WILL OF THE WISP : THE MYSTERY

You guessed it, didn’t you—that

I am drawn inside because

I feel the pull of the mysterious,

a curiosity about the edge of

the known, bordered by the

little-known and the unknown-

but-sensed as well as the unsuspected

and the impossible. How utterly deadly

life would be if there were no mystery—

everything cut and dried and shelved.

Do you know about the angler

fish and the flying monk,

or esp at the time of death?

And have you felt the insistent throb

of curiosity at certain quiet moments?

How is it that being in nature soothes,

the effect measurable by scientists?

The life of the invisible “mind” goes on,

experienced or not, or not yet.

Nan

You can tell me. In a recent post I suggested the right’s new insistence on making abortions illegal was due to our failure to replace our whiteness as a country. (“Oh so that’s what it’s all about,” January 2023)

I remembered seeing a reference somewhere–that I didn’t pursue–that one of our leaders had called for “more foetuses.”

Since then I have seen complaints that there is a Conspiracy Against Whites, and then I became aware of earlier political concerns and activities of former Rep. Steve King, a prominent Iowa Republican and a vocal advocate against illegal immigration, who tweeted in 2017 that “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” (CNN, Theodore Schleifer)

Following the shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., focus has been trained on the “replacement” theory, also known as “white replacement” theory. That’s because a white man, who killed 10 Black people and injured three others, posted a 180-page document online that promulgated racist conspiracy theories often referred to as the “great replacement.”

And he allegedly used the conspiratorial idea that minorities were and would be replacing whites as a reason to justify what he did…The ‘great replacement’ conspiracy theory isn’t fringe anymore, it’s mainstream

I kid you not–it’s in Time magazine this week, by Isabel Wilkerson, author of “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”

In 2021 for the first time, the USA’s white population showed a decline–the only racial or ethnic group to do so, by 8.6%. (Time magazine)

What has the drift resulted in?…The groundswell to outlaw abortions; increased killings and harassment of non-whites, the contrived accusation of “replacement theory,” the forced abortions in refugee quarters [female immigrants in custody] the stranglehold in the public schools on children’s minds about reality, the attack on adult pairings of couples unlikely to produce offspring (LGBT), taking with it the U.S. Supreme Court…

In Georgia, after a woman’s embryo has reached six weeks of gestation, people are allowed to claim them on their tax returns by allowing the state to include fetuses in the state’s population counts. There is a suspicion that red states are trying to swell their numbers so as to have a greater impact in Congress.

“Replacement” theory began in white supremacist circles, but has since moved more mainstream on the political right in this country and among many Republicans, explicitly or implicitly.’

I think mine may not be a conspiracy theory but referring to a Conspiracy, in which Christianity is taking the rap, which apparently Christian Nationalists are all too glad to do.

In fact, it sounds more like old-fashioned psychological projection to me. I’m curious what you think…

At last some publicity for positive action from Christian groups! Apparently the positive efforts from Christians against Christian Nationalism have gone largely unacknowledged. About his own article by Daily Kos staff writer wesmorgan1, he says:

One of the common arguments found here at Daily Kos is that US liberal/progressive religious believers in general, and US Christians in particular, aren’t “fighting back” against the Religious Right and Christofascists in theological terms.

That’s a false perception, and it’s exacerbated by the lack of media coverage of such actions when they occur. It isn’t just a question of denominational entities like the LCMS; when’s the last time we saw significant media mention of Lutherans for Social Justice, Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Evangelicals for Democracy, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, or any other religious group fighting the good fight? (For that matter, when’s the last time you saw a DK staff writer cover any of these groups in any detail?)

I wrote this article, in part, to illustrate that point. Beyond the linked article by Jack Jenkins of the Religious News Service (who does excellent work in this area — check out his Twitter timeline for examples) and commentary in various Lutheran sources, I can find no mention of this event in any other media outlet of significance. NYTimes? Zippo. WaPo? Bupkis. MSNBC? Nada.

If a tree falls in the forest, but CNN doesn’t issue a BREAKING NEWS alert…you get the picture.

Nan’s Comment: Bravo. See the post he (wesmorgan1) wrote at Daily Kos Feb. 23, 2023:
Lutheran Leader Calls for Excommunication of White Nationalists

During a recent genealogical search I came across a poem that was posted in the local newspaper:

THE POET FOR COUNCILMAN

To The Voters of the Town of Martinsville

Two years ago as you know well
The ticket bore my name
And if you scratched it off or not
I thanked you just the same.
Again I ask for your support
Not that I claim to be
A better man than others are
For all of you know me
But promising to ever stand
For what is just and true
I will simply sign my name
And leave results with you.

Yours to serve,
J.L. Minter, The Shoe Maker (?)

(From Nan: Just thought you’d like a breath of fresh air, smile)

100 Forever Stamps 2017 U.S. Flag USPS First Class Postage Stamps Coil of 100 PCS/Roll
$29.99 Select options”

Ad · Counterfeit Postage Stamps

Some time ago I did a post about counterfeit U.S. Forever postage stamps and asked readers about them. No response. Now I’m seeing them advertised far and wide, with hints they may originate overseas, as in China.

Huge discounts on postage stamps usually point to scams. Have you noticed how much things have changed in todays super hyped world, with its sophisticated equipment, capabilities for mass production, and access to online platforms and social media?

Real stamps are printed using special ink that fluoresces under UV light at a certain frequency. Special machines detect stamps that don’t glow and reject them.

A collector discovered a new development related to the packaging of a counterfeit coil that might have outed the country of origin for at least one of the fakes. The words “Made in China” in English appear on a sticker affixed to shrink-wrap surrounding a hard plastic cup with a lid containing the coil roll of counterfeits.

US Postal Service Alerts re Counterfeit Stamps Onlinehttps://docusend.biz › blog:
If you are Buying Online Postage Stamps, don’t fall victim to stamp fraud: here’s what happens if you buy bogus stamps. Counterfeit postage is forwarded to the Postal Inspectors for further investigation. The mail piece may also be returned to the sender and held for postage due.

USPS warns you’ll have to look carefully to see whether they’re fake, however.

To confuse things just a little, the Post Office is also selling first class stamps online with “Forever” marked through–at least that’s what it looks like it means

There is also a site called usstampsonline.com, with a USPS2023 label. Someone took the time to insure more than 300 favorable reviews, (somewhat suspiciously). `In addition to sites advertising counterfeit stamps are barefaced sellers clearly identified–Teraw, Artofsmith, etc. An ad on Yahoo I can’t figure out: Ads · Counterfeit Postage Stamps for sale.

Purchasing stamps from a third-party wholesaler or online websites can be unpredictable. You have no way to verify whether they are genuine or not. The Postal Inspection Service recommends purchasing from Approved Postal Providers. Approved vendors can include legitimate “big box” or warehouse retailers who do provide very small discounts on postage stamps, but this is through resale agreements with the Postal Service. How can we know?
What to do? Be certain you’re getting the real thing, purchase your stamps from the U.S. Postal Service at a location near you, or online at http://www.usps.com.
Customers who have questions or wish to report counterfeit stamps should call 1-877-876-2455 or go to http://www.uspis.gov.

If our Post Office really has some cut rate stamps it might be best if they would refrain from stepping into competition with the crooks. We know there are and have been (as under Warren Wilson) questionable behaviors by U.S. postmasters, but it feels like most of our culture is dirty already.

______________________________

Originally I was fretting that our policing force might attend to fraud against a branch of government instead of so many attacks and murders of our non-white neighbors. Then a reference to overseas origins, if true, made continuance of the fraud a little more understandable. Shouldn’t that be a federal offense anyway? With the possible exception of the January 6 hoodlums, I get tired of seeing special people (as in millionaires) receiving primarily money sentences. Do folks really think they can buy their way into heaven?