Rule 12: Use the Divine Wisdom

Sometimes, God has already given.

In case you haven't noticed, part of our battle is spiritual. The United States -- and the West in general -- is going Post Christian, and the resulting void is not being filled with Jeffersonian goodness. It's not even being filled with Marxism, much as we like to note resemblances bettween Marxism and the wackiness promoted by Team D.

No, what we face is outright satanism, and not the fun kind. We are way past the stage of Hugh Hefner and demonic themed heavy metal. We have reached the stage of Sam Smith, Autotune, and castrating kids. The Amish are having better sex than today's Post Christian youth. C.S. Lewis described the pattern in The Screwtape Letters (9th letter):

Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. It is more certain; and it’s better style. To get the man’s soul and give him nothing in return – that is what really gladdens Our Father’s heart.

Today, we live in a mix of dystopias: a tablespoon of 1984, two cups of Clockwork Orange, a burnt crust of Demolition Man, a heaping mass of artificially flavored Soylent Green...But the dystopian novel which most characterizes our age is C.S. Lewis' That Hideous Strength. Therein, you will find:

• Terrible art

• Corrupted universities

• An abominable branch of government-funded scientism

• Alienating people from nature

• Foreign workers brought in to create a low trust society

Put away your copy of Atlas Shrugged and [re]read That Hideous Strength. Our primary enemies are devout puritanical satanists.

I use a small s for "satanists" here, as I don't believe most are literally bowing down to demonic entities. (Though the recent Eurovision contest might belie this belief.) I'm referring to the generic meaning of the word "satan": adversary. The Woke are all in against all things Christian.

• Piss Jesus? Free speech.

• Draw Mohammad contest? Horrible racism.

• Christmas decorations in the public square? Violation of First Amendment.

• Pride Month? Not enough! We need to convert Easter 2024 into Transgender Day of Visibility.

And now they are going after Judaism as well. Notice how the pro Hammas demonstrations began soon after the October 7th terrorist attacks, long before Israel's arguably excessive counterattacks. And the same feminazis who don Handmaid's Tale costumes at the thought of outlawing late term abortion are bowing to Mecca and donning headscarves in solidarity with real Patriarchy.

It has reached the point to where practicing Hindu politicians are more Christian friendly than our nominally Roman Catholic President.

So What is to Be Done?

More prayers won't hurt, but I frankly doubt yet another call for a national day of prayer will suffice to turn things around. The Holy Spirit poured out soon after the Crucifixion has been diluted by billions of baptisms, and summoning a mustard seed's amount of faith to move a mountain is extremely difficult in this scientific age.

We might want to start with merely summoning up faith sufficient to fund schools, universities, and hospitals as Christians used to do in this country, before outsourcing good works to governments and endowment funds. Such outsourcing seemed mostly harmless and sometimes beneficial back in the days when this country was overwhelmingly Christian. It fails utterly when the median American is Post Christian or Christian Lite.

I am uncertain if we have reached that point with the median voter nationwide, but we are well past it for our elite classes. For Christians in the audience, this if your biggest opportunity: missionary work in the nicest parts of a still First World country: college towns, high tech centers, leisure class towns and cities... Such is the subject of Rule 7.

Here is a golden opportunity to earn Treasure in Heaven and possibly restore the American Way. And there's more good news: we lost the elite because most denominations stopped trying. The High Church Protestant denominations have gone Lite. The Low Church denominations have largely gone either anti-intellectual or super Low Church -- as to be utterly devoid of any mystical experience for members of the contemplative class.

From what I see from a distance, the Roman Catholic Church is in the process of going Lite. Note how our astoundingly pro abortion and abomination President has not even received the threat of excommunication. And from what I have heard, the Roman Catholic Church's transition from Latin Mass to local tongues has been a bit of a rush job. (The Anglicans did a much better job back in the day -- only to throw away much of that work in the 1970s.)

Is Eastern Orthodoxy the answer? A revival of Biblical adherence in one of the Lite denominations? Or do we need yet another Protestant denomination on order to replant Christianity to our elite? These are difficult questions, well above my halo grade. Indeed, missionary work in any form is hard. Rule 7 is the hardest rule in the book.

So let's turn to a much easier to wield spiritual weapon, one which doesn't require great faith, sacrifice, or charisma to wield. Let's turn to a spiritual weapon that works even while living a Playboy adjacent lifestyle (cf. Solomon). It even works for naughty nudist apostates (cf. Robert Heinlein).

So what is this spiritual weapon?

It is Wisdom. Including Divine Wisdom.

Pro 3:13  Blessed is the one who has found wisdom, and the one who obtains understanding. 

Pro 3:14  For her benefit is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than gold. 

Pro 3:15  She is more precious than rubies, and none of the things you desire can compare with her. 

Pro 3:16  Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 

Pro 3:17  Her ways are very pleasant, and all her paths are peaceful. 

Pro 3:18  She is like a tree of life to those who grasp onto her, and everyone who takes hold of her will be blessed.¹ 

Better than silver or gold? Sounds useful!

What is this "Divine Wisdom?"

Proverbs is one of the wisdom books in the Bible, so let's start there.

Pro 1:20  Wisdom calls out in the street, she shouts loudly in the plazas; 

Pro 1:21  at the head of the noisy streets she calls, in the entrances of the gates in the city she utters her words: 

Pro 1:22  “How long will you simpletons love naiveté? How long have mockers delighted in mockery? And how long will fools hate knowledge? 

Pro 1:23  You should respond to my rebuke. Then I would pour out my thoughts to you; I would make my words known to you. 

Pro 1:24  However, because I called but you refused to listen, because I stretched out my hand but no one was paying attention, 

Pro 1:25  and you neglected all my advice, and did not comply with my rebuke, 

Pro 1:26  so I myself will laugh when disaster strikes you, I will mock when what you dread comes, 

Pro 1:27  when what you dread comes like a whirlwind, and disaster strikes you like a devastating storm, when distressing trouble comes on you. 

Pro 1:28  Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me. 

It's easy to write off the passage as bombast and empty exhortation. It is also possible to close read an over interpret. I'm going to come dangerously close to the latter, while attempting to back up my interpretation with other passages from Proverbs.

Wisdom Comes from Outside

If Wisdom is shouting in the streets, it is outside of us and something we can learn by paying attention. It's built into Reality:

Pro 3:19  By wisdom the LORD laid the foundation of the earth; he established the heavens by understanding. 

Pro 3:20  By his knowledge the primordial sea was broken open, so that the clouds drip down dew. 

So, big deal. Right?

Yes, it is. Compare it to some alternative schools of Wisdom.

• It is not looking within.

• It is not breathing funny or visualizing your chakras.

• It is not Creative Visualization.

• It is not stopping thought in order to tap into the Akashic Records or whatnot.

• It is not Knowing thyself.

• It is not deriving the universe from a small set of postulates.

• It is not deriving said postulates using Moebius loop reasoning that only people with 160+ IQ can understand. (You don't have to understand a word of Heidegger to be wiser than the median college professor.)

Cleverness and deductive reasoning have their place, but the history of the last few centuries is littered with the bodies of millions killed by ideas detached from the data.

We can see lesser destruction here in the United States as our Rust Belt rusted ever more deeply despite theory that said those rusty old factories would be replaced with something better. The Donald gets positive marks for Wisdom by noticing -- what was being cried out in the streets of many of our cities.

Mathematics and math heavy science and engineering can be incredibly useful tools. Intellect and deductive reasoning can be useful -- if tempered against Reality. But note how many of our lofty mathematical notions came first from paying attention to the outside world. Calculus came from such outside observations as the motions of the planets and cannon balls.

And going much further back, the early ancients noticed that triangles are rigid and maintain their angles when scaled. You can make rough trig tables by simply measuring triangles -- no need to wade through Euclid's proofs or learn calculus.

And even in this ages of finite element analysis and computer aided design, the world of engineering is still a world heavy with tables of empirical data and best practices learned from real world experience; i.e., Wisdom.

We are Not Born with Wisdom

Children are cute. Children are humanity's future. But children are not wise! Solomon was rather blunt on the subject:

Pro 22:15  Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. 

Pro 29:15  A rod and reproof impart wisdom, but a child who is unrestrained brings shame to his mother. 

Some say that children are born as innocent communists, devoid of territoriality and racism. Others say that children are born with animal natures which need a bit of forceful civilizing. Solomon was of the latter school.

And he was serious:

Pro 13:24  The one who spares his rod hates his child, but the one who loves his child is diligent in disciplining him. 

Pro 23:13  Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die. 

Pro 23:14  If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death. 

Liberals with delicate sensibilities shudder in horror at the thought of corporal punishment these days. And yes, corporal punishment can degenerate into outright abuse.

But consider the alternative! Consider the poor kids forced to attend public schools where there isn't discipline, and bullies run rampant. This results in more beatings than having corporal punishment. But the beatings are administered by brutes and fools, teaching wickedess and folly to those who otherwise have the potential to learn great Wisdom. The sensitive liberals indirectly cause child abuse while piously patting themselves on the back.

For those who grow up without discipline, there is still hope -- albeit with more vigorous punishment:

Pro 20:30  Beatings and wounds cleanse away evil, and floggings cleanse the innermost being. 

But instead, prison is the preferred punishment. Brutality, boredom, and sexual harassment constitute our "humane" alternative to carefully administered corporal punishment.

Maybe liberals are sensitive and short sighted. Or maybe they truly hate children. The Science isn't settled.

Speaking of child abuse, our current system of cramming academics into preschoolers, pushing abstractions before facts, and over testing everything constitutes a form of child abuse, even without any beatings. And it generally doesn't work! No Child Left Behind has been a disaster.

But you can teach most kids Wisdom -- even fairly dumb kids. History = His Story. Kids like stories -- if you don't follow up every story with a test to make sure the kids memorized some factoids. Kids like watching grownups doing grownup things. Kids like pretending to do grownup things -- that's what toys are for. It's possible to pass on a lot of Wisdom without any tests, workbooks, or academic reasoning.

Some kids are also ready for abstractions and deductions early. Others need to build up a good library of Wisdom in their heads before reasoning on it too much. Teach the Wisdom the natural way and the need to resort to threats of the rod becomes minimal.

Wisdom is Shouting!

And from the plaza at that. No need to go to Tibet or some other remote mystical place and find your special guru.

Alas for brainiacs, most of the Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs is rather obvious upon a rather short period of reflection:

• Don't get mixed up with criminals or dishonest people.

• Beware of cougars.

• Stay out of trouble.

• Work hard.

• Listen to experts.

• Do your homework before acting.

• Live below your means.

• Don't make enemies.

Closely reading Proverbs in order to write this post has been a tedious slog for me. There is a reason why it has been so long since my last post.

But here is the deal: I have violated some of the above and have paid a price for it. And academia -- and its top graduates -- are notorious for looking down on the obvious Wisdom in order to focus on the arcane. Think of Postmodernism, the Paradox of Thrift, Marxism, Existentialism, and other nonsense which requires boatloads of brainpower to sort of understand.

Fools Resist Wisdom

Some Wisdom is boringly obvious, as I stated above. Those who are very intelligent -- or want to think of themselves as such -- resist the obvious in favor of the arcane.

But Reality is very, very big. It's not all obvious, and it takes time to load it into your brain.

Pro 16:31  Gray hair is like a crown of glory; it is attained in the path of righteousness. 

-----

Pro 20:29  The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is gray hair. 

But even an entire human lifetime is not enough to directly experience enough Reality in order to become truly wise. It is necessary to receive Wisdom from others. This can be an unpleasantly humbling experience.

There are boatloads of proverbs on the subject. Here is a sampling:

Pro 9:7  Whoever corrects a mocker is asking for insult; whoever reproves a wicked person receives abuse. 

Pro 9:8  Do not reprove a mocker or he will hate you; reprove a wise person and he will love you. 

Pro 10:17  The one who heeds instruction is on the way to life, but the one who rejects rebuke goes astray. 

Pro 12:1  The one who loves discipline loves knowledge, but the one who hates reproof is stupid. 

Pro 12:15  The way of a fool is right in his own opinion, but the one who listens to advice is wise. 

Pro 13:18  The one who neglects discipline ends up in poverty and shame, but the one who accepts reproof is honored. 

I could go on, and on, and on...

The lesson is repetitive and unpleasant. But is necessary, for both the brainiac and the natural alpha. For those with superpowers, humility is hard -- but very important.

Pro 11:2  After pride came, disgrace followed; but wisdom came with humility. 

Positive Thinking Isn't Wise

Pro 14:16  A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is overconfident. 

Pro 27:1  Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Hmmmm, not exactly a ringing endorsement of Positive Thinking is it? As for Visualization and Affirmations, try this:

Pro 23:5  When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! 

So much for the Law of Attraction.

If Solomon is correct, you should dispose of most of the positive mind game books from the get rich quick section of your bookshelf. Indeed, you might want to get rid of the get rich quick bookshelf entirely:

Pro 13:11  Wealth gained quickly will dwindle away, but the one who gathers it little by little will become rich. 

Pro 20:21  An inheritance gained easily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end. 

Hmmm, I have mixed feelings about these two quotes. There is a definite truth to them. Think of the family fortunes blown away by successive generations. Think of lottery winners who end up in poverty . Think of the millionaire actors and athletes who end up poor.

And yes, I have experienced the phenomenon personally. Many years ago I dabbled in the stock market. My first (small) investment went up by a factor of ten within six months. Very dangerous! A few years later I made a much bigger play using the same strategy and once again, the stock went up several fold in short order. Had I quickly cashed out, and put the money into real estate, I would have become rather well off. Instead, I held on long after both peaks and dabbled in other stocks where I didn't have a special insight. I came out ahead, but not by much and much time wasted.

On the other hand, there are people who do get stupendously wealthy starting from little. Maybe the advice above is dated. We have leverage and technology that is far beyond what was available in Solomon's day.

On the gripping hand, many a fast fortune took longer than advertised. Take The Four Hour Workweek, for example. Tim Ferris did not get to live a rich and leisurely lifestyle simply by aggressively outsourcing. He built a supplement business first. And that supplement business was built on a lifetime obsession with physical fitness, and a partial degree in neuroscience from Princeton University. Aggressive outsourcing was really the equivalent of selling his real business.

The get rich quickly literature is full of stories such as "I was a complete failure! I was a high school dropout, was fired 14 times and had 11 failed businesses. I was down to giving back rubs to hogs on a new age farm before I discovered The X Formula! Now I drive a fast car and supermodels give me back rubs...." Here is reality: whether The X Formula is useful or not, our formerly ill starred author racked up a lot of lessons learned -- Wisdom -- through all those jobs and failed businesses.

Pro 28:20  A faithful person will have an abundance of blessings, but the one who hastens to gain riches will not go unpunished. 

The above proverb could mean that getting rich quickly is impossible. Or it could be read to mean that the road to fast riches is both uncertain and painful.

Despite these admonitions, many Christians get it in their heads to apply faith to making money. This goes all the way back to the early Church. St. James warned against such:

Jas 4:13  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 

Jas 4:14  You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 

Jas 4:15  You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” 

Jas 4:16  But as it is, you boast about your arrogant plans. All such boasting is evil. 

Today, many Christians follow some variant of the Prosperity Gospel and foolishly mix faith and money making -- with often dire consequences. Perhaps the most famous Positive Thinking preacher was Norman Vincent Peale. Guess who attended Peale's church as a child.

Donald J. Trump.

Yes, he is rich. He has had an exciting life and beautiful wives. And he got to be President of the United States. Home run for Positive Thinking! Right?

Not so fast! The Donald has indeed led an exciting and interesting life, but it has also been a very bumpy ride. He started with a large inheritance and leveraged it into negative net wealth. His career includes a long stream of bankrupt businesses entities. Back in 2016 Trump's detractors pointed out that had Trump simply parked his inheritance in index funds or the equivalent, he would have been just as rich. The truly successful business man in the race was Gary Johnson, not Donald Trump.

Mind you, I will be enthusiastically voting for Donald Trump with both hands this year -- if he is still alive and on the ballot come election time. He's brave and loves this country -- much needed qualities in a politician these days. He dragged the Republican Party kicking and screaming into the Populist Quadrant. He is a hero.

A flawed hero. He has ignored many lessons of Proverbs and has been punished for it. But he has taken his punishment like a man.

Pro 3:11  My child, do not despise discipline from the LORD, and do not loathe his rebuke. 

Pro 3:12  For the LORD disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights. 

Perhaps this country needs a President toughened by repeated discipline in order to clean house. Perhaps any populist would be subject to lawfare and assassination attempts even without Trump's practically asking for it. But I will dwell on Trump's violations of Proverbs for three important reasons:

1. That ye may do productive politics without getting in so much trouble.

2. The ye can help offset Trump’s weaknesses.

3. The ye may realize that The Conspiracy is not all powerful. Trump gave them many openings and excuses to act. So spit out those Black Pills.

In Part 2, I will continue this study of Proverbs, including those which Trump flouted. But let me end this by pointing out where Trump's success did jibe with some of the proverbs above.

Trump did not become an overnight success as a politician. Trump built his brand for decades before descending the escalator in 2016. He was making presidential noises back in the 1980s. His first campaign book came out in 2000 when he was running for the Reform Party nomination. While his 2016 candidacy was effectively a Reform Party takeover of the Republican Party, he gave the old guard Republicans some rather nice consolation prizes: tax cuts and a solid pro life majority on the Supreme Court. And in 2016 he tapped Mike Pence to be his running mate to keep the Religious Right happy.

Trump did apply some prudence and played the Long Game in order to become President. With four years as President and four years as ex President, Trump has made further progress pushing the Republican Party into the Populist Quadrant. This year, he was able to tap a fellow populist as his running mate, and I heard on Glenn Beck's program some months back that the Heritage Foundation is building a bench to support Trump's agenda.

There is reason for hope. But we still have a lot of work to do.

1. All Bible quotes from the New English Translation.