Take up and read; this was the admonishment of St. Augustine to those who wanted to understand Christianity and faith. On January 1st, 2024, I started a one year reading plan of the Bible, something I have never previously done, and finished today, early, on November 28th, 2024; 324 days total. I wanted to do this because a) I had never read it in this way before, b) It would be a challenge for me to stay disciplined, c) I wanted to view the narrative thread woven from Genesis to Revelation in one long, unfolding redemptive story, and d) I wanted my understanding of the truths contained therein to be strengthened.
Here are my reflections on the exercise overall, in no particular order.
1) I think everyone should do this once. It is profitable to read it cover to cover. But it is a surface level exercise and the Bible must be studied to be properly understood. While it is profitable on one level, a lot can be missed when certain things are read this way.
2) I think I read on about 80-85% of the days in total. Some days were missed, while other days I read multiple days readings into one. For the most part I remained consistent even though near the end I struggled a bit to stay consistent. It is easy to get bogged down into books that may not be favourites. I had to force myself at times to stay on the program.
3) Some days I could barely remember what I had read and struggled through some of the denser OT passages, while other days I could have kept on going for the words were alive and jumping off the page. For example, I read almost all of The Revelation in one sitting and found it far more moving that way (and discovered a new favourite passage in the meantime). Other times were a struggle but it was important to push through and keep going in the hopes that even something small would be impactful.
4) One can only conclude that this Book is of divine origin. No man, or men, could have written this, or would have written this, without the words and concepts being given to them. From the story of grace and redemption in Jesus, to fulfilled prophecies centuries apart, the heavenly hand behind the Bible is seen on every single page. It is its own testimony to its divine origin. One need only read it to understand.
5) Those who criticize or castigate the Bible as some ancient, dusty book of the ramblings of crazy men, have clearly never taken the time to really read it. They reject it a priori before they even read it. They criticize it because they do not like what it contains; they disparage it because it shines a light on the darkness of this world and the hearts of men (my heart!), and calls them to live in a way that glorifies Someone greater than themselves. To the natural man, its message is abhorrent. They reject it not because they believe it to be false, but rather, because on some level they know it is true.
6) I would not recommend this method to the first time reader. It is a good idea to the one who has familiarized themselves with the history and theological concepts contained therein. Someone new to the Bible should read, study, meditate, and pray over smaller sections of text.
7) I am glad I did it. It was worth the time and the investment. This is the means by which God speaks to us today and the only way we can understand what He wants for us. To the inquirer, my only advice is this: Take up and read.
Revelation 19:11-16
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
For years now l’ve wanted to rent an RV or van and hit the open road. A few weeks ago I finally rented a van and spent & days and 7 nights driving, hiking, photographing, and sleeping all over my favourite place on the planet, Utah. To put it simply: it was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had and it is now my plan to make it an annual occurrence.
Before I left I set 5 goals for myself:
1) Do at least one hike in each of the “Mighty 5” National Parks in Utah. 2) Do not let any hardship make me decide to check into a hotel. 3) See every sunrise. 4) Watch every sunset. 5) Don’t die.
I had no idea what to expect and these goals seemed simple enough. I can say as I write this that I accomplished all 5 goals and that the experience was one I will cherish for the rest of my life.
So why did l love it so much? Here are some thoughts, in no particular order, on why this trip was “transformational” for me, especially at this stage of my life.
1) I chose Utah for this trip, which is a really special place for me, since I first visited and hiked Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park in 2010. l’ve been there about 9-10 times since that first experience. It is hard to describe why it impacts me in this way, but the rugged barrenness of the landscape, each section of the state being completely different from the other, must be experienced to be appreciated. There is almost a magical quality to it for me. The scenery was incredible and every place I stopped or visited was picturesque. I am still in awe of the things I saw, some for the first time, and favourites I got to experience again.
2) I love driving and a road trip anywhere is fun for me. The thought of taking my bed along and parking and sleeping and awaking for the next adventure with no complications of moving things in and out of a hotel was really appealing. I loved having everything I needed within the small confines of the campervan I rented.
3) The sense of freedom was almost drug-like and addicting. It was my schedule and mine alone. I went to bed when I wanted, arose when I wanted, ate when I wanted, drove when I wanted, hiked when I wanted; the schedule was completely mine. Any failures were mine, any successes were mine. I only had to be where I wanted to go. Very few us get this type of freedom in the modern world. Jobs and families and friends all occupy our time and put demands on us. It’s not often you can drive away from all of these and pursue things completely independent from everyone, even if only for a week.
4) From the germination of the idea to the time I left, I “themed” this trip in such a way as to make it a fun experience, even a little childish. One of my all-time favourite albums is called Strange Trails by Lord Huron; with songs that speak to the solo traveler and the rugged individualist in a dark and odd world. I even called it the “Strange Trails Road Trip 2024” and did what I could to stay on theme. Utah probably has more “strange trails” than any other place I can think of so I went out of my way to find as many strange places as I could. It seemed like a very fitting theme.
Follow me way out there; There’s no road that will lead us back. When you follow the strange trails, They will take you who knows where. – Way Out There, Lord Huron
From the bands bio: “Lord Huron is a musical project created Ben Schneider. Born and raised in Michigan, Schneider drew inspiration from the Great Lakes…and his music stands in awe and wonder of the natural world.”
It seemed a fitting theme, as I too, stand in awe and wonder of the natural world. Their music was my sober and somber companion for most of the trip.
5) It was generally dark by 6pm every night and there wasn’t a lot to do once pulled over and in for the night. I had planned on journalling and did two different types. One was a straightforward itinerary of the events of the day in a Field Notes styled booklet I have kept on other adventure vacations. The second was a little more childish in nature in that it was a journal of thoughts on the adventure, along with the use of “travel” stickers (and others) I had collected over the years, and on this trip. Most thoughts were related to the trip, while some were unrelated and more philosophical. It was an enjoyable type of scrapbook record of my time at night in a dark van in the middle of nowhere.
6) It was nice seeing people living the simple life in RV’s and vans at RV Parks, moving from spot to spot, just to enjoy the natural surroundings and not caught up in expensive hotels or vacations. I saw people interacting how people should; spending quality time together, not drunk in bars or clubs, putting off the usual trappings of the modern world. During one meal at a small town pub l watched people interact, all seemingly friends from the town, in their special place to be social. It was heart-warming to know this type of community feel still exists in the world.
7) I loved being alone; to drive, to think, to listen to music, to hike, to photograph. I love my family, my friends, and my dog, but being a natural introvert I love my alone time, and alone time with a plan, in a place I enjoy, was like heaven on earth (If only it had been a touch warmer! The days were perfect, the nights froze my nose a little). There is something about solitude and unplugging from the chaotic world that is good for the soul and one’s mental well-being. I didn’t listen to any news or stay current with any world affairs. It was a real disconnection from my ordinary life, and it was good.
And I feel I should know this place As the road winds on into wide-open space. The wind plays a haunting tone As I make my way through the night all alone.
I been dreaming again of a lonesome world Where I’m lost and I’ve got no friends. Just the rocks and the trees in my lonesome dreams And a road that don’t never end. – Lonesome Dreams, Lord Huron
Ben Schneider of Lord Huron, speaking about Lonesome Dreams: “‘Lonesome Dreams’ is about a recurring dream I had where I was in a world that was completely empty except for myself… It was a strange almost beautiful dream because I was always in a place that was really amazing. It was an incredibly beautiful outdoor space, but I was always completely alone and I couldn’t find anybody. In that dream I knew that there was no one else in the world. It was a weird feeling, sad but at the same time liberating.”
I loved that ‘weird and liberating’ feeling of doing this alone. I know I am not alone and have a wonderful family around me. At times I need things like this; to be alone, yet never lonely. I will do this again, and most likely pick a different place and a different path to travel. There are more ‘strange trails out there to follow that will take me who knows where.’
Out there’s a land that time don’t command, Wanna be the first to arrive. No time for ponderin’ why I’m-a wanderin’, Not while we’re both still alive.
To the ends of the earth, would you follow me? There’s a world that was meant for our eyes to see. To the ends of the earth, would you follow me? Well if you won’t, I must say my goodbyes to thee.
What good is livin’ a life you’ve been given, If all you do is stand in one place. – Ends of the Earth, Lord Huron
I do not understand the Christian infatuation over Israel and what appears to be the aiding and defending of them, without question, as they continue their war of retaliation against Islamic terror groups for the attacks of October 7th, 2023. It is not a biblical position as far as I can tell, and the differences between Christian’s and Jews could hardly be more clear. Israel can defend themselves as they see fit. I object to our aid and the notion that we are on the side of God in this battle by supporting Israel.
Judaism, the religion of Rabbis, studies the Torah (the Books of the Law), not so much so they can obey it, but rather, to determine how to better get around the commandments clearly laid down by God. It is a religion that relies on the legal interpretation of the law. Much like US Constitutional “scholars,” they are not so concerned with adhering to the law, but finding “loopholes” so they are not bound by its clear dictates. The Talmud is merely Jewish case law that permits the breaking of the law, and the rabbis are skilled in their ability to justify almost any activity despite the explicit language of the Old Testament. It becomes almost comical when rabbis must discern and “rule” on whether or not pushing an elevator button or turning on a tea kettle on the Sabbath constitutes “work,” and hence, a breaking of the 4th Commandment, for example. In this regard, the law is certainly a hard taskmaster and the Rabbis who adjudicate such nonsensical views merely legalists. There is nothing remotely Christian, on any level, in obedience to the Law.
Isaiah 5:20 gives a very specific warning, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. That encapsulates the rabbinic tradition. Thousands of rabbis deciding what is right and what is wrong, and redefining both over time as they desire, not as God instructed. Judaism and Christianity are opposites in many ways, despite their shared histories. Not all Israel, is of Israel; the physical and spiritual are not the same. The connection Western Christians have to the defence of Israel is both baffling, and bad theology.
As the war continues to rage in Israel and Gaza, between the people of Isaac and Ishmael, we should pray for peace, but not shed an ounce of blood or contribute to the bloodshed of many. This is a millennial hatred that few understand, and we are told, will never end. Israel has killed far more Palestinians in retaliation and they are not without guilt. My country, and my tax dollars, should not aid in the continued slaughter of bystanders, and my Christian faith is not tied to the outcome.
War is the greatest of earthly evils and those who want it and relish it should be judged harshly. Western antagonism of these foreign wars should be opposed by good people everywhere. I cannot stand with either side in this battle; it is not my fight.
If I were to subtitle this article it would be: If You Still Drink Regularly With All We Now Know, You’re An Idiot Or An Addict.
My opinions on alcohol don’t win me many friends as almost to a drinker, they get angry and defensive when the topic arises, as if they are defending the honour of a cherished lover from insult. My disdain for the stupidity of those who defend it as “fun and harmless” has grown immensely over the past couple of years as I watch people destroy and enslave themselves to a substance. The facts, data, and science behind the consequences and effects of their drug use is now clearer than ever. And yes, alcohol is a highly addictive drug, and drinkers are drug users, albeit, “socially acceptable” drug users, or so they think. To drink regularly in the face of what we now know can only be classified as total ignorance or addiction, that deep down many realize, but have difficulty admitting to.
I’ve written extensively on alcohol before, here; and many other posts here reference my contempt and scorn for alcohol and the people who knowingly use it and abuse it, in 100% of the cases, to their own detriment. I can say in all humility that I have been way ahead of the curve on this topic for decades and have read more research than 99.9% of the population. The average person succumbs because they are brainwashed by “big money alcohol company” advertising and their own weakness giving in to peer pressure. As the science continues to develop, much of what I’ve written has been shown to be correct as it filters down to the mainstream, drinking population. But the insidious nature of this drug is such that no science, no data, or no rational argument will ever convince a person who is emotionally and physically attached to their booze.
Have you ever talked to a friend about their drinking habits, only to watch them get defensive? And that ends up being their reaction every single time? It’s an implicit admission that deep down they know they have a problem. I once had a friend with a drinking problem; a drinking problem that they could not see. It was not alcoholism, but like almost every regular drinker, it was an alcohol use disorder and it was obvious. They couldn’t go out and have just one or two; they always over drank.
Many started drinking in their teen years and the chemical alterations that this caused in their brains have caused them problems to this day. Their brain is now programmed by the drug to crave more. They get excited about the drinking they’ll do at the party this weekend. They make a special trip to buy the booze they want the most. They think of what drinks they’ll order that night at the bar when they go out with friends. They plan to get drunk on certain nights, days in advance. It consumes them, and their thoughts. All these things will seem perfectly normal because their brain has normalized it after years of substance use and abuse.
The overwhelming majority of drinkers go out and enjoy 1 or 2 drinks with their friends and leave it there. About 15-20% cannot handle their alcohol and their nights often end in a sad, drunken stupor. They may even say “I’m just going to have a couple drinks” but then as the drug hits them they suddenly want more and more and their ability to control themselves is lost. This is the sad reality for many, many who don’t yet fit the clinical definition of alcoholic.
Alcohol is the elixir of the weak, the social crutch for the insecure, the drug that many want and need. It is a scourge on society and a lie that many fall for. They go out with friends and think their “drinking buddies” care about their well-being as they walk together down the road of addiction, all the while hating the ones who truly care and are not afraid to confront them over their destructive life choices. A true friend doesn’t order you another drink; they are the ones who tell you you have a problem.
People are naïve, and generally obtuse and self-destructive in considering what alcohol does to them. More and more research has come out over the past 10-15 years and the data is now overwhelmingly clear how bad drinking is for us as individuals, and as a society. Let’s first define the various levels of alcohol consumption according to the NIÃAA (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). There are so many problem drinkers out there who think they have it under control.
Safe drinking – 0 drinks for men, 0 drinks for women. There is now no safe level of alcohol consumption. Every drink comes with deleterious effects. (No one should ever exceed 2 drinks in one sitting, and 2 drinks total in a week should be the upper limit).
Moderate drinking – 2 drinks in a day for men, or a total of 7 per week. 1 drink per day for women, or a total of 4 per week. This level of drinking comes with various levels of harm.
Heavy drinking – 5 or more drinks in a day for men (once in a month), or 15 or more per week. 4 or more drinks in a day for women (once in a month), or 8 or more drinks per week. These limits are also the limits that define “binge drinking” and “alcohol misuse,” according to the NIAAA.
You will never convince a problem drinker that they drink too much. The number one sign of addiction is the inability of the user to see they have a problem at all; they’ve always got it “under control.”
As Dr. Andrew Huberman, who runs the neurolab at Stanford says:
Top 7 Reasons Why You Should Stop Drinking If You Actually Care About Your Life
1) Alcohol Is Highly Addictive: Alcohol is the second most addictive drug after heroin and other opioids. This addiction can take many forms, from degenerative alcoholism to functional alcoholism; from a needed short term stress reliever to a drug necessary to enjoy social situations. Many suffer from alcohol use and misuse disorders that they think are normal, but are far from it. Addiction is weakness, not a disease, and the reliance on a substance always points to deeper problems. Another way to understand the potency and addictive nature of this drug is to be reminded that there are only two drugs whose withdrawal effects can kill you: alcohol and benzodiazepines. Perhaps one of the saddest developments over the past 20 years or so is the incidence of alcoholism and addiction that has exploded among women. Women are abusing alcohol at record rates and it’s no wonder they are suffering a mental health crisis that coincides with their increase in consumption. Young women are the most broken demographic group and alcohol is exacerbating these problems. They are lost and their lives lack purpose and meaning, so they turn to a “socially acceptable” drug to find acceptance.
2) Alcohol Is A Major Cause Of Death & Disease: According to the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, alcohol is the seventh leading cause of death and disease globally. “When you omit deaths from tuberculosis, car accidents, and suicide, alcohol moves further up the list even though it plays a major part in the latter two.” The shocking conclusion of the study stated this:
“The level of alcohol consumption that minimized harm across health outcomes was zero (95% UI 0-0-0-8) standard drinks per week. Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for global disease burden and causes substantial health loss. We found that the risk of all-cause mortality, and of cancers specifically, rises with increasing levels of consumption, and the level of consumption that minimizes health loss is zero.“
I’ve covered the diseases that alcohol is linked to in the past, but this list serves as a good reminder of the ruination it causes. Another recent study confirmed that alcohol was the third leading cause of preventable death behind smoking and obesity. It is directly linked to cancer and many other diseases. And we know that 1 in 5 deaths of adults, that’s 20%, from age 20 to 49, is from excessive drinking. Alcohol will kill you early; this is now indisputable. “Alcohol has been a level-one carcinogen for as long as we’ve been listing carcinogens…It’s on par with things like smoking, UV light, hepatitis B and human papillomavirus or HPV.”
The 3 leading causes of preventable death are smoking, obesity, and alcohol consumption. But by certain metrics I would argue that drinking alcohol is probably the worst thing you can do for yourself in that the effect it has on mental health is far worse than the first two. I had someone once remark to me, that “I feel fine mentally after drinking so it doesn’t really effect me.” This person no longer knows what their optimal mental health even feels like anymore because the unending level of depressant that is in their system from drinking. Anything a regular drinker tells you about their consumption habits is most likely incorrect, for they try to hide it from watchful eyes as the spiral downwards begins.
3) Alcohol Weakens the Immune System, Gut Biome, and Skin: Alcohol is a diuretic and dehydrates your body, including the skin – and this happens every time you drink. When you drink, the dehydrating effect of alcohol means your skin loses fluid and nutrients that are vital for healthy-looking skin. This can make your skin look wrinkled, dull and grey, or bloated and puffy. It dries out and prematurely ages your skin. If you drink, your skin will never be as healthy looking as it should.
The gut is sometimes called the body’s “second brain” as it is responsible for so much of its proper functioning. Alcohol damages the stomach lining and gut; killing the good bacteria in our stomachs. Alcohol begins to break down the lining of the stomach and the gut which allows the ethanol (toxin) to enter the body and cause further damage and disease. If you have nagging stomach issues, alcohol is likely the culprit.
Our immune system is responsible for fighting off viruses, bacteria, and disease. Alcohol weakens our immune systems and opens the drinker up to many adverse health conditions. Alcohol consumption does not have to be chronic to have negative health consequences. In fact, research shows that acute binge drinking more negatively affects the immune system than perviously thought.
I recall a conversation I had with another friend. They had just returned from an overseas trip and were in the middle of a course of antibiotics to help with an illness that they had caught. They went away to a nice country for a week, saw the sites and enjoyed themselves. But every night they went out to a bar and drank excessively till two or three in the morning. It was both sad and hilarious to hear them defend their abuse of alcohol and not think it had any effect on their health.
4) Alcohol Is Destructive Of Mental Health: Alcohol is a depressant and causes mental health issues for many drinkers. Just 25 minutes after a drink, a person reaches peak euphoria, after which the depressant feelings start to impact the user which begins the “night out’s” cycle of drink after drink to retain the original level of euphoria and ward off the onsetting depressive feelings of the come down. The depressive effects last for almost 7 full days afterward before it leaves the system; hardly a rational trade off, but no one who drinks excessively can be said to be rational.
Alcohol is a self-soothing mechanism (anxiety, fear, self-loathing, etc) and the drinker is unaware that it actually magnifies these feelings in the long term, and generally makes them worse. Many drink to help with these issues, when in fact, alcohol makes them worse.
5) Alcohol Is A Thief of Joy: This to my mind is one of the more shocking effects alcohol has on the brain. It chemically alters the brain and desensitizes our dopamine receptors and adrenal glands to real stimuli and pleasures. The alcohol-altered brain can never truly feel or never truly experience the fullness of natural pleasures and joys in life, when they are NOT drinking, for their perceptions have been altered and dulled. They cannot experience the fullness of joyful events when they are NOT drinking because of how their drinking has changed their brain chemistry.
Again, Dr. Huberman sums it up this way:
It chemically alters the brain and desensitizes our dopamine receptors to real stimuli and pleasures. Think of it this way: you go out on a Friday night to party and get drunk. Your Saturday is spent dealing with your hangover. On Sunday you decide to go for a hike in the mountains. The scenery is beautiful, the experience is nice, but you are unable to experience the hike as you should because you have impaired your brain’s ability to experience the fullness of that joy when you’re NOT drinking. What a tragedy. To put this another way, you are unable to experience positive emotions to their fullest because of your alcohol consumption:
6) Alcohol Promotes Social Weakness: Alcohol creates weakness in those that use it as a social lubricant to feel more confident. It provides the illusion of confidence and makes the person reliant on the drug to feel comfort in interacting with others, rather than motivating them to become naturally better in these social circumstances and working on becoming a more socially adept person in reality. It can only provide a drug-induced, fake confidence; never the real thing. It will ensure you stay socially weak if you rely on it.
7) Alcohol Ruins Sleep: Alcohol affects your brain in such a way that both your sleep quality and sleep quantity suffer. It causes you to wake up in the night far more frequently even if you’re not concious of it, and you do not get the required amount of REM and Deep sleep your brain needs to repair your body and brain during the night as is the norm. People confuse the sedative nature of alcohol with quality of sleep; the sedation it causes is not healthy for brain and body reparations that are needed. Here is a short clip of Dr. Huberman talking to sleep expert Matt Walker on what alcohol does to our sleep:
The alcohol industry, like most, is very corrupt. Companies like Heineken and Carlsberg paid off government officials at the NIH to promote the benefits of moderate drinking when they knew there weren’t any. The study said that moderate alcohol use reduced the risk of cardio vascular disease, when we now know the exact opposite is true. A recent peer-reviewed study showed that alcohol consumption causes life-long arterial stiffening which is a cause and precursor of cardio vascular disease and stroke. Drinkers have been brainwashed and have believed a lie for decades, and bars are filled with those naive to the damage they are doing as booze producers fool people into believing their product is essential for a good time, while it kills them slowly.
Not everything is negative, however, as there are some encouraging signs on the horizon in all the data. 38% of Americans say they do not drink at all, the highest number of abstainers in a generation. While we may lament the dark path of weekly reckless drunkenness some of our friends have chosen, there are good indications that the younger generation is yearning for a better life and leaving their poor choices behind. A recent study revealed that Gen-Z are leaving alcohol in big numbers with 65% (two thirds!) reporting not having a drink in the previous 6 months and 35% that do not drink at all. The share of adults ages 18 to 34 who say they ever drink dropped from 72% in 2001-03 to 62% in 2021-23. Only about 25% of Gen-Z are regular drinkers, with 15% of those being classified as heavy drinkers. Young people, especially Gen Z, are leading this sober trend. They care more about feeling good, being healthy and productive rather than drinking alcohol. They worry about how alcohol affects their bodies and more than any other generation are concerned about the long-term consequences of poor choices when it comes to their mental and physical well-being.
In Canada, about 15.6% of the population over 12 years old engaged in heavy drinking in at least one month in the past year (5 drinks for men, 4 for women). That is quite low, thankfully, and those who think regular drunken nights in a bar is a worthwhile pursuit is a small minority of the population. The overwhelming number of Canadians are only occasional or moderate drinkers as many understand the dangers and risks. The number of heavy drinkers, those who abuse or misuse alcohol, has declined steadily since first measured in 2015. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would still knowingly put themselves in this category. It’s evidence to the overwhelming power of this drug on some people still, and is viewed as a type of self-harm, akin to cutting or eating disorders.
In 2024, more people are choosing not to drink alcohol, and sobriety is becoming a big thing. Gen-Z is becoming known as the “sober curious” generation. The trend has shifted dramatically and it is now only a minority of people who are reliant on the drug aspect of alcohol in order for them to cope with life or enjoy things that non-drinkers are able to without the social crutch. Gen-Z is moving towards more sober gatherings and leaving alcohol because of the mental and physical toll it takes and they are becoming more aware of its negative impact on their well-being. We should be encouraged by this, but there is a long way to go.
To truly understand who you are as a person you need to remove alcohol from your life, for it masks and hides who you are. Some people don’t like themselves and use alcohol to numb their feelings of despair and self-loathing. To know yourself, and to truly love yourself, removing the blinders and fog of alcohol is a must.
Watch who you befriend. Too many people surround themselves with losers whose only comfort in their free time is drinking. If 4 of your friends are drinkers, you will be the 5th. Show me your friends, and I can show you your future habits. Choose your circle of influence wisely if you want to live a good life free from the consequences of poor choices.
People need to leave their booze behind permanently. Embrace the goodness and beauty in life, and leave the drunkenness, the hangovers, the poor life choices, and the mental and physical damage behind. We are given one chance in this life to be present, to feel, to live; for good or for ill. No longer should we laugh at and praise those who need to cauterize their souls or medicate their brains to all that is good about life. Drinkers should be mocked and shamed for these are powerful tools for behavioural change in society. We were able to successfully shame a generation of smokers and a movement needs to begin to shame those who drink. While there may be some encouraging signs on the horizon, I am not very hopeful that meaningful change can happen as alcohol consumption has become a lifestyle for many; a drug they love and can’t live without. Drinking is not freedom; it is bondage. Sometimes the slave, loves their master. If we truly loved the people around us caught up in this abusive self-harm, we would do all that we could to warn them. That is the tough love we owe them.
We have one life and it should be our desire that we, and those around us, flourish to the greatest extent possible. Living an aimless and meaningless life drunk in a bar every weekend will only help to exacerbate ones sense of loss of purpose as they wander aimlessly through life. You do not have to “give up” alcohol, for it is not a loss. Rather, you are gaining health, mental well-being, sharpness of mind, greater energy levels, being present and sharp in social situations, time, money, and a host of other benefits! You are not sacrificing anything in the end, but gaining so so much that will lead to a better life.
If you’ve made it this far and think nothing of your current drinking habits then only two conclusions can be reached: 1) you don’t care about your life or health, or 2) you have a drinking problem you refuse to address.
Listen to Harvard doctor and researcher Dr. Sarah Wakeman: “Every single drink you have increases your cancer risks.” There is no safe limit.
There’s an old Irish saying that goes “A man takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes the man.” Too many have let the drink take them. They never saw it coming. Don’t let it take you too.
There comes a time when the obvious can no longer be defended or denied. The psychological operation was effective beyond their wildest dreams and the cover-up continues today.
The oft quoted George Orwell, in 1984, could not be more prescient for the times in which we live: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
I am under no delusions that anything written here is interesting or revolutionary. I just enjoy putting pen to paper, typing words onto a screen, and always have. It’s good to look at the world and sort out ideas in your head. It helps keep you from deception and closer to reality. Reading, thinking, writing: it is the necessary exercise for the mind.
A society controlled by government, will never know freedom.
A society ruled over by politicians, will never know prosperity.
A society administered by lawyers, will never know honesty.
A society beholden to bankers, will always be in debt.
A society that overfunds its military, will never know peace.
A society reliant on pharmaceuticals, will never be healthy.
A society permissive of drugs, will be weighed down by addiction.
A society flowing with alcohol, will be awash in depression and despair.
A society addicted to technology, will be engulfed in misery and envy.
A society dependent on the media, will never know reality.
A society infatuated by celebrity, will be shallow and stupid.
A society that lauds the vulgar, will never know virtue.
A society that normalizes deviancy, will then celebrate the perverse.
A society that exterminates the unborn, will grow in contempt for all life.
A society that reveres science, will be easily manipulated by falsehoods.
A society consumed by the present, will be ill-prepared for tomorrow.
A society that cares not for its people, will never flourish.
A society that worships the creation, will never worship the Creator.
A society that does not look heavenward, will be overcome by evil on earth.
A society that cannot stand against evil, will surely be conquered by it.
A society divorced from the bible, will never know what is true.
And a society devoid of truth, will only ever know chaos, confusion, and decay.
This past week Tucker Carlson delivered a couple of speeches in Alberta, Canada. (The one from Calgary above, was particularly good). He came to encourage Canadians, and speak against the objective evil of the Canadian government. These speeches coincided with the Canadian Court ruling against the Trudeau Liberals for their abusive use of the Emergencies Act against the people of Canada during the Covid lockdowns. Any normal leader would step down in shame, but Trudeau and Freeland are not normal people.
The Canadian media, clutching their pearls at Carlson “being allowed into Canada,” attempted to frighten their shrinking audience that “Hitler was about preach hate” to everyone! Carlson invited the CBC to interview him and put it on TV, but the national Canadian propaganda outlet declined. They never bothered to listen to his talk.
I have followed Carlson’s career now for well over a decade and his personal philosophy can be boiled down to this: 1) a government’s fundamental obligation is to its own citizens, and 2) everything the government does should result in human flourishing and stronger families. Governments of the West have abandoned these goals for their globalist visions, and in fact, are doing the exact opposite, on purpose. They have set upon a course that will only cause increasing misery. Our leaders are evil. Trudeau and Biden are evil men bent on destroying their countries. There is no other rational conclusion one can reach.
It goes without saying that what Trudeau did during the Covid lockdown and the trucker protests can only be described as evil. He had no authority to take away the rights of his citizens in the manner in which he did. Likewise in the US, Joe Biden has exemplified evil in leaving the southern border to Mexico wide open. The invasion that has occurred over the last 2 to 3 years has forever changed the face of America and will bring unimaginable hardship to that country over the next several decades. We haven’t even begun to witness the rotten fruit this tree will bear.
We need to call evil what it is, and it is embodied in these derelict leaders with every decision they make. Think of what these men advocate for: abortion on demand at any point in a pregnancy, assisted suicide (50,000 this year in Canada alone), open borders, privileges based on skin colour, foreign wars, massive debt, and national surveillance programs, to name but a few. We are embarking on dark times as the even darker hearts of men attempt to rule over us, not for us.
This evil we are witnessing, if history is our teacher, can only lead to revolution. When evil abounds, good men must rise against it. We must not allow this evil to gain any greater a foothold than it already has. We need the good among us to stand, and fight the good fight. We need to see the evil men in charge held to account and punished for what they have done. When evil abides, revolution is necessary, so justice can prevail.
Everywhere you look the world is in turmoil. At almost every turn you can see the results of man’s destructive nature, and their abandonment of God. Over the last several decades we have done our best to eliminate God from modern discourse, and mocked the importance of Christian belief, one of the founding pillars of Western civilization, as primitive and unnecessary to the enlightened of our age.
Society is divided over every issue. Some think there are two sexes, while others think a man can be a woman. Some cheer the recent attacks on Jews, while others decry such evil. Some believe we can exterminate the life of the unborn without a second thought, while others fight to save the most vulnerable in society. Some celebrate ugliness in all its forms, while others struggle to bring man back to an understanding of what is good, and beautiful, and true.
The only answer to these problems and the sick, sinful condition that so plagues the heart of man, is the baby whose birth we celebrate this day. Jesus, the Christ, was God made flesh, who came into the world to conquer sin, death, and evil. He is the only answer to the depression, the loneliness, the despair, and the wickedness, that engulfs every corner of this planet.
The world is hopeless. Only a turning to Christ can save us from what is coming. Our time of blessing and abundance has wained, and a time of war, persecution, and scarcity is upon us. Hard times are coming, and refuge will only be found in the Lord. Only that babe who was once placed tenderly in a manger can save us. This is why we celebrate Christmas: we rejoice over God’s love for us.
I often refer to what are known as the transcendentals, or, the three immaterial properties of being. The ancient philosophers wrestled with these concepts as they attempted to understand the world and the purpose of the universe. A transcendental refers to something that exists outside of the material world; something that we know exists, yet is not part of time, space, or matter; and are essential to the human experience when we speak of the nature of being and reality. They are universal values that we long for and seek. We yearn to want, and to know, the Good, the Beautiful, and the True.
The Ancients saw these as attributes of God Himself, and therefore essential elements of the created order and part of who we are and what we desire. They believed that it was through these elements that Divine meaning was communicated to us. Man desires the good, loves the beautiful, and yearns to know the truth. These things can’t be explained by some mindless, directionless, evolutionary process for they exist independent of the physical and are properties of the spiritual nature of man. These values have transcended people groups and cultures throughout time, and man has never grown weary of them, as they are the hallmarks of, and point towards, the existence of perfection. While the nature of these transcendental values may be subjective to many, their existence is innately objective to all.
We desire goodness in our lives, and beauty excites and motivates us. But that which is true is of greatest value, for no matter how good or beautiful something may be, if it is not true, then it is of little worth. It is truth that defines reality, and allows us to know what is good, and appreciate what is beautiful.
Our lives should seek to reflect these values and have our minds filled with the knowledge of them. These three transcendental qualities point to the reality of something outside ourselves, something greater than ourselves, something truly meaningful, something that itself is the Source of all things Good, Beautiful, and True.
As the Apostle once wrote, “…whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report…think on these things.” -Phil 4:8
It is hard to go anywhere, or read anything these days without someone somewhere blathering on about equality and how important it is to be striving for equality in such an unfair and uncaring world. It has to be said: the world is indeed unfair and uncaring, AND the notion of equality is a complete myth, and an impossibility to achieve. It does not exist, and never will. If it actually did it exist, we would not have to hear about it incessantly by the malcontents who use it as a bludgeon and a weapon to coerce and control others.
Let me state it clearly so there is no confusion: humans are equal in value, but they are not equal in any other way. Every person, no matter their station, is of equal worth, for they bear the image of God. (That is why in every godless, atheistic society in history genocides occurred because some were seen as worthless and expendable in the eyes of the powerful). But, and it should be obvious to all, there exists no two human beings that are equal in ability, intelligence, motivation, skill, and a host of other individualistic traits that make us unique. By definition, humans cannot be equal.
Much is said about racial inequality but I find that topic almost irrelevant. Skin pigmentation should not even matter and these people differences are more cultural in nature than they are in colour. I think the more interesting topic is that of male and female, especially in this age where the gender lines are purposely being blurred.
Men and women are not equal. They never will be. They are complementary to one another; neither one more valuable than the other, and both necessary in a functioning society. Men are the builders of civilization, and women are the nurturers of it; each role important in its own right. (I’d argue that the latter is actually the most important role of the two).
Destroying the proper functioning of male/female relationships can only serve to weaken society. The promotion of effeminate men and masculine women does a disservice to these attributes that are necessary to pass along generation after generation. Camille Paglia, the lesbian, feminist historian, has remarked that, “as androgyny in a society becomes more prevalent, it is a sure sign that a civilization is starting to unravel. You find it again and again and again in history.” This has always been one of the seminal markers of societal decline as a culture descends further into decadence and perversion, and we are witnessing a great unravelling of this societal fabric as the trans activists attack every traditional structure with their hate-filled rhetoric.
Men and women are not at war. The sexes need not battle one another. These divisions are meant to weaken and divide us and we should resist all talk of sexism and inequality. We should look to the other as necessary and complementary to what each has to offer. I have said nothing new or revelatory here. This was understood for millennia. I have merely stated the observational truth of history and what has worked from the beginning of time. Those that want to dismantle these things that are good, and beautiful, and true, need to be opposed. Society needs strong, complementary, male/female relationships to function as they were meant to.
…I found in my study that history is cyclic, and everywhere in the world you find this pattern in ancient times: that as a culture begins to decline, you have an efflorescence of transgender phenomena. That is a symptom of cultural collapse….So rather than people singing the praises of humanitarian liberalism that allows all of these transgender possibilities to appear and to be encouraged, I would be concerned about how Western culture is defining itself to the world…Because in fact these phenomena are inflaming the irrational, indeed borderline psychotic opponents of Western culture …Nothing better defines the decadence of the West…than our toleration of open homosexuality and this transgender mania now.
We need to celebrate and affirm traditional masculinity and femininity as the achievable ideals for society so that we can maintain order and function and build strong relationships and families. We need not view the other as the enemy, but rather, as a partner in building something beautiful together, each with a different, but necessary role.
A society that allows the chemical castration of children under the Orwellian and nonsensical newspeak of “gender affirming care,” when we now know that almost 90% of those adolescents with gender dysphoria will self-correct through puberty (and that there’s no decrease in suicidal ideation after transition), has signalled that its descent into pure evil is accelerating. When a culture does not protect its children from such harms, it is lost.
Transitioning kids is a full frontal attack on the most vulnerable in our society. We have consent laws for a reason, and ignoring these to transition children only opens the door to have consent ages lowered, or done away with altogether. It doesn’t take a genius to know where that will lead, or rather, where we’re being led. Those who are pushing this malevolence are the demons that walk amongst us.
It was once said that ‘the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do [or say] nothing.’ We are watching the lives of thousands of children be destroyed as this perverse and deviant ideology grips the masses and causes crippling fear in any who would dare speak against it. History will not be kind to those complicit in such evil.
It is often asked that, ‘if God is real, why does evil and suffering exist?‘ In other words, why would a good and loving God permit the cruelties and sufferings we witness on a daily basis? That those who reject and mock the very notion of God would think that this same God should and would create a world to their liking, and let them live lives with not even a passing thought towards their Creator, belies the nonsensical nature of the question they ask.
It is true that the world is full of evil, and sorrow, and suffering, and tragedy, and all of it resulted from man’s rejection of God. Man wanted to live as his own god with no duty to the One who created him. We, like sheep, have gone astray, and our hearts are only interested in living for ourselves.
Man was done with God, but thankfully, God was not done with us.
On this day we celebrate God sending his Son into the world to save those who rejected Him. He took on the form of man. He came humbly, born amongst animals in a stable. He lived a perfect life so that we may too shall live. Jesus came to reconcile man with God.
The original question is asked poorly. That evil even exists necessitates a need for this Saviour. The question should not be ‘why would a loving God allow evil?‘ but rather, ‘why would God save those who rejected Him at all?‘ Christianity is the only answer for the existence of evil; it is the only way to make sense of evil in the world. No other worldview can account for, and deal with, all the wickedness. Only Jesus can.
We celebrate Christmas to commemorate God coming into the world to defeat sin and evil once and for all. If this is not at the heart of your celebrations today, then you are not celebrating Christmas; you are not celebrating God’s goodness to those who rejected Him and embraced evil. We celebrate that which is good, and beautiful, and true, this day, for we know that evil has been conquered, and we look forward to the day when it is no more.
For those that know me, they will generally know of my total opposition to alcohol consumption and its regular use as a recreational drug. For almost 40 years now I have made statements that have raised eyebrows and made people think I was crazy. It’s cost me friendships and not something I’ve ever taken lightly. I’ve probably read more about the effects of alcohol on the body and brain than 99.9% of the population. My opinions are strong and sometimes unintentionally offensive, (especially to drinkers who quickly get defensive), yet all of them are based on the science, studies, and professionals who research the most common psychoactive drug used worldwide. It’s my opinion that most people have been easily brainwashed into our drinking culture will little to no thoughts of its harmful effects, and been encouraged to partake in the adolescent “rite of passage” of alcohol experimentation at a time in their brain development when the substance is its most addictive. It’s hard to convince people of anything these days that they won’t let themselves believe; even in the face of the strongest evidence. I can only hope for those that stumble upon this post that the data presented is at least a little compelling in moving the reader to consider pouring their favourite drug down the drain for good.
I recently watched Dr. Andrew Huberman’s podcast on alcohol. Huberman is a neurobiologist and runs The Huberman Lab in the School of Medicine at Stanford University. This podcast was quite revealing and certain things he said about alcohol shocked me. He relies only on the latest data and science. For anyone interested in this issue, this is one of the best, most thorough talks I’ve ever heard on the issue and it gets quite in depth on the destructive nature of alcohol on the brain and body. It is well worth your time, and was the motivation to finally finish this post that I’ve started, what seems like, countless times.
Alcohol is a liquid. It is medically classified as a toxin. It is its’ properties as a poison that causes drunkenness; ie. the state of drunkenness is a literal poisoning of the brain when the alcohol (acetaldehyde) crosses the blood/brain barrier. The horrible aches and feelings of a hangover the next day is the process of purging the last remnants of alcohol from the body, very similar to drug withdrawal. Alcohol is a depressant, which, after its brief euphoria phase produces long lasting feelings of depression, anxiety, and mood swings; as long as 7-10 days after an evening of just 4 or more drinks. Eight ounces of pure alcohol will kill you almost immediately. Humans have learned to masquerade its taste with fruity flavours, glamourize its appearance with vibrant colours, and market it with names that make us long for one after another, all in the name of “a good time.” Every single alcohol commercial markets their product as the only essential ingredient for a fun night out on the town, when nothing could be further from the truth. The lies of both omission and commission by the alcohol industry, along with a high level of propaganda, have fooled almost everyone into believing this drug is nearly harmless.
The majority of humans are self-destructive creatures. From drugs, alcohol, sugar, processed foods, social media, porn, etc., very few can properly regulate their desires and often choose short-term destructive pleasures over their long-term well-being. There is no question there is an addiction crisis in affluent nations around the world with easy access to all these things that do us harm. Most drinkers are surprised to learn that alcohol is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. In lists of addictive drugs, alcohol ranks anywhere from second to fifth depending upon the methodology used; usually ranking only behind heroin and cocaine. People cannot believe it is considered more addictive than meth or barbiturates. For example, on the Henningfield and Benowitz scales, alcohol ranks 2nd behind heroin yet higher than cocaine for its ability to addict its users. The US based Addiction Center also ranks it 2nd. Another medical rehab center ranks it 3rd. The Pathfinder Recovery Center ranks it 4th. There is just no question that there is a strong addictive pull to alcohol, and even among casual drinkers who are not alcoholics, there is a milder draw towards it outside of their control, especially in social settings.
From the data we know that 1 in 8 adults, almost 13%, are alcoholics and it appears that between 15%-20% of the population have some sort of alcohol use disorder (AUD). (When you consider that only about 60% of adults are “drinkers”, that equates to 30-35% of all drinkers having a problematic relationship with their booze). It is estimated that 33% of all adults will suffer from an AUD at some point in their life. These are staggering numbers. Look around at your next party. If it’s a party of 20 people we know statistically that 3-5 of them have a problem with alcohol; even more if they are all drinking. Yet we have made the ingestion of this drug a “harmless” social norm. Would you do meth or cocaine with your friends and help feed that addiction? Of course not. So why do we casually participate in parties with friends where excessive drinking is not only normal but encouraged, and help to lead some of them down the path of addiction? People don’t like to hear it, but they are complicit in both their own, and their friends, drinking problems. The American Addiction Center describes the addictive effects of alcohol this way:
Alcohol acts on dopamine levels to enhance mood, like other drugs, but it also serves as a central nervous system depressant, slowing down nerve firings and the functions of the central nervous system. This results in lowered blood pressure and heart rate. It also promotes sedation and impairs motor skills and cognition. When people are under the influence of alcohol, they are likely to engage in risky behaviours as inhibitions are lowered. They may also be more talkative and sociable, and may experience mood swings and impaired decision-making and impulse-control abilities.
Alcohol abuse, especially when alcohol is consumed in heavy or binge drinking patterns, can lead to a dependency on the substance. When alcohol begins to leave the body, withdrawal symptoms can range from mild to life-threatening. When the effects of alcohol wear off, the brain may try to restore a chemical balance, causing a kind of rebound of some of the nerve firings that were suppressed by the alcohol. Anxiety, depression, insomnia, tremors, sweating, irregular heart rate, hypertension, nausea and vomiting, headaches, abdominal pain, and even psychosis and seizures are potential alcohol withdrawal symptoms. A desire to keep these symptoms to a minimum may lead to using alcohol as a form of self-medication for alcohol withdrawal and can therefore perpetuate alcohol addiction.
Heavy drinkers, even while building their tolerance to alcohol in the short-term, can have noticeable impairments to brain function years later. This explodes the notion that many falsely believe: that once a tolerance to alcohol is built up, its negative effects are no longer worrisome. Even moderate alcohol intake can reduce the brain’s ability to produce new cells by 40% and this causes long term memory problems as the production of new cells in the hippocampus is greatly reduced. Regular alcohol consumption will most certainly deteriorate brain function over time.
Binge drinking, the most common form of alcohol consumption, is associated with increased mortality and morbidity, and findings indicate that even a single alcohol binge results in increased serum endotoxin levels which in turn leads to greater levels of depression. Women had higher elevated endotoxin levels in their blood after a binge than men did, and perhaps this is one reason we see higher levels of depression in women as well. Women tend to use alcohol to self-medicate for immediate relief of anxiety and depression when in fact it exacerbates these problems they are seeking relief from, leading to a greater number of functional alcoholics who rely on its effects to cope with life. While we are on the topic of female consumption, it is worth noting that alcohol use by women is accelerating rapidly and of deep concern to health authorities here in Canada. Binge drinking by childless women has doubled. (I’ll let the reader draw their own conclusions from that). Women face greater risks in consuming alcohol than men do and female drinking is reaching troubling levels. No matter how you look at it, the news is not good.
Most people downplay their consumption and think they can easily handle their alcohol. More people would be surprised to find they are classified as heavy drinkers rather than just a casual imbiber. What constitutes a heavy drinker? Well for females, 8 or more drinks per week and 15 or more for males would make one a heavy drinker; and at an alarming risk for an AUD. The CDC has reported that 10% of all deaths between the ages of 20 and 64 are due to excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol and excessive consumption is a far bigger societal problem than most people would guess. This article does a good job of breaking down consumption habits by decile. It’s refreshing to see that the bottom 40% of the population consume almost no alcohol at all which should be encouraging for those who drink because of peer pressure, to fit in, to be one of the “cool kids”, for social status, or any number of other reasons.
Look, I understand the arguments for drinking that people use, but none of them are compelling when put up against the clear risk data. Every single one amounts to opting for short-term pleasure and temporary “good feelings” at the expense of one’s mental and physical health. This is the trade-off that every single hard drug user makes as well. This is the hard reality; this is the science.
If you need a drink at the the end of a hard day; you have a drinking problem. If you need a drink to have a good time with friends; you have a drinking problem. If you can’t go out without drinking; you have a drinking problem. If you need a drink to feel normal; you have a drinking problem. If you need a drink to help you mask or alleviate emotional pain; you have a drinking problem. If you need a drink to escape the difficulties of life; you have a drinking problem. Some of these are understandable, but most are not. People use substances every day for “fun,” or to self-medicate, or to lessen anxiety, or to forget. I’m not unsympathetic to those who are hurting or trying to forget a trauma, but a substance is never the answer. Alcohol has never once solved a problem, but it has, on countless occasions, created them. It has created pain, grief, sorrow, anger, and embarrassment. The reliance on alcohol has caused so many people to unwittingly become slaves to a substance; a substance that ruins lives.
Ultimately, alcohol is used by the weak; those who need a crutch, those who can’t cope or produce on their own. They drink because their life is missing something they think they will find in the bottom of a bottle. They can’t produce happiness on their own. They can’t produce confidence on their own. They can’t produce contentment on their own. They can’t have “fun” in a sober state. So they turn to a drug to produce the feelings that they cannot, rather than do the hard work of improving themselves and that which is necessary to construct a full, fun-filled life. There are no shortcuts. Alcohol is not a shortcut. It produces the illusion of happiness, of fun, of confidence, of sexiness; only to leave those who rely on it worse off when its temporary, fleeting effects wear off. The continued reliance on a substance in order to find peace or fulfillment or happiness or whatever an empty soul is yearning to find, will ultimately render its user subservient to its addictive power.
Society at large suffers from a spiritual problem. There is a lack of meaning and purpose in the modern, aimless life, which causes it to distract itself with pleasure and consumption. A night out drinking helps to cauterize their hollow feelings. Alcohol creates these fake and transient pleasures as a way of escape from this empty reality. People have little meaning or purpose so they chase after superficial, ungratifying pleasures which leaves them unfulfilled, depressed, and lonely. They lack the tools to cope so they seek solace in a substance who’s only promise is to give them more of the emptiness and pain that they are running from. They yearn for human connection through the social use of alcohol, but fail to understand that meaningful human connections can never be built through drunkenness, and your soulmate will never be found passed out at the end of a bar at 2am. We substitute real connections for fake, substance-induced interactions for fear of being vulnerable and real. Booze gives them the safe barrier to hide behind. Drinking is drug use, and as much as people decry this description, factually and scientifically it is.
Society has a drug problem and alcohol is the most common drug of choice. 70% of Americans are on meds. 25% of people over 18 take something for their mental health. There were 300 million prescriptions for antidepressants written in 2021 in the US; many of those for people who spend their weekends drinking a depressant and wondering why they are moody and down most of their waking sober time. We need to fix this. We need to encourage people to find the joy in a sober life without wasting it in dingy bars and slowly killing themselves in the process. We need to stop drugging ourselves to death and look to seek meaning and fulfillment outside the “easy fix” of a drug that can provide neither. I understand why people drink because most people bow to peer pressure and are followers. “Drinking is a social thing” is the great justification they use to follow the crowd. We need to encourage people to be strong, to be individuals, to strive for personal strength of conviction, and to search for greater meaning for their lives. We should seek out those things that are good, beautiful, and true; and do away with those things that are destructive and unhealthy. True freedom only comes when we pursue a totally authentic and sober life, experiencing people and the world in all its beautiful reality, while putting away the childishness and immaturity of trying to create this artificially through the use of alcohol and other substances. We will be stronger for it if we do.
No matter how dark it may get, and it will get darker than anyone ever plans it to get when they are mired in a reliance on the bottle, there is always hope. Light conquers darkness. Sobriety will always, always, always, be greater than the casual or serious enslavement of alcohol.
Karl Marx once called religion the “opiate of the masses,” meaning that religion served as the “drug” to stupefy and dull the people. In our modern day, alcohol serves the same purpose, leaving people and society all the poorer and dysfunctional for it.
Post script:
1) There are few things more hilarious than watching “experts” sit around regaling one another with their thoughts on the merits of one wine over another or how their favourite “paint thinner,” otherwise known as whiskey, is better than another. Studies have shown that it is not objective, and primarily a psychological phenomenon of wanting to seem “cultured” or “sophisticated” or an expert. (Must read this, and this).
2) An excellent report on Canadian drinking habits. This covers almost every issue, some I didn’t have the time or space to mention.
3)
Notice Dr. Huberman’s purposeful use of the word “seem”. Alcohol creates the illusion of normal, the illusion of fun, the illusion of happiness. What it creates is fake and fleeting. We know this because when its effects wear off, the person is left in a worse state than they were before.
4)
Alcohol cannot bring happiness or contentment, only addiction. It takes work to create happiness and pleasure in your life and the alcohol shortcut is always a poor trade of easy instant gratification for the long term consequences of disease and/or addiction.
There is no prettier time of year when the joyful exuberance of summertime gives way to the aging blaze of colour in autumn; before the grey and cold winter signifies another year is done. I’ve gone for a number of long walks just to soak in the beauty of fall. Few things uplift the soul like colour on the trees and sunshine on the face.
Seasons change. Life changes. The old must die so that the new may once again flourish in spring. We all have those things in our lives that we want to put to death, and things we want to change, so that the beauty of the new life may fill us again with the wonder we once knew. Autumn shows us how beautiful it can be to let some things go.
The richness of the Artist’s pallet is a wonder to behold this time of year. The beauty of His brush strokes seems unending and infinite in its creative majesty. We never fully comprehend the depth of the beauty around us and the colours of fall help to amplify nature’s glory and draw our attention back to the Creator. Autumn should be a contemplative time for us; both, of the things above, and the things below. May we never grow tired of nature, nor of the One who bestowed such a gift upon us.
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” –Emily Bronte
By now it should be apparent to anyone paying attention that the Covid pandemic is long over and has been for awhile; the virus has mutated into a common cold virus, and the vaccines have been by almost any sane measure, colossal failures. Despite the govt propaganda, there is absolutely no possible argument to be made for continued vaccination when all the data shows that they have been a colossal failure.
Let’s look at what we now know, that largely goes unreported in the mainstream media news, that shows not only how ineffective and unsafe these vaccines are, but immensely damaging as well.
In a new study, scientists from Harvard and John Hopkins have found that the vaccines are 98 times worse than the Covid virus for human health and assert that it is “ethically unjustifiable” to continue vaccinating people with this experimental technology. The abstract can be found here, with more explanation found here.
The new Bivalent Covid vaccine from Pfizer allegedly has protection for Omicron and the newer BA4 and BA5 strains, as well as the original ancestral strains. (Why on earth are we vaccinating people against the now extinct original strains?) Pfizer presented evidence for this booster from a trial performed on 8 mice. Read that again: 8 mice. All 8 mice did get Covid after being injected. Pfizer also ceased the human trial of the new booster because apparently ‘this update was badly needed and their wasn’t enough time.’ The FDA rubber stamped it.
We now know from a new study that the Covid vaccines are almost 100 times more likely to cause a young adult serious injury than prevent him from being hospitalized with Covid. It has been apparent from almost the beginning that the vaccines have been detrimental to those under 70 years of age and had negative impacts on general health. They have not stopped people from catching the virus, nor spreading it, nor being hospitalized from it.
Denmark has now banned the mRNA vaccines for people under 50 because the risks of the vaccine far outweigh its benefits to healthy people. This was known from the beginning, yet countries like Canada and the US are still pushing these as the only solution. Think about what this means: people are better off getting Covid than they are taking the mRNA vaccines.
We know from new studies coming out regularly that the vaccines do not work. In fact, we know that they actually helped the Omicron variant spread further and faster. Top virologists warned against vaccinating people in the middle of a pandemic; apparently this was a basic scientific principle, yet Big Pharma and the govt pushed these onto a fear-stricken population anyways. These vaccines were neither safe nor effective. They knew this. They knowingly lied.
We know that deaths around the world are soaring. All cause mortality numbers are up between 10-20% globally in highly vaccinated nations. All cause deaths did not really spike in 2020 when Covid was it’s deadliest, but they have ever since the vaccine mandates were put in place. It is not even debatable anymore: more people are dying of all causes since the Covid mRNA vaccines were introduced. Edward Dowd, an ex-Blackrock portfolio manager, has gone over insurance data on mortality rates and there is no question that the vaccines are killing people.
More and more evidence is piling up and showing that the spike protein produced by the vaccines is toxic to the heart. Many were sounding the alarm bells early on about the toxicity of these proteins, but they were silenced and some deplatformed for speaking out. We now know they were right. Myocarditis is real and vaccine induced myocarditis is far more prevalent now than myocarditis from Covid.
We now know from Pfizer’s own documents, that 44% of pregnant women who took the vaccine in the trial, miscarried their babies. Pfizer knew this yet lied to the world that it was safe.
We are seeing a massive spike in cancer cases since the vaccination program started. Can some of it be explained by missed screenings and doctor appointments? Sure. But what is more clear now is that the vaccines are destroying people’s immune systems and many diseases are on the rise. The vaccine destroys that which God designed to protect you.
You “trust the science”? You “trust the experts?” There is no more foolish thing that you can do than blindly trust doctors, Pharmaceutical companies, and govt officials making recommendations about your health. They have been objectively wrong on so many issues and have lied to protect themselves. We know from a recent study that 70% of all medical trials are faked. It is about money; it is not about health.
In Canada, not one person on the Covid response team had an epidemiological or public health background, yet these were the people telling us to “trust the science”? Evil people forced medical treatment on those under their care, not based on any real science, but for their own control and political gain. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered more vaccines per capita than any other country on earth. We are now disposing of hundreds of millions of wasted doses that were paid for by taxpayers with tax dollars that could have gone towards a crumbling health care system that is now broken beyond repair.
A Canadian Liberal MP had an independent study commissioned on the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines only to find out the vaccines did nothing to help reduce sickness and death from Covid for those under 60, with many suffering horrendous vaccine injuries.
It was never a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Anyone with an IQ over 70 knew this was an observable, easily falsifiable, lie. They said this to con more people to get vaccinated. That was it. It was never based on scientific data. They knew this, they lied, they did not care.
It is now apparent that the virus was man-made through gain of function research in Wuhan and released purposely to take away more freedom from people. The vaccines were introduced to harm people and begin a slow depopulation process. I know this sounds almost impossible to believe but there is no other rational explanation for the cult-like adherence to a failed injection. Fear and propaganda crippled the planet and many complied just to “get their lives back.” But as the saying goes, ‘you can never comply your way out of tyranny.’ We must never let this happen again. We must never comply with govt edicts regarding our health; that decision is ours, and ours alone. We must never blindly trust the medical community again for they have failed us. We must stand up to the evil in our midst: name it, point it out, and do not let it control our friends and family. The truth will come out one day, and that which seemed far-fetched and ridiculous will be shown to be the truth. It was not by accident that these things happened.
An atheist was walking through the woods and wondered aloud:
“What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!”
As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him and he turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charging towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. He tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.
At that instant the Atheist cried out, “Oh God!”
Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky.
“You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don’t exist, and even credit creation to cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?”
The atheist looked directly into the light and said, “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?”
“Very well,” said the voice.
The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head and said:
“Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty. Amen.”
I can’t remember where I found this little story but it helps to illustrate another facet of the incoherence of atheism. We’ve all heard the tired line that, ‘if the Christian God was truly loving then there would be no evil in the world or we wouldn’t face difficulties in life,’ or something similar.
Most atheists see this as a “kill shot” in that their superior intelligence just did away with thousands of years of religious belief. The objection is easily dismissed and rejected.
One, God never promised our lives on earth would be easy and that they wouldn’t be without pain and hardship. In fact, they are to be expected. And two, why would anyone think that if they rejected God’s commands on how to live a peaceful and fulfilled life, that peace and fulfillment would come of their own accord? If you reject God, why would God feel some sort of obligation to you to ensure that your life was free from hardship? It’s an absurd claim to make, especially for an atheist who believes there is no purpose or direction to the natural order.
In his heart, the atheist does not want to believe in anyone above him. He has set himself as the god of his own life and only to himself will he have to answer. This objection to God’s existence is merely the outworking of his unbelief in order to soothe his conscience in that unbelief. It is not logical. It is not rational. Atheism by its very nature is incoherent and should never be taken seriously by anyone.
-On June 24th, 2022, Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision that magically invented a constitutional right to abortion, was overturned. It was bad law from the beginning (even Ruth Bader Ginsburg has admitted this) and most who understand how a constitutional republic operates, know this. Yet that didn’t stop abortion advocates from crying about having their “rights” taken from them, which did not occur.
-Abortion is the single greatest evil in society today, by far. A culture that tells mothers they can purposely kill their children and rid themselves of the “burden” they have created, will eventually fall; it cannot survive such willful, ongoing barbarism. Human life starts at conception; this is an undeniable scientific fact. The belief that a human is just a “clump of cells” until mysteriously turning into a human at some random point in pregnancy is the one based on pseudo-religious superstition. Ask any pro-abortion advocate to define a “person” and watch them twist and contort normal words into a pile of meaningless nonsense.
-It is difficult listening to the vapid arguments of the pro-abortion crowd. They will say anything, no matter how silly or dishonest, to state the case for “choice” being all that matters. They are not truthful in the least bit. Everything they say is meant to frighten women, obscure the truth, or denigrate life. Very few can be open and honest about what they are advocating for. I heard one woman in a recent protest video say, “Yes it’s a baby, and yes I’m OK with killing it. I don’t care.” At least she had the fortitude to state the obvious truth that they all really believe. Her words were evil and inhumane, but also a rare moment of truth.
-Great evil can only be overcome when strong men and women stand up and fight against the darkness that has engulfed the hearts and minds of those who would advocate and champion the murder of the unborn. A good society cannot stand if it tolerates such unfettered evil to persist. Even in the face of death threats, the stalwarts of the US Supreme Court should be lauded for their bold stand against injustice towards society’s weakest and most vulnerable.
-A principled Clarence Thomas puts it this way:
-What few understand is that abortion is big business and it is the money behind this industry that fuels the protests, demonstrations, and riots. Hundreds of millions of dollars are made every year from the promotion of abortion for the harvest of organs for resale, and to help with population control; mostly in the communities of the “undesirable.” Those who fight on the side of life profit nothing from abortion, nor from abortion being made illegal. They receive nothing for their tireless work other than the knowledge that they saved lives and did what was morally right. As is the case with most things, if you follow the money, you can usually uncover the motivations of those pulling the strings.
-The weekend following the Roe reversal, twenty-one Crisis Pregnancy Centres were vandalized and attacked, so don’t for one second think these people care about women and their healthcare decisions. They attacked the very people trying to help women through a difficult time when they chose life. If you don’t advocate for abortion on demand for all nine months, they have no interest in you.
-It’s hard to fathom that we live in a world where someone would rather kill their baby than not have sex. I do support the concept of choice for one’s own person and there are many choices along the chain of events in this debate. I support the choice of abstinence, of contraception, of motherhood, and of adoption. I just have to draw the line where some would rather choose the convenience of murder. If someone says they are “pro-choice,” yet also stand for gun control or vaccine mandates like many leftists on that side do, they are not pro-choice at all, but rather, pro-abortion and anti-choice. We need to point out to them this inconsistency and make them own the fact that they advocate the killing of babies according to the whim of the mother.
-The line between good and evil when it comes to abortion can’t be any clearer. History will look at the overturning of Roe much like it looks now at the abolition of slavery or the liberation of Jews from the Nazi concentration camps. History will look back on the pro-abortion side as the bad guys; they will look back on them with scorn and derision for what they perpetrated on the weakest and most vulnerable in society. Black slaves were considered 3/5ths a person, while the unborn baby is considered no person at all. Dehumanize the target, and it becomes far easier to mistreat or exterminate.
-At its heart, abortion is a war against women. It tells women not to fulfill their highest calling. It tells women that with a simple procedure they can allow men to walk free from responsibility. It tells women that a life of casual sex is more fulfilling than motherhood. It tells women that their young party years are something of value. It tells women that life is meaningless if they decide it’s meaningless. It tells women their sole political power in this world rests in their ability to kill their children. Women become the victims under the strong hand of the abortion lobby, yet are told they are strong, liberated, and free. Just another lie they are brainwashed to believe.
-When we consider the magnitude of the lives lost over the decades to the abortionists syringe and scalpel, this might just be the greatest victory for human rights in the history of the world. So June 24th was a good day, but it is only the beginning. The war is not over. Until abortion is ended and looked upon with disgust, there is still much to do. We need to pray for a revival of decency and changed hearts, to view life as something beautiful and worthy of protection. Perhaps it might be easier for some to understand what happened this way: Roe v. Wade was just a clump of words that got aborted on June 24th, 2022.
The US has one of two choices facing them: national divorce or civil war. We are already in the midst of an ideological cold war between left and right and have been for decades, and the divide is only growing wider. If we don’t start the process of separation soon, the only inevitable outcome before us is a real civil war. I know this seems radical to even suggest, but it has become abundantly clear that the left and right can no longer co-exist together. There is no longer any common ground between them. There is no mild language I can use to write about this, for evil must be boldly opposed.
This past week we learned of the leak from the US Supreme Court (in and of itself a criminal act of insurrection against the courts) that they are on the verge of overturning the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 that found the “right to an abortion” within the constitutional Right to Privacy. It was always seen as bad case law but no one had the political will to do anything about it. Overturning Roe v. Wade will not ban abortion in the US, like many of the leftist, blue-haired banshees are screeching about, but rather it will send the issue back to the states to decide for themselves. This is how democracy is suppose to function, allowing the people to decide the laws that will govern them. But leftists hate another’s freedom and do not want a functional democracy where their power is diminished. Summer leftist riot season is now upon us and things are about to turn ugly.
We talk of a “mental health crisis” in this country yet no one is willing to name it: it is modern liberalism or leftism; the ideology of the mentally unwell whose beliefs are anti-human, dyscivilizational, and destructive of all that is good, beautiful, and true. It is a sickness of the heart and minds of these people fuelled by self-loathing, divisiveness, hatred, and cruelty, which they cloak in fake virtue. These are the people that want to laugh, cheer, and celebrate when a baby is ripped from the womb, yet cry at the thought of someone not using their make believe pronouns. These are not good people. They are a dangerous combination of weak and evil, like most tyrants throughout history.
In this latest round of the abortion debate, we have seen the most grotesque the left has to offer. Just today they bombed a crisis pregnancy centre in Wisconsin, and many online praised it. Everything they stand for is anti-human. They champion the murder of babies in utero while trying to save every animal or insect; and yet the irony is lost on them. They want to expand the bounds of assisted-suicide to include the homeless and mentally ill. They want to stop the use of fossil fuels which has lifted more people out of poverty than anything else in history. They want to “protect the earth” through their fake science of “climate change” which will bankrupt nations and kill millions. They want to give drug addicts needles to kill themselves slowly rather than give them the real help they need. They want to let criminals out of jail so they can offend again and again. They want strict population controls that take away the choice of others to procreate. And as the Covid pandemic has clearly shown us, they want to take away your informed consent as to what medications you can and cannot take. They have become a cult that wants control over everything you do. They want the “right” to abort babies up to and including the moment of birth when they are fully formed and viable. This is the depth of depravity we are dealing with.
The Romans use to let babies die from exposure (leaving them in a field to die from the elements) and other ancient cultures use to sacrifice their babies to the god Moloch. The modern left today has returned to a more sanitized version of baby sacrifice to the same god, on the altar of convenience and ease. Abortion is now a sacrament in this new secular religion; a rite that is celebrated by the godless. They despise hardship or the thought of their lives having any unnecessary discomfort. They want to bear no consequences for their own irresponsible behaviours. They want the easy way out. We are no better than the Ancients if we permit this modern version of barbarism to happen to our most vulnerable.
The time has come for a national divorce; the left and right can no longer live together when their views on life, liberty, and virtue are diametrically opposed to one another. We must separate for the sake of peace for we cannot continue down this road of constant division, for it will inevitably result in war. If history teaches us anything it’s that evil will always lead to death and destruction. Without question, abortion is the purest form of evil in society today. We need to geographically separate. We need to allow the leftist death cult to live in the world they desire where life is devoid of meaning and pleasure is the only worthy pursuit. And when their nihilism leads them into such despair that they will do anything to escape it, only then can we let them over the wall to where the light shines. Until then, we can “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,” and we “must expose them.” There can be no compromise on abortion. Ever.
On this Mother’s Day we lament what the left has made of motherhood; of womanhood. We feel the pain of many mother’s whose only child became “medical waste.” We sorrow over the millions exterminated for convenience. And we long for a time when a future generation will look back on abortion as the heinous and immoral crime that it is, much like we view slavery today. We can only hope.
Take up and read; this was the admonishment of St. Augustine to those who wanted to understand Christianity and faith. On January 1st, 2024, I started a one year reading plan of the Bible, something I have never previously done, and finished today, early, on November 28th, 2024; 324 days total. I wanted to do this because a) I had never read it in this way before, b) It would be a challenge for me to stay disciplined, c) I wanted to view the narrative thread woven from Genesis to Revelation in one long, unfolding redemptive story, and d) I wanted my understanding of the truths contained therein to be strengthened.
For years now l’ve wanted to rent an RV or van and hit the open road. A few weeks ago I finally rented a van and spent & days and 7 nights driving, hiking, photographing, and sleeping all over my favourite place on the planet, Utah. To put it simply: it was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had and it is now my plan to make it an annual occurrence.
I do not understand the Christian infatuation over Israel and what appears to be the aiding and defending of them, without question, as they continue their war of retaliation against Islamic terror groups for the attacks of October 7th, 2023. It is not a biblical position as far as I can tell, and the differences between Christian’s and Jews could hardly be more clear. Israel can defend themselves as they see fit. I object to our aid and the notion that we are on the side of God in this battle by supporting Israel.
1) Alcohol Is Highly Addictive: 
Every morning I wake up in a country I no longer recognize.
I am under no delusions that anything written here is interesting or revolutionary. I just enjoy putting pen to paper, typing words onto a screen, and always have. It’s good to look at the world and sort out ideas in your head. It helps keep you from deception and closer to reality. Reading, thinking, writing: it is the necessary exercise for the mind.
It is hard to go anywhere, or read anything these days without someone somewhere blathering on about equality and how important it is to be striving for equality in such an unfair and uncaring world. It has to be said: the world is indeed unfair and uncaring, AND the notion of equality is a complete myth, and an impossibility to achieve. It does not exist, and never will. If it actually did it exist, we would not have to hear about it incessantly by the malcontents who use it as a bludgeon and a weapon to coerce and control others.
It is often asked that, ‘if God is real, why does evil and suffering exist?‘ In other words, why would a good and loving God permit the cruelties and sufferings we witness on a daily basis? That those who reject and mock the very notion of God would think that this same God should and would create a world to their liking, and let them live lives with not even a passing thought towards their Creator, belies the nonsensical nature of the question they ask.
For those that know me, they will generally know of my total opposition to alcohol consumption and its regular use as a recreational drug. For almost 40 years now I have made statements that have raised eyebrows and made people think I was crazy. It’s cost me friendships and not something I’ve ever taken lightly. I’ve probably read more about the effects of alcohol on the body and brain than 99.9% of the population. My opinions are strong and sometimes unintentionally offensive, (especially to drinkers who quickly get defensive), yet all of them are based on the science, studies, and professionals who research the most common psychoactive drug used worldwide. It’s my opinion that most people have been easily brainwashed into our drinking culture will little to no thoughts of its harmful effects, and been encouraged to partake in the adolescent “rite of passage” of alcohol experimentation at a time in their brain development when the substance is its most addictive. It’s hard to convince people of anything these days that they won’t let themselves believe; even in the face of the strongest evidence. I can only hope for those that stumble upon this post that the data presented is at least a little compelling in moving the reader to consider pouring their favourite drug down the drain for good.
Alcohol is a leading 
Heavy drinkers, even while building their tolerance to alcohol in the short-term, 
Ultimately, alcohol is used by the weak; those who need a crutch, those who can’t cope or produce on their own. They drink because their life is missing something they think they will find in the bottom of a bottle. They can’t produce happiness on their own. They can’t produce confidence on their own. They can’t produce contentment on their own. They can’t have “fun” in a sober state. So they turn to a drug to produce the feelings that they cannot, rather than do the hard work of improving themselves and that which is necessary to construct a full, fun-filled life. There are no shortcuts. Alcohol is not a shortcut. It produces the illusion of happiness, of fun, of confidence, of sexiness; only to leave those who rely on it worse off when its temporary, fleeting effects wear off. The continued reliance on a substance in order to find peace or fulfillment or happiness or whatever an empty soul is yearning to find, will ultimately render its user subservient to its addictive power.
There is no prettier time of year when the joyful exuberance of summertime gives way to the aging blaze of colour in autumn; before the grey and cold winter signifies another year is done. I’ve gone for a number of long walks just to soak in the beauty of fall. Few things uplift the soul like colour on the trees and sunshine on the face.
By now it should be apparent to anyone paying attention that the Covid pandemic is long over and has been for awhile; the virus has mutated into a common cold virus, and the vaccines have been by almost any sane measure, colossal failures. Despite the govt propaganda, there is absolutely no possible argument to be made for continued vaccination when all the data shows that they have been a colossal failure. 
An atheist was walking through the woods and wondered aloud:
-On June 24th, 2022, Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision that magically invented a constitutional right to abortion, was overturned. It was bad law from the beginning (even Ruth Bader Ginsburg has admitted this) and most who understand how a constitutional republic operates, know this. Yet that didn’t stop abortion advocates from crying about having their “rights” taken from them, which did not occur.