Pass this link on to others… “Each moment is an eternity in hell”, mother of Naama.
https://www.thefp.com/p/the-woman-in-the-hamas-video-is-my-daughter
Section topics:
(1) Tamping down the tribal impulse.
(2) Ranting and raving about unconditional. A friend says “Push on”. Do you have a better alternative ideal?
(3) Apocalyptic- Landes on the greatest fraud and lie ever. And most destructive myth ever.
(4) Main site project: Go to the root and solve the problem for the long-term.
(5) On the freedom front- Cover your ears, snowflakes. Musk joins Dana White with a “Fuck you” to Wokeism. The courageous refusal to be cowed by Woke bullying and threat.
(6) There is no Madhi or other Savior coming to save us. The incarnation of God in all humanity.
(7) More on the consciousness-transforming insight of Historical Jesus that overturns all religious theology and all conditional religion too.
(8) The “holiness takes precedence over love” fallacy.
(9) Yee gads, its Gad Saad trying to be happy. His views on what’s wrong today.
(10) The Borgen Project on Nelson Mandela. How an unconditional approach to enemies enables one to “tower in stature as maturely human”.
(11) The great “Switcheroo”- Libs/Dems have rejected liberalism, and Conservatives have taken up the torch for Classic Liberalism. Well, not entirely. Conservatives have attempted to limit the free speech of pro-Palestinian protesters.
(12) The 6 most important words in all history- “Love your enemy because God does”.
(13) What is love, really? What is justice, really?
(14) Contemporary storytelling glorifies physical force in the same old infantile vengeance tales (in contrast with the force of love at societal scale).
(15) The new Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, satanic leader… the excessive demonizing of political opponents. Left and Right are both guilty here.
(16) Cease the climate alarmism hysteria- a note to politicians. Take a good look at the physics of CO2, that CO2 has reached “saturation” in terms of its warming influence, and will contribute little to any further warming, warming that has been mild, showing there is “no climate crisis”. Nobel laureate in physics, John Clauser, affirms this.
Other posts below:
Brendan O’Neill on COP28: “Revenge of the feudalists- environmentalism is an ugly revolt against modernity”.
Moral clarity on evil. Its not what the Pro-Palestinian protests are claiming. Hamas’s savagery would exist with or without Israel- Danielle Kubes report.
This latest report on the Censorship Industrial Complex, Alex Gutentag on Public at Substack. How we are manipulated, propagandized, and lied to by state agencies, the intelligence community, and their media allies (mainstream media).
Probing what went wrong, the liberal abandonment of liberalism.
What freedom of speech entails- Even the defense of the repugnant speech of opponents.
Another affirmation of dualism, ultimate oneness? Music that just “comes from somewhere” (comments of McCartney, Lennon, Dylan, Simon).
Book review- Apocalyptic millennialism. Religious ideas fueling destructive madness today. When will we ever learn? Wendell Krossa
Richard Landes’ research in “Heaven On Earth: The varieties of the millennial experience” offers an excellent overview of apocalyptic millennial movements across human history. He notes that many historians have tried to ignore and dismiss how common apocalyptic millennial movements have been in human history. They deny the reality of apocalyptic millennialism, in part, because they cannot bear the exposure of their cultural heroes as tainted by apocalyptic irrationality- heroes like Jesus, Paul, Constantine, Muhammad, Charlemagne, Francis of Assisi, Newton, Marx, Lenin, Mao, among many others.
Add Stephen Hawking to this list as he embraced apocalyptic lunacy over the last two years of his life (2016-17), along with King Charles, Al Gore, Joe Biden, and so many other politicians across the world, whole reams of celebrities and innumerable scientists today, all enthralled to the latest eruption of apocalyptic madness in “climate alarmism”. Hawking prophesied, in 2016, the end of days would happen in about 1000 years (little green aliens coming to get us). Then the next year he dropped the date to the apocalypse as just 100 years out (contemporary green visions of the end). He forgot that the tale of Chicken Little was a fable and not real life.
Ah, apocalyptic has always made fools of the brightest minds as we see happening today across our societies. But Hawking was still bright enough to prophesy out beyond the end of his life and spare himself the humiliation of exposure for such foolish embrace of primitive mythology.
Landes notes the stages that such movements go through, the initial rise and increasing hysteria, the breaking of the wave (the movement peaking), then the receding of the hysteria and a return to normal. There is deeply felt humiliation as the apocalyptic prophets are revealed as fools. This is followed by disillusionment among the apocalyptic zealots with accompanying denial and excuse making, while others turn to coercive and even violent tactics to try to kickstart the apocalypse, some apocalypse, any apocalypse.
And just as the most dangerous time for a woman is when leaving her partner during a bad breakup, so the most dangerous time for societies is when an apocalyptic movement is failing, as the prophets double down on panic-mongering hysteria over their prophesies. They desperately look for ways to ensure that the apocalypse will occur and that populations will continue to embrace their salvation schemes, schemes that “destroy life to save it”. The irrationality that apocalyptic mythology incites is stunning.
One of the most helpful insights in Landes detailed history comes at the end of his chapter “Genocidal Millennialism: Nazi Paranoia”. The Nazi case shows how “beliefs travel from the disreputable margins of a culture to the center”. This happened as Germans suffered the horrors of the Weimar years following WW1. The disastrous collapse of the German economy and society led many to feel that they were facing an apocalyptic catastrophe. Germans desperately longed for a savior and a formerly discredited nutcase on the fringes- Hitler- then looked more palatable to the wider population in desperate need of some salvation from the disastrous situation their country had descended into (i.e. hit especially hard by the Great Depression).
It’s a detailed account of the Nazi mess, the contributing factors, especially the religious beliefs and how Hitler played those… (brace yourselves)… Christian ideas to sway a fundamentally Christian nation. Landes ends with this warning- “(Hitler) is not so much the measure of the unthinkably, the impossibly evil, as he is the measure of how, with modern technology and an only partially developed civil polity, a nation, a people, seized by, ridden by a millennial passion, can become one of the great dealers of death in human history”.
As his colleague in apocalyptic millennial studies, Arthur Mendel added (Vision and Violence), “Apocalyptic has been the most violent and destructive idea in history”. Think Net Zero decarbonization in regard to the destructive outcomes of apocalyptic hysteria and madness.
Understanding the root of a problem– The continuing dominance of the apocalyptic fallacy in modern religions and “secular” versions. Terms and definitions change, but the same old core themes remain, shaping contemporary narratives with the structure of “lost paradise/apocalyptic decline/redemption” myths, Wendell Krossa
Landes quotes (from “Heaven On Earth”):
“The very foundations of Western literate consciousness come in significant part from two of the most profoundly millennial religious culture in world history- Judaism and Christianity. The faithful of both religions, even more than others, have been subjected to repeated and repeatedly inaccurate apocalyptic prophecies…. More intensely in the Christian world…. The very religion comes into existence at the height of apocalyptic expectation… Paul’s expectations of an instantaneous cosmic transformation in ‘the twinkling of an eye’.”
To those denying the dominance of apocalyptic millennialism in these major world religions, Landes states- “the three most intensely eschatological religions the world has ever known- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”
“Secularism and the Enlightenment hardly brought on a decrease in apocalyptic activity. On the contrary, apocalyptic conflicts are among the few religious phenomena to survive secularization, indeed develop (mutate into) recognizable and powerful secular forms of millennialism that have dominated the history of the last century… Communism, Nazism….”.
And most prominently in recent history- mutated into the “secular/ideological” apocalyptic millennialism of environmental alarmism, climate alarmism.
Hence, the great fraud that is apocalyptic- “the most violent and destructive idea in history”- continues to wreak horrific destruction today. Two examples- Apocalyptic is fundamental in the mix of the core mythology that is driving ISIS/Hamas eruptions of violence. It is also exhibited in the prophesies coming out of COP28 that drive the salvation scheme of Net Zero decarbonization. Evidence of harm comes out daily that the redemption scheme of decarbonization (to “save the world”) is damaging societies with politically/ideologically-motivated blockage of fossil fuel resources and consequent inflation that harms the most vulnerable people the most (see, for example, “Net Zero Watch” newsletters of Global Warming Policy Forum or daily reports on Wattsupwiththat.com). More accurately than “politically/ideologically-motivated” would be to state the truth that it is most fundamentally “mythically-motivated”.
Note also, the apocalyptic feature of “imminence” in the climate alarmism narrative. That feature in the climate panic-mongering validates the demand to set aside democratic processes (demonize and silence any skepticism, ban and censor any questioning of alarmist “science”, discredit dissenters as dangerous “unbelievers”, etc.). With the dates for the apocalypse repeatedly prophesied as just up ahead a few years, alarmist prophets demand action now, right now. There is no time to waste, they claim hysterically. So we must resort to coercive state action. Chicken Little has spoken. And deny all evidence that the salvation scheme is “destroying the world to save the world”.
The latest apocalyptic death cult, Wendell Krossa
In the comments of the Hamas leaders below you see the expression of a death wish, and their endeavor to incite the final ‘Armageddon’ battle that will bring on the end of the old world (apocalypse) and thereby open the way for the establishment of the “new kingdom”, all essential stages to establishing one’s millennial utopia, as outlined by apocalyptic millennial historians like Richard Landes. This same belief in Islamic apocalyptic millennialism was expressed by ISIS as they fought to introduce the Caliphate across the Mideast, believing that they were acting as God’s agents to bring on the end of this evil world and thereby introduce their imagined utopian kingdom.
The same basic ideas/themes shape all these apocalyptic millennial movements to follow and fulfill the same patterns, stages, and outcomes, whether in religious or “secular” versions.
“Jesse Kline: Disingenuous for protesters to call for ceasefire Hamas clearly doesn’t want: They really want Palestinians to be able to slaughter Jews with impunity, and the Jews not to fight back” Dec 06, 2023
Quotes from article at link above:
“On Saturday, the day after the week-long ceasefire in Gaza came to an end, protesters were back on Parliament Hill demanding that Israel cease all hostilities against Hamas. Yet this is not what Hamas’s own leadership wants….
“Hamas’s leadership was working on a plan that would “change the entire equation,” as Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, told the New York Times….
“Hamas’s goal is not to run Gaza and to bring it water and electricity and such,” said al-Hayya. “This battle … did not seek to improve the situation in Gaza. This battle is to completely overthrow the situation.”
“Indeed, Israel’s full-scale assault on the territory was not an unintended consequence. “We knew there was going to be a violent reaction,” Hamas official Basem Naim told the Washington Post. That was the entire point.
“Hamas knew it would “pay a price” for its actions and was “ready to pay it,” said Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas leader, in a television interview. “We are called a nation of martyrs, and we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.”
“The goal was to spark a war that would engulf the entire region and once again unite the Arab armies against the Jewish state. As Hamas spokesman Taher El-Nounou put it, “I hope that the state of war with Israel will become permanent on all the borders, and that the Arab world will stand with us.”
“And Hamas has repeatedly vowed not to end its attacks until it has achieved its aim of driving all the Jews into the sea….
“A war of liberation is coming, not just another Oct. 7” — an ominous warning of even worse atrocities on the horizon.”
Some helpful sources on Islamic apocalyptic millennialism:
https://www.bu.edu/history/files/2015/04/The-Coming-Final-Battle1.pdf
https://www.amazon.ca/ISIS-Apocalypse-History-Strategy-Doomsday/dp/1250080908
This is what the hero’s quest is all about. “Barbara Kay: Silenced teacher becomes a hero of the anti-woke resistance” Dec. 3, 2023
Carolyn Burjoski illustrates that element of the hero’s quest when the fight against some monster/enemy leaves you wounded. Hopefully, she will also receive a “sword” from a wise sage that will enable her to conquer her monster/enemy and bring a benefit to others. It appears that wise sage is Judge James Ramsay, also deserving the title of “hero”.
Thanks so much Barbara for this inspiring account.
And some climate news- “Natural Disasters Are Not Increasing- Really”, Kip Hansen, Dec.1, 2023
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/12/01/natural-disasters-are-not-increasing-really/
The climate alarmism narrative is largely based on discredited climate models that were shown to be “running too hot” and not representing actual observed climate. All part of our “post-truth” era where apocalyptic mythology shapes alarmism conclusions more than empirical science does.
Another on the Net Zero decarbonization crusade- “No Amount Of Subsidies Will Ever Make a Wind/Solar Electricity System Economically Feasible”, Francis Menton of Manhattan Contrarian, Dec.1, 2023
Tamping down tribalism re the Israel/Palestinian problem, Wendell Krossa
Its a tough one to keep the tribal impulse at bay. You have a liberal democracy on one side that protects diversity, even the full rights of gays. And on the other side- Gaza- you have a society where women are subjected to males and gays are thrown off roofs. A society that elected terrorists to govern it and mostly agrees with the terrorists (surveys apparently show that some 70% of Gazans support Hamas). Additionally, you have the long history of inexplicable hatred of Jews, undying antisemitism that evokes sympathy for the Israeli side. You also have a history of both sides claiming rights to “their homeland”. And a history of an endless series of eye for eye cycles of violence with both sides claiming “They started it”. Ah, so much “nuance” in the mix.
But regardless, we are still all one family (the fundamental human oneness thing) and our defining feature- love- obligates everyone one of us to be our “brother’s keeper”, to “love our neighbors and our enemies”.
Authentic liberalism holds that every human life is as valuable as every other life, and hence every person deserves the same inclusion, acceptance, forgiveness, and ultimately restorative treatment. Though “tough love” is responsible to restrain the violent, and even obligated to eliminate violent people where safe restraint is not possible.
Ultimately, the back and forth of endless cycles of retaliatory violence is no long-term answer. That is yielding to insanity.
Ranting and Raving, Wendell Krossa
A friend refers to my repeated comments on unconditional as my “ravings” and urges me to keep going with such raving. I acknowledge my ‘obsession’ with this, and I recognize that confirmation bias affects us all so I try to counter any possible such bias with Julian Simon’s two good principles- to always include evidence on the complete big picture and longest-term trends related to any issue (“Ultimate Resource”). So I scan the landscape for inputs from all over and keep an open mind. But I have found no better alternative to unconditional for shaping our understanding of ultimate reality and for offering the most humane feature to influence our minds and behavior in a better direction, in the direction of an authentically humane future.
And yes, there are many other factors in the mix of things influencing human life- i.e. political, economic, environmental, and social factors. But this site argues that at a very foundational level, inherited religious themes have always dominated human narratives, beginning in the primitive past in mythical versions and still today in world religions. And most critical to recognize- primitive mythical themes also dominate public consciousness today in “secular/ideological” versions. Its always just the same old core themes but given new expression as “secular/ideological” factors, even “scientific”.
The greatest lie of all- apocalyptic, Wendell Krossa
Richard Landes, historian of apocalyptic millennial movements (“Heaven On Earth”), commenting on the 100% failure rate of apocalyptic prophesies.
“In every case, this belief has been wrong”.
In the context of these statements, he is noting how apocalyptic zealots, when realizing that their predictions of the end times are failing, they then double down to try to ensure the apocalypse occurs, somehow, anyhow, even if it requires resorting to coercion and violence to spark some form of apocalyptic catastrophe.
“Here we find the world of coercive purity coming to replace a failed voluntarism, a world where humans anoint themselves agents of a just and vengeful God and seek to effect those promises that He has failed to deliver.” Facing failure, they will then try to “save the world by destroying it”.
Decarbonization comes to mind.
He ends noting that we have had 3000 years of consistently disappointed apocalyptic expectation. Conclusion? There will be no apocalypse. And there is no climate emergency.
Main site project: Go to the root of the problem and solve it properly for the long-term, (or- “Bringing down humanity’s greatest monster/enemy”) Wendell Krossa
This site affirms the breakthrough insight of the wisdom sage Historical Jesus, a person entirely opposite in message to Christian “Jesus Christ”. The Historical Jesus appears to have understood that good problem-solving must go to ultimate root issues. Good problem solving must find and embrace long-term solutions that engage the most effective answers to long-standing problems like the mind pathogen of bad ideas in human narratives that incite and validate bad behavior among people.
This explains the “obsession” here (as a friend says- “My ranting”), and my use of superlatives, to laser in on the cohering center of all bad ideas, the worst of the worst- i.e. the monstrous features that have defined human views of deity across past millennia resulting in the creation of “monster Gods”.
The redeeming element in this “blasphemous… heretical attack” on God? This site gives intense focus to the one feature that overturns the entire mess of bad deity ideas that we have inherited via our main world religions. That feature is the adjective “unconditional” as the highest reach of what love means, notably divine love. Unconditional transforms theology entirely, and radically so. It affirms that God is indeed love.
Point? The descriptive “God is love”, by itself, falls far short of defining the true nature of deity. A far better description or definition of deity- “God is unconditional love”, and to inexpressibly wondrous and scandalous degree. Infinitely transcendent in degree and quality. Love that is infinitely beyond love as we know it. Much like Joseph Campbell’s statement that the term “God” is penultimate term that points to the infinitely transcendent God beyond all terms, titles, definitions, categories, or expressions. The Near-Death Experience accounts try to give some expression to this transcendently-beyond feature but often quit, despairing of finding any words in human language sufficient to express what they experienced.
I offer this feature of unconditional as the sword, the singularly potent weapon to win the greatest battle of all, to defeat and slay the greatest monster/enemy of all- the old monster gods of mythology and religion. Unconditional is the weapon that enables us to accomplish the hero’s quest that is the inner mental battle against our real enemy and monster, the weapon to defeat the inhumane features that have long shaped human theologies of “monster Gods”. Unconditional is a death sentence to the deities that have always functioned as humanity’s highest embodiment of ideals and highest authority.
Deities with monstrous features that have functioned to validate our worst impulses and behaviors.
Dismiss this project as Don Quixote-ish, if you will, but this site argues that the battle of all battles, against humanity’s greatest monster and enemy, and the real hero’s quest is an intensely inner reality. It is not the physical battles of human group against human group that have erupted in the abhorrent savagery of the endless historical cycles of eye for eye hate, vengeance, and retaliatory violence. The ultimate battle of human history is the battle that Solzhenitsyn, Campbell, and others pointed to that takes place inside each of us, the “real battle of good against evil that runs down the center of every human heart”. (Winning this inner battle first, then enables us to properly engage the outer battles of life)
Specifically, it is the battle against the worst of our inherited animal impulses to tribalism, domination, and punitive destruction of others (the “evil triad”). Critical to winning this battle is to recognize the dominant inciting factor- i.e. the deeply embedded mythical/religious ideas that validate these animal impulses. Most egregious in this mix are the pathological ideas of deity that, together with the animal impulses, form the “archetypes” of the subconscious.
The features in religious versions of deity that do most harm in validating inherited animal impulses are the features of (1) tribalism (Gods favoring true believers, excluding unbelievers), (2) Gods as Lords, Kings, Rulers validating domination among people (divine rights of kings, political rulers as divinely appointed, humans subject to governments as in Romans 13), and (3) Gods as punitive Judges that violently destroy enemies and function as authorities to validate punitive justice systems in human societies.
Historical Jesus understood this- i.e. that it took more than just reformism efforts at the periphery of religious traditions. He went to the root cause of the mental pathology problem- i.e. to the theology, the cruel deity, the monster God at the core of it all. He went after that ultimate monster and enemy. He understood that was the core of the human narrative problem and went right to the root of the problem to solve it properly by offering a stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory, unconditionally loving God. He knew that new light would radiate out from an entirely new perception of God to transform everything else. That was engaging a true liberation at the depths of human consciousness and spirit. Liberation from bad ideas that have always incited and validated bad behaviors.
His theological insight on God as no conditions love was central to his healing skills and approach. Note how he expressed this in his repeated statement to sick people- “Your faith has healed you”. He understood how the monster deity of all past mythology and religion was at the root of so much human fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, despair and depression, nihilism, and violence between people. Cruel God ideas that had long deformed human personality. Mental pathologies that have long exhibited in physical forms of disability and disease. Things that needed to be “cast out”. See Zenon Lotufo’s “Cruel God, Kind God” for detail on how the threat theology of religion deforms human personality with all sorts of maladies. By correcting the bad ideas at the core, Jesus knew that he could liberate people from the downstream outcomes of bad theology that manifested as physical maladies.
Understand how bad ideas like the threat of apocalypse, operating at a personal level, then radiates out to harm entire societies as in apocalyptic movements like climate alarmism and its decarbonization salvation crusade (save the world by destroying it).
Unfortunately, Paul in a shameful rejection of Jesus’ central insight, retreated back to retaliatory, highly conditional deity. And that Christ myth is still the main message of the New Testament and today’s Christianity. And hence we continue to suffer the damaging outcomes such as in a generation of children suffering anxiety and depression over their fear that the world is about to end, and majorities of all people believing that “the world is getting worse” (YouGov survey in “Ten Global Trends”). Remember also that depression is “the number one illness across the world”. The mental pathologies are not a result of the world actually becoming worse, but mainly they result from the hysterical exaggeration of apocalyptic prophets that batter public consciousness with panic over every twitch in nature.
On the freedom front…
Posts to discussion group- “Cover your ears, snowflakes”, Wendell Krossa
“For those of you sensitive to such language as below- just cover your ears as you read…. My point in the material below relates to a long ago comment from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Evangelical and physician to the Queen. He said that someone showing courage, even at great cost to themself, can spark courage in others.
“Jordan Peterson also speaks to this- that we are all being tested by the new emerging and spreading totalitarianism that threatens us with censorship and full-frontal cancellation. Each of us have to choose to take a stand against this threat even at cost to ourselves, because it is about larger issues of freedom and the future.
Main post: Wendell Krossa
“Here (in the link below) the panel discusses Elon Musk’s “Fuck You” to Disney. The Musk episode represents what is going on in the larger arena with advertising controlling media. This has been noted by others in relation to Big Pharma’s control of mainstream media, notably financing CNN’s very survival, and hence CNN has to submit and adhere to the views of that industry and we all saw the outcomes of that subservience during Covid and the vaccine issue- the demonizing, censoring, and silencing of any dissent to dominant state-approved narratives on Covid and vaccines.
“I suspect Musk saw Dana White’s interview (boss of UFC) and his rejection of threats from advertisers to toe the line (e.g. take down a Tweet affirming Trump). White’s response to them was “Fuck you”. We will run our company as we see best so “Fuck off” with your threats to withdraw you advertising revenue. We don’t need it.
“I put up the bit below on White’s spirit of refusing to be controlled (reposted just below).
“Here is the Gutfeld panel on Musk as a last man standing for freedom…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHaLda0yh4c
“And here is my previous posting of White’s statement…
“A “Fuck you” to Wokeism– Dana White as old school independent, not fearing today’s “pussies” (a tidbit only for those able to hear it) Wendell Krossa
“In our era of excessive fear with too much cowardice and bending of knees to Woke Progressivism and its smearing, demonizing, and bullying of all who disagree, and with too much grovelling apology for free speech that differs from the highly constrained limits set by Wokeism that is trying to control all with its dogmatism about what is right for all, it is refreshing to hear the “Fuck you” spirit of Dana White, UFC boss.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/ufcs-dana-white-told-sponsor-asked-delete-trump-post
One more…. “Gutfeld nails it- That the reason the left and liberal media are so angry at Musk and obsessively try to demonize him now, is because “he took the toy out of their hands”. The toy that was Twitter where pre-Musk they could censor and silence all opposition voices to their Woke Progressivism. Musk opened that media forum up for all equally and that enraged the left as they lost control of public narratives/propaganda. So they turned on Musk, formerly a favorite of their side for his electric vehicles and so on… (end of posts to discussion group).”
Go Elon, Go. Wendell Krossa
Courage exhibited, even at great cost to oneself, can spark similar courage in others. And the “others” are a majority because it is a minority of distortingly magnified voices that are cowing majorities today.
As Musk said on his latest Rogan interview (Spotify, The Joe Rogan Experience, episode 2054), the Left has gone so far left that it now smears even fellow leftists, liberals, Democrats as “right-wingers, fascists, racists, bigots, etc.” because they are not as dogmatically and radically leftist as the extremist Wokesters with their ESG, DEI, CRT, and related authoritarian projects, projects that have no widespread public support (not democratically affirmed) and have to be pushed in through backdoor bullying approaches.
The Woke extremists embrace the fundamentals of resurging Marxism, that there are only two classes of people- oppressed and oppressors. Musk notes that even though the Woke extremists are a minority, their voices have been amplified all out of proportion to the general population by their geographical closeness to social media companies near hyper-leftist San Franscisco. A small minority of self-identified “enlightened vanguard” types, have been able to cow majorities with fear of public vilification, censorship, silencing, banning, and full-frontal cancellation, even criminalization.
We need Musk, with the resources to stand and pushback and hopefully spark courage in many others to do the very same. As Jordan Peterson argued- We all have to make the choice to pay the cost to ourselves- the cost of suffering threat, silencing, even criminalization, because it is about the future of our societies and freedom.
And another post to a discussion group, a Black analysis– “Conrad Black: Physicians college embraces social justice lunacy”, Dec.2, 2023
My comment to discussion group in response to the Black article:
“Here’s hoping that any on this list still in denial of the severity and scale of the current attack on freedom, will be, by Black’s use of appropriately strong language… will be dis-abused of any remaining defensive dismissal of how serious the attack on Western civilization has become. And yes- while Right wing extremism is always a threat, the major threat today is coming mainly from the Left, from the Woke extremism that has taken over so-called formerly liberal parties… It goes by varied titles, commonly Woke Progressivism or Woke Marxism.
“Many others are stating the same case- Shellenberger, Taibbi, Greenwald, Peterson, Rogan and his guests, Douglas Murray (War on the West), and on and on…
Another post to discussion group:
“Here are some things that confuse the issues… Western liberals/Democrats have quite largely abandoned liberal democracy or Classic Liberal principles and practises for Woke Progressivism with its DEI, CRT (“Woke Racism”- John McWhorter), ESG, and other ideologies/approaches.
“And conservatives have now basically become the defenders and promoters of Classic Liberalism though this conservative defense of free speech weakened with calls from the right to silence the pro-Palestinian protests. Free speech advocates need to remember that all speech must be protected, even repugnant speech, and yes even the “hate speech” that both sides claim defines the differing opinions and comments of their opponents (“concept creep”). The only exclusion to free speech is speech that urges “immediate violence”.
“Some argue that Classic Liberalism is now being expressed via “populism”, even though it appears right wing parties are often taking the lead there. And the Left has tried to demonize and discredit populism as “far right extremism”. When, as others like Glen Greenwald argue, it is just the will of the majority.
“Leftists like Bill Maher (during an interview with Chris Cuomo on CNN) have also noted that surveys show that most Democrats wanted just what Trump voters wanted- no more PC crap (political correctness). And Greenwald argues that most people on both sides- the hopefully “Moderate” majorities- want the same thing, freedom from elite manipulation and control. Greenwald says the new dualism is not Left versus Right, but common folks versus elites trying to dominate them.” Wendell Krossa (end of posts to discussion group)
And some more theological speculation…
There is no Mahdi or other Savior coming to save us. Wendell Krossa
The “saving or Savior God” long ago incarnated in all humanity alike as inseparable from our human spirit and that God manifests with gentle persuasion through our fundamental impulse to love.
There never was any special incarnation of deity in special holy people like Jesus. Conclusion? It is entirely up to us to go out into life to battle wrong, to find solutions to problems, and to creatively make life better. To gradually improve our world for all. Salvation or redemption as the “gradualism” (gradually improving life) that Arthur Mendel outlines so well in his “Vision and Violence”.
The universal incarnation of deity in all humanity answers the great question of- Where was God during the Holocaust and other historical eruptions of hellish evil?
Answer: God has always been present expressing outrage at human cruelty, exhibiting intense compassion for suffering humanity, and then active in stopping violence and creatively working to make life better in all ways. It has always been people just like ourselves who have acted as the voices, feet, and hands of the invisible Spirit.
God has never been the remote “sky God” of primitive mythology and religion, the God that descends from heaven to intervene in life and overrule natural law but then skittishly scampers back up when offended by human sin. To the contrary, God has always been immediately present with all humanity, and equally so. Closer to us than our own breath or atoms.
Insights like this are a call to end the mediating role of priesthoods and other authorities. They are not needed. You already have all of God, within you, just like everyone else.
Added note on Mendel’s arguments for “gradualism”:
Mendel’s point on gradualism is to counter the theme of “coercive purification” that dominates totalitarian approaches like Marxism, Nazism, and today’s climate alarmism. The urge to embrace coercive purification arises from the fallacy of an “imminently” looming apocalypse that will destroy life and the world. Note how climate apocalyptics repeatedly proclaim the end of days just a few years, or a decade, up ahead. They have to endlessly reset the end of days because it never arrives.
The feature of imminence leads apocalyptic prophets to call for “instantaneous purging” of their purported threat to life, to democracy, to the world. The world must be saved right now, not later.
And, apocalyptics argue, democratic processes are too slow and messy (too gradual) to deal with the always imminent threat, hence, the apocalyptic prophets demand instantaneous, coercive purification of the threat (to “save the world”). Meaning- the censoring and silencing of dissenters to the apocalyptic narrative- i.e. the dangerous “climate change deniers”, and any others refusing to embrace the larger encompassing narrative of extremist Woke Progressivism. Such threats must be banned, excluded, criminalized, and even exterminated with force/violence.
“Enlightened vanguard revolutionaries” are impatient with liberal democracy and its equal inclusion of diverse opinions, open debate, dissent, skepticism, and alternative visions. They demand that their utopian vision must take precedence over all else, and right now. Hence, their endless panic-mongering over an “imminent” apocalypse if they don’t get their way. They understand well the totalitarian’s formula- fear=control.
This from Dave Rubin (Rubin Report) “Elon Musk looks visibly shaken giving his reaction to Hamas atrocities”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16X5hbtOqvQ&t=44s
Quotes of Musk summarizing the Gaza situation:
“There is no choice but to kill those who insist on murdering civilians… they’re not going to change their mind. And the second thing is to change the education so a new generation of murderers is not trained to be murderers”. Thanks for the clarity, Elon.
Balance this with Musk’s previous question to Joe Rogan about how many new Hamas militants are being produced for every Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces.
This from Bjorn Lomborg, Nov. 29, 2023, “’Net Zero’ fails the cost-benefit test: As COP28 opens, two new studies show that extravagant climate promises are far more wasteful than useful”, The Wall Street Journal.
Quote:
“While headlines tend to focus on stories of violent climate catastrophes and modeled worst case scenarios, the data reveal a far less frightening picture. Despite a drumbeat of stories this summer about rising heat deaths, higher temperatures also prevent cold deaths, and so far in much greater number. Globally, the result has been fewer overall temperature-related fatalities. Writ large, the damage the world experiences each year from climate-related disasters is shrinking, both as expressed in fraction of GDP and lives lost.”
More on behavior and belief, as related to theology (human ideas of God)… Wendell Krossa
“Love your enemy because God does”. Some prefer to dismiss the metaphysical element in this statement. As one pissed atheist argued- “Lets get rid of all this metaphysical bullshit”. Ok, fine. But that denies the “behavior based on similar belief” relationship that has been fundamental to the human pursuit of meaning over past millennia, and the essential role of human speculation on the metaphysical in that relationship.
Why have people all across history felt the responsibility to validate their behavior with appeal to greater metaphysical reality, notably with appeal to deity? Is it the natural sense that if this is world and life is created for some reason, by some greater reality long understood as a “Creator God”, then it would appear to be only common sense to try to figure that reason or purpose out and fulfill it.
I accept that common impulse of most of humanity across the millennia to base behavior and life on similar validating beliefs- metaphysical beliefs, theories of God. Rather than deny that element in the mix of human meaning, I would focus effort on humanizing it fully with the best insights and features that we have discovered. We project these “best-of-being human” features out to define our views of ultimate realities, as the best that we can do to explain it all, as the safest way to frame an ultimate ideal and authority to guide human behavior.
Unconditional generosity scandalizes, offends, and enrages minds conditioned by millennia of retributive, punitive justice, Wendell Krossa
Intro note:
Again, the necessary qualifier to any consideration of defining ultimate metaphysical reality as an unconditional reality. While deity may be understood as “absolutely unconditional”, love in this world of dualism between good and evil is not so absolute. Love in an imperfect world is responsible to restrain violence and protect the innocent. Dogmatic pacifism as “turn the other cheek” does not work and is not common-sense love for this world. God as unconditional love is a supremely humane reality and ideal to model human life after, but human freedom differs from person to person in terms of choices as to how that ideal may be applied in personal life stories. We honor, protect, and celebrate that diversity and freedom of choice.
The breakthrough insight of Jesus: Wendell Krossa
The stunning breakthrough insight of Historical Jesus on the true nature of deity as “no conditions love” transformed theology as never before over the long human history of speculating on theology as fundamental to human meaning. Jesus rejected the belief that God was an ultimate retributive justice” judge who rewarded the good and punished the bad. He rejected the dogmatic loyalty to belief in the ultimate “rebalancing of justice in the cosmos”, a role long attributed to deity.
Jesus framed this by first stating his rejection of “eye for eye” retaliation against offenders. He urged instead, this central precept and related ideal- “love your enemy because God does”. Here is the full context of this core theme in his teaching…
“Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? Everyone finds it easy to love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Everyone can do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Most will lend to others, expecting to be repaid in full…
“But do something more heroic, more humane. (Live on a higher plane of human experience). Do not retaliate against your offenders/enemies with ‘eye for eye’ justice. Instead, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then you will be just like God because God does not retaliate against God’s enemies. God does not mete out eye for eye justice. Instead, God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Be unconditionally loving, just as your God is unconditionally loving”. (My paraphrase of Luke 6:32-36 or Matthew 5:38-48.)
Jesus presented the stunning new theology of a God who was a non-retaliatory, unconditional reality who treated all the same. How did he buttress his new theology? He appealed to the natural world, stating that God gave sun and rain to everyone the same- the two natural elements critical to grow crops to feed people, the dominant concern for survival in the agrarian society of that day. Jesus said that God gave these gifts to all alike, to both good and bad people. In his summary of his core beliefs (Matthew 5:38-48, Luke 6:27-36), he rejected traditional belief in divine justice as retribution with its features of discrimination, condemnation, exclusion, and punishment/destruction of the bad guys. In his new theology, the same generous love was shown to all.
Jesus’ teaching that God exhibited universal, unconditional generosity toward everyone scandalized the minds of his contemporaries who demanded punitive justice toward those they viewed as offenders, enemies, or “sinners” (those outside Jewish law).
In another illustrative account of his new theology, Jesus refused to advocate retributive justice in his reading of Isaiah 61, as recounted in Luke 4:16-28 (thanks to Bob Brinsmead for this insight).
He read this part only from the Isaiah passage- “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
He intentionally excluded the immediately following statement of Isaiah 61:2 that affirmed traditional punitive justice toward enemies- “and the day of vengeance of our God”. He refused to read that follow-up statement of Isaiah.
He then followed that rejection of divine threat of punishment with illustrations of God’s generosity toward outsiders/Gentiles- the “sinners… enemies”. He was rejecting the feature of tribalism in deity.
“I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” (Luke 4:25-28).
That spirit of forgiving and universally inclusive generosity advocated by Jesus enraged the good religious people in his audience, and they tried to throw him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-29). “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.” Jesus had offended their sense of justice as “fair and proper” retribution. He had offended the common human views of right, truth, and good as defined in terms of deserved payback justice.
Near the end of his shortened life mission, Jesus repeated his rejection of a discriminatory and punitive deity by protesting the sacrifice industry of the Jewish priesthood (Matthew 21:12). It was a protest against the theology behind the sacrifice industry, of an angry God who demanded violent bloody sacrifice as atonement for human imperfection. Jesus’ public threat to the sacrifice industry of the priesthood was dissent that had gone too dangerously far in the eyes of the priests, and they had him put to death. (Again, see Bob Brinsmead’s excellent research on the anti-sacrifice views of Jesus at https://bobbrinsmead.com/the-historical-jesus-what-the-scholars-are-saying/)
Jesus’ death was the consequence of challenging the deeply embedded impulse to retribution with the ‘offensive’ generosity of unconditional love.
Humane generosity often incites rage. It is just too scandalous to minds that have long been deeply conditioned by millennia of retaliatory justice based on retaliatory theology. Denying punitive justice is considered an offense to the “glory of God as holy judge”. See my reposting below on the holiness feature in deity, a feature that is given precedence over love in religious systems- the belief that all human sin offends a pure and holy God who must then rebalance justice by punishing all sin, and by demanding full atonement.
This is on the same spectrum as “honor killings” where someone’s holiness or purity (most commonly males) is considered to have been offended and so there is the demanded obligation/duty to restore honor by punishing the purported offenders, and harshly so. With holiness theology, you cannot just forgive and love offenders. They must be punished first. And this retributive feature is given transcendent status in deity as the ultimate and final judge.
Note also the harsh reaction to generosity in the parable of the vineyard owner (Matthew 20:1-16) and also in the story of the older brother to the Prodigal (Luke 15:11-32). Scandalous forgiveness, non-retaliation, generous love offends minds that are oriented to traditional justice as some form of punitive retribution. Why is this?
And then, why are so many others able to look beyond those conventional views of justice to grasp that love can just freely forgive and love, without conditions? Most people learn to embrace unconditional love in their daily relationships with family and friends. They get it that such love is fundamentally human. Why can’t we then project this same love out to deity as ultimate or transcendent goodness and love? Or again, are we held to a higher standard of humaneness than deity?
Note in the statement above of “the breakthrough insight of Jesus” that there is no mention of genuine love demanding prerequisite conditions be fulfilled before forgiving, accepting, or loving anyone. No demand for a debt to be paid first before offering love. And isn’t Jesus widely believed to be the image of the invisible God? Christians claim that Jesus represents to us what God is like. Well, that would then lead to the conclusion that just as Jesus urges unconditional love, so also God is not demanding any preconditions to full forgiveness, acceptance, or love… if we really believe the teaching of Jesus.
(Historians/scholars note that Paul ignored the actual teaching of Jesus, to establish his Christ myth as something entirely opposite to the message of Jesus, as something that epitomized the highly conditional demands for full atonement/payment/punishment, conditions for forgiveness, acceptance, and love, and harsh consequences for any refusing the Christ myth. See Thessalonian letters- “Lord Jesus will return in flaming fire to punish/destroy all who did not believe my Christ myth”.)
Regarding the religious demand for prerequisite conditions to be met, Bob Brinsmead says, If the debt is paid in full then there is no need for forgiveness.
Add here the distorting presentation, rooted in ancient mythology, of deity as obsessed with purity, perfection, and outraged at imperfection and impurity, and zealously committed to punishing impurity and imperfection. Another monstrous feature of religious deity.
One has only to think of the horrific illustration of all this as recently given to us on Oct.7 by Hamas.
(A reposting of previous comment on “holiness as given precedence over love” in religious systems and how this has deformed human perspectives on justice.)
Another fundamental element in the validation of divine retaliation: Wendell Krossa
For millennia people have unquestioningly accepted the deity theories handed down from previous generations, and no feature of deity has been held in higher esteem by religious people than “the holiness of God”. Divine holiness takes precedence over love in religions like Christianity and Islam.
The religious argument for a God that is holy, reasons that God, as the ultimate Judge, must restore and uphold justice. God must make all wrongs right again (rebalance justice in the cosmos). But this thinking is on the same dehumanizing spectrum as “honor killing” logic which argues that if a man has been offended in some manner, then he must take action to punish the offense as necessary to fulfill and restore justice or honor. Offended honor is an unacceptable situation that must be corrected by restoring the offended honor through punishment of the offender.
This holiness feature in deity has long validated human systems of punitive or retributive justice as “true justice”.
The holiness argument for restoring offended honor has nothing to do with authentic love. Authentic unconditional love just forgives and loves without demanding any prerequisite condition be fulfilled first. Look at the father of the Prodigal that supposedly illustrates what “God is love” actually means. He exhibited unconditional love toward the offending son.
The father made no demand to restore his offended honor first. He simply responded with no conditions love, inclusion, forgiveness, acceptance, and celebration. Now why wouldn’t God, as ultimate goodness and love, exhibit the same unconditional love that we are urged to show to one another?
Additionally, some have stated that if love is not unconditional, then it is not authentic love.
Bob Brinsmead also notes that the word for justice in the OT had more to do with liberation, mercy, and compassion for the weak. Not with retaliatory punishment.
Gad Saad (Yes, that’s his real name. Yeegads, eh.) offers some analysis of the mind virus that is destroying Western civilization…
“The progressive diversity cult is killing the West by a thousand cuts: The West has been parasitized by a set of idea pathogens that negate reality and common sense”, Nov. 27, 2023.
Quotes:
“I am a very optimistic person; I am a fighter for Western values and liberties; I am a dogged defender of science, reason, and common sense. I must say though that I am unsure that the West can recover from its multifront civilizational suicide….
“What are some of these parasitic ideas that are destroying the West?
“Postmodernism: This is at the apex of all idea pathogens. It is a form of intellectual terrorism as it posits that there are no objective truths since apparently all truth claims are tainted by subjective relativism and personal biases. Postmodernism opens the door to questioning the “antiquated” reality of what constitutes a man and a woman. Until fifteen minutes ago, the 117 billion people who had ever lived, as a sexually reproducing species, knew exactly how to identify these two phenotypes. This is no longer true….
“The DIE cult (diversity, inclusion, and equity): A healthy society operates according to the meritocratic ethos across any domain of human import. We should not be hiring people based on their skin color, sexual orientation, ethnic heritage, or gender orientation. A vibrant academic community operates according to the epistemological guidelines of the scientific method. And yet, Canadian universities now hire or promote professors not solely based on the quality of their CVs but based on the hand that they hold in Victimology Poker….
“Cultural relativism: This is another relativistic framework, which is well aligned with postmodernism. It purports that there are no absolute moral truths but rather cultural-specific norms and mores. Who are we to judge whether the cutting off of a young girl’s clitoris is a bad deed? Please don’t be a cultural imperialist. Do not impose your values onto the cherished beliefs and deeds of another culture (especially if said culture is made up of “people of colour”)….
“A proud host nation stands unapologetically for its foundational values and does not equivocate in progressive self-flagellation under the guise of cultural tolerance. Some practices are deontologically intolerable, and it is barbaric to accept them under the misguided notion of cultural relativism.
“Suicidal empathy: Progressives are driven by misplaced and hyperactive faux empathy. According to the tenets of progressivism, criminals are victims of society. Hence, to severely punish them for their acts presumes that they have personal agency….
“In an act of infinite suicidal empathy, let us have an open-door immigration policy where millions of legal and illegal immigrants, many of whom possess cultural values that are perfectly incongruent with our foundational values, flood our society. What could go wrong? Well for one, it leads to an astounding increase in Jew-hatred since millions of immigrants to Canada hail from societies where Jew-hatred is the renewable energy source that fuels all things.
“Most academics operate in a rarified world where their highfalutin pontification is decoupled from reality. However, ideas have real consequences. Products, political systems, and policies that are incongruent with human nature always fail (e.g., communism). The West has been parasitized by a set of idea pathogens that negate reality, common sense, cause-effect relationships, logic, reason, and science. No society can withstand such an epistemological assault and especially so when its political leaders refuse to enact remedial strategies to rescue our once great and enlightened societies from their self-afflicted demise.” National Post
Dr. Gad Saad is an evolutionary behavioral scientist, professor, and bestselling author. His latest book, The Saad Truth about Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life was released this past July.
Taking Gad Saad’s comment further on the pathological ideas that are destroying the West, Wendell Krossa
There is a lot of good commentary today on how Western civilization, its ideals, principles, and institutions, are under attack from the shift of former liberals to the far left to embrace highly illiberal Woke Progressivism. Note, for example, Douglas Murray’s “War on the West”. The renewed surge of a larger collectivism movement also contributes to the war on the West. Add the climate alarm narrative to the mix of corrupting ideas that are destroying the West.
But I would argue that a complex of foundational religious themes have long played a fundamental role in shaping these other corrupting strains of pathological ideas. I refer to the religious themes that were brought down to the modern era through the major world religions. Those theme were then embraced in the 19th Century ideology of Declinism that subsequently shaped Marxism, Nazism, and now shapes the main narratives of our era, notably environmentalism and its offspring- climate alarmism.
Arthur Herman’s book “The Idea of Decline in Western History” details the varied strains of religious and other thought contributing to the war on Western civilization. His research is backed by Richard Landes good research on how apocalyptic millennial themes shaped Marxism, Nazism, and now shapes environmentalism. Arther Mendel (Vision and Violence) and David Redles (Hitler’s Millennial Reich) further contribute to understanding the complex of religious ideas that are destroying the West.
The antidote to this attacking horde of mind pathogens? Critical is to understand and embrace better alternatives to the religious elements in the mix. And then I would start with Julian Simon’s amassed evidence on the main indicators of life, the true state of life, in his “Ultimate Resource”. That includes his affirmation of the Classic Liberal protection of individual freedom that encourages creative problem solving that lifts societies more effectively than anything else. Classic Liberal ideals and practises best express the alternative themes of a new narrative centered on the ultimate ideal of unconditional.
Add here William Bernstein’s “Birth of Plenty” and Daniel Hannan’s “Inventing Freedom” to get a good understanding of the main institutions and principles that protect and promote Classic Liberalism or liberal democracy, the greatest contribution of the West to humanity’s progress and environmental protection. The contribution of Western civilization is under assault by totalitarians, notably wealthy elites who want to coercively reshape the “ignorant masses” into the new humanity of Woke Progressivism. They seem entirely unaware of the horrific insanity they are unleashing.
Other contributing sources to resolving mental pathologies- Greg Easterbrook’s “A Moment on the Earth”, Bjorn Lomborg’s “Skeptical Environmentalist”, Indur Goklany’s “The Improving State of the World”, Desrocher’s and Szurmak’s “Population Bombed”, Ronald Bailey’s “The End of Doom”, Matt Ridley’s “Rational Optimist”, among others. And more specifically affirming humanity’s fundamental goodness as in the decline of violence across history, see James Payne’s “History of Force” and Stephen Pinker’s “Better Angels of Our Nature”.
Classic Liberalism or liberal democracy offers the best medium, the best set of ideals, principles/practises, and institutions to express the unconditional ethic that is advocated on this site.
This would embrace the principles of (1) the universal inclusion of all that counters the dehumanizing tribal impulse, (2) institutions and procedures that promote non-dominating relationships that protect the freedom and self-determination of all individuals, equally, (3) the use of persuasion, not state coercion, in open and free debate and voting on all issues of concern to populations, and (4) restorative justice approaches to criminal offense which emphasize the rights to fair trials and unlimited forgiveness, acceptance, and the treatment all offenders with love, and more…
This from “The Borgen Project”- “9 Inspiring Nelson Mandela Quotes on Forgiveness”
https://borgenproject.org/nelson-mandela-quotes-on-forgiveness/
“As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.
“We must strive to be moved by a generosity of spirit that will enable us to outgrow the hatred and conflicts of the past.” – 1990 Christmas Message
“You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.”
“It never hurts to think too highly of a person; often they become ennobled and act better because of it.”
“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
“Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear. That’s why it’s such a powerful weapon.”
“Reconciliation does not mean forgetting or trying to bury the pain of conflict, but that reconciliation means working together to correct the legacy of past injustice.” – From a 1995 speech
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” – Written during 27-year imprisonment
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. They must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
Add here, from his autobiographies and biographies, the two signature statements of the man that express his generosity of spirit:
“Unconditional love brings out the best in others (not all, but most) and unconditional love turns enemies into friends (again, not all but most)”.
We are all still adapting to the great “Switcheroo”- the “seismic shift in the Democratic party” and US liberalism in general, Wendell Krossa
Many of us are trying to fathom how the left side of our societies- notably, US liberals, Democrats- that we have long associated with tolerance, inclusiveness, diversity, standing against censorship and defending free speech- how that side has now rejected these fundamentals of liberal democracy or Classic Liberalism, and has now become “highly illiberal”, embracing a new authoritarianism/totalitarianism.
We can understand somewhat the impulses and ideas that motivate people, how many Leftists have convinced themselves that they are standing for “truth, justice, and right” against an evil that threatens not only their positions, their narrative, but their very lives. An evil that threatens democracy and life on Earth.
Many of today’s liberals have excessively dehumanized and demonized all who disagree with them as not just political opponents, but as intolerable “Nazis, racists, fascists, far-right extremists, white supremacists, Russian agents of dangerous disinformation, and on and on”. Consequent to such exaggeration of their opponents as existentially dangerous threats, liberals feel that they have no choice now but to, at a minimum, censor and silence the speech of their opponents (70 % of Dems now support censorship).
But even more, because their opponent’s positions and speech are “hate speech, speech that incites violence, dangerous disinformation, etc.” then to protect the greater good, today’s liberals feel they must criminalize and even eliminate such threat to all that is good. They are convinced that they are in a great war of good against evil and the hero’s quest involves defeating utterly the threat that is all who disagree with their now far-left Woke Progressivism.
And adding to the confusion flowing out of this great Switcheroo- It is now conservatives who are more often defending and promoting the principles of Classic Liberalism.
What the Dems fear is actually their own traits that they have projected onto the other side. The monster that they claim their opponents have become, is actually their own views and policies projected onto those opponents. You can see daily examples of this Democratic projection syndrome in mainstream media.
Most troubling, these former liberals seem to unable to recognize how dangerous they have become, rejecting liberal democracy for a new totalitarianism. And not able to see how deluded they have become in believing that their side is locked in a righteous crusade or battle against intolerable evil. They have done what all totalitarians do to validate their destruction of enemies- demonize opponents as inhuman, subhuman, as threats to all that is good.
Again, this demonization is promoted daily by liberal media where all disagreeing others are smeared as “racists, far right, Nazis, bigots, Russian disinformation agents,…” and so on.
The Left is illustrating today how salvation (a crusade to “save the world”) can become a murderous, even mass-death movement. We suffered that just last century during the Marxist and Nazi mass-death movements.
See also “Where Have All the Democrats Gone?: John Judis and Ruy Teixeira explain how liberals lost their way”, at Free Press, Nov.30, 2023.
https://www.thefp.com/p/clinton-democrats-lost-elite-liberals
Go Michael, go- exposing the common smear of “far right” (dog whistle for “racist… fascist… White supremacist”…
The always heroic Michael Shellenberger examining and presenting clearly the attacks today on freedom..
https://public.substack.com/p/politicians-urge-censorship-of-the
Quotes:
“Liberal Left governments have sought to use every new crisis as an opportunity to scapegoat their political opponents and, when that stops working, demand censorship, since the legitimacy and continued existence of the liberal Left hegemony in the West comes from control over information….
“Much of the Left supports this censorship. Support for greater government censorship of social media by the government rose from 40% to 70% among Democrats between 2018 and 2023, according to Pew. And the numbers are likely to be similar among Left party partisans in Europe and Canada….
“There is a good case to be made that politicians from Joe Biden and Barack Obama to Varadkar and Macron are undermining their ability to govern, and their legacy, in urging censorship of their political opponents in the name of combating “misinformation” and “hate speech.”…
“Censors around the world seek to devalue their targets as “far right” fascists, racists, and anti-semites”…
“A plurality of voters cast their votes for a “far right” anti-immigrant political party in the Netherlands and a “far right” laissez-faire presidential candidate in Argentina, despite weeks of biased news media coverage against both. Having state-sponsored media label them “far right” was apparently insufficient to destroy them.”
And this from Shellenberger, Taibbi and colleagues- “CTIL Files #1: US and UK military contractors created sweeping plan for global censorship in 2018, new documents show: Whistleblower makes trove of new documents available to Public and Racket, showing the birth of the Censorship Industrial Complex in reaction to Brexit and Trump election in 2016”, Michael Shellenberger, Alex Gutentag, Matt Taibbi, Nov. 28, 2023
https://public.substack.com/p/ctil-files-1-us-and-uk-military-contractors
Quotes
“Terp’s view of “disinformation” was overtly political. “Most misinformation is actually true,” noted Terp in the 2019 podcast, “but set in the wrong context.” Terp is an eloquent explainer of the strategy of using “anti-disinformation” efforts to conduct influence operations. “You’re not trying to get people to believe lies most of the time. Most of the time, you’re trying to change their belief sets. And in fact, really, uh, deeper than that, you’re trying to change, to shift their internal narratives… the set of stories that are your baseline for your culture. So that might be the baseline for your culture as an American.”…
“Breuer spoke freely, openly stating that the information and narrative control he had in mind was comparable to that implemented by the Chinese government, only made more palatable for Americans. “If you talk to the average Chinese citizen, they absolutely believe that the Great Firewall of China is not there for censorship. They believe that it’s there because the Chinese Communist Party wants to protect the citizenry and they absolutely believe that’s a good thing. If the US government tried to sell that narrative, we would absolutely lose our minds and say, ‘No, no, this is a violation of our First Amendment rights. So the in-group and out-group messaging have to be often different.”
As Jimmy Dore said, “Americans are the most propagandized people in the world, and they don’t know it”. MSNBC’s jaw-dropping lie about Trump prosecuting his enemies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldaeXexvceY
The mind defensively reels trying to comprehend, Wendell Krossa
If you doubt how “bad religious ideas”, notably the themes of “Cruel God” theology, can deform human personality, darken consciousness, and incite the worst of impulses and violence, then just look at those Hamas terrorists violently raping young women (pelvises crushed) and screaming “Allahu Akbar” while they do so. As an Israeli witness recounted, one militant shot a girl in the head while he was still raping her, not even stopping to pull up his pants. Savagery beyond comprehension… and get this- in the name of God.
Many of the terrorists on the video clips made available to the public were shouting “Allahu Akbar” while they raped, burned, murdered women and children, even babies. Others cut open the stomach of a pregnant woman, cut her baby out and handed it to her as she bled to death (reported by Douglas Murray). And one captured militant, when asked why they kidnapped girls and babies, without remorse stated, “So we can “dirty” them (rape them) and kill them”. And, he added, their spiritual leaders told them that they should do that.
Other religions have similar stories of unimaginable savagery across their histories. I noted before those Christian inquisitors hoisting accused women over sharpened spikes that penetrated their vaginas and tore up their insides as they eventually sank in exhaustion. The mind reels over how such hatred, savagery, and psychopathic cruelty can erupt in people, who claim inspiration and validation for their insanity in the name of their God. Like the theologian walking back and forth reading his bible and praying to God, as Calvin had his fellow Christian theologian, Servetus, burned to death in a slow green wood fire. Or like the Crusader Christians, cutting up the bodies of Muslim men, women, and children in Jerusalem, and while committing such horror, praising and thanking God for allowing them to “help slaughter his enemies”.
There are no innocent religious traditions, not even the Buddhists. How many repeat examples do we need of violence incited by bad ideas, till we get the point and go to the root of the problem and solve it once and for all?
Why even report and comment on such savagery? Because taking a good look at what people have done to others, not turning our eyes away, is how we feel intense revulsion at the horrors that our fellow humans commit. And then we get a grip on the steel spine determination and intention to commit ourselves to ensuring that such savagery ends once and forever and is not repeated. Revulsion is a key emotion to evoking the intention to ensure that such horror ends.
Don’t avert your eyes from the details of what is happening in the Mid-East and elsewhere. Staring directly at the horror that some unleash on their fellow humans then directly arouses revulsion in the human spirit. That revulsion incites us to commit ourselves to find the solutions that end such violence, solutions that help us to achieve the better future that we all want.
6 words- the reason for which this site exists: “Love your enemy because God does”, Wendell Krossa
It is the singularly most profound insight ever offered to humanity, and that is an understatement because we are talking about the transcendent reality that is deity.
“Love your enemy because God does” redefines theology or ultimate reality, entirely. It overturns millennia of religious distortion and the consequent deformity that bad religious ideas wreak on human consciousness and life. “Love your enemy because God does” radically transforms ethics and justice, and that transformation reverberates out from individuals to also transform broader societies. “Love your enemy” defuses cycles of eye for eye violence between groups.
Example? This was illustrated by the approach of Nelson Mandela that prevented civil war in South Africa, as contrasted with the horrific outbreaks of violence in Serbia and Rwanda around the same time (“Mandela’s Way”, Richard Stengel). The outcomes of Mandela’s unconditional love of enemy should remove any doubt about the practicality of this guiding ideal for resolving violence and improving modern life at scale.
Most critical, “Love your enemy because God does” is the most potent weapon to win the real battle against evil that takes place inside each of us. It liberates us from the animal inheritance in our brains that works to dehumanize us with the impulses to tribalism, domination of others, and punitive destruction of differing others, the “evil triad” that is our real enemy/monster.
“Love your enemy because God does” radically revolutionizes the fundamental human impulse to base behavior on belief. It takes both features- the ethic and its validating ideal- to new heights of humane reality.
This central statement in the gospel of Jesus then enables us to properly fulfil our hero’s quest to “tower in stature as maturely human” and thereby achieve the greatest possible success of all in life- to understand what love actually is and how to love.
Love of enemy points us to the highest reach of love, to the meaning of mature humanity, to the goal of the hero’s quest. It presents us with the best and highest possible achievement of human life and story, how to best fulfill our primal impulse for meaning, which should be most prominently about learning love, what love means, how to love, the fundamental purpose of conscious human existence and life.
Taking this a bit further, love of enemy offers us a satisfying answer to the single most important question that has arisen from the human impulse for meaning- understanding the reason for the creation of our cosmos and life as an arena in which to experience the imperfection of others, to suffer offense and consequent suffering (we only learn good as contrasted with its opposite- evil), and thereby learn what love really means. “Love your enemy because God does” answers the great questions from across history.
This sums up the whole project of this page. Its always been about the stunning new theology that is revealed in this 6 word precept to “love your enemy because God does”. This precept and related ideal presents the true meaning of our defining feature, what marks us as truly human- love. What does it really mean? What does it mean to be human and to live a human story, to exist as human?
Material below- Up from the basement, again, but revised… Sitesplainin…Wendell Krossa
There is one critical and foundational point that I repeatedly re-emphasize in all that I post here. One thing that I continually repeat above all else as critical to understand because of the liberating and healing impact that it has on human consciousness and life.
I would offer it as the core idea of all core ideas for any narrative. It is the statement- “God is love”.
And immediately upon writing that, I cringe a bit for having used that term or title- “God”. I am uncomfortable with the religious term “God” because it automatically evokes religious definitions in most people’s minds, orienting people to the mythical features that have always distorted Ultimate Reality or deity as something highly conditional- i.e. deity as ultimate Judge that holds ultimate threats over the head of humanity, the threats of tribal exclusion of “unbelievers”, of eternal domination by a religious Lord in an eternal religious service (my definition of hell), and punitive destruction via apocalypse or hell.
These monstrous features long tied to God, as essential to defining deity, have terrified and traumatized too many people across history and across all the cultures of the world. And consequently validated too much violence.
Other alternative titles for deity today- “Creating Source”, “Mind”, “Greater or Ultimate Consciousness”, “Spirit”, “Greater Self”, “Universe” (too impersonal), “Intelligence” (note that intelligence is inseparable from Personhood). And so on. Or “Gaia”, “Mother Earth or Goddess”, “Planet”, “Self-Organizing Principle” (sheesh, another too impersonal materialist god), or “Natural Selection Is The Source Of All Enlightenment” (Richard Dawkins’ God), and so on. All good creative effort to innovate with more diverse God theories, definitions, and titles.
The problem that I am pointing to- We battle multiple-millennia of distortion projected onto humanity’s highest embodiment of ideals, humanity’s highest authority, we suffer that distortion in relation to our primal search for meaning. The distortion that has been handed to us originated from the primitive mythology that resulted from the practise of our ancestors to project their worst features out to define the earliest gods. They thereby created monster gods defined by the “evil triad” features of discriminatory tribalism (favor true believers, exclude unbelievers), inhumane domination (alpha gods as Kings, Lords, Rulers), and punitive destruction (Gods meting out final retributive justice). These mind-pathologies have long been given protection “under the canopy of the untouchable sacred”. And revered by worshipful billions of people across past millennia.
That last one- deity embodying and validating punitive, destroying justice (eye for eye)- has shaped the understanding of human justice systems for millennia with retaliatory justice approaches. The ultimate ideal of divine retaliation has incited, in the believers of such mythology, unimaginably horrific treatment of differing others- the savage abuse and destruction of “enemies, offenders, unbelievers/infidels, heretics, witches, etc.”.
The feature of retaliatory justice, long considered an essential feature of deity, has been used to validate the same retaliatory responses and behaviors in people, thereby dehumanizing the retaliators who act out the same retaliatory vengeance that they worship in their highest ideal and authority- their god. As Brinsmead says, “We become just like the God that we believe in”. This is the inevitable outcome of people basing their behavior on their beliefs, validating their actions with appeal to their ultimate ideal and authority- deity. The most graphic recent example of basing behavior on similar belief- Hamas terrorists shouting “Allahu Akbar” as they raped, burned, tortured, and murdered innocent civilians on Oct.7.
Most egregious in the long history of religious distortion of deity as tribal, dominating, and vengefully punitive is the fact that such distortion has prevented people from recognizing the alternative insight on the true nature of God as a profoundly unconditional reality. That is my repeated argument here- that the world religions have long distorted and buried the real nature of humanity’s ultimate embodiment of ideals, humanity’s ultimate authority- God.
To correct this fundamental distortion of mythology/religion that we have inherited, I would urge that it be made clear that God is not just love, but is an inexpressibly wondrous and scandalous “no conditions love”, transcendently beyond the best that we can imagine.
The “Love your enemy” precept, notably as presented in the teaching of Historical Jesus, overturns entirely all previous human understanding of deity. Historical Jesus told us that God is not the monster deity of all past mythology and religion but is something entirely different. His “Love your enemy” precept took understanding to the highest reach of what love is, what love really means. Love that is universal, scandalously non-discriminatory, inclusive of all without distinction, exhibiting unlimited forgiveness and generosity that is shown to both good and bad people. And such love was understandably offensive to minds long conditioned by “eye for eye” vengeance and retaliation.
A common complaint in response is that unconditional love does not affirm and uphold long-accepted conventional understanding of justice as some form of retribution or fairness. Note, in this regard, how the all-day workers in the parable of the vineyard owner complained about the unconditional generosity of the owner (Matthew 20:1-16). Or how the older son in the Prodigal parable resented the father’s unconditional generosity toward the wasteful son (Luke 15:11-32). Those were the responses of good, moral people upset at the apparent lack of true “justice” in the unconditional responses of the vineyard owner and the father of the Prodigal. But as the vineyard owner reasoned, “Am I not free to do as I choose with what is mine?”
The love that is God, as expressed by historical figures like Jesus, is best summarized in these 6 words: “Love your enemy because God does”.
Get the unconditional feature real clear. Religious traditions deny, dismiss, and discredit this feature in divinity because it spells the end of all conditional religion. It portends the overthrow of all religious authority as the self-proclaimed sole representatives of God to humanity. But religious authorities have never communicated to humanity the true nature of deity as unconditional love. None of them. And that deserves a loud and unequivocal “Shame on you”. You have failed humanity, utterly. And just as the priests killed the prophets that held them to account, so Christian religious authorities have ignored and buried (effectively “killed”) the central insight of Historical Jesus. Putting his message to death for two millennia now.
Unconditional in deity is the critical insight to liberate us from the primal fears that have always darkened human consciousness with unnecessary fears (myth-generated fears). Unconditional liberates us from metaphysically generated anxiety, shame, guilt, fear of punishment through nature- i.e. the primitive myth that gods use natural disaster, disease, or accident to punish people for being bad. That myth of suffering as punishment, adds an extra psychic burden of guilt and fear to already unbearable physical suffering. And then there is the extra sting added to natural death fear with the threat of after-life harm- i.e. hell myths. Eternal torture for the pettiest of “sins”.
Equally critical, unconditional liberates us from our worst enemy- the animal impulses inside our brains. Unconditional, as the new core ideal in narratives, exposes the animal as subhuman, inhuman, petty. The ideal of unconditional then helps us to conquer the impulses to tribalism, domination, and punitive destruction of others, impulses that dehumanize us, that enslave us to the animal passions. An unconditional ideal liberates us to a more humane future.
These insights have been denied to humanity for millennia because of religious distortion, distortion that still dominates the great world religions, and has been embraced by the deity theories of secular ideological movements.
Is unconditional an attainable ideal? No, not in some perfected sense. But that’s the point, as Jordan Peterson notes- that we embrace and hold higher ideals and those ideals judge us for our failure to attain them. But our ideals also inspire and push us to reach for things higher and better, to keep trying to go somewhere better than where we are now. So don’t give up, don’t dismiss such ideals. But instead embrace them as pointing us toward the best of being human, toward the highest reach of human experience, toward our better self and future, toward human maturity, toward heroically towering in stature, toward something more heroic in life.
Its about the struggle of life, wrestling with the worst inside us and trying to achieve something better than what is, and in the process gaining insights and learning lessons that can then be offered to benefit others in their struggles.
Its about trying to rise beyond these endless cycles of payback inhumanity, retaliation, vengeance, hurt for hurt, and the endless violence. Ask yourself’ How is justice as conventional retribution working you?
The point is the struggle for something better, to learn something, the constant push to be something better, to contribute to making life better. Perfection is not attainable but that is not the point.
More “Sitesplainin”….What is love, really? And what is justice, really? Wendell Krossa
In all the comment here I have repeatedly argued that there is no conflict or contradiction between understanding love as the humane treatment of offenders, and that responsibility stands right alongside the related responsibility to restrain offenders and hold them fully responsible for offenses and restitution, including permanent incarceration of those unable to be rehabilitated as fundamental to protecting the public which is the primary responsibility of love.
And there are times in the face of savagery that the only reasonable response is force that eliminates threats that cannot be reasoned with peacefully and cannot be safely restrained (no safe actions for police or military personnel). That is not unloving. That elimination of dangerous threat is not in conflict with responsible love. Fulfilling such responsibility may not “feel loving” but it is love nonetheless. Kinda like “agape” love as more about intention and action than emotion.
The advocacy for unconditional, as in the humane treatment of all offenders, is very much about our maintaining our own humanity in the face of evil. Meaning- properly fulfilling our life’s purpose, actually achieving success in the hero’s quest to conquer a monster/enemy, to learn the lessons that we are meant to learn (notably- what love is, how to love, and then actually loving), and to bring a benefit to others.
Love is the whole point of the cosmos, this world, and conscious human life and story. As our highest ideal, and the feature that defines us as different from animals, love gives insight into the great questions that arise from our primary impulse for meaning. What does it mean to be human? What is the purpose of conscious human life and story?
My point- love, especially as defined by unconditional- is about protecting ourselves from the dehumanization/defilement of punitive vengeance that erupts in eye for eye cycles of retaliatory vengeance.
Others argue that these distinctions are meaningless. Just affirm traditional retributive justice and payback- tough on crime. It works. But just reverting to what has dominated the past does not help us move forward with the critical obligation to learn how to maintain our own humanity in the face of what life throws at us. Hence, the distinctions above matter. There is a good reason why such movements as restorative justice have emerged in the modern era as we understand better what justice should actually be about, as contrasted with the traditional punitive forms of justice we have inherited. Traditional retributive justice approaches do not produce the best results for societies in terms of reducing recidivism rates, meaning they don’t protect the public properly and fully. And they simply don’t work with children or criminal offenders.
Note what a young prison official said in response to a colleague after they attended a restorative justice seminar in Norway or Denmark (former Netflix documentary). Her colleague had argued, “What about victim’s feelings?”. She responded, “I am not primarily in the feelings business. My primary responsibility is to protect the public, to ensure there will be no more future victims when these offenders are freed, and 90% of them will return to society. Are they going to be angry, bitter people, longing for vengeance, punishment?”
The documentary where she was quoted also interviewed an imprisoned offender who stated bitterly, “They (the guards) treat us like animals. We are going to get out one day”. He scowled at the camera as if to communicate- “Look out, I’ll be back”.
The female official summed up the issue- “My responsibility is to protect innocent victims by lowering recidivism rates, and that should be the critical concern of criminal justice systems”. Add the point that humane treatment of offenders is also about us maintaining our own humanity. Whereas, punitive vengeance dehumanizes us, renders us petty, no different than offenders on the scale of dehumanizing eye for eye cycles of hurt for hurt, humiliation for humiliation, punishment for punishment. What is the point in that? Note also the death penalty in this regard. How does that really make us something better?
The interest and focus here on unconditional love in the “behavior based on similar belief” relationship, has to do with its (the divinity part) potency to transform consciousness, to liberate us from what has terrorized us over past millennia (the primitive themes of mythological threat theology), primitive mind pathologies that are still promoted by our religious traditions. The focus on the stunning new theology of an unconditional God is to provide a background sense of ultimate safety that helps us to understand and weather the worst parts of life, and it provides us an ultimate humane ideal to guide thought, emotions, motivations, and behaviors.
And this…
One from my list of alternative themes for a new narrative… Wendell Krossa
Popular mythology (e.g. Marvel stories, most movies) wrongly portrays the Hero’s quest as about the use of brute physical power to dominate and defeat enemy others, and to thereby execute and uphold conventional views of “justice” as vengeance or payback. In such storytelling, there appears to be little comprehension that the authentically humane power in life is the power of love- the core impulse of our human spirit that inspires to courageously confront and defeat our inner animal and thereby heroically emerge and develop as maturely human.
Nelson Mandela (towering head and shoulders above most other public figures of our era) illustrated the power of love to first conquer one’s personal animal impulses to tribalism, vengeance, domination of others, and punitive destruction of offending others. He then went out to transform the larger arena of life in South Africa for the better.
Mandela gave us a striking display of the humane power of love to change societies for the better- the power of universal, unconditional love, the power to overcome one’s tribal impulse and then heroically to include all as he did in South Africa, not dominating and subordinating others (formerly oppressed often become the new oppressors to get even with their former oppressors), and not retaliating against opponents/oppressors with punitive vengeance or violence. That courageous exhibition of the power of love to transform life and societies for the better, inspires us to embrace more human approaches to achieve the future that we all want, helping us to break free of the eye for eye cycles that ruin life. Mandela presented a display of real courage and power too rare today in the face of the continuing widespread pursuit and animal-like grasping for physical power to dominate fellow humans, like alpha animals.
And by contrast, note the outcomes of the pursuit of physical power over enemies that was used in the societies of Rwanda, Serbia, etc., and the outcomes of that compared to Mandela’s approach. How did that confusion over real transforming power work for Rwanda and Serbia?
This from my list of “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives”… Wendell Krossa
13. Inherited myth: The idea of a “hero” messiah who will use superior force and violence to overthrow enemies, purge the world of wrong (“coercive purification”), and install a promised utopia. The belief that superior violence (as in the New Testament book of Revelation) is the model for solving problems, for correcting all that is wrong in the world. That only results in never-ending eye for eye cycles that spiral down toward ultimate destruction.
Alternative: A God of authentic love does not intervene with overwhelming force that overrides human freedom and choice. It is up to maturing humanity to make the world a better place through long-term gradualism processes that respect the freedom of others who differ.
Again, see Zenon Lotufo and Harold Ellen’s comments on how images of violent deity incite/validate violence in humanity.
Added note: Paul misunderstood Jesus entirely and rejected Jesus’ non-retaliatory, nonviolent, non-dominating, all-inclusive universalism as his response to enemies- i.e. sun and rain generously given to all alike. Paul chose instead to glorify brute physical power in his Christ myth, a Christ that tribally discriminated between differing people (i.e. favored true believers and excluded unbelievers), and in the end would dominate and destroy all unbelievers with brute violent force to then “rule all with a rod of iron” (Revelation 19-20).
That is the ideal that Paul offered to us, an ideal that is entirely contrary to Historical Jesus. There is nothing of authentic love, freedom, or humanity in Paul’s vision. And even the true believers in Paul’s Christ, those who purportedly populate the Christian heaven, will suffer eternal existence in a realm that is very much like North Korea with a threatening and dominating ruler who demands to be the center of attention and praise like an Idi Amin. The ideals of superior force and violence will exist forever under Paul’s Christ.
Insert: Lists of sins that will be punished by retaliatory deity– this is the pettiness of retaliatory justice…
https://www.angelfire.com/empire2/psuclass0/sinlist.html
https://truediscipleship.com/official-list-sins-new-testament/
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2014/09/08/a-list-of-sins-from-the-bible/
Lusters and wankers beware. Sheesh.
The Dave Rubin Report, Nov.27, 2023 “The brutal reality about Palestinians the media ignores” (comment on all sides of the issue…)
This former US Ambassador to Israel, David Freidman, dismisses the distinction that many are trying to make by claiming that the Palestinian people and their cause is something quite different from Hamas terrorism, that if you get rid of Hamas you then have the opportunity for democracy in Gaza. He notes that some 75% of the Palestinian population support what Hamas is doing, the atrocities they commit against Israel. Media, unsurprisingly, ignore this.
His analysis is that current weakness exhibited by the White House- e.g. Afghanistan, Ukraine, etc.- such weakness no long presents a clear message to groups like Hamas that they should not mess with Israel or the US, or else….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns45KuFlZwY
Qualifier:
And just as we listen to and empathize with the many stories of human suffering coming from the survivors of the Oct.7 attack on Israel, so also “love your enemy” will mean listening to similar stories from Palestinians suffering under the bombing campaigns necessary to eliminate Hamas. Authentic love is universal, inclusive, treats all equally, even “enemies”. Its not about feelings toward offending others (mushy, fuzzy, warm) but about the intention and follow-up responses/actions that treat all humanely (prisoners of war, criminal offenders) as essential to maintaining our own humanity in the face of evil.
My friend Bob Brinsmead repeatedly sparks line of thought with his posts. He said this the other day, responding to another person’s previous post:
“Your comments about the nature of faith are good from my point of view. I raise the question of what is the content of the notion of God? For instance, Calvin was involved in condemning Servetus to death for heresy. He did that with prayer and trust in God. But what then was his image of God? Was his trusting in God somewhat delusional, as in the words of Jesus, “The time is coming when he who kills you thinks that he does God’s service.”
“We read in the book of Joshau how Israel was moved to exploits of genocide against their neighbours, including the children. They claimed they could do that because they believed it to be the will of God.
“On the other hand, I raise the matter of how Jesus could commend the faith of some pagan people as superior to any faith he found in Israel. He could not have been endorsing the God notions available to these people. Then what was commendable about their faith, because faith has an object, so what was the object of their faith?
“I have wrestled with this question for years, and my conclusion is that these people, being human like all of us, responded to the highest human impulse of the human heart, and that is the image of God planted in the human- love! Somehow, they put their trust in a supreme love which is the spirit of God within them. It is fascinating to tease this proposal out.
“They trusted that nothing but a transcendent love could answer their deepest prayer. In this they were being more human that Calvin was when he had Servetus executed which was making the same kind of religiously-inspired mistake as executing Jesus. Turn this any way you want, but being human– or doing the human thing– means that we bring all our actions before the bar of the justice of love. Faith therefore is trusting that at the end of the day, Love will have the final say.”
My response to Bob:
We all wrestle with our animal inheritance, what I summarize as the “evil triad” of animal impulses to tribalism, domination, and punitive destruction. But with human consciousness, a human spirit and self, we also wrestle with the defining and dominant impulse of our human spirit- love. Love as the basic impulse of our human spirit, is inseparable from the Spirit of love (i.e. “God is love”) that has incarnated in all humanity.
We see an expression of the impulse to love in the Akkadian father urging his son to befriend his enemies. We see the impulse to love in the Old Testament prophets who rejected the sacrifice industry that supported the theology of a vengeful god demanding violent blood atonement. They opted instead for a new theology of divine mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Jesus then took that emerging strain of divine love to new heights in his insight that God was universal, unconditional love.
The innate human urge to love speaks to a dualism war in humanity between the animal and the human. And that is the real battle on earth. As we suffer through endless public conflicts between differing groups unleashing tribal hatreds and wars, keep the real battle of life in view. The one that takes place inside each of us. This interior battle takes us to the real issues of life, the struggle of love to conquer the real enemy/monster- the inherited animal passions to tribalism, domination, and punitive destruction.
This inner battle is the real hero’s quest or adventure that takes place in all human lives and stories. It is the struggle to maintain our humanity in the midst of the worst that life throws at us, and by so doing to tower in stature as maturely human. It is the struggle to stay oriented to what makes us truly human, to hold ideas and ideals that motivate us to do the right thing, the human thing.
The required ideals or swords to win this inner battle include the ideal of universalism that orients us to the true oneness of humanity and that defeats the tribal impulse to divide and separate from others over differences of race/ethnicity, nationality, religion, ideology, gender or other identity features.
And we embrace the principles, institutions, and practises of Classic liberalism that protect the freedom and self-determination of all equally. This is how we counter the impulse to domination by advocating for freedom from elite meddling and control, by promoting trust in free people who are fully informed, not censored and propagandized with the curse of censorship that keeps people blinded in tribal narratives.
And we hold the ideals that orient us to restorative justice as opposed to punitive justice.
The new Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, satanic leader… excessive demonizing of political opponents, Wendell Krossa
Central to the messaging from Woke Progressivism today is the ongoing crusade to demonize Donald Trump as the great existential threat to all that is good, to democracy and life itself. The great Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Racist. The Devil himself.
You don’t have to like or embrace the person (even he acknowledges his problem with “the personality thing”) to acknowledge the distortion, amounting to outright lying or tribal propagandizing, that is going on here.
One particular note in this smear crusade is that Trump will become the worst “authoritarian” ever, according to, among many others, Margaret Sullivan, writer for Guardian USA, as noted by Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn in episode 65 of “America This Week” on Racket news https://www.racket.news/p/transcript-america-this-week-episode-96a .
But did you notice that in his first term Trump implemented the two most anti-authoritarian policies of all. He cut regulations massively- mandating that for every single new regulation you had to eliminate two other in-place regulations.
And he cut taxation across the board. Taxation is where state elites and bureaucrats take your money, believing that they alone know better how to spend it. That undermines your control and choice over your property. Just as more regulations constrain your choices and life. Taxes and regulations are a direct undermining of your freedom, your self-determination and control over your own life.
How can Trump become the authoritarian that they claim he will be, if he already has a track record of opposing and undercutting two of the main tools of authoritarians?
This is no defense of the “orange monster” but an effort to arrive at a balanced and truthful portrayal of the man.
Like many, I experienced cringe and even revulsion at times in response to his use of superlatives- meaning, his tendency to boast, even express what appeared to be arrogant braggadocio, and to exaggerate things. But worst of all, I felt revulsion at his “eye for eye” retaliation against critics, his slipping over into ad hominem attacks that belittled the intelligence and appearance of his opponents. Note, for example, Trump’s response to criticism from his former Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson- “He’s as dumb as a rock”, said Trump. Childish stuff. Retaliation always makes us look petty, infantile.
But I did appreciate that he was a successful businessman. That is my number one criterion for someone seeking to run a major economy. Do you understand business? Have you successfully run a business? That is the most critical skill and experience that any politician seeking to run a major economy must possess. And even more critical- Do you understand the ideals, institutions, principles and practises of Classic Liberalism?
(Insert: Note how a complete business ignoramus- Justin “always virtue-signalling” Trudeau- is ruining our country with his climate alarmism zealotry. Two signature phrases of Trudeau- “I don’t think about monetary policy” and, “I admire China. Their dictatorship allows them to get things done”. Sheesh, eh.)
Trump’s economic policies were wildly successful as recognized by businessmen like Kevin O’Leary. Even Trump hater Van Jones of CNN cut off a ranting Jake Tapper once to state, “Jake, liberals get mad at me for saying this, but we don’t give Trump enough credit for the good things that he has done- like criminal justice reform, opportunity zones for minority communities, and overall low unemployment, etc.”
Note here, that it was Biden who composed the 1994 tough on crime bill that mostly impacted young black men very negatively with increased incarceration. Biden has still not admitted his failure there though other Democrats have, notably the Clintons.
But back to Trump economics…
Median income gains under 8 years of Obama were about $6,000. In just 3 years of Trump’s policies median income gains were around $6000. Meaning that if Trump had 8 years without Covid, the gains would have been about $15,000 plus. And no, Nancy Pelosi, Trump did not inherit Obama’s economy. He created his own economy with lowered business taxes and massive deregulation. As Kevin O’Leary said, the deregulation had the most potent impact on helping businesses to flourish.
Obama’s economy sputtered along at around 1-2 % GDP annual gains. That was the first time in US history that following a severe recession there was no strong recovery.
And no again, Nancy, Trump policies did not just make the rich richer and harm the poor. While all sections of the income scale benefitted, the lowest income quintile had the largest percentage income gains. The poor benefitted the most.
So Greg Gutfeld was right, with Trump you got “terrible personality but great policies” that benefitted people. With Biden you get “better personality but horrible policies” that harm people.
Your choice, folks.
And why such hysterical “Trump Derangement Syndrome” from liberals following the election of the man? One commentator suggested that it was because Trump dismantled the massive state apparatus that Democrats based their entire reason for existing on. That was too great a threat.
I also suggest that his petty impulse to retaliation deranged liberals. He embraced retaliation as his “guiding ethic” (he apparently stated this in one of his books) and he displayed such eye for eye retaliation proudly at national scale, claiming that for every hit from his enemies he would hit back ten times, and harder. His retaliation was a great public mirror to the same petty impulse to retaliation that most people try to hide. Most of us are more subtle in how we vent revenge. So he exposed us all and embarrassed many re that dark retaliatory impulse. He proudly displayed it while most of us try to hide it.
And the retaliatory vilification of the man by his opponents often far exceeded Trump’s own petty eye for eye. He would toss out a nasty Twitter in the morning and then go about his day, forgetting what he had Tweeted. But Liberals and their media would then spend the next days and weeks, hysterical over the comments that he had made, dissecting statements, words, and even tone, and giving those comments their own distorting twist to frame as the worst of evils. And then they would take their own nasty and infantile retaliation to further extremes of ugly vilification than Trump had done. Remember, for example, the statement of late-night host Stephen Colbert that Trump was “Putin’s cock holster”. “Cocksucker”. Good one Steve.
Or Bobby DeNiro, waving his fists madly and spasmodically in the air, screaming “Fuck Trump. I would punch him in the face”. In another speech he stated that Trump needed “a bag of shit thrown in his face”. Thanks Bobby for showing us the better way forward. DeNiro also tried to humiliate Trump by claiming he would that “not survive a day in our world of mob tough guys”. Bob, those were just roles that you played. It was not real life. Add here other Hollywood elites like John Cusack who still erupts in red-faced rage at all who voted for Trump, smearing them as “Nazis”.
And so much media coverage of Trump’s purported lying. DeNiro claiming “there were 30,000 lies”. But much of that was just superlative exaggeration and nothing compared to the greatest of all lies that was given expression hundreds of times daily on mainstream media for years- the great conspiracy theory and lie of “Russian collusion”. That Democrat lie overwhelmed all other lies.
So, threat of authoritarianism? That is just liberal projection of their own worst faults. I mean, who today is pro-censorship? Surveys show 70% of Democrats. Who did most censoring on pre-Musk Twitter? And on and on. Try to be aware of your own faults and projections.
The Trump/liberals thing is highly illustrative of so much pathology today- the intensifying tribalism between differing groups, the excessive vilifying and demonizing of differing others as existential threats that must be eliminated, not tolerated in any inclusive way, the lust for vengeance fueled by hatred and intolerance of differing others, the abuse and distortion of the hero’s quest to conquer a monster, to engage a righteous battle of good against evil by making the mistake of believing that the battle must be against other people instead of against the real enemy and monster that is inside each of us- the animal inheritance… and so many other pathologies erupting today.
Hopefully, the excesses that we are all watching, and taking part in, will result in revulsion at the inhumanity of it all, revulsion at the abandonment of common human decency, kindness, forgiveness, and other features that make life in our societies worth living. We need moderats on both sides to remind us that there are more things that we all share in common and can cooperate on, than things that divide us.
How state bureaucrats clog and control life
This link in “The Costly Regulatory State”, an article from Heartland’s “Life, Liberty, Property #41: Biden’s Media Intimidation Crusade Takes a Turn for the Worse”-
https://cei.org/studies/ten-thousand-commandments-2023/
A call for more courageous spirits to step forward and help break through the delusional madness of climate alarmism. Perhaps some child will blurt out a fresh version of “Mommy, the emperor has no clothes” and help break the grip of climate panic possessing so many adults.
Repost note: If you go after the policies of decarbonization, with the common complaint that they are too rushed (the approach of many skeptical politicians), but you do not confront the disproven “science” of climate alarmism, then you have ultimately lost the battle with climate alarmism and its destructive “salvation” scheme of decarbonization.
Cease the climate alarmism hysteria, Wendell Krossa
(Intro: A note especially intended for politicians running along like lemmings with the rest of the Net Zero decarbonization mobs going over the cliff.)
Stop the cowing obeisance/homage to the alarmism narrative that climate change is getting worse, and more warming is a threat to life, and CO2 is mainly to blame, and humans are mainly responsible for the rising levels of atmospheric CO2, and we must “do something” to end CO2 emissions- i.e. decarbonize our societies even if it means destroying our societies to “save the world”.
There is no final consensus science affirming any of these exaggerated and distorting assumptions of the alarmism narrative. It is all more an affirmation of the mythology of apocalyptic, the greatest fraud and lie in history.
Look directly and carefully at the core issue in climate- the physics of CO2- as presented by atmospheric physicists like Richard Lindzen, William Happer and others (Sources: co2coalition.org, Wattsupwiththat.com). The CO2 warming effect operates on a narrow range on the longwave infrared radiation spectrum. That limited range of operation has become “saturated”- a physics term that points to the fact that more CO2 will contribute very little to any further warming. There is no more room for more CO2 to operate in that limited range on the spectrum. Hence- “saturated”.
Insert: As the atmospheric physicists state, even if CO2 were to double from today’s roughly 420 ppm to 800 ppm (taking about 200 years to do so at today’s rate of increase at about 2 ppm per year) that doubling might contribute to another 0.5 to 1.5 degrees C more warming. “Might” being the critical word here because many other natural factors show stronger correlations to climate change and overwhelm the small influence of CO2.
Another insert: CO2 absorbs radiation returning to space from the Earth’s surface and instantly re-emits that radiation, scattering it all around with about 50% of the re-emitted radiation going back down to contribute to warming- such is the “CO2 warming effect”.
Continuing…
“Will contribute very little to any further warming”? That is- if climate continues to warm which is uncertain as we continue the roughly 20 years of “pause” in warming. It is uncertain where the future of climate will trend. Javier Vinos says that we won’t know till the early 2030s if we will have more warming or if climate cooling develops (see his reports on “Sun-Climate Effect: Winter Gatekeeper hypothesis” that are available at Wattsupwiththat.com).
That basic science shows that other natural factors have stronger correlations to the climate change that we have seen over past decades and centuries. CO2 is not mainly responsible for climate change and warming is not becoming a worsening threat. For the big picture context- It was 3-6 degrees C warmer over past paleoclimate history and there was no “climate crisis”. To the contrary, all life flourished. And CO2 has been often in the multiple thousands of ppm and there was no runaway warming, no “oceans boiling”.
Even with climate 3-10 degrees C warmer during the Eocene “paradise for mammals” (some 55-33 million years ago) tropical temperatures did not vary by more than a few degrees C. That points to strong negative feedbacks that kept climate within an “equable climate” range.
What happened to all that solar energy entering the tropics? It was carried away by atmospheric and ocean currents to the colder regions of the planet (“meridional transport”) to even out climate across the planet to the benefit of all life, with extended habitats for more diverse life forms (Note that the highest diversity of plants and animals are in the warmest areas of Earth today).
We are still in the coldest period of our Holocene interglacial and 10 times more people still die every year from cold than die from warmth. Why are media ignoring such facts (Lancet study)? And we are still in a “CO2 starvation era” compared to most of the past history of life. We are also still in an ice-age era of suboptimal, abnormal cold on earth. For over 80% of the history of life the world was entirely ice-free and average temperatures were 3-6 degrees C warmer than today. Why then such hysteria over melting ice today and a mild warming of 1 degree C? That is irrational denial of the benefits of warmer climate for all life.
All life loves more warmth and more of its basic food- CO2. With rising CO2 today there has been a 15% addition of green vegetation on earth just since 1980, meaning more food for animals and increased crop production for humanity. All good. Why are the Greens not celebrating this amazing greening of our planet?
The above denial of good climate evidence reveals how powerfully the myth of apocalyptic has deformed human consciousness and outlook. Future generations of grade 1 kids will look back and shake their heads that so many adults were possessed with hysterical alarmism over climate change and became caught up in a “madness of crowds” episode, an outbreak of Chicken Little apocalyptic insanity. Future children will wonder how supposedly intelligent adults could have become deluded into embracing destructive “salvation” schemes that ruined their societies and harmed the poorest people the most. Future children will be disappointed that so few children of this era stood courageously to blurt out “Mommy the emperor has no clothes” and thereby pop the bubble of the delusional nonsense that has fogged and deranged the minds of so many adults.
The best climate evidence points to the conclusion that there is no “climate crisis” and no good scientific reason to tax carbon or decarbonize our societies. The best response then- Do nothing. And better- Adapt to changing climate and do not waste vast sums of money on futile mitigation projects. The war on fossil fuels is creating false shortages with rising energy costs that inflate all else, notably the 6000 “fossil fuel derivative” products that are essential to our civilization and well-being.
Almost 32,000 scientists signed the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine “Protest Petition” that stated…
“We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind.
“There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gasses is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.”
This from co2coalition.org newsletter of Nov.20, 2023- “CO2 Coalition Director and Nobel Laureate (Physics) John Clauser traveled to Baltimore this past week to speak at a press conference on climate. He began his presentation with the exclamation: “Great news! There is no climate crisis!… Much as it may upset many people, my message is the planet is not in peril.”
From Spiked, a report on COP28, by one of the best journalists out there today- Brendan O’Neill (the madness that we are suffering through today).
Glen Greenwald is right- Its not so much ‘left versus right’ but more commoners versus deranged elites pushing a new totalitarianism. The climate apocalyptic cult has embraced salvation schemes that “save the world by destroying it”. Sri Lanka was a recent example, no different from the Xhosa cattle slaughter of 1856-57. Justin Trudeau has proposed the same for Canadian agriculture, just as the Dutch proposed for their agricultural sector, and Ireland tried with its cattle cull. Insanity dominating public narratives today…
“Revenge of the feudalists: COP28 confirms that environmentalism is an ugly revolt against modernity”, Brendan O’Neill, Spiked, Dec.4, 2023.
Quotes from O’Neill on COP28 (full article at link above):
“Eco-hysteria is aristocratic rage against progress….
“At COP28, kings and sultans rub shoulders with think-tankers and activists, all united in their desire to undo, or at least tame, the Industrial Revolution. This year’s COP will focus on the question of how to phase out fossil fuels. It is impossible to overstate what a catastrophe this would be for the workers and peasants of the world. Eighty-four per cent of global energy comes from fossil fuels. Phase out these fuels and you phase out human life itself.
“In the words of Alex Epstein, author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, if the greens’ war on fossil fuels were to be successful, it would ‘result in exactly the kind of apocalyptic scenario they claim climate change is causing’. In the abstract, neo-religious name of ‘saving the planet’, it seems any level of human suffering can be justified. As Joel Kotkin says of the new feudalists’ rush to Net Zero: ‘The ruling classes of a fading West are determined to save the planet by immiserating their fellow citizens.’…
“The president of COP28 – the UAE oil boss, Sultan Al-Jaber – is getting it in the neck today after it was revealed that last month, in an online discussion, he said there is ‘no science’ to show that a phaseout of fossil fuels will save the planet from ‘global heating’. Phasing out fossil fuels is crazy, he said, ‘unless you want to take the world back into caves’. He’s backtracking now. I wish he wouldn’t. It’s the only sensible thing I’ve heard from any of the attendees of that medieval gathering of anti-modernists in the desert.
“The eco-aristocrats will still be in their palaces and mansions once modernity is undone, but the rest of us really would be back in the caves, or at least in huts or slums. The fossilphobia of the new feudalists poses a far greater threat to humanity than fossil fuels themselves. Off with their hysteria.”
Moral clarity on evil- Its not what the Pro-Palestinian protests are claiming. Kubes recounts a similar outbreak of Arab savagery against Jews- massacring, raping, mutilating- that occurred in 1929.
“Danielle Kubes: Hamas’s savagery would exist with or without Israel- To blame Israel for pushing Palestinians into violence is to deny Palestinians agency, to infantilize them”, Dec.5, 2023
Quotes (Full article at link above):
“It was a quiet Shabbat morning in Hebron when a Muslim Arab mob, 3,000 strong, armed with clubs and swords and knives, spent two hours going from house to house, massacring, raping and mutilating any Jews they found. They slaughtered 30 Rabbinical students as they rested in their quarters. They tied a baker’s head to a lit stove and cooked it. They cut a Rabbi’s brain out of his skull. They hung a Jewish woman by her feet, and cut breasts, noses and hands off bodies.
“Contemporary reporting by the New York Times detailed how near Jerusalem, other Arab gangs formed, where they threw bodies of Jewish babies into the fire.
“Inside Jaffa gate in the Old City of Jerusalem hundreds of Muslims began to shout “Allah is great! Down with the Jews!” Upon seeing a Jewish man, they yelled “Here is a Jew” and proceeded to seize him and stab him repeatedly with daggers. Later, the authorities refused to allow viewings of the bodies because they had been so mutilated…
“The date of such atrocities? August 23, 1929…
“The playbook of Oct. 7 is an ancient one.
“Raid, loot, murder, rape and maim to achieve the results you seek — these are the well-worn battle tactics used by the Palestinians before their national identity had even been consolidated.
“(And even without Jews) Competing Palestinian factions also use violence against each other. Witness the way Hamas and Fatah battled for control of the strip in 2006, resulting in 600 Palestinians dead, many of them tortured. More recently, two men accused of collaborating with Israel were strung up by their feet in front of huge crowds in the West Bank (just like that Jewish woman was hung in 1929,). Their limbs were cut off before their bodies thrown in a garbage dump.
“Is this savagery also due to Israeli oppression?…
“Unlikely. It would almost certainly exist in some other form, just as Islamic jihadist groups do across the Arab, African and Asian world, where there is no Israel to blame.”
This latest report on the Censorship Industrial Complex exposes again how we are manipulated, propagandized, and lied to by state agencies, the intelligence community, and their media allies (mainstream media).
“US Military Contractors Used Counterterrorism Tactics Against The American People, New Documents Show: Their plans included psychological operations, debanking, and changing social media platforms’ Terms of Service”, Alex Gutentag, Dec. 4, 2023
https://public.substack.com/p/us-military-contractors-used-counterterrorism
Quotes (full article at link above):
“The CTIL Files, a trove of documents that a whistleblower provided to Public and Racket, reveal that US and UK military contractors developed and used advanced tactics — including demanding that social media platforms change their Terms of Service — to shape public opinion about Covid-19, and that getting content removed was just one strategy used by the Censorship Industrial Complex…
“From issues like the Russiagate hoax to the Hunter Biden laptop to Covid-19, organizations within the Censorship Industrial Complex have used many of DISARM’s offensive methods like tabletop exercises, psychological inoculation, propaganda messaging, and punishment of dissent. Even its extreme proposal of debanking was used against Canada’s Freedom Convoy.
“Far from simply protecting the public from falsehoods, both government and non-profit actors within Censorship Industrial Complex have followed CTIL’s exact playbook and have waged a full-fledged influence operation against Americans…
“the US military and the intelligence community have gone to extreme lengths to control what Americans can say and think…
“In the aftermath of the 2016 election, following DiResta’s warning, intelligence and security agencies began approaching home-grown opinions the same way they had treated foreign disinformation… military contractors… were tasked with managing domestic opinion….
“After Trump’s election, the vast apparatus established to combat the War on Terror shifted its focus from terrorism to populism. This is clear in the FBI’s attempts to entrap alleged right-wing extremists, target Trump supporters, and retaliate against whistleblowers. These efforts are in part driven by perverse incentives and the fact that the counter-terror bureaucracy needs to manufacture new threats to maintain its budget and justify its existence.
“But there are also clear ideological factors behind the anti-populist turn in both federal law enforcement and the intelligence community. Both now essentially treat Americans as an enemy population, with enormous support from the Democratic party and the legacy media.
“The result has been large-scale information warfare against US citizens, with sophisticated tactics being employed to develop propaganda narratives about Trump, Covid, and the 2020 election in the name of combatting “disinformation.”…
“Many organizations within the Censorship Industrial Complex have used this model, accepting both government and private funding to create an illusion of being “non-partisan,” and deliberately forming supposed public-private partnerships to conceal First Amendment violations….
“What was once considered a “conspiracy theory” that military and intelligence forces were manipulating public opinion through inorganic interventions, has now been confirmed. Our study of the Censorship Industrial Complex has exposed a far-reaching plan to subvert the democratic process and engage in activities that have a basis in military techniques and which are tantamount to attempts at thought or mind control.
“Exposing the War on Free Thought
“One word for what US government contractors were trying to do with their counter-populism was “menticide,” which is the systematic destruction of an individual’s ability to think for themselves and hold their own values or beliefs. It is a process enacted on prisoners of war, and which was described by the Dutch psychoanalyst Joost Merloo in his 1956 book, The Rape of the Mind.
“In his analysis of brainwashing techniques in totalitarian regimes, Meerloo wrote, “The continual intrusion into our minds of the hammering noises of arguments and propaganda can lead to two kinds of reactions. It may lead to apathy and indifference, the I-don’t-care reaction, or to a more intensified desire to study and to understand. Unfortunately, the first reaction is the more popular one. The flight from study and awareness is much too common in a world that throws too many confusing pictures to the individual.”
“Yet, argued Meerloo, we have an obligation not to look away or become demoralized. “For the sake of our democracy, based on freedom and individualism,” he wrote, “we have to bring ourselves back to study again and again. Otherwise, we can become easy victims of a well-planned verbal attack on our minds and consciences.”…
“These attempts invert the purpose of institutions that are supposed to serve and protect us, and they violate our most basic rights as citizens. It is up to all of us to vigilantly protect our minds from these violations. Your mind, as the past few years have shown, is your most precious resource and sometimes your only protection against totalitarianism.”
Probing what went wrong, the liberal abandonment of liberalism, Wendell Krossa
Many have posed this question recently- What happened to liberalism over the past few years? Where have all the liberals gone? Liberalism not long ago stood for universal inclusion of all, it advocated for the full equality of every person, it embraced the diversity of humanity, and it upheld the protection of free speech, even repugnant speech. But now Western liberalism has abandoned these liberal values and principles. Why?
Well, for one, as Bob Brinsmead states- “It’s the narrative, stupid”. Western liberalism, now Woke Progressivism, has ramped up the demonizing of its opponents as “existential threats” and consequently believes that it is obligated to eliminate those threats in order to “save the world”. You see how the narrative themes that we embrace shape our outlooks, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior.
The exaggerated demonization of differing others as “intolerable evil” is along the same spectrum as the dehumanization that was effective in propagandizing populations under the Marxists and Nazis. And now climate alarmists are accusing disagreeing others as being “deniers, unbelievers, threats to the world, to life, to democracy, etc.” This is the deformation of consciousness and perspective that inevitably concludes- We are obviously the righteous ones because we are located over here in the “greater good”, and facing on the opposite side over there our opponents who are irredeemably evil. Hence, we must embrace the hero’s quest to go forth and engage a righteous battle to eliminate those evil enemies in order to save the world. They are a dangerous threat to all that is good.
That exaggerated and distorted narrative drives the totalitarian impulse of the “Illiberals” of today, the real authoritarians. And yes, the right side of our societies also needs to be cautioned about this dangerous impulse to dehumanize differing others, to embrace the self-delusional belief that one’s side alone is righteous as contrasted with the intolerable evil of the differing other side, and hence obligated to eliminate the life-threatening enemy in order to save the world. These mind-deforming narrative themes must be challenged for what they really are- the same old “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” pathologies of all past history. Ah, we are so slow to learn from history. And so we repeat, repeat, and endlessly repeat.
What freedom of speech entails- even the defense of the repugnant speech of opponents
https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/4156_ri_1978.pdf
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/skokie-case-how-i-came-represent-free-speech-rights-nazis
Another affirmation of dualism, ultimate oneness? Music that just “comes from somewhere”. Wendell Krossa
Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and John Lennon have all recounted how varied songs just came to them… from somewhere. They state that they cannot explain that phenomenon, that it was just “magic” (their term).
Lennon notes that one day he spent six hours trying to write a song and nothing came, so discouraged he laid on his couch, depressed. Then suddenly, inexplicably “Nowhere Man” came to him in full and he had to quickly write it all down. So McCartney also said that “Yesterday” came fully composed in a dream. Other songs similarly just came, somehow, from somewhere.
Is that speaking to something of our connection to a greater consciousness in surrounding realms, to “nonlocal space” as Pim Van Lommel suggests is where much of our consciousness and memory is located? Joseph Campbell also suggests that we are part of greater surrounding consciousness and only part of us is expressed through these physical brains and bodies that function as limiting organisms so we can have a human experience in this physical realm.
Interesting things to ponder.