Feminism, the "Cyborg Theocracy," Demons and Exorcists
Things to think about.
If that title didn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will. Let me explain myself.
Feminism and the Cyborg Theocracy
The last month, I have been feeling quite dreadful as I said in my last newsletter. I didn’t have a lot of energy, and pain kind of kept me from doing a lot of my usual activities around the house. I did a lot of sewing which didn’t require a lot of movement and I listened to a lot of podcasts.
Some of those podcasts were so good, I’ve been thinking about them ever since. The first one was an interview on Triggernometry with Mary Harrington where she discusses her book, “Feminism Against Progress.” Go follow her right here on Substack Reactionary Feminist! She argues that there were at one time two branches of feminism in the 1800s which were at war with one another—the feminism of care and the feminism of freedom. Ultimately, the feminism of freedom won. Shortly after (well, considering all of human history), the first transhuman experiment began with the advent of the pill. We’ve sort of been inexorably drawn down the logical line from there to transgenderism. Where it leads logically after that is deletion of human bodies and uploading our consciousnesses to the cloud. She makes the case against the feminism of freedom, the case against hormonal contraceptives, the case for monogamous marriage, and pleads for the end of “Big Romance.” She’s not a religious person, as far as I’m aware, which many might suspect given what I’ve said about her work thus far. I can tell you: She thinks clearer than most Christians. Bless their hearts.
Back in my twenties, I was quite outspoken against contraception when I noticed how common it had become for young Christian couples to get advice to “wait a few years before you have those pesky kids” by older married people. And I got a lot of blank stares from young Christian nincompoops who would invariably say something like, “the Bible doesn’t say, ‘Thou shalt not use the pill,’ so I think it’s okay. Quit being such a legalist. That sounds soooooo Catholic.” Perhaps if these Christian couples had actually had a few more children and raised them properly, there might be more virtuous young men about for virtuous young women to marry. As it stands, the ratio of unmarried women to unmarried men in the church is something like five to one. That’s a big problem. But this is a rabbit trail…
At any rate, I have despised feminism for quite a while…since I’ve been an adolescent in fact. I hold feminism chiefly responsible for why there are so few good, virtuous men around for virtuous young women to marry. Women are the gatekeepers of sex. When women, who are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit, feel they can have sex indiscriminately without danger of pregnancy, they do. When men, who are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit, are faced with an army of horny women who just want to have fun, be the first female president, don’t have time for no man, and don’t require said man to marry them to get access to their bodies…the men are most happy to oblige. And why wouldn’t they be, especially since they don’t have to be responsible for the woman afterwards? This is because most men are not under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and they will live up to whatever you require of them to get the girl. As a consequence, more children are born out of wedlock, raised in dysfunctional situations, and then repeat what they have observed in adulthood. Contrary to popular opinion, handing out the pill does not lower the demand for abortion.
I hold feminism responsible for the pill—an unnecessary medical intervention into a perfectly healthy reproductive system to make it stop working. What’s worse, gynecologists seem to lean on it as some sort of panacea for every female ailment out there, even though it’s not, and even though I would really love to see better care for common female ailments. Got acne? Here’s the pill. Got bad cramps? Here’s the pill. Got irregular periods? Here’s the pill. Got endometriosis? Here’s the pill. The incessant pill-pushing instead of discovering and developing better options is why I continue to suffer from excruciating monthly cycles. Back when I was younger, I did my homework. The options were either the pill or exploratory surgery and possibly excision…then repeat excision when it all grows back anyway in five years. None of these options are terribly effective, and to me, seemed positively Medieval and fraught with potential complications. So…I just take my monthly medicine like a man and deal with it.
I hold feminism responsible for the absolute disdain with which stay at home moms and homemakers are now viewed. My mom felt it when I was growing up. And I resented it for her, even back then. My mom worked hard. Every. Single. Day. She was no slacker. She was a self-starting, early-rising, bread-baking, house-cleaning, vegetable-gardening, healthy meal-making, cello-playing, piano-teaching, homeschooling wife and mom. But it didn’t matter. You could see people trying to control the disdain with an outward mask of politeness when they asked what she did and she told them…as if they supposed she sat on the couch and ate Twinkies and watched the soaps all day. Somehow, working hard at home for her husband and children was to be despised over working in a cubicle for some faceless corporation. They didn’t notice the quiet little girl standing nearby as they struggled to contain their incredulity, but I was watching them and taking note of what I saw, and I wasn’t impressed.
If it sounds like I’m bitter against feminism, you’d be right. I hate it. I don’t hate feminists, but I do hate feminism. Because ideas are not neutral. They have consequences. And I think what has irritated me the most about feminism, is that so few feminists seem able to admit its harms—harms to women, harms to men, harms to children and harms to the family unit. But I think that’s beginning to change.
Mary Harrington and Louise Perry are the two feminists I’m aware of who are talking about it, but I’m sure there are others. I’m putting the link to the Triggernometry interview just below. I hope you’ll listen to it. It’s absolutely engrossing and utterly inspiring.
Mary Harrington: Why 'Progress' is Bad for Women
And now, about those…
Demons and Exorcists
So, I’m Baptist. I’ve attended mostly Baptist churches my whole life, and I don’t intend to switch to the Catholic Church any time soon. But I found this interview with Father Dan Reehil, the exorcist of Nashville, quite fascinating.
I have had a somewhat skeptical view of exorcism in the past. I don’t readily believe tales of supernatural manifestations of any sort, good or bad. I suppose some of that has to do with all those Frank E. Peretti novels I used to read as a teenager. They were a rip roaring good time with lots of suspense and excitement, but I found all the dramatic casting out of demons and what not a bit over the top. And I had also met Christians who seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with Satan and his legions that bordered on paranoia or…a strange delight almost. All very weird.
On the other hand, I do absolutely know that the devil is real and can interfere in the affairs of men. I know of a situation, for instance, where a young lady (a student of my dad’s) was being harassed by some kind of supernatural being that finally left her alone when she sent it away in Jesus’ name as my dad advised her to do. That all went down in a choir concert my dad was conducting. While conducting, he noticed she had stopped singing and had gone white as a sheet. He asked her later what had happened. She said “it” was coming down the aisle of the auditorium towards her, she did what Dad had told her, and the thing got really mad and then dissipated. It never bothered her again. I also know demon possession is real, because I know a pastor who had to deal with a demon-possessed woman once. (A man’s voice was coming out of her mouth but only when her eyes were rolled back in her head and other weird stuff was going on. Otherwise, she spoke in a normal woman’s voice.) It wasn’t nice.
But it seems to me, in our modern, high-tech times, we Christians are a bit too quick to discount the unseen world, even though Scripture tells us not to do this.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:10-12
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. I Peter 5:8
And there are plenty of other passages warning us to, essentially, not get cocky, but to lean heavily on the Lord in our spiritual battle which is against our own desires and Satan, who is not a make believe person. He’s real.
Quite obviously, Father Reehil is Catholic and says Catholic things. These things always make me scratch my head and wonder, “Where in Scripture is this coming from, because I’ve never read it, and I’ve read all of it?” So, just listen to the good and spit out the seeds.
I found Father Reehil extremely down to earth, not crazed and a little nutty as Catholic exorcists are often depicted in pop culture. The interview was eye opening and, once again, inspiring. Because in all of these situations he describes, Jesus is always the solution. And it was comforting to be reminded, once again, that Jesus is strong and mighty to save. I am utterly safe in His care.
Also, Father Reehil is quite familiar with C.S. Lewis and he gets extra points for that. I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this one as well:
Housekeeping
Hope you all enjoyed Chapter 7 of The Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse. Paid subscribers can look forward to Chapter 8 on Wednesday at 7:00 AM. I hope some of you might consider supporting my efforts to republish the novel by switching to a paid subscription. I would be ever so grateful.
That’s all for now. Until next time, folks…
Thank you.