It’s been six weeks since I last posted here, which shows a couple of things: Firstly, that my random mental meanderings are really not all that important in the big picture of things, and secondly, that I have been obscenely busy with so much going on that when I do relax, I am not thinking about things I should write about. I am putting my mind in neutral and doing mindless things on a tablet to unwind.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I have been offered a contract to publish my new book, A LAYMAN INVESTIGATES UNIVERSAL SALVATION – Discovering the Truly Good News. The same company that published Brad Jersak’s book, HER GATES SHALL NEVER BE SHUT, a truly wonderful read on Universal Salvation, has offered me a contract for my thoughts on the subject.

I am honored.

And half-crazy from trying to understand how to meet the publishing requirements. I’ve never done a book which requires foot notes and permissions to publish copyrighted material. Let’s just say it’s been a real challenge. The good news is that I am closing in on the home stretch, having edited and re-edited my work until my eyes are spinning. The deal is done, the contract signed, and I will be delivering my manuscript to them on August 1st. This deadline has kept my spare time focused on getting this manuscript done.

Here is the opening paragraph in the Introduction of my book:

You are invited to go on a journey. It is a journey of investigation and discovery. When first presented with the idea of God saving all, I was at initially intrigued, then joyful, then troubled. Especially troubled. What was this new idea of which I had never heard? When I tried to discuss this concept, the reaction of people was negative. A few were quite negative. 

The genesis of this book was a forty-page paper, presented to me by a friend who appeared quite troubled when I made certain statements wondering about God saving all. A month later, I was offered a nicely bound presentation, giving me the commonly accepted reasons for God to send sinners into never-ending torment. What was intended as a short response to her, based on my initial limited knowledge of the subject, became an intense search, and is now a book of over two hundred pages, a result of my investigation. I felt my friend deserved concise answers rather than throwing out a quick Bible verse or philosophical reply. To respond, I had to sort through many facets of this controversy, including Christian history, people involved in the controversy, both past and present, and study of the original Greek Bible texts, using as source material scholars far more advanced than I am. To them I am indebted.  

In one sense, it is a monumental act of hubris on my part, a mere layman, lacking in higher educational degrees, to present such a book to the public. Theologians and linguists such as Dr. David Bentley Hart, Dr. Illaria Ramelli, Thomas Talbot, Brad Jersak, Fr. Aidan Kimel, and others, have written quite thoroughly on this subject. The problem is that some of the books by these apologists are written on a doctorate level – difficult to unintelligible to the average lay person. In working through Dr. Hart’s latest book, That All Shall Be Saved, I found it necessary to go back and slowly re-read pages several times to get my mind around what he was saying. As reflected in his writing, he is an immense intellect. My hope is to answer my friend’s objections in a voice not requiring a PhD to understand. What you will discover in the following pages is a layman doing his own due diligence to try to understand this subject.  

These are strictly my own thoughts and opinions, based on my journey of personal study.  You will find in many places the use of “I think” or “my opinion is.” I have neither the ecclesial authority nor deep scholastic training to make authoritative pronouncements. This is not as a scholastic book. If you desire such doctoral level writing, I recommend Dr. David Bentley Hart, Dr. Illaria Ramelli, Eric Reitan, and John Kronen. I am an ordinary layman, uneducated in higher degrees, sharing with other laymen the things I found and the conclusions these facts have led me to. This book is intended as a beginner’s level tool for understanding why people believe that Universal Salvation is a real possibility. Perhaps it shall be of help to you. I hope you will take the authors, websites, and blogs I have referenced and follow up with your own investigation. There are links to men whose writings are much more learned than I will ever be on my best day. Read, study, meditate, and above all, pray. 

So that’s a little housekeeping note on what’s been going on lately and why you haven’t seen me. Now to the title issue – Nazis.  Mask Nazis. Vaccine Nazis. This is what we are dealing with right now. There is no discussion, no reasoning with them, no bargaining – nothing.  Wear the damn mask! as the Governor of our neighboring state, Maryland, said.  I’ve had to go to Confession more than once for things I muttered under my breath when hearing people say this stuff.  My spiritual father has recommended – “strongly” was his suggestion – that I cease interactions on social media. Well, all nice and good, except that you can’t get away from this even in the normal course of life.  I went into a client’s business the other day and was accosted there. And, unfortunately, responded in a much less than charitable manner. I later called the manager and apologized. She didn’t like my “tone” when I told her that I don’t wear a mask.  I wonder how soon it will be that I am asked to provide my vaccination identity card. Seig Heil, y’all!

The title of this post came from an Orthodox web page which asks the question, What Brings People to Choose Evil – Lessons from Nazi Germany. My comment on this article was this:                        

So the question for me is this: why is there such a lack of grace in the hearts of professing Christians? Could it be that their Sacraments truly are lacking in grace, as some of my Orthodox friends have insisted? The natural state of man is darkness and brokenness, complimens of our father, Adam, and the damage he handed down to the human race. People in darkness cannot see what is true nor where they are going. But Christ is our Light? How did the Germans miss Him? How have American Christians missed Him?

Yes, why?  Why do people choose evil?  I have to admit that in reading such things and observing the current state of Christianity, it is tempting to chuck the whole thing as a farce.  What kind of religion does not make a change in the hearts of those who adhere to it?  Especially when we are promised that within it there exists the Holy Spirit whose work is to lead all into truth. I have no answers. I stand aghast and without words at actions so evil that the devil must have been green with envy. And these things done by professing Christians!

And despite all this…it continues today.  Media pundits lie to us with apparently not a twitch of conscience. Even when caught, they try to rephrase what they have said in order to wiggle out of it. Every day I am treated to a litany of voices insisting that I get the “vaccine” because it is my social duty and if I don’t, I am a horrible person who doesn’t care about people. This in the face of mounting evidence that this vaccine is poison,  deadly, and an outright LIE!  [1]

Even worse, why are our bishops going along with this charade?  A leader of people, one whose life mission is the well-being of those under his care, is responsible to know. He is responsible to know his people, to know the world around him, and to know what is happening.  Moreover, as followers of the One who is the Truth, we should never be caught promoting or participating in a lie. This is participation in sin.  Yet now we have bishops who are declaring that you either must get “the jab” or you must wear a mask, even though the CDC in a May 2020 paper stated that masks are completely ineffective against the virus.

Nazism never dies.  It just changes shape.  It comes in all colors and all flavors, from high-ranking prelates to the hardware store owner who will not let you in his store without a mask.  It is part of the human condition, that desire to rule over others which Augustine termed libido dominandi, the lust to dominate.

Nazis – they will be with us till the end of time.

[1] A London doctor’s complaint in the British Medical Journal last week of ‘unprecedented’ levels of sickness among health service staff who have had the jab further strengthens the possibility that the vaccine is causing damage of the same type it is designed to prevent.