On Knowing God

 

I discovered something in my first months of being a Christian in the early 2000s that becomes clearer and clearer with further experience of God, but which I had to learn somewhat counterintuitively at the time. We discover God more by acting than by thinking. When I became convinced that Christianity offers the right and only path to the one true God, I still awaited revelation from the Holy Spirit for around 9 months. The distinction, I believe, is one of thinking truth and acting truth – and looking back, I believe I had to be ready to act in order to know the full truth. Thinking truth means accepting propositions that are true of reality; acting truth means taking those beliefs and living them out. We discover God by thinking truth (that is, believing in Christ as Lord) and by acting out truth (loving God and neighbour, and reflecting God’s love in the world).

From my experience, a lot of non-Christians are preoccupied with the question of how to know God - or in the opposite case, why they think God doesn’t exist - because they are focused mainly on thinking truths about God. But because God is so far beyond us, and so high above our comprehension, we are limited in thinking truths about Him; the real revelations come by acting out those truths. I don’t, of course, mean acting to earn our salvation, or earning favour with God – we are already offered salvation by grace, as a gift from God. I mean that the deepening of our relationship with God comes by acting out truth and love, not by merely thinking them.

It’s entirely possible to believe true things without knowing God, and it’s equally possible to know God and believe false things. The empirical sciences give us facts about the world, but they show that thinking truths will not necessarily lead us to God. The Christian faith gives us a relationship with God, but it shows that knowing God will not necessarily lead us to facts about the world.

A profound discovery for the Christian is the extent to which they can deepen their knowledge of God and their relationship with Him by action. A profound discovery for those who want to know God is to try to discover by action not just thought. It is tempting to prioritise seeking truth by thinking truth; but deeper truths and revelations come from action, because the Christian journey is one in which our relationship with God deepens as we step out in love and action. Knowing God is thought and action.

Why We Don't Want To Swap Selves

It’s interesting, I think, that we each have a profound sense of self, whereby, as far as I know, no human tends to look at someone else and wish they were them in totality, even if on the surface their life seems so much better. I mean, a guy may perhaps wish he had George Clooney’s looks, or Bill Gates’ money, or my brainpower 😃, or Kylian Mbappé’s football skills, but I doubt whether anyone would actually wish to swap places with someone else and actually be them, even if they appear to have a life that looks materially and socially more desirable.

Perhaps this would be more peculiar if we were *just* evolved animals shaped solely by evolutionary mechanisms – the idea of swapping personhood might not seem quite so anathema to us. Although, naturally, there are lots of experiential sunk costs in being oneself, connections established, fear of the other, and other reasons why we might be reluctant to abandon our current proprietary narrative.

But I suspect the strongest reason people don’t tend to desire a full swap of personhood is due to some even deeper truths about our human nature; that our profound sense of self is not just about possessing a unique identity, but about the inextricable intimacy we have with our own perspective. And in an even more primary sense, I believe that the irreplaceable narrative of individual, unique selfhood is attached to the fact that we are creatures made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) – and that the healthier and more attuned our heart and mind is to His truth and goodness, the more we cherish and value this profound gift of selfhood.

Politicians Lie More Than You Think

Here's why politicians lie way more than you think. There are generally two ways to lie. One type of lie is called "suggestio falsi", which is the suggestion of something which is untrue or deliberately telling an untruth - such as about where you were last night, about breaking something and blaming someone else, about not being at an event you claimed you attended, and so forth. The other type of lie is called a 'suppressio veri' type of lie, which is concealment of truth - such as failing to disclose conflicts of interest, ignoring information about negative consequences, not revealing the true costs of policies, and so forth.

Because suppressio veri lies are less blatant and slipperier due to the ambiguity of what they omit, they are harder to directly confront, more widespread, and therefore the most insidious and destructive kind of lies told in society. And they are mostly the kind of lies that underpin the political system - they are habitual tools of manipulation that erode trust and exploit people's assumptions, allowing politicians to shape narratives and control perceptions without outright fabricating facts. In the way that politicians craft the squalid art of omission and indirect duplicity, it could be argued that they, and the media that amplifies and legitimises their distortions, are society's biggest liars.

Back of the Envelope Economics of Cheating

 

There are lots of complex, interrelated reasons why people cheat on their partner. And I’m aware that this might be a sensitive subject for some, so here I make no comment about the whys and wherefores, nor any general moral comments, nor any invitations to accuse or find fault. I also acknowledge the numerous emotional, psychological and social factors involved in cheating, that are beyond the intention of this short post.

But with the foregoing acknowledgements, given that most things can be amenable to an economic analysis, in some sense cheating can be thought of in economic terms too in terms of perceived costs and incentives.

Suppose we hypothetically assign a value to relationships in terms of their overall quality (that’s a complex measurement in itself, but we can simply do so to illustrate). Take two couples; Jack and Jill, and Bob and Tracy. Jack and Jill are happily married, they own a home together, have 2 children, are actively involved in their church and community, and have been together for 15 years. Bob and Tracy have been dating for a year, they are unmarried, in a relationship, with no children, and they live in separate dwellings. 

Let’s say, for simplicity, we value Jack and Jill’s relationship at £500,000, and Bob and Tracy’s at £35,000. At first glance, it looks like the cost of cheating in Jack and Jill’s relationship is greater than in Bob and Tracy’s. Let’s illustrate with a simple calculation. Say in both cases the probability of getting caught is 20%, and the probability that the relationship will break down is 80%. Suppose saucy Sally is messaging both Jack and Bob, trying to entice one of them to a hotel room for a sexual encounter.

The cost of cheating for Jack is:

0.20 x 0.80 x £500,000 = £80,000

The cost of cheating for Bob is:

0.20 x 0.80 x £35,000 = £5,600

In this example, the cost of cheating for Jack is significantly higher than for Bob, due to the higher value assigned to Jack and Jill’s relationship. When people get caught up in the possibility of cheating, their mind undergoes a complex set of cost-benefit analyses, based on the approximate value assigned to the relationship, and the expected cost of cheating, and getting caught. Of course, the cost of cheating, and the cost of getting caught, are distinct but with overlap, because there is a cost of cheating even if you don’t get caught. Assigning a higher value to the relationship generally makes the cost of cheating more substantial, potentially deterring infidelity due to higher perceived risks – although humans are far from wholly rational calculators, and are prone to regrettable actions even when the costs are high and the benefits relatively low. What this does show, however, is that there are varying perceptions of relationship value and risk that influence behaviour, and cheating and potential cheating fall under this calculus too.

Relationships thrive not just on calculated gains, but on the investments we make in increasing their value through longer term commitment, trust, respect, and mutual understanding. There is certainly a general sense in which the higher the value of the relationship, the lower the likelihood of infidelity (there are always exceptions, of course) – and the corollary is that cheating is more likely to occur in relationships where there are issues and incompatibilities that have not been sufficiently addressed.

It's Easy To Count The Number Of Genders

 

On the question “How many genders are there?”, I think there are only three possible answers: 

1)    There are 2 genders, male and female

2)    There are n number of genders, where n equals 1 for every human that exists

3)    There are zero genders

If there are 2 genders, male and female, then sex is perfectly adequate to describe males and females, and the word gender is superfluous.

If there are n number of genders, where n equals 1 for every human that exists, then it doesn’t tell us anything empirically compelling, and the word gender is superfluous.

If there are zero genders, then gender is a term we’ve mistakenly constructed with no empirical validity, and the word gender is superfluous

I believe number 3 is right, but in all cases, we are forced to arrive at the same conclusion; that the word gender is superfluous.

If you object to this, and at the same time you understand that there is no empirical basis for one sex identifying as another sex, then you must think the number of genders is higher than 2 and lower than n. But there is no empirical method or anything remotely resembling an objective analysis that one can use to arrive at a number. There are no biological markers, no rigorous psychological tests, and no objective social criteria that can definitively quantify how many genders could possibly exist. And everything else that you can put forward as justification for the term gender is better defined under a broader category of maleness and femaleness.

Therefore, we are obliged to conclude that the word ‘gender’ has no empirical utility, and is rendered superfluous.

For a more comprehensive assessment of this, see here, here and here.  

Untrustworthy Selective Prejudices

 

People post a lot on social media, and readers have to discern who they can trust. It’s a lot easier to see who you can’t trust than who you can, because people who can’t be trusted telegraph it more carelessly over a consistent period of time. The primary one to look out for also happens to be the most common, and it is that over a period of time, those you can’t trust demonstrate their untrustworthiness by selectively focusing on things that accord with their prejudices, while ignoring anything that doesn’t. They will even be oblivious to or dismissive of greater evils or more serious problems just to keep the path clear for their virtue-signalling.

They’ll frequently come down on atrocities they see as far right, but ignore ones that are far left. They won’t be critical of certain kinds of Muslim but they will target certain Jews (especially Israel, while ignoring Hamas/Hezbollah/Iranian atrocities). They’ll say nothing when a Pakistani Muslim rape gang scandal breaks out, but if the same scandal involved white British males committing gang rape against young vulnerable black girls, they’d be all over it. They’ll be silent on terrorist attacks generally when the perpetrator is of a religion or ideology they are not brave enough to criticise, but noisy about the ones that play into their agenda. They’ll disregard the mistakes, scandals and policy flaws of their own party, but come down hard on equivalent incidences when it’s a rival party. They will tell influential figures not to interfere in our politics when they disagree, but praise influential figures who interfere in our politics in ways of which they approve. They’ll defend free speech when it concerns ideas they agree with, but demand censorship or cancelation when opposing viewpoints are expressed. They’ll only preach tolerance, diversity and inclusivity when they view it as the right kind. The list goes on and on.

It’s so obvious that people like that are not to be trusted, and it’s astonishing that people like this are rarely called out for the selective application of their prejudices and biases. Their behaviour is so transparently lacking in credibility, yet within their echo chambers, there is little chance they will be exposed for what they truly serve - not truth or justice, but their own agendas.

But rest assured, you can definitely trust me, of course – I am balanced and consistent in being nearly equally mortified by all political parties and extremists of every persuasion. 😅

Motherly & Fatherly Love

 

In psychologist Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving, he posits what he calls a "motherly" and "fatherly" conscience, which are the two types of positive influence we attain from nurturing by each parent. The "motherly" aspect of conscience is grounded in unconditional love, care, and acceptance. It reflects the nurturing, protective, and compassionate nature traditionally associated with motherhood. The "fatherly" conscience complements the motherly aspect by emphasising responsibility, discipline, and the development of independence. It is often associated with the rational, guiding, and boundary-setting side of love. These two types of conscience represent different but complementary ways of navigating our way through life.

Fromm’s theory is that true love and personal growth arise optimally from balancing these two types of conscience. They enable us to love in a mature and fulfilling way, because we harness the care and compassion required in love, while fostering growth, independence, and personal strength. This balance allows us to love others genuinely while helping them develop their full potential, much like a good parent who both nurtures and challenges their child. These combined consciences are essential for the cultivation of mature love - with the harmony of care and discipline, acceptance and responsibility – where, in marriage, two beloveds are joined to become 1, yet each pursuing their connected journey towards individual self-fulfilment. Naturally, for adults, any prior parental experience that departed from this ideal diminishes the positive effect, but awareness of the qualities of each conscience can help an individual learn to cultivate the qualities through a period of gradual maturation, where they compensate for the absent parent with mindfulness, self-awareness, intentional personal growth and meaningful relationships.

Fromm also connects the development of a motherly and fatherly conscience to the concepts of mental health, where the right balance of these consciences enhances good mental health and mitigating the risk of poor mental health. A lack of motherly love can lead to feelings of unworthiness, insecurity, and loneliness, whereas an overemphasis on the motherly conscience can lead to overprotection, resulting in dependency and a lack of independence. A lack of the fatherly conscience can lead to an absence of healthy boundaries and discipline, resulting in increased disorder, irresponsibility, and an inability to manage one’s emotions and actions effectively, whereas if the fatherly conscience is overly strict or authoritarian, it can engender feelings of fear, inadequacy, and rebellion, inhibiting emotional expression and creating an environment where individuals feel judged or unworthy, which further impacts mental health.

In politics
Not only is it healthy for a mind to be equipped with the mental and emotional artillery of both perspectives, it’s also helpful to be apprised of how this distinction plays out more broadly in the country in which you live. For example, the interplay of fatherly and motherly qualities in the context of UK society can be observed through the lens of wider cultural and societal influences, particularly the contrast between left-wing and right-wing politics. Left-wing principles like social equality, community, welfare, and compassion, echo the nurturing qualities associated with the motherly conscience. And the increased influence of women in the workplace, in leadership roles and in decision-making processes outside of the home have brought these values to the forefront, which have many positive influences around the wider distribution of emotional intelligence and relational dynamics. But virtually all good qualities become unwelcome distortions in excess, and that has certainly happened to the UK in the past 20-30 years, where important qualities related to the fatherly conscience – like reason, discipline, personal responsibility, liberty, tradition, strength of character and bottom up self-determination – have been sidelined in favour of an overemphasis on top-down control, big state over-regulation, censorship, political correctness, identity politics, wokeism, cancel culture, that stifle genuine discourse and create divisions rather than promote unity, and marginalise the very nature of truth, facts and rational discourse.  

These values of the fatherly conscience are crucial for maintaining social order and encouraging individual initiative, and are sorely lacking in a country that has been overrun with excessive left-wing policies that have created a culture of dependency, entitlement, fear and the gradual destruction of a structured societal framework. A balanced society that respects individual freedoms and promotes social responsibility can draw on the strengths of both the fatherly and motherly consciences, while fostering a more holistic understanding of complex individual and societal needs. But we have a very imbalanced society these days, where the nurturing qualities of the motherly conscience have been perverted by the creation of over-dependence on the state, a struggling economy, overprotection, infantilisation, and an aversion to personal accountability.

In religious faith
Finally, in religious faith, as we know from the Bible, we see the perfect expression of the fatherly and motherly consciences in God. God’s Fatherly love embodies a protective, authoritative figure who offers guidance, structure, and discipline. He provides commandments and principles that encourage Christians to pursue a life of responsibility, integrity, and service to others, reflecting God's own commitment to justice and righteousness. And in the person of Christ, we see all those things still, but also the fulfilment of the motherly conscience too. With His compassionate and nurturing spirit, He offers unconditional love, deep empathy and acceptance where, in the Incarnation, He demonstrated God’s nurturing love by healing the sick, caring for the poor, comforting of the downtrodden, healing division, challenging religious and political authoritarianism, and welcoming the marginalised. Just as the harmony of the fatherly and motherly consciences engenders the best combination for a thriving personal mental well-being, the Christian journey facilitates a healthy balance between these fatherly and motherly qualities, in reflecting God's commandments and the unconditional love of Christ.

The Doomsday Dealers: Fear, Fraud & Fanaticism

It seemed like Just Stop Oil had toned down their acts of vandalism and civil disobedience in the latter part of 2024. But I've just read that two dippy bints from this dreadful cult have vandalised the grave of Charles Darwin. In case you haven’t delved into it yet, let me tell you how internally corrupt movements like Just Stop Oil, Black Lives Matter, wokeism are manipulating the masses right before our eyes. Cults like Just Stop Oil can capitalise on the perverse narrative because it is driven by the most powerful institutions – the academia, the media, big tech, crony capitalism, and the political establishment. The skewed message is already steered by these forces, meaning members of the public already caught in the snare of the liberal-left are easy bait for the crooks, liars and manipulators at the heart of organisations like Just Stop Oil. Just tell people they can be a ‘social justice warrior’ and that humanity is going to hell without their 'heroism', and it’s easy to ensnare them into the cult’s orbit of deceit and control.

Through relentless propaganda, they cultivate a doomsday mindset, priming followers for manipulation through fear, guilt, and alarmism. On top of the financial backing from the easily co-opted faction of the powerful institutions, they’ll regularly be asked to donate financially to the cause, they’ll be pressured into absurd anti-social acts that will get them arrested, sacrificing their dignity as they look like complete fools on the news – while all the time those who pull the strings are raking it in. These pawns in a cynical and corrupt game are marketing their cult, helping to enlist more and more delusional (often already scared, confused, vulnerable people with identity issues and mental health problems), and making intellectual, financial and ethical sacrifices to the cult leadership. Some are even getting themselves locked up in prison to ensure the high priests of Gaia get ever-fatter from suckling on their frantic, bewildered followers’ teets. 

 

The Slow Burn of Success: Finding Joy In The Journey

The things we pursue that are of most value to us are going to be hard and take time. Very few things that are worth having come easy, and most of the best things worth attaining require hard graft - either physical, mental, or both.

With some of those things we’ll get more of the gains in the early periods, where gains then diminish over time (like weight training, fitness, DIY). But many, if not the majority, of our valuable pursuits work the other way; the initial gains start off small, only to grow and accumulate over time, where the initial investment yields the largest rewards after the groundwork has been put in (friendships, networking, acquiring knowledge, playing a musical instrument).

I mention this in the hope of encouraging those of us who are trying to become an established name in our field or passion, or who are hungry to gain more momentum to break into the mainstream  – whether that’s in writing, music, art, starting a small business, building a successful blog, podcast or video channel. There are many pursuits that could reap greater rewards for our efforts and abilities, and I think that the reality of compounding progress – from baby steps to bigger strides - is something we can expect to experience on our journey. I've read of many cases where a blog or podcast reaches a key point of critical mass and experiences more growth in one month (and beyond) than in the previous two or three years. Perseverance can lay the groundwork for transformative breakthroughs. 

And remember too, for further encouragement - material published now that is only making a small impression and getting relatively few hits will still be there for people to see and revisit if you do make it big - so nothing will go to waste, and every effort can contribute to your future success, and make an impact henceforward. 

For those blessed enough to eventually make a significant impact in their craft, the early wins may feel slow and gradual. But we can be buoyed by the fact that most success stories begin that way, where the greater the gains, the more they can become even greater. And while the explosive results may come later, I think it’s vital to enjoy and value those incremental advances along the way – they are a rewarding and necessary part of the adventure. 

 

The Vice of Virtue-Signalling

2024 was probably the peak year so far for virtue-signalling. It's easy to see through the grim spectacle of this widespread halo-polishing that has infested our society. People virtue-signal as a sign of righteous posturing in an effort to seem morally superior. But, psychologically, why do people want to feel morally superior? It's primarily to fulfil their own needs and establish their own identity, which is, sadly, usually built on validating their individual worth in the mirror of their own insecurities and adequacies.

We should want much better for them, because these are people to be pitied. They are desperate to acquire a sense of belonging and acceptance, and they have deep-seated psychological and social needs that sit in conflict with genuine virtue, courage and truth. Because virtue-signallers have little confidence in their own intellect, their ethics and their over-simplistic grasp on complex situations - they know deep down that they are fraudulent, inauthentic moral peacocks - they use their self-righteous parading as a way to deflect from their own guilt and shame. 

All this is easy to understand when you remember that virtue-signalling is not being virtuous; it's a near opposite, like how prurient indulgence in flattery is a near opposite of sincere praise, or like how a wolf in sheep's clothing is a near opposite of a shepherd. That is the big cheat of virtue-signalling - it's telling lies about virtue to conceal vice. 

The Wisest Things I’ve Learned

 

I thought a new year might be a good time for this little reflection. Setting matters of religious faith aside for this post, I’ve learned a lot of very valuable things over the years – from parents, friends, writers and thinkers – which got me thinking about the wisest and most valuable things I think are worth knowing and have been most enriching. Given the possibilities, it’s challenging to narrow it down to a small list – but if compelled to choose, I think these would definitely make the cut: 

1} There is no better life than one spent seeking the truth at all times. 

2} Taking responsibility is the primary path to contentment, freedom, and self-liberation. 

3} Humility precedes wisdom.   

4} Wisdom is the only quality we can’t have too much of. 

5} Kindness and gratitude are like superpowers in the external lives they touch and the inward satisfaction they elicit. 

6} Suffering, hardship and challenge are necessary sources of growth. 

7} Courage is one of the most noble and beneficial qualities we should consistently cultivate. 

8} Having a balanced mind is the only way to be truly intellectually and emotionally stimulated. 

9} A few key people will meet most of your needs, but if you don’t have those key people you’re in trouble. 

10} We are always a work in progress, constantly in the process of becoming. 

11} Delaying gratification to prioritise long-term rewards over short-term pleasures is one of the cornerstones of emotional and psychological maturity. 

12} Forgive easily, because people are going through a lot more than you could ever know. 

13} Physical, mental, intellectual and emotional well-being underpin everything else you want to achieve. 

14} Work, hobbies and passions should be servants, not masters; they stop being demons only when they cease to be gods. 

15} Our ultimate internal fulfilment and external impact are measured by how well we loved.