Martin Chhangte

🕳books| art history|heritage|archaeology/East Asia&China
🕳RTs do not imply endorsement

[Camus @newstart_2024]

Melanie Phillips delivers a chilling diagnosis of the West's intellectual crisis: Ideology has replaced knowledge, and reason itself is under siege.

Key points from her 4:37 clip:
- Modern orthodoxies (multiculturalism, lifestyle equivalence, etc.) are treated as absolute moral goods.

- Challenge them → you're not just wrong; you're evil, standing against human/planetary betterment.

- Dissent must be silenced: no platform, no debate, no hearing.

- Evidence contradicting the ideology is dismissed as lies or "not facts."

- Universities—once crucibles of reason—are now engines destroying it, while claiming moral superiority.

- Result: Civil discourse dies. Replaced by insult weaponized to shut people down.

This isn't just about politics—it's the erosion of objective truth, evidence-based reasoning, and the ability to disagree without demonization.

We're witnessing the destruction of reason itself.

4:37 clip laying bare how ideology has become inimical to rationality 👇

When ideology trumps evidence and disagreement becomes "evil," what survives of open society?

Where do you see this dynamic strongest right now—in academia, media, politics, or everyday life?

[Martin Chhangte @martisch]

@pushpendrakum so the DoBs in Aadhar are all fake??

[Redpill Drifter @RedpillDrifter]

William Cooper Atlanta lecture 1991

Shout out to @PatriotX369 for finding this gem. I want to add a note he attached to the video he shared with me. Please read it below. This is very important information. Cooper was telling us.

"Jump to TS 2:39:30 The New world Regions. Region 1 is United States and Canada, South America and Greenland. I cannot really see the chart well so I'll will research that next.

Also in the same video he talks about something very important. He mentions T Shaped Pillars on the moon. William Cooper had no way of knowing about the T shaped pillars at Göbekli Tepe. Drifter I think this is something very important. I will defiantly research this ASAP."

[Jaynit @jaynitx]

In 1998, Charlie Munger compressed 74 years of wisdom into a 30-minute masterclass

He revealed the mental models that made him a billionaire:
��� Deserve what you want
• Invert, always invert
• Avoid intense ideology

15 mental models from his lecture:

1. Invert, always invert

[scott @alreadydawn]

https://t.co/iBULHbqNk7

[Luther Walker @uiothesia]

Doctrine means putting teaching into practice. There are two Greek words for "teach": didache (information to learn) and didaskalia (information to put into practice). Understanding this unlocks deeper meaning. https://t.co/cnXBUe4huu #BiblicalStudies #Theology

[Martin Chhangte @martisch]

International Kite &Sweets Festival on the occasion of #MakarSankranti at Parade Ground, Secunderabad,Telangana

[LINGUIST List @linguistlist]

Books: Language Contact in Northern China: Djamouri, Lamarre, and Lefort (eds.) (2025): What happens when Chinese is shaped by centuries of contact with Mongolic, Tungusic, Turkic, and Tibetic languages? This volume explores this question through… https://t.co/FOFrFmZ18P

[Dr Yan He @YanHeCUL]

Pleased to share that the first three sub-collections of the Joseph McDermott Collection (周绍明文库) are now available for use including: 1. Huizhou Studies; 2.History of Book Collecting; and 3.History of Publishing and Print, including Edition Studies. https://t.co/9HfwwL6OeX

[Digital Orientalist @DigiOrientalist]

Can #AI help deepen student engagement with #History?

Maciej Kurzynski and Du Chunmei explore this question through HistFig; a custom-built AI system that generates interactive dialogues with key figures from #Chinese history.

🔗 https://t.co/pKkoUq5PI7

[Martin Chhangte @martisch]

https://t.co/5HHy9401QB

[Nagoya University @NagoyaUniv]

[Campus Stories] Nagoya University students gained hands-on experience in cultural heritage preservation through practical training at the Nagoya Castle stone wall restoration site. They observed expert techniques and created essential documentation. https://t.co/Lb7whwn0RS

[Ihunanya Chi ❤️ @Ihunanya_chi]

Title: When God Says “I Did It”

When I first started reading the Bible, I struggled with some passages in the Old Testament. I often wondered why God Almighty would allow certain things to happen. Later, when I came across some atheists who challenged me with those same Bible verses, it almost made me question my faith. One of them asked, “If your God is love, why did He kill the firstborn sons of the Egyptians?” I didn’t know how to answer. I felt bad because I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to defend Scripture.

That experience made me hungry for understanding. I began to study the Bible while also researching these difficult questions. I thank God for giving me light. Now I can answer those questions without fear or doubt. The Bible is perfect, and everything God did is justified when you understand the context.

In this article, I will explain certain events in the Bible where God took responsibility for actions He permitted, even though He was not the one who directly carried them out.

The Bible often speaks in a way that assigns responsibility to God for events He permits, even when the actual actions are carried out by Satan, angels, or human beings. This manner of speaking does not make God the author of evil. Instead, it reveals His absolute sovereignty over creation. God governs all things, yet He remains holy, righteous, and completely separated from sin. When this truth is not understood, people accuse the Bible of contradiction or accuse God of evil, neither of which is true.

God is not merely a passive observer in the universe. He is the Creator, Sustainer, Lawgiver, and Judge. Nothing exists or happens independently of Him. Because of this, the Bible speaks from a divine courtroom perspective. When an action happens within God’s permitted will, Scripture often attributes the responsibility to God, even when another agent performs the act. This is not because God personally committed the act, but because nothing happens outside His authority. God takes responsibility as King, not guilt as a sinner.

The book of Job is one of the clearest examples of this principle. Satan came before God and accused Job of serving God only because of protection and blessing. Satan argued that if God removed His hedge, Job would curse Him. God allowed Satan to test Job, but only within clearly defined limits. Satan then went out and destroyed Job’s wealth, killed his children, and later struck his body with painful sores. At no point did God personally harm Job. The narrative repeatedly emphasizes that Satan was the active agent of destruction. when God later addressed Satan, He said, “You moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” This statement has confused many readers. God was not admitting to committing evil. He was acknowledging His sovereign permission. Satan could not touch Job without divine authorization, and because God allowed the trial, He speaks as the ultimate authority over the event. Satan remains morally guilty, while God remains morally pure.

This same pattern appears in the Exodus account. The Bible frequently says that God struck Egypt and killed the firstborn, yet Exodus 12 clearly introduces a destroying agent. God said He would pass through the land, but He also said He would not allow the destroyer to enter the homes marked by blood. The blood did not stop God from killing, it stopped the destroyer from entering. Later Scriptures confirm that God sent angels of judgment to carry out the destruction. God decreed judgment because of Pharaoh’s rebellion, Egypt’s oppression, and persistent refusal to repent. The execution of that judgment was carried out by delegated agents. Still, Scripture rightly says God struck Egypt because the judgment came from His authority and decision. God was not committing murder, He was executing justice as Judge of the nations.

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is also cited as proof that God forces people to sin. This is a serious misunderstanding of the biblical text, I struggled with this in the past. The early passages in Exodus repeatedly state that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. He saw the signs, heard God’s command, and willfully resisted. Only after repeated rejection does Scripture begin to say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God did not implant evil into Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh’s heart was already proud, rebellious, and hardened by choice. What God did was remove restraint and confirm Pharaoh in the path he had already chosen. This is one of the most severe forms of judgment in the Bible. When God is fed up with a person, He does not always strike them immediately. Sometimes He hands them over to their desires. Their will becomes their prison. This is exactly what the apostle Paul later describes in Romans, where God’s judgment is expressed as giving people over to their own lusts, passions, and corrupt thinking.

This principle explains why Scripture can truthfully say that both Pharaoh and God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh was responsible for his rebellion. God was responsible for allowing that rebellion to reach its full expression as judgment. God remained holy, and Pharaoh remained guilty.

The same divine pattern appears in the case of King David’s census. Second Samuel states that God moved David to number Israel, while First Chronicles states that Satan provoked David to do it. This has been used by critics to claim contradiction in Scripture. In reality, this is one of the clearest examples of layered causation in the Bible. God was angry with Israel because of ongoing disobedience. As part of His judgment, God withdrew restraint and protection. Satan, who is always seeking opportunities to accuse and destroy, took advantage of that withdrawal and tempted David through pride, self-reliance, and misplaced security in numbers rather than trust in God. David listened to the temptation and chose to act. Satan tempted, David sinned, and God permitted the event as part of judgment. Because God allowed it within His sovereign plan, Scripture can say that God moved David, while also truthfully saying that Satan provoked him. God did not whisper sin into David’s heart. Satan did. But Satan could only act because God allowed it.

Another clear example is found in the life of King Saul. 1 Samuel 16:14 says that “the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.” This verse shocks many people, but notice the order. First, the Spirit of the LORD departed. Saul had repeatedly disobeyed God, rejected God’s commands, and hardened his heart. God did not immediately destroy him. Instead, God removed His Spirit and His protection. When God’s restraining presence left, Saul became vulnerable. Then Scripture says an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

This does not mean God created a sinful spirit or became sinful Himself. It means God authorized a spirit of judgment to afflict Saul. God is the King over the spirit realm. All spirits, including fallen ones, exist under His authority. When Scripture says “from the LORD,” it means by God’s permission and command, not by God’s moral nature. The same pattern appears again in First Samuel 18:10 and First Samuel 19:9, where the distressing spirit returns when Saul continues in rebellion. Saul’s torment was not random. It was judgment tied directly to his disobedience.

Abimelech and the men of Shechem.
Let me take you guys to another important passage Judges 9:23, which says that “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.” The result was division, betrayal, and destruction among wicked people who had committed murder and violence. God did not cause them to sin. Their hearts were already corrupt. God sent a spirit that brought discord and exposure, allowing their evil to collapse on itself. The spirit functioned as an instrument of judgment, not temptation.

We also see this principle in First Kings 22, where the prophet Micaiah describes a vision of the heavenly council. God asks who will entice King Ahab to go into battle so that judgment would fall on him. A spirit steps forward and offers to be a lying spirit in the mouths of Ahab’s prophets. God allows it. This does not mean God lies. Scripture is clear that God cannot lie. It means God gave Ahab over to deception because Ahab had consistently rejected truth. God judged Ahab by allowing him to be deceived by what he already loved. Truth was available, but Ahab hated it.

This layered understanding of responsibility is essential for correctly reading Scripture. The Bible is not written from a modern Western perspective that separates responsibility from authority. In the biblical worldview, the one in authority takes responsibility for what happens under his rule. This does not mean he is morally guilty for every action carried out by others. It means he governs the outcome. That is why God can say, “I did this,” while Scripture elsewhere identifies the human or satanic agent involved.

The Bible is very careful to protect the holiness of God. It explicitly teaches that God does not tempt anyone to sin. God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt others. Temptation arises from human desire or from evil spiritual influences. God’s role is never to inject evil into the heart. His role, when judgment comes, is often to withdraw grace and allow choices to bear their full fruit. This is a fearful truth because it means the worst judgment is not always immediate punishment, but divine silence and restraint removed.

Understanding this truth resolves many supposed contradictions in Scripture. It explains why God can be said to send evil spirits, harden hearts, or move events without becoming the author of sin. God governs even evil actions without approving of them. Satan remains accountable for his malice. Humans remain accountable for their choices. God remains sovereign, holy, and just.

This biblical pattern also protects believers from two extremes. On one side, it prevents us from blaming God for our sins. On the other side, it prevents us from imagining that evil operates independently of God’s control. Satan is not God’s rival. He is a created being operating under limitation. Human free will does not override divine sovereignty. Both exist simultaneously, even if the full mystery is beyond human understanding.

[Martin Chhangte @martisch]

Anna Notsu, Japanese PhD scholar in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University pens a heartfelt account of her time with the Biate community in Saipung, Meghalaya.

Read the full article : https://t.co/m3SHigYBWj

[Martin Chhangte @martisch]

https://t.co/rykAZdtvHT

[Martin Chhangte @martisch]

This article explains why documenting African mythology matters, how myth and history often overlap, and why digital archiving is necessary for cultural continuity. It also addresses a common misconception: African myths are not decorative folklore.
https://t.co/mIrVemsnee

[Retraction Watch @RetractionWatch]

“Only a few archaeologists” have contributed to the debate on how to fix broken peer review systems, “but more should, since different types of evaluation invariably suit different research communities."
https://t.co/FUX55GdHIs

[Martin Chhangte @martisch]

Hyderabad Mizo Christian Fellowship (HMCF)'s New Year Celebration, 1st January 2026
@St.Georges Church, Abids