Nietzsche was a famous example. He spoke of the death rather than loss of God, but the significance was the same, and he responded by calling for a superman who would create his own standards. Nor was he alone. When not restrained by a strong religious sense American democracy also makes the ego and its desires the final standard. That side of the American spirit has given rise to the heroic individualism seen in Emerson’s call for radical self-reliance and the Supreme Court’s claim that “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.“ – James Kalb

– Dictatorship and Relativism

“at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.“

Tenkeren i tenketanken i Holmstadengen ville bare ristet på hodet av dette her. At han, Even Helmer, Johan Albert, Klaus og August skulle hver enkelt definert sitt eget konsept for eksistens, for mening, av universet, og av menneskelivets mysterier. Hva slags grendefellesskap kan det vel bli av noe slikt, ville han tenk? Svaret har vi i dag. De fem store som vandret etter gamlevegen over tunet i Grythengen, anført av vår apostel, kunne ikke kommet til live i dag, forenet av troen, teknologien, tradisjonene og historien. Nei, i dag ville de ikke vært annet enn de fem bittesmå individualister, som aldri snakket sammen og ikke hadde det ringeste til felles. Ikke noe stort kan komme ut av kjøpesenterlandet. De fem store var et produkt av bedehuslandet.

 And that is our American version of the dictatorship of relativism. Instead of each of us making his own moral reality, as the Supreme Court would have it, dominant social forces create moral reality for us and tell us it’s for the benefit of our individuality and desire. We’re told we have to be free and equal, and then we’re told how that requires us to think and act. Career, consumer goods, and individual indulgences are to be the center of every life, with politically correct activism as an outlet for idealists. Critical voices go unheard, because the imbalance of resources and extreme careerism of the educated and articulate classes mean that respectable public discussion never opposes the interests of bureaucrats and billionaires who prefer clients and economic units to human beings who take fundamental concerns seriously. – James Kalb

“Critical voices go unheard, because the imbalance of resources and extreme careerism of the educated and articulate classes mean that respectable public discussion never opposes the interests of bureaucrats and billionaires who prefer clients and economic units to human beings who take fundamental concerns seriously.”

Vi får se, vi får se, vi har Motvind nå, med Eivind Salen og Hans Anton Grønskag i front, og dette er karer apostelen i Holmstadengen ville hilst med den største respekt. Han kom med mottroen, og Motvind kommer nå med motvinden. Vi trenger begge deler.

 Under such circumstances only an absolutely independent and authoritative force can free us, and restore the possibility of life in accordance with reason and our best understanding of what is good and true. And that force can only be God and his Church: nothing else is adequate. So now more than ever, the world needs the Church as a counterweight rather than junior partner to the powers that be. May all Christians, and especially Christian leaders, be up to the task.

Her krysser PermaLiv sine fingre for Solhøy bedehus i Nord-Hurdal, hvor mottroen som i sin tid rådde rundt Totenåsen i fotefarene til Totenåsens apostel, fremdeles lever. I verdens flotteste bedehus, med en aldeles nydelig utsikt nordover i vakre Hurdalen, hvor de stod på trappa og skuet oppover dalen for å få øye på sin apostel som kom vandrende over åsen på vennebesøk, sammen med Klaus, Even Helmer, Johan Albert og August, en varm sommerkveld i august, etter at slåttonna var vel i hus.

Fotografiet viser gamlevegen over Grythengen, på motsatt side av stakitten, hvor de fem store vandret sammen, mens de nøt den vakre regnbuen over østvollen. – Wikimedia