{"id":84044,"date":"2026-06-30T18:31:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/?p=84044"},"modified":"2026-06-30T18:31:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:31:43","slug":"backup-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/backup-8\/","title":{"rendered":"backup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere is something strange in the American air,\u201d starts out a recent column in\u00a0The New York Times.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNot long ago, Tucker Carlson spoke publicly of waking in bed with blood on him \u2014 and claw marks, he said, on his sides and shoulder \u2014 after what he described as an attack by a demon, or at least by something unseen. Clergy, Catholic and Orthodox, weighed in. One Orthodox priest suggested that Carlson\u2019s Episcopalian background had left him without the spiritual armor such events require.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen came another oddity: Gregg Phillips, now associated with FEMA\u2019s response-and-recovery operations, said he had once been transported \u2014 somehow, against his will \u2014 to a Waffle House fifty miles away in Rome, Georgia.\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0went looking for witnesses at the town\u2019s Waffle Houses. No one remembered him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay, there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Times<\/em>, of course, is exquisitely secular. Another way of saying that as a product of Rationalism and Scientism.<\/p>\n

But interesting it is that even the august newspaper, despite the worldliness, has caught scent of what is wafting in the wind.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, vast numbers of people who in recent decades\u2013indeed in the last century\u2013would have given supernaturalism no truck are suddenly believers.<\/p>\n

Reason: the mainstream media, which was so exclusionary of such \u201cnonsense,\u201d no longer rules the roost. It has been significantly replaced, in most quarters, by YouTube, other venues of podcasters, and social media.<\/p>\n

Now, when something mysterious occurs\u2013an alleged miracle, visions, strange aerial phenomena, hauntings\u2013word gets out, often documented by the now-countless cell cameras out there and ready to upload as text messages, emails, or TikTok.<\/p>\n

No longer is public discourse ruled by three networks, PBS, and national or local radio stations and newspapers.<\/p>\n

Many of those\u2013including most recently CBS radio\u2013no longer exist. Instead,\u00a0ouila:<\/em>\u00a0the internet.<\/p>\n

This replacement of mainstream media has caused its share of problems, including blatant falsity, scams, and over-credulity (careful with \u201cdeep-dive\u201d podcasters who really dive deeply not at all, and love use of the f-word, which mainstream media for the most part still forbids).<\/p>\n

But it also has been like a veil, and often spiritual blinders, lifting.<\/p>\n

As they say these days:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good development.<\/p>\n

The unleashing of supernatural reports has led to many, especially the young, taking note of actual demonism. And that has caused them to reconsider Christianity, which many thought was nearing extinction but is now a big deal for Generations X and Z.<\/p>\n

Tucker Carlson chatting about an attack by a dark force! Endless feeds of paranormal reports! Charismatic preachers behind large Shure microphones!<\/p>\n

As the columnist for\u00a0The Times<\/em>\u2013which itself now allow a certain element of belief to be written about positively\u2013put it, \u201cMeanwhile, in a far more orthodox but no less striking development, Catholic churches this Easter welcomed some of the largest convert classes in many years. Eastern Orthodox parishes, too, are reporting remarkable growth, especially among young men. One Antiochian Orthodox priest said he had never seen anything like it in the history of Orthodoxy in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this unfolds against a national atmosphere that has become, in a word, uncanny. The solid world seems less solid. The old explanations seem thinner. We see humanoid robots on White House carpets. We hear former intelligence officials speak under oath of crashed UFOs, reverse-engineered craft, and recovered \u2018nonhuman biologics.\u2019 We watch as technology, official secrecy, spiritual hunger, and cultural exhaustion blend into a strange mist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe result is a kind of re-enchantment.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a word one has to use caution around. \u201cEnchantment.\u201d Spirituality is one thing\u2013Bible Christianity\u2013but enchantment often trends toward the occult.<\/p>\n

So with the \u201cthumbs-up\u201d comes:<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/p>\n

Pew reported in 2024 that nearly a third of Americans consult astrology, tarot, or fortune tellers at least once a year. \u201cWhat was once dismissed as occult, superstitious, or eccentric has drifted toward the mainstream.<\/p>\n

For many Americans, life is no longer dictated by economics, psychology, and politics. The young now recognize manipulation from beyond the veil. The consensus once established by institutional gatekeepers has been fractured if not shattered.<\/p>\n

That agreement has fractured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWoohoo!\u201d \u201cAwesome!\u201d<\/p>\n

With the collapse of secular institutional authority, a massive spiritual vacuum has opened. The columnist argues that into this void has rushed a return to \u201ca medieval atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Really?<\/p>\n

How about looking at it a bit differently and realizing there has been a reversion not so much to the Middle Ages as to the earlier days of Christianity, when evil was seen for what it was and miracles were believed for the simple reason that they happen.<\/p>\n

Many are recognizing there\u00a0was<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0the Person named Jesus.<\/p>\n

The danger comes when enchantment is cut loose from discernment \u2014 from Church, doctrine, humility, community, and spiritual authority. Untethered enchantment mutates. It becomes obsession. It becomes delusion. It becomes a private religion in which every impulse is a revelation and every coincidence a command.<\/p>\n

The modern world promised to banish mystery. Instead, mystery has returned\u2014 and so have sudden conversions.<\/p>\n

If that \u201cmedieval,\u201d so be it. The world as fashioned solely by Scientism has proven to be shallow (and often very wrong) indeed.<\/p>\n