Posted on by Abe Austin

Us vs Them- The Danger of Virtue

An Unbalanced Scale)

In my last post I described my shock at the gleeful, public praise for the murders of Brian Thompson and Charlie Kirk, as well as the support for continuing assassination attempts against Donald Trump, as well as the deriding of members of the LDS church after the shooting of their congregation in Grand Blanc, Michigan. I was particularly shocked by the cases of Brian Thompson and the LDS church massacre, where the victims seemed to have not been chosen because of any personal offense they had committed, but because of their appearance, association, or presumed beliefs.

I have realized the very real possibility that I might be crossing paths with people who have unashamed murderous intent against me, even though they don’t know me on a personal level, simply because I have some characteristic that they have determined is worthy of death. Perhaps because I am White, or male, or Christian, or traditionally conservative. They might be able to look at me and immediately identify me as their sworn enemy, but I will have no idea that they are mine.

And that is the terrifying imbalance that the virtuous and the principled have to contend with. Those of us that still believe that people are innocent until proven guilty, that believe that individuals are individually good or bad, and that you do not know which are which until they show you, we are put at a disadvantage where we cannot pick out our enemies so quickly as they can pick out us. They can kill us before we even know that we need to defend ourselves from them.

The Temptation)

If the threats and the killings continue in our society, there will be many of the virtuous and principled who begin to waver. They will look for patterns in those who are targeting them, and they will not be content to live at a disadvantage to them. They will start to adopt the same sort of “us vs them” thinking where they paint an entire swathe of people “bad,” and they will go to war with them. There will no longer be any regard for the individual, only for the collective.

There is a reason why wars tend to divide on simplistic lines. It is hard and it is dangerous to treat everyone as an individual. It is easier to condemn an entire nationality, race, or religion. To point at them as a whole and say, “that is my enemy, all of them are my enemy, and I can kill any of them and know that I am furthering my cause.”

That is the easier path. The pre-emptive path. But I think anyone who still has an inkling of conscience, knows that it is also the wrong path. We know it is unjust to assume evil in others, even if it seems more strategic. Tomorrow, I would like to use my last post in this series to talk about how to be faithful in dangerous times such as these. How do we keep our souls, even when it might cost us our lives?

Posted on by Abe Austin

Us vs Them- The Breaking Point

A Shocking Realization)

One of the most horrifying things of the past few years has been to witness the open enthusiasm and support for symbolic murders. In December of 2024, when Brian Thompson was killed in the streets by Luigi Mangione, it was not in response to any particular action or policy that the CEO of United Healthcare had enacted. Certainly, people had their criticisms of the company and the broader industry as a whole, but there was nothing particularly anti-consumer about Brian Thompson. Indeed, he had only been CEO for four years, and critiques of his company long predated his tenure and will continue long afterward. He was killed simply because of what he represented: the entire healthcare system.

It is safe to say that virtually no one in America had even heard of his name before his death. None of us knew his politics. None of us knew his morals. None of us knew what sort of husband or father he was. None of knew whom he had helped or hurt in his personal life. None of us knew if he was ultimately a good man or a bad. And yet, thousands of voices came out on social media to praise and celebrate his killing. Nothing about the actual man mattered, all that mattered was his job title.

This was when the mask came off and I was horrified to see the monsters that lurk in our daily society. The murder itself was terrible, made even worse by masses who approved of it, made worse by the fact that those masses felt absolutely no inhibition in crowing about it in public. There was absolutely no fear of social ostracization, of real-world consequences, of meaningful rejection. People saw absolutely no downside to cheering on a murderer like they were cheering on a football team.

Then came the assassination attempts against Donald Trump. Mainstream celebrities made light of them and even called for further attempts. Then there was the successful assassination of Charlie Kirk. People publicly called for the rest of his family to be slaughtered next.

It hasn’t just been violence against political or public figures, either. On a more personal note, members of my own church were slaughtered during their services last year in Michigan by a man who openly professed his hatred of the LDS faith. While there has not been large social support for what he did, many so-called Christians used the opportunity to ensure others knew we didn’t believe in the “correct Jesus.” Once again, there was no hesitation for public derision of murdered innocents. It is this open and blatant disregard for propriety that has so shocked me.

Scary New World)

Of course, we have always known that there were monsters hiding in the closets. But they were supposed to be exceedingly rare. Only the clearly and seriously broken in the world would be so depraved, and I guess I never realized how many people there are today that fit that category. And also, the monsters were supposed to be in hiding, constrained by social pressure from stepping into the light in their hideous forms. Now they march out boldly and without apology. When what is said in the public square is already inexcusable, what does it say for society’s darker secrets?

One clear takeaway is that “us vs them” thinking is alive and well in our culture, and that it is deadly serious, too. There are people who are willing to kill others just because of select characteristics, and others that are willing to publicly support it.

It is nothing new to think that you know what the problem in today’s world is. To think you know what ideas are causing harm. To think you know which people are driving the detriment of society. But it is an extra leap to then decide, “and everyone of that group is culpable and worthy of death.” To not deal with people as individuals, to not see them as potentially redeemable. To see the world as only able to improve with the violent removal of that category.

Of course, these developments put immense fear into the hearts of those who most often hear themselves vilified in the public square. We become weighed down with the knowledge that anyone around us might be a potential killer. We start to view everyone, especially those different from us, as a potential threat. And this, of course, leads to “us vs them” thinking in the opposite direction.

I want to delve into that shift tomorrow. How a population that is willing to talk out their problems becomes radicalized towards violence instead, and the dangers that loom ahead of us if we do not have a powerful course correction now.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Us vs Them- Shifting Towards Tribalism

It is commonly understood that “us vs them” thinking only brings out the worst in people. It frustrates efforts for peace and even becomes a justification for terrible atrocities. All my life I have been told that we must reject this sort of thinking. I have been told that knowing one part of who someone is does not give me the entire picture of them. That I must appreciate the nuance in people. That I should seek to understand people as individuals.

I find this to be excellent advice. All throughout my life I have had the opportunity to associate with people who believe very strongly and very differently from me. People with contrary religious beliefs, inverted politics, and opposing social agendas. And in each and every case, I have always found it worthwhile to shelve my assumptions and actually get to know these people. I have had open and frank conversations about our strongly different views, with an emphasis on understanding the good reasoning that led us to such different outcomes. In every instance, I have discovered an individual. A sensible person. A rational and coherent brother or sister. I often still disagree with them, but I can appreciate where they are coming from. I have learned that even someone who I think is “wrong” still has that spark of divinity within them. Even those that feel differently from me are still children of God.

So I agree with those sayings that we’ve all heard countless times. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” “Walk a mile in their shoes.” “90% of an iceberg lays beneath the surface.” We’ve all heard these nuggets of wisdom since our childhood. We’ve all repeated them when someone was making unfair assumptions.

But then…why is “us vs them” thinking still so common? In fact, why does it seem to be growing stronger every year? Perhaps it was always this way. Perhaps it is our default way of being, only overcome by deliberate choice. If that is the case, then more and more, we do not seem to be making that choice as a society.

As I have recognized this worrying trend, I have had thoughts about what it means for the future, the imbalance that it will create in society, and the obligation of the faithful in the face of the trials ahead. I will spend the next couple days discussing those thoughts, and hopefully we will be able to find an ark in the midst of the rising flood.

Posted on by Abe Austin

True Connection Through Vulnerability

True connection with another cannot come from surface-level interactions. To have a bosom friend requires knowing one another at the level of the soul. Real connection like that comes only through vulnerability, and vulnerability always involves risk. If there wasn’t risk, it would not, by definition, be vulnerable. This is why making true friends is not easy, it is a dangerous business. It means giving others ample opportunity to really hurt you and hate you, but trusting that they will honor you instead.

And, of course, some of the people that we are vulnerable with will let us down. They will betray our trust; they will wound us in our tender places. Being willing to still trust anyone after that is hard. It may go against our natural instincts. It is like being struck on one cheek and then turning the other. But, of course, that is exactly what we are called to do.

True connection with God is no different. It comes by going with Him into most vulnerable of places: our shames and our sins. By acknowledging and confessing these worst parts, we give Him every justification to hurt us and damn us, but we trust that He will forgive and heal us instead. Coming to God is a dangerous business, but it is the only way to become His true child.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Power of Your Voice- Summary

Some Concerns)

Over the course of this series I have examined the notion of our voices being powerful, looking through the lenses of historical observation and scriptural example. Key takeaways that have emerged are that yes, our voices our truly powerful, but there are some very important caveats and concerns related to them. Specifically, we identified the three following issues:

  1. Not everyone has their own voice. Many use their voice only to echo the ideas and feelings of what is popular. Thus, they are not so much a voice as a loudspeaker for another person’s voice. It should be the great endeavor of all of us to find who we truly are, and that will only be accomplished through God. Only when we are our true person will we have true voice to share.
  2. Voices are much more powerful when compounded and interwoven. Communities that remain isolated remain stuck in the past. Ones that commune with each other make great leaps in technology and ideology.
  3. Combining voices gives great power, but that does not necessarily have to be good power. Indeed, we have seen that the more interwoven the voices of the world have become, the more we have developed the tools of our own demise. Self-destruction increases in lockstep with creation, creating a situation where our power to eradicate ourselves far outstrips our power to protect.

Conclusion)

Combining the first two points together, we see that there can be incredible power in keeping people mindless, making them drones repeating the same incantations over and over in unison. This is exactly how the most incredible acts of evil have been accomplished.

But surely that is not the only form of unity available. Every now and then, in brief and isolated moments, we get a glimpse of what happens when voices remain distinct, authentic, and self-authored, yet unite over shared ideals. On a larger scale, we have examples of this in the growth of the early Christian church, in the founding of America, and in the healing of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. These are only a few examples. There are other, smaller ones that occur all throughout the world.

True utopia will only occur when all the world is in such a state of individual synergy. Only when people have universally found their true selves, through God, and use their unique voices to progress the unified heavenly vision will we attain the ultimate potential of mankind. We can only imagine what incredible leaps and bounds we will make then. It will be an uncompromised advancement such as we have never seen before.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Power of Your Voice- The Dangers of Our Voices

Compounding Power)

We have discussed different aspects of the power in the human voice. As shown in the last post, when different voices are combined together the power grows exponentially. There are even scriptural examples of this, such as when the shout of the Israelites broke down the walls of Jericho. That is very impressive, but whether it is a good or a bad thing depends on which side of the wall you are on.

As we saw in the last post, the compounded power of universal communication has led to the most tremendous advances in technology, which have included many things that are good for mankind. But at the same time, we have also increased our methods of self-destruction. Historically that has involved the creation of artillery shells, nuclear bombs, and the ability to hack a nation’s infrastructure systems. Today we are seeing all-new threats, such as individuals becoming displaced by robotics and AI and social media dividing us into deeply entrenched factions. Our ability to divide and destroy has always grown in lockstep with our ability to create.

The scary thing is just how far our compounded power extends. Just as one Israelite shouting at a time would never bring down the walls of Jericho and one man working at a time would never build the Golden Gate Bridge, so too our weapons of destruction surpass any individual reach. Once these looming threats start to tip over, it will be well beyond anyone’s power to right them before they come crashing down on our heads.

Divine Forewarning)

And this danger was already known thousands and thousands of years ago. It was recorded for our own education, but we did not heed it. In the book of Genesis, Chapter 11, we read:

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.... And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

There was one language, and one people, and they spoke with one voice, desiring to build a tower all the way to heaven. While the scriptural account does not get explicit in their ultimate intentions, tradition has assumed it was to for a direct assault on heaven. Whether literally or symbolically, their effort was to make something so great that it could dethrone God.

Breaking from the hand of your own creator is logically the greatest act of self-destruction that anyone could ever do. Thus, it was an act of mercy and preservation when God broke their tower, and made them unable to combine their voices, and scattered them across the world. Yes, it made them weaker, but it also limited their ability to destroy themselves.

Today, we have progressively broken down those barriers. We have rediscovered each other, learned one another’s language, and found ways to combine our voices as one. We are much the same now as the people who built the tower of babel, and we seem to quickly be approaching another act of hubris and self-destruction.

Of course, every vision of paradise does necessitate all the people united as one, but it assumes that mankind has learned to let go of his tendency for self-destruction, so that he may unite without danger. That certainly has not happened today, so the danger of our united voices is very, very real.

Posted on by Abe Austin

A Pivotal Moment- Introduction

Shifting Tides)

It has been my perception that society has been shifting over the past couple years. This observation has inspired a few different posts from me as I have grappled with the larger implications and pitfalls that such a moment entail. My tone has been cautious, because even though I do see some positive changes, transitory periods are as full of danger as they are potential.

People seem more and more willing to have conversations now that they weren’t earlier, more and more willing to call out long-standing problems that used to be unspeakable. That is a prerequisite for needed improvements to be made, but it isn’t a guarantee that we will actually end in the right place. It is entirely possible that we will shove off from one dangerous shoal, only to run aground on another. Perhaps one that is even worse.

I don’t normally speak very directly about current affairs, preferring to let my messages be universally applicable. In this case I will be a little more specific, though hopefully my message will be able to stand separate from the details of this particular moment in time, being useful for all of the future pivotal moments that society will inevitably find itself in.

Examples of Change)

Of course, when I speak of shifting trends, the one that probably comes foremost to mind is the result of the 2024 US Presidential elections. Many have interpreted that election (and other similar ones around the globe) as an indictment of extreme progressivism, a sign that transgenderism and DEI would no longer be winning agendas for the left. There wasn’t even the predicted wave of retaliation votes for the overturning of Roe v Wade, suggesting that America was at the very least apathetic on the matter of so-called Abortion Rights, if not outright opposed.

Clearly something has changed, but so long as we only concern ourselves with these surface movements, we are missing out on the far more significant tectonic shifts happening deep underground. The changes in the political climate are but a sign of deeper ideological transformations, ones having to do with our spirituality and personal identity.

Before continuing further, I need to take some time to try and define these core issues and how they first came into being. Something took root in society decades ago, and it metastasized into various malignant forms, including the modern forms of abortion, atheism, depression, feminism, racism, and sexual and gender identity. What is it that lays at the core of all these? And what does the fact that some of these outer tumors are declining say about how things are developing down at that core?

These are tough questions, ones that I am admittedly still figuring out, but I will try to take a stab at them with my next post. After that, I will attempt to forecast possible futures that we might be moving towards, and whether we should feel enthusiastic or concerned.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 5:20-23

20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

21 And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

22 And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Now begins a pattern that we will see many times over. The Israelites would suffer some setback, they complained to Moses, and Moses entreated the Lord. Most commonly during these complaints the Israelites would desire to return to things as they previously were, and that is also the case here. In verse 21 the Israelites’ complaint was that they were no longer valued slaves of the Pharaoh. They had lost their savor to their cruel taskmasters. What a strange thing to want to go back to!

Obviously, there is a little more to it than that. They made clear that they were afraid of “the sword,” meaning afraid that the Egyptians would slay them now. But still, when they had prayed and prayed for the Lord to deliver them, did they not fathom how His doing so would incense the Egyptians against them? Did they not realize that they would necessarily make enemies by gaining their freedom? So yes, it makes sense to be afraid for one’s life, but if they would rather have enslavement than the dangers of freedom, why pray for the freedom?

Perhaps because they did not expect the Lord to save them this way. Perhaps they expected the Lord to send heavenly angels to slay all their enemies for them and make their departure smooth and easy. Certainly, many of us do the same in our own lives. We pray for God to just magically evaporate all of our problems at no cost to ourselves. But as we’ve already seen in the Biblical record already, and as we will continue to see many times throughout it, that doesn’t tend to be how God solves problems. God gives us what we need, but He does so through a process, through dangerous and difficult means. He most often makes us an active part in our gradual deliverance. If we want the worthy reward at the end, we have to be prepared to take the difficult path that leads us there.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 32:6-8

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

Jacob received an update from his messengers, and it did not sound promising. Esau was coming with four hundred men, an army, more than enough to kill Jacob and his entire household. And this isn’t all. Apparently, Esau did not provide Jacob’s messengers with any response that might set his brother at ease. He set out with unspoken intent, leaving Jacob to assume the worst.

In this dire situation Jacob came to a most heart-wrenching solution. He would divide his camp in two, so that if Esau came with violence half of the camp could try to flee as the other was consumed. This would mean saving half of his home, but only at the sacrifice of the other. At least in that case he wouldn’t have to decide which would be the surviving half, chance would decide that for him.