#ToxicMasculinity: Walking Like an Egyptian Pharaoh–2021 Update

Author’s note: I am copublishing this article on my Sunday Morning Greek Blog as well.

Back in February 2019, I wrote in my Sunday Morning Greek Blog about the hot topic du jour, Toxic Masculinity. As I said at the time, I thought the Left and the so-called Progressives (they’re really regressive) had worse examples of toxic males than anything they were complaining about on the right, including then President Trump. This included especially Virginia’s governor Ralph Northam for his suggestion that a woman may have the right to euthanize her child both before and after birth; and the now defrocked (for another sort of toxic masculinity) New York governor Cuomo for suggesting abortion should be legal up until the time of birth.

But since Joe Biden was inaugurated by an election fraught with irregularities nationwide, he has to take the cake for toxic masculinity. Now I know there are serious questions about whether he’s even psychologically capable of leading the country, let alone caring for his own personal needs, but since he’s the president and he’s trying to portray himself as competent, he’s open to the same criticisms as every other president. Personally, I think he’s just a puppet, and some other toxically masculine and toxically feminine men and women are pulling his strings, but the following criticisms would apply equally to them as they would to the president.

This last week, since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, has amplified Biden’s (and his handlers’) toxicity. In the first place, almost all major media outlets, Left and Right, have been pointing out his inconsistent statements, outright lies, inability to understand (supposedly) conditions on the ground in Afghanistan, and his general ignorationalizations (a term I’ve coined to mean actions that fail to account for obvious facts that cannot and should not be overlooked). Most notedly, his response to George Stephanopoulos’s question about the Afghani’s who fell from C17 as it ascended out of Kabul last week displays the utter lack of compassion he has for the situation: “That was 4 or 5 days ago.” In other words, “Why does that matter?” Absolutely disgusting and contemptible. If Trump had said something like that, toxically feminine Speaker Pelosi (am I insulting women to call her feminine?) would have had him drawn and quartered within the hour; no impeachment trial necessary.

Let’s add to this the other toxically masculine so-called leaders surrounding Biden. Pentagon spox John Kirby couldn’t muster up the cajones to call the Taliban the enemy, and he said the Pentagon had no idea how many Americans were now behind enemy lines. No wonder they don’t have a plan to collect our patriots. General Mark Milley thought it was more important in the last 7 months to bad mouth our military heroes for being “white supremacists” and “insurrectionists” for holding conservative views than it was to have a solid plan to exit Afghanistan safely. Looks like he had no clue that the real insurrectionists were just waiting for American troops to leave so they could recapture the country for their barbaric beliefs. And retired general and DOD secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken appear to have been completely inept at not only coordinating communications, but at pushing back on Biden’s disastrous choices to apparently ignore all of the evidence they had to indicate such a disaster was just around the corner. Really, what difference would it have made if the Taliban had taken over later than sooner? All the work of our brave soldiers who gave Afghanis a taste for freedom would have gone to naught either way.

Add to all of these foreign policy failures the absolute debacle of the border crisis, squandering our energy independence (and low gas prices), and perpetuating ridiculous social policies contrary to common sense, and we have the perfect picture of what the dereliction and dissolution of duty does to a country led by toxic males who, as C.S. Lewis described them, have no chests.

And so I say to my brothers and sisters in the faith: it is time for all believers everywhere to lift up holy hands and pray not just for the security and survival of America. but for Afghanis and the whole world. America has been a guarantor of freedom for over 200 years; the toxic males (and females) of the Biden administration have all but sacrificed that noble and vaunted position by their own ignorationality and given other political aggressors a green light to carry out their hegemonies. If Moses can speak to Pharaoh for the freedom of the Israelites; if Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets can speak against the nations for ignoring God; if Jesus can confront the religious oppressors of his day; if Paul can proclaim the Gospel to upper echelons of Roman political leadership; then surely we who are alive today can speak truth to power and ACT to secure freedom for the captives (see Isaiah 61, the passage on which Jesus based his ministry, a ministry that we as the body of Christ should continually carry out). We need another miracle like Moses at the Red Sea or the fall of Sennacherib in Hezekiah’s reign to topple the terrorists. To appropriate Saint Bede’s line: “When America falls, the world shall fall.”

My opinions are my own.

Scott Stocking

Liberty and Justice for All: #FreeLivesMatter

Everyone is appalled and upset by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a bad-acting police officer and, by association, his three colleagues who refused to intervene. I am too, but on a couple different levels that haven’t really been discussed. In spite Floyd’s criminal history and in spite of the medical examiner’s finding that he had drugs in his system, the police officer’s actions unjustly deprived Floyd of his inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but also of his imputed right to due process intended to protect his inalienable rights.

Why is it important to identify these rights? Because those protesting violently are guilty of depriving their victims of these same rights and are, when it comes down to brass tacks, no different than the cop who killed George Floyd. They destroy private property and businesses with prejudice—that is, they assume that these businesses, large and small, have benefited from the mythical concept of “white privilege” and are thus worthy of punishment for their supposed “systemic racism.” They’ve deprived these business owners of any due process and their inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In this sense, then, these rioters deserve the same abhorrence we’ve shown the Minneapolis police officer and comparable punishment.

The other aspect of this that I find is really bothering my spirit is the inaction of those who stood by and watched or videoed this for nine minutes without attempting to forcibly remove the police officer from Floyd’s neck. The other three officers are especially culpable here, because they would have a certain protection from the law for obstruction of justice charges. But what about the inaction of the crowd? Was Floyd’s life and his right to due process so meaningless to them that no one had the courage to force the policeman off of Floyd? I’d also be curious to know if the person who videoed that event got paid for their copy of it. What kind of people stand around and do nothing while a man’s life is snuffed out in this manner? I’ll tell you: cowards. The crowd that watched this happen and those who videoed the event are just as culpable as the officers who did nothing, and they should be held to account for their cowardice and inaction as well.

Three of Peel’s Nine Policing Principles apply here. Principle 2 states:

To recognize always that the power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.

Officer Chauvin and the other three officers with him each violated this principle individually on a couple different levels: the public did NOT approve of Chauvin’s actions and behavior, nor did they approve of the other three officers meekly standing around and letting it happen with feckless talk and no action to remove Chauvin from the situation. Any one of those three officers had the right and power to detain and even arrest Chauvin then and there for his actions in order to maintain public trust, but they were cowards. Second, because Chauvin acted maliciously and the other three failed to act, they again each individually failed to secure and maintain public respect, and as a result brought dishonor on the whole of the Minneapolis police department, which reflects unfairly on the majority of those in the department who are honest, upstanding officers.

The second principle that applies here is number 7. I won’t quote it in full, but the gist of it (and an underlying theme throughout the principles) is that the public is the police and the police are the public. That is, we are ALL responsible for helping to maintain law and order in our communities, not just the paid police force. This is where the “Citizen’s Arrest” principle comes from. This gets back to the point I made above, that the crowd is culpable. Now I must proceed carefully here and with a stern warning: when the police are in the initial stages of apprehending and detaining a suspect or warranted criminal, no one should interfere in such a way as to prevent that initial detention. I am not suggesting that the community take action to thwart police efforts in that regard. But, when a suspect has been cuffed and is restrained, but the officer or officers engage in additional physical force unnecessary for further restraint, as Chauvin appears to have done, and the outcome appears to be imminent for permanent harm or death for the detained, then I would suggest it is time for action to remove the offending officer or officers from the situation.

This is where Principle 8 comes into play: the police are not to usurp the power of the judiciary. In Floyd’s death, it seems clear that Chauvin was serving as jury, judge, sentencer, and executioner. For myself, had I been there and seen that, I am certain I would have taken action to remove that officer from Floyd’s neck (and I’ve talked to others who feel the same), because Floyd, as an American and as God’s creation, deserved the imputed right to due process. I realize that such an action might put myself in danger, legally and perhaps even physically, but given what we are now experiencing, I would gladly accept the consequences for ensuring my fellow American was afforded the rights that all of us share. Imagine what the narrative would be if an ordinary white guy like me or anyone of you out there (regardless of race) had put their life on the line to prevent a horrible end for a black victim of a malicious white cop.

Our men and women in the military put their lives on the line every day for the freedoms of this country. Most men and women in police uniforms do the same for their communities without prejudice and to help protect and secure our liberties. If more of us had that same attitude, instead of taking our freedoms for granted and hiding behind our social media accounts, we might actually be able to secure freedom from prejudice and secure the freedoms necessary for all to succeed and prosper. Only then will we truly bring unity to our nation and heal our land.

Freedom matters. #FreeLivesMatter, or in other words, “liberty and justice for all.”

Scott Stocking

My views are my own.