An empire of lies

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The excellent HBO Series “Chernobyl” portrayed how the endemic lies of the Soviet system led directly to the catastrophic explosion and melt-down of the Cherynobyl reactor. This event, which laid bare the moral rot of the communist state, eventually led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself, for it could not recover from the sheer cost of the cleanup effort and the damage to the viability of Soviet socialism.

I hope the same happens in our culture sometime soon, though I’d prefer it not come in the form of a giant nuclear catastrophe (!).

We too have what the protagonist in Chernobyl called an “empire of lies” that has settled on this country like a toxic fog. Here are some examples.

A NY Times journalist, not a historian, named Nikole Hannah-Jones writes a magazine article introducing the “1619 Project,” claiming that America was founded on racism and white supremacy, and that we are still suffering from the effects of those foundational characteristics to this day.

Never mind that even left-wing historians debunked many of Hannah-Jones’ claims and sloppy historiography, schools have begun adopting the divisive, hateful theories of the Project into curricula and strive openly to convince young students that our country was founded on the perfidy of racism and continues to be a fundamentally racist country to this day.

There is little to no mention of the strides we made to address slavery and racism and how we are a better country for having conquered such social and personal evils. The backers of the 1619 Project believe we are no better off today than we were 50 or 150 years ago, and we have members of Congress saying how our country is “racist AF” (I’ll let you figure out what “AF” means).

This lie of how our country is white supremacist is infecting our social discourse immensely and dividing our country, but is simply not supported by the facts, the laws we have in place, or how we function on an everyday level with each other.

But, this lie is important to the Left because it gives them power, it makes companies bow down to them and donate to their causes, and cows detractors from uttering criticism lest they be called a racist, as I’m sure I will be.

But it is a lie nonetheless.

As is the lie that our cops are racist and out to kill black men. Actual studies of the data by the DOJ and other competent authorities under both Democratic and Republican administrations show that cops are less likely to harm a black suspect than a white one, and that killings of unarmed black suspects is limited to 10-20 per year, not the thousands that the average person in the street often believes due to the incessant coverage and lies of the media (and keep in mind that “unarmed” doesn’t necessarily mean “not dangerous”; more often than not the suspects are resisting arrest or threatening to attack, and cops don’t know if they are armed or not).

These lies about our cops are hurting black people in the main, because cops are quitting or refusing to intervene in situations that then lead to bloodshed and death of black people and children. Murder and crime are up in our country since mid-2020 and most of that is in urban and poor neighborhoods.

Of course, the liberal politicians in places like Atlanta and Washington DC are loath to admit the truth that anti-police rhetoric is harmful to their constituents, so they blame the rising crime on “guns,” as if guns weren’t there before the problem started.

But this is yet another liberal lie that infects our country: that the violence we see in our country is a result of the availability of guns rather than the socio-economic conditions that produce people with criminal tendencies.

To admit that would mean having to roll back decades of failed social policy and cultural attitudes that have led to skyrocketing out-of-wedlock births and single-parent homes.

Those two things, plus the toxic hatred of police, are primarily the cause of our crime, not guns themselves (by the way, the same people who blame guns are also the least interested in rigorously enforcing current gun laws and even go so far as to say doing so is “racist”).

Let’s go to the next example of LeBron James, who recently threatened a police officer with execution for his part in protecting a black teen from being stabbed to death by another teen. By tweeting a picture of the cop with a caption that said “you’re next,” one would have to be as dumb as a stump to believe this wasn’t a threatening gesture.

But this goes in line with LeBron saying he fears the cops and his frequent criticisms of this country as racist and unjust, a country that has made him a very wealthy hero to millions of adult and kid fans, by the way.

On the other hand, this same paragon of justice and human rights turns a blind eye to China and the actual oppression of minorities that goes on there. Suddenly, LeBron and others in his orbit seem to have forgotten about the pervasive problem of Islamophobia and chosen to ignore the plight of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Uyghurs in China who have been forced into concentration camps, raped, tortured, and killed simply for their faith.

But it’s not just LeBron. Our major media and entertainment figures ignore the plight of Muslims, Christians, and others in China because China pays their bills. China also donates massive sums to American universities, and so they stay quiet as well.

Yeon-mi Park is an amazing person who escaped from North Korea in 2007 when she was 13 years old. After entering China, she and her mother were sold into sexual slavery (China’s so great, isn’t it?) but eventually worked their way out of China, to Mongolia, and then to South Korea.

She came to the States in 2015 to begin her studies at Columbia University, where she studied human rights and political science, only to find that Columbia’s professors said almost nothing about China or even the Holocaust, but instead focused on the oppression caused by straight white men in the West today….

Yeon-mi couldn’t believe her ears or eyes. She had escaped not one but two truly oppressive regimes only to find that America, the land of liberty and a beacon of hope to oppressed peoples for centuries, was now turning in on itself and finding “oppression” in every imaginary nook and corner of society and the human soul. She says now that she learned “nothing” at Columbia in spite of its Ivy League pedigree and her videos criticizing woke culture and the PC mob are now often banned by YouTube.

All of this hyped up concern about imagined oppression in the US and the lies used to propagate it in academia, media, and entertainment are really just an attempt to do what lefitst revolutionaries always do, which is to throw the baby out with the bathwater in pursuit of an unachievable and vastly more destructive utopian vision, one that usually requires thousands if not millions of deaths to achieve.

I contrast these people with reformers and true advocates who seek to correct the injustices and flaws of any society while also affirming the basic goodness of that society. These people, like Abraham Lincoln and MLK, seek to help their nations achieve the ideals of their founding principles, not tear those principles down entirely.

That is what’s happening now. And notice: our friends on the left are so busy condemning others that they have little time or energy to look to themselves and their own personal flaws and weaknesses. In fact, they are encouraged to ignore their own virtue, or lack thereof, and only focus on the real or imagined sins of their neighbors.

This outward focus on the wrongs of others is a telltale sign of a poisonous, destructive ideology, and it is one that is wreaking havoc in our nation now.

It is based on an empire of lies almost as pernicious as those in the Soviet Union. But, such an empire will always lose out to the truth in the end, especially as long as people are willing to proclaim and defend it, and are not cowed by the forces of true oppression in our society, like BLM, Antifa, and many segments of the Democratic party.

In God We Trust, and E Pluribus Unum are slogans that are no longer mere sentiments, but are true lodestones for the journey we must take out of the current morass and into a time of true justice, liberty, and peace.

God bless.

Trey Hoffman

Peachtree City, Ga.

34 COMMENTS

  1. I am starting to worry about you, Trey. Or rather, I started to worry about you a while back when I first encountered you, but now I am seriously worried. You need someone in your life. Being so scared and angry all the time about nebulous things like “the left” can’t be good for you. Is everything OK? There is help out there.

    My plan was to refute some of your fallacious assertions (more white people are killed by police than POC? Sure, because there are a lot more white people than POC in the USA — but Black people are 3 times as likely to be killed by police as white people, so … either you don’t understand the numbers or you are actively misrepresenting them).

    But I get the feeling that evidence doesn’t move you, Trey. Facts don’t mean the same thing to you that they do to others, and you are leading with your heart and not your head. Your sympathy for the Uighurs is a beautiful example … it’s so good that you recognize their plight and wish that LeBron James did, too. It’s so lovely that you want China to stop exterminating the Uighurs, and I commend you for it.

    This makes it all the more puzzling that you don’t recognize the plight of POC here in your own nation, where you might possibly be able to help them. But maybe that is the difference. The plight of the Uighurs is pitiful and far removed from you, and it allows you to look down on the government of China and recognize that what they are doing is wrong. Which is to your credit.

    But if you recognize that what is happening in your own country is wrong — that POC are at far higher risk than you are of being executed by police, going to prison, going to prison longer for the exact same offense that you might do, being unable to access the same healthcare you have, even more likely to die from diseases like diabetes than you are — if you allow yourself to see that these things are true, your innate goodness will also force you to recognize that these things are wrong.

    And they are the fault of systemic racism. Not YOUR fault, not because YOU want to keep Black people down, but the fault of policies and attitudes ingrained for our 200 years as a nation: redlining that kept POC from being able to buy homes, gerrymandering and voter suppression that kept their voices from being heard at the ballot box, prejudice that kept Black people from getting good jobs or being able to live in more affluent neighborhoods. These things aren’t your fault, Trey, and if you could bring yourself to recognize that they are true, and they still happen, it wouldn’t be a reflection on you.

    In fact, it would be a reflection on your sincere and open love for justice and equality that you are able to face the sad truth, say this is wrong, and at least allow there should be a reckoning and redress.

    Something is causing you anxiety, and you cannot face the truth about it, but you cannot leave it alone. You want to have your privileged life, but you want to think your nation is the greatest in the world, too. I get it. I want to think that, too. And it causes me anxiety, too. But I can’t keep the anxiety at bay by pretending the evil doesn’t exist. And you can’t either, clearly, or you wouldn’t feel compelled to keep re-stating it in these letters.

    Here’s the thing though. If we are brave enough to face the truth, and begin examining how we might fix the problems rather than denying they exist, America can be the greatest nation on earth, just like we want it to be. Maybe white men won’t be the kings anymore, but who needs a king? Or, even better, what if we were all kings?

    That future is out there, Trey, and you can still be part of it. I believe in you.

    • I’m not sure which is more impressive: The complete lack of factual statement, the toxic attitude, the overwhelming gaslighting, or the fact that it took you 10 paragraphs to write what could have been accomplished in two.

      • MLK: So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

        I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

        I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

        I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

        I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

        I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

        This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

        This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

        And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

        And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.

        PTCITIZEN: I’m not sure which is more impressive: The complete lack of factual statement, the toxic attitude, the overwhelming gaslighting, or the fact that it took you 10 paragraphs to write what could have been accomplished in two.

        HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

  2. Can we please accept reality that the 2020 election results are legitimate? Drop the inane conspiracy theories and accept reality. It’s scary how people are so easily conned by a pathological liar. The last four years have shown how easy it would be to lose our democracy to a demi-god.

  3. Trey Hoffman–
    Surely you realize how ridiculous letters such as this one are–
    a white, middle class, heterosexual, Christian male assuring us
    racism and/or bigotry are not a problem in our country.

    Do you have no friends of color to discuss this with?
    No friends of the LGBTQ+ community you might speak with?
    No friends with different religious beliefs (or none in particular) who would be honest with you?
    Can you perhaps step outside of your circle of male, financially well-off, conservative acquaintances and listen to those who differ from you?

    Until then, you only insult us all.
    You are speaking, as an expert, to a reality you have never experienced.
    Please just stop.

    • Trey’s missives aren’t nearly as ridiculous as your responses. What you lack in self-awareness or humanism you more than offset with pietism and paternalistic disregard. I seriously doubt that you truly know anyone in the groups you enumerated above. I think it’s more likely that you have had a series of casual acquaintances with whom your patronizing attitude has worn thin very quickly. It would be hard to have any deep and meaningful relationships with an insufferable bore living out their savior complex on you.

      Speaking on behalf of the white, middle class, heterosexual, Christian male community (though without any right to do so), we generally have plenty of friends who aren’t. We just don’t shout about it.

      • PTCitizen–
        In your ongoing obsession with one-upmanship ( last time, “Who has the best
        dictionary?” and this time “Who has the most friends?”), you have missed my point.

        It doesn’t matter how many or varied friends, acquaintances, co-workers, relatives, etc. you are fortunate to have
        throughout your life if you do not listen to them and believe them.

        My suggestion to Trey was to stop speaking on behalf of those whose lives are different from his (especially when he contradicts their experiences).

        Hence, you are both welcome to “Speaking
        on behalf of the white, middle class, heterosexual, Christian male.”

        That is, I have no trouble believing you are blessed with a wonderful variety and diversity of friends, PTCitizen. It’s your life when you make the claim.

        But do I believe racism is no problem in our country because Trey Hoffman says
        so? Only in his own life.

        • And you should take your own advice. On the one hand, you should stop speaking as though you were an anointed spokesperson for whatever aggrieved minority group ranks highest in your personal pantheon of identity politics. And on the other hand, you should stop trying to push everyone else into a comfortable little box with a tidy label when they quite clearly do not want to be there.

          If you cared to thoughtfully examine your misapprehensions about race, identity, and aggrieved minority status, you would eventually reach the same conclusion that classical liberals reached nearly 200 years ago: that the smallest and most aggrieved minority is the individual. And if you had any sense of justice, you would only ever treat people as individuals. And if you did that, racism wouldn’t be a problem.

          • PTCitizen–
            Quite often during our exchanges, I am not sure if I have just been insulted by you or inadvertently complimented!

            I tend to be simplistic in my thinking and I suspect you are the opposite–“humanism”, “pietism”, “paternalistic disregard”..
            can’t say I am completely clear on your meaning or point.

            Perhaps it would help to know the meaning and point of my entire life and
            thought process is basically summed up in the definition by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr–
            “A Christian is one who sees Christ in everything.”

            In myself, and in you; but yes, somehow even more in “whatever aggrieved minority group” I encounter.

            If that is what you find so
            exasperating, I’ll take it as a compliment.

          • I nearly spit my coffee out when you quoted Rohr. The guy is somewhere in between Joel Osteen and L Ron Hubbard.

            To say “a Christian is one who sees Christ in everything” is to propose that Christianity is directed towards the material rather than the spiritual. It’s syncretic animism. Simply put, that statement is objectively wrong.

            If that phrase is the “meaning and point” of your entire life, I would encourage you to study and possibly convert to Taoism, which much more fully embodies the aesthetic of that phrase you quoted. But to call yourself Christian while living out a set of values which are contra to the values of Christianity is somewhat unhealthy.

          • Yeah Suz, PTC is correct. The idea of love and kindness have no place in 21st century Christianity. The only requirement now is to genuflect to the orange messiah and condemn anyone who deviates from his profanity-laced directives.

            Get with the program!

          • Umm…yes, PTCitizen, Fr.
            Rohr WOULD see Christ in every bit of creation–he
            acknowledges his “spiritual father” Saint Francis with
            this glorious truth.

            Once again your derisive attempt to make his shared vision an insult, I
            consider an honor. What a
            pleasure to be a part of it all!

          • St Francis taught the creation was reflective of God’s glory. He also taught that creation had been corrupted by sin and needed redemption. To say that you see Christ in nature is to say that Christ himself is corrupted by sin. Do you really want to say that?

            The guy’s exegesis may sell books, but that doesn’t make it right.

        • PTCitizen–
          Deep waters here. Which is why I prefer allowing wise elders such as
          Fr. Rohr to speak, rather than myself.

          I would like to comment on your accusation, “To say that you see Christ in nature is to say that Christ
          himself is corrupted by sin.”

          I trust the presence of Christ in all
          that He created does not alter Him;
          rather He purifies and perfects all
          things by His indwelling. He is just that good!

          I imagine you are spewing out another gulp of your coffee at my
          utter naivety. That’s okay.
          Just don’t burn yourself.

          • Naïve, yes. But misled also. Rohr isn’t a wise teacher. He’s one of the false prophets you were warned about in Matthew 24:23-27. He’s a con man who sells books and conducts neo-pagan retreats in the desert for a solid fee. He’s a new age spiritualist who expropriates the trappings of Catholicism for effect. And a simple reading of the bible (Job 31:26-28 in this case) is enough to refute his comically bad exegesis. If you want a wise teacher, there are plenty of high churches in the area with online and in-person bible studies led by people who have committed a lifetime to the study and understanding of His word.

            Look, I really don’t care what doctrine of faith you choose to follow. But if you profess to believe something, then practice the opposite, well that’s just clown shoes and I’m going to laugh at it.

          • PTCitizen, Richard Rohr is a Franciscan; are you going mansplain his own patron to him?

            Rohr isn’t the one who originated the idea of Christ in all. That would be the Apostle Paul who wrote, “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all,” Colossians 3:11. Christ is all, and Christ is in all.

            Look, I really don’t care what doctrine of faith you choose to follow. But if you profess to believe something, then practice the opposite, that’s just clown shoes and when it’s Christ you’re stomping on, I am going to stand up for Him.

          • I’m fully aware that he claims to be a Franciscan of the Order of Friars Minor. The actual Franciscans of the Order of Friars Minor in the Province of St. Joseph of Cupertino are as surprised at this as anyone else.

            When you order Catholic Theology from Wish dot com, Richard Rohr is what gets delivered.

        • PTCitizen–
          I would be very happy for you to laugh at my clown shoes, rather than being so piqued by them.

          That also includes my clownish belief that there is One Love, One Universal Christ, who is in all and
          every thing.

          How goofy is that? How silly is that? How very, very good is that?

          I look forward to encountering this
          Christ and hearing, “Nice shoes!”

          Namaste!

          • PTCitizen, you say …

            “When you order Catholic Theology from Wish dot com, Richard Rohr is what gets delivered.”

            Ha ha ha! I did not order Catholic theology — I ordered Universal Christ, and Richard Rohr got delivered. LOL

            I do notice in reply that you had nothing to say to refute the Apostle Paul, the originator of the theology Suz and Richard and I are espousing: “Christ is all and in all.” Which is a good sign, that the best you could do was attack RR and not attack the epistle-writer himself. Wise choice.

            Suz, you say …
            “I look forward to encountering this Christ and hearing, ‘Nice shoes!'”

            Again, ha ha ha! Good one. Got to say I’m finding these the most comfortable pair of my life. 🙂

          • Hey, VJax! Let me know when to quote Fr. Rohr’s
            “Christ is another word for everything”. That should qualify us for the red rubber nose! HONK!

      • I love our little group here! First Trey says something delusional and offensive, then Suz points out that he is off track, then PTCitizen attacks Suz — not for her refutation of Trey’s madness, but just accusing her of lying or being too ignorant to tie her shoes, then I wade in to defend Suz, then PTCitizen attacks me for being even dumber than Suz if possible. It’s madcap merriment all the way down … Today though I want to respond to Trey, so I will skip my usual defense of Suz here only to say, of all the folks in this thread so far who claim to be Christians, hers is the only definition I can get with. Which means I must see Christ in Trey and PTCitizen as well as in Suz and myself. And Colin Kaepernick. Peace be with you!

        • This series of exchanges is priceless. We see two ladies displaying every fruit of the spirit while being taunted and criticized relentlessly by a know-it-all, Trumpite “Christian.” I wonder who pleases their Christ?

          Truth is stranger than fiction!

          • Stranger Than Fiction–
            For what it’s worth, your
            generous comments brought a huge smile to my face. Thank you.

            But be careful–PTCitizen
            will have you fitted up in
            full clown gear if you keep
            exhibiting such kindness!

  4. After penning a rant against every “other” he can condemn, Hoffman concludes:

    “This outward focus on the wrongs of others is a telltale sign of a poisonous, destructive ideology, and it is one that is wreaking havoc in our nation now.”

    You really can’t make this stuff up!

  5. The Republican Party doesn’t have a governing agenda. It’s a pathetic predicament but obvious to anyone who stepped foot in Trump’s White House. One reason congressional Republicans are focused on cultural issues – Dr. Seuss, fake red meat regulations and a handful of transgender high school athletes around the country – might be to avoid judgment on how they used power: no health care reform, no infrastructure package, heading toward 600,000 dead from the pandemic, and the attack on the Capitol.

    The strategy is simple: Obfuscate, lie, change the subject and hope voters hold the other party to a higher standard. It’s cynical, un-American and, as exasperating as it may be, effective.

    • The Democrat Party doesn’t have a governing agenda. It’s a pathetic predicament but obvious to anyone who stepped foot in the Biden-Harris White House. One reason congressional Democrats are focused on cultural issues – Reparations, Defunding Police, LGBTQ issues – might be to avoid judgment on how they used power: no health care reform, no infrastructure package, heading toward 600,000 dead from the pandemic, botching vaccine distributions, and portraying the mostly peaceful protest on the Capitol as some kind of insurrection.

      The strategy is simple: Obfuscate, lie, change the subject and hope voters hold the other party to a higher standard. It’s cynical, un-American and, as exasperating as it may be, effective.

      [See how that works?]