annatar1914 wrote:No problem, it helps more than you know perhaps.
I am happy to hear this. I enjoy these discussions.
annatar1914 wrote:Yes i've seen several of his videos online, and it appears that he is not of the sort who engages in a false ecumenism, which clergy of different faiths engage in when they begin to believe in none of them, but rather that he sees a definite unfolding of Islam's eschatological dimension-in which the Muslims have an ally for a time at least in the ''Romans'', and is applying it to present and ongoing events.
Very much so. That he criticised the janissary institution and insisted that Hagia Sophia remain a church suggests that he is a man in possession of some level of empathy and respect for other civilisations, a trait which is so lacking among all peoples in this day and age.
annatar1914 wrote:The history of heresy as it falls away from the true Catholic Church of the Orthodox faith is such that it can last in an indefinite state attempting to overcome the Faith for a good 50 to 300 years, as with the heresy of Iconoclasm. Then it dies out or becomes something else, with the older assembly hanging on for a little while. So that is what happened with Papism, it started around 800 AD as a tendency or cluster of Western tendencies which fully developed and became clear in 1054 AD. Protestantism started up as the full expression of this really in the 1400's with the Hussites and John Wycliffe, then later Martin Luther and John Calvin in the 1500's. Some 300 years later give or take, from Protestantism grew Mormonism as the theological end state of the Western spiritual culture.
Do you think that the mercantile nature of a lot of these European societies influenced the situation in some way? And perhaps the political culture as well. Perhaps if Europe had not been as scholastic it would not have been possible for it to go astray. If we look at many eastern countries it was not structurally possible to head down such a trajectory as the West has done because there was simply no opportunity to do so. The existence of heavily urbanised mercantile societies in European towns of the late Middle Eages and Early Modern Periods were fertile ground for what would later become the ultra-liberalism we know of today. I truly think that peasant societies were more or less immune to this. And not to romanticise illiteracy but the educated merchant class were the ones who were drawn to a lot of these ideas and internalised them.
annatar1914 wrote:I'd say, an immoral universe. It was more like the Caucasian standard in my grandfather's time, and it may return somewhat to that type of respectful behavior, but I think it'll take some severe shocks to the system for that to happen.
Yes, you can still see it in traditional Western families. Even small customs, for example, waiting to eat before you are invited to do so, wearing nicest or best clothes depending on the occasion, formality, eye contact when speaking to people and not interrupting. Honesty, holding doors open for people, being respectful and cautious around women etc.
It's very hard to explain but there are many people in the West who still hold onto these values. In a society like England some people would call this 'posh' but this type of decorum is not related to class and the upper classes are by no means in over abundant supply of it either.
annatar1914 wrote:Seems that way, that's why I get frustrated at places like PoFo, where I feel like a stranger in a strange land, and so many conversations feel like a mutual incomprehension or aversion even to the idea of absolute truth itself on the part of some.
I understand very much what you say about mutual incomprehension but I encounter this in daily life as well.
annatar1914 wrote:Yes it is, which is why I think it is successful to an incredible degree in the Western world where other beliefs struggle to survive. It has a myth and a narrative that appeals to the natural man of the Western world, a narrative that they already tend to believe about themselves and about reality, the historical details alone being a slight hindering to their conversion, in an age in which many people in the West know very little history to begin with.
It also seems to be very much a frontier religion and appeals to frontier or settler societies. It encourages hard work and strong bonds of solidarity between its followers as well as a strict moral framework. Is it true that the Mormons have wanted to make themselves America's national religion?
Mormonism is quite popular in New Zealand.
It is entirely possible that once the West gets tired of the current direction it is heading down a lot of people may turn to Mormonism.
annatar1914 wrote:Yes, and when you can transpose those ideas into a religion like Mormonism as if they had divine sanction, those principles are seen as literally sacred scriptures. To Mormons, the American Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights, are Sacred in the same sense they hold the Bible and the Book of Mormon and other documents, as being holy also.
This could be a type of return of the religious dimension that was meant to underpin Western liberalism before it became secularised which is another point in Mormonism's potential favour in the eyes of future Westerners.
annatar1914 wrote:Thank you, I do believe that it works and is answered in some fashion.
I would like to pray more.
annatar1914 wrote:Very few look at what is truly important in this world.
This will change everything;
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/r ... mb-n896422
As I have said in other places and times, some events are a kind of diversion on some level for other events, while people are busy and distracted they do not see, they do not notice, even if they should.
I have said that the Islamic Republic of Iran would become the new center of World Revolution, with it's Theo-Ideology as an integral part, and that the ''Left'' would convert to that and be absorbed. When it is confirmed (for I believe that they already have them) that Iran has nuclear weapons and the means to send them long distances via missiles, the balance of world power will change in Iran's favor, and the ''Left'' will act and believe accordingly. In fact, Islam universally could turn Twelver Shia almost ''overnight''.
We are very close to it. These countries that have recognized Israel are doing so to indicate where they stand in relation to these upcoming developments; if Israel and the United States do not firmly act, it will be far worse for them in the longer run.
Some time ago it appeared that the global influence of Islamism was going to shape world events in a significant way. Perhaps it can still do, however I feel that after 2015 there has been a decline in the global appeal of Islamism, including among Muslim diaspora communities in the West. Certain events, most notably surrounding the Caliphate in the Middle East after its defeat and the atrocities it committed seem to have extinguished the appeal of Islamism globally for now.
Iran's government will have trouble exporting its revolution to Sunni countries. Of course there are Iranian aligned Sunni Islamists but they are not as common. Salafism will make it difficult for Iran to spread their ideology in Sunni countries.
What I think is emerging now with 'wokism' is a type of Neo-Marxism. This will probably influence the near term future of the West more than Islamism will. However, further down the line, that is to say very far down the line, Islamism could again gain a foothold in Western countries, especially if the ultra-leftist current ends up how I suspect it will. Westerners may want moral guidance and see Islam as an option. Is this how you think events could unfold in the distant future as well?
A Shi'a scholar has already written a book addressed to Western audiences where he suggests Shi'a Islam as a possible solution to the West's ideological future.
Conversion to Islam would for Westerners be a major step. It is a distinct possibility that by the end of the 21st century we will witness a lot of conversions to different religions as well as see a return to traditional denominations. This ties in with your theory about Mormonism as well.
There have in the past been leftist Westerners who have been drawn to Islam and converted. To reject the ultra liberalism of a Western lifestyle would be the greatest obstacle to such conversions but as time progresses and the culture becomes more vapid and hollow there could be a turn to spirituality.
I do not think that Imam Mahdi will be a counterfeit. In Islamic eschatology he will not attempt to take the place of Christ and Muslims believe that Christ will return at the end times. The counterfeit(s) will probably attempt to impersonate the Mahdi and I wonder if this could trick a lot of people. I suspect that the counterfeit will try to deceive people by impersonating Prophets and religious figures from all around the world. We could maybe see the performance of false miracles. This Antichrist will probably establish some false satanic religion that the masses of the people will not be able to tell is evil.
I do not think the Antichrist will come from any of the revealed religions, but I do think it is highly likely that it will attempt to impersonate Prophets and religious figures from all confessions as a means of deceiving humanity.