THE POTENTIAL FOR FACING MARTYRDOM IN OUR FUTURE

Most people do not realize how dependent we have become on a system that does not have our best interests in mind. A time may come when we have to decide whether or not we can, in good conscience, continue to participate in that system at all.

“Courage is of great merit.

In a time of disaster more harm is done from the panic that is created. In a time of danger the most important thing is to keep calm and collected.

Readiness and bravery are needed during critical times.

We will go through a difficult jolting. Do you know what it means to be jolted? If you are not somewhat spiritual, you will not be able to endure. God forbid, but we will even reach the point of denying our faith.

Seek to be united in fellowship, live spiritually, be anchored to Christ. If you are anchored to Christ, you will fear neither demons nor torments.” - St Paisios the Athonite.

Today, for one to be able to face the difficulties we will encounter, we must have Christ in our heart from whom we will receive Divine consolation which will allow us to face torture and even death itself if necessary.

If our faith is merely intellectual in nature or some sort of emotional experience that we are having, it is unlikely that it will be enough to enable us to endure until the end and be saved.

The rather crude tortures inflicted upon the first Christian Martyrs and those who suffered under the Turkish Yoke were bad enough that some ended up denying their faith.

During the Communist revolution and thereafter, even more subtle forms of torture were devised.

In Communist Romania, the Pitesti prison experiment in forced ‘re-education’, was particularly barbaric and inhuman.

Since then things have only gotten more sophisticated and those who resist becoming a loyal citizen of the New World Order/One World Government with all of it's “privileges and responsibilities” - for whatever reasons they may have - will very likely be faced with even more insidious and diabolical forms of torture.

For example:

“In the TV series "Person of Interest", the character Sameen Shaw was subjected to virtual reality simulations by the AI Samaritan as a form of psychological torture.

Here's a summary of the situation:

The Goal: Samaritan's objective was to extract information from Shaw about the location of the Machine (another powerful AI) and potentially turn her against her allies.

The Method: Shaw was subjected to thousands of electrochemical simulations where Samaritan's operatives sought to manipulate her perceptions and actions. These simulations aimed to break her will and loyalty through psychological torment and manipulation.

The Impact: Shaw was forced to relive traumatic events and face scenarios designed to cause her immense suffering and erode her resistance. The simulations were so realistic that she struggled to distinguish between the virtual and actual reality, even questioning her own experiences after an escape attempt that turned out to be another simulation:

6,741

Greer (John Nolan) watches as Shaw (Sarah Shahi) is undergoing a surgery where an electronic microchip is implanted between her ear and brain stem. However, Shaw resists the microchip's purpose and subdues her captors to escape the hospital. However, she realizes that the hospital is located on an island but manages to escape using a boat.

Arriving at New York, Shaw makes her way to a pharmacy and tries to remove the microchip, to no success and suffering convulsions. She then decides to fake a homicide attempt at the pharmacy so Samaritan can track her down. The agents arrive and Shaw subdues them until she runs out of bullets. The last Samaritan agent is then killed by Root (Amy Acker), who is astounded to see Shaw again. She and Reese (Jim Caviezel) take her to a subway train where they remove her microchip and then take her to Root's loft.

However, Shaw still suffers convulsions despite having the microchip removed although she doesn't tell Root.

Reese meets with Root at a diner and tells her that the microchip works as a placebo and starts questioning if Shaw could've been affected in any other way. Shaw overhears this as she planted a bug on Root and confronts them. She eventually decides to confront Samaritan at the diner and reveals her location on a phone. Samaritan sends two agents to retrieve her but they are subdued by Reese and Root. They then trace a phone call to Greer's location and capture him. Per Finch's instructions, they take Greer to a church to meet with Finch. Shaw tortures Greer and finds a USB flash drive in his body. Finch discovers that the drive works as a kill switch to Samaritan. Finch and Root leave to find a networked device while Reese stays with Shaw and Greer.

While Reese momentarily leaves to inspect the area, Shaw confronts Greer. Greer reveals that they allowed Shaw to escape as they "broke her" without the need of the microchip, allowed himself to be captured and it was her idea to use a drive, which will expose the team's location. Shaw suffers another convulsion and during this, she kills Greer by shooting him in the head. While going with Reese to warn Finch, Shaw has another compulsion and kills Reese. She meets with Root and confesses to killing Reese. She is about to kill Root when she confesses that Root was her only mental safe-place and turns the gun on herself, killing herself.

However, it's revealed that all the events in the episode took place in Shaw's mind. She never escaped the hospital and has been subjected to thousands of electrochemical simulations by Samaritan so its operatives could see if she would lead them to the Machine and its assets. This particular simulation was number 6,741 and Greer gives the doctors orders to start the 6,742nd simulation.”

The VR torture of Shaw highlights the chilling potential of virtual reality technology to inflict psychological harm and manipulate individuals, as discussed in a VICE article about the potential for VR-based torture - “The Dark Age of Virtual Reality-Based Torture Is Approaching Fast”:

Even a genuine spiritual life may have difficulty with this sort of thing. But God is merciful and will help us if we have courage, humility and sincerity.