Philip C. Johnson, Ph.D.
January 1, 2025
For the past five days I have been taking a look at the major events of the last 25 years. If you missed the previous posts, click here (Part 1), here (Part 2), here (Part 3) and here (Part 4) In this final section, I will take a look at the last years of this first quarter of the 21st century: 2020-2024.
2020: COVID-19 Pandemic, BLM Protests, U.S. Presidential Election
2020 was the year when time stopped. Seriously, to this day, when I speak to people about the time between 2020 and 2022, most have trouble pinpointing the details of their lives during that time. So much of the routine and stuff of life was interrupted during these years that I will be curious as to how we’ll reflect on this time a decade from now. My guess is that the timeline will still be muddled.
COVID-19:
As we all know, COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China in late 2019. The virus became a global pandemic by March 2020. The virus infected over 100 million people by the end of 2020. According to the World Health Organization, at least 3 million deaths (globally) were attributed to COVID-19 in 2020. Though numbers, accuracy, transparency – everything – would be questioned in the future.
I was not in the U.S. when the COVID lockdowns started. In fact, I was in Ukraine – at Chernobyl to be exact. I was visiting the nuclear disaster site, working on a article about “places that changed the world,” while the world was being changed.
2020 started as a busy year for me and Global Next – at least that’s what my iPhone photo app tells me. It seems a blur now. I was working in Poland and Saudi Arabia in January and then in Italy in February. In March, I was on to Paris, then Greece and finally Ukraine. And I fully intended to come home in the middle of March. Except for one thing: The world was starting to shut down. My flights kept getting canceled. I’d rebook – then another country shut down. I was stuck in a hotel in the center of Kiev with only four guests remaining. The streets were empty. One small market down the street was allowed to open for a few hours per day to provide food for purchase.
Finally the U.S. booked a charter flight on the 25th of March to “rescue” those of us stuck abroad. For a mere $1000, a direct flight was arranged from Kiev to JFK. “Take it or leave it,” I was told. If I didn’t take it, I was informed that I would need to remain in Ukraine indefinitely. So, I took it. And the world got quiet. Everything closed, everyone quarantined, everyone scared.
It would take an entire year to develop vaccines – and those (along with masking, social distancing and lockdowns) became a source of great controversy – to the point where families and friends stopped talking to each other.
One of the most striking things about the COVID restrictions during this time was how decisions were made regarding “essential” businesses remaining open and “nonessential” businesses being required to be closed. Liquor stores were “essential.” Churches were not. A couple of pastors in Canada were arrested and taken to prison for holding worship services. One of those churches eventually began meeting at a secret location. To my knowledge, this was the first “underground” church in North America.
George Floyd and BLM Protests:
Sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25, protests spread across the U.S. George Floyd was a career criminal and a drug addict. He was also Black. The focus of the protests was against systemic racism and police brutality. The protests were estimated to be one of the largest movements in U.S. history with millions participating. None of the COVID rules that were in place – like quarantines, masking and staying at least six feet from others – applied to protesters. Apparently a global pandemic suspends its work to give space to a righteous cause.
In a number of cities the “righteous cause” escalated into riots, resulting in property destruction, arson, looting and deaths.
Small businesses, often in minority neighborhoods, were disproportionately affected by the violence. Which seems counterproductive to the stated goal of Black lives mattering. Videos circulated showing protesters intimidating bystanders or people who were simply passing by. They demanded that people kneel as a sign of solidarity, often using aggressive, intimidating and threatening language.
As people began to look into the Black Lives Matter organization, they found more than just a movement in pursuit of equality. According to a now-scrubbed page from BLM’s official website, co-founders Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza described themselves as “trained Marxists.” Under the “what we believe” section it stated, “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement…” and “We foster a queer-affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking…” Concerning.
Of course the life of a Black person matters. All people have equal value as they are created in the image of God. Every country is imperfect, and injustice and racism should be addressed and dealt with. But mixing in a message of eliminating “heteronormative thinking,” and wanting to “disrupt the nuclear family,” has a lot more to do with Marxism than with social justice.
U.S. Presidential Election: Trump v. Biden:
In November the presidential election saw what appeared to be record voter turnout as Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump. But suspicion went into overdrive. There were allegations of fraud, concerns about election security, and doubts about the integrity of mail-in voting.
Regardless, Joe Biden, a man who was already 78 years old, was inaugurated the following January. He struggled to talk, to think, to walk, to climb the stairs of Air Force One, to remember people, or even know where he was. And the Media just pretended that none of this was happening. We were living in strange times.
In other news of the world – and further proof that the events of 2020 and following make it very hard for people to measure time – NBA legend Kobe Bryant was killed along with his daughter in a helicopter crash. Seriously – this seems like it happened much longer ago than 2020. Brexit was finalized? Really? Were they still doing that? And Beirut had a massive explosion killing 200 people- supposedly due to improperly stored ammonium nitrate. It devastated Beirut and if you saw the video of it, it was nearly unbelievable.
2021: U.S. Capitol Riots and Covid-19 Vaccination Rollout:
January 6: An Insurrection or Not?
On January 6th, supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The goal was to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
The crowd overwhelmed police barriers and entered the Capitol building, forcing the evacuation of lawmakers. There have been claims that FBI informants were present and enticed individuals to enter the Capitol – even holding doors open for them and ushering them in. I expect we’re going to learn more and more about that in the coming months.
Over 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the events of January 6th. The charges have ranged from unlawful entry, disorderly conduct, assault on law enforcement, destruction of government property, and seditious conspiracy. Opinions on this event vary considerably. Some advocates of the protest argue that they were exercising their right to protest and have faced unusually harsh legal consequences. Others claim that this was a group of rioters who nearly overthrew the government of the United States. Because, you know, that’s all it would take to end democracy; some upset people and a few grandmas.
COVID Vaccines Rollout:
In 2021, mass vaccination campaigns began worldwide to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccines remained controversial because there was so much inaccurate information coming out of the medical community. False claims about vaccine safety and efficacy fueled hesitancy in many communities.
There was a lot of “official” information coming out of the Dr. Anthony Fauci reign of power that was questionable. At first people were told that masking worked, then it didn’t. We were told that the vaccine would protect you from ever getting the virus. Then we were told that we needed booster shots to remain protected. Then we were told that the “vaccine” would just prevent you from getting a bad case of COVID. Meanwhile, some people were having adverse reactions to the vaccine – and no public officials wanted to talk about that problem.
2022: Russia Invades Ukraine, Roe v. Wade Overturned, and Queen Elizabeth II’s Death:
Russia Invades Ukraine:
On February 24th, Russia launched a full-sale invasion of Ukraine, triggering the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II. The official media narrative is that the invasion was unprovoked. But that’s not entirely true. Back in the February of 1990 (Yeah…last century) during negotiations over German reunification, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker assured Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand “one inch eastward” beyond Germany. Other Western leaders echoed the promise. Global spheres of influence matter. And that’s been the understanding ever since, except for all the “oh, but we didn’t mean exactly that,” kind of defenses coming from Western leaders today and they hint about Ukraine’s eventual admittance to NATO. (Just for the record, Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Europe and in no way qualifies for NATO membership. But we’ll see.)
One important thing that needs to be understood about the Russia-Ukraine War is that if the U.S. would stop funneling billions of dollars into the conflict, (your tax dollars) the war would have ended long ago. And hundreds of thousands of people would still be alive. Russia would have kept Crimea and probably the Donbas (eastern Ukraine, mostly populated by Russians). And Russia would have made sure that the president of Ukraine was pro-Russia, not very different than what the U.S. would do if our enemies were planning to put ballistic missiles on our border with Mexico. Or Canada.
Regardless the war has continued throughout 2024. We’ll see what 2025 brings.
Abortion: Overturning of Roe v. Wade:
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protection for abortion rights. In reality, the Supreme Court just threw the issue back to the states to decide. And some states, thankfully, banned abortion outright.
To be honest, I never thought this would happen. But due to the fact that Donald Trump appointed a couple of conservative justices to the Court, the nearly 50-year old ruling on abortion was finally overturned. Much to the joy of anyone who values and wants to protect the most defenseless members of our society – children. And just a reminder: Humans are the only things created in the image of God. So murdering children is particularly offensive to a holy God.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Death:
Queen Elizabeth passed away on September 8th, ending a 70-year reign, the longest of any British monarch. She was an incredibly stable feature of the British Monarchy and of the United Kingdom. There will never been another like her. And the monarchy will never be the same.
2023: Advances in Artificial Intelligence and Hamas’ Terror Attack on Israel:
AI: The Robots:
In 2023, Artificial Intelligence technologies made significant progress. And this has prompted some really valid concerns: ethical implications, job displacement, a need for regulations, and more.
The Robots are, indeed, handy. They can provide advancements in all kinds of industries, from healthcare, finance, communications, self-driving, research and the service industry. I have a friend who recently sat in on a symposium regarding AI and the conversation eventually turned to whether or not AI could develop independent reasoning and emotions. One of the queries was, “Will we need to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with AI? The answer is a hard “no,” – they are NOT human, but even in my own experience using AI, I have found it to be oddly manipulative and a little too “human like.” AI can also be infused with ideological values that are less than objective. When asked to provide a picture of America’s founding fathers or passengers of the Mayflower, the results were filled with diverse people of color and of various genders to make sure that history is remembered as equitably as possible. Strange.
My current plan is to make friends with the Robots and use them for my own benefit while I can. That way, when they do take over and become our overlords, perhaps they will be merciful to me.
Hamas Attack on Israel:
On October 7th, Hamas launched an unprecedented and deadly attack on Israel. The assault resulted in over 1,200 Israeli deaths, most of them civilians. In addition, 254 people were taken hostage. (12 of them were Americans. Anything, Joe Biden? Anything?) About 100 people are still in captivity in Gaza. Many of them are already dead.
Conflict in the Middle East is a long story – and a topic I am always willing to engage with. The particular conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorists in Gaza has been going on since 2006. But never like this. This was a bigger deal. And this time, Israel wasn’t interested in world opinion or in anything to do with “proportional responses.” Israel has decided that this had become an existential problem and has gone after her enemies in Gaza as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon. And with Iran – who is financially and militarily supporting these terrorist groups.
Things are currently going well for Israel and with Syria currently under new management with the recent fall of the Assad regime, Israel could experience a period of peace. Don’t get me started on hints of prophecies. (Ezekiel 38)
2024: Year of UFO’s, Drones, Political Surprises and Assassination Attempts:
2024: All of It:
As we all just collectively lived through this year, I will just give you a run through of some of the highlights. You don’t needs lots of my input or context because in some ways we’re all still processing the past year.
Joe Biden revealed what we already knew during a debate with Donald Trump on June 27th: That his cognitive decline was steep. He looked completely lost and struggled to put any thoughts together. Afterwards, he suddenly withdrew from the presidential race. (Not sure if he knew he was withdrawing…) The Democratic “Party” selected Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him. Very Soviet-esque. Only the Soviets wouldn’t have chosen someone so incessantly cringe-worthy.
Israel found a way to have thousands of pagers (beepers) blow up in the pockets of their enemies, Hezbollah. I can’t wait for the inevitable movie.
There were two assassination attempts on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. There are tons of unanswered questions.
UFO sightings were up. As well as conversations about them. Former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson won’t even discuss them anymore because, he says, he knows enough (maybe too much) and they are obviously from another dimension. Spiritual.
Donald Trump won the presidential election on November 5th- winning both the electoral college vote and the popular vote. Huge mandate from the people. One of the greatest comebacks of all time.
After more than 13 years of civil war, the Bashir al-Assad regime in Syria fell. And it was sudden. He was replaced by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, an al-Qaeda-ISIS-adjacent person. Oh, my apologies, he changed his name to Ahmed al-Sharaa now (or gone back to his given name) to show that he’s not a problem- so everything should be good now. As usual.
The CEO of UnitedHealtcare, Brian Thompson, was murdered, assassin style, in Midtown Manhattan while heading to an investor meeting. The man who shot Thompson was Luigi Mangione, a 35-year-old Ivy League graduate. He’s been charged with 2nd-degree murder. He’s pleaded not guilty. A number of people online have express support and sympathy for Mangione. In other words, people dissatisfied with insurance companies have been given permission to take justice into their own hands. This is where we are now.
Drones have been flying over New Jersey and the eastern seaboard of the United States for the last couple of months. Local officials didn’t know what was going on. Our government hasn’t felt like telling us. There were early rumors that they were Iranian drones from a “mothership” off our coast. But apparently not. I have a friend who theorizes that they are our (government) drones, and they’re looking for dirty bombs, or some nuclear signature. What do you expect when you keep your borders open for four years? Surely there are terror cells spread across our country. Unsettling.
In the final days of 2024, on December 29th, former president, Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100. Which means he wasn’t just dealing with the last quarter century, but a full century. I imagine he had some good stories. I also imagine that our current world had become completely baffling to him. It is to me. Carter wasn’t a great president, but seemed like a nice guy.
And here we are, closing out the 25 years from 2000 until today, the first day of 2025. When I think back over the last 25 years, it is just exhausting. When I think of the events of 2024, I find it no less exhausting. And yet, through everything, God’s grace has been evident and sufficient. Sometimes just barely.
Happy New Year – here’s to a glorious 2025! There are reasons to be hopeful.
The Global Nexter 