boismier. Whatever it was, she’s no longer doing it in Oklahoma. Boismier is working in Brooklyn these days, where gender propaganda is probably more broadly accepted.

Since his election, Walters has revoked the certificates of almost twenty Oklahoma teachers, eliminated diversity programs in the schools, banned drag queen story hours, refused to let boys participate in girls’ sports, put the Bible back in schools, and introduced sweeping reforms to keep sexual predators out of the classrooms. Naturally, not everybody is thrilled. State Republicans would prefer Walters focus on test scores rather than culture war issues, wishing he would take “less drastic measures”.

Walters is not the only right wing culture warrior willing to use tactics previously frowned on. A former Home Depot employee posted a call for political violence on TikTok after the assassination attempt on Trump, only to find herself out of a job. An organization calling itself Libs of TikTok outed her to Home Depot, and got the following response:

That’s fairly conclusive.

Kurt Schlichter comments:

“There’s some controversy about this because it’s unpleasant. But here’s the thing. We’re betraying our own powerless people if we don’t use the power we have to protect them by making the side that imposed these new rules feel the costs.

We have tried reason. We have tried appeals to simple justice. They have failed. Now we need to apply punishment. They need to know there is a cost to this. If we fail to impose a cost on them for doing this because doing so is unpleasant, we have betrayed our own people and left them exposed. The left will not stop unless it has reason to. This is reason to.

Sometimes you have to be stern.”

Like conservatives, Christians have long been reluctant to stoop to using the left’s methods, but so long as the “new rules” are being used to protect others, I have difficulty seeing the problem. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

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In a 2020 instalment of Too Hot to Handle called “After COVID”, IC and I discussed the social changes we might see in the wake of the manufactured crisis. One of the changes I foresaw impacting Christians working in the real estate, building supply and construction industries was potential loss of employment when the leases of still-empty office buildings all over North America come up for renewal.

Well, it’s happening. A Financial Post article this week talks about the impact on pension funds of out-of-control losses from commercial real estate investments. Barbara Shecter writes:

“Real estate property values are being hit by a combination of factors including higher borrowing costs, scarcity of financing options and a general repricing of assets. The effect on office properties is amplified by the shift to remote work and Fitch expects continuing losses in Canadian pension fund office portfolios into 2025 as refinancing requirements mount.”

COVID proved many former office jobs may be performed as efficiently from home as at the office, and even some that cannot will continue to be, since a majority of employees are willing to risk termination rather than go back to commuting. My youngest son’s employer tried to force staff back to the office recently, only to find the cost of training replacements for all the employees willing to quit prohibitive.

Of course, the pension funds heavily invested in empty commercial properties are telling us they will be able to weather the coming financial storm. We will see. In any case, this is just another unforeseen consequence of decisions taken by Western governments in a state of panic or malice. Take your pick.

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Mark has long been recognized as the most economical of the four gospel writers. At only 11,304 English words (based on the KJV), his gospel is the shortest by over 4,000. (Deane Barker has done the heavy lifting if you’re interested in more word count trivia.)

This becomes readily evident in Mark’s first chapter. It contains seven verses on John the Baptist (Matthew has 12, Luke 44, John 30), five on the calling of the disciples (Matthew 5, Luke 11, John 16), three on Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 5, Luke 2), two on his temptation (Matthew 11, Luke 12) and two on the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law (Matthew 4). In ten of eleven instances, Mark gets to his point across more economically than any other gospel writer.

On the few occasions where Mark abandons his characteristically terse narrative style, it’s likely because the subject matter is important to him. This most frequently involves the Lord’s mastery of Satan and his minions. Mark’s version of the healing of Legion in 5:1-20 is a few lines longer than Luke’s and more than twice as long as Matthew’s. His account of the boy with the unclean spirit in 9:14-29 is double Matthew’s and more than double Luke’s.

This is probably not coincidental, but I’ll let you figure out what to make of it.