Is Paganism on the Rise?
The culture war has been misrepresented as a struggle between reason and belief, but the truth is, the battle that lies before us is a spiritual one with deep historical and existential roots. As in the days of ancient Rome, our civil foundation will continue to be defined by either a return to paganism or toward the transcendent God of Christianity.
Just watch the latest awards show, talk show, or halftime show and see how pagan ritualism and sensuality is promoted and how it's spilling into the greater social and political spheres.
I've consulted with an expert on these things and he was gracious enough to share his thoughts.
Dr. Peter Jones, a PCA pastor and former professor at Westminster Seminary. He is originally from Liverpool, England and is the Executive Director of truthXchange. Dr. Jones has devoted a majority of his life to the study of new age mysticism and offers a real inside perspective on the grand plan to paganize the globe. He's a true scholar and intellectual academic whose research and experience provides real legitimacy to the anti-'agenda' movement.
Hello Dr. Jones, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
Is America still a nation where freedom of religion and religious expression (and freedom of conscience) can continue to thrive? Can these founding principles at least coexist within today's highly politicized postmodern landscape?
In the name of freedom, specifically freedom from hate speech, we are facing a neo-Marxist totalitarian ideology that denies to others the right of expression and insists that radical egalitarianism is the only just system. Because it is so radically religious, ultimately it can never allow the “errors” or threatening ideas of the other side to be spoken. For the moment it has not taken power.
If secular humanism is not the default neutral direction of our secularized world where do you believe we are headed?
Secular humanism is in decline. We now live in a “post-secular” age which seeks to include in “sophisticated” 21st century thinking the claims of pagan spiritualities that secular intellectuals once considered pure superstition.
Who are the major players and influences shaping the culture and future direction of America? In what specific realms do they operate? Are there any areas they have yet to infiltrate or are their efforts part of a comprehensive, coordinated agenda?
The future direction of America and the West in general is towards a so-called “non-binary” egalitarian future utopia, where all distinctions are eliminated and all-is-one “non-binary” peace will reign. This utopian vision involves in particular a decided pagan influence upon both sexuality and spirituality which together express the essence of human existence. In sexuality, every day we hear of the importance of the elimination of the “gender binary,” even taught in our primary schools calling for the elimination of disruptive terms like “boy” and “girl” and normalizing both homosexuality and transgenderism as civil rights and acceptable behavior. This is a “coordinated agenda” because it is possible to speak of the power of “sexual politics” which denies to traditional sexuality any acceptable voice or social place. In the same way, but on a different level, non-dual or non-binary spirituality seeks to eliminate the essential idea of the Creator/creature distinction and our distinction from God our Maker and Redeemer which is the essence of the Christian faith, a faith which is more and more under attack. Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, in particular, was essential in the development of this so-called new spirituality. He espoused a pagan ideology that emphasized the joining of opposites, and thus relativized right and wrong, male and female, and other relationships.
What exactly is paganism?
Paganism is the denial of any transcendent reality, replaced by the worship of human this-worldly reality. Paul said it long ago: “…they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Romans 1:25)
We must make a faith decision between these two alternatives -- and there are only two possibilities.
Either:
God and nature are distinct and together make up reality. Then all is two, and everything is either Creator or creature. I call this binary TWOISM, expressing a heterocosmology where “otherness” or the “binary of distinction” is the key to the cosmos;
Or:
if the universe is all there is, then all is ultimately one. This is non-binary ONEISM which sees the world as self-creating (or perpetually existing) and self-explanatory. This represents a homocosmology [“homo” means “the same”], a world where everything is made up of the same stuff, whether matter, spirit, or a mixture. There is one kind of existence, which, in one way or another, we worship as of ultimate importance and thus divine, which means worshiping ourselves. The classic term is “paganism,” the worship of Nature, or of all things natural.
The emphasis on the “non-binary” in everyday life is a sign for those who understand, not of civil rights but of constant religious indoctrination.
How have various forms of paganism and occultism gone mainstream?
When people say they are “spiritual but not religious,” they are claiming to be able to invent their own Oneist religion, and by all intents and purposes, this spiritual freedom has gone mainstream. The God “in whom we trust” is now publicly dismissed as” a magic spirit that created the universe that we do not need,” implying we can now all invent our own religions. Satan worship has gone public. A member of the Satanic Temple in Missouri has filed a lawsuit against the state that alleges that her religious rights are violated by the state’s abortion restrictions. Meanwhile an Irish priest and exorcist is asking his country's bishops for more support after noticing a dramatic increase in demonic activity across Ireland. [Also See “Open Occultism and Millennial Magik” truthxchange.com regarding the rise of Witchcraft].
Will there continue to exist a separation between church and state in this county moving forward?
Not necessarily. But the “church” may well morph into futuristic forms of pagan worship, in a joining of pagan temple and state, as in the Roman Empire, where the Emperor was head of state, commander in chief, and pontifex maximus, high priest of the religion. It could happen now because it has happened before.
How is the eradication of Christianity part of the agenda? Why is the year 2030 so significant?
As in the Roman Empire, citizens had to confess that “Caesar is Lord.” “Christ is Lord” was not allowed, often punished by death, because ultimately, as Paul says, there is an irreconcilable clash between the Truth and the Lie (Romans 1:25). Oneists ultimately know this and must extinguish the truth of Twoism because the Lie is eventually threatened by the Truth.
[See my book, The Coming Pagan Utopia (Main Entry Editions, 2013)].
Regarding 2030, the leading pagan progressives, called by non-religious sociologist Ernest Sternberg, “world purificationists,” believe they will take over in the near future. Sternberg claims “we are in the midst of a worldwide rise of a non-religious apocalyptic movement.” [Ernest Sternberg, “Purifying the Word: What the New Radical Ideology Stands For,” Orbis 54 (Winter, 2010), 61-86]. He is only wrong in calling it “non-religious.”
Is there any hope for the future?
The pagan system will once again ultimately implode because it cannot work in a God-created world.
Once again, thank you Dr. Jones for your time and invaluable insights!
I highly recommend Dr. Peter Jones’ amazing teaching series titled Only Two Religions in which Dr. Jones sheds major light on the origin and rediscovery of pagan thought in high places and elite circles throughout the world and specifically here in the States. It is a real eye opener and a must watch for anyone truly interested in knowing what's going on behinds the scenes.