My apologies, readers. Like many writers, I have several streams of income, and yesterday one of them demanded the lion’s share of my time. But that issue has been addressed, the lawn has been mowed, the weeds have been pulled, and the chickens have been tended to. So I am free to put a few lines not on paper, but onscreen. Oh, and I fixed my smoker all by myself with absolutely no swearing. I have been insufferably proud of myself ever since. Hey, no snarky comments. Let me have my moment.
You mean the Colosseum is a historic site?
One of the main stories attracting eyeballs last week was the news that the aging hippies at Ben & Jerry’s were demanding the return of Mt. Rushmore to the Sioux. Of course, this will never affect them, which is at the heart of progressivism. Hey guys, 1969 called. It wants its weed and Grateful Dead albums back. And BTW, serious people don’t wear patchouli oil anymore.
Those ice-cream Ice Age holdovers aside, this is just the latest attempt to purge America of statues, paintings, names, and other things that stand in the way of the Left’s plans to ruin everything. This is of course ostensibly done in the name of social justice, equity, and other noble goals. What it is meant to do is strip the country of its identity to re-brand it. And the Left does this by playing to the passions and emotions of generations that do not study history, literature, or art and lives only in the moment.
There is a reason why the newer generations are glued to their phones and live only for the transitory rewards offered by social media. These generations are so malleable because they have no reference points, and someone who has no sense of themselves is easy to manipulate. And sadly enough, we have generations of people whose worldview extends no further than their own passions.
Case in point: Ivan Danailov Dimitrov has some splainin’ to do. The New York Times reports that last month, Dimitrov took keys in hand to etch “Ivan + Hayley 23/6/23” into a brick wall. A brick wall of the Colosseum. In Rome. Yeah, that Colosseum.
A fellow tourist filmed him in the midst of immortalizing his love for Hayley, and the video went viral. Technically the wall was part of a 19th-century restoration, but still… dude, really? Understandably, the Italian authorities took a dim view of this stunt, true love notwithstanding. Dimitrov is facing two to five years in the Roman clink with a fine of about $16,000. Dimitrov’s lawyer is hoping to get his client off with a plea deal and keep him out of the pokey. The Times reported on Dimitrov’s apology letter:
“I admit with deepest embarrassment that it was only after what regrettably happened that I learned of the monument’s antiquity,” the man — identified by his lawyer as 31-year-old Ivan Danailov Dimitrov — wrote in a letter dated July 4 and addressed to the Rome prosecutor’s office, the mayor of Rome and “the municipality of Rome.”
Portions of the letter were first published on Wednesday in the Rome daily newspaper Il Messaggero.
In it, Mr. Dimitrov acknowledged the “seriousness of the deed I committed,” and offered his “heartfelt and sincere apologies to Italians and the entire world for the damage done to a monument, which is, in fact, heritage of all humanity.” Mr. Dimitrov offered to “sincerely and concretely” right his wrong and redeem himself.
This was the Colosseum, not a men’s room in a bar or a bleacher in a high school gym. But Dimitrov, as it turns out, had no idea that the Colosseum is almost 2,000 years old and an important part of ancient history. To Dimitrov, visiting the Colosseum was no different than waiting in line for the Country Bear Jamboree. His defense boils down to the fact that he was simply too ignorant to know any better. And that is where we are.
The past is evil or irrelevant, and tomorrow is always far away. Take down a statue. Rewrite history or a book. Burn a building. Cut up your genitals and pump your body full of drugs. If there are any consequences, your government, the media, and Big Tech will be more than happy to help distract you from them. You just need to follow the algorithm. And so we have generations that are becoming unmoored from themselves.
Church of fools
Islam is gaining footholds in Europe. This is a trend that will probably jump the pond to the United States. The tweet below talks about a German family that recently converted to the faith.
This will only continue in Europe and it will be pushed by the women. They’re sick of being treated like prostitutes and the churchian Coldplay concerts and rainbow flags for Jesus isn’t cutting it.
Islam isn’t a race. You’ll see more and more white Muslims because the… pic.twitter.com/vr1LxmUqBE— Owen Benjamin 🐻 (@OwenBenjamin) July 7, 2023
If a person or a family wants to convert to Islam, that’s fine with me. I am a big believer in religious freedom. A person is free to worship in whatever way he sees fit without fear of any reprisal or criticism. But Christian churches in Europe and the U.S. may want to take a moment to ask themselves why people are leaving. Some of it can certainly be traced back to the twisted morass that passes for “culture” today, and anti-Christian sentiment in the media and elsewhere plays a role. But why are people being lured away? The poster makes an excellent point, which may not be received well by many but should be carefully considered:
This will only continue in Europe and it will be pushed by the women. They’re sick of being treated like prostitutes and the churchian Coldplay concerts and rainbow flags for Jesus isn’t cutting it. Islam isn’t a race. You’ll see more and more white Muslims because the institution leads to higher birth rates and better treatment of women. You’d be surprised how much women don’t actually want to be valued on their yoga panted body and cubicle slave job. I’m just reporting what I see. I’ve never even been to a mosque. I just see what’s working and what the trends are. And I know a lot of “Christian’s” [sic] just seek the comfort of a guy in a robe or slick hair telling them they’re saved everyday, but you’re being conquered. And it isn’t the people burning the cars in the streets. That’s actually strictly forbidden in Islam. But that chaos will lead more women to seek strong family and institutional foundations and right now that’s Islam. Mormonism is doing a pretty good job too and the Amish and menonites are obviously crushing. [sic]
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches are also experiencing renewed interest, and I think I know why. I was part of a church plant years ago. It was run by two young men more or less fresh out of Bible College. The emphasis was not on the Gospel but on creating “authentic relationships.” I heard the same Hillsong song every week, and people were free to heckle the preacher like drunks in a comedy club. One young pastor told the congregation not to come to him with any questions about the Bible. Instead, he urged his flock to use Google.
Another church to which I used to belong has a pastor who loves to “vision cast” about creating multiple campuses. He also began a program to invite non-believers to dinner so that they could “eat their way to heaven.” In one service, he tossed beach balls to the congregation in order to get them to play around and have fun during worship.
I once attended a church in Texas. I was given popcorn and a Coke. Then there was ear-splitting music, followed by a recorded message from the head pastor demanding that everyone increase their tithes so he could build a new campus in San Antonio. He tacked on a comment about Jesus at the end and looked like he was greatly inconvenienced by doing so. He had several campuses around our city and the church also offered a money-back guarantee on your tithes if God did not answer your prayers.
And of course, there are the worship bands that cough up the latest K-LOVE playlist every week, light shows designed to trigger seizures in lab rats, and sermons and books that all repeat the same mantra and often have little if anything to do with the Gospel. “Jesus” might as well be “Howard Johnsons.” And people are starting to figure out that things like faith, tradition, dignity, and yes, even rules and behavioral expectations matter. People want a place to stand. People want and need a bedrock for their beliefs. They want something to believe in. And they want their beliefs to be taken seriously.
If Christian churches can’t provide those things, Islam will be more than happy to do so. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” As I said, worship how you wish. But if some churches want to survive they will need to grow up. Fast. There is a big difference between spectators and believers.
Wine Recommendation: Because a good wine is like, well a good wine. Sorry, I’ve been working in the yard all day and that’s all I’ve got. What do you want for nothing?
Last week I highlighted a German wine and apologized for not reviewing something more patriotic in light of the holiday weekend. Well, this week, we have a wine that is not quite patriotic, but darn close. Behold the Côtes du Rhône Vidal Fleury Red.
What makes this wine patriotic — or something close to it? Well, in 1787, then-U.S. ambassador to France Thomas Jefferson visited the estate where this wine is made. Okay, that doesn’t make it super-patriotic, but it is a snazzy little piece of trivia, oui?
To put it simply, this is a great red, especially considering the fact that I picked it up on sale for $13.19. This is a wine that you can start while dinner is cooking and bring with you to the table to enjoy during your meal. You do get your red fruits as you do with most red wines, but there is also a hint of blueberry in it, and it’s just a little peppery. It finishes high up in the nostrils during the first two sips; then it evens out to a nice, smooth red.
It’s an oaked wine, and the accent from the barrels definitely comes through but not in an overwhelming way. This a blended red composed of Mourvèdre, Syrah, and Grenache. The Grenache is probably the strongest of the three, but it isn’t overpowering. All in all, I found it to be a nice, easily drinkable wine.
As usual, this red would go well with beef, but some reviewers have suggested expanding the menu. Specifically, if you hunt or have a hunter in the family (lowercase “h”, by the way) you might wait until hunting season and try paring this red with venison or elk or drag something out of the freezer from last season. If you do, let me know how it works out.
That’s it for me, have a great rest of the weekend, and I’ll see you on Monday. I’ve got chicken wings that need to go on the smoker, ASAP.
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