The Unconditional Human Spirit

Topics below (point form): Exploring unconditional as the supreme expression of the human ideal of love. Affirming unlimited mercy, kindness, and generosity in human relating. We are all members of the same human family.

Transforming human consciousness- re-orienting human ideals away from retaliation and toward unconditional reality and existence. Get a good grip on the adjective “unconditional”. Feel its scandal and wonder. Unconditional takes us to the supreme height of the authentically humane. It tells us what it means to be truly humane. It enables us to “tower in stature” like a Nelson Mandela.

Apocalyptic- the most violent and destructive force in history. Christianity is responsible for bringing the apocalyptic myth into Western consciousness. Historical Jesus promoted a stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory, non-apocalyptic God (i.e. “there must be no more eye for eye retaliation but instead love your enemies because God does. God generously gives sun and rain to all alike, both good and bad, without discrimination”). Paul rejected the non-retaliatory God of Jesus and retreated back to primitive apocalyptic theology. He then created Christianity as just another retaliatory apocalyptic religion (see Tabor quotes in sections below).

Why probe theology? Because bad theological ideas incite bad behavior. See quotes from psychotherapists Zenon Lotufo and Harold Ellens further below on the damaging influence of bad theology on human consciousness and behavior.

Also, Joseph Campbell on human story, conquering monsters, and maturing into universal love. Further, “The origin of bad ideas”, and “Humanity created to serve the gods? Nah.”

Then, Rethinking theology- i.e. Ultimate Reality, or God, as authentic no conditions love. See also “Summary for quick visits” at bottom of this section.

Also at the bottom- Child’s play: Trump and media locked in eye for eye cycles- adult “counter-punching” or infantile “getting even”?

Further: New comment from discussion group on Arthur Mendel’s book “Vision and Violence”- how apocalyptic became “the most violent force in history”. Detail on how bad religious ideas have been given “secular” expression in the alarmist ideologies of the modern era (e.g. environmental alarmism).

Summarizing quote: “There is no metaphysical threat behind life, whether a punitive God, vengeful Gaia, angry planet, or payback karma. Getting right to the point: There has never been any ultimate threat of exclusion, judgment, punishment or destruction, and there is no need for any sacrifice, payment, or salvation scheme. Religion across history has never communicated to humanity the stunning truth that Ultimate Reality is only love, that deity is scandalous ‘absolutely no conditions’ Love…

“Unconditional deity liberates the human spirit from the primitive and primal religious fear of Ultimate Harm. There has never been any threatening, punishing metaphysical Force or Spirit behind life. There is only “no conditions Love” at the core of reality. That is the height of the authentically humane imagination.”

“The greatest liberation movement is still struggling to find full expression….liberation from bad religious ideas is the most profound form of human liberation that impacts human consciousness at the deepest levels of mind, spirit, and emotion.”

Further point summary of site themes: Exploring unconditional reality as the supreme expression of the great human ideal of love. What is most humane is most true, and therefore, most real.

1. The original bad religious myth- apocalyptic. Apocalyptic was first expressed in the Sumerian Flood myth. Over a millennium later, Zarathustra changed it to apocalypse by fire. That myth of a heat apocalypse has shaped Western consciousness ever since.

2. Apocalyptic became the most violent and destructive myth in history (see comment on Arthur Mendel’s book Vision and Violence, below). The central idea of apocalyptic is that of a punishing, destroying deity. Holding the ultimate ideal of a punishing God deforms human consciousness (see psychotherapists Ellens and Lotufo below). As Bob Brinsmead warns us, “You become just like the God that you believe in”.

3. See the stunning research of Landes, Mendel, Herman, and others below which shows that apocalyptic millennialism- i.e. destroying/purging the world in order to install a new paradise- was behind the mass-death movements of the last century- Marxism, Nazism, and environmental alarmism (over 200 million deaths in total). Primitive religious themes were given “secular” expression in the ideologies of the modern world. Apocalyptic also continues to incite Islamic terrorism just as it has incited Jewish and Christian violence over past history.

4. The apocalyptic theme continues to drive environmental alarmism today, making it the most destructive movement on Earth. Example: Rachel Carson’s exaggerated chemical apocalypse led to the deaths of tens of millions of people in the decades following the ban on DDT. 8 million children died over a recent 12-year period because they were denied access to Vitamin A in Golden Rice due to alarmism over GM foods. Apocalyptic alarmism is not just irresponsible, it is immoral.

5. The potent counter to apocalyptic was made two millennia ago by the wisdom sage, Historical Jesus, a person entirely opposite to the Christian Jesus. Historical Jesus rejected apocalyptic. He taught non-retaliation (no more eye for eye) because God did not retaliate, God did not engage eye for eye justice. To the contrary, the God of Jesus loved God’s enemies (sun and rain given to all alike, both good and bad). God did not exclude or punish enemies (no apocalyptic retaliation or destruction) but loved everyone as family. In that Matthew 5:38-48 statement, Jesus overturned entirely the central themes of all past mythology and religion.

6. ”No more eye for eye but love your enemies” is the single most humanizing and liberating insight ever offered to humanity. It frees us from animal retaliation and inspires us to engage authentic human existence in the unconditional treatment of imperfect others. However, love of enemies is not an affirmation of dogmatic pacifism. Love is responsible to restrain violence and protect others. There is no dogmatic “turning of cheeks” in “love your enemy”.

7. Unfortunately, Paul rejected the non-retaliating God of Jesus and retreated to the primitive apocalyptic deity of all past mythology and religion. Paul then created Christianity as just another apocalyptic retaliation religion. His Christ myth is the supreme expression of eye for eye retaliation. Paul contradicted outright the core non-retaliating message of Historical Jesus. Paul embraced the punishing, destroying God of all historical religion. See his central apocalyptic theme in his earliest letters to the Thessalonians. Also, note his Romans 12:17-20 affirmation of a retaliating God- “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord”.

Christianity then brought apocalyptic into Western consciousness and society. See quotes from Tabor, Boyce, and others, below.

8. Fortunately, the non-retaliating, universally loving God of Jesus has been rediscovered in contemporary spiritual movements such as the Near-Death Experience movement. Many of these people speak of encountering an inexpressible unconditional Love behind all.

9. God (Ultimate Reality, Universal Mind, Self, Consciousness) has always been unconditional Love. There never was any such thing as a retaliating, punishing deity. The logical consequences of an unconditional deity are astounding for human consciousness to embrace: Once again, there is no judgment, no exclusion of anyone, no punishment, no apocalypse or hell. There is no need for sacrifice, payment, or salvation. The discovery of unconditional Love at the core of reality is the most liberating insight ever presented to human consciousness. It liberates from all the bad religious ideas of the past. It liberates at the very depths of mind, spirit, and emotion. Unconditional offers the single most profound transformation of human consciousness ever.

Note: The point of this site: to robustly re-center human consciousness on unconditional love- the supreme understanding of authentic humaneness or goodness, and our highest understanding of the great human ideal of love. Unconditional redefines our highest ideals (deity) and redefines the nature of human being. Our true human self is the very same unconditional love that is God. Let unconditional shape all human thought and existence- whether ethics, justice, human relationships, or anything else. Make unconditional your baseline for all things in reality and life.

All across history religion has been essentially a conditional social institution that has buried the truth of an unconditional God. Express unconditional love in whatever terms you want- i.e. universal love, unlimited generosity, or non-discriminating love, but make clear its scandalous nature as “absolutely no conditions” love.

Introduction:

The human story has been about movement away from primitive retaliation/punishment and toward unconditional belief and existence. We see this in our common human rights codes that generously embrace human diversity and freedom. The consequent unconditional treatment of others (behaving just like an unconditional God with unlimited forgiveness, endless mercy, universal inclusion, and unconditional love) takes us to full maturity as human. We then “tower in stature” (Joseph Campbell) as magnificent humans. Like Nelson Mandela when he forgave and included his former enemies in his new South Africa, surprising them with his generosity (e.g. former prison guards invited to be his security staff).

Summary of main site projects: This site engages the foundational themes/ideas in human systems of thought/belief and focuses on what is most essentially wrong (i.e. the pathology of retaliation/punishment as in apocalyptic mythology), and how to make it right with the discovery of an unconditional core Reality and the consequent unconditional treatment of everyone. From the beginning of human existence people engaged the primitive practices of vengeance and punishment that have perpetuated inhumanity and violence in our societies. But over subsequent millennia we have made things better by gradually embracing the humane ideal of universal love- forgiving all, including all, and loving all as equal members of one family.

More Detail:

The greatest monster that humanity has ever faced is the bad religious idea of “an angry God punishing bad people”. That has been the cohering central theme of mythology and religion across history, and it now continues in contemporary “secular” ideologies (i.e. vengeful Gaia, angry nature/planet, karma, environmental apocalypse). How do we counter this pathology? With the single greatest insight ever- that there is only love, inexpressible unconditional love at the core of all. That same love is also the essence of the core human self. There are no essentially fallen, corrupt people. It is bad ideas that make people do bad things. Few people would act badly if they knew that they were most essentially beings of love and that they were sent here to learn and to express love.

(Insert: How do we explain badness in people? We all have an inherited animal brain with its nasty impulses to domination of others, aggression, exclusion and destruction of differing others. But fortunately, we are not our brains.)

Again, the logical conclusions that flow from an unconditional core reality are astounding: Contrary to the entire history of religion, there is no ultimate judgment, no ultimate exclusion of anyone, no ultimate punishment of anyone, and no final destruction or hell. There is no need for sacrifice, payment or salvation. All because there is no ultimate punishing deity. There is only inexpressible love behind all. This unconditional insight severs the taproot of human fear, the fear of Ultimate Harm. Unconditional reality liberates mind, emotion, and spirit as nothing else can.

(Qualifier: Engaging unconditional does not mean going soft on inhumanity/violence in this imperfect world. Love is always responsible to restrain evil and protect the innocent.)

Note: I appreciate the numerous scientists that provide good evidence to challenge all forms of alarmism. But my project is going to the root beliefs that remain embedded in the background of many people’s worldviews. I am interested in the ideas that shape people’s emotions and push them to embrace confirmation bias approaches to evidence (i.e. dismissing contrary evidence and accepting only evidence that supports their beliefs). Too many people continue to embrace alarmism and the harmful salvation schemes of alarmists.

Continuing with bad religious ideas…

Bad religious ideas have been a central feature that people have used across history to incite/validate violence and other inhuman behavior.

How do bad religious ideas incite bad behavior?

The most destructive set of ideas ever created is the “apocalyptic millennial” template of myths. Apocalyptic millennial mythology tells us that God will end the world with a great fiery purging of evil/corruption, and then install a new paradise. The core theme of this apocalyptic template is that of “an angry, vengeful deity punishing bad people”. This “cruel God” myth deforms human consciousness and retards human development, producing “fear, guilt, shame, anxiety, fanaticism, violence… Cruel God theology has resulted in wars, religious oppression, Crusades, inquisitions…” (Psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo in Cruel God, Kind God).

The idea of ultimate punishment/destruction creates fear in people. Frightened people then embrace harmful salvation schemes to save themselves and others. The salvation schemes involve action to eliminate some threat (i.e. some threatening enemy). That action often requires violence (“coercive purification” of the threat). Frightened people are also motivated by a perverted form of hope, hope for salvation into some promised utopia after their enemies have been eliminated (i.e. the utopias of Marxism, Nazism, or the return to the lost paradise of pristine nature in environmental utopianism).

Richard Landes in Heaven on Earth and Arthur Mendel in Vision and Violence, among others, provide stunning historical detail on how the primitive ideas of apocalyptic millennialism were given “secular” expression in the ideologies of our modern era- notably, in 19th Century Declinism and contemporary environmentalism. These historians have traced the apocalyptic millennial themes behind the mass-death movements of the past century. Apocalyptic millennialism incited Marxism, Nazism, and environmentalism to engage programs that led to the deaths of over 200 million people. These ideas continue to incite religious violence in ISIS.

I am in agreement with Bob Brinsmead that the most damaging movement in the world today is environmental alarmism with its endless endeavor to block economic growth and development, harming the poorest people the most.

Apocalyptic millennialism is given new forms of expression from century to century but the core themes always remain the same- that the past was better, corrupt people have ruined the original paradise, life is now declining toward some great disastrous collapse and ending (toward something worse), there will be a great purging of the corrupt world (a punishment of bad people) so the lost paradise can be restored or a new utopia installed. Environmental alarmism today is just another “secular” expression of primitive mythology.

(Note the punishing deity of past mythology and religion is now expressed in things like “the revenge of Gaia”, “angry planet or vengeful nature”, and karma.)

Let it be noted clearly that Christianity is most responsible for bringing apocalyptic into the modern world, especially into Western consciousness and society. Paul’s Christ myth is intensely centered on supreme retaliation and apocalyptic destruction. His Christ myth has been the source of much violence over history. It is the beating heart of apocalyptic millennialism.

Humanity’s most liberating insight:

We have long had the answer to this apocalyptic pathology- history’s most liberating insight that there is no angry, punitive Force/Spirit behind life. There never has been any such reality. There is only an inexpressible “absolutely no conditions love” at the core of reality. This discovery overturns entirely the myths of punitive, destroying deity. The logical conclusions from this discovery overturn the core themes of historical religions. There is no judgment, no exclusion of anyone, no punishment or destruction (i.e. Hell), and no need for salvation/sacrifice/payment.

Every person, good and bad, is included in the family of God. This was a key element in the central message of Historical Jesus- that “God sends sun and rain on both the good and the bad”, without discrimination or exclusion. Every person is loved as much as any other person, no matter what their failures have been to live as human. Such is the scandal and wonder of unconditional love. If an unconditional God does not offend you, then you are probably not fully grasping the real universal and unlimited nature of such love. Historical Jesus told several stories of good people that were offended by such unconditional generosity toward “bad people” (i.e. the Father’s generosity toward the Prodigal Son, and the vineyard owner’s generosity toward the late-arriving workers). Many people are oriented to some form of justice as fair payback and will not accept unconditional forgiveness, inclusion, and generosity.

This insight into unconditional is not based on any spiritual revelation, holy book or religious authority. It is the common human understanding that the highest human ideal of love finds its supreme expression as unconditional love. Unconditional takes us to the height of being maturely human, to the height of goodness. Every parent or spouse gets that unconditional is the highest form of love. We then simply project this out to our ultimate realities- deity- and to transcendent degree. It’s called “doing theology from below” (Bob Brinsmead), from the best in humanity and then reasoning out to deity.

The second most liberating insight:

The authentic human self or person is the same unconditional love that is God. This overturns all fallen, sinful humanity mythology that has been at the heart of historical religions. There are no bad people deserving punishment. Human badness/evil can be explained in terms of our inherited animal brain and the bad ideas that people use to validate those base animal impulses (i.e. small band tribalism- exclusion and opposition toward some “enemy”, domination and destruction of the enemy). Fortunately, we are not our brains (to paraphrase Jeffrey Schwartz’s book title).

Our anger should then be directed at the bad ideas (religions, ideologies) that incite/validate bad behavior, not at our fellow human beings.

The discovery of God as no conditions love provides a stunning new baseline for ultimate meaning/theology. It advocates a more humane approach to ethics (i.e. embracing all people unconditionally as equal members of one human family), and a new orienting principle for justice systems (i.e. the shift to restorative justice for all). The discovery of the human self as essentially no conditions love provides a new baseline for human self-evaluation, or self-esteem.

Unconditional liberates at the deepest levels of mind, spirit, and emotion, from the bad ideas that have long caused humanity unnecessary fear, anxiety, depression, and despair. Human suffering is bad enough without the added psychic burden of some metaphysical threat behind the harsher elements of life.

The point of embracing unconditional as the supreme definition of authentic goodness, of authentic humaneness- it re-centers consciousness on the highest understanding of love. It fully humanizes our highest ideals (God). And it offers a stunning new valuation of the real magnificence and wonder of being human.

Additional note- good evidence overturns the apocalyptic myth that life is declining toward some great disastrous ending. See Julian Simon’s Ultimate Resource, Bjorn Lomborg’s Skeptical Environmentalist.

Some quotes on bad theology inciting bad behavior:

Stephen Weinberg: “With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil — that takes religion”.

Bob Brinsmead: “The worst forms of evil are committed in the name of God”.

So I ask: Do you want to make the world a better place? Do you want to stop violence? Then yes, engage all sorts of projects that contribute to the general endeavor to make life better- whether economic, political, social, or personal programs of improvement. But do not neglect one of the more critical sources of bad behavior over history- bad theology. Make sure that you also humanize your highest ideals- including theology. Purge your personal beliefs/ideology of all the subhuman/inhuman ideas that have long incited or validated subhuman and inhuman behavior. Quit protecting bad ideas under the sacred, in theology. This is much more than some call to reform religion.

A brief taste of Campbell’s story outline (more detailed version below):

Each person comes to engage a hero’s journey, to live out a human story. Each person faces a monster to conquer, a problem to solve. In the process of struggling with one’s monster, insights are gained and lessons are learned that can be passed on to benefit others. Also, a wise person gives us a sword to slay our monster.

Campbell adds that we achieve human maturity when we center our lives on universal love.

Added note from NDE accounts: Everyone comes here to learn something about love, how to give and to receive love. Love is the central point of all human story. And unconditional love takes us to the height of human love.

Note on the overall master story of humanity: The greatest monster that humanity has faced is that of threatening, punishing deity. The weapon to slay this monster? The discovery that God is unconditional love and does not threaten or punish anyone. You can tell you children with assuredness that there is no ultimate monster. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Contact: wkrossa@shaw.ca

How theology impacts human consciousness and life:

“Sick Gods make for sick people… Sick Gods provide sick models which produce sick persons and sick communities… Any God is a monster if he cannot behave at least as well as the average human behaves in his or her better moments. Monster gods make monster people”, psychotherapist J. Harold Ellens.

“Religion that is built around the assumption… that God is cruel or even sadistic… from this resulted wars, religious oppression, the Crusades, and the Holy Inquisition. In the psychological domain, its consequences are fear, guilt, shame, and impoverished personalities. All these things are fully coherent with and dependent on a cruel and vengeful God image… an angry God, who cannot forgive unless appeased by a bloody sacrifice, has been right at the center of the Master Story of the Western world for the last 2000 years… The suffering of the sacrificed victim is seen as something that gratifies God, something that calms anger… emotional gratification is obtained by inflicting suffering on others, from the execution of revenge… this is sadism… these ideas permeate Western culture and inevitably influence those who live in the interior of this culture”, Zenon Lotufo in Cruel God, Kind God, with quotes from J. Harold Ellens.

“You become just like the God that you believe in”, Bob Brinsmead.

“It’s the theology, stupid”, (paraphrase of Bill Clinton).

The fundamental human impulse for meaning (Victor Frankl) inspired early people to get busy creating myths to explain greater realities- the gods. But they made a huge original error about ultimate reality. They came up with the single worst idea ever- that “angry, vengeful gods punished bad people”. And that idea was then embedded at the core of human worldviews (mythologies, religions, ideologies). It has not been purged since. It has been the single most dominant and damaging idea across history.

The myth of angry gods punishing bad people became the core of the apocalyptic template of ideas with its threat of a great final punishment and destruction of the world (see Top Ten Bad Religious Ideas below). The myth of threatening apocalyptic deity has aroused endless unnecessary fear in humanity and incited far too much bad behavior, whether the religious violence of groups like ISIS, or the devastatingly harmful salvation schemes of environmental alarmism (see comment on the mass-death outcome of Rachel Carsons’ apocalyptic alarmism, below). Read the rest of the opening comment here

Coming topics: Engage the real battle in life, against bad ideas that incite and validate bad behavior. Using Joseph Campbell’s story outline I would argue that bad ideas are the real enemy of humanity, the real monster that we face in life and must conquer.

And what exactly are these bad ideas? There has been no more damaging set of ideas across history than the apocalyptic template of ideas with its central theme of a retaliatory, punishing God that threatens a great final destruction in an apocalypse. That deity also demands that a supreme salvation condition must be met- there must be a sacrifice to appease the angry deity, in order to escape the coming horror. This template of bad ideas has dominated the Western tradition for millennia- from Zoroastrianism to Judaism to Christianity and Islam, and even into contemporary ideology (i.e. 19th Century Declinism and environmental alarmism with the themes of vengeful Gaia, angry planet, and karma).

The myth of some great threat incites fear and pushes scared people to embrace what have been endlessly harmful salvation schemes. The outcomes of Threat theology and its Salvationism have been devastating to humanity (detail below- e.g. the consequences of Rachel Carson’s alarmism). Historians Richard Landes (Heaven on Earth) and Arthur Herman (The Idea of Decline) have detailed the influence of ‘apocalyptic millennialism’ on the mass-death movements of Marxism, Nazism, and environmental alarmism. Include here the influence of apocalyptic mythology on violent religious movements like ISIS (see David Cook’s Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature). Read the rest of the opening comment here

Topics below: Why go after apocalyptic? (responding to “religious fear”); Mythical pathology and mass-death outcomes; Bad theology incites bad behavior; more on ‘The destructive outcomes of apocalyptic’; More on the Jesus/Paul contradiction; Discussion group posts; Float like a butterfly- Independent or Classic Liberalism; More discussion posts; Environmentalism, environmental concern; Climate debate- alarmists versus skeptics/deniers; The anti-humanism at the heart of environmentalism; In problem-solving go after the real monster; Human story and monsters- Joseph Campbell’s story outline; Primitive religious themes in contemporary environmental alarmism; Point form summary.

Further topics: Links/relationships/historical lines of descent- apocalyptic continues to dominate contemporary “secular” minds; A new take on the offensive “hard saying” of historical Jesus- the scandal of an unconditional God; Collectivism versus individual freedom- what really advances the greater good; Summarized template of apocalyptic ideas; Top Ten Bad Religious Ideas; Religion and God- the pairing of profound opposites; Historical descent of bad ideas- from mythology to religion to ideology and even to science.

More on the profound contradiction between Jesus and Paul/Christianity. The God of Jesus (his “stunning new theology”) rejected apocalyptic mythology (“no more eye for eye… instead, love your enemy”). And to the contrary, Paul’s entirely opposite God affirmed primitive apocalyptic mythology (“vengeance is mine, I will repay”). Paul’s God became the God of Christianity which has shaped Western consciousness, including Islam, Marxism, Nazism, and Environmentalism. Historical sources listed in comment below.

The scandal in this contradiction is that one of the greatest discoveries ever was buried in Christianity (Jefferson and Tolstoy’s point). Christianity was created as another conditional religion that made it impossible to see the true nature of deity as absolutely no conditions Love. The central discovery of Historical Jesus (“his most important contribution to the history of ideas”- Robinson)- that God was no conditions reality- was buried by Paul and other New Testament writers. Consequently, the greatest potential liberation ever- that of mind and spirit- was short-circuited before it could get started.

This site traces the relationships between belief systems across human history- noting that common themes continue from mythology, to religion, to contemporary ideology and philosophy. I note, in particular, the persistence of “bad ideas” and their harmful outcomes, especially the apocalyptic template of ideas with its core theme of a threatening, punishing God. I probe the most effective responses to these bad ideas. This is where the Jesus/Paul contradiction is useful because it illustrates the core themes on the opposite sides of this contradiction. Where Jesus advocated non-retaliation and no apocalypse, Paul advocated retaliation and apocalypse. Fundamentally, this is about the larger human story of leaving our animal past to become truly human. It is about what belief system we will use to define ourselves as truly human.

Does the above theology really matter? Bob Brinsmead: “You become just like the God that you believe in”. Bad ideas incite and validate bad behavior. Theology is critical to understanding the history of religious violence and the devastating outcomes of apocalyptic alarmism, notably from the environmental alarmism of today. Read the rest of the opening comment here

New topics: Summary of site themes; Pulling back to the big overall picture (Facebook discussion); Up from the basement; Love as TOE; Humanity’s greatest fear- Ultimate Harm; More on the “hard saying”; Post from discussion group (fallen humanity); Michael Hart quotes- environmental alarmism as apocalyptic religion; Imagination in the search for truth; Depression and Declinism; Commerce as social healer; Facebook note on Grosso; Post from discussion group; Extensive Facebook postings from discussion on environmental alarmism.

New Year’s Project: Major pathologies in thought and potent alternatives. Foundational themes for new narratives, for authentically humane worldviews.

Ultimate Harm and consequent Alarm:
The myth of Ultimate Threat has always incited alarmism across history. People have endlessly feared that the problems encountered all through life- i.e. natural disasters, extreme events or changes in nature, accident and disease- that these were expressions of angry gods punishing bad people. The fear of punishment from greater Forces or Spirits has continued into our modern “secular” age in myths of “the revenge of Gaia”, angry nature, and contemporary versions of karma.

Alarmism has persistently exaggerated problems to apocalyptic scale (the end is nigh, again and again and again…) and thereby distorted the problems of life, not presenting carefully the actual state of things. It has then incited frightened people to embrace damaging Salvationism schemes that have harmed humanity and life even more. I have traced this history of Ultimate Harm and consequent Alarm down through history, via mythology, religion, ideology (i.e. 19th Century Declinism), and even into science (e.g. climate science). Read the rest of the opening comment here

New Comment topics:

Alarmism: a curse on the human spirit (the deeply rooted mythology behind alarmism); Thoughts on the anti-human element in environmental alarmism; Climate alarmism as social control; Declinism Defined- the dominant worldview today.

Michael Grosso on the human fear of death (materialism misses the point); Clear away the garbage (Leo Tolstoy- Christianity buries the great discovery of Jesus); Religion and God- the pairing of entire opposites; Love your enemy- the “hard saying” that points to the greatest discovery ever and to the true nature of love.

Neglected Narrative: What really caused the 2008 financial crisis? Ronald Bailey- Federal regulations have made you 75 percent poorer; Rupert Murdoch links regulations, climate alarmism, to global financial turmoil; Investor’s Business Daily- How Reds became Greens.

Ebionism: the link from Jewish religion to Christianity to Islam; The Center- Joseph Campbell on presence; Change your story- we got the old one all wrong (Threat theology, apocalyptic, a new core ideal).

“Alarmist News Media” (comment on Trump hysteria) is at bottom of this section. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Site project and themes- Combating alarmism (i.e. exaggerated threat, metaphysical monsters, and resulting unnecessary fear). Purging the monster of threat mythology/theology, in all its variations, from human narratives- i.e. violent, punishing religious gods, revenge of Gaia, karma, or angry planet. Threat theology has long been the central theme of conditional Salvationism religion with its burdensome demands for required sacrifices, obligated beliefs, rituals, and a religious lifestyle to appease and please the divine threat.

Threat theology has also been central to religious violence, and is evident in supposedly more “secular” ideologies like 19th Century Declinism and its offspring- environmental alarmism. There is enough to fear in life without the added psychic burden of some great Threat behind life. Remember the Japanese lady after the tsunami, saying, “Are we being punished?” Threat theology has generated far too much unnecessary fear, anxiety (i.e. “eco-anxiety”), despair, and depression.

This site explores the single most profound and liberating shift in human consciousness- to abandon the idea of some great Threat and to embrace the discovery of a “no conditions Love” at the core of reality. No conditions love presents an authentically humane definition of ultimate reality for the foundation of a new human narrative. Explore this ultimate liberation movement with us.

Contact: wkrossa@shaw.ca

See new summary “The Science of Climate” (basic climate facts) further below in this opening section. Also at the bottom of this section, “The Ultimate Battle for Freedom (it takes place in our heads)”. And up from the basement- Joseph Campbell on human story (placing unconditional in Campbell’s story framework). “Love is all” is at the bottom of this section. See also material on religious violence in sections further below. The real battle of ideas takes place in the arena of theology, not just ideology. Julia Tyack also sparked some thoughts on what it might mean to practice unconditional in an imperfect world. Further, see new comment on “Making God Horizontal” (vertical/horizontal forms of relating).

Campbell offers the central discovery that enables the transition to mature adulthood- the centering of life on love. I reframe his story framework with “unconditional” in order to focus and clarify his point more. He uses “universal” and “unlimited” love.

The two most basic things… Read the rest of the opening comment here

Qualifier: Confronting bad ideas is not to “attack” or “trash” religion in general. It is about careful distinction between religious ideas that encourage human goodness and subhuman ideas that have a history of promoting inhumanity.

Section Content:
Bad religious ideas and the harm they have caused humanity. The descent of bad ideas over history- from mythology to religion to ideology (i.e. mythology given “secular” expression, see comment on 19th Century “Declinism”).
Understanding imperfection: God is not pissed at imperfection. Threat theology got it all wrong. Exploring alternative narratives: There is no ultimate punishment, no angry God, no revenge of Gaia, no karma.
Racial facts- countering race as tribalism. We all identify as African.
Islamic terrorism and God- its not just a fight with ideology but with theology. That is where the real battle of ideas takes place.
Paul’s big fails- The mistakes made by the founder of Christianity. He buried Jesus with his Christ myth. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Contact: wkrossa@shaw.ca (site is copyrighted material)

Section content: Why they Hate us (Fareed Zakaria documentary); Nowhere left to hide; What we are trying to do; Rethinking justice as unconditional; Tolstoy and Jefferson on the contradiction between Jesus and the gospels; Attack? Nah; Changing our thinking; Religion and violence; Sam Harris on bad religious ideas; The Jesus/Paul contradiction; Complaint re conditional religion; Pathology of Alarmism; Wealth creation enables environmental improvement; Sanders on climate hoax; Chronology argument for Christian contradiction; New comment from Bob Brinsmead; Notes on love (Can we find a better term than unconditional?); Large Hadron Collider documentary.

(Note: This site affirms all endeavor to reform religion, to make religious traditions more moderate. And when I point out the harmful elements in religious beliefs, I also recognize that it is important to re-assure religious people of the good features in their traditions. But my argument is that too much religious reform does not get to the root of the problem and slay the real monster. It does not eliminate the Master Terrorist. This is where humanity’s greatest battle takes place- conquering the metaphysical monsters that are humanity’s highest ideals and authorities. It is a battle in the depths of human consciousness with bad ideas that powerfully influence human perception, feeling, and response.)

“You become just like the God that you believe in”, Bob Brinsmead.

Much religious reform continues to protect “bad religious ideas” (Sam Harris’ term) at the core of religion. The humanizing project (making more humane) that has impacted much of the rest of thought and life must be taken to the very heart of religion- to deity. Religious gods must be fully humanized if we are to properly solve violence for the long term future. Anything inhumane or subhuman must be purged from humanity’s highest ideal and authority- deity. Pathological views of God have long been used as the ultimate validation for pathological human behavior- to incite, inspire, guide, and validate such behavior. See comment on the belief/behavior relationship below. People have always tried to model their lives and societies according to some greater reality or ideal.

This site is a project to combat alarmism in all its perverse forms- religious or secular. Alarmism generates fear and fear plays a central role inciting aggression and even violence (i.e. defense against perceived “threat”). Note carefully the role that theology- threatening, fear-inciting gods- has historically played in religious violence. This is one critical element to explore when trying to resolve the problem of religious violence.

Quote from below: “A central project on this page is to fully humanize theology (as in human perception of greater ideals and authorities); to purge deity of subhuman features such as animal-like vengeance, tribal exclusion and opposition, payback punishment, or violent destruction of outsiders. We already have the stunning discovery that points us in the right direction- the radical redefinition of deity with the ideal of absolutely no conditions love. A discovery that liberates entirely from the pathology of so much past mythology and religion.”

See Top Ten Bad Religious Ideas in next section just below, “Site Project: Conquering metaphysical monsters”. Immediately following this, note how these bad ideas descend down through history in “The Big Picture: Historical descent of mythical/religious pathology”. This helps to understand the never-ending eruption of religious violence across history. Read the rest of the opening comment here

List of contents for this section: Getting to the point; Fighting Monsters; Bad Religious Ideas; The Big Picture (Historical descent of mythical/religious pathology); Defending unconditional; Islamic violence; Introduction; Herman on Declinism; The Christian Contradiction (brief version); Page Content Lists; Terror in Mumbai; Ancient Alarmism; Calming religious concerns; It Stands on Its Own (Who needs Jesus?); Muhammad affirms Jewish/Christian influence; The real battle against terror, and more.

Contact: wkrossa@shaw.ca Copyright @ Wendell Krossa

It is the single most profound shift in human consciousness- to reject the myth of some ultimate Threat behind life (i.e. the punishing gods of mythology and religion, the core retribution of Greek thought, or contemporary “secular” Threat mythologies- the revenge of Gaia, angry planet, or payback Karma), and to embrace the view that there is only an “absolutely no conditions Love” behind all. Unconditional takes our supreme ideal of love to its highest expression. It is the ultimate definition of authentic humanity.

Getting to the point… a project to counter alarmism of all forms, religious and secular. Alarm/fear is often at the root of “defensive” aggression and violence. Add this to your understanding of movements like ISIS. Bad ideas incite, inspire, guide, and validate bad behavior.

Explanatory note… This site assumes the following basic relationship between belief and behavior: that people look to ultimate ideals and authorities- i.e. gods- for inspiration, guidance, and validation of their actions and lives. They have done this since the beginning. Unfortunately, over history some of the most inhumane features have been projected onto our gods- things like tribal exclusion (the “us versus them” of tribal thinking- opposition toward outsiders, enemies), hatred and vengeance toward outsiders, the condemnation and punishment of human imperfection, and the destruction of the enemy.

The outcome of projecting these base features onto our highest ideals and authorities is the creation of ultimate Monsters that validate the same inhuman features and behavior in people. We see this in religious violence across history, and still today. Violent, vengeful gods validating violence toward others. Therefore, you have to bring down the core metaphysical Monster in order to properly bring down the brood of related features that are validated by the core Ideal- religiously inspired hatred, tribal exclusion of unbelievers, vengeance, and the punishing spirit. In more positive terms- its not just “bringing down” something, but more about the full “humanization” of our highest ideals and authorities.

This site goes to the foundation of much alarmism over history- the myth of some ultimate Threat.

I’ll get right to the point…

There has never been some great metaphysical Threat behind life. There have never been angry, punishing gods, and there is no vengeful Gaia, angry planet, or payback Karma- some greater metaphysical intention behind the common natural consequences of life. The idea of some great retributive force or punitive spirit behind life has been the greatest fraud ever beaten into human consciousness. The accidents, disease, and other forms of imperfection and suffering in life, are not punishment from some greater force or spirit.

The result of this threat pathology has been millennia of wasted human endeavor on Salvationism, whether religious or secular. Think of the blood that has been shed in the sacrifice industry starting in prehistory, and the endless time wasted in religious ritual to appease threatening gods. Also include modern anti-development appeasement efforts and the trillions that this has cost humanity in hindered, blocked, or abandoned development projects- i.e. Earth goddess or Gaia appeasement. Add the emotional distress and despair from this mental pathology, and more. Salvationist responses have wasted immense amounts of human time, effort, thought, emotion, and resources that could have been better spent on improving the human condition from the healthy standpoint of “rational optimism”. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Note especially the comment in the next section below- “Irresponsible environmental alarmism”, and “Climate deniers”.

Content in this section: The Chronology (unconditional was first, Paul rejected it); The Christian Contradiction- arguably history’s greatest religious scandal; Bob Brinsmead comment from discussion group.

I’ve brought this comment up from the basement because it may be the most important material on this site. If you can get the central insight of Historical Jesus clear, in contrast to the entirely contradictory message of Paul/Christianity, then you have gained some real ground on understanding the greater human story, what went wrong and how it can be made right.

The Christian contradiction (Jesus versus Paul) intensely focuses the struggle between the unconditional treatment of all people (i.e. “love your enemies”) and the traditional payback justice approach toward others (justice as getting even, or punishment). The Christian contradiction illustrates how these two approaches have struggled to shape human ethics over history.

Our treatment of others is very much based on how we view others. Do we embrace the tribal dualism view of humanity as divided into opposing groups of good versus bad. Or do we hold the view that all people are equal members of one human family, all “magnificent beings”, despite our differing imperfections (see “What are we, really?” in next section below). Read the rest of the opening comment here

Comment in this section: The journey starts hot; The “stunning” new view of ultimate reality (also- evaluating the NDE movement); Reframing Campbell’s outline of human story (the Hero’s journey); What are we, really?; The humanizing project; News cycles; Christ myth; Embracing Imperfection; Irresponsible environmental alarmism; Scattered Notes; Climate deniers.

The journey starts hot:

Dad called my sisters and I into the kitchen to stand in front of an early 1950s wood-burning stove. It had white enamel sides with a black iron surface. A pipe to vent the smoke exited the back and up through the ceiling. Dad stood beside the stove. He then tapped the tip of his finger on the hot iron surface for a micro-second and sternly warned us, “Just like that burns your finger, so your whole body will burn in Hell”. Yikes.

They say that we forget most of our experiences before six years of age. But some memories are so traumatizing that they permanently scar our consciousness. It happened when I was three or four, but that sermon-in-a-second was not forgotten. And it was supplemented in following years with repeated warnings that “God was gonna get us” for any bad behavior, for any unchristian behavior. Because we deserved to be punished.

I did not have the mental tools through my early life to think myself free of those “bad religious ideas” (Sam Harris’ term). Finding those tools took a lifetime of search and struggle. And before I scare off the religious readers, let me affirm that some version of atheism/materialism was never a serious alternative.

Sparked by those early years of religious trauma, I have spent my life trying to understand it all- religion, atheism, the spiritual, science, mythology, meaning, purpose, suffering, evil, good, love, exclusion/inclusion, domination/equality, life, and death, and more. What does it mean to be human? To be consciously human in an imperfect world? To see and feel beauty, goodness, love, but also randomness and accident, hatred and violence, sickness and suffering, and the rest that is life. Is there a better way to understand and explain all this to ourselves? Read the rest of the opening comment here