John Calvin and critical race theory – Accident in Sequoia – An anti-vaxxer infected with COVID – Evening statistics
In 1536 the first edition of that enormously influential book, Institutio Christianae Religionis (or Institutes of the Christian Religion), was published and disseminated throughout Europe. It contains, among other topics, an expansion of the concept of original sin. The concept was not new, of course; many Church fathers were adherents of this doctrine even before Augustine (354-430), one of its most vigorous proponents. But this work not only expounded the idea more systematically than any of its predecessors but included the idea of “particular election,” that some few individuals – chosen, apparently, completely at random – are designated by God for salvation, with everyone else being condemned to eternal punishment.
It is obvious that the proponents of the so-called “critical race theory” think exactly along the same lines. Kate Slater, an assistant dean of Brandeis University, recently announced that “all white people are racist” and that she hates “whiteness.” Brandeis University is a private institution that costs about $57,000 a year per student, and its student body is only about 5% black; but that makes no difference. According to Slater and her ilk, I am condemned to eternal hellfire (or at any rate its secular equivalent) on account of my race and sex, and there is nothing I can do about it. On the other hand a black person, and a black woman in particular, has a chance of being one of the “elect.” The proponents of critical race theory are thoroughly orthodox Calvinists, although they probably don’t know it.
A disquieting event occurred on Monday, when a man lost his balance and fell, fatally, about 500 feet from the summit ridge of Mt. Russell in Sequoia National Park. He was hiking with two others; one of these tried to catch him but was unable to break his fall and she herself fell about 30 feet. She was injured but is in good condition. Considering that a group of us will be going to Sequoia National Park ourselves in a few days to hike there and that some of the planned hikes are in the Mount Russell area, this occurrence is a fairly dramatic reminder about the need to exercise caution. Sequoia is one of the most dangerous national parks in the U.S., with only three others exceeding it in the number of deaths over the past ten years: Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Great Smoky Mountains. I have hiked in all three of these, with no noticeable ill effects, but it is just as well not to be over-confident when venturing on the trails that any national park contains. Incidentally, Shenandoah National Park, which I and my friends visit so frequently, is by no means free from risk; it has had 25 deaths over the past ten years.
Pastor Rick Wiles, a fervent opponent of vaccination (he has described the COVID vaccines as “global genocide”) has come down with the COVID virus and is now so severely ill as to warrant being sent to a hospital for treatment. His church has posted a request for congregants to pray on his behalf and to repost this request on their own social media pages so that “there’s an army of people praying.” I fear that this episode will not end happily. He may recover.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 172,391,667; # of deaths worldwide: 3,705,311; # of cases U.S.: 34,151,486; # of deaths; U.S.: 610,951.
The link to the complete journal is: https://betulacordifolia.com/?order=asc