>>176106, >>176107, >>176108, >>176109, >>176110, >>176111, >>176112, >>176113, >>176114
That's the main lesson on the subtlety of temptation. The most dangerous vices aren't invitations to outright evil, but little corruptions here and there that chip away at our higher calling.
Milton's showdown was intended to reveal that Christ was both fully God and fully man. He really did feel genuine human temptation, hunger, ambition, and the desire for recognition. He overcame them all without miracles, using only reason, faith, and virtue.
In other words, the victory in the desert was the perfection of human virtues that we can all put into practice.
Eve lost in paradise; Christ won in the wilderness. It's not the place or struggle that matters, but each and every choice we make.
https://x.com/the_culturist_/status/2024131178052067461

Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius - Amazingly, Tom Nichols is right for a change.
There are so many people who are well-read about war, but because they have never heard a shot fired in anger, they don't know what they don't know.
Like Tom Nichols, for example.
https://x.com/CynicalPublius/status/2024353890511311169

Dale Stark @DaleStarkA10 - Took a look at Oregon IP28 (PEACE Act) today, & it's a direct attack on hunters and ranchers. It's gathering signatures now for 2026.
Here's exactly what it would do:
- Bans all hunting, fishing & trapping. Deer season, elk hunts, bass fishing, even rodent control on your land? Criminalized.
- Makes raising & slaughtering livestock a crime. Every steer I send to harvest becomes "causing death of an animal." Family ranches shut down overnight.
- Outlaws normal ranch practices. Dehorning, castration, branding, AI breeding (now called "sexual assault of an animal") all gone.