Johnathan Cahn has become a controversial pastor. A cursory glance through the internet shows many differing beliefs about whether or not he is a false Prophet. Upon reading his book, The Paradigm there was nothing necessarily prophetic as such. Rather, it described a pattern nations follow when there is a prophecy that is on its way to being fulfilled.
Mr. Cahn goes to careful lengths to demonstrate that though the paradigm fits right down to years that correlate to Biblical baddies and their life decisions that affected Israel, it does not necessarily imply that the people named–usually Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton–are the embodiment necessarily of these people. Rather, they are following a pattern that is similar to what characters like Ahab and Jezebel lived. The main point is that these case studies in “what not to do” in the Bible share a lot of commonalities with the political platforms and careers of the above-named–specifically those matters which concern abortion and child sacrifice. Mr. Cahn comes very close to insisting that these overlaps are something like what Carl Jung would have termed the “expression of the collective conscious/unconscious”.
There is a tendency then, when dealing with these unconscious but familiar patterns for people to lose the division between the pattern and the person. Nowhere is Mr. Cahn suggesting that Hillary Clinton IS Jezebel–not once. Rather, what he does suggest is that there is an uncanny level of connection BETWEEN the life of Jezebel and Hillary Clinton. In a similar sense there is also an overlap between Ahab and Bill Clinton. Likewise, there is a similarity to Ahab’s son, Jehoram and a likeness to Trump and Jehu. He makes a further nuanced point that belief is not necessarily about political parties, but that if you happen to be against killing children it tends to put you into the Conservative party since the Democrats have been standing upon abortion as a key element of their political leanings. The book argues, quite simply, if you are for the pagan God Baal, you are against YHVH. Since Baal worship includes homosexual relationships and child sacrifice, then if you are against that you are for God and that is the side you should be on since otherwise you are working for evil purposes. The political party assumes a subordinate role, but the implication of which party stands on or opposes these matters cannot be avoided.
What one wishes Mr. Cahn would do is attempt to explain where these patterns stop matching. For instance, Ahab died. Bill Clinton remained alive. Hillary Clinton was defeated, but so far she has not been eaten by dogs. Why are these patterns so tight in certain respects, and glaringly divergent in other ways? Is it simply the case that people who appear to be enemies of YHVH follow these patterns, butnot precisely? Can they pick up some other pattern later and what is the purpose of assuming such “paradigms?” These are questions that Mr. Cahn does not appear to offer any speculation concerning. Likely, this is because he is attempting to stay away from anything that might cast him in the role of having made a prophecy. On the other hand, everything about the pattern he indicates concerns prophecy directly. Indeed, the story of Ahab and Jezebel concerns a prophecy uttered due to murder perpetrated to take possession of a vineyard. If all these overlaps are present, then is it much of a jump to say that should Bill and Hillary Clinton be guilty of murder that they have covered up in some fashion that they should face a similar end? Indeed, Cahn points out Whitewater which was a shady land deal in the Ozarks and the mysterious death of Vince Foster. Should we then not expect that for the pattern to complete that Fort Marcy, named after Randolph B Marcy, who was a father-in-law to George B. McClellan who was the General for the Union under Lincoln during the Civil War to re-emerge since it was the place of Mr. Foster’s death? Did not Lincoln also die under dubious circumstances? Maybe there isa massive pattern that Mr. Cahn has identified as a smaller series or sub-pattern or type. This level of revelation would indeed, if found to be a pattern, be tantamount to the “clearing of blood from the land.”
Of course, the reader is left not knowing whether Mr. Cahn supposes something like this. He does an excellent job pointing out the pattern, and for most people, that’s probably plenty with which to contend. While it is a good appetite whetter, it leaves one craving a more substantial meal in terms of context. Sure, there are many commonalities, but why where they lack a good fit are they not fitting? Coincidence? The reader hardly thinks so after this read. There has GOT to be a reason, and maybe Mr. Cahn knows but is reserving it for a future book. If so, expect an update here.
Back in 2007, John Perkins was busy writing about some deep, dark conspiracies that grace the pages of his book The Secret History of an American Empire. Much of what he had to say concerned the NSA, hitmen and regime changes, and a quite unflattering picture of American policy working in tandem with things like the IMF and the World Bank. Before even this book came out shortly after 9-11, Mr. Perkins wrote another book that might have been a kind of confessional to unburden himself for having taken part in the apparatus which he now writes concerning.
Mr. Perkins story begins with his joining the Peace Corps so that he could sidestep the issue of being drafted into Vietnam. This Peace Corps experience puts him in touch with some Shamans who live in the rainforests and it is there that he begins to learn the nature of the journey he is undertaking although he certainly falls into the staunchly materialistic paradigm of the world for an extended time. This puts him into contact with both powerful military industrial corporations and indigenous peoples who are being exploited by them. It is evident that the tension between these positions is something that has caused Mr. Perkins high levels of discomfort and indeed, likely embodies the “wounded healer” aspect of any Shamanic Journey.
Mr. Perkins learns from the Shamans that the world is “dreamed into being” but it appears the American Dream has become an industrial nightmare. After many harrowing interactions with dangerous people in foreign places such as in Brazil, Sudan, or Indonesia, he eventually decides the Shamans are right and that the children of the world need a new dream if they are to have a future.
Reading the many reviews of this book is interesting for the simple reason that many dismiss it as conspiracy theory, and yet, the facts were researched by the New York Times and found to be consistent. Mr. Perkins says that during the writing of his books he was threatened for having spoken about these issues and it does make one wonder how on earth a book such as this was published in the pre-Trump political landscape of the twilight of George Bush Jr’s presidency.
Still, Mr. Perkins has managed to carve out a decent living as a writer and a speaker concerning these issues. It will require more than a confessional with extensive writing contracts to “make up” for the damaging systems he participated in earlier on. Troublingly, Mr. Perkins seems to believe it is possible to have World Peace without something rather drastic happening to allow this to be so. (Think Biblical-level world events?) While the world is partly a dream, it is not entirely a dream. If it were so, one would never need to “wake-up”. People do not, for instance, simply enact nightmares by nature at the scale Mr. Perkins is seeing without there being something fundamentally wrong with the people involved. While it is laudable to make a check list of proactive actions to try to “wake people up”–a lot of Mr. Perkins’s book feels like one is a priest inside a Catholic Church listening to someone unburden their soul. Is he looking for the reader to absolve him? Is his courage in speaking and focus on a future for his children enough to make him like the Shamans that taught him? Or, is it the case that Mr. Perkins has found yet another way to rob indigenous people of more resources–in this case their spirituality–to create a brand and a niche writing market for himself? It proves hard to trust those who have been entangled deeply in the tendrils of the NSA.
Still, blowing the whistle does require courage and a willingness to go against the system. The above questions are really only answerable by God and Mr. Perkins. Perhaps one should apply the principle and dictate that if Mr. Perkins is not “for” this industrial military melange, then perhaps enemy of the enemy of the people is the people’s friend after all.
Regardless, the book makes for an interesting read that fills in some gaps in American history from a unique perspective. There is a Third Edition of this book now available, which may also makesome needed amendments to the work given the changing times. That edition was not available for review at this time, however, if it becomes so in the future expect a follow-up.
There are books that exist that are reads and then there are books that exist that are experiences. The Splendid and The Vile is most assuredly the latter. It is not simply history one is reading, but a moment in time brought to life by an author who has spent a long time performing the research to understand the work. Indeed, it appears that from the idea of the book–that is to say the first decision that such a book needed to be written to publication according to the author’s statement–was an interval of 20 years. He mentions that moving to New York and experiencing 9-11 was his impetus. It was a decision well-made.
Churchill’s England in the dawn of WWII is usually told from America’s entry into the war forward. It therefore misses much of what Britain was undergoing previous to the entry of America. Much of the text indicates Churchill’s firm conviction that America would have to enter the war one way or another in order for a military victory to be possible. Though Churchill must bolster the strength of his own nation so as to make it not appear needy, it is clear that behind the scenes there was a desperation as the casualties and consequences of the bombing of London began to mount. Clearly, the pride of the historical relations between America and England had to be submitted to a greater threat in order to find unity and cooperation against a danger to both nations.
What makes Larson’s writing pop off the page are the little bits of details he has unearthed. In one instance where are thrust into a nightclub where some of the London’s upper class are trying to escape from the realities of the war only in the next instance to finding their entire escape a scene of horror and destruction as a bomb crashes through the roof and kills those who were seconds before out for a good night on the town. We learn that those left are in some way unfazed by this or shocked such that they simply go somewhere else to continue to the party assuming that those who died wanted them to do so. One of the patrons even remarks how “bizarre” this course of action feels in hindsight.
We also learn about other people who are trying to live life in London that are caught up in the middle of the war with a variety of everyday responses–from resolve to victimization. We learn about coping strategies which evidently included a whole lot of sex in the face of immense amounts of destruction. We learn about the struggles with Churchill’s own family and children, and strangely we also learn how Churchill seems to be animated by the backdrop of all these factors–like his unique destiny was to manage this crisis which would disturb anyone else to the point of being nonfunctional. The way he manages his own self during this time is with alcohol, baths, and cigars.
In the meantime, there are car wrecks and explosions and destruction and yet when Churchill comes to view the scenes the people seem to love him despite all terrible hardships. Perhaps this is because Churchill frankly states that the only thing he has to offer from the onset is “blood, sweat, toil and tears”. He certainly delivered on that promise, although he tried to mitigate it to the best of his ability. Like many leaders before a crisis, he is prevented from solving the issue in part by the parties and politicians around him. We see that it does in fact, wear on him, and that he does love the people who are being blown to bits.
He “beams like a young boy” when he gets to test fire new military weapons, and he presses forward on various military strategy and weapons he believes will help Britain win the war. He is a huge fan of technology and innovation, and creates some ideas of his own about how to more effectively kill the enemy he faces. Our modern sensibilities may find this macabre, but from the perspective of winning a war, one does what one must.
Though not featured on thebooklight, the reading of this work came with a familiarity of Larson’s previous work. Though those works were good, this is, undoubtedly, the best of his work to date. Because this book was published by such a large publisher, there are plenty of cheap copies floating around out there. Do not, however, let you think that this book is therefore somehow “not quality”. Indeed, there are a million ways to spend around five dollars that will not enrich one’s life and understanding nearly as much.
Perhaps one of the last sentences of the book where Churchill is found to discover one of the children in his retinue to have been given a gift of a model train best sums up the entirety of the read. He tells the child to finish putting his tracks together. Then, he instructs him to place one of the train engines on the track. Noticing he has another train engine, he then tells the child to put that engine also on the track. Then, setting down next to the child, he says simply “Now, let’s have a crash!” Destruction, on some level, was Churchill’s play. It was a good thing he was who he was, when he was, or else, the world in which we live would be quite different indeed.
