Letter #84: Would you Like Pralines 'N Creme With Your Abortion?
Your Choice
Spencer-Mania
Regarding the lovable hellscape that is the internet, I was talking to your sister Faith the other day, and she said something very much to the point. You know she has this podcast Storytime for Grownups where she reads classic works of literature aloud and explains some of the more difficult language and concepts. So she just finished going through one of her favorite books, Jane Eyre. And like all of us, she promotes her work on social media.
“My social media is lovely!” she says, laughing. And of course it is! All her followers are delightful, civilized people who only want to talk about stately homes and Victorian customs and madwomen in attics. It’s only when you or I retweet her that the people who are angry at us—the damnation mongers and the Jew haters and the raging know-it-alls—suddenly come swarming through her feed like a horde of demons at a tea party. Faith be like, “Yikes! What was that all about?”—then offers her guests another plate of crumpets and goes back to explaining why Rochester disguised himself as a gypsy fortune teller.
Which is to say: if you and I find ourselves surrounded by the more unpleasant denizens of cyberspace, we have to acknowledge it’s because we chose to draw them to us. If they turn our online spaces into outposts of their demon-haunted hearts, well, maybe we should take it as a compliment. Maybe the King of this World doesn’t like us anymore than we like him and sends his loudmouth fiends to plague us. But we can’t blame anyone but ourselves for the sadness of it. As they say in all those gangster movies I love so much: “This is the life we have chosen.”
Choice really is our subject here. Free will, to use another word for it. Technology expands our choices by stripping our actions of their natural consequences. Sex without pregnancy. Porn without shame. Gender without obligations. Weight loss without discipline. Self-expression without showing your face. And what an array of selections! You can drink a half-caf vanilla latte or eat pralines ‘n crème ice cream or rip your unborn child out of your belly with a forceps! I’m a pralines ‘n crème man myself. Man, that stuff is good!
In a way, technology makes the world look more like Eden. It’s almost paradise—but you’re free to choose to turn it into hell.
One of the letters I get most often begins with the words: “How can we convince…?” How can we convince others to do right or love God or stop voting for the bad guy? And there is an answer, but it’s not the one anyone wants.
Technology has put before us blessings and curses, life and death. All we can do is joyfully choose life and hope that those mired in the misery of their furious convictions yearn to follow along.
Dad
Dear Klavan team
Just wanted to let you both know how meaningful your running commentary is to me. I look forward to reading both of your analyses and perspectives on life every morning. Both of you provide a most insightful and unvarnished look at the truth behind what is taking place during these crazy times.
In your commentary today, you note how you get attacked by some very angry and hateful people and, as you note, it is just part of the price one pays for speaking the Truth honestly. Most importantly, I do want you to know that there are so many more of the people like me who have learned so much about life and what is truly important by reading your articles and listening to you on your podcasts. As you have stated, you tell us the truth no matter if it hurts you or not and for that I am indeed most grateful.
Know how much you have sacrificed to follow the path that leads to God and you are one of the individuals that I most respect for having the courage to do so.
Will keep you all in my prayers.
God's rich blessings to you all
I don't know how serious you are about the "horde of demons" comment, but I assume you are dead serious. One of the surprising things in the gospels that stands out in the grand narrative of Scripture is how much Jesus confronted demons (the apostles still a little in the Acts). It seems that hordes of demons appeared with the dawning of God's great salvation in His Son, and they knew who He was and that He had authority over them. It seems to me we need a much more robust demonology to function as God's faithful people in this empire of lies, and unfortunately we are prone to a cartoonish caricature of evil instead of recognizing the demons for what they are, and speaking to them unapologetically and authoritatively in the name of Jesus from a position of not being captive to them. Unfortunately, we're sheep without a shepherd in this regard. The way in which the serpent gains power over humans is by enticing them to accept his lies. "Sin is crouching at the door," God warned Cain. "Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." That rule starts exactly as you say, by choosing what is good, true, and beautiful. and rejoicing in it. Because Jesus is risen, rhythms of grace will always exert more influence than the drumbeats of doom, but they are calmer and easier to miss if you've grown inattentive to those frequencies. We have been given the means of grace and the hope of glory, if only we humbly embrace them for the treasure they are. You help me a lot to do that, and I'm so grateful.