I read this post from the Palmer Report earlier today. At first I thought is was a joke. Then I realized the author was serious. Out of extreme curiosity where these views came from, I checked out his website (https://www.palmerreport.com/). It was full of editorials and news articles talking about how great Biden is doing, how successfully he is standing up against Putin, how he is leading the world to peace, how the crashing numbers in the polls don't mean anything, and how the Trump universe is continuing to teeter on the edge of destruction and Trump will soon be in prison for his crimes while in office. It struck me like Breitbart from Clown World. 

Palmer Report @PalmerReport www.palmerreport.com

President Biden has brought back the economy, vaccinated, the nation, expanded our infrastructure, is in the process of saving us from World War III, and may take down Vladmir Putin. That alone puts Biden on Mount Rushmore.

And I realized this is what half the people believe. And no matter how absolutely unbelievable any of this is to me, they believe this. And then I had a shocking realization - if most people I know were to take a look at the conservative stuff that I read, they would respond the exact same way. "How can you possibly believe that shite!?" 

And it made me really grasp the size of the perceptual gap that has developed (more likely "been created")  between the left and right, to the point where we can't look at the other's point of view without incredulity, if not outright disdain and ridicule. I have to admit that I fully believe I am right in my beliefs grounded in traditional Judeo-Christian values, which are True and Eternal. But for the first time tonight, my thinking has changed from feeling how stupid others must be for believing their version of the narrative, to realizing they are thinking the same thing about me.  And I thought about what is different between me and them, and I realized the importance of two things.

First, the information sources you believe. Once you understand that 90% of mainstream media is owned by 6 companies, the realization is that true alternative sources are needed to get any perspective beyond the hivemind.  Second, realizing the anchors religion provides in life - everyone I know who has gone hard left has also told me they don't believe in God any longer. Smart people, good people. Successful people. Successful enough to feel they don't need God anymore.  And morally flexible ("enlightened") enough to be fully accepting of moral relativism. Without strong moral absolutes, the smartest minds can contort concepts of "good" and "bad" into some pretty bizarre conclusions. 

I do believe we are pretty far down the biblical timeline. Based on Biblical prophecy and the reported apparitions over the past 150 years, I believe we have a limited time. I know that Mary told Lucia at Fatima that "the final battle between God and the Devil will be on the nature of the family."  That is one topic where God and Society currently seem to have very different perspectives, so I believe that battle is fully enjoined. I also know that in 1884 Pope Leo XIII had a vision of Satan telling God he can "destroy His church" (turn all humanity away from God) given 75 - 100 years to do so. God replies "You have the time, you have the power. Do with them what you will." (FWIW, Vatican II convened 75 years later.) These both seem to indicate we are in or fast approaching the "End Times". 

I don't know where our societal schism will lead us. I find it ironic that Islam has attracted many western followers who felt Christianity had become too soft, and they like the clarity of Islamic law with absolute right and absolute wrong. While at the same time, people (including many in Church leadership) criticize the Catholic church for being too stuck in the past and not in tune with Modernity. And the end result is both these groups do not see the Church as a means of salvation. And if there is no means of Salvation, then there must be no need for salvation, amirite? The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the word he doesn't exist. 

Wartime wisdom states "there are no atheists in foxholes." Many don't sense it, but we may already be in our foxholes - the lives we've built, the values we've built them around, may be our battleground Home more than we could have ever anticipated. Will where you are now take you to where you want to spend eternity?  Jesus said to Peter "Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  Probably a good time to re-read (or read) Revelations. The story is already written. We know who wins. Why would you want to be on the other side?!? Get right with God while there is still time.