For many years now, we’ve put a little headline tag — “upheaval watch,” and in some cases, “upheaval warning” — when there were what we perceived as glimmerings of future uprisings. That’s borrowing from the National Hurricane Center, which declares a “watch” if there is a chance of a cyclone hitting and a “warning” if the probability is very high, almost certain.
“Upheaval” or “uprising” is probably the word to use for what transgressed last week at the U.S. Capitol. ABC News yesterday obtained a bulletin from the FBI warning that “armed protests are being planned at all fifty state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the U.S. Capitol from 17 January through 20 January.”
If it became wholesale overthrow, that’s more an insurrection (though under the definition this also qualified). With ten thousand troops headed to the nation’s capital, and the president issuing an emergency declaration ahead of the inauguration, it is unlikely to equal last week. Matters may calm down, but for sporadic incidents (some severe) elsewhere in the U.S. and capital.
For now, a localized upheaval or siege seems most descriptive. Those words mean “a violent or sudden change or disruption to something.” In this case there was some terrible and fatal violence (five died; others were injured or terrorized) but mainly it brought a “sudden disruption” to the electoral certification.
An upheaval can reach far greater heights than thus far witnessed and in our estimation will during the coming years (see the upcoming “special report”), whether a cultural upheaval or literally an insurrection.
There was George Floyd. There were the other cases of rioting (mainly blacks) against police (last summer). There is now this upheaval (mainly whites) against Congress and, soon, apparently, against statehouses and perhaps the inauguration of Joseph Biden.
Will there be a backlash against conservative Christians? (For the liberal secular view of that, take a look here.)
Whatever does or doesn’t occur before the end of the month — and certainly some things will — we are in a time of upheaval, and this spirit of rebellion will be with us through periods of warnings, purification, and chastisements. It already is spreading not just in the U.S. but around the world, magnified by frustration and fears spawned by the virus — though the U.S. is the locus for both the virus and current uprising.
Where and how far this goes is a matter of guesswork, though one notes that there are 370 million privately-owned guns in the United States, including plenty of semi-automatic ones.
While the incoming Democrats seem confident that the normal machinations of government will prevail, grinding through the current turmoil, the big question is whether military, Secret Service, and various police departments (including those that normally patrol government and protect offices) will be as compliant as many assume. (There are indications that police sympathetic to the protesters last Wednesday allowed many of them entrée to the Capitol.)
Stay tuned. Upheaval watches. Upheaval warnings. What “category” is the storm we face? Is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? “No matter how all this plays out, it’s only the beginning,” posted the user of a large online protest message board, according to the FBI bulletin.
Certainly, websites tuned into the current situation seem to indicate that the Capitol mayhem will hardly be a singular isolated event. We surveyed one, Gab.com, that has taken over from Twitter among many conservatives, especially Evangelicals. Among the first posts we saw [excuse any harsh lingo]:
From CJtruth:
“These next ten days will be trying for us all. Continue to pray out to the Lord with all your requests to Him. God is still God! He is an all-powerful, all-seeing, totally in-control God. He hears our prayers. ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:6-7).”
From ItsAMistake [excuse the lingo; skip if easily offended]:
“Unfortunately it takes fifty percent more prayer than normal to change an election in favor of a guy who [blanks] strippers. Sorry, those are the rules.”
From American Infidel:
“Go troll somewhere else, punk!”
From theHauntedDoughnut:
“This is for American Christians. I fall into this category myself, and am a Trump supporter. But here is where I think many of us failed. Our eyes and our hope were fixed on a person, rather than on JESUS CHRIST, where it should have been. I know many that bordered on worshipping the president. This may be why we find ourselves in the place where we currently are. GOD shares His glory with no one. Going forward, let’s refocus, repent, and return our focus on the ONLY ONE worthy of our worship, and our hope. And heed the words of Hebrew 12: ‘Fixing our eyes on JESUS, Who is the AUTHOR & FINISHERS of our faith! No matter who is in the White House, GOD is still on the Throne!”
From jackS—-Constantly:
“Your a little off… these aliens we are fighting are just reptilians. God supports us for fighting for freedom. I expect UFO war over us now.”
Aliens?
From Farmgirljc:
That’s all we can do is pray for God to move and expose the corruption and bring the evil to the light for all to see.”
We like this Gab.com thread (from Lozza Truth Prevails):
“‘Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God. For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord and mighty His power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground’ (Psalm 147:1-6).
From Book1776:
“When we pray let us humble ourselves and allow the Lord to do most of the speaking. He probably has more to say on a matter anyway.”
[new “special report” later this week: secrets of Mary]