David Skribina’s *Jesus Hoax* is a very important, highly readable, but incomplete book, which everyone should be aware of.
Skribina builds an excellent framework for thinking about the historicity of Jesus, the original and real nature of the Christ movement, and who really "invented Christianity."
I say that his book is incomplete in the sense that Skribina takes Nietzsche's insight and intuition from *The Anti-Christ* and fleshes it out, but then leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
In essence, the actual Jesus, if he existed, was something altogether different than the icon of Jesus that came to be known over the past 2,000 years.
Nietzsche admired Jesus, as a pure-of-heart mystic. Skribina is more inclined towards the "Rebel" or "Zealot" theory, which Reza Aslan recently plagiarized in a book by that title. Jesus was likely crucified as a revolutionary—a wannabe Jewish king, not a rabbi or peacenik.
The key thing is that everyone involved in original Christianity was a) Jewish and b) possessed by a seething resentment of Rome, much as Jews loathed every expression of Aryan dominance and greatness throughout world history.
Judaism marks a kind of "Jahwehist supremacy." According to the Bible, a roving band of slaves, malcontents, liars, and fanatics were "the chosen people" and, indeed, the wicked god they worshiped invented the universe! It's comical and grotesque when looked at with clear eyes.
Paul's Christianity marks a development from this basis: the meek shall inherit the earth—and their savior is a Jewish god-man. It's a universalist, leveling, anti-Roman creed—but one which centers on (and protects) Jews and Judaism.
Christianity was thus a conscious strategy on the part of Paul. In the wake of the absolute failure of the Jewish revolt on Rome—which led to the destruction of the Temple and crucifixion of the rebel known as Jesus of Nazareth—a "third way" had be found.
Paul thus invented the leveling, world-rejecting religion that would soon take humanity by storm. Uncovering the actual message of Jesus thus becomes a difficult task; we're dealing with scraps of evidence and one must, by necessity, use intuition and take interpretive leaps.
I say Skribina's book is "incomplete" in this sense. He features plenty of quotations from the Old and New Testaments, revealing the utterly Jewish and overall heinous nature of these creeds.
That said, Skribina doesn't fully explain the system behind Christianity: how did it have, and continue to have, such popularity, influence, and power? Just saying that it valorizes the weak and ugly and promotes equality isn't enough.
It's true, on one level, that Christians have always misunderstood their own religion. But on another level, they have understood it all too well. How exactly does this process of crypsis and influence and mystery operate?
Mark Brahmin's upcoming book—REM—touches briefly on the "historical Jesus" question. But its main benefit is its discussion of the means by which Judaism and Christianity influence art and media and the overall psyche of Western man.
*The Jesus Hoax* and *REM* are different books, but they seem to be signposts pointing out a new path for Western man—one in which we can achieve a destiny beyond the bounds of Jahweh and Christ.
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We've had our daily freakout from the hall monitors over Tucker's latest comments. Apparently, he's endorsing "The Great Replacement" theory and leading to the rise of White Nationalism.
This is a typically hysterical and wrong take, and it's important to discuss why.
Once upon a time, conservatives just talked about race, or, more accurately, Blacks. Then, with Reagan and Atwater, they used euphemisms like "forced busing," "welfare queens," and "Christian schools." Enter Tucker, and they're now talking about "voting rights."
Note that conservatives failed at every step of the way, even when they were talking openly about race (or, again, Blacks). Leftists can shriek about how Tucker's comments "lead to White Nationalism." The overwhelming factor, though, is the progressive dilution of the rhetoric.
Clarence Thomas correctly defines social media networks as "akin" to common carriers, like electrical and phone companies. This is the best way forward in answering the de-platforming question.
Republicans were too stupid, lazy, beholden to money to act on this critical question while they had power. At the moment, many Democrats are arguing for *more* censorship, and Biden has gestured towards ending §230. All seem to agree that Big Tech "monopolies" are the problem.
Big Tech's monopolies are not the problem. Monopoly is a reality in the digital age; beyond that, monopoly is a feature of these platforms: you can talk to everyone everywhere.
One interesting theory about Jewish intelligence, put forward by Richard Lynn and others, is that the pograms and local and state-level oppression of Jews turned out to be "eugenic" in a way.
Jews who had a "sixth sense" about these things, or who were very sensitive to which way the wind was blowing—both of which are a kind of intelligence—would flee *before* oppression and violence occurred, having intuitively analyzed trends.
The Jews that suffered through oppression—which is, of course, highly detrimental towards reproduction—were the ones who stayed home or who lacked the resources or ruthlessness to get out. The more "plugged in," diasporaic, even "paranoid" Jews survived and reproduced.
The #SnyderCut trailer succinctly summarizes a meta-political and theological vision.
Stage 1: "God is Dead"—Superman/Christ sacrifices himself so we can live. And in Snyder's imagination, God is dead—and we killed Him! The Jewish-presenting Lex Luthor, possed by jealously and human-centric commitments, subjects Christ to withering critique and dastardly schemes.
Interestingly, Snyder depicts the Death of Jesus as also leading to the destruction of the Classical world, represented by Diana ("Wonder Woman") and Themyscira.
One of the most mesmerizing things about Trumpism was the '80s nostalgia—the vapor-wave and meme magic that emerged online in 2016. The '80s was a simpler and more naive time ... when America was more self-confident, arrogant, and reckless, like Trump.
Biden evokes the utter boredom of the 1990s—a decade without a defined style. As a man, he embodies qualities of Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, and George W. Bush all rolled into one. His newfound popularity expresses a desire for a sheltered, flat "centrism" in a fragmenting age.
We seem destined for a decade—at least!—of Boomer presidents, each evoking nostalgia for half-remembered moments from our past—or periods we "remember" through television.
Both George W. Bush and Donald Trump were extremely damaging presidents—to the world at large but also to the movements that surrounded them.
No one, not even Republicans, endorse foreign wars for “freedom” anymore, and Bush’s failed second term coincided with a crisis among White evangelicals and the expansion of atheism among the young.
The fact that evangelicals embraced Donald Trump with such unity and passion is an expression of their desperation.