My Struggle as Editor of OnePeterFive, Pt II: Disembodied Antichrist Community: Good out of Evil?

Mr Flanders continues his series of essays on his struggles against what he refers to as the Antichrist Technocracy of the internet. Part I is here.

From One Peter Five

By Timothy Flanders, MA

My Struggle as Editor of OnePeterFive

Or: Mary Against the Antichrist Technocracy

When I was Eastern Orthodox, I could not find any book or person in my local community who could answer my questions and objections to Rome. The East-West debate (which, if we include all the Greek schisms, is over 1500 years old), is a particularly complex apologetic topic, in contrast to the Protestant-Catholic debate, which is rather simple, since it is within the one Latin tradition. As such, most of the apologetic content that I’ve seen from Latin Catholics is rather lackluster because it is too triumphalistic regarding the east, and thus ends up saying things that are exaggerated and misleading against the historical data we have (for example, Blessed Pius IX’s letter to the Eastern Patriarchs).

So I remained Eastern Orthodox because the apologetics in books and in person failed to answer the best Orthodox arguments.

But through the internet, I met David Villeneuve, a Catholic from another country who emailed with me for years and answered all of my objections to Rome, broke down my defences, and converted my soul. (This is detailed in my forthcoming book about Eastern Orthodoxy.[1])

So even though the internet and all screens participate – more or less – in the false light of Lucifer which obscures all God-created light (both physical and metaphysical – more on this below), nevertheless, the potency of the internet is nothing less than manifesting a mystery of the Mystical Body that our forefathers knew as reality but never experienced.

Here’s what I mean: Sacramental grace has bound us to Christ and through Christ to one another – across every international border – but our forefathers have never been able to experience some piece of that “superactual”[2] reality of communion – until modern technology.  Now we can experience the Mystical Body of Christ in a new way that our forefathers never dreamed of. I have a close Catholic friend in London, for instance. Another one in Russia.

I’ve never met either of these brothers in person, but because of Sacramental grace (with a little help from modern technology), we have a real friendship.

McLuhan, as cited supra, says that modern technology is the precursor to the Antichrist because it creates “disembodied community.” This has the real potential for creating a “mark of the beast” situation because it is an “image of man” but it is a false image – it is disembodied, and thus not totally real. On the internet we are existing like angels – without personal, living contact which comes from being in bodily proximity.

But we are not angels, those “bodiless powers of heaven” as the Greek rite puts it. Instead, the disembodied community of the internet is turning us into demons in our behaviour. The Conspiracy of the Fallen Angels pulls the strings and whips up the “trending” mob against Christ the King.

In reality – in real life, not virtual reality – contact with another human being in person puts you in contact with the metaphysical light of the image of God in man. When we interact with someone in person, we are confronted with this light, and we have a choice to respond to this light, good or bad.

On the internet, because it is disembodied community, we do not make contact with the metaphysical light of the image of God (since this is contained in the body) – but rather the false light of Lucifer. We are trading the metaphysical light of the image of God in man – only present when you see someone’s face in person – for a false, man-created light (both physical and metaphysical). And hence, McLuhan notes the potency for the Antichrist in modern screens.

A most potent example of this false light is the creation of actually toxic masculinity, which we term “Neo-Puritanism.”

The way that these “men” (read: boys) talk to women online is a perfect example. Imagine saying that to her in person while her husband is standing right there. Her husband would smack you, like Will Smith did in front of millions. (Maybe this stunt was kayfabe, but in any event this is how a good man reacts to another man disrespecting his wife.) But because of disembodied community, you can get a bunch of clicks and likes for this type of false masculinity. The fallen angels love it! Yes, you’ll get lots of “thumbs up” and “likes” from the devils in hell.

Nevertheless, as I said, it is because of my contact with David Villeneuve, a random person in another country, that I am Catholic. Because the internet provides contact with the Mystical Body of Christ like never before.

It’s a similar thing in Muhammadan countries. The American Empire funds the Antichrist tyranny of Saudi Arabia where the Holy Bible and the Gospel is outlawed.

Fine.

To my Muslim brother: here, take this thing called the internet. Don’t worry, you can do this privately, and none of your Muslim family, friends or your Muslim government will know. Dial up these millions of hours about the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures. I know you love Jesus and Mary. Now let me introduce you to Our Lady of Fatima.

And for me, I can get to have a real friendship with these members of the Mystical Body across the world because of the internet. And because of this modern invention, I made contact with David who refuted all the Eastern Orthodox objections, and I surrendered to the Holy Father in the month of Mary, 2013. 

We must take this gift of technology and use it for communion – truth and charity – only by means of the Holy Spirit and His fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, continence, chastity, modesty.

So as I said in part I, in July of 2021 I was exhausted by the internet, but I also knew I owed the very salvation of my soul to the internet, indirectly, because David had helped me enter the Ark of Salvation by means of modern tech.

Now, continuing the backstory to 2021, after I met David and reconciled my Greek schism with the Holy Father, I unplugged from the internet for a while, especially after I quit my Master’s Degree in 2014 in order to take an office job for the family.

But what happened next radically changed my life but also plunged me into the dark depths of the fallen angels.

To Be Continued.

Part III: What this Non-Profit Did for Me

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[1] That’s not his real name, but it’s the name I give him in my book.

[2] Dietrich von Hildebrand speaks of a “superactual reality” as a reality that happens to you but remains in the background in your daily conscious activities. For example, falling in love changes you, but you still have to focus on something else for a time (like working or cleaning), but then you come back to it. A fortiori, this is true of Sacramental grace and the communion of saints within the Church Militant, Suffering and Triumphant.