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This week, we are revisiting an earlier essay three years after its publication for an updated analysis. [editor]
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, was born August 27, 1770, in Stuttgart, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, which is now present day Germany.1 He died November 14, 1831, in Berlin. He was a German philosopher who developed a dialectical scheme that emphasized the progress of history and of ideas from thesis to antithesis and thence to a synthesis.
- Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! —Isaiah 5:20-21
It is vital to understand that Hegel’s dialectical scheme2 is not based on any classical, or Aristotelian representational model, which holds that a proposition is true if, and only if, it’s obtained in reality.
For example, the sun [subject] is shining brightly [predicate]. Instead, according to Hegel, reality itself is dynamic and changing, and therefore, the usual subject/predicate distinctions must necessarily be qualified. Hegel argued against the binary view that a well-formed, meaningful, and factual proposition must be true or false (either p or ~p is necessarily true for statements of facts) is rejected for a triadic formula that claims a proposition (p) conflicts with the opposite (~p), a “higher” truth (synthesis or p’) that will “mediate” and “resolve” the truth of both. (p) and (~p)
The process must inevitably continue ad infinitum until (p’) later conflicts with (~p) resolving into (p.) In other words, the main idea is to seek consensus, not “true truth” as Francis Schaffer would say.
Hegel’s “dialectical Method” of reasoning is founded on the syncretistic idea that conflict and resolution is the way of “truth.”3 It’s important to understand that for Hegel, there are no absolutes—no real truth, no moral authority. Of course this must also mean there is no allowance or acknowledgement for a Judaeo/Christian God, and therefore by extension, no allowance for any categorical imperatives that are non-negotiable. The truth claim, as an injunction, such as “do not murder,” or “do not steal,” or “do not commit incest,” is subject to discrediting, and will be either assimilated or discarded altogether.
For Hegel, and for his followers throughout modern history, everyday reality is subject to a fluid process that should be directed through various techniques of social manipulation, like disinformation, propaganda, and rewriting history, in the effort to move “onward and upward to perfection.” Hegel called this the “realization of Spirit,” or, the quest for “Freedom.”
If an influencer can control the conflict, for example “terrorism versus freedom,” he can dominate and control the outcome—the synthesis. In the event there isn’t enough conflict to accomplish the objective, the Marxist adherents to the Hegelian dialectic will create and manufacture the conflicts for us. There is a word for this: diapraxis. It is an amalgam of dialectic and praxis—Greek for practice. Credit for its origination must go to Dean Gotcher (pictured).
Three years ago, Black Lives Matter appeared almost overnight disrupting major cities with rioting, looting, beatings, and murder. Objections and push-back ultimately led to conflict resolutions that were designed to usher everyone toward “freedom” from racism—with which Americans were already making steady improvements since the Civil Rights Act. But freedom should NOT be confused with liberty. Using subversion, protests become the first step in the march for violent insurrection. History will bear this out. Think about it. What was the objective of the Black Live Matter movement? Peace? Brotherhood? Good times? Who really was the spokesman? Where was the organization headquartered?
There are two questions to ask following the summer of 2020 when America was torn apart.
1. If black lives really mattered to people like Antifa—and certainly BLM—then why weren’t they attacking the abortion clinics in big cities all over America? In 2021 African-American women composed 13.9% of the US population, yet these same women represented nearly 40% of all abortions.
2. If racist police brutality was the reason for the call for eliminating or defunding all police departments, then why was there no protesting the disproportion rate of homicides involving black-on-black Americans at the time? The record rate is significantly disproportionate and shows little signs of improving anytime soon.4
- There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. —Proverbs 6:16-19
With an understanding of the Hegelian Dialectic we can see there is a good deal of connective tissue with the crises that were the viral pandemic and the widespread rioting. But there was another clue to be found if we were looking for it. It was the Bostock Decision rendered by the Supreme Court in June of 2020 that extended protections against employment discrimination to the LGBTQ+ community under Title VII of the same Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin.5
Was that decision able to usher in a great effort to administer conflict resolution and consensus mostly through litigation in America like it was expected? Or, did it give legitimacy to sexual lifestyle on the same footing as the immutable traits of race or sex? Worse, did it have any influence on the drive to legitimize transgenderism and the re-emerging threat of pederasty? The answer to all these question is… a resounding yes.
While these times look very troubling right now, there are indications that there is hope for pulling out of the tailspin the nation is currently in right now.
The family
School board meetings and city council meetings have become scenes of the kind of honest grass roots citizen protest we are not used to seeing. However ironic, this was due to two important factors, both involving the so-called public schools. First, with the COVID lockdowns, students were forced to stay home and learn remotely. Statistics now reveal this period has adversely impacted these students.6 Secondly, parents now saw for the first time what their kids were being taught as fact—racism, and radical transgender ideology. For a sizable percentage of student’s parents, this was shocking. Complicating matters even further, these same outraged parents then became the target of the Department of Justice, who viewed them as domestic terrorists. Again, ironically, parents saw this as part of a grand scheme.
The Church
- And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. —Matthew 16:18
There is unavoidable evidence that the institutional churches in America have remained largely quiet and acquiescent concerning the threats to liberty, free assembly, and equality. Why this is so, is difficult to say precisely. But, as the saying goes, figures don’t lie. However, this steady decline in church attendance since the COVID lockdowns7 is not the true standard for the Church victorious. We are a people, called by His name, who must stand in the gap, clinging to The Truth. HIs truth is our strength and our comfort.
As for Hegel, there is no possibility for synthesis with this truth.
1. Knox, T. Malcolm, Britannica, (2023, June 22) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Georg-Wilhelm-Friedrich-Hegel
2. Parsons, John, Hebrew for Christians, (2007, August 14) The Devil’s Logic: Pragmatism and the Hegelian Dialectic, https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Hegelianism/hegelianism.html
3. Miriam-Webster, (2023, February 2) syncretism, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syncretism
4. Latzer, Barry, National Review, (2019 December 5) The Need to Discuss Black-on-Black Crime, https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/12/22/the-need-to-discuss-black-on-black-crime/
5. Anderson, Greta, Inside Higher Ed, (2020, June 15) Far-Reaching Consequences, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/06/16/landmark-supreme-court-ruling-could-redefine-title-ix
6. Ayyub, Rami, Reuters, (2022, October 25) US student test results show toll of pandemic lockdowns on learning, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-student-test-results-document-pandemics-toll-learning-2022-10-24/
7. Wang, Wendy Institute for Family Studies, (2022, January 20) The Decline in Church Attendance in COVID America, https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-decline-in-church-attendance-in-covid-america
