The Unconditional Human Spirit

Our real enemy: The bad ideas that continue to dominate our narratives and incite/validate the worst of our inherited impulses

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

The “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of ideas that still dominates narratives and consciousness today, in both religious and “secular” versions, distorts entirely the true state of life and the world.

This site offers alternatives to these primitive but persistently enduring mythical themes (enduring because deeply embedded as archetypal in human subconscious from millennia of repetition in human narratives). See “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives” below.

Other comment below:

(1) History’s most violent and destructive idea- apocalypse- given new expression in contemporary “secular/ideological” versions like climate alarmism (see Roger Pielke article- “The New Apocalypticism: Climate catastrophe as secular, millenarian prophecy”),

(2) Anthony Watts on mainstream media doubling down on the apocalypse myth- “Major media plan a massive collusion fest to get their stories straight on climate change”,

(Insert note: The totalitarian’s formula has always been a simple one… Fear=control).

(3) Life is getting better all the time: Summary of Julian Simon’s brilliant overview of the true state of life- “Ultimate Resource” (offering the best data for a true narrative of evidence-based hope),

(4) The fraud of “97% scientific consensus”,

(5) A good one on “Concept creep” as over-extending the category of “hate speech” to encompass more and more the formerly legitimate expressions of disagreeing others now as “hate speech”, thereby validating censorship of political/social opponents (criminalizing more things that previously were just differing opinion and speech),

(6) Daniel Hannan on freedom and the liberal abandonment of this critical value (liberals extending elite control of populations into more areas of life that were formerly left to citizen’s free choice),

(Added note on “liberal”- Many of us are still wrapping our minds around the “great shift” that has occurred in our societies, over the past decade, where a good number of those in the sector of the population that formerly self-identified as “liberal” have now become “highly illiberal” as in pro-war, pro-censorship, pro-authoritarian, and more. As some have noted, it is now the conservatives who are mainly defending and promoting Classic Liberalism principles. Who woulda thunk it, eh.

And a new coalition of moderate conservatives, independents, along with moderate liberals, is forming to pushback against the erupting totalitarianism that has been emerging mainly from the left today. Independent journalists- e.g. Glen Greenwald, Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, among others- continue to expose the outlines of this new totalitarianism.)

(7) Sources on wildfires trending down, not becoming worse as media claim,

(8) List of alternatives to the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths,

(9) Charles Rotter commenting on Michael Walsh’s “The evil of climate alarmism”, and much more…

Hannan’s comment in the article referenced above, relates to the other article on “Concept creep”, where easily offended people are now trying to criminalize more and more the opinions and speech of others, opinions and speech that were once considered just differing opinions/speech, not “hate speech”. “Easily offended” as in those who now prioritize their feelings as the dominant criterion for deciding what should be permitted speech in public, and because they “feel offended” by other’s differing opinions and speech, they argue that such speech should be censored, banned, even criminalized.

Former ACLU director, Ira Glasser, made the good point in regard to what may be considered the offensive speech of differing others. He said that the real test of your belief and advocacy for freedom of speech comes when you are willing to grant that freedom to other’s whose opinions and speech you may consider repulsive/repugnant in some way.

And that is the safest approach to take with hate speech. Because, if when your ideology is in power, you start to banish what you consider the offensive speech of others, then if those opponents of yours attain power in the future, they will retaliate and do the same to you- censoring, banning, cancelling, criminalizing. We are all safest when we protect one another’s freedom of speech, even to state offensive things.

Additionally, said Glasser, who gets to decide what is hate speech?

A summary to refresh some main site themes: Wendell Krossa

Thinking wrong inevitably results in acting or behaving wrongly. Bad ideas incite, motivate, affirm, and validate bad behavior. As Bob Brinsmead stated, “We become just like the God (or whatever other ideal) that we believe in”. This is about the common human tendency to base human behavior on related beliefs that are the ideals and authorities that people then use to validate human life and society. What some call “archetypes”.

The myths of the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of ideas have dominated human narratives across history and profoundly distort the true state of life and history. These ideas incite the worst of human impulses to tribal exclusion, to domination of others, and to violence toward others.

How so? Take, for example, the “lost paradise” myth that is foundational to all mythology across history. It has long played a fundamental role in the human quest for meaning.

Lost paradise thinking attributes false blame to humanity for something that our original ancestors never did- i.e. the claim that they destroyed an imagined original paradise world. That world never existed. The early earth, and later emerging life, was a brutally primitive reality.

The false blame for ruining paradise then incites unnecessary guilt and shame and hence the consequent demand to rectify the problem that you have been wrongly accused of- i.e. that of destroying an original paradise world and sending life into decline toward something worse, eventually toward the ultimate collapse and ending of life- an apocalyptic end to the world. (Keep in mind: The decline of life, following the loss of paradise, is an essential feature of apocalypse mythology).

The loss of paradise, and decline of life toward eventual apocalypse, preps the mental stage for the related follow-up myths in the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex. The threat of punishment via apocalypse- i.e. the destruction of life and the world- arouses the survival impulse in people and that survival desperation is intensified by stirred emotions of guilt and shame over ruining paradise. These aroused emotions incite the felt need for self-punishment and attune people to hypersensitivity to demands for a salvation scheme- some sacrifice/payment to appease the angry, retaliatory deity that is claimed to posture behind such threat.

(Insert: Angry gods threatening apocalyptic destruction include the “wrathful God” of mainstream religious traditions, along with newer versions of threat theology- i.e. “Vengeful Gaia… angry Planet or Mother Earth… punitive Universe… and payback karma”- all deities in contemporary more “non-religious” theologies.)

The element of survival desperation that is incited by this mythology is further intensified by the feature of “imminence” that is always associated with apocalyptic destruction (the end is “always nigh”). Its just up ahead a few years or decades, soon and very soon.

(Insert note: An example of imminent apocalypse is given in Matthew 25 where the author states that Jesus warned regarding the parable of the 10 virgins, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour”. This statement was never uttered by Historical Jesus because he was not a believer in apocalypse. The inclusion of the 10 Virgins parable was the common editorial manipulation by the gospel writers to support Paul’s theology of an apocalyptic Christ, someone entirely opposite to Historical Jesus. They manufactured a lot of additional material and claimed that it was taught by Jesus when such material contradicted entirely his message of a non-retaliatory, non-apocalyptic God. Such was the “creative lying” so common to that early Christian era.)

Further, the mythology lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption demands that we engage a righteous crusade against the evil that, it is claimed, angers God and consequently incites God to punish humanity with violent destruction. What an example for humans to follow, eh.

The point here is that the element of cosmic dualism (Good God versus satanic Force/Spirit) is replicated in the earthly dualisms that are exhibited through the human tribal impulse- i.e. good guys/true believers set against the bad guys/unbelievers. Hence, we get endless versions of righteous battles against “evil enemies”, battles of truth versus falsehood. (Note: While “just wars” have occurred over the past, the human tendency is to excessively over-use this framing of right versus wrong to demonize and criminalize disagreement with differing others and to consequently demand violent destruction of such “enemies”.)

Add here that the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex affirms the hero’s quest element- to “save the world”, to conquer and purge some monstrous threat to life. Purging the threat to life involves destroying the “enemy” who is blamed for bringing on the judgment that is the apocalypse.

Tribal battles and purging of evil enemies are viewed as necessary in order to eventually achieve salvation as, in part, the restoration of the lost paradise.

So yes, these bad ideas do promote too much bad behavior. Human beings have always based their behavior on their beliefs, often to the extent of harming others (beliefs inciting, inspiring, guiding, validating behavior). Most egregious is that the bad ideas in the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex distort and bury the no conditions love that is the core reality behind all, the defining feature of deity.

Added note from Bob Brinsmead on how primitive “Combat mythology” based on cosmic dualism has incited violence across the history of religions like Christianity:

“Harold Ellens also makes a strong case against “the great controversy” concept, the notion that God has a great adversary to defeat. The notion of the “combat myth” is an old one that goes right back to the Sumerian and Akkadian religions. Combat mythology was rejected by the Persian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) as to the cruder features, but it was re-worked and retained in his visionary accounts of the great battle between God and Satan focused on this earth with the battle between the sons of God and the sons of light.

“This Zoroastrian worldview was absorbed into Judaism during Israel’s subjection to the Persian Empire whose official religion was Zoroastrianism and universal language being Aramaic– and all this was reflected in the book of Daniel which incorporated its ideas and language. Ellens argues it is time for us to abandon this idea of God’s history’s long battle with evil as if God was plagued by any great adversary.

“History is not a result of the Fall of man. God made the world as it is and mankind as it is and pronounced it “good” or fit for purpose. Creation is not yet finished and not intended to be perfect, but it is the arena which we are given to live and develop, confront and improve. How bored we would be if instead we were given a heavenly environment with everything perfect and nothing for us to contend with or improve!

“In this sense we are not offered a remedy of Salvationism which is the error or the sugar put on the table by all religions. But Ellens sees the Zoroastrian model as playing a key role in the long history of religious violence. Our religious history means that we are all born into what Joseph Campbell calls “a brutal war mythology.” Christianity even converted the meekest, gentlest, and non-volent man who ever lived into the most fearsome hero whose “final solution” to evil is the unleashing of a holocaust that puts all the violence of the Old Testament violence on steroids (i.e. New Testament book of Revelation).

“And in that account, Satan gets almost all of mankind on his side to the bitter end, he wins the great contest, eh? That’s not a revelation of the victory of Agape! There are reasons why Christianity has shed more blood than any other religion in the history of mankind. As Ellens argues, it began with its doctrine of the atoning death of Jesus achieved by a blood sacrifice. Or as James Carrol agues in “Constantine’s Sword”, the Christian doctrine of atonement sowed the seeds of religious violence.”

Further summary- Keeping at the forefront… the most important project of this site: Wendell Krossa

The historical descent of the most destructive ideas in history- the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of themes that forms core of old narratives, and has continued to shape human narratives across history, in all cultures. This pathology still dominates most human consciousness today. The outcomes of embracing this complex of myths are endlessly dehumanizing and destructive.

As psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo stated, the “Cruel God” theology at the core of this complex deforms human personality and hinders the full development of mature humanity. The “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” myths are ideas that incite and validate dehumanizing tribalism. They push people to engage “righteous battles against evil enemies”, to violently purge/destroy others who are viewed as threats to one’s own existence.

The “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of ideas is found in the earliest human mythologies. For example, we see the “lost paradise” myth in the story of the paradise city of Dilmun that is ruined by Enki’s sin of eating the 8 forbidden plants. We see an early version of apocalypse in the Sumerian Flood myth to destroy all humanity, as well as in Egyptian myths of “Return to Chaos” and “Destruction of Mankind”. And we see redemption mythology in Gilgamesh’s search for eternal life.

World religions later embraced the above complex- most notably Christianity that has long dominated Western consciousness and civilization, thereby shaping all other subsequent narrative systems, both religious and “secular”.

Note the basic themes of paradise lost in the Jewish/Christian myth of Eden ruined by human sin, life then worsening toward apocalyptic ending (Revelation), salvation to be found in making some sacrifice/payment, the demand for violent purging of “evil” (again- John’s Revelation), and the promise of renewed paradise.

These mythical themes were then embraced in 19th Century ideology of Declinism- the most dominant and influential ideology today (Arthur Herman in “The Idea of Decline in Western History”). We see the ongoing and widespread influence of Declinism in the YouGov survey (Bailey and Tupy in “Ten Global Trends”) that shows most people believe “the world is getting worse”, that life is declining toward catastrophic collapse and even ending. A majority of the newer generation believe that “humanity is doomed”.

The modern version of these primitive mythological themes:

The past was better, but humans have ruined the original paradise of a natural wilderness world with industrial civilization. Life is now declining toward something worse, toward collapse and ending. Redemption or salvation demands that we must abandon progress for “de-development” (sacrifice the good life in civilization for a return to more primitive lifestyle). We must purge the world of too many consuming people (depopulation) and degrade their industrial civilization- the “evil force” that is destroying nature. Then we will find salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise (i.e. a restored wilderness world, even a “world without humans”, the “cancer/virus/unwanted intruder” on the planet).

Environmental alarmism embraces the basic themes of Declinism, making alarmism a “profoundly religious crusade”, just another apocalyptic movement.

Climate alarmism is the latest version of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption”. In climate alarmism CO2 has been focused on as the marker of too many people consuming too much of Earth’s resources in civilization and all is consequently declining toward collapse and ending. The consequent salvation scheme is to decarbonize, de-develop, return to the “moral superiority” of a simple, low-consumption lifestyle.

Again, the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of ideas has always incited our worst impulses to tribalism (good guys fighting bad guys that are viewed as posing a threat to life), to domination of enemy others, and to destruction/elimination of differing others as necessary to save the world (i.e. purge those who are threatening our way of life or existence).

This complex incites an excessive, irrational fear of survival, the need to fight some life-ending threat, and to purge the threat in order to “save the world”.

The exaggeration of natural disasters and extreme weather to apocalyptic scale as life-ending threats, notably in climate alarmism, profoundly distorts the true state of things. It incites unnecessary fear that is then focused on differing others who are blamed as responsible for causing the natural disasters that all suffer under. The outcome of such thinking then inevitably becomes destructive because apocalyptic logic states that the threat must be purged in order “to save the world”, or “to save democracy”, or whatever is purported to be under “end-of-days” threat.

Apocalyptic mentality has repeatedly led to irrational salvation schemes that try to save the world by destroying it (e.g. the Xhosa cattle slaughter of 1856-7, and the similar “cattle culling” proposed recently for Ireland. Note also the related attacks on basic human food supplies/agriculture in Holland and Sri Lanka. Justin Trudeau has proposed the same for Canadian agriculture.).

Notably, governments across the world are now pursuing “salvation” (“save the world”) through decarbonization, trying to eliminate the very energy that has saved humanity from poverty over past centuries and relieved the suffering that has been due to previous human inability to counter natural world threats. The damaging outcomes of decarbonization salvation are already being felt in varied countries (see the “Net Zero Watch” newsletters of Global Warming Policy Forum).

Alternative themes for new narrative:

Note, in sections below, the 18 alternative themes for a new narrative of life and history that counter entirely the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” myths- i.e. “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives”.

How the ideas/beliefs that we hold exert harmful influence on human consciousness, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior:

When we embrace the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of ideas to frame our worldview, we lock ourselves into something that will inevitably end in the harm and even destruction of differing others, whether via excluding, censoring/silencing, banning, cancelling, or engaging outright violence against those differing others.

This complex of ideas convinces us that there is a threat, an evil threat “to end democracy… to end the world… to end our lives”. Once we have trapped ourselves in the inescapable corner of survival desperation, that “backed into the corner” positioning then demands some response to save life. And when we reenforce that threat with imminent “end-of-days” dates, commonly just 5-10 years up ahead, then we are obligated to go forth immediately to purge and destroy that threat to our life and world. We have no other choice. We have framed our survival as a righteous crusade, a “just war” to save democracy, life, and the world.

And we must not delude ourselves that we have no association with this framework of ideas that are so obviously primitive mythology of the worst kind, religious-type beliefs that we may believe that we have long ago abandoned, because we now identify as “secular… materialist… even atheist” and not religious.

I would suggest that the worldview of most people today undoubtedly embraces some form of “Declinism” ideology that has dominated most people’s thinking across history, including across the past few centuries- i.e. the belief that the past was better, that humanity has ruined the world with our civilization, especially through industrial civilization, and all is now declining toward something worse (see YouGov surveys), toward collapse and ending. Hence, we must “save the world” before its too late. These themes are very common to most people’s worldviews. As Arthur Herman states- The idea of decline is the most dominant and influential theme in the world today.

And here is the awakening that most of us need (i.e. true “wokeness”). 19th Century Declinism is just the “secularized ideological” rehash of primitive “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” mythology (“The Idea of Decline in Western History”, Arthur Herman). There really is “nothing new under the sun”.

When we use this primitive and pathological complex to frame our worldviews, we then lock ourselves into something that inevitably ends in destruction of varied forms, destruction that is justified as the righteous obligation for survival, even as true “justice”.

That is how Hitler framed Germany’s Weimar situation. He believed that the very survival of Germany- German culture, race, society- was threatened by Jewish Bolshevism. So that threat had to be confronted and eliminated if Germany was to survive. Hence, Hitler’s obsession with the Eastern crusade (Russian Communism, Marxism- Marx as Jew). Hitler saw Jewish Bolshevism as the threat that had to be annihilated in a final great Armageddon battle (a la Revelation) to save Germany, and he presented himself as the savior. And this will be hard for Christian true believers to accept, Nazism embraced basic Christian themes that resonated with the Christian traditions of most Germans (see Richard Landes, Arthur Herman, Arthur Mendel, and David Redles’ research on apocalyptic millennialism). This explains why so many good people in Germany allowed themselves to become caught up in Nazi madness.

So also, Marxism embraced a lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption narrative to frame its crusade against capitalism, viewing capitalism as the great threat that had to be purged in order to save the world and restore the lost paradise of former communal existence. Hence, as others have noted, Marxism has always resonated with Christianity (e.g. Latin American “Liberation theology”).

Today environmentalism views itself as facing the threat from industrial society that is destroying the world. And environmentalism, particularly its climate alarmism variant, is most intently focused on CO2 as the marker of human excess in civilization- the current purported threat to life and survival.

Contemporary Woke progressives have framed their basic ideology in terms of these primitive and extremist themes.

“Imminence” is a key feature in the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” worldview and is employed to validate immediate desperate action, even violence, to save something that is under threat of destruction. Imminence re-enforces the collectivist claim that it is necessary to set aside normal democratic processes as too slow to deal with what is presented as the “always imminent” threat. Date setting for the “end of days” backs the demand for urgent, immediate action, even coercive force.

The “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” themes arise repeatedly and endlessly across history from deeply embedded archetypes that have shaped all narratives across history and dominated human minds for millennia. These ideas have been beaten into human subconscious and have to be confronted if we want to get to the root of human problems and solve the issue of the motivating ideas behind many apocalyptic millennial crusades, otherwise these ideas will keep inciting and validating new apocalyptic crusades like climate alarmism. The same old themes keep erupting in new versions across history, both religious and secular.

Again, Campbell nailed the point that the same primitive myths have been embraced all across history and across all the cultures of the world.

Hence, exposing this complex of primitive mythical themes takes me from climate alarmism, the latest version of this complex, directly to Paul’s Christ myth which for the past two millennia has been the dominant myth affirming the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex in Western consciousness (e.g. see James Tabor in “Paul and Jesus”). The Christ myth is at the root of the problem in terms of fundamental themes/archetypes and their inciting and validating influence on the worst of human impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction of “enemies”, etc.

My summary again of basic lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption themes- (1) the past was better, (2) people have ruined that original paradise, (3) now life is declining toward something worse, toward collapse and ending. Hence, (4) we must “save the world” by making some sacrifice/payment and (5) purge the “evil” thing (violent purification of life”) that threatens life and our world. (6) Imminence demands immediate and desperate action, even violence just as the Christ ultimately uses world-ending violence to “save his true believers” (see Revelation for examples). After making atonement (7) we may regain the lost paradise or install some new utopia.

Note to John Kerry: Who is really in a cult? Who is really denying science? Ah, cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias, and psychological projection, eh.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/tyrant-john-kerry-slammed-scolding-climate-change-deniers-theyve-threatened-humanity

Another note:

Remember also how this complex of myths has exacerbated excessive and unnecessary fear, anxiety, guilt, shame, despair, depression, fatalism/resignation, nihilism, and even violence over history, all based on exaggerated and distorted scenarios of threat. Psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo, and psychologist Harold Ellens, detail these personality-deforming impacts of threat theology in “Cruel God, Kind God”.

Some additional comment on the hesitancy to confront revered religious beliefs like the Christ myth, and potential incitement of angry defensive response in true believers:

Louis Zurcher noted in “The Emerging Mutable Self” that too many people locate their identity in some “object” like national identity, race or ethnicity, religion, ideology, occupation or career, etc. Self as object versus self as process. Once fixed on object, people cease growing, developing, and progressing as ever-changing selves.

Such objects then overly-rigidly define their self, their very personhood. When someone then challenges some idea or belief related to such objects, people locating their identity on object will view any challenge as an assault on their essential self, and that evokes a very survival-like response. Hence, you even get defensive rage, like the cornered hyena that bares its teeth in rage at the lion closing in to kill it. With people it’s a similarly rage-inciting survival thing having to do with locating one’s essential self and self-identity too rigidly on the objects noted above. Challenge to the object becomes a felt threat to one’s very existence because of locating one’s identity too rigidly in some object.

Zurcher argues that we should remain selves in open process, open to change, further development, and progress (mutable selves), not placing our identity dogmatically and immutably in any object. We should hold all such objects more lightly and loosely, not as essential to our real identity as humans. Remaining open to challenge, change, and further development.

Also helpful to maintaining healthier self-identity:

Consider that our core identity lies in being commonly human, in the fact that all of us possess the same human minds, human consciousness, and human personhood or self. That common humanity is the basis of our shared equality.

Further, there is a fundamental oneness at the root of our common identity (i.e. even some form of metaphysical oneness) that supersedes all the other more peripheral dividing features that we embrace as part of our identity.

Note, for example, the physical oneness based on our descent from a common mother- the “Mitochondrial Eve” in Africa. Yes, we are all black in terms of our true ultimate “Roots”. Why then do some of us have inactive melanocytes? (the little organs in our skin that secrete skin-darkening melanin) The “cracker” paleness of some of us is the result of our ancestors living for millennia in low sunlight areas of the world, not needing UV protection and needing more Vit. D input from the sun.

Skin color differences are a minor element on which to base human identity but they dominate so much public discourse today, contrary to the dream of Martin Luther King. As one scientist said, skin color differences amount, on the human genome, to nothing of any more importance than a sunburn. Petty, silly, exceedingly minor and peripheral. A sunburn. Sheesh, eh. Its like stating to one another re our skin-based “racial” differences- “You sunburned people”. Or “You not-sunburned people”. Separating from one another and fighting over that??? C’mon. Seriously?

The above facts may help to counter the excessive tribalism, division, and hatred today over racial issues, too often oriented to, or based on, genome-peripheral skin color differences. Active versus inactive melanocytes. Again, sheesh, eh.

Central to the site project here: Fully humanizing the primal human impulse to meaning/purpose. Taking the animal out of human systems of meaning, Wendell Krossa

My point: Humanizing our worldview/narrative

Go to the core ideas/themes of our narratives/worldviews and replace the long-embedded inherited primitive ideas that incite our worst impulses (our inherited animal passions)- notably, ideas of tribal exclusion of differing others (small band exclusion and opposition), domination/control of others (the alpha male/female thing), retaliation against offense, punitive response, and destruction of differing others (destroying competing others).

Replace these subhuman ideas with more humane themes that counter our worst impulses and inspire our better angels to embrace a fundamental oneness, inclusion of all as full equals, respect for the freedom and self-determination of others, and restorative justice toward human failure. Human ideals that are entirely contrary to animal thinking, responses, and behavior.

Especially extend this humanization project (making fully humane) to the ultimate reality that embodies our highest ideals and guiding authority- i.e. deity or metaphysical theories (Ultimate Consciousness, Mind, Spirit, Intelligence, Self, Person, or however you view and term such transcendent reality).

And crucial to fully and thoroughly humanizing our narratives is to wrestle with the highest version of love that humanity has discovered- no conditions love as our ultimate understanding of goodness. That single feature will do more to transform human consciousness, emotion, motivation, and response than any other defining feature or ideal.

This is about fighting and winning the righteous battle against evil that takes place most critically inside each of us. Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s point that the greatest battle against evil runs down the center of every human heart. Win this battle first before going forth to engage the other varied battles of life.

Embracing no conditions love is how we learn to tower in stature as maturely human, to become the hero of our personal quest to conquer a monster/enemy. Embracing universal or unconditional love is the weapon that slays the monster- the inherited animal inside us.

And this explains why I go after theology- ideas of Ultimate Reality or God. These have always been central to human narratives across history, shaping our thinking, emotions, motivations, and responses more than any other ideas. This is true of even those claiming to identify as secular, materialist, atheist yet still appealing to some version of ultimate metaphysical realities as their highest ideals and authorities.

This humanization project is about what themes we embrace to guide, influence, and validate our behavior and lives.

We all want to find our way to a better future that is more free of hatred, retaliatory vengeance, violence and other dehumanizing ugliness. We do this best when we start with our own personal stories, conquering the evil within our own personal sphere of influence, bringing peace and love into our own lives and families before going forth to bring the same gifts to wider life.

A repost of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex, Wendell Krossa

First, a brief summary of the main themes of this complex of primitive myths:

(1) There was a better past (i.e. an original wilderness paradise world), but (2) early people “sinned” (“fell” or degenerated into something worse) and ruined paradise. Life, then cursed by God, (3) began to decline toward something worse, toward collapse and ending, even toward the ultimate catastrophe of apocalypse. The threat of collapse and ending (apocalypse) was the ultimate punishment for human sins. (4) A sacrifice then had to be made to pay for sin, and suffering would have to be embraced as part of the “redemptive” process. Self-punitive (self-inflicted) suffering today involves giving up the good life for a return to the “morally superior” simple life, a return to primitivism (“de-development”). This general felt need to embrace self-punishment as payment for personal failure, driven by guilt, is more common than many imagine. It has a long history as “archetypical”.

As part of the salvation/redemption schema there must also be (5) a violent purging of some purported evil threat to life. CO2 has been demonized as a prominent “pollutant/poison” that threatens life today. Further, affirming the myth of cosmic dualism, people must heroically engage a righteous battle against the evil threat or enemy. Industrial civilization overall has been demonized today as the “evil” that destroys the paradise wilderness world (CO2 is the identity marker of this larger “evil” threat). With atonement and purging accomplished, people are then (6) offered the hope of salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise, or the installation of a new utopia/millennium (i.e. a “fossil fuel-free” world).

(Note in sections below that tribal dualism is commonly, and wrongly, applied to differing others in the human family when any imagined dualism should focus on the real battle against enemies/monsters/evil that ought to take place inside each of us- i.e. the dualism battle of our better self against the animal inheritance in us (Jung’s “shadow”) that is our real “evil enemy” in life. This was Solzhenitsyn’s point, and Joseph Campbell’s point on heroically conquering the “animal passions” in us.)

Solzhenitsyn: “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either- but right through every human heart- and through all human hearts.”

Continuing….

The above “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” ideas have shaped ancient and modern worldviews, and this is not my conclusion alone. Good historians have traced these themes in more historically recent apocalyptic movements like Marxism and Nazism. These themes are also evident now in the latest apocalyptic movement of environmental alarmism (see, for example, Arthur Herman’s “The Idea of Decline in Western History”, Richard Landes’ “Heaven On Earth”, Arthur Mendel’s “Vision and Violence”, and David Redles’ “Hitler’s Millennial Reich”, among others historians of religious ideas.).

One book alone overturns entirely the above complex of apocalyptic Declinism themes- i.e. Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource”. Varied others have subsequently offered the same evidence. Simon potently discredited apocalyptic environmentalism, just as the one central insight of Historical Jesus on non-retaliatory, unconditional deity (his anti-sacrifice message) overturned the Christian version of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex as mediated to Western civilization through Paul’s Christ myth.

We know today that there was no original paradise and life is not declining toward something worse. To the contrary, especially over recent history and due to the creative input from human minds and hands, life has been rising toward something ever better than before. So also, no sacrifice is necessary to appease some imagined metaphysical threat. And no violent purging is required to save life, but rather, our “salvation” is to be found in contributing to the long-term “gradualism” of improving life (Arthur Mendel in “Vision and Violence”). That is the only “salvation” scheme that we need to embrace. We will never attain utopia, but we can continue to make life ever better over the long term, just as we have successfully done over past centuries.

The impulses and ideas that dominate human consciousness and life (a revised, updated reposting of the longer version of the “Lost paradise/redemption” complex of myths). Wendell Krossa

Subtitles: How to understand human thinking, feeling, motivation, response, and behavior today. The dominant themes of our narratives/worldviews and how they influence us.

(Definitions of Archetype: model, ideal, original, pilot, prototype, pattern, standard, classic exemplar, classic, representative, forerunner, epitome, prime example, etc. I would suggest that archetype has to do with our inherited animal impulses and the ideas/myths that our ancestors created to explain and validate these primitive impulses, notably the impulses to tribalism, to domination of others, and to predatory destruction of others. The ancients created the lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption complex to explain and validate these impulses. They tried their best to deal with the world that they lived in and the state of their consciousness at that more primitive time.)

A prominent example to illustrate where I am going with this…

Decarbonization is becoming very much like all apocalyptic alarmism salvation crusades across history with the same old outcome of “saving the world by destroying the world”. Such is the irrational outcome from inciting the survival impulse in people with alarmist narratives of looming apocalypse.

Some illustration of saving the world by destroying it…

In the Tubi series “Architects of Darkness” Season 1, Episode 2, the narrator tries to explain what drove Hitler’s associates to engage mass-death madness. He notes that they let themselves become possessed by an ideology that placed the state’s vision above the needs of real people. Their loyalty to their state ideology then enabled them to inflict evil on others. Their ideology placed the goals of a regime above the lives of actual human beings.

Bob Brinsmead has often spoken of how dangerous people become when they place their loyalty in something that is set above people- in some law, religion, political ideology, nation state, or whatever. Loyalty to the thing that is placed above or before real people, then results in the neglect or harm of real people.

As the Tubi narrator says, “Government enchanted by its own vision of what the future should look like turned the present into an unimaginable hell for countless victims”. Such has always been the outcome of embracing and promoting apocalyptic millennial movements.

The narrator concludes how loyalty to some ideology incites evil in our hearts by quoting the famous statement of Solzhenitsyn, “The line between good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties, but right through every human heart and through all human hearts”.

“Enlightened elites” have always believed that they have been called to heroically engage righteous battles against evil, and that they know what is best for all others. They come to view themselves as the specially enlightened ones who have seen some great injustice or wrong in life, some great threat to life, and have a vision of how to gain salvationist utopia (“save the world”). And consequent to their unquestioning belief in the urgency of their cause (i.e. saving their world from an imagined “imminent” apocalypse and attaining utopian salvation) they will justify the need for violent crushing of any dissent or opposition to their crusade. Dissent from their vision and orthodoxy is labelled “dangerous and life threatening… criminal”.

The outcomes of such arrogant self-righteousness have cost hundreds of millions of people their lives. Remember the 100 million who died last century due to the forced collectivization of societies under the “enlightened guidance” of Socialist elites in China and Russia, and elsewhere (Cambodia, etc.).

The same outcomes are becoming distressingly evident again today with the resurgence of the coercive collectivism that is being pushed on humanity through the environmental movement and its attacks on industrial civilization. The outcome is the undermining of individual freedoms and rights (i.e. abandoning and overturning the principles and practises of Classic Liberalism). The ideology of climate alarmism and its salvation scheme of decarbonization has been placed above the well-being of real people, and millions of lives are being harmed as a result of this cultic devotion to another “madness of crowds” eruption.

Back to the “impulses and ideas” point of this article…

All mythological and religious movements have embraced a similar complex of ideas or themes and this is evident from the earliest human writing. Very little changes across human history as these themes were long ago hardwired in human subconscious as “archetypes”. And today, the most primitive of past ideas have now been given expression, not just in the world religions, but also in the dominant secular/ideological systems of our world, like Declinism and its offspring- i.e. environmental alarmism/climate alarmism. (Source: Arthur Herman- “The Idea of Decline in Western History”)

The line of historical descent of ideas runs from primitive mythology to world religions to ideological belief systems, and even to the “scientific” belief systems of the modern world. Its always the same old, same old. As Joseph Campbell stated, the same primitive myths have been embraced all across history and across all the cultures of the world.

We can now embrace the ultimate human liberation- freedom from mythical pathologies that have long distorted reality and life and that have long incited our worst impulses. We have alternatives to inspire the better angels of our nature, alternatives that inspire our better impulses to live as authentically human.

The ideas in the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” or “apocalyptic millennialism” complex set us up to believe that something is wrong, that something (commonly exaggerated to apocalyptic-scale) is threatening our very existence. That naturally incites our primal survival impulse. The gatekeepers of these mythical complexes then claim to know who is to blame, what actions must be taken to correct what they purport is wrong, how we should counter their imagined threat to life, how to save ourselves/our world, and how to make things all right again by restoring cosmic justice.

These complexes of bad ideas have long motivated and validated human beings to harm one another, and even destroy entire societies, all the while believing that they were doing good, their consciences approving them and their actions, affirming their belief that they had God and good on their side, that they were fighting righteous battles against intolerable evils/enemies who had to be stopped even if with coercive violence.

Consider these most basic ideas or themes and their destructive outcomes, whether at the individual level or at larger societal scale:

The core themes (mental pathologies) that have dominated human consciousness across history in the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” narrative, include:

(1) The myth that a perfection-obsessed deity created a better past or original paradise (i.e. Sumerian Dilmun or Jewish Eden). This is the baseline bad myth. It is perhaps the single most fundamental pathology in human consciousness and narratives. It sets the stage and orients human minds to embrace all the rest of the primitive mythological themes in the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” narrative.

If the past was better, and the present is so obviously worse (imperfect), then logically- What went wrong? The history-long obsession with blaming humanity (i.e. the myth of “fallen/sinful” humanity) arises out of this original error of a better past.

The initial mistake of early people was to blame themselves for committing an “original sin” and thereby ruining an imagined primeval paradise. But contrary to this long-affirmed “original sin” myth (humanity ruining paradise), the original human mistake was actually their wrong assumptions that the past was a paradise world and that early humans had committed a primordial sin and thereby ruined that original perfection, and consequently they deserved punishment.

That wrong initial assumption of a past paradise world ruined by people became the baseline idea for an entire complex of related pathological ideas, notably myths that have subsequently blamed humanity for all that was wrong in life. That original bad myth then “logically” (logical to myth-oriented minds) led to the demand for punishment and a sacrifice to pay for the initial sin. And further, it led to the requirement that to make things better again you had to violently purge some evil threat to life. And thus, out of the original wrong assumption, emerged all the rest of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of bad myths.

(Insert: See below- “False original premises or assumptions, and the wasteful outcomes/responses to false original premises/assumptions”)

How to respond and correct the original pathology? We need a complete re-orientation of consciousness to fundamentally different themes in a new narrative of reality and life.
Start with rational alternatives to the baseline bad myth of some original “golden age”.

The history of our world shows long-term improvement in features like the emergence and increasing complexity of multi-cellular life, increasing organization/complexity in ecosystems, and an overall world that has become more conducive to life. There is nothing in the overall story of life on this planet to support the idea of a mythical decline of life from original perfection toward something worse.

Even biologists like E. O. Wilson and Charles Darwin both affirmed the overall, long-term “improving” trajectory of life toward more complexity and more organization. Darwin added that life evolved toward more “perfection”.

But the progress of life and civilization toward a better future is most evident in the long-term trends of the past few centuries as detailed in the research of Julian Simon and the many others who followed and affirmed his breakthrough insights and evidence.

Again, the conclusion from such evidence? There was never an original paradise that humans ruined. Hence, reject that foundational myth that was the basis for blaming and devaluing humanity. There was no “original sin” or fault that resulted in the loss of paradise. We never “fell” or degenerated from something better to become something worse. We never, in the past, became corrupted beings. Imperfection was our original natural state in brutal animal existence.

An alternative narrative (including metaphysical or “spiritual” speculations) would speculate and suggest that deity created the cosmos and world as originally “imperfect” and there is some good reason for that. So, with other philosophers and theologians, explore the “theodicy” possibilities- that, for example, an imperfect world exists as an arena for human experience, struggle, learning, and development. And that we only learn the better things in life when they are experienced in contrast with the worst elements of life.

Also, that problems, and consequent suffering, inspire our struggle to make life better, and bring out the best in people. For example, through suffering we learn compassion with suffering others (i.e. empathy as fundamental to being human). Much human creativity across history has arisen out of compassion for suffering others. Julian Simon noted that our problems bring out the best in us- i.e. creative endeavor to solve problems and find solutions that benefit ourselves and others. Imperfection, then, is essential to human learning, growth, and maturing.

The myth of a better past dominates 19th Century Declinism ideology, as in the environmental Declinism that states the past wilderness world was paradise and humanity in civilization, notably in industrial capitalist society, has ruined that paradise and life is now heading toward collapse and catastrophe. CO2 has been demonized as the latest primary indicator of the evil of too many people consuming too much of Earth’s “limited” resources and thereby destroying the world. This primitive “lost paradise/apocalyptic/millennial” mythology, that distorts entirely the true story of life, still dominates the thinking of many people today.

(Insert note: Evidence of the continuing domination of Declinism today is seen in the surveys that show the level of despair felt by the contemporary generation with 56% of young people believing that the world is becoming worse, that humanity is doomed, and the world will soon end. They consequently conclude that it is best to not have children and to give way to varied forms of fatalism, resignation, discouragement, depression, and withdrawal.)

(2) (A further aspect of number 1) The myth that the earliest humans committed an original fault or error and subsequently “fell” or become “sinful/corrupted” beings who then ruined the original paradise. A prototype version of this myth is the Sumerian myth of Enki eating the 8 forbidden plants, becoming ill, and thereby ruining the original paradise city of Dilmun.

Again, this “original sin” mythology is the primal root of all “blame humanity”, all anti-humanism. The Sumerians gave us the earliest examples of this pathology in the Sumerian Flood myth (Gilgamesh epic) with fuller versions coming later in subsequent Babylonian mythology.

(Insert note: The question needs to be posed- What impact does this primitive mythology of corrupted people ruining early paradise have on human self-image? How does it contribute to subsequent mental/emotion issues of fear, anxiety, depression, despair, nihilism, etc.? Its about long deeply embedded archetypes in human subconscious that impact thinking, emotions, motivations, and then response/behavior.)

In the Sumerian Flood myth, Enlil, the waterworks god, was pissed at too many humans making too much noise- the original human “sin” of that era and place. Imagine: People just being sociable and having fun was considered an original sin by the grumpy gods of that time. That is as petty as Adam bringing the curse of “inherited sinfulness” on all humanity for just enjoying the taste of good fruit and curious to learn something new (i.e. wanting to access the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil’). Sheesh, eh.

To get some sense of the petty and unbalanced nature of those primitive mythologies, with their ideas of pathological deities that are obsessed with human imperfection and mistakes, note the Biblical lists of sins that incite God’s wrath and consequent intention to torture people in an eternal lake of fire. The lists include “sins” like “boasting, gossiping, coveting, sensuality, impurity, fits of anger, rivalry, dissension, drunkenness, greed, gluttony, slander, lying, pride, foolishness, loving money, disobedient to parents, loving oneself, loving pleasure (watch out you wankers), ungrateful, and reckless (i.e. adrenaline junkies in extreme sports), etc., etc.”

Talk about punishment not fitting the crime, eh. It illustrates the obsessive moralizing pettiness of people that they then projected onto deity, reducing the reality of God (ultimate Goodness/Love) to something perversely petty like themselves.

And after considering such lists- No wonder many believe Paul’s statement that “all have sinned” and must embrace his Christ myth or be damned to eternal burning in the lake of fire (as per John’s “Revelation”).

(3) The vengeful deity of primitive imaginations, thoroughly pissed at human imperfection, then supposedly cursed the world and sent life declining toward something worse, eventually toward complete corruption, collapse, and final ending via apocalypse (as a final and ultimate punishment for human sin, followed by the even worse fate of “hell”). This apocalyptic decline myth has long incited survival fear, even terror and desperation to find some salvation.

(4) The great creating Force or Spirit behind life, still obsessed with lost perfection, and obsessed with punishing imperfection, then demanded a sacrifice to pay for the sins of corrupted humanity, to restore his offended honor and rebalance justice in the cosmos. (Note: Offended holiness in Judea-Christian theology is on the same spectrum as Islamic “honor killing” to restore the offended male sense of righteousness/purity. I state this to illustrate the primitive nature of this mythology, that the ancients projected onto deity.).

Few raise the logical question here- Why can’t a God of love (supposedly, as ultimate Goodness and Love, something much better than we are)… why can’t such a God freely forgive people just as we are expected to freely forgive imperfect others, unconditional forgiveness being a response that is fundamental to basic human decency. Are we held to a higher standard of basic human decency or love, than God? As Bob Brinsmead reasons in a related manner- If you demand full payment for wrong before forgiving (like the Christian God), well, then that is not genuine forgiveness. Love and forgiveness must be freely given or they are not authentic.

(5) In “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” mythology, the angered deity also demanded suffering in this life as further punishment- i.e. “suffering as redemptive”. Humanity has long embraced this pathology in self-flagellation, in varied forms of self-punishment to assuage guilt/shame over being identified as essentially bad. Today, one form of self-inflicted punishment involves giving up the good life for a return to the “morally superior” simple, low-consumption lifestyle (i.e. “de-development”, or the “Small is beautiful” of Schumacher).

This myth-based thinking advocates for a retreat to the primitive status of original “noble savages”- i.e. early people who were believed to have been stronger and more pure humans who lived in tune with nature, who lived low-consumption lifestyles (i.e. hunter gatherers) before the “fall of humanity in civilization…the degeneration of humanity in the abundance of industrial civilization”. Such is the “human degeneration” theory of Declinism ideology (humanity degenerating in civilization) as set forth by Arthur Herman in “The Idea of Decline in Western History”.

The “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” narrative has been beaten into humanity for multiple-millennia now, and the outcome is a deeply-rooted guilt and shame over being imperfectly human. Most people across history have subsequently felt the distressing and nagging obligation to find absolution for their sin. They long to be told how to make atonement, and in response, priesthoods across history have offered people the pathological solution of blood sacrifice, or other forms of sacrifice/payment/punishment to assuage the human guilt that has been exacerbated by the original sin myth.

Declinism mythology (human sinfulness as the cause of life declining toward something worse), and the threat of looming apocalyptic destruction, intensifies the primal felt need to make atonement of some kind, to engage some form of salvationism (some crusade “to save the world, to save humanity”).

Again, it is the bogus problem of “False original premises or assumptions, and the wasteful and harmful outcomes/responses to false original premises or assumptions”.

(6) The punitive Force or deity behind life also demands “the violent purging” of some great threat to life, the purging of some threatening “enemy”. The violent purging of evil was illustrated in Zoroaster’s mythology of a fallen world purged by molten metal. Violent purging is also illustrated in John’s graphic Revelation.

The purging involves the embrace of the hero’s quest, to heroically engage “a righteous battle against evil”, to engage the quest to conquer an enemy, to slay a monster. These ideas are validated by the ancient myth of “cosmic dualism”- i.e. that there exists a great cosmic battle of a good Spirit against some evil Force or Spirit (see Zoroastrian mythology for detail). That “cosmic-level” dualism (as ultimate ideal and authority) has been endlessly replicated in “this-world” dualisms among people. Cosmic dualism myths have long validated various forms of human tribalism- i.e. tribalism based on race/ethnicity, nationality, religion, ideology, etc.

Think of the horrific outcomes of this pathological myth alone- i.e. the cosmic dualism of ultimate Good against ultimate Evil. Note the incalculable damage that has been caused across history by inciting the impulse to view differing others as “enemies”, accompanied by the felt need to engage a righteous battle against such enemies, to conquer and destroy them as threats to one’s own tribe (again, the violent purging of evil). Tribalism, incited by dualism mythology, is among the most damaging of all primitive ideas. And tribalism intensifies its impulse to harm others by granting true believers the sense that God is on their side, that God approves their righteous battles against intolerably evil enemies who must be destroyed.

It is critical to understand these primitive archetypes and how they continue to influence human consciousness, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior. We need to recognize the dangerous outcomes of these ideas over history, harmful outcomes still erupting repetitively today. And we ought to recognize that we have much better alternatives today that work to counter our baser impulses and to inspire our better human responses. Notably, the recognition of the fundamental oneness of humanity that inspires us to view all others as family, to treat all as free and self-determining equals, and to embrace restorative justice toward the failures of others.

Remember again Joseph Campbell’s comments on conquering our “animal passions” by embracing “universal love”, by viewing enemies as family and thereby maintaining our humanity:

“For love is exactly as strong as life. And when life produces what the intellect names evil, we may enter into righteous battle, contending ‘from loyalty of heart’: however, if the principle of love (Christ’s “Love your enemies”) is lost thereby, our humanity too will be lost. ‘Man’, in the words of the American novelist Hawthorne, ‘must not disclaim his brotherhood even with the guiltiest’” (Myths To Live By).

Further, religious mythology teaches us that the ultimate violent purging takes place in the apocalyptic punishment and destruction of the present “corrupted world”, a necessary destruction in order to make way for the new world (see the New Testament book of Revelation for detail on this apocalyptic millennialism mythology). “Violent purging of evil” themes also validated the revolutionary purifying that was central to Marxism (purging the world of capitalism) and Nazism (purging the evil of Jewish Bolshevism). Again, see detail on this is Arthur Herman’s “The Idea of Decline In Western History”. Violent purging (“coercive purification”- Arthur Mendel) is also embraced by environmental alarmism today as in the need to purge purported threats like CO2, and industrial civilization in general.

(7) With atonement and purging accomplished, the threatening deity then promises salvation for true believers, salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise, or salvation in the installation of a new utopia or millennial kingdom.

(Sources for historical detail on the above myths: Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Zoroastrian mythologies. Also, Jewish-Christian history and belief systems. Add further, similar mythical themes in Eastern religious belief systems, such as Hinduism.)

Such is the basic outline of the complex of pathological “lost paradise/redemption” myths. Note the intense anti-human orientation of these primitive myths. They advocate the fallacy that humanity has “fallen” or degenerated from an imagined original perfection. That distortion buries the entirely opposite truth that the real story of humanity is how amazingly we have improved over history, compared to our original subhuman, animal-like existence.

(Other sources: James Payne in “History of Force” and Stephen Pinker in “The Better Angels of Our Nature” both detail the long-term historical trajectory of improving humanity, though I don’t think Pinker’s arguments on “evolutionary biology/psychology” fully explain all the causal factors behind our ongoing improvement. While our animal past goes some way to explaining our present makeup, the human spirit and human consciousness are something uniquely new in the history of life and cannot be fully explained in terms of our animal past. I side more with neuroscientist and Nobel laureate John Eccles on such things- “The Human Mystery”, “The Wonder Of Being Human”.)

These “lost paradise/redemption” myths constitute the mythical or spiritual substrate- i.e. the archetypes- that undergird most human belief systems or narratives, whether religious or “secular or ideological” narratives, and even scientific ones. These themes are deeply embedded in human subconscious- hardwired in human minds from millennia of tight interaction with some of our most basic impulses. This is the outcome of the ancient human project to create ideas/myths to affirm and validate inherited impulses. The complex of primitive “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” themes continue to dominate human narratives today.

Further comment on “Where and how it originally went wrong”… Wendell Krossa

Early people created ideas/myths to validate some of the worst of the animal drives that humanity inherited from previous millions of years in animal existence. They were following their primal impulse for meaning- to understand and explain their conscious existence in this imperfect world. And when they first started doing that- i.e. creating ideas/myths to explain things- they were still living as more animal than human, still very primitive in their thinking and behavior. Consequently, they created very primitive ideas/myths to explain and validate their still very primitive lives and existence.

Those earliest myths, buttressed with the eventual human hesitancy to challenge the sacred (fear of the sacred was a priestly innovation to protect priestly authority), those primitive myths were eventually embraced by the great religious traditions and eventually became religious dogma, and then, latterly in our history, they have even infected modern-era “secular/ideological” systems of belief.

But now, it is entirely inexcusable for us moderns to continue to hold those same themes of our primitive ancestors when we have far better insights available today, far better alternative explanations to satisfy our primal impulse for meaning and purpose. Note, for example, the lists of alternative ideas in the essays below titled “Explaining reality and life: The worst and best ideas that we have come up with”, or “Inherited bad myths and better alternatives”, or “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives”.

The more prominent of our darker inherited animal impulses, along with their related validating myths, would include (1) the impulses to small band existence or tribalism (given expression in human societies in such divides as those between true believers versus unbelievers, as in religious and ideological systems), (2) the impulse to alpha domination given expression in myths of dominating gods and the related validation of powerholding kings/lords/priests as representatives of the dominating gods, and (3) the impulse to the destruction of competing others (myths of enemies/unbelievers that should be eliminated in this life, or cast into religious hells).

Advocates of contemporary “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” narratives, such as in the climate alarmism crusade, give voice to the same themes as those listed above and these “secularized” versions of primitive myths still resonate powerfully with many people today. The core “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” themes resonate with deeply embedded archetypes, lodged even at a subconscious level. (Again, “archetype” meaning- prototype, representative, pattern, model, standard, exemplar, ideal, etc.- or early primitive ideas created to explain and validate inherited impulses that became patterns or models for all subsequent human narratives.)

An example of the primitive “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths resonating with modern minds to devastating outcomes:

With the onset of the Weimar-era collapse of the German economy due to the Great Depression, his formerly ignored message of “decline toward looming apocalypse and promise of salvation (i.e. the creation of the millennial Third Reich)”- that message then began to resonate more widely with the same archetypical themes and impulses that had long dominated the belief systems and consciousness of most Christian Germans. Hitler was then able to persuade many ordinarily good Germans to join, or at least not oppose, his mass-death crusade. Again, note the good historical research of the apocalyptic millennial scholars Arthur Herman, Richard Landes, Arthur Mendel, and David Redles.

Remember the Japanese lady, after the 2011 tsunami, giving voice to this mythical pathology when she asked rhetorically, “Are we being punished for enjoying the good life too much?” She illustrated the very intuitive human sense that natural disasters are expressions of some angry god punishing people for their sins. Similarly, Nancy Pelosi claimed (Sept. 2020) that the forest fires of California were evidence that “Mother Earth was angry” with humans enjoying too much fossil fuel energy and causing the “climate crisis”. Bad people were being punished by an angry deity seeking retribution. Ah, its all just the same old, same old primitive thinking as ever before.

Alarmed populations will then support the most irrational salvation schemes, to “save the world”, even when the evidence mounts that those schemes are so obviously destroying societies as in the outcomes of the Net Zero mania that is currently devastating Germany and Britain (see Net Zero Watch newsletters of Global Warming Policy Forum).

The contemporary climate alarmism crusade and its destructive decarbonization salvation scheme is just another repeat of similar apocalyptic millennial eruptions that have repeatedly destroyed societies across history. Remember again the irrational Xhosa cattle slaughter of 1860, and on a larger scale, the horrific destruction of the Marxist and Nazi “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” crusades (i.e. mass starvation from forced collectivism and the horrific environmental damage from centralized planning of resource use).

As Richard Landes warned in “Heaven On Earth”, regarding the Nazi madness- If you don’t understand how apocalyptic millennial themes can lead to mass-death in societies then you have learned nothing from past history. We are watching this same “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” pattern play out again today- the same old themes of “better past, sinful humanity ruining paradise, world declining toward apocalypse, demand for sacrifice and suffering as redemptive, obligation to enact a violent purging of some threat as necessary to ‘save the world’ and restore the lost paradise, obligation to heroically engage a righteous battle against evil enemies, etc.”

These profoundly religious themes undergird the cult of climate alarmism. We see them in the claims that a better past existed in the earlier more pristine wilderness world. We see these primitive themes in the false claim that life is declining/worsening due to the impact of human industrial civilization. We see them in the demonization of the basic food of all life- i.e. CO2- as the great threat to life that must be purged. And we see them in the endless media hysteria and exaggeration that a climate apocalypse is imminent. They are evident in the consequent irrational decarbonization madness that is claimed to be the only way of salvation in order for the lost paradise to be restored. The outcomes will not be good if we continue to let this myth-based madness shape public policy as in the elimination of fossil fuels.

See the reposting below of a revised version of “Inherited bad myths and alternatives for a new narrative of life”

A new one from Michael Shellenberger and colleagues, Aug. 16, 2023 on Public at Substack- “Fear And Hatred Of The Masses Behind Democrats’ War On Liberal Democracy: Why the party supposedly most committed to democracy is pursuing tyranny”

https://public.substack.com/p/fear-and-hatred-of-the-masses-behind

And this from Shellenberger– “Fire, Plastic Waste, And Dead Whales: Why Environmentalists Destroy The Environment”, Three case studies…

https://public.substack.com/p/fire-plastic-waste-and-dead-whales

The great switch (psychological projection) as leftists smear others with their own pathology:

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/carson-jerema-the-far-right-only-exists-in-the-minds-of-paranoid-progressives

De-carceration extremism- a form of collectivist extremism, treating all as indistinguishable members of a collective, not as individuals with unique behavioral situations that require unique responses and treatment. This overly-generalized de-carceration policy response is part of resurging Marxism, much like DeAngelo’s denial of individuals to characterize all as members of collectives in her “Critical Race Theory” ideology (i.e. either as “oppressed” or “oppressors” depending on skin color).

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/adam-zivo-the-trudeau-liberals-are-risking-political-suicide-by-denying-canadas-crime-crisis

This excellent journalism, as usual, from Michael Shellenberger, Aug. 28, 2023, “Pseudoscience, Greed, And Nihilism Behind Disinformation On Climate Change And Fires”

https://public.substack.com/p/pseudoscience-greed-and-nihilism

“Why is the US government, the corporate news media, and Hollywood helping climate scientist Michael Mann spread false information about fires and global warming?

“The amount of area burned annually by fire has declined over the last quarter-century. The area burned declined by an astonishing 25% between 2003 and 2019, according to NASA. That trend has continued since, noted Bjorn Lomborg in the Wall Street Journal. Last year, there was a record-low area burned. There is little doubt about the trend because the emissions from wildfires have also declined globally since 2003.

“The best science does not attribute fires to climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), notes climate change and disasters expert Roger Pielke, Jr., “has not detected or attributed fire occurrence or area burned to human-caused climate change.” According to the IPCC, the most important factor in fire is not the weather but rather “human activities,” both land management and the starting of fires by humans.

“Few leaders, experts, and journalists, including us at Public, doubt climate change has some influence. All else being equal, warmer weather will dry out wood fuel more. The problem is that all else is never equal, and other factors matter much more, as fires in Greece, California, and Hawaii all show….

“Scientists “could not attribute a direct causal relationship to climate change, citing various factors such as changes in fire causes due to social, economic and land management changes, as well as fuel accumulation due to the abandonment of the countryside.”…

“Why, then, do governments, scientists, and journalists constantly get forest fires so wrong?

“Pseudoscience, Greed, and Nihilism

“Politicians and government officials blame climate change because it deflects attention away from bad government. They shift blame from something they are responsible for, fire prevention, to something that they’re mostly not responsible for, climate change. Blaming climate change has a secondary benefit for politicians and government officials as it creates a new source of funding for their election campaigns….

“Governments can prevent catastrophic fires through forest management, fire prevention, and fire response.

“Why is Mann so wrong about climate change? It is not because he doesn’t know the facts of the situation. As a scientist forced to undergo peer review and who debates with critics constantly, Mann knows the science showing forest management, fire prevention, and fire response are the most important things. Why, then, does he choose to ignore those things in favor of his false narrative?…

“Behind Mann’s state-sponsored disinformation is the dogmatic Malthusian view that the planet cannot support human civilization….

“As for journalists, they hype climate change for financial, ideological, and egotistical reasons….

“Journalists are ideologically prone to exaggerating climate change as an apocalyptic threat because governments and government-funded scientists have spent decades programming them to do so and because it attracts readers. It’s more exciting to think of the fires as a sign the world is coming to an end than as a government management failure.

“And for secular elites, climate change is the new apocalypse. They believe, consciously or unconsciously, that the sky gods are punishing us for our sins. In the past, Western people felt guilty for their sins against God and sought to get right by God. Today, they feel guilty for their sins against Nature and seek to get right by Nature…. because secular western elites turn to climate change as a substitute religion.

“Pro-Human Environmentalism Is The Antidote

“The deepest of the causes driving pseudoscientific coverage of forest fires is nihilism, which is the desire driving elites to turn climate change into a religion. Rising disbelief in traditional religions left people craving a radical new religion that rejects this world, including human civilization. It stems from the dark and dogmatic utopian view, as expressed by Mann that a better world is possible only if we move away from our modern, high-energy civilization to a low-energy one powered by renewables…

“The obvious alternative to such hatred of humankind and human civilization is to love humankind and human civilization. This starts with a moral affirmation that humans are good and that civilization is good because it’s good for humans. And civilization rests on cheap energy, meritocracy, and law and order. Anyone who is seeking to undermine cheap energy is, at the bottom, undermining civilization…

“The rise of the Internet and the success of Public gives me confidence that we will increasingly be able to counter the anti-human pseudoscience spread by Mann and others who are financed by the US government and renewable energy industry.”

At the root of the human problem (What lies beneath), Wendell Krossa

There is a mind-shaping complex of ideas- the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths- that has long been deeply embedded (subconscious stuff) at the core of human narratives and thinking. It has been the singularly most prominent set of ideas to have shaped human thinking across the millennia, and still widely shapes public consciousness today due to the ongoing embrace of this mythical complex in “secular/ideological” systems of belief, and even in “scientific” systems of thought, rendering such systems more “scientism”, not science.

“Lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” is my summary term for a larger more comprehensive set of ideas or themes (see “A repost of the lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex, just below). This complex has long shaped human understanding/perception of life and the world. It shapes human emotions- how people feel about the things that are happening in their world and lives. The complex shapes how people evaluate what happens, and their conclusions about things. It shapes people’s motivations to respond in certain ways. It shapes their eventual actions/behavior, often for the worst outcomes.

The stories that we embrace and tell ourselves, and one another, have profound impact on our selves, on others, on our societies and then on civilization overall.

What’s wrong? (Remember, the lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption complex distorts entirely the true state of life and history)

At the very root of what is wrong in our world today (notably- the destructive “salvation” schemes of alarmism crusades like climate alarmism) is a way of thinking, a way of viewing life and the world. The “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” outlook incites unnecessary fear from natural and social events that are irrationally exaggerated to apocalyptic scale. That panic-mongering then evokes defensive survivalist responses that inevitably result in causing harm to others.

You can take steps to counter the harmful outcomes of the salvationist schemes of such apocalyptic crusades, but they will keep erupting in ever new versions across history because people do not deal thoroughly with the core narrative-defining themes- the “archetypes”.

We have historical records of the religious forms of such movements and now we are observing in real time more recent “secular/ideological” versions (i.e. formerly Marxism, Nazism and now environmental alarmism). These eruptions continue because the root inciting ideas or archetypes are not confronted and abandoned. The old archetypes continue to shape human narratives that provide inspiration, guidance, and validation for human behavior and life.

My point- Widely revered religious beliefs that continue as the main embodiment of more primitive archetypes (notably Paul’s Christ myth). These have been most responsible for keeping alive destructive myths, like apocalypse, in Western history and society. And yes, touch the highly revered Christ myth and watch the defensive hysteria explode.

I understand such rage. It can appear to true believers that long revered religious beliefs are being “attacked”, even though hurtful attack is not the intention. My motivation in going after Paul’s Christ has to do with probing root contributing factors (mental/emotional/philosophical) behind ongoing problems in our societies. Thorough problem-solving requires going to root issues related to any given problem.

And at the core of alarmism narratives…

See the excellent research of Bob Brinsmead on the anti-sacrifice stance of Historical Jesus, a position and protest that cost him his life.

The stunning point in Bob’s, and similar research- The actual historical person who protested against the belief and practise of sacrifice was then later transformed into the ultimate sacrifice. Paul created his Christ as the cosmic godman that came to offer himself as a sacrifice for all sin (see his Romans letter). In doing that, Paul rejected the central message of Historical Jesus (an unconditionally loving God that did not demand sacrifice/payment for forgiveness) to create a gospel that was entirely contrary to the actual teaching and life mission of Jesus.

https://bobbrinsmead.com/the-historical-jesus-what-the-scholars-are-saying/

Note in articles below the varied other contradictions that reveal where Paul buried the “diamonds of Jesus”. Paul’s gospel was highly conditional (conditions of required “true beliefs”, of demanded sacrifice/payment, religious rituals and lifestyle as markers of true believers, etc.) versus the unconditional gospel of Jesus. And Paul’s theology was that of a retaliatory God versus the non-retaliatory God of Jesus (again, detail in varied articles below). These stunning contradictions remain prominently at the core of Christianity today.

The critical importance of this for narratives today-

Paul’s Christ myth has been the singularly dominant influence keeping the destructive fallacy of apocalyptic alive in Western narratives and consciousness. We can trace the line of historical descent of apocalyptic mythology down from the earliest human mythmaking (i.e. Sumerian, Egyptian, Babylonian), then to Zoroaster’s creation of a more formal system of beliefs centered around apocalypse, and then to the great world religions both Western and Eastern. Yes, Buddhism and Hinduism also have apocalyptic themes (Mircea Eliade in “History of Religious Ideas”).

Most notable, apocalyptic was embraced by Paul as a defining feature of his Christ myth to then shape human consciousness in Western civilization.

Apocalyptic then descends eventually into 19th Century “Declinism” ideology that has influenced the apocalyptic millennial movements of Marxism, Nazism, and now environmental alarmism, particularly climate alarmism. Its always the same old, same old complex of themes endlessly repeated. As Joseph Campbell noted- People have believed the same primitive myths all across history and across all the cultures of the world.

Site project: Wendell Krossa

Tackling the climate alarm crusade on this site is just the prelude to going after the archetypes (ideas, themes, impulses) that underly alarmism movements. Climate alarmism is just another “profoundly religious crusade” similar in terms of its core themes to all previous apocalyptic millennial movements across history.

I am more concerned about the deeply embedded themes of the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths that have framed human thinking from the earliest mythmaking, through to the era of great world religions, and now continue to shape our narratives in the modern “secular/ideological/scientific” era of human belief systems.

Understanding the basic themes of the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex, and their destructive outcomes on human life and society, is critical to finding our way out of the darkness of such much pathological thinking and toward the better future that we all want.

Q Wisdom Sayings Gospel research

This site embraces the research of “Q Wisdom Sayings” gospel (a subcategory of Historical Jesus research) and I suggest that the central theme of Historical Jesus was that God was an unconditionally loving deity. That was Jesus’ greatest contribution to the history of human ideas. Or as James Robinson states it in negative terms- the “stunning new theology of a nonretaliatory God”. That stunning new theology was later rejected by Paul and then buried under his retaliatory, highly conditional Christ myth.

More on Site project: Wendell Krossa

This site argues that central to the most serious problems that humanity faces is an enduring complex of primitive themes that shape human narratives. These themes embrace the worst of human ideas that have continued to incite bad response and validate bad behavior across history. Why have people endlessly embraced such ideas? Because they resonate with our most deeply embedded impulses inherited from our animal past- the impulses to tribalism, domination of others, and destruction of differing others. The ideas of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex incite survival fears and destructive action against perceived threats to our survival- i.e. differing “enemy” others.

Our ancestors created such ideas to validate their inherited impulses and together- the impulses and associated ideas- became deeply embedded “archetypes” that endlessly re-emerge in religious traditions and secular/ideological belief systems also. My summary term for this complex- the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of themes.

Go to the root of our problems today- the apocalyptic salvationism that is destroying our societies. And be aware of the narrative-shaping influence of the Christ myth that is behind Western apocalyptic movements like climate alarmism and its salvation scheme of decarbonization.

History’s “most violent and destructive idea- apocalypse” (Mendel in “Vision and Violence”) continues to dominate the modern era…

This article by Roger Pielke Jr. illustrates a main argument on this site- that primitive mythological themes have been embraced all across history, from ancient mythologies down to major world religions, and now in the modern era in “secular ideological” versions. The same old themes of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” still dominate most contemporary worldviews and find expression even in “science” (or better- “scientism”).

Others have noted the ongoing embrace and expression of primitive religious ideas in modern “secular/ideological” versions, as in the environmental alarmism movement. Note the research of the apocalyptic millennial historians Richard Landes (Heaven On Earth), Arthur Herman (The Idea of Decline in Western History), Arthur Mendel (Vision and Violence), and David Redles (Hitler’s Millennial Reich), among others.

Pielke’s article “The New Apocalypticism: Climate catastrophe as secular, millenarian prophecy”, Aug. 25, 2023. Full article available on Substack at…

https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/the-new-apocalypticism?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&mc_cid=d9de5b1d6d&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

“In 1983, Michael Barkun, today a professor emeritus at Syracuse University, wrote an incredible essay, presciently identifying the rise of a “New Apocalypticism” in American political discourse. Today I share some excerpts from that 40-year-old essay — Divided Apocalypse: Thinking About The End in Contemporary America — and connect them to today’s public discussions of climate change.

“Barkun defined the “New Apocalypticism,” as follows;

“The so-called “New Apocalypticism” is undeniably religious, rooted in the Protestant millenarian tradition. Religious apocalypticism is, however, not the only apocalypticism current in American society. A newer, more diffuse, but indisputably influential apocalypticism coexists with it. Secular rather than religious, this second variety grows out of a naturalistic world view, indebted to science and to social criticism rather than to theology. Many of its authors are academics, the works themselves directed at a lay audience of influential persons — government officials, business leaders, and journalists — presumed to have the power to intervene in order to avert planetary catastrophe.

“Barkun observed that intellectuals were fulfilling a societal function previously served by religious leaders, even though these intellectuals did not always view science and religion to be compatible:

“. . . however uninformed or unsympathetic these secular prophets may be concerning their religious counterparts, they clearly recognize the presence in their own work of religious motifs. Their predictions of “last things” generate the feelings of awe that have always surrounded eschatology, even if in this case the predictions often grow out of computer modelling rather than Biblical proof-texts.

“For many, science has come to replace religion in its perceived ability to identify the root cause of our existential crisis and scientists have replaced religious leaders as holding the unique ability to offer guidance on how we must transform in order to stave off catastrophe:…

“For the secular millenarian, extreme events — floods, hurricanes, fires — are more than mere portents, they are evidence of our sins of the past and provide opportunities for redemption in the future, if only we listen, accept and change:…

“We’ve all heard the sermon — it is the fossil fuel companies, Republicans, the Koch Brothers, deniers and other shadowy forces who have conspired to thwart the climate movement for many decades. If only they could be defeated, transformation would occur and the apocalypse would be avoided….

“What happens when the world passes the 1.5 Celsius temperature target and the world does not end? Or then 2.0 C? On the other hand, there will always be sufficient numbers of extreme weather events across the planet to long sustain the idea that doom is just around the corner. Barkun explains that apocalyptic beliefs have been present in societies for centuries, and thus probably won’t be going away anytime soon.

“A third possibility is that the number of believers may become so large that their very numbers and influence produce a fundamental change in the social order. The rise of Christianity during the late Roman Empire and the disillusionment of the Russian population immediately before the Russian Revolution are cases in point. Here, dire predictions can become, or can closely resemble, self-fulfilling prophesies.

“This of course is the “all in” strategy of many climate activists — force the desired global transformation to happen and then take credit for the avoided Armageddon. I’ve argued that the global population crisis ended with a declaration of success with claims made that raising alarm saved billions from starvation — even though this view does not actually square with history. If we rapidly decarbonize, then the apocalypse will remain real, just unrealized — we already see this dynamic at play in discussions of the outdated RCP8.5 scenario.

“Barkun’s 1983 essay is remarkable when read in the context of the 2023 climate movement. Climate change is of course real and important, but it is not (according to the IPCC) the apocalypse. The near-term future of climate policy will almost certainly be a struggle between pragmatism and the New Apocalypticism. How that turns out is anybody’s guess.”

This from Wattsupwiththat.com by Anthony Watts, Aug.29, 2023. Mainstream media double down on the apocalypse myth, “Major Media Plans a Massive Collusion-fest to ‘Get their stories Straight’ on Climate Change”.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/30/major-media-plans-a-massive-collusion-fest-to-get-their-stories-straight-on-climate-change/

“The Columbia Journalism School of New York City has announced a media seminar “Climate Changes Everything – Creating a Blueprint for Media Transformation” to be held September 21 and 22, 2023. The tagline for it reads: “Join leading journalists from around the world for an unprecedented conversation about how to cover a world on fire.”

“They start out with a lie, the world isn’t “on fire” at all. To say this sort of media collusion to “get their stories straight” on climate is wrong, would be an understatement….

“Despite decades of coordinated effort by the most-powerful media outlets in Western society, voters still put “climate change” dead last in their priority list in polls. That is something significant that the media is ignoring with this new push. Or, perhaps it worries them.

“It could be the progressive elites that control global information are so worried that voters “simply don’t care” enough about climate that they feel the need to redouble their coordinated efforts to hyperbolize the climate crisis. This arguably good news, suggesting that efforts like those undertaken daily at Climate Realism, WattsUpWithThat, and many other climate realist efforts for the past three decades have not been in vain. This principled and often lonely work of climate realists to speak truth to power has been effective, at least when you compare it to the sort of budgets these media giants have….

“While the Media writes about the supposed “consensus” and “settled science,” climate realists point out that consensus is a political, not scientific term and that science is never “settled.” On the question of catastrophic climate change, following the scientific method, testing theories against data, indicates that no such crisis is in the offing. Most types of extreme weather events are not getting worse.”

Life overall is getting better all the time, Wendell Krossa

Julian Simon in his excellent “Ultimate Resource” offered us the way to understand the true state of life, the true state of our world. We achieve this by looking at the best evidence on all the main indicators of life- i.e. mainly ocean fisheries, land species, forests, agricultural soils, etc. And we should look at the complete big picture in regard to such indicators, including all the evidence, not just looking at evidence that confirms our pre-conceived beliefs or views. That is how we overcome our own confirmation biases.

And we must also look at the longest-term trends associated with the indicators, not cherry-picking short term trends that may just be temporary reversals, downturns, or aberrations in longer trends.

When Simon did this on all the main indicators of life, he discovered that while there are problems everywhere in life, humanity has done well in correcting past mistakes, solving problems, and overall life is improving. This evidence helped Simon overcome his own alarmist pessimism regarding the environment. He found that alarmists were exaggerating problems to affirm a pre-conceived apocalyptic narrative or belief system. They were wrong. The best evidence proved them wrong.

Simon’s research freed him from his own personal “clinical depression” and he said that it never returned.

His “Ultimate Resource” offers sound evidence-based hope that encourages us to engage life and continue working to make life better. Our efforts are succeeding.

Many others followed Simon with their own research on the main indicators of the state of the world and also found much evidence to affirm hope that life is improving overall and not declining toward something worse.

Other similar sources:

Greg Easterbrook in “A Moment On The Earth”, Bjorn Lomborg in “Skeptical Environmentalist”, Matt Ridley in “Rational Optimist”, Indur Goklany in “The Improving State of The World”, Ronald Bailey in “The End of Doom”, Desrochers and Szurmak in “Population Bombed”, Hans Rosling in “Factfulness”, and Bailey and Tupy in “Ten Global Trends”. And on the overall long-term improvement of humanity- see James Payne in “History of Force”, and Stephen Pinker in “The Better Angels of Our Nature”.

The excellent research in these sources exposes the great fraud that is apocalyptic thinking- i.e. that life is declining toward something worse, toward collapse and ending in an apocalypse. To the contrary, you will need shades to protect your eyes as the future is so bright. Never perfect, never any promise of utopia, but presenting the hope of ever-improving long-term trends.

See also Humanprogress.org, another excellent source on the true state of life.

This good report on the oft-repeated media claim of a 97% scientific consensus on the climate alarmism narrative of “human-caused global warming that is becoming a ‘climate emergency’” that is caused by human emissions of CO2.

From CO2 Coalition, “97% Consensus- What Consensus?” by Gregory Wrightstone.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/30/97-consensus-what-consensus/

And this on “Concept Creep” from…

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-08154-001

Concept creep is behind the spread of calls for censorship of “hate speech”. While hate speech is an actual offense, it applies to a minority of extremist statements, such as calls for immediate violence toward varied groups. The growing tendency today has been to extend calls to censor hate speech to include more and more the free speech of differing others, speech that makes people “uncomfortable” in some manner. It may be just some disagreement over political or social policies. Calls for censorship of hate speech has even been extended to comedy that “offends” some.

Another element in concept creep arises from people giving primacy/pre-eminence to personal feelings of discomfort as their determining criterion for what should be publicly permissible or not. Some now claim that if they feel uncomfortable then they are “threatened, endangered even”, and so the speech that makes them uncomfortable must be censored, banned, even criminalized.

The report in the link above is “Concept creep: Psychology’s expanding concepts of harm and pathology” by Nick Haslam in Psychological Inquiry, 27(1), 1-17.

The Abstract:

“Many of psychology’s concepts have undergone semantic shifts in recent years. These conceptual changes follow a consistent trend. Concepts that refer to the negative aspects of human experience and behavior have expanded their meanings so that they now encompass a much broader range of phenomena than before. This expansion takes “horizontal” and “vertical” forms: concepts extend outward to capture qualitatively new phenomena and downward to capture quantitatively less extreme phenomena.

“The concepts of abuse, bullying, trauma, mental disorder, addiction, and prejudice are examined to illustrate these historical changes. In each case, the concept’s boundary has stretched and its meaning has dilated. A variety of explanations for this pattern of “concept creep” are considered and its implications are explored. I contend that the expansion primarily reflects an ever-increasing sensitivity to harm, reflecting a liberal moral agenda. Its implications are ambivalent, however. Although conceptual change is inevitable and often well motivated, concept creep runs the risk of pathologizing everyday experience and encouraging a sense of virtuous but impotent victimhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)”

Here is a Canadian example of concept creep in the call to criminalize anyone daring to question the prevailing narrative on residential school graves, for simply asking for full investigation and evidence.

https://torontosun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-dont-smother-full-and-frank-discussion

Posted on Wattsupwiththat.com, Aug.27, 2023 by Wallace Manheimer, “Some Concerns about the recent Republican Debate”

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/26/some-concerns-about-the-recent-republican-debate/

“The fact that so many believe in the false climate crisis makes Richard Lindzen, perhaps the leading authority on geophysical fluid dynamics, look more and more like a prophet:

Richard Lindzen: “What historians will definitely wonder about in future centuries is how deeply flawed logic, obscured by shrewd and unrelenting propaganda, actually enabled a coalition of powerful special interests to convince nearly everyone in the world that CO2 from human industry was a dangerous, planet-destroying toxin. It will be remembered as the greatest mass delusion in the history of the world- that CO2, the life of plants, was considered for a time to be a deadly poison.”

And now, some comment on the all-time favorite of most everyone… freedom

Daniel Hannan in “Inventing Freedom: How the English speaking people made the modern world” makes an interesting point regarding the English attitude to laws/regulations/rules and the tendency to excessively criminalize all areas of life. This relates to the recent attempt by the Ontario College of Psychologists to discipline Jordan Peterson. (Note: English attitudes have changed since Hannan wrote. Many English now affirm Net Zero madness and intervention in their lives. They have surrendered their freedom and self-determination to alarmism-promoting state bureaucrats.)

https://financialpost.com/fp-work/jordan-peterson-ruling-empowers-woke-bodies-to-discipline-members#

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/bruce-pardy-jordan-peterson-against-the-tyranny-of-the-administrative-state

According to Hannan, historically, the English attitude was that if some area of life was not covered by any law or regulation, then let the citizens freely decide, as individuals, how they would act in regard to that area of life. And to the contrary, the attitude in other more “liberal” European states, was that if some area of life was not covered by any law, then get busy making laws and rules to dictate how people should act in that area of life. And at the worst, to criminalize the things that state elites disagreed with.

My counter- No, respect the self-determination of every individual, and their freedom to choose as they see best. Stop the busybody interference in other’s lives. Let’s revive the Classic Liberal maxim of “Live and let live”.

So also, Vivek Ramaswamy wants to return to such basic principles of liberal democracy- the principle of self-determination by citizens and limiting the ability of state elites to interfere, with their obsession to create endless laws, rules, regulations, and prohibitions to control citizen’s lives. See Glen Greenwald’s Aug. 25, 2023 interview of Vivek on Locals, “Debate Debrief with Vivek Ramaswamy”.

This busybody, petty impulse to interfere in other’s lives used to come from the Evangelical Right, back in the 1980s. Notably, Jerry Falwell and the Right pushed that moralizing busybody intervention. They claimed that they had to interfere in and control the lives of gays (restrain, ban behavior) in order to save America from God’s wrath. They felt obligated to do so for their view of greater good, to save their world.

Now- in another great switcheroo- the liberal Left, appealing to “climate crisis” for validation, is doing that very same thing that the Right did, affirming their interference in citizen’s lives as necessary to save the world from “Mother Earth’s anger” (Nancy Pelosi), due to “human-caused climate change”. Liberals now justify their overbearing and coercive busybody interference in citizen’s lives as necessary to “save democracy… save the world” from the dire threat posed by all who disagree with them. Hence, liberals today have convinced themselves that they have the “world saving” obligation to interfere and control everyone else.

https://conservativefiringline.com/climate-emergency-biden-would-be-basically-declaring-himself-dictator/?utm_source

Its all the same basic panic-mongering narrative, whether pushed by Right or Left, absolutely the same fundamental ideas used to justify the same ugly outcomes- all to validate busybody interference and control of other’s lives. I would summarize it with the alarmist formula- “Fear=control”. As always, old Solomon was right that “there is nothing new under the sun”. Joseph Campbell updated Solomon in stating that people have believed the same primitive myths all across history and across all the cultures of the world.

The ideas we embrace do have consequences in how we treat others, often to great harm.

This from Lomborg on wildfires trending down, not becoming worse (NASA satellite evidence)

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/fear-mongering-over-forest-fires-and-climate-change-isnt-rooted-in-reality#

And…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/29/canada-forest-fires-trend-has-gone-down-since-2000-data-defy-alarmist-claims/

Carl Jung sayings:

“Man can endure the hardest trials if he sees meaning in them. The whole difficulty lies in creating that meaning.

“Where love rules there is no ‘will to power’. Where power predominates, love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.

“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness and the word “happy” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.

“Man needs difficulties, they are necessary for health.

“Man cannot stand a meaningless life.

“Every human life contains a potential. If that potential is not fulfilled, then that life is wasted.

“Depression is like a woman in black. If she turns up don’t shoo her away. Invite her in, offer her a seat, treat her like a guest and listen to what she wants to say.”

The love/freedom relationship…

Where populations are alarmed by apocalyptic scenarios, people are then susceptible to manipulation and control by alarmist prophets. That becomes a direct assault on freedom.

To the contrary, hope unleashes love, and authentic love then honors and grants freedom to all. The outcome is the promotion of creative progress.

Where there is no authentic freedom, there is no authentic love. Love and freedom are inseparable.

Alternatives to the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of themes:

Mental pathology and corrective alternatives, and the influence of both on human personality, to both good and bad outcomes.

‘Cruel God’ images- “These ideas permeate Western culture and inevitably influence those who live in this culture… (The) consequences are fear, guilt, shame, and impoverished personalities.”, psychotherapist/theologian Zenon Lotufo in “Cruel God, Kind God”.

“We become just like the God that we believe in”, Bob Brinsmead.

“There are no really bad people, just bad ideas that make people do bad things”, Brinsmead.

“I think and therefore I am”, Rene Descartes.

Project: Offer alternative themes to apocalyptic millennial narratives, Wendell Krossa

Much like Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the Wittenberg castle church door in 1517, so I am nailing my theses to this door of the Internet. But unlike Luther just protesting the way that the indulgences were sold, but not protesting the very sale of indulgences, I am going more directly to core issues of fundamental belief. Much like my friend Bob Brinsmead’s refreshingly direct presentation of the central anti-sacrifice message of Historical Jesus and exposing how Paul buried that liberating message in his contrary gospel of the Christ that presents Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. This is mind-blowing. That the “stunning new theology of Jesus” (an unconditional God who does not demand sacrifice for forgiveness)- that central message of Jesus has been buried for two millennia under the entirely contrary message of Christianity- i.e. the claim that the supreme sacrifice of Paul’s Christ was necessary for the forgiveness of sin.

Below are the some of the more prominent myths that have dominated human consciousness across history, beginning with the earliest human belief systems and continuing down into our modern world. These myths still dominate religious traditions today and have also been embraced and expressed in more historically recent “secular/ideological” versions. Note, for example, the “apocalyptic millennialism” or “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” themes regularly expressed by the climate alarmism cult.

Many in “science” also embrace these themes. I recently noted again how Stephen Hawking fell for apocalyptic mythology in the final two years of his life, making his own prophesies of the “end-of-days”, even setting dates (first suggesting an apocalypse in a millennium or so, then reducing that to just 100 years up ahead).

The ideas listed below have profoundly influenced human outlook, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior, often for the worse- i.e. inciting our worst animal impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction of differing others.

We have more humane alternative ideas now to inspire the “better angels of our nature”, to inspire our authentically human impulses. Embracing these new themes/ideas will involve the revolutionary transformation of human narratives, worldviews… the overturning of foundational core themes in our belief systems.

The list is fundamentally about the contrast between humane and inhumane, between good and evil, between right and wrong- and which ideas express these stark differences. These are some of the worst and best of ideas that we have used to shape our narratives, both public and personal. While reading the list, ask yourself- What ideas shape your personal worldview/narrative at the most fundamental level?

Responsible, mature humanity will be open to rethinking and challenging the primitively inhumane ideas in narratives, open to reject the worst ideas, even those that have long been protected as “sacred” due to their history of having been long embedded in world religions.

Are you ready for a mind revolution? For the most profound form of liberation- liberation at the depths of human consciousness/subconscious, at the core of your human spirit and self.

This project is about the hero’s quest or journey that each of us must venture forth to engage, the heroic engagement of a “righteous battle against evil”, a battle that takes place most critically inside every human heart (Solzhenitsyn). And most importantly, this is about universal or unconditional love as the weapon to slay the most dangerous of all monsters/enemies that we all face- i.e. the animal drives or passions inside each of us that are incited and validated by bad ideas.

Again, the worst of the animal drives that we have all inherited include (1) the impulses to tribal exclusion of differing others (small band mentality), (2) to domination/control of others (the Alpha thing), and (3) to punitive destruction of others. We conquer these base drives by affirming our better impulses (1) to universal inclusion of all others as family (the fundamental oneness thing), (2) by respecting the freedom and self-determination of others (not controlling others), and (3) by embracing a restorative justice approach to human failure.

When we orient our narratives and minds to the ideal of universal/unconditional love, that gives us a cohering center, a new baseline ideal to humanely influence our thinking, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior. Universal/unconditional love is the potent weapon that enables us to fight and win the greatest battle of all.

When we confront this intensely personal inner monster of inherited animal drives and slay it, then we tower in stature as maturely human, like a Nelson Mandela. Having first conquered the real monster/enemy in life, we can then go out to properly contribute to making our world a better place. Our personal victory over the animal within us is our primary responsibility and the single greatest contribution that we can make to improving life overall.

The list below helps sharpen (focus) the weapon of unconditional that slays the monster. This list necessarily deals with metaphysical speculation because that is essential to many of our inherited ideas from prominent historical narratives.

Added note: Winning the personal battle first, puts us in a better place to “maintain our humanity” as we engage the varied public “righteous battles against evil” in our world. That was the jist of Campbell’s point that when we orient our lives to universal love, and view our “enemies” as family, we thereby maintain our humanity:

Inherited “bad myths”, and better alternatives (revised short version, longer version in sections below on this site, formerly titled “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives”), Wendell Krossa

1.The inherited myth: The idea of deity as a judging, punishing, and destroying reality. Contemporary “secular” versions of judging, punishing deity include “Vengeful Gaia, angry Planet/Mother Earth, punitive Universe, and payback karma”.

An alternative: The new theology of deity as a stunningly “no conditions” reality (no conditions love). There is no threat from an unconditional God, no judgment, no exclusion of anyone, and no ultimate punishment or destruction. All are safe- in the end.

2. The inherited myth: The idea of a perfect beginning (i.e. Dilmun, Eden) and a God obsessed with perfection, enraged at the loss of perfection, demanding punishment of imperfection, and requiring atonement (sacrifice/payment, the purging of evil) to remedy imperfection and restore the lost perfection or paradise.

Alternative: The world was purposefully created as originally imperfect in order to serve as an arena for human struggle, learning, and development. Deity has no problem with imperfection. Others include the argument that there can be no such reality as good without its opposite- i.e. evil/imperfection. Good cannot exist alone, or be known and experienced without a contrasting reality.

Again, this is not to excuse, diminish, or defend evil. We are rightly enraged at imperfection and evil in this world and fight it in all its forms. But we are also responsible to maintain our own humanity as we engage righteous battles against evil. As Joseph Campbell argued, we must not forget that even our “enemies” are still our family (the underlying oneness of all things).

And in this life, as Campbell suggested, we are all just “actors on God’s stage” engaging oppositional roles in a temporary dualistic realm to provide one another with contrasting life experiences. Yes, this is metaphysical speculation. But what might be a better alternative to explain evil? The inherited mythical/religious speculations of the ultimate tribal division of humanity? Eternal cosmic dualism (i.e. the divide between true believers/unbelievers existing forever in eternal heaven and hell?). Or the better alternative- an ultimate return to our original “oneness” in an unconditional reality after experiencing a human story in this realm of material dualism?

3. The inherited myth: Humanity began as a more perfect species (the myth of primitive people as pure, strong, and noble hunter gatherers, e.g. “Adam/Eve”). But those early people then became corrupted/sinful (i.e. the myth of the “Fall of mankind”). This myth has led to persistent anti-humanism- blaming humanity for all the imperfections and suffering in the world.

Alternative: Humanity emerged from the brutality of animal reality to gradually become more humane across history (a long-term trajectory of humanity rising/improving, not falling into a trajectory of degeneration/decline). Rather than focus, as Declinism narratives do, on what is still wrong in life and humanity, we ought to focus more on how far humanity has risen from our primitive past and celebrate how well humanity has done in making things better. (Note, for example, the amazing decline in human violence across history- see James Payne’s “The History of Force”, Stephen Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature”)

4. The inherited myth (the ‘trajectory of life’): The world began as an original paradise (again, “the past was better”) but after the “Fall” the overall trajectory of life has been declining, degenerating toward something worse.

Alternative: The long-term trajectory of life does not decline to worse but overall rises/improves toward something ever better (i.e. more complex, organized, advanced).

5. Inherited myth: The belief that natural disasters, disease, human cruelty, and death are expressions of divine punishment, and that humanity deserves punishment.

Alternative: While there are natural consequences all through life, there is no punitive, destroying deity behind the imperfections of life. The natural consequences throughout life are just that- natural and not expressions of divine intent to harm or punish.

6. Inherited Myth: The belief that humanity has been rejected by the Creator and we must be reconciled via blood sacrifice/suffering. The deity offended by human imperfection demands payment/punishment for all wrong.

Alternative: No one has ever been rejected by the unconditional Love at the core of reality. No one has ever been separated from God. Ultimate Love does not demand appeasement/payment/atonement, or suffering, as punishment for sin. See the “Prodigal Father” story for an illustration of deity not demanding sacrifice/atonement before forgiving, accepting, and loving.

7. Inherited myth: The idea of a cosmic dualism between Good and Evil (i.e. God versus Satan) now expressed in human dualisms (tribes of good people versus their enemies- the “evil” people). Ultimate Good versus Evil is used to validate our inherited animal impulse to tribalism- to view ourselves in opposition to differing or disagreeing others (This is not to deny there is actual evil to be opposed, but to challenge the tendency to view differing others as irredeemable “enemies”, when they are essentially members of the same one human family.).

Alternative: There is a fundamental Oneness at the core of all and we all share that oneness. We all belong equally to the one human family and equally share the ultimate eternal Oneness that is God. Note that quantum mechanics also points to a fundamental oneness (i.e. the “Wuwu” factor that offends quantum purists).

Add: Our real enemy, the real monster in life, and the real evil, is not other people but is something inside each of us- our inheritance of animal drives, the drives to tribal division and exclusion, to domination of others, and to punitively destroy differing others. Solzhenitsyn again- the real battle between good and evil runs down the center of every human heart.

Also related to cosmic dualism- The hero’s quest involves a battle against some differing other viewed as an enemy to be conquered and eliminated from life, a monster to conquer and vanquish.

8. Inherited myth: The belief in a looming apocalypse as the final judgment, the ultimate punishment of wrong, and the final purging of all evil and destruction of all things.

Alternative: There are problems all through the world but there is no looming threat of final divine destruction and ending of the world. Apocalypse has always been a great fraud and lie. There will be no apocalypse as in the religious version of divine intervention to punish humanity and destroy the world (i.e. as illustrated, for example, in the New Testament book of Revelation).

9. Inherited myth: The always “imminent” element in apocalyptic mythology demands urgent action to save something, even the use of coercive violence to effect “instantaneous transformation”. (Arthur Mendel, in “Vision and Violence”, details the difference between the approaches of totalitarian “instantaneous transformation” by “coercive purification”, as opposed to democratic “gradualism”- the gradual improvement of life across history.)

Alternative: While unexpected catastrophes could still happen, there is no “imminent end of days” on the horizon, inciting the urgency to “save the world” now. Rather, life improves through gradual democratic processes as creative humanity cooperatively solves problems.

10. Inherited myth: The demand for a salvation plan, a required sacrifice or atonement (debt payment, punishment). The cosmic principle that all wrongs must be righted/corrected, all debts must be paid somewhere, somehow, sometime. God cannot just forgive freely, as that father in the Prodigal Son parable did without demanding restitution.

Alternative: Unconditional deity does not demand sacrifice, atonement, payment, or punishment as required for appeasement- as prerequisite for divine acceptance, forgiveness, and love. Deity freely forgives, universally includes all, loves unconditionally. Just as we are told to do- to “keep no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13), to not expect repayment of debt (Luke 6), to love even enemies (Matthew 5). To forgive without limit.

Additionally, this important comment from Bob Brinsmead (“Understand the root themes of the environmental religion”):

“The area often touched on superficially and skirted around like a root out of the dry ground is the matter of the anti-sacrificial movement launched by John the Baptist and brought to a head by the very issue that led directly to the death of Jesus. This is the matter of the real nature of Jesus’ temple protest. This was always destined to become the central issue of all Jesus research. No one disputes that Jesus died. If the temple event is seen as Jesus carrying forward the anti-sacrifice mission of his cousin John, then Jesus has to be seen as utterly against the whole religious idea that a sacrifice, an act of violent blood-letting to make an atonement for sin, should ever be required for reconciliation with God or with one another.

“This would mean that the Christian religion was founded on a false interpretation of the meaning of the death of Jesus, and it was out of this grave misunderstanding, that the whole edifice of its Christology arose– the Christology of a divine, virgin born and absolutely sinless man by whom God supposedly defeats evil by an act of apocalyptic violence, first in the Christ event and finally in a holocaust at the end of the world.

“Or to put it more simply, Jesus died protesting at the temple, the place where sacrifices were offered, affirming that God requires no sacrifice (no blood-letting violence) to put us right with God; yet the Christian religion turned the death of Jesus into God’s supreme sacrifice to put us right with God.” Bob Brinsmead

11. Inherited myth: The belief that retribution or payback is true “justice” (i.e. eye for eye, hurt for hurt, humiliation for humiliation, punishment for punishment).

Alternative: Unconditional love keeps no record of wrongs, forgives freely and without limit. And yes, there are natural/social consequences to bad behavior in this world, but all justice should be humanely restorative/rehabilitative in response to human failure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZt2YipiIs

Note the points, in the above link, on recidivism rates, and also the comment of a US prison official (in another Netflix documentary on criminal justice) that, yes victim’s feelings matter. But they, as prison officials, are primarily responsible to ensure public safety by lowering recidivism rates and preventing future victims. Most criminals will be released at some point. Will they be resentful and vengeful from suffering under a punitive justice system, or rehabilitated? Also, see Karl Menninger’s criminal justice classic “The Crime of Punishment”.

Guard’s comment: “If we treat inmates like animals, they will respond like animals. If we treat them like humans, they will respond like humans”. Not all, but most.

And of course, in these points on criminal justice, we recognize pathologies like psychopathy and the inability to rehabilitate some people, hence the need for permanent incarceration of repeat offenders to protect the public, as the primary responsibility of criminal justice. We never abandon common sense in our struggle to “love the enemy”. Unconditional approach to all does not mean dogmatic pacifism in the face of evil (i.e. “turn the other cheek”).

Further consider again Campbell’s point- i.e. that how we treat others is vital to maintaining our own humanity as we engage “righteous battles against evil”.

12. Inherited myth: The belief in after-life judgment, exclusion, punishment, and destruction (i.e. hell). This pathology of after-life harm adds unnecessary sting to the natural human fear of death.

Alternative: Unconditional love does not threaten ultimate judgment, exclusion, punishment, or destruction.

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.

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 above on how images of violent deity incite/validate violence in humanity.

14. Inherited myth: The fallacy of biblicism- the belief that religious holy books are more special and authoritative than ordinary human literature, and the related fallacy that people are obligated to live according to the holy book as the revealed will, law, or specially inspired word of God.

Alternative: We evaluate all human writing according to basic criteria of right and wrong, good and bad, humane or inhumane. Holy books, written by fallible people like ourselves, are not exempted from this basic process of discernment/evaluation.

15. Inherited myth: The idea of God as King, Ruler, Lord, or Judge. This myth promotes the idea that God relates to humanity in domination/submission forms of relating. This is based on the primitive idea that humans were “created to serve the gods”. Such ideas have long been used to validate human forms of domination over others (i.e. the “divine right of kings, priesthoods, public leaders”).

Alternative: There is no domination/subservience relationship of humanity to God. True greatness is to relate horizontally to all as equals. The “greatness” of God is to relate to all as free equals, not to “lord over” others. Similar human greatness is exhibited in not overriding the free self-determination of others, not controlling others. Note the statement of Jesus in Matthew 20:25-28 that true greatness is not expressed in domination of others, but in service to others.

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their ‘great ones’ exercise authority over them. It should not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as I came not to be served but to serve others”.

16. Inherited myth: The idea that humanity is obligated to know, serve, or have a relationship with an invisible reality (deity), that we are to give primary loyalty to something separate from and above people.

Alternative: Our primary responsibility is to love and serve real people around us. Their needs, here and now, take priority in life. Loyalty to realities placed above people (laws, institutions, or higher authorities) has always resulted in the neglect or abuse of people.

17. Inherited myth: The perception that God is silent or absent during the horrors of life (i.e. Where was God during the Holocaust?). This myth of absent deity is based on the primitive belief that God is a sky deity (dwelling in heaven above, separate from humanity), a deity that descends to intervene in life and change circumstances, a God who overrides natural law, in order to save or protect people.

Alternative: There has never been a Sky God up above in some heaven. The reality we call “God” has always been incarnated equally in all humanity. God has always been immediately present in all human suffering and is intimately present in all human raging and struggle against evil. God is inseparable from the human spirit in all of us and is expressed in all human action to prevent evil, to solve problems, and to improve life. We are the embodiments/incarnations of God in this world, and nothing saves us except our choices and actions to oppose wrong and to help one another, to make life better in this world.

18. Inherited myth: The fallacy of “limited good” and the belief that too many people are consuming too much of Earth’s resources, and hence, world resources are being exhausted. This relates to the ancient religious belief in the moral superiority of the simple, low-consumption lifestyle. The belief that denial of comfort- i.e. separation from “worldly things”, and rejection of material possessions, is a more “spiritual” and holy route to take. Add here the belief that suffering is somehow redemptive. Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist believed this while Jesus took an opposite stance of “eating and drinking” and enjoying all that life had to offer.

Alternative: More people on Earth means more creative minds to solve problems. More consumption means more wealth to solve problems and enable us to make life better- i.e. enables us to improve the human condition and protect the natural world at the same time. Evidence affirms that human improvement and environmental improvement has been the outcome of more people on Earth enjoying the good life. See “Population Bombed” by Desrochers and Szurmak, “Ultimate Resource” by Julian Simon, “Humanprogress.org”, and related studies.

Further, we are not exhausting Earth’s resources. With the emergence of some apparent resource scarcity, humanity through improving technology then works to discover more reserves of those scarce resources, or makes the shift to alternative resources. There is a superabundance of resources in our world. Note also the “dematerialization” trend in modern advanced societies (i.e. the ongoing trend of less material inputs per person, economies of scale with increasing urbanization, etc.)

Exchange this idea of stinginess as superior, for a theology of an extravagantly generous God (scandalously generous) who has given us an Earth of ‘superabundance’ to enjoy. And as noted by Historical Jesus, the no conditions God exhibits the same generosity to all alike, to both “good” and “bad” people without discrimination. There are not favored “true believers” with God, no excluded unbelievers. “God is love” means that God is an unconditional universalist.

Add your own themes/ideas and alternatives.

This from Charles Rotter, July 5, 2023 posted at Wattsupwiththat.com, “The Evil of Climate Alarmism: Dissecting Michael Walsh’s ‘Hoax of the Millennium’”.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/05/the-mirage-of-climate-alarmism-dissecting-michael-walshs-hoax-of-the-millennium/

My intro note to this article (Wendell Krossa):

I would not refer to the climate change alarmism as “hoax” as that automatically permits alarmists to discredit one as a “climate denier”. I would affirm that climate change is real and is happening because climate is a dynamic, complex system that is never in stasis (unchanging). And I would affirm that CO2 has a warming influence on climate.

What people mean when they state that climate change is a “hoax” (as Vivek Ramaswamy stated in the first Republican presidential debate) is that they disagree with the alarmist narrative of “human-caused climate change that is becoming catastrophic, a climate emergency”. And they disagree that CO2 is “the main influence on climate change” and hence to “save the world” from imminent apocalypse we must decarbonize our societies immediately. These basic points of agreement and disagreement need to be made clear.

So again, do not refer to climate change as a “hoax” as that only confuses issues. But then push through the fog of the public discussion to the single most important issue in regard to climate change- the physics of CO2. What exactly is the influence of CO2 on warming? Understand that CO2 absorbs and re-emits the energy of long-wave infrared radiation in a very narrow segment of the long-wave spectrum. And that influence has now reached “saturation”- a physics term. Hence, much more CO2 in the atmosphere will contribute very little to more possible warming (we don’t know if the future will bring any more warming, or will bring a cooling trend). See atmospheric physicists like Richard Lindzen and William Happer for detailed research in this.

See, for example, the following explanations (I do not affirm the conclusions of these sites that rising CO2 is causing some “climate crisis”):

https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-climate-works/carbon-dioxide-absorbs-and-re-emits-infrared-radiation

https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/02/25/carbon-dioxide-cause-global-warming/

“Carbon dioxide, for example, absorbs energy at a variety of wavelengths between 2,000 and 15,000 nanometers — a range that overlaps with that of infrared energy. As CO2 soaks up this infrared energy, it vibrates and re-emits the infrared energy back in all directions. About half of that energy goes out into space, and about half of it returns to Earth as heat, contributing to the ‘greenhouse effect.’”

Now Rotter’s article continues (Rotter’s name fronts his comments on Walsh, as Walsh’s name front his own comments)…

Rotter- The discourse around climate change has been nothing short of apocalyptic, with proclamations of impending doom dominating our news feeds. However, as Michael Walsh’s excellent column, “Hoax of the Millennium” elucidates, the scenario isn’t quite as dire as climate alarmists would have us believe…

Walsh- Today, and each day for the next two weeks, the-Pipeline.org will address the issue of “climate change,” which like Covid-19 and “Russian collusion,” is one of the great hoaxes of the modern era, maliciously concocted out of whole cloth by people who mean to harm western civilization and using the cudgel of “compassion” and “concern” with which to do it. Of the three, the “climate change” hoax, which threatens the foundations of civilized life, is by far the most inimical. Please follow our series as we debunk the claims made by the apocalypticists and their media allies.

Rotter- Walsh begins his column by labeling climate change, Covid-19, and “Russian collusion” as the greatest hoaxes of the modern era, designed by those who intend to harm western civilization. But it is climate change, according to Walsh, that is the most threatening hoax because of its potential to undermine the foundations of civilized life…

Walsh- To begin, the climate is always changing. Only an illiterate or a fool cannot understand this elementary concept….

The Last Days are not upon us.

Rotter- Walsh suggests that the “climate movement” threatens to undo Western civilization’s accomplishments in science, technology, and religion, replacing them with an inhuman and godless form of primitivism. The movement, according to him, promotes a culture of fear and guilt with the ultimate aim of controlling the human population. He likens the climate change narrative to a global-scale mass-suicide cult, coercing individuals into reducing their standard of living and lowering their expectations for the future.

Walsh- … one thing is clear: you are being lied to on a massive scale by a quasi-Marxist mass-suicide cult — think Jonestown on a global scale — in order that you lower your standard of living, rid yourself of all earthly possessions, abandon your expectations for the future, stop having children, cease all consumption, and disappear from planet Earth.

Rotter- The rise of this climate movement, according to Walsh, can be attributed to the decline of education, the resurgence of superstition, and an attack on the institutions and essence of Western civilization. Such a cult perceives Western civilization as the ultimate expression of “white supremacy,” advocating for its obliteration.

Walsh- It is imperative that we break the stranglehold this new form of demonic possession now has on our society.

Rotter- The column goes on to link the decline of traditional Christianity with the emergence of a twisted form of dictatorial nature worship. Walsh describes this as an ‘unnecessary guilt trip’ over supposed sins against other cultures, which now leverage their lack of scientific and artistic achievements as a critique against the West. He urges society to break the stranglehold this form of nature worship has over our civilization.

Walsh- Yet. But the “climate movement” bids fair to undo everything Western man has accomplished in the fields of science, technology, and religion and replace it with a savage new primitivism that is both inhuman and godless. It relies on the patina of science to promote a culture based on fear and guilt, with the goal of reducing and taming the human population under the aegis of a small group of self-appointed bonzes.

Rotter- Walsh then provides examples of how governments are implementing radical measures to satisfy this new wave of environmental fanaticism, from Holland’s seizure of farmers’ land to Ireland’s plan to cull cattle to meet emissions targets. He points out the absurdity of these measures, noting that cattle have historically been integral to Ireland’s national identity. These actions reflect the disturbing trend towards sacrificing cultural and economic stability in the name of climate action.

But the greatest deception, Walsh argues, lies in the portrayal of carbon emissions as a destructive force. He reminds us that carbon is the basis of life as we know it:

Walsh- The bugbear du jour is “emissions,” a nebulous, one-size-scares-all excuse imposing an otherwise clearly insane policy on a body politic that has never once voted to starve itself to death… Worst of all are “carbon emissions,” which have been dishonestly linked to “climate change” and have created a perfect storm of panic and fear among the gullible.

Walsh- “Carbon is life. It exists in every organic life form. Life is impossible without it… The carbon atom is the essential building block of life. Every part of your body is made up of chains of carbon atoms, which is why we are known as “carbon-based life-forms.”… To attack “carbon” as an evil is to attack yourself; to eliminate carbon is to eliminate humanity.”…

Rotter- Walsh concludes by debunking the urgency around “climate change,” stating that the Earth will continue to warm and cool until the sun dies. He dispels the panic surrounding a global temperature rise of two degrees centigrade, arguing that a slight warming could actually be beneficial for humanity. He warns against the nefarious intentions of the World Economic Forum and its commitment to the reduction of the human population, reminding us that when you have “net-zero” emissions, you are, in effect, dead.

Walsh-

(1) There is nothing urgent about “climate change.” The earth will continue to warm and cool until the day the Sun dies.

(2) Nothing bad will happen in either the short- or long-term if global temperatures rise by two degrees centigrade, the arbitrary figure of alarm for the cultists. Indeed, a slight warming will help all of humanity.

(3) Many of the people promoting the panic emerge from the malign precincts of the World Economic Forum which, under its Bond villain-in-chief, Klaus Schwab, is dedicated to the impoverishment and reduction of the human population. These are the same people who gave you the recent Covid hugger-mugger, which needlessly atomized the world’s economies and illegally locked down whole populations while cowering from a bug of next-to-zero lethality in the general population.

(4) When you have “net-zero” emissions, you are dead.

Rotter- His closing word, a powerful one, describes the current climate alarmist scenario as “Evil.” He calls upon readers to combat this evil not idly or half-heartedly but with the force of one’s strength, mind, and body.

There is a fine line between taking the necessary measures to protect our planet and propagating fear to serve vested interests. Michael Walsh’s column provides a thought-provoking perspective on this critical issue. It is crucial not to let the narrative become a tool of manipulation and control.

Whether you agree with Walsh’s religious perspective or not, his points of the evolution and motivation of the Climate Change Cult are extremely strong.

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Probe the root of the problem of alarmism crusades- bad ideas inciting/validating bad behavior

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

See the excellent research of Bob Brinsmead on the anti-sacrifice stance of Historical Jesus, a position and protest that cost him his life.

https://bobbrinsmead.com/the-historical-jesus-what-the-scholars-are-saying/

From the list of Carl Jung sayings below:

“Man cannot stand a meaningless life.

“Man can endure the hardest trials if he sees meaning in them. The whole difficulty lies in creating that meaning.”

This from Anthony Watts’ site Wattsupwiththat.com, a report by P. Gosselin of NoTricksZone- “There Is No Climate Crisis”… 1600 Scientists Worldwide, Nobel Laureate Sign Declaration

“1609 signatories recently signed a declaration that states there is no climate crisis, thus casting doubt over man’s alleged role in climate change and extreme weather.”

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/16/there-is-no-climate-crisis1600-scientists-worldwide-nobel-prize-laureate-sign-declaration/

And… Over past history an active sun has correlated with global warming periods.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topstories/the-sun-is-ramping-up-its-activity-in-ways-no-one-was-expecting/vi-AA1flIwL?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=25fa8489fbbd429aac81e9364d2d84f6&ei=66

Site project: Tackling the climate alarm crusade on this site is just the prelude to going after the archetypes (ideas, themes, impulses) that underly alarmism movements. Climate alarmism is just another “profoundly religious crusade” similar in terms of its core themes to all previous apocalyptic millennial movements across history.

The basic formula of alarmism movements: Fear=control. And that is how freedom dies.

From Brendan O’Neill’s excellent “A Heretic’s Manifesto”

“(Oxford English Dictionary) notes that between 2018 and 2020 the use of ‘climate crisis’ increased almost 20-fold in public discussion, while the use of ‘climate emergency’ increased 76-fold… (Some cheer) the media’s embrace of the language of catastrophe… Shaping public opinion through the manipulation of language is a key and terrifying theme of our times… the aim is to force us all into the apocalyptic mindset, to coerce us into the realm of doom by making us think less about ‘climate change’ and more about ‘climate chaos, climate disaster, even climate apocalypse’… Dissent becomes all but impossible when such fanatical language is made dominant.”

And…

“(John Milton said), ‘Only by being free to think for ourselves do we become fully human… our faith and knowledge thrives by exercise… To police and shrivel the sphere of public discussion is to frustrate the search for truth itself by hindering and cropping the discovery that might yet be further made…’

“Truth is not something to be bestowed on us from on high- it is something we endeavor to discover ourselves through free thought, free debate, and the free exchange of ideas with our fellow human beings…”

And so much more. See the Spiked article by O’Neil, posted below. That is representative of what O’Neil presents in his book.

This from Spiked by Laura Dodsworth, Aug.3, 2023- “The green agenda is fuelled by fear: Climate alarmists want to terrify us into changing our behavior”. This again illustrates the totalitarian’s useful tool and basic formula: Fear=control.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/08/03/the-green-agenda-is-fuelled-by-fear/?mc_cid=894d45c066&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

Here’s a brilliant big-picture presentation of human history as impacted by climate change: Robert Girouard, “A brief history of climate, from prehistory to the imaginary crisis of the 21st century: Climate history clearly shows that we’re living in a blessed time, and that past civilizations generally prospered during warm periods and declined during cold ones”.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/08/02/a-brief-history-of-climate-from-prehistory-to-the-imaginary-crisis-of-the-21st-century/

Now some metaphysics: Pulling insights from across history from diverse traditions and people, and not hesitating to speculate on the metaphysical, or ultimate reality, as critical for informing our human impulse to meaning. The insights of our ancestors from across history, on metaphysical reality, help us understand the Why of creation, the purpose of human existence and experience. Wendell Krossa

Probing the nature of deity, the core nature of the metaphysical that undergirds our physical reality, is always about the fundamental meaning of life, and what “Ultimate Reality as the embodiment of ultimate human ideals” contributes to our search for meaning/purpose.

Without further beating around the bush, just a comment about theology as referred to repeatedly on this site….

My conclusions from past experience in a religious tradition, consequent abandonment of that tradition, and subsequent move to join the wider human race and be open to more diverse insights have all led me to the following: There is no sky God, no deity in some heaven above. There is no male gender God, no deity as “patriarch, Lord, King, Ruler, Judge, Savior”. I also reject most of the other features that have defined deity in human mythologies across history, primitive features that religions still present today as defining ultimate reality or deity.

There never has been any such deity as defined by the features noted above. There is no interfering God that intervenes in life to save some and punish others through natural disaster, disease, or the predatory cruelty of others. There is no God who overrules natural law to do “miraculous” things.

Further, there will be no coming divine judgment, and no apocalypse, no hell for sinners. “Threat theology” is a distortion of ultimate reality.

What we understand as God has always been the Ultimate Consciousness, Mind, Spirit, Intelligence that creates and sustains all this material reality in existence, the God that creates natural law as the governing or operating principle for reality in this material world. We all live by the consequences of natural laws.

(Insert: Yet having affirmed the above, I also embrace Jung’s views on “synchronicity” as also part of the mix that points to something mysterious and “supernatural” also going on. Reality is just too mysterious to take dogmatic positions on anything.)

Most critical to an entirely new narrative of the divine, is the insight that God is incarnated in every person as inseparable from the human spirit and human consciousness. There is no God out there somewhere. God is immediately present everywhere here in life and most especially within all humanity (the “oneness” thing that many tell us they have discovered through varied mystical experiences).

And one feature defines this everywhere present deity more than any other feature- love. Notably, inexpressible transcendent “unconditional love”. The ultimate Good that humanity has discovered.

The universally incarnated deity is best understood and expressed through human beings loving one another. Especially, most profoundly, God is seen in people loving their enemies. God is most powerfully revealed in people forgiving, tolerating diversity/difference, including all equally, not dominating others, not controlling others, but respecting and protecting the freedom, diversity, and self-determination of all others. And treating all human failure with restorative, not punitive justice.

This multi-faceted unconditional or universal love is best exhibited in the principles and practises of Classic liberalism. The best of being human that we have discovered.

So this is how we “know God”. From the best of being human that is within ourselves and similarly evident in others. The common human goodness that is everywhere present in all people and throughout all life, including in the lives of our “enemies/opponents”. Make the effort to overcome tribalism and look for it in others, just as we find it within ourselves. Its there also.

The God present everywhere as love is often felt as the gentle urge to do the right thing, the still small voice within. Non-coercive, gently persuading. This is all part of the defining of the most fundamental truth of all- “God is love”.

With our limited perceptive ability, limited by our existing within four dimensions and perceiving through 5 senses, none of us will ever really fully know the Something that has no beginning in time, and exists outside of time and space, and itself creates time and space. Something infinitely unlimited that creates the limitations of material reality and inhabits/permeates/interpenetrates all of it as some form of sustaining Energy/Power/Life. And because we understand it in terms of Mind, Intelligence, Consciousness then of course it is about Personhood or personality, but of some transcendent nature.

And despite the unknowable element of the metaphysical, we sense that the greater Something that humanity has long called “God” is ultimate Good and that means it must be most essentially “unconditional love” because that is simply the highest form of good that we know of. Hence, deity as unconditional love is simply the highest and best truth that we can imagine and therefore, logically and reasonably, it must be the nature of ultimate reality.

No religion has ever communicated this unconditional nature of God to humanity. All religion distorts and blocks human understanding of the true nature of God with endless conditions- conditions of right belief, demanded sacrifices/payments, required rituals and religious lifestyle as identity markers of any given religion, and threats of ultimate punishment for failure to become loyal to the religious tradition.

Added note: This from https://www.livescience.com/65628-theory-of-everything-millennia-away.html

“In 1925, Einstein went on a walk with a young student named Esther Salaman. As they wandered, he shared his core guiding intellectual principle: “I want to know how God created this world. I’m not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are just details.”

In response to Einstein’s curiosity to know how the “Old One” thinks, I would argue that can be understood in one singularly summarizing statement- “love your enemy”, as in no conditions love for all. That gets us to the very essence of deity as ultimate reality, as ultimate meaning, ultimate ideal, ultimate good. As one Near-Death Experiencer said- she was stunned to find that God’s very atoms, God’s very essence or substance, was unconditional love.

That makes such love the very core of all reality, the most foundational element of reality, whether understood in metaphysical or material terms. Marinate on this for a while. Nothing is more true or real of ultimate Consciousness, Mind, or Spirit, than this insight that God is stunningly inexpressible, transcendent unconditional love.

Einstein’s later-life fascination with light as some form of fundamental reality would have been well informed by the later NDE insights on “the Light”, an essential “spiritual” discovery common to the NDE movement, and related to the fundamental nature of ultimate reality or deity.

Added note: As for the apparent “coldness, even cruelty” of a world governed by natural law, books have been written with philosophical arguments as to why such things as the apparent randomness in life is essential to authentic freedom and why, despite the harsh outcomes of our natural law world, this is still “the best possible world”. This is all part of “theodicy” projects that defend the reality of ultimate goodness despite the “hell on earth” experience of many people.

And that is all I have to say on that…. For now.

Well, a bit more…

Why such advocacy here for this often misunderstood and misused adjective feature of unconditional? Wendell Krossa

Placing the feature of “unconditional” at the heart of a worldview, at the center of a narrative as fundamental to defining our ultimate ideals, changes everything… for the better. Unconditional points to the highest and best of being human. It orients our consciousness to the pinnacle of what love means.

Unconditional transforms consciousness by pushing us to challenge, rethink, and reframe entirely the deeply embedded archetypes that have long been defined and deformed by primitive myths that validate our worst inherited impulses- i.e. the base impulses to (1) tribalism (small band mentality that favors fellow insiders and excludes differing outsiders), to (2) domination of others (control and manipulation of diverse, differing others), and to (3) punitive retaliatory justice that destroys differing others, that excludes and eliminates outsiders to our group.

Most people across history have created and embraced highly conditional Gods to serve as the ultimate embodiments of their highest ideals, deities that would then often validate their worst impulses, incite bad behavior, thereby ruining lives and societies. Gods that affirmed the impulses to tribalism, domination of others, and punitive destruction of differing others.

The feature of unconditional challenges and overturns all such thinking, feeling, motivation, and response/behavior. Unconditional is critically foundational to discovering what it means to be fully human, to achieving human maturity (i.e. towering in stature as maturely human like the historically recent advocate of unconditional treatment of enemies- Nelson Mandela).

Unconditional urges us to heroically engage the righteous battle against evil by conquering humanity’s worst monster/enemy- the animal passions inside each of us (Solzhenitsyn’s point on the real battle between good and evil running down the center of every human heart). Unconditional helps us, more than any other feature, to safely maneuver the ethical conundrums of life and maintain our own humanity in the face of horrific offense and evil by guiding our responses toward restorative justice, and by helping us avoid the temptation to retaliatory responses that render us petty, that dehumanize us.

Again, we have discovered nothing higher or better than unconditional for defining what it means to be truly and fully human.

Now a reposting brought up from below…

Wendell Krossa- Key points, arguments, facts, insights, speculations repeatedly presented on this site include:

(1) There is no “climate crisis”. The mild 1 degree C warming over the past century has been significantly beneficial in a world where 10 times more people still die every year from cold than die from warmth (Lancet study). The 1 degree warming has been part of the natural recovery from the 17th Century descent into the destructive cold of the Little Ice Age- the coldest period of our Holocene interglacial. The subsequent warming is a natural return to a more optimal climate for all life. Even 3-6 degrees C more warming (the average for most of the history of life over the past 500 million years when life flourished) would also be net beneficial for all life.

I present these paleoclimate averages to counter the alarmist panic-mongering over 1-2 degrees C more warming. That much warmer paleoclimate world was a “paradise… ‘the golden age of mammals’”. Donald Prothero details this Eocene history in his book “The Eocene-Oligocene Transition: Paradise Lost”.

(2) Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, floods, ocean rise, tornadoes, etc. are not getting worse and in some cases are decreasing in intensity and frequency. Even the IPCC admits this.

(3) With more global warming, the already warm areas of the world- i.e. the tropics- do not “fry” because the extra heat is redistributed by convection currents to the colder areas of the world and climate then “evens out” more across the world (i.e. more tropical-like conditions spread to colder areas and that means extended habitats for the more diverse life forms of warmer areas). The tropics have remained “remarkably stable” during times when average world temperatures were from 3-10 degrees C warmer than today. This is known as the “equable climate” issue that confounds climate alarmists. It points to potent negative feedbacks that maintain climate within parameters beneficial to life.

(4) CO2 is not the main influence on climate change, because other natural factors show stronger correlations to climate change across history. Such natural factors are the main influences on climate change (i.e. “meridional transport”). See the good research on “the physics of CO2” by atmospheric physicists Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and others. Learn more about climate and thereby lessen your fear of the alarmist exaggerations and distortions on climate. See also the excellent series on natural factors driving climate change in “Sun-Climate Effect: the Winter Gatekeeper hypothesis” by Javier Vinos, available at Wattsupwiththat.com. The physics of CO2 as presented by Lindzen and Happer is the single most critical factor to understand in climate science.

(5) Fossil fuels used by humanity are not threatening our world. CO2 is not a pollutant that needs to be decreased or banned.

As the atmospheric physicists (Lindzen, Happer, others) tell us- CO2 has reached “saturation” in terms of its warming effect. Much more CO2 in our atmosphere (e.g. a doubling to 800 ppm over the next two centuries) will contribute very little to any further possible warming. Possible warming? Yes, as Vinos notes, we don’t yet know if climate will warm or cool over the next decades. But we can be certain that more CO2 will continue to fertilize plants/crops and that will be beneficial to animal and human populations. Also, a further warming of several degrees will also be net beneficial to all life. Life emerged, developed, and flourished during the Phanerozoic era when there was no ice on Earth (for over 80% of those 500 million years). There is no rational scientific reason to create fear over ice disappearing in the polar regions when that means extended habitats for more diverse life forms and extended crop production for humanity.

(6) More warming and more CO2 will continue to be net beneficial to all life just as the small rise in CO2 over the past few centuries has resulted in a massive 15% addition of green vegetation to the Earth just since 1980 (i.e. more food for animals, increased crop production for humanity). We are still in a “CO2 starvation era”. Further, over the paleoclimate past when CO2 levels were in the multiple-thousands of ppm, there was no climate crisis. Earth was a paradise for mammals.

(7) The Net Zero “decarbonization” salvation scheme of climate alarmists is destroying the energy sectors of Western nations in an irrational crusade to “save the world by destroying it”.

(The evidence above in numbers 1-7 challenges and overturns the climate alarmist narrative that pushes people to irrationally fear the basic food of all life and to fear 1-2 degrees more warming that will be net beneficial to all life.)

(8) Overall, life is not “declining” toward something worse but is “rising” toward something better- meaning, life is on a long-term trajectory toward improvement on all the main indicators (i.e. forests, land species, agricultural soils, ocean species). This is especially evident over the past few centuries and is affirmation that humanity is most essentially a compassionate and creative species and not the destroyer of the world. See “The True State of Life” further below.

(10) The climate alarmism movement is another “profoundly religious movement” influenced by the same old themes of the “lost paradise/redemption” complex (also known as “apocalyptic millennialism” mythology).

(11) And on the metaphysical or “spiritual”: There is no great threat behind life as has always been falsely presented by the ‘threat theologies’ of past mythology- i.e. the punitive, retaliatory, destroying God of religious traditions, now given “secular” expression in ideological belief systems. Point? The themes of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption (listed further below) continue to harmfully dominate human narratives and consciousness in varied “secular or ideological” versions.

(Note: This site confronts the Christ myth of Paul because it has been the most influential myth in history, re-enforcing some of the best and worst of primitive themes in modern narratives and consciousness. Along with more humane themes (love, forgiveness, mercy), the Christ myth of Paul promotes the themes of retaliatory deity, tribal exclusion of unbelievers, ultimate domination (“Lord, King, totalitarian Ruler” as in Revelation), apocalyptic ending of life and the world, and ultimate punishment and destruction in hell- all inhumane themes that had been previously rejected by Historical Jesus. The Christ of Paul is most responsible for re-enforcing the violent and destructive theme of apocalypse in modern consciousness, narratives, and societies.)

(12) Historical Jesus was someone entirely opposite to the Christ myth of Paul that dominates the New Testament and Christianity. The original message of Jesus has been distorted and buried by the Christ myth of Paul (this was the argument of, notably, Thomas Jefferson, Leo Tolstoy, as well as Einstein, Gandhi, and others).

Einstein, “If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and takes Christianity as Jesus taught it, purged of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity.”

(13) Historical Jesus, like the Old Testament prophets before him, protested against priestly sacrifice as necessary to appease God and attain forgiveness. Hist. Jesus taught that God was unconditional love and did not demand sacrifice/payment, or other conditions for forgiveness, acceptance, salvation. Note the unconditional theology illustrated by Jesus in his story of the Father in the Prodigal parable (Luke 15:11-32). This was the stunning new theological insight of Jesus that overturned all previous human understanding of deity.

(14) Conclusion from the original core message of Historical Jesus- i.e. the “Q Wisdom Sayings” gospel- There has never been any judging, punitive, destroying deity. There is only a stunningly inexpressible “no conditions Love” at the core of reality and behind life. (Note: The calf slain in the Prodigal story is for a celebratory feast, not as a sacrifice.)

(15) Paul rejected the central message of Jesus to present an entirely opposite theology of conditions- i.e. demanded sacrifice/payment, faith in his Christ myth, etc. Paul, contrary to Jesus, embraced the priestly tradition of the sacrifice industry. Paul affirmed primitive retaliatory threat theology- that God would judge, punish, exclude, and destroy those who did not believe his Christ myth.

(16) The same old complex of myths- i.e. “lost paradise/decline/apocalypse/redemption”, or “apocalyptic millennialism”- the same core myths have dominated human narratives and consciousness from the very beginning of early mythmaking. These mythical themes were eventually embedded in the belief systems of the great world religions (notably in Christianity), and they have now, in the modern world, been embraced in “secular/ideological” systems of belief, even in “scientific” systems of belief. Note, for example, the dominance today of Declinism ideology in climate alarmism (i.e. the decline of life toward something worse, toward collapse and ending- a central theme taken from Christian apocalyptic.).

Note that the lost paradise/redemption complex of ideas embraces themes that validate the worst of our inherited impulses- the impulse to tribalism (true believers versus unbelievers or outsiders to the true religion or group), the impulse to domination that is validated by a deity that dominates (God as lord/king who validates human forms of domination- kings, priesthoods), and the impulse to the violent destruction of threatening others/enemies (by a God who uses ultimate violence in apocalypse, and hell). See again the Harold Ellens and Zenon Lotufo quotes below on how violence enshrined in deity has always validated human violence. We do become just like the God that we believe in.

(17) The great threat to freedom today is coming from ever-evolving extremist “Woke Progressivism”, from the liberal or left side of society that appears to have abandoned the values and principles of Classic Liberalism or liberal democracy.

(18) Alternative themes for new narratives, more humane themes. See below: “Explaining reality and life: The worst and best ideas that we have come up with”, “Inherited bad myths and better alternatives”, or “Old Story Themes, New Alternatives”.

Further detail on the above topics, and much more, in sections below…

A repost of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex, Wendell Krossa

First, a brief summary of the main themes of this complex of primitive myths:

There was a better past (i.e. an original wilderness paradise world), but early people “sinned” (“fell” or degenerated into something worse) and ruined paradise. Life- then cursed by God- began to decline toward something worse, toward collapse and ending, even toward the ultimate catastrophe of apocalypse. The threat of collapse and ending (apocalypse) was the ultimate punishment for human sins. A sacrifice then had to be made to pay for sin, and suffering would have to be embraced as part of the “redemptive” process. Self-punitive (self-inflicted) suffering today involves giving up the good life for a return to the “morally superior” simple life, a return to primitivism (“de-development”). This general felt need to embrace self-punishment as payment for personal failure, driven by guilt, is more common than many imagine. It has a long history as “archetypical”.

As part of the salvation/redemption schema there must also be a violent purging of some purported evil threat to life. CO2 has been demonized as a “pollutant/poison” that threatens life today. Further, affirming the myth of cosmic dualism, people must heroically engage a righteous battle against some evil threat or enemy. Industrial civilization has been demonized today as the “evil” that destroys the paradise wilderness world (CO2 is the identity marker of this larger evil threat of human “excess” in modern civilization, using too much energy and other resources). With atonement and purging accomplished, people are then offered the hope of salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise, or the installation of a new utopia/millennium (i.e. a “fossil fuel-free” world and in some extremist versions even a world free of the “cancer/virus” of humans).

(Note in sections below that tribal dualism is commonly, and wrongly, applied to differing others in the human family when any imagined dualism should focus on the real battle against enemies/monsters/evil that ought to take place inside each of us- i.e. the dualism battle of our better self against the animal inheritance in us that is our real “evil enemy” in life. This was Solzhenitsyn’s point, and Joseph Campbell’s point on heroically conquering the “animal passions” in us.)

Continuing….

The above “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” ideas have shaped ancient and modern worldviews and this is not my conclusion alone. Good historians have traced these themes in more historically recent apocalyptic movements like Marxism and Nazism. These themes are also evident now in the latest apocalyptic movement of environmental alarmism (see, for example, Arthur Herman’s “The Idea of Decline in Western History”, Richard Landes’ “Heaven On Earth”, Arthur Mendel’s “Vision and Violence”, and David Redles’ “Hitler’s Millennial Reich”, among others historians of religious ideas.).

We know today that there was no original paradise and life is not declining toward something worse. To the contrary, due to the creative input from human minds and hands, life has been rising toward something ever better than before. So also, no sacrifice is necessary to appease some imagined metaphysical threat. And no violent purging is required to save life, but rather, our “salvation” is to be found in contributing to the long-term “gradualism” of improving life (Arthur Mendel in “Vision and Violence”). That is the only “salvation” that we need to embrace. We will never attain utopia, but we can continue to make life ever better over the long term, just as we have successfully done over past centuries.

The impulses and ideas that dominate human consciousness and life (a revised, updated reposting of the longer version of the “Lost paradise/redemption” complex of myths). Wendell Krossa

Subtitles: How to understand human thinking, feeling, motivation, response, and behavior today. The dominant themes of our narratives/worldviews and how they influence us.

A prominent example to illustrate where I am going with this…

Some illustration of saving the world by destroying it…

Back to the “impulses and ideas” point of this article…

Consider these most basic ideas or themes and their destructive outcomes, whether at the individual level or at larger societal scale:

The core themes (mental pathologies) that have dominated human consciousness across history in the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” narrative, include:

(Insert: See below- “False original premises or assumptions, and the wasteful outcomes/responses to false original premises/assumptions”)

(2) (A further aspect of number 1) The myth that the earliest humans committed an original fault or error and subsequently “fell” or become “sinful/corrupted” beings who then ruined the original paradise. A prototype version of this myth is the Sumerian myth of Enki eating the 8 forbidden plants, becoming ill, and thereby ruining the original paradise city of Dilmun.

Again, it is the bogus problem of “False original premises or assumptions, and the wasteful and harmful outcomes/responses to false original premises or assumptions”.

Remember again Joseph Campbell’s comments on conquering our “animal passions” by embracing “universal love”, by viewing enemies as family and thereby maintaining our humanity:

Further comment on “Where and how it originally went wrong”… Wendell Krossa

An example of the primitive “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths resonating with modern minds to devastating outcomes:

Why do people hang on to the narratives they believe and follow? Wendell Krossa

A family member often wonders why people believe what they do. Why, for example, do people dogmatically hold ideologies that have proven harmful outcomes? We have repeated conversations about this.

Like why, for example, after repeated historical failures, do so many still embrace and engage collectivist/socialist approaches? In response to this particular issue, I recommend the book “Socialism: The failed idea that never dies”. It shows how socialists have heralded every new socialist project in the world, but after the inevitable failure that follows, similar to all past collectivist outcomes, then Western socialists begin the excuse-making that the new project was not “true socialism” and we just need to try again, and again, and….

After the fall of Communism in 1989, my obviously embarrassed and confused Marxist professors at Simon Fraser University repeatedly offered the excuse that Russian Communism was not “true socialism” anyway.

(Note: Socialists, when asked to analyze the failure of the latest socialist experiment, never explain just how they would do things differently for the next one.)

As to why people continue to hold to collectivist narratives, I would note that socialists portray the opposite approach (i.e. organizing societies according to the protection of individual rights and freedoms, the primacy of free equals), socialists have long portrayed the individual-orientation approach as being about individual selfishness and greed, while collectivism, they claim, is about greater or common good, the good of all.

So case closed, no more discussion or debate is necessary. Collectivist systems are morally superior, more humane, socialists claim. This socialist belief gets to the ‘why’ of dogmatic loyalty to collectivism, no matter how many times socialism is tried and fails, ruining societies and immiserating populations. The denial persists, based on the socialist distortion of the fundamental nature of the two systems. One, they claim, is fundamentally about greed and selfishness, while the other is about common or greater good. Concusion? Collectivism or socialism approaches are obviously “morally superior”.

But socialists don’t explain, then, why collectivism always and inevitably unleashes the totalitarian impulse. Again, they have repeatedly excused such failure as due to distortions of true socialism, blaming anomalies/aberrations like “Communism” as not being “true socialism”. Former socialist Joshua Muravchik says that socialism inevitably unleashes totalitarianism because some “enlightened elite” has to run the collective, and the centralization of power in socialist systems (“for the collective good”) always corrupts the elite powerholders. Socialists appear to not fully understand and appreciate the centralization of power issue and the inevitable outcomes of centalized control approaches.

Where, to the contrary, protecting individual rights and freedoms is about distributing power among competing individuals and among the “check and balance” institutions in society (Frederik Hayek in “Serfdom”). That decentralization of power best protects against totalitarianism. (See Muravchik’s good history of socialism in “Heaven on Earth: The Rise, Fall, and Afterlife of Socialism”).

Add Muravchik’s point that that communalism (Robert Owen), Marxism/Communism, and Socialism are all collectivism approaches at heart.

And history shows that the organization of societies by protecting individual rights and freedoms, this approach has actually done better in achieving the greater good- i.e. in lifting billions out of poverty over the past few centuries.

Also in response to the “Why” question, there is a long religious history of religious belief behind this feeling that collectivism is better, superior. See the New Testament book of Acts which presents the Christian belief that real love is only exhibited when all share everything in common.

(Acts 2:44-45: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”)

That, claim Christians, is authentic love, where to the contrary, private ownership is more about selfishness, sin, evil. This is deeply embedded thinking, almost subconsciously rooted.

But consider that working to achieve the best conditions for oneself, and for one’s family, is not greed and selfishness but just basic love, and the most basic responsibility to care for one’s family. And of course, greed and selfishness infect much of human endeavor but the distinction is about the fundamental nature of an approach and its overall outcomes.

Add here also, the socialist distortion of ancient hunter/gatherer and tribal societies as peaceful communal societies that should be replicated in our modern world. See Steven Le Blanc’s “Constant Battles: The myth of the peaceful, noble savage”. This myth continues to dominate academia today.

From my own 10-plus years living in tribal societies I observed the rampant inequalities of age, gender, skill sets, powerholding, and more. And sharing was often determined by the lack of technology. You caught a wild pig and shared it to enforce debt obligations and because you could not preserve it for yourself as there was no refrigeration. And yes, normal human feeling for others also permeated such “communal” societies. It was not all selfishness and greed.

Most of us are open to some balancing between the two approaches- we tolerate being taxed to contribute to greater good as in helping those not able to survive by themselves, and in contributing to shared infrastructure costs. The debate is always over the levels of taxation and regulation that we will tolerate. How much government interference and control will we tolerate as it undermines our individual freedom (See William Berstein’s “The Birth of Plenty: How the prosperity of the modern world was created” for good discussion on such issues as balancing between individual concerns and contributions to greater good- what levels/scale produce the best outcomes for societies.)

Some blurbs on Hayek’s book “Serfdom” (Amazon and other reviews):

Hayek’s Serfdom “warns of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning. ‘He further argues that the abandonment of individualism and classical liberalism inevitably leads to a loss of freedom, the creation of an oppressive society’”.

Another on Hayek’s book: “(It presents a) passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (also the Marxist Soviet Union and Maoist China).”

Also helpful on the longer history of organizing human societies according to either the collectivist or individual orientations, see Arthur Herman’s “The Cave and the Light: Plato versus Aristotle, and the struggle for the soul of Western civilization”.

As for the claimed successes of social democracy or democratic socialism systems, I would argue that the success is due to the democratic element in such systems (protected freedom and rights of equal individuals), not to the socialist/collectivist elements. Research has shown this to be true of places like Sweden.

Also, note the potent manner in which protected rights and freedoms of equal individuals unleashes the creative impulse in people and respects human motivation to improve life (reward for hard work invested).

Another note:

Note that socialism subordinates individuals to some collective, and eliminates private property rights for the embrace of “the means of production” being owned by all, though- carefully note this- such “democratic ownership by the working class” is administered by the enlightened elites.

Resurging collectivism? Am I “conspiracy theory-like” seeing collectivist ghosts everywhere? Behind every bush? Well, there are those surveys…

https://www.axios.com/2019/10/28/millennials-vote-socialism-capitalism-decline

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/young-americans-support-abstract-and-unworkable-socialism

https://www.cato.org/commentary/young-people-socialism-do-they-know-what-it

Campbell on human story as the Hero’s Journey (links recommended to a discussion group)

Here the narrator outlines Campbell on the Hero’s Journey- presenting 3 overall stages with varied other sub-stages, for about 12 stages in all. This is good on all of us going out, confronting problems/monsters, having courage to face change and engage new ventures, learning from our experiences, and then bringing back some boon or blessing for others. This is about the essential framework of our life stories. Good one… not too long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tssOG2rS1AA

This below is another very good one by Gurwinder Bhogal- “Does woke ideology make people sick: A victimhood mentality results in anxiety and depression”, Aug. 1, 2023…

https://public.substack.com/p/gurwinder-bhogal-does-woke-ideology#details

Bhogal’s comments are similar to the work of Jon Haidt- “Why the mental health of liberal girls sank first and fastest: Reverse CBT hypothesis”…

https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/mental-health-liberal-girls

Carl Jung on anxiety, conquering our fears, going out into life to develop our own personality, our own story, taking charge of our own story and development, not letting others develop it for us. Accepting our faults and weakness but not letting those sideline us from life…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP1YOeNnZac

Probing further the intensified “demonization of difference” today: Wendell Krossa

What today is driving the impulse to demonize differing others, especially with the intensity with which this is now expressed in our public discourse? Could part of the problem be the contemporary elevation of “feeling uncomfortable” as a dominant criterion, superseding most other criteria, for evaluating things? For evaluating not just actions that may be harmful but also evaluating words that just make people feel uncomfortable?

Many now feel that if they are made uncomfortable by other’s words on some issue, then that is to be demonized as a new “evil” that must be fought and crushed. Such speech is endlessly portrayed as dangerous to some “greater or common good”. (Ask yourself- Who defines the “greater good”? Which ideology is behind any claim to be working for “common good”?)

Hence, we hear such exaggerated claims as “Your speech is violence… it offends me… makes me feel uncomfortable… makes me feel threatened” (also throw in the all-too-common smears of differing speech as “racist… fascist… Nazi-like…). The exaggeration of threat from words, even from obvious jokes, leads many to insist that their purported offenders must be censored, silence, banned, punished, even criminalized.

While admittedly there is actual “hate speech that incites to immediate violence”, the criteria of “hate speech” has been overly extended to include much differing speech that is clearly not such a threat or danger. It is speech that just makes people feel uncomfortable with the other’s expression of difference, disagreement.

And as Ira Glasser, former ACLU director, says, “Who gets to define hate speech?” Who can be trusted to define such a category and not be ideologically biased and misuse such categorization to silence critics or dissenters to some preferred dominant ideology? That is anti-democratic and the real danger to freedom.

As for feeling “uncomfortable”… well, we all need to just “grow the fuck up” and learn to tolerate difference, diversity, dissent as critical to a healthy “liberal democracy” society.
Authentic maturity will not just tolerate, but will even celebrate difference, understanding its critical role in human freedom and progress (i.e. providing more diverse options for solutions and advance).

Also, does the demand that others conform to one’s own worldview/ideology have something to do with the pathological obsession to control others, to meddle in other’s lives, to dismiss the freedom and self-determination of others, and to be a busy body moralist who cannot tolerate difference? This obsessive impulse to override other’s freedom to differ is a mental/emotional pathology that ruins relationships and societies.

Advice from the ancients: “My critics are my best friends”. As long as they avoid “ad hominem” attack and just stick to the content of issues and push us to rethink faulty, sloppy positions on things, then critics, more than “yes men” friends, are actually our best friends.

Trashing religion? Wendell Krossa

You might get the sense from comment here that I am anti-religion. No, not at all. I applaud whatever helps people to live as fully human and get through life. I just think there is much in religious traditions that distorts human consciousness and hence distorts feeling, motivation, and response/behavior. Dehumanizing stuff as in hindering/blocking the development of people as fully tolerant, inclusive, forgiving persons. Psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo, among others, notes this “personality-deforming” influence of “cruel God” theologies (“Cruel God, Kind God”).

And I feel that religious reformism, though critically important as an intermediate stage, is not the most thoroughly comprehensive response as the problem with much religion has to do with the core ideas of the religious belief systems. For example, much religious reformism tinkers around the periphery of religious systems and avoids confronting core bad ideas/myths that distort reality and life.

Notably, few in religious traditions are willing to confront the “monster Gods” that are the cohering center of their belief systems, infecting all else in the system with dehumanizing distortion. Note the prominent features honored in most traditional theology of (1) tribal exclusionism (deity favoring true believers, damning unbelievers/outsiders), (2) domination (humans subservient to authorities/powerholders, domination/submission relationships that are modeled on similar relating of people to gods), and (3) the punitive destruction of differing others (punitive justice systems, and ultimate justice as destruction in apocalypse, hell).

These are core ideas long embedded as core defining themes in religious deities that have long served as ultimate ideals and authorities for humanity- inciting impulses in people, guiding ethics/responses, and validating behavior. We become just like the God that we believe in, whether it is a religious or “secular” deity.

Randomness

It is said that Einstein could not accept the feature of indeterminacy in quantum mechanics and expressed his view on this in his famous statement that “God does not play dice with the universe”. I used to think that this arose from the fact that Einstein held a traditional view of deity as controlling, intervening, and micro-managing creation. Whatever his actual position on this, I have come round to agree more with his overall perspective on randomness.

More to my point, I cannot accept meaningless randomness as some sort of governing principle in our material reality. Yes, there is some element of indeterminacy in the cosmos and life (at least at the quantum level) and this appears to be fundamental to authentic freedom- i.e. natural law functioning with an element of chaotic freedom that appears random.

But I do not accept any of it as “meaninglessly” random. I see it as part of something greater with the element of something like Jung’s “synchronicity” permeating it all. And apparently Jung discussed this issue of synchronicity with Einstein.

We all have personal experience of synchronicity in our lives, in what appear as strange “coincidences”.

https://medium.com/philosophy-simplified/carl-jung-on-synchronicity-360717efce4e

“We often dream about people from whom we receive a letter by the next post. I have ascertained on several occasions that at the moment when the dream occurred the letter was already lying in the post-office of the addressee.”

― C.G. Jung, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle

“Jung believed that this principle was at work in cases of coincidence, where two or more events are linked in a way that cannot be explained by chance. He gave the example of a patient who dreamt about a scarab beetle, only to find one on his desk the next day.”

This from Willis Eschenbach July 30, 2023- “The IPCC Says No Climate Crisis”

Contradicting the current UN boss’s wildly exaggerated claim (Secretary-General Antonio Guterres) that “the era of global boiling has arrived” the UN’s authoritative body on climate, the IPCC, states there is no “climate crisis”, no matter which of the indicators you look at, whether…

• Air Pollution Weather (temperature inversions)
• Aridity
• Avalanche (snow)
• Average rain
• Average Wind Speed
• Coastal Flood
• Drought Affecting Crops (agricultural drought)
• Drought From Lack Of Rain (hydrological drought)
• Erosion of Coastlines
• Fire Weather (hot and windy)
• Flooding From Heavy Rain (pluvial floods)
• Frost
• Hail
• Heavy Rain
• Heavy Snowfall and Ice Storms
• Landslides
• Marine Heatwaves
• Ocean Alkalinity
• Radiation at the Earth’s Surface
• River/Lake Floods
• Sand and Dust Storms
• Sea Level
• Severe Wind Storms
• Snow, Glacier, and Ice Sheets
• Tropical Cyclones

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/30/the-ipcc-says-no-climate-crisis/

“What these phenomena have in common is that the IPCC says that there is no significant evidence that these phenomena have changed (either increased or decreased) in the “historical period”. In other words, there’s no evidence that “global warming” has changed the strength or frequency of those weather phenomena.”…

“Of course, they go on to use the most alarmist, most useless future scenario, the scenario called either “RCP8.5” or “SSP5-8.5”, to make all kinds of claims based on Tinkertoy™ climate models about how bad things will be in 2050 and 2100 … but we’ve seen how totally wrong all such climate projections have proven to be over the last 40 years. So there’s no reason to believe these projections…

“(This data) is just another part of the mountain of evidence as to why, despite all of the posturing, the IPCC doesn’t think there’s any significant evidence of any “climate emergency” or “climate crisis”.

“However, don’t expect things to change soon. We now have what might be called the “Climate/Industrial Complex”, complete with lots of people making lots of money off the imaginary “climate crisis”, and as Upton Sinclair remarked,

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

The courage to embrace worldview transformation, Wendell Krossa

Just when you think the climate alarmism movement has reached the pinnacle of hysterical lunacy with its grotesquely exaggerated apocalyptic scenarios (i.e. again, the UN boss stating the “era of global boiling has arrived”), the alarmists surprise us by reaching for new heights of eco-nuttiness. There has to be an apocalypse somewhere, somehow, sometime… After all, the apocalyptic prophets have long told us that its coming. Such is the irrational commitment to pathological mythology.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/07/29/un-what-is-global-boiling/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/30/another-day-another-alarm-the-time-travelling-pathogen-paranoia/

And if you have dogmatically based your identity and career on a belief system that is then exposed as erroneous, it then becomes too threatening to one’s self-image to later back away from the belief system, admitting that one has been in error. It takes a unique spirit of honesty, integrity, and courage to rethink the falsehoods in one’s belief system and to then embrace fact/truth.

But its never too late as the father of modern environmentalism James Lovelock showed us when, late in his life, he abandoned his earlier alarmism over climate change, admitting that climate was just doing what climate has always naturally done and we don’t really know where its going in the future. His fellow alarmists, feeling betrayed by Lovelock’s exposure of their alarmist eco-zealotry and dogmatism, trashed his honesty with ad hominem smears that he had gone “senile”.

Note: No one “denies” climate change. No one denies the fact that CO2 has a warming effect. The skeptical science challenge is to the exaggeration of climate change as a “climate emergency or crisis” and the exaggeration of the influence of CO2 on climate (i.e. claims that CO2 is the “control knob” of climate change, the “main influence” on climate change).

Confront and conquer the monster

This site contributes to the project to bring down humanity’s greatest ever monster, our worst enemy- the monster deity that has dominated human narratives across history and still dominates in human subconscious today whether through religious or “secular” versions of threat theology (deeply embedded archetypes).

More on validating the censorship of differing others as US Democrats/liberals most prominently do today– i.e. demonizing all members of their opponent’s group in terms of the few extremists. That provides them self-justifying reason to validate their censorship of all on the other side, all opinion and speech that dissents from their ideology/narrative. Its an irresponsibly sloppy mischaracterizing of disagreeing other’s views and positions. Wendell Krossa

Example: https://www.foxnews.com/media/psaki-attempts-scare-muslim-parents-opposing-transgender-ideology-schools-gop-trying-recruit

US liberals/Democrats (conservatives engage the same behavior) have resorted, especially and dominantly over the past few years, to intentionally portraying their opponents (i.e. conservatives, moderates, centrists, even moderate liberals/leftists) in terms of the positions of the minority extremists on their opponent’s side. This now widespread practise of distorting the positions of others as an indistinguishable whole has become a form of extremism itself. News media daily propagandize such distortion to demonize and discredit ideological opponents.

This childishly irresponsible practise distorts the complexity of viewpoints and positions that people hold and the fact that the majority on both sides are moderates, not extremists.

Demonizing majorities with minority extremism positions is a collectivism-type approach- i.e. the framing and stereotyping of all differing others in terms of the worst features on the other side. The demonizer extrapolates out to a collective whole, the views and statements of the fringe few on the opponent’s side, thereby characterizing all on the other side in terms of the views of the extremist few.

Hence liberals/Democrats reacted to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Affirmative Action, claiming that it was about “racism” and “anti-diversity”- the extremist positions of only a minority few on the fringe. They have also portrayed the parents who questioned the excessive and often bullying trans-indoctrination of young children as being “anti-trans” or “anti-gay” and even smearing those parents as “terrorists” for dissenting from such indoctrination.

It has been, notably, US liberals/Democrats doing this obsessively over past years- framing issues in the distorting terms of the worst minority extremes on the other side. Like Michael Moore stating that all who voted for Trump were “racists”, or Nazis. Justin “always virtue-signalling” Trudeau did this with the trucker’s protest, characterizing the entire movement against vaccine mandates, a position supported by 70% of Canadians, as being about “white extremism” due to one person showing up with a US Confederate flag. Media ignored the fact that person was quickly ushered out of the protest by the truckers.

We see this endlessly where liberals demonize all who disagree with extremist Woke Progressivism, even fellow liberals, as “right-wingers… racists… white supremacists…anti-vaxxers…”, and more. Even dissenting Blacks are demonized as the “face of White supremacy, or Uncle Toms”. The generalization of all dissent in terms of the worst extremes of the dissenting side.

The distorting generalization of all in terms of extremist positions then promotes fear of all differing others as a great threat. You stereotype all disagreeing others in collectivist terms, demonize them in terms of the worst of extremist positions on their side, and then you claim that all who differ with you are dangerous nutcases who are threatening the entire society.

Such generalization then validates your claim that you need to censor all disagreeing others in order to “protect the public from harm, to prevent violence, to save democracy”, and so on. You delude yourself with the belief that you are fighting for the “greater or common good” (“greater or common good” as defined in terms of your views and your side, your ideology and your tribe).

This practice of distorting all difference or dissent as dangerous extremism then locks people on both sides into a tribal polarity where people are unwilling to even countenance the fact that there are many issues that both sides can agree on and work together on. The areas of common agreement are far more prominent than the extremist differences.

Add here, the complicating factor of the ideologically-reenforced stubbornness that refuses to understand the other’s viewpoints, that refuses to see good intentions in differing others, that refuses to grant the benefit of the doubt re motivations and misspoken comments, to give second, third, and more chances to imperfect others. Add the spirit of harsh intolerance, tantamount to hatred of differing others, and you have a dangerous descent into irreconcilable tribal polarization.

The polarizing and extreme demonization of differing others, validates the bubble-encased delusion of today’s liberals that they are fighting a righteous war against intolerable evil, against enemies that must be destroyed, opponents that have no rights to free speech to push their “dangerously life-threatening disinformation/misinformation”. They are a threat too great to even tolerate. They must be vanquished entirely in order to “save democracy… or save the world”.

The eruption of this intense tribalism, fear, and hatred of what is purported to be a life-threatening “enemy”, and refusal to return to ‘liberal democracy’ sanity, is the real threat to democracy today.

Hope for a return to common decency and cooperation is located with the moderate majority of people speaking out against such extremism on both sides. Moderates who are not cowed into silence, not self-censoring out of fear of cancelling. We need more of the spirit of the children who innocently shout in the midst of crowd madness- “Mommy, the emperor has no clothes” and break the spell of crowd-insanity. Kids who refuse to join social contagions and will stand free for common sense, common decency.

Glen Greenwald, among others, regularly points to this demonizing of all opponents with collectivist characterizations, in his podcasts and articles. As he notes, this practise is mainly coming today from Democrats.

And this illustration of demonizing differing others: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/principals-death-is-a-stain-on-the-conscience-of-this-nation

Affirmation/advocacy/defense of unconditional as the core reality, central to all meaning

“Where there is no authentic freedom there is no real love. Love and freedom are two inseparable sides of one coin,” Bob Brinsmead.

“If love is not unconditional then it is not authentic love,” Bob Brinsmead.

“No conditions” (unconditional) gets us to the best of being truly human, Wendell Krossa

Essential to finding our way to a more human future, we need to recognize what holds us back, where we become dead-ended, sidetracked, blocked, or detoured from our quest to become more human. I see a major hindrance in the ideas that we embrace to structure our narratives, to shape our worldviews that then powerfully shape our life stories.

The ideas that we hold incite and validate how we think, how we feel, how we are motivated, and how we respond or behave. We behave as we do, significantly influenced by what we believe. Our beliefs either incite our worst impulses or inspire our better nature.

I have repeatedly outlined the notably pathological element in the mix of human ideas as the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths that currently dominate our narratives. And I offer a set of alternatives that provide inspiration and ethical guidance to point us toward a more humane future. This is about orienting human understanding toward truly human ideas/ideals that then inspire our better impulses (i.e. fully “humanizing” the beliefs that shape our thinking, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior).

I would center alternative ideas around the single most important idea/ideal of all, the highest of human ideals- love, the singular encompassing feature that, more than any other, defines us as truly human beings. And by love, I would point to something more than just the general view of love in popular culture, i.e. romantic, friendship, or familial forms of love. I would focus on something more specific about love- the feature of “unconditional”- that takes us to the height of what it means to be human. And as noted across this site, I use this term in an absolute sense when referring to ultimate reality, but qualified when referring to human response and behavior in this imperfect world.

I wish there were a better term than unconditional because its common usage automatically orients many to mushy, fuzzy, pacifist-type understandings of love (i.e. the impracticality of “turn the other cheek” ethics in a too-often violent world). Much like the use of the term “God” that automatically orients people’s minds to religious versions of deity which then distorts entirely the unconditional nature of deity with too many primitive conditional elements (i.e. demanded sacrifice/payment, required belief/faith, adherence to rituals and lifestyle as markers of membership in a religious tradition, etc.).

Contrary to dogmatic pacifist understanding of unconditional, any common sense understanding of love will recognize that proper human development, growth, and maturing involves every individual taking full responsibility for their behavior (i.e. natural and social consequences). Any practical understanding of love will affirm the necessity for restraint of bad behavior (i.e. criminal justice systems imprisoning and rehabilitating repeatedly violent people and where restoration is not possible, as in cases of psychopathy, then permanently removing such offenders from the public in order to prioritize the protection of innocent citizens.).

Despite misunderstanding and misuse, the adjective “unconditional” provides a contrast and raises questions about our justice systems. It helps us to appreciate that areas like justice can not continue with retaliatory, punitive approaches that do not aid both offenders or the criminal justice people to recover and maintain their full humanity. Recidivism is the crucial factor with regard to protecting the public, and punitive justice approaches do not reduce recidivism rates as effectively as restorative justice approaches.

Unconditional orients us to restorative justice approaches as in the Danish model. Unconditional also urges us to embrace common human rights codes that advocate the humane treatment of prisoners of war. Overall, and most critical, unconditional orients us to how we best maintain our own humanity in the face of evil. This is what Joseph Campbell was trying to say in his comment on universal love:

Add here that the love I am defining has more to do with intention and action despite feelings to the contrary (as in the “agape” love of religious traditions). Agape-type love acknowledges and validates the legitimate outrage at human cruelty toward innocent people. But then it orients us to determination to treat offenders humanely (“love your enemy” as in restorative justice) despite healthy rage at offenses committed, and in doing so, it enables us to maintain our own humanity in the face of intolerable evil.

(Insert: One person defined agape as “the steady intention of the will to another’s highest good”. https://kenboa.org/living-out-your-faith/five-loves-greatest-agape/)

Unconditional offers some of its best expression in the principles of Classic liberalism that affirm universal, unconditional love in the inclusion of all equally, in the protection of the rights and freedoms of all people equally, with institutions like representative parliament, common law, etc. Classic liberalism elevates free and equal individuals as the ultimate authority in society, where government institutions exist not to dominate citizens but to “serve” them. Authentic love exists only where there is authentic freedom as in honoring the self-determination of all individuals equally (protecting personal choice and control against top-down coercion and control by powerholding elites).

The orientation to the primacy of individuals involves distributing power among competing individuals and institutions as the best preventative against the totalitarian impulse that is always trying to resurge in our societies through collectivist approaches that subject individuals to some collective that then has to be run by the “enlightened elites”, people who believe that they know what is best for all others (“the little people who pay taxes”).

But more than just embracing the principles, practises, and institutions of Classic liberalism as the best means for promoting the love that defines truly human societies, I focus here on the underlying themes that shape our narratives, that influence our thinking, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior for good or bad, the critical ideas that either incite our worst impulses or inspire the better angels of our nature- our more human impulses. Our ideas/beliefs undergird the principles and practises that we employ to relate to one another and to our societies at large.

Our ideas/beliefs work together with our impulses, and related societal institutions, to produce outcomes that are either human or inhuman. And we should know by now, from past centuries and millennia of experience, the striking difference between the outcomes of liberal democracy contrasted with collectivist approaches. See, for example, Arthur Herman’s history “The Cave and the Light” for a good history of collectivism approaches to organizing human societies, as contrasted with the approaches that organize societies with a focus on the primacy of individual rights and freedoms.

Note my list of alternative ideas/themes to shape narratives, posted repeatedly below- “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives”. We all live primarily by story. My list of alternatives offers more humane themes to shape a new story to guide and validate life.

In my list of alternatives, I repeatedly affirm the supremacy of unconditional for shaping narratives and guiding ethics because it takes us to the absolute height of goodness, the height of humaneness or love. We know of nothing higher or better. We have discovered nothing more humane, more central to being fully and truly human. And hence, unconditional best defines the ultimate Good or ultimate Love that people call God.

However, note this distinction, when applying unconditional to deity. Unconditional projected onto deity means love in a transcendent sense- something infinitely better than the best that we can imagine. What Joseph Campbell meant when he said the term “God” was a penultimate term that pointed to “the God infinitely beyond”. This is proper “theodicy”, as in the defense or advocacy for the existence of some ultimate Good. And because transcendent unconditional is the best form of good that we can imagine, then it would be the ultimate truth. God is not just love, God is inexpressibly wondrous unconditional love. Like nothing we can conceive of here in our material realm.

Campbell has also stated that we tower in stature as maturely human when we orient our lives to universal love. I would use the broader term- unconditional- as the marker of fully mature human being. Unconditional most potently counters our darkest animal passions to tribalism, domination of others, and destruction of differing others (the “animal passions” in Campbell’s work). Unconditional is the weapon to slay the monster in our hero’s quest- the real monster and enemy that exists inside each of us, our animal inheritance of dark impulses that orient our thinking to small band thinking, and to alpha domination, to destroy competing others.

Nothing more effectively liberates us to be authentically human than unconditional love, love of even enemies. Unconditional liberates us, for example, from the base and petty urge to retaliate against the failures of others, to exclude, punish, and destroy differing others.

There is no better ideal to function as the cohering center of any narrative. The feature of unconditional orients us to the highest and best speculation on the nature of the creating Source of all, the nature of the ultimate Mind, Consciousness, or Intelligence at the core of all reality. Unconditional then offers the absolute highest ethical ideal for striving toward a more humane future and world. Nothing compares to unconditional for inspiring the best of human impulses to respond humanely, to guide human motivation and behavior, to help us maintain our humanity throughout our journey through life’s often intolerable horror, offenses, and evil.

Unconditional also functions as the best criterion that we have discovered for evaluating all else as humane or not.

Unconditional evokes a common resonance with ordinary people in their daily interactions with family, friends, and neighbors. If provides the singularly best feature to improve and maintain successful relating and interacting with all others. Unconditional orients us to forgive imperfect others, to tolerate difference, to affirm the uniqueness of all others, to respect the freedom and self-determination of all others (even if resulting in things repugnant to us). Unconditional orients us to grant second and third and more chances to failing others to recover from their common failures to live as human, something we all experience.

Unconditional, as a critical defining ideal shaping thought, emotions, motivations, and responses, offers so much that makes life more tolerable for all.

Note

Do you think Historical Jesus is the same person as Christian Jesus Christ? Take a look at the good research of Bob Brinsmead…

https://bobbrinsmead.com/the-historical-jesus-what-the-scholars-are-saying/

Points from Brinsmead research: The man who died protesting the sacrifice industry (Historical Jesus) was turned into the ultimate sacrifice (Paul’s Christ).

Historical Jesus’ core message of unconditional love was turned into the ultimate condition of demanded sacrifice/payment for sin. Jesus’ theology of non-retaliatory deity was rejected by Paul who then re-instated the feature of ultimate retaliation to define the Christian God (Matthew 5:38-48 compared with Romans 12:17-20).

“A show of clowns”- putting shows of elevated status and exhibitions of authority in their proper place. Wendell Krossa

Another note: I saw the Pope a while back, shrouded in his usual garments signifying/manifesting his status of religious authority. He was making some pronouncement about God, professing once again to speak authoritatively for God. In response I thought- Ah, such fraud, you don’t know anything more about metaphysical reality than the average person on the street. In fact, most ordinary people know far more about ultimate reality than you do because they can appreciate deity as an unconditional reality while your religion locks you into the mythology and pathology of conditional, retaliatory deity- the most primitive and consciousness-deforming thinking ever foisted onto humanity. That pathology began with the earliest mythology and was then embraced by all the great world religions. Threat theology continues today as a dominant feature of human understanding of metaphysical reality.

Campbell quoted some person who referred to popes and kings dressed in long robes and wearing elaborate head gear and sitting on elevated chairs (thrones) above others, as “a show of clowns”. He nailed it. Think of that next time you see some gathering of political leaders, celebrities, religious leaders, or other self-identifying “important elites” all exuding great authority and higher status above ordinary folks. Its just a “A show of clowns”. Then fearlessly voice along with the guileless child, “Mommy, the emperor has no clothes”.

Note: I would not suggest the Pope is intentionally being fraudulent. He is obviously sincerely committed to his religious belief system. But is he fully aware of the harmful outcomes of his system, both at personal and social levels? How much does ‘confirmation bias’ prevent him from acknowledging such outcomes?

Politicians: Stop the kowtowing to alarmism hysteria, Wendell Krossa

There is endless public chatter from politicians over delaying or slowing down Net Zero targets for shutting down fossil fuels (bans on gas-fueled cars, shutting down carbon emitting power plants, etc.). Notably in places like Britain. But why is there no public discussion and debate about the most basic and central issue in this climate crisis crusade? I mean the physics of CO2- the actual role of CO2 in climate warming (its warming influence or effect) and whether warming will become catastrophic or not.

We have a growing and amassed body of evidence from the best climate scientists (co2coalition.org, Wattsupwiththat.com, etc.) that CO2 has reached “saturation” (in physics terms- its ability to absorb and re-emit infrared radiation) and even if CO2 levels double to 800 ppm over the next two centuries it will contribute very little to any possible further warming.

This evidence should be considered within the larger background picture that we are still in a too-cold world where 10 times more people die from cold every year than die from warmth. We need several more degrees of warming and such warming would not result in life-ending catastrophe but would be net beneficial to all life. Over the Phanerozoic era of life, average temperatures were 3-6 degrees C warmer than today (up to 10 degrees C warmer) and there was no “climate crisis”. All life thrived during such “golden age paradise for mammals” conditions.

The best evidence on climate continues to affirm that there is no need to tax carbon and no need to decarbonize our societies. There is no “climate crisis”. Why is this critical evidence not included in debate over Net Zero responses and policies? Why the endless kowtowing to the alarmist distortion, denial of fact, and irrational crusade to end fossil fuel use?

And a note on “heatwave hysteria”…

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/not-climate-change-causing-heat-waves-this-summer-explain

Re Sarah Wildman article, May 19, 2023, New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/opinion/grief-childhood-cancer.html

My post to a discussion group in response to Wildman’s article: Wendell Krossa

This quote just below is from the mother (Sarah Wildman) who is Jewish. She is commenting on the “Protest theology” of her religion, referring to her other younger daughter (Hana) who was angry at losing her older sister to illness:

“In the early days, (Hana’s) hurt was so raw we could just barely keep hold of her in its tumult. Hana worried that she was so angry with God that God would be angry with her. We explained to her that we come from a tradition of questioning and of confronting God (Jewish “Protest theology”- a strain of theology that emerged among Jews after the Holocaust). We reassured her: We are all angry”.

Others argue that Jewish Protest theology has origins further back in Hebrew history. It refers to the tradition of questioning and challenging the apparent injustice of God not intervening to save good people and punish bad people. Why does God appear to not care for proper justice in terms of common human perceptions of justice? Jews then argue that God should be held accountable in judgment for such apparent failure of concern for common justice.

I would respond that Jewish protest theology is really a protest against a mythical distortion of deity- against a straw God that has never existed, against a deity that is no more than an imaginary human creation, and a pathological imagination at that- i.e. the myth of a God who intervenes to overrule natural law, to save God’s chosen people, to punish and destroy the bad guys.

David and Job (Old Testament) were puzzled when such a deity did not express himself in their situations to save them from their opponents/enemies. They asked regarding their expectations- “Why do the righteous suffer and the evil prosper?” They imagined a God like themselves- a deity who would affirm punitive, retaliatory justice as in reward for the good, for likeminded fellow believers, and punishment for the bad guys/”sinners” who did not adhere to Jewish beliefs, law, and customs.

Centuries later, Jesus sorted out their confusion in stating that no such deity existed. The God that existed, he argued, included and treated all the same. The affirming evidence of such deity? God sent sun and rain on all alike- equally, inclusively, unconditionally.

Meaning: There was no sky God who would come down to intervene in life by overruling natural law with discriminatory intention to save some chosen, righteous people, and to punish unbelievers. That had always been just bad mythology, untrue, not existing in any reality. A myth.

Further on the apparent absence of God that sparked the protest theology of Jews: I would suggest that because God is incarnated in all of us (i.e. inseparably related to the “human” spirit) we “save” one another and the world by “gradualism”, by gradually and democratically working to solve problems and make life better, not by coercively intervening and overruling life situations with, for example, the violent purging advocated in the biblical mythology of Revelation (the “coercive purification” Mendel noted in “Vision and Violence”).

Further note to discussion group in response to another asking- “Wouldn’t there be massive consequences if an omnipotent, omniscient, etc. deity was present on our planet? Life would be meaningless?”

Well, what about the option that deity is already present incarnated in us, equally in all of us, inseparable from what we call the “human spirit”, or better- humane spirit. What people have long referred to as “conscience”, etc. That still, quiet persuasive inner impulse or voice. The “gentle urging” thing. What if all human raging against evil, suffering, and injustice is just us expressing the voice of the invisible God? God acting through our actions or our activism. God “saving” the world through our efforts to solve problems and make life better. God present in the Holocaust in those amazing stories of people maintaining their humanity in the face of horrific evil. And so on…

There has never been an intervening sky god that overrules the laws of nature and natural consequences to save people. That “saving” responsibility and work has been left up to us because it appears that God has incarnated in all of us. Everyone of us is always as close to God as any person across history has been. We all have the same unmediated access to God as anyone else. In the ordinary situations of our daily, mundane lives.

There is no such thing as God especially and uniquely incarnated in some people, (special “holy” people, popes, priests, gurus), giving special access to a chosen few, God closer to such people than to most others. All such mythology originates from early shaman who claimed special status in their tribes due to having access to secrets about the spiritual realm. They thereby claimed superior status over their fellow tribespeople, and began occupying positions of authority, power, and control over others. Such early religious practice was part of the origin of inequality among people.

Shellenberger is “angry and afraid”.

(Comment to discussion group): Some of you are having a hard time recognizing what Shellenberger is so intensely worried about and exposing- the corruption of the liberal side of our societies, the shift of Democrats toward Woke Progressive extremism and as he terms it- “totalitarianism”. All I can urge is wake up and pay attention to this “greatest threat that we face today” (Glen Greenwald’s comment).

“Western civilization is being rapidly taken over by a psychopathological religion, and that we must resist it by exposing it for what it is, and re-grounding our institutions in love of humanity, civilization, and freedom… Behind the war on free speech is the same totalitarianism we have been watching sweep over the Western world for several years. It is relentless and uncompromising. It is driven by bullying people full of dogma and hatred of dissident views… We are going toe-to-toe with an opponent that would put us in prison for wrongthink. We must stand up to their bullying, and break their hyponotic trance over the population. That is how we will escape from the woke matrix.”

This from Matt Taibbi, June 23, 2023- “The Elite War on Free Thought: Address at Free Speech Event in London, with Russell Brand and Michael Shellenberger”.

Taibbi says that as he was invited to become involved in the Twitter Files expose, he was stunned by the censorship of dissenting opinion and speech by US intelligence agencies (i.e. pressure from FBI, CIA, other government agencies), censorship mainly directed at conservative speech.

Taibbi was overwhelmed by the extent of the censorship and made this summarizing comment:

“But after looking at thousands of emails and Slack chats, I first started to get a headache, then became confused. I realized the old-school Enlightenment-era protections I grew up revering were designed to counter authoritarianism as people understood the concepts hundreds of years ago, back in the days of tri-cornered hats and streets lined with horse manure.

“What Michael and I were looking at was something new, an Internet-age approach to political control that uses brute digital force to alter reality itself. We certainly saw plenty of examples of censorship and de-platforming and government collaboration in those efforts. However, it’s clear that the idea behind the sweeping system of digital surveillance combined with thousands or even millions of subtle rewards and punishments built into the online experience, is to condition people to censor themselves.”

He is illustrating George Orwell’s statement that the worst form of censorship is “self-censorship”. It doesn’t require the presence of the central dictator but just all-pervading fear of censorship, banning, cancelling, loss of job, public demonization and scorn, and even criminalization, all prevalent today across our societies.

This is a new form of enslavement or imprisonment and worse than any physical imprisonment because it is a prison of the mind. As Taibbi and colleagues state- It is not about storm troopers coming to your door to take you away to some prison. They don’t need to if you have already submitted, out of fear, to the authoritarians controlling the society with their elite narrative and orthodoxy. The threat is not about the previous century burning of heretics at the stake. The threat today is the “burning of a life” in terms of being fired, publicly vilified, censored, banned, fully cancelled.

Another on true liberalism, Wendell Krossa

Classic liberalism is the best that we (humanity) have come up with to organize human societies in the safest manner, as in preventing totalitarianism and its destructive outcomes. Classic Liberalism urges us to respect and protect the freedom and rights of all individuals equally, to be inclusive of all diverse human life stories (straight, gay, whatever), to protect individual self-determination from powerholder interventions (from state, government overruling individual rights and freedoms through excessive regulation, taxation), to embrace common law and governing institutions that protect all individuals/citizens and not privileging elites over ordinary folk, to affirm restorative justice approaches as the best way to practise “love your enemy”, etc.

In response to those who argue for giving primacy to “greater or common good” by organizing societies with communalism/socialism approaches, I would note that organizing societies around free individuals has historically worked best in also achieving the best of “common or greater good” (billions lifted out of poverty over past few centuries).

Whereas systems of organizing that put individuals in subjection to collectives have ruined both individual and greater good, repeatedly (“Socialism: The failed idea that never dies”, Kristian Niemietz). Collectivism centralizes power in governing elites that claim to know what is best for all and that inevitably unleashes the totalitarian impulse in powerholders. Whereas to the contrary, the orientation to giving primacy to individual rights and freedoms decentralizes/disperses power among citizens and citizen-protecting institutions. The organizing of societies, according to the primacy and protection of individual freedoms and rights, best protects from the totalitarianism that has been the inevitable outcome of socialist systems.

This good comment from Brendan O’Neil, July 31, 2023, “Global boiling? Don’t be ridiculous: Its time to stand up to the eco-fearmongering of our medieval elites”.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/07/31/global-boiling-dont-be-ridiculous/?mc_cid=b47e35e4ab&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

“And just like that we’ve entered a new epoch. ‘The era of global warming has ended, the era of global boiling has arrived’, decreed UN chief António Guterres last week. It’s hard to know what’s worse: the hubris and arrogance of this globalist official who imagines he has the right to declare the start of an entire new age, or the servile compliance of the media elites who lapped up his deranged edict about the coming heat death of Earth. ‘Era of global boiling has arrived and it is terrifying’, said the front page of the Guardian, as if Guterres’s word was gospel, his every utterance a divine truth. We urgently need to throw the waters of reason on this delirious talk of a ‘boiling’ planet.

“Guterres issued his neo-papal bull about the boiling of our world in response to the heatwaves that have hit some countries over the past two weeks. ‘Climate change is here [and] it is terrifying’, he said. We see ‘families running from the flames [and] workers collapsing in scorching heat’ and ‘it is just the beginning’, he said, doing his best impersonation of a 1st-century millenarian crackpot. In fact, forget ‘climate change’, he said. Forget ‘global warming’, too. What we’re witnessing is a boiling. It all brings to mind the Book of Job which warned that the serpent Leviathan would cause the seas to ‘boil like a cauldron’. Leviathan’s back, only we call him climate change now.

“The obsequious speed with which the media turned Guterres’s commandment into frontpage news was extraordinary. They behaved less like reporters than like the slavish scribes of this secular god and his delusional visions. ‘World entering “era of global boiling”’, cried the Independent, and we ‘know who is responsible’. No prizes for guessing who that is. It’s you, me and the rest of our pesky species. It always is. ‘Planet is boiling’, one headline breezily declared, confirming that Guterres’s fearful phrase, his propagandistic line no doubt drawn up with the aid of spin doctors in some UN backroom, is already being christened as fact.

“Almost instantly, media outlets started lecturing readers on how they might help to put a halt to the coming evaporation of our planet. SBS in Australia advised us to ‘Reduce meat intake’, ‘Stop driving cars’ and ‘Cut down on flights’. In short, stop all the fun stuff; make sacrifices to appease nature’s angry gods. Even self-styled radicals made themselves mouthpieces of the UN’s medieval sermonising. Novara Media instantly embraced ‘global boiling’ as an apt metaphor for the arsonist impact humanity has had on Earth. Scratch a Marxist these days, find a Malthusian.

“Can’t we have just a little critical thinking on the idea of ‘global boiling’? The first thing a rational mind ought to note is that boiling is when liquid turns into vapour. Sorry to be pedantic, but I think the meaning of words is important. Does anyone really believe our planet is now so fantastically hot that lakes and rivers and seas will shortly start to evaporate? If you don’t – and you shouldn’t, because it’s baloney – then you should not use a phrase like ‘global boiling’. Indeed, one professor of climate physics rebuked Guterres, mildly, of course, for starting to ‘depart from the underlying scientific evidence’. Indeed. Earth is not boiling, and we shouldn’t say that it is.

“There are other reasons to be sceptical of the boiling hysteria. Yes, the weather is hot in parts of Europe, but there have been heatwaves throughout history, long before the dawn of industry. What’s more, the Greek government says that most of the 667 fires it has experienced over the sweaty past fortnight were started ‘by human hand’. So those ferocious flames gleefully described by our green elites as Mother Nature’s punishment of mankind were mainly the handiwork of arsonists. Then there’s the fact that cold weather kills far more people than hot weather. Will the chilly winter months, in which numerous old people will perish, be described by Guterres and his apostles as a global freezing, a New Ice Age? Of course not. There are no propaganda points, no opportunities for modernity-bashing, in fearmongering over cold weather.

“Let’s be clear: ‘global boiling’ is not a factual or scientific phrase. Rather, it represents yet another ramping up of the green politics of fear. It’s the latest addition to the already fat dictionary of eco-dread. Economic inflation isn’t the only problem we face today – there’s threat inflation, too. The catastrophism of climate change in particular is puffed up on pretty much a weekly basis.

“This is why we’ve gone from climate change to climate crisis to climate emergency. And it’s why we’re now going from global warming to global boiling. Language is used to terrorise the masses, to snap us out of our supposed apathetic coolness on the issue of climate change and force us to agree with the cranky elites that the end really is nigh, and it’s our fault.

“As the Washington Post said in its coverage of the ‘global boiling’ edict, apocalyptic superlatives can be ‘useful in underlining the importance of [this] issue’. This is a familiar tactic of eco-propagandists. A few years ago, Extinction Rebellion protested outside the offices of the New York Times to put pressure on it to dump the passive phrase ‘climate change’ in preference for the panic-inducing ‘climate emergency’.

“‘Linguistic experts’ have cheered the media’s embrace of catastrophic language because apparently fretful terminology can help to ‘convey to the public an increasingly urgent threat’. They’re trying to manipulate us. They are using the grammar of Armageddon to cajole us into compliance with the green narrative and its demands for sacrifice in everyday life. As I argue in my new book, A Heretic’s Manifesto, they want to ‘coerce us into the realm of doom by making us think less about “climate change” and more about climate chaos, climate disaster, even climate apocalypse’.

It is imperative that we resist this linguistic authoritarianism. ‘Global boiling’ isn’t only a ridiculous phrase – it is also an insult to truth, reason and us. That such a fact-lite, post-scientific, hysterical phrase has been used by the UN, the activist set and the media elites is a reminder that they see the rest of us, the little people, as malleable creatures to be marched this way and that by scary words and warnings of a hellish future. It’s boiling anger we should feel, for this arrogant crusade of emotional manipulation.”

Carl Jung sayings:

“Man can endure the hardest trials if he sees meaning in them. The whole difficulty lies in creating that meaning.

“Where love rules there is no ‘will to power’. Where power predominates, love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.

“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness and the word “happy” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.

“Man needs difficulties, they are necessary for health.

“Man cannot stand a meaningless life.

“Every human life contains a potential. If that potential is not fulfilled, then that life is wasted.

“Depression is like a woman in black. If she turns up don’t shoo her away. Invite her in, offer her a seat, treat her like a guest and listen to what she wants to say.”

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Paul’s apocalyptic Christ myth- embodying themes that shape alarmism crusades

Posted on July 9, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

Keep an eye on this: The next wave of apocalyptic panic-mongering

Alarmist prophets are trying to incite fear over AI (artificial intelligence) as the next great threat bringing on an apocalypse. How do we ensure that AI does not become another ideologically-biased tool for internet censorship? My recommendation- Build Classic Liberal principles and practises into AI. Guidelines that work to protect the freedom and rights of all individuals equally. And to prevent the totalitarian centralization of power in governing elites, as per all collectivism models- distribute power among competing individuals or among competing social institutions (checks and balances against centralizing power and control). And so on… See Daniel Hannan’s great history of Classic Liberalism in “Inventing Freedom”.

Climate alarmism is a “profoundly religious crusade”, the latest historical eruption of apocalyptic “madness of crowds” contagion. It distorts science entirely. Try to understand the archetypal themes driving such crusades. It will make many uncomfortable to realize that the defining themes of highly revered religious icons are largely responsible for inciting and validating such crusades.

Here in the link below is a good response to Bill Rees’ “limited resources” fallacy as presented in his Ecological Footprint model (“limited resources” has been long known as “limited good” in the anthropology of primitive tribal existence). Rees discounts human creativity and problem-solving abilities that overcome all resource limits.

Julian Simon in “Ultimate Resource” explained how human creativity responds to apparent resource shortages. When such a resource shortage appears somewhere then prices of that resource will rise in response to the shortage and that prompts further exploration. With improved technology (e.g. fracking) there will be the discovery of more sources of the scarce resource, or a shift to alternatives to that resource. The usual result is the discovery of ever more abundant sources and subsequently a return to decline in prices of the resource. Human intervention, as in the Biden administration blocking fossil fuel development, can severely distort this process.

https://www.humanprogress.org/reconsidering-spaceship-earth/

https://www.humanprogress.org/we-will-never-run-out-of-resources/

The fraudulent use of “ground temperatures” that is driving the current heatwave hysteria:

Note this account of current heatwave hysteria over normal warm summer days as revealing the rising desperation of climate apocalyptics. Alarmists are again trying to panic the public, because surveys reveal growing disillusionment with their endless fear-mongering (i.e. surveys showing declining support for climate alarmism salvation schemes like Net Zero decarbonization).

https://www.netzerowatch.com/heatwave-hysteria/?mc_cid=0afbec4cad&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

Apocalyptics have long believed that they must take extreme measures to ensure the onset of the apocalypse when their prophesies of collapse and ending begin to show evidence of failure (the 100% failure rate of apocalyptic across history). Apocalyptics will take desperate measures even if it means destroying the very world that they claim to be saving. Examples of “saving the world by destroying it”: The Xhosa cattle slaughter of 1856-57, also the irrational and destructive decarbonization of today. Add the recent push for an Irish cattle cull and Dutch proposal to close thousands of farms. The Dutch farmers are major contributors to the world food supply.

Apocalyptic mythology distorts the true state of things, it incites the survival impulse and mind-deforming fear and this results in irrational responses in populations- i.e. the embrace of life-destroying salvation schemes as noted above.

Another on “trying to save the world by destroying it”. How does this differ from the Xhosa cattle slaughter as just another eruption of irrational apocalyptic lunacy?

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/25/agri-absurdity-the-high-cost-of-saving-the-planet/

More on my challenge to Paul’s Christ myth– Wendell Krossa

I am fully aware (from long ago commitment to the Christ as a former member of Evangelical Christianity) of how offensive criticism of Paul’s Christ myth must appear to the true believer’s mind. Even blasphemous. I get the “true believer” feelings toward the Christ. And I am aware of the condemnations of those who abandon belief in the Christ- i.e. falling for the delusion and lies of Satan, giving way to demonic forces and heresy, destined for Hell, etc.

As stated before- My intention does not arise from some frivolously contrarian spirit trying to poke and upset or anger true believers. My motivation is to focus attention on the role that the Christ myth has played in keeping alive the pathology of apocalyptic in Western and world consciousness. It has arguably been the main factor re-enforcing the pathological myth of apocalyptic in human narratives over the past two millennia (apocalyptic as “the most violent and destructive idea in history” according to historian Arthur Mendel in Vision and Violence).

The darker features of Paul’s Christ epitomize, more than any other system of belief, the critical features in human narratives and consciousness that we need to challenge if we are to fully free ourselves from the curse of endless historical repeats of alarmism crusades that promote the following pathologies among people…

(1) the anti-humanism engendered by blaming humanity for ruining some imagined original paradise and causing life to subsequently decline toward something worse,

(2) the exaggeration, to apocalyptic-scale, of historically common natural world threats and the consequent fallacy of using such things to promote end-of-world apocalyptic scenarios,

(3) the incitement of animal impulses to tribally separate from and oppose others in “righteous wars against evil enemies” (all to “save the world” from the imminent end that the evil enemy is bringing to life),

(4) the incitement of the human survival impulse and subsequent pushing of frightened populations to embrace irrational and destructive salvation schemes,

(5) the incitement to solve problems with violence (“violent purging” of enemies as demanded to “save the world”- see the New Testament book of Revelation for detailed illustration of this), and more…

Our highest ideals and authorities- i.e. views of deities that embody our highest ideals- play powerful roles influencing our thinking, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior (see again the comments of psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo below). And that “beliefs influencing behavior” role continues even in our contemporary “secular/ideological” systems of belief like the “profoundly religious” climate alarm crusade.

Endlessly rehashing primitive apocalyptic mythology will never produce good results as we are observing now in the devastating outcomes from Net Zero decarbonization (Note the consequences of Net Zero zealotry in Britain, Germany, and elsewhere- see regular reports on Net Zero Watch, the newsletter of the Global Warming Policy Forum).

Freedom from primitive archetypes, as embodied in the iconic Christ, is essential to the final stage of human liberation, the full liberation of consciousness/subconscious from enslaving ideas/themes that hinder our ability to live as fully human. Which is to say, sometimes we need to risk “blasphemy” in order to be fully free.

I argue here that the main themes of Paul’s Christ myth- the themes of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths- continue to dominate human narratives today, both religious and “secular”. And the outcomes of such archetypical themes continue to exert destructive influence on human consciousness and life.

Added note: Its not my evaluation and conclusion alone- The Christ myth of Paul, and its prominent influence, is most responsible for keeping the pathology of apocalyptic alive in Western consciousness.

Just to summarize the line of historical descent: The “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of themes can be found in scattered form throughout the earliest mythologies (Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Egyptian, etc.). Note the myths of the paradisal city of Dilmun, subsequent ruin and loss of that paradise due to Enki’s “sin” of eating the 8 forbidden plants (the prototype of the later Adam/Eve myth). The Sumerian Flood myth as an early version of apocalyptic destruction and ending of life. Or the apocalyptic theme in Egyptian “Return to Chaos” and “Destruction of mankind” myths.

From there the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex descended, notably, down to Zoroaster’s apocalyptic that then shaped the main Western religious traditions- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And from mainly the Christian tradition, the themes of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” were reframed in the “secular” ideology of 19th Century Declinism that then birthed contemporary environmental alarmism and most notably today’s climate alarmism crusade (see historical detail on this in Arthur Herman’s “The Idea of Decline in Western History”).

Its always the same old primitivism dominating human narratives. Watch Hollywood’s fascination with these themes today in contemporary story-telling. The “flabbergasting” thing in this is to see young people today self-identifying as “secular… materialist… even atheist”, yet mouthing these very themes that render them indistinguishable from the Sumerian priests of 5,000 years ago preaching early versions of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex in the temples of that era.

A refresher…

Here’s a reposting (revised, updated) of the the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths. My argument is that this complex has dominated human narratives across history and still dominates our meta-narratives today in both religious and secular versions, Wendell Krossa

I use the term “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” as a summary term for a larger complex of themes/ideas.

The fuller complex includes:

1. The myth of a better past- an original paradise or golden age, a perfect beginning to life on Earth (e.g. Dilmun, Eden).

2. The myth of human error (“original sin”), or human intention, that ruined the original paradise world. Humans purportedly became corrupt, greedy, destructive. They were rapacious invaders in an otherwise pure natural world (nature as goddess). Humanity was a “virus or cancer” on nature. Humanity did not belong here.

3. The myth that humans, in creating “nature-destroying” civilization, became responsible for causing the trajectory of life to decline toward something worse, toward collapse and ending.

4. The myth that humans were originally pure and strong (“Noble savage” mythology, original hunter/gatherers more “connected to nature”). This myth was embraced by Marxism and Nazism and more recently by environmentalism. Pure and strong early humans degenerated in civilization, especially in industrial civilization.

These ideas, in particular, re-enforce an intense anti-humanism and naturally raise questions as to how such pathological thinking impacts self-identity issues- i.e. contributing to the self-hatred, anxiety, depression, despair, nihilism that dominates modern consciousness.

5. With apocalyptic fully affirmed by these ideas of original perfection, subsequent loss of paradise, and decline toward catastrophic collapse and ending, the human survival impulse is then aroused, heightened. Then every extreme event in nature (normal and natural throughout all previous history) portends coming catastrophe, collapse, and ending. The exaggeration of catastrophism then shapes narratives. People are subsequently rendered susceptible to any promise of salvation/survival, no matter how irrational the scheme presented to them. This involves a callous, cruel playing with human hope.

It’s a simple equation used by alarmists… fear=control, the totalitarian’s favorite formula. Add also, the pathological idea that the destructive features of the natural world are expressions of some angered spirit or force behind life that is punishing people for their “sin”. This mythology intensifies the already unbearable psychic suffering from natural disasters, disease, accident, or predatory cruelty.

6. Salvation mythologies advocate a demanded atonement for sin, some sacrifice or payment, some form of suffering as redemptive. Note the recent urge to live with blackouts as one example of this myth of suffering as redemptive (part of the “de-development” movement, a return to primitivism in order to “save the world”).

https://www.foxnews.com/media/la-times-article-peak-climate-idiocy-occasional-blackout-greater-good

7. Salvation also demands “violent purging” of the thing that threatens life- some “enemy” or evil entity. Today those challenging and opposing decarbonization (“deniers… unbelievers”) are made the enemy to be purged. And CO2 has been made the chief marker of human evil and human threat (i.e. the CO2 emissions from the fossil fuels that power our “destructive civilization”).

8. Also key to apocalyptic alarmism salvation schemes is the claim that “imminence” demands urgency to embrace the salvation scheme. Apocalyptics re-enforce this imminence element by endlessly setting dates for the end-of-days, usually a few years or decades up ahead. Thus keeping people in a heightened state of alarm, keeping the survival impulse agitated.

9. Urgency then affirms the unleashing of the totalitarian impulse as “righteous…good… just”. There must be no more time allowed for democratic debate, discussion, skepticism, or dissent to the apocalyptic narrative and salvation plan. Such disagreement is demonized as “disinformation/misinformation” and is even criminalized as a dangerous threat to life. Note Obama’s AG, Loretta Lynch, trying to criminalize skeptical climate science in 2016.

10. Further, coercion, force, even violence is validated as necessary to solve the problem of “climate crisis”. Note again Zenon Lotufo and Harold Ellen’s comments that the ideal of “deity solving problems with violence” then sparks the same resort to violence in the adherents of such belief systems. The “belief shaping behavior” relationship is true in general of all the elements of apocalyptic belief systems.

11. And if the threat is purged from the world, then apocalyptics offer the promise of salvation to their true believers, salvation in the form of a restored paradise or newly installed millennial paradise (examples- Marxist communalism paradise, Nazi Millennial Reich).

Can you see the outline of these themes today in narratives like climate alarmism? The all-pervasive and harmful influence of the above themes is detectable widely throughout our public discourse. Pay careful attention because apocalyptic has been the most violent and destructive idea in history (Arthur Mendel). This is true of the entire “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of themes.

Don’t despair. We have good alternatives to “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” mythology, alternatives that tell us the true state of the world. The alternatives tell us not to fear life as our hard work to improve our world has been successful. All the major indicators (forests, agricultural soils, land species, ocean fisheries) show improvement over the long term.

See “Inherited ‘bad myths’, and better alternatives” in sections below for a list of alternative ideas to the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex.

This good report from some of the best scientific minds working on climate today, Richard Lindzen and colleagues at co2coalition.org- “American Midwest and Climate Change: Life in America’s Breadbasket is Good and Getting Better.”

https://co2coalition.org/publications/american-midwest-life-in-americas-breadbasket-is-good-and-getting-better/

“Our report, American Midwest and Climate Change: Life in America’s Breadbasket is Good and Getting Better, was just published. In it, we provide the science that disputes the claims of ongoing and future climate catastrophes.

“We document that there is no climate crisis. In fact, we discover just the opposite. The ecosystems and agriculture in these ten Midwestern states are thriving and prospering partly because of modest warming and more CO2.

“Below is information provided by NOAA showing that maximum temperatures have declined since the Dust Bowl years of the late 1920s and 1930s and all the while CO2 was steadily increasing.

“We find that:

• High temperatures peaked 90 years ago.
• Recent temperatures are comparable to those nearly 100 years ago.
• Growing seasons are lengthening.
• Minimum winter temperatures are increasing (that is a good thing).
• There is a beneficial increase in precipitation.
• There is a decline in droughts, strongest tornadoes and heat-related deaths.
• Agricultural productivity has increased greatly.

“Further, we find that a transition to “net zero” for the Midwest would make no improvement to the environment and be prohibitively expensive.

“The cost to transition the 10 Midwestern states to so-called renewable power would cost more than $6 trillion, or $92,000 per capita. A theoretical effect of such a transition is calculated as averting 0.043⁰ C of warming by the year 2100, which translates to a cost of $14 trillion for each tenth degree of warming averted.” (see full report at link above)

This on Michael Gove’s comment to “relax the pace” of Net Zero decarbonization in The Telegraph of July 22, 2023- “Michael Gove warns against net zero ‘religious crusade’: Levelling Up Secretary calls for relaxation of green measures while cost of living crisis puts pressure on family budgets”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/07/22/michael-gove-warns-against-net-zero-religious-crusade/?mc_cid=67c4c7fcd3&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

These “relax the pace” calls by politicians are basically an affirmation of the alarmist narrative on climate. Ah, c’mon, seriously? My recommend for response: First get the physics of CO2 clear- the most basic issue of all in climate science. Look at the research of atmospheric physicists Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and other scientists at sites like “co2coalition.org” and “Wattsupwiththat.com”. Also, Javier Vinos and his series of reports on “Sun-Climate effect: The Winter Gatekeeper hypothesis” at Wattsupwiththat.com. This research reveals there is no “climate crisis” caused by human emissions of CO2. Conclusion: There is no sound scientific case to tax carbon or decarbonize our societies.

Enough with this waffling appeasement of climate hysteria. Get the real climate science clear, and based on that science, push back against this “madness of crowds” contagion that is seriously harming the many people who can least afford it with unnecessarily increased energy costs due to government policies that block fossil fuel development.

Stop dilly dallying with this wishy-washy molly coddling of the alarmist narrative. It smells too much of “fear-of-cancellation” kowtowing. Embrace the hero’s quest as a heresy pushback against pathological mythology, as urged in the book by Brendan O/Neill “A Heretic’s Manifesto: Essays on the Unsayable”. (Note: Gove has recently caved fully to the alarmist narrative and abandoned his recommendation to “relax the pace”. Shameful.)

Why focus on “the physics of CO2”? Wendell Krossa

Because CO2 has been demonized in apocalyptic narratives as the critical factor bringing on the apocalypse. This is framed as humans emitting too much “pollutant/poison” and that is leading to “catastrophic climate change”.

This is all unproven assumption given irrationally exaggerated status due to framing within apocalyptic mythology.

Facts: We don’t know how much humanity is actually contributing to the rise of CO2 over past centuries due to the many other major natural contributing factors that are much larger than the human input (“perturbations” in Earth’s carbon cycles that are larger than the human input). And we note that CO2 levels were much higher in the past, often averaging in the multiple-thousands of ppm and life thrived during such eras. There was no “climate crisis”. CO2 levels are still too low today as plants prefer levels in the 1000-1500 ppm range as optimal.

Further, CO2 is not the main influence on climate change as other natural factors show stronger correlations to the climate change we are witnessing. CO2 is not the “control knob of climate”.

And so far, the mild warming of the past century (1 degree C) has been beneficial to all life. We need more warming in a world where 10 times more people die every year from cold than die from warmth. Remember that for most of the Phanerozoic history life, average temperatures were 3-6 degrees C warmer than today and life flourished.

Add here the “equable tropical climate” factor showing that even with much higher average temperatures on Earth, tropical temperatures did not vary by more than a few degrees C. The tropics did not ignite on fire as prophesied by climate alarmists. That fact reveals the presence of negative feedbacks that kick in to keep tropical temperatures within a range suitable to life. The excess heat coming into the tropics is convected to the polar regions to “even out” temperatures across the world, thereby benefitting all life with extended habitats.

With all this evidence, why the fear and hysteria over climate change? Oh, I know… that alarmist equation… fear=control.

Project focus: Wendell Krossa

This site probes and tries to understand the root issues behind alarmism crusades, the root factors that contribute to inciting movements like climate alarmism. This entails going to the core themes of narratives, to the deeply embedded ideas/archetypes that shape human narratives.

Public alarmism movements like climate alarmism are just the latest historical embodiment and expression of primitive apocalyptic narratives. Today’s alarmism movements are based on the same old themes from ancient mythology that have been passed along through the subsequent stages of history, from the earliest mythology, to world religions, and now more recently finding expression in “secular” versions like 19th Century Declinism ideology and its offspring- the environmental alarmism of the past century.

Its always the same old themes, just given ever-new expression for succeeding generations. Joseph Campbell again- The same primitive myths have been believed all across history and across all the cultures of the world.

Of all the embodiments of primitive archetypes, the Christ myth of Paul is the best known example of the ancient mythical complex that has dominated alarmism movements across history- the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths. That narrative framework continues to dominate public consciousness today. Hollywood is obsessed with it.

More sitesplainin… Why I go after the Christ myth…. Wendell Krossa

Paul’s Christ has been the most prominent of ultimate ideals/authorities in Western thinking for two millennia, and not only in Western narratives but worldwide as well, according to historian James Tabor (in his book “Paul and Jesus”). Making this same point, Harold Ellens said, “(The) metaphor of 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 2,000 years”.

It’s a metaphor that idealizes and affirms retaliatory violence to solve problems.

Taking the point that “we become just like the God that we believe in”, I tackle the Christ because of the power of beliefs to influence behavior, both good and bad behavior. The beliefs related to the Christ embrace some of the best of features in human narratives (i.e. forgiveness, mercy, love) along with some of the worst of features in our narratives (i.e. tribal exclusion, domination, justice as violent destruction). The outcomes of beliefs expose the true nature of the beliefs as humane or inhumane.

Unfortunately, the better features in the Christ myth have been distorted and buried by the nastier stuff. As Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy noted- the more humane themes of Historical Jesus (universal, unconditional love, inclusion of all, non-domination, non-violence) have been buried by Paul’s Christ myth.

Note that the love advocated by the Christ myth is tribal love, not authentically universal love- i.e. it favors true believers and ultimately excludes unbelievers. The relationships advocated in the Christ myth are not the relating of equals, as in Classic Liberalism, but are oriented to domination/submission forms of relating- i.e. Christ as Lord/King/Ruler, with people submitting to that lordship/domination, domination that is mediated through priesthoods, governments (Romans 13), and other forms of powerholding. Further, the justice modelled in the Christ myth is not restorative but punitive justice, and violently destructive (i.e. punishment by apocalypse or in hell). And so on…

The varied features of Paul’s Christ have been common to all deities and mythical narratives across history.

Further detail on the narrative features advocated by Paul’s Christ: Wendell Krossa

Paul’s Christology (his Christ myth) embraces the ultimate form of tribalism. It embraces and propagates Zoroaster’s historically earlier myth of cosmic dualism- the idea of a good God versus an evil entity or force, Satan. This myth of “cosmic-scale” dualism has long validated “this-world” dualisms/tribalisms among people- i.e. true believers isolating themselves in opposition to unbelievers.

Dualism then embraces the obligation to engage a “righteous battle against evil enemies” as in the adherents of a “true religion” fighting differing others in “false religions”- “righteous heroes going forth to conquer and destroy evil and threatening enemies”. The more you demonize some differing other, the more you self-justify your opposition to that other as a “righteous” cause or battle.

The otherwise noble “hero’s quest” is deformed by such dualism/tribalism- i.e. some embracing an obligation to fight and destroy differing others as “monsters/enemies”. Further, to perpetuate the self-delusion of fighting a “just” battle, people demonize the differing other as some form of intolerable evil, and that demonization legitimizes their “righteous destruction” of the differing other.

The obligation and urgency to engage a righteous battle is intensified by depicting the enemy as “life-threatening”. That incites the survival impulse. Your quest then moves beyond some mere disagreement over social issues. Your battle then takes on the nature of a desperate survival crusade, a necessary struggle to face down evil enemies that are life- and world-threatening.

Include the feature of “imminence” in your narrative, and case closed. As the prophets of apocalypse endlessly prophesy- the end of the world is just up ahead a few years or decades (note this endless date setting and resetting in the climate alarmism crusade). Hence, there must be no time permitted for democratic processes to function. Imminence demands that we resort to force, coercion, criminalization, and even violence… all to “save the world… before its too late”. Totalitarian approaches are then validated and embraced as righteous, good, just, unquestionable.

Historical Jesus cut through this primitive thinking, and related behavior, with one worldview-demolishing statement- “Don’t retaliate with eye for eye… but instead love your enemy”. Treat all with the same forgiveness, inclusion, generous love. That was a sword-thrust to the heart of the base human passions to view differing others tribally as enemies, to feel an obligation to fight against others as “enemies”, to conquer and destroy the differing other, and to believe the ideals and authorities that validated such primitive animal impulses/passions.

He followed his stunning new non-retaliatory ethic with a stunning new take on humanity’s highest ideal and authority- i.e. that deity was non-retaliatory, unconditionally loving.

He based his urging to love enemies on the truth that God does this. How does God love enemies? God gives sun and rain to all alike- to both good and bad people. In his “stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God” there is no discriminatory exclusion of “unbelievers”. There is no tribal opposition to differing others. There is no threat of punishment or destruction of one’s opponents.

And of course, distinguishing between that ultimate reality and this-world imperfection, I add the repeated qualifier that any common-sense love is responsible to hold all accountable/responsible for their behavior in this world as basic to human development and maturing. Meaning, the restraint of violent people who cannot or will not self-restrain their worst impulses. The statements of Historical Jesus are not advocacy for dogmatic pacifism (i.e. “turn the other cheek”) in the face of evil.

With his entirely new view of deity, Jesus then concluded his “behavior based on similar belief” coupling with- “Be unconditionally merciful just as your god is unconditionally merciful”.

He presented the most potent form of liberation ever offered, a liberation from ancient enslaving beliefs that had long validated inhuman behaviors. He did this by going directly to the core belief, the foundational idea that has shaped human meta-narratives across history more than any other- the nature of God, humanity’s highest ideal and authority. With his insights and statements, Historical Jesus radically changed the core embodiment of archetypes in human narratives, the most fundamental of ideals, beliefs.

(As noted in sections below- Jesus replaced divine retaliation with non-retaliation, divine violence with non-violence, divine conditions with unconditional. These are profound transformations at the very core of the human ideals and beliefs that shape our narratives.)

But Paul then created his Christ myth to overturn the breakthrough insights of Historical Jesus. His Christ myth was a rejection of the new theology of Jesus, a denial of Jesus’ central insights and message, and a shameful retreat to the enslavement to primitive thinking. Paul’s Christ was a rehash of the same old pathological features of all past deity theories.

The Christ of Paul continues today as a singularly prominent ideal validating the themes of our meta-narratives. Paul’s Christ has even influenced the “secular/ideological” narratives of the modern era. Note Arthur Herman’s work on Declinism that is the parent ideology of climate alarmism (“The Idea of Decline in Western History”). Herman notes two features of primitive mythology that have shaped Declinism- i.e. the myth of a past golden age that has been lost, and the necessity of violent purging of evil in order to restore the lost paradise. These myths endlessly birth new apocalyptic movements, and their destructive salvation schemes.

And this is why I go after the Christ of Paul, as another “monster deity” giving extended life to the same old primitive themes of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” worldviews that have dominated thinking from the earliest days of human mythmaking.

These “monster God” theories have always incited the worst of human impulses to tribalism, domination, and punitive destruction of differing others. The monster resides inside our heads in the form of deeply embedded themes in our worldviews (subconscious archetypes). I emphasize particularly the themes that relate to our highest ideal and authority- deity. From inside our heads the monster God- as humanity’s highest ideal and authority- validates our basest impulses, our animal passions.

This is what Solzhenitsyn referred to when he noted that the greatest battles take place within human hearts, not on physical terrain between opposing groups of people, but inside each of us. He was referring to the battle of our animal passions against the better angels of our human nature. He recognized that the themes that we embrace in our worldviews operate to incite our emotions, motivations, and responses/behaviors.

Within our minds is where the worst forms of enslavement exist and where liberation is most needed- from bad ideas that incite and validate bad behavior.

Added notes:

The “new gods” of today are exact replicas of the same old deities that have dominated human narratives across history, always validating the same primitive features of retaliation against disagreeing/dissenting others, tribal exclusion of differing others, domination over the “enemy” other, retaliatory violence to solve problems, etc. Examples of newer versions of the same old monster gods: Vengeful Gaia, angry Planet, angry Mother Earth, punitive Universe, payback karma.

Note also a powerful contemporary counterpoint to the primitive tribal view of differing others as “enemies”- i.e. the understanding that all people are intimate family (the fundamental oneness thing). This can be affirmed from the “mitochondrial Eve” hypothesis, as well as from quantum oneness discoveries.

Further note: The patterns noted above, of intense tribal division and exclusion of “enemies”, of domination, of demonization differing others as “evil”, of embracing a crusade to destroy the differing other… these patterns are playing out most prominently today in the extreme Woke Progressivism that now dominates the worldview of US Democrats who see themselves in a righteous battle against evil, meaning, all who disagree with their narrative.

This from Leighton Woodhouse posted on Public News at public@substack.com July 21, 2023

“The First Amendment in Peril”,

“Pew has a poll out showing that Americans have become far less committed to free speech over the last five years. From 2018 to today, the percentage of Americans who favor tech companies and the US government “restricting false information online” has risen from 39% to 55%.

“The 16-point increase is almost entirely attributable to Democrats: while Republicans’ support for online speech restrictions has barely budged, Democrats’ support has gone from 40% to 70% in the span of half a decade. That’s a thirty-point shift against the First Amendment.

“Since 2016, Democrats have heard almost nothing from their pundits and party leaders but constant fear-mongering about the wicked souls of their fellow citizens and how the internet is a weapon to spread their evil beliefs like the zombie fungus in The Last Of Us. “Through Russiagate, Covid, and the aftermath of the January 6 “insurrection,” they have been terrorized by dark warnings of rising fascism, and told again and again and again that mere exposure to bad ideas is enough for unsuspecting persons to be transformed overnight, into deranged extremists and white supremacists capable of political violence.

“Concurrent with that barrage of paranoid propaganda, the party’s base has shifted radically away from working class voters and toward college-educated white liberals. As the party has become beholden to urban, credentialed professionals, it has come to adopt the prejudices of that class. When today’s diehard Democrats cast their gazes upon the vast majority of the country, two-thirds of which does not have a bachelor’s degree, they see a nation of parochial bigots, each of them one Facebook post away from being brainwashed by QAnon.

“These party loyalists believe they’re resisting fascism, but they’re courting it. Every authoritarian movement has started by persuading one faction of the population that another faction, be it a minority or a majority, is a malignant threat within the body politic. In the name of neutralizing that threat, the authoritarian party demands the abridgment of rights and liberties, beginning with political pluralism. And that starts with policing the opposition’s speech.

“The Democratic Party is in a dark place. Still suffering under the illusion that it’s the party of workers, it is unable to see that its leaders and activists are waging a class war from above. Every time a Democratic leader intones gravely about “fascism,” they’re expressing the anxiety of a cloistered elite terrified of the resentments of the unwashed masses. Every time they invoke a crisis of democracy, they’re borrowing from the playbook of dictators, who always contrive a national emergency to justify their power grabs.

“From this reactionary paranoia springs the Democratic rank-and-file’s turn against free speech and its leadership’s constant calls for online censorship. Capitulating to them is the road to ruin.”

Note the good points being made by Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and others, on Public at Substack, that the real totalitarianism, the real imprisonment today is taking place within our minds. Its not the fear of storm troopers banging on our door and taking us away. It’s the fear created by constant messaging on social media, and news media, fear engendered by the endless smearing of disagreeing others with charges of “racist, fascist, right-winger…” etc. This incites the fear of being publicly vilified, censored, silenced, banned, and cancelled for expressing differing ideas, differing opinions from the dominant approved narrative of Woke Progressivism. Many are being rendered fearful of facing horrific consequences for exercising freedom of speech- fearful of being socially ostracized, fired, de-monetized. So now we self-censor, which some suggest was stated by George Orwell as the worst form of totalitarian censorship (1984).

Watch the contemporary justification of force, the abandonment of freedom

Classic Liberalism honored the fundamental principles to protect the freedom, rights, and equality of all- to respect the self-determination of others, and to counter the human tendency to totalitarianism by dispersing power among diverse and competing individuals, and by maintaining separated and fully independent government institutions. Add here the encouragement of the persuasion protocols of liberal democracy principles (not permitting coercion but protecting the free speech of all, open debate, not criminalizing disagreement).

When you abandon these basic principles of freedom and begin to dismiss the critical responsibility to defend them by embracing narratives of imagined heroic and righteous crusades to save the world, you can then validate removing the constraints on your own impulse to totalitarianism. You can then justify the use of coercion, force, and even violence toward differing others that you demonize as threats to democracy, to the world, to all that is good, as you have defined good in your crusade against evil.

Many are reaching dangerous levels of self-delusion today in their embrace of “heroic” battles to engage righteous crusades to conquer some evil that leads them to now justify the abandonment of liberal democracy. They now view disagreeing opponents as threats that are so great, as enemies so intolerably evil, as opponents that pose the “imminence of life-ending catastrophe”. Today’s new totalitarians believe that they should permit no delay (no time for normal democratic debate, disagreement, dissent), hence their ongoing validation for authoritarian/totalitarian approaches to “save the world”.

This is a horrific deformation of the hero’s quest and the righteous battle against evil because the outcome is the denial of freedom to others who differ, a trampling on other’s rights to equal freedoms. The outcome (“by their fruit you will know them”) exposes the crusade as not “righteous or just” but inhumane. Such “Noble cause corruption” has led many to wrongly believe that they can use anti-democratic means justified by the end of some “greater or common good”.

Rogan episode 2008 with Stephen Meyer of Intelligent Design advocacy

Meyer presents some convincing points on the evidence that infers intelligence or mind behind varied elements of life. But his presentation weakened when the discussion turned to violent religious beliefs as in the Aztec sacrifice of children to appease angry gods. Meyer said that he did not understand why some groups engaged such barbarity.

I would have pressed him to acknowledge that his own Christian religion advocated the very same themes- that of an angry deity that had to be appeased with blood sacrifice, the sacrifice of a child. In terms of core ideas, it is all the same barbarity. Christian versions of sacrifice to appease angry deity derive from the same primitive historical sources as all other versions such as the Aztec.

Particularly, all three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) acknowledge the story of Abraham called to sacrifice his son, a child, as a foundational story in their religious tradition. That archetype of deity angry at human sin, and demanding punishment/payment, determined the nature of their deity. The Old Testament priests then made atoning sacrifice central to their theology in opposition to the prophets who, holding an entirely different view of deity, stated that God did not want sacrifice. Jesus took up the prophetic tradition while Paul took up the opposite priestly theology of blood sacrifice to appease angry deity (see his letter to the Romans). Entirely different gods, entirely different religious beliefs and practises.

Blood sacrifice is the central theme of Pauline Christianity (“I determined to know nothing but Christ and him crucified”, 1 Corinthians 2:2) as contrasted with the version of Christianity that Historical Jesus advocated.

Some good reporting on recent climate research

http://www.sepp.org/twtwfiles/2023/TWTW%207-15-23.pdf

This Nobel laureate was recently censored by Facebook for not affirming the climate alarm…

“I don’t think there is a climate crisis. I think the key processes are exaggerated and misunderstood by a factor of about 200.” — John Clauser, Nobel Co-Laureate, Physics, 2022, June 26, 2023

Some conclusions from paleoclimate research noted in the link above…

“The following cause Climate Change:

• Solar cycles – The sun controls the energy system; Solar cycles govern longer-term timing of climate change.
• Oceans control energy storage
• Water in all phases drives the energy cycle of Climate.
• Continental Drift has shaped major steps in climate change over the past 67 million years.
• CO2 and Temperature proxies do not correlate in paleoclimate data.
• Until recently, CO2 was produced by volcanoes and oceans, with volcanoes heavy in C-13
• Catalysts such as Clouds (Albedo) and vegetation modify cycles.

“To TWTW, if governments claim their policies address causes of climate change, then their policies must include all these factors, and then CO2 will be relegated to a bit player.

“As Gallagher states there have been two states of climate for the past 3.5 million years:

“1. The Default Condition: Dry, Dusty, Cold, and Glacial

“2. The Current Condition: Wet, Warm, Non-glacial Times when Vegetation and Civilization thrive.”

And in response to recent reporting that the warm summer days of this year are “hottest in history”…

“Those who report such nonsense have glaring deficiencies in their knowledge of human history and knowledge of climate history. As Jo Nova points out, most of the Holocene (past 11,700 years) was warmer than today with the Little Ice Age extremely cold.”

Another on recent hysteria over warm summer weather…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/18/media-chases-climate-enhanced-heat-waves-misses-data-showing-they-are-less-frequent/

And more on the destructive “salvation” scheme of decarbonization…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/16/david-blackmon-heres-what-our-climate-overlords-fail-to-understand-about-fossil-fuels/

This from Roger Pielke July 19, 2023, “What the IPCC Actually Says About Extreme Weather”

“People are going absolutely nuts these days about extreme weather. Every event, any where is now readily associated with climate change and a portent of a climate out of control, apocalyptic even. I’ve long given up hope that the actual science of climate and extreme weather will be fairly reported or discussed in policy — nowadays, climate change is just too seductive and politically expedient.

“But for those who want to know what research actually says on the relationship of extreme weather and climate change, that information is readily available. Today I’ll share the excellent work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) summarizing what its most recent assessment says about various types of extreme weather and climate change.

“When you read the below you will realize that the difference between what you see in the news (including statements from leading scientists) and what the IPCC has concluded could not be more different. One day PhD dissertations will be written about our current moment of apocalyptic panic….

“The IPCC has concluded that a signal of climate change has not yet emerged beyond natural variability for the following phenomena:

• River floods
• Heavy precipitation and pluvial floods
• Landslides
• Drought (all types)
• Severe wind storms
• Tropical cyclones
• Sand and dust storms
• Heavy snowfall and ice storms
• Hail
• Snow avalanche
• Coastal flooding
• Marine heat waves

“I wonder if the IPCC is next in line to be attacked by champions of the apocalyptic zeitgeist. After all, how can science like this co-exist with an end-of-times panic? Something would seem to have to give, right?”

https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/what-the-ipcc-actually-says-about?mc_cid=876f806439&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

From comment below…. Re the “belief shaping behavior” relationship… Going to the ultimate root of problems, the level of subconscious archetypes/beliefs that shape human thought, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior.

Why I go after Paul’s Christ myth… As psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo note below, a God who solves problems with violence has been at the center of the meta-narrative of the West for two millennia. Point? If God solves problems with violence, then so will we.

“There is in Western culture a psychological archetype, a metaphor that has to do with the image of a violent and wrathful God…. this image represents God sufficiently disturbed by the sinfulness of humanity that God had only two options: destroy us or substitute a sacrifice to pay for our sins. He did the latter. He killed Christ….

“(this) hugely violent act of infanticide or child sacrifice, has been disguised by Christian conservative theologians as a ‘remarkable act of grace’. Such a metaphor of 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 2,000 years. And the unavoidable consequence for the human mind is a strong tendency to use violence’.

“’With that kind of metaphor at our center, and associated with the essential behavior of God, how could we possibly hold, in the deep structure of our unconscious motivations, any other notion of ultimate solutions to ultimate questions or crises than violence- human solutions that are equivalent to God’s kind of violence’…

“Hence, in our culture we have a powerful element that impels us to violence, a Cruel God Image…”.

“If your God uses force, then so may you, to get your way against your ‘enemies’”.

As Bob Brinsmead said, “We become just like the God that we believe in”.

A counter to alarmism over global warming (from “Net Zero Watch” newsletter of July 13, 2023)- “New study: Ten times more European deaths per year are attributed to cold weather than to hot weather”, Lancet, March 16, 2023.

“Across the 854 urban areas in Europe, we estimated an annual excess of 203,620 deaths attributed to cold and 20,173 attributed to heat”.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(23)00023-2/fulltext?mc_cid=e6f00f2caa&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

Contrary to warming alarmism, more global warming is needed to alleviate the far greater threat from our still too cold planet, cold compared to most of the Phanerozoic history of life when average temperatures were 3-6 degrees C warmer than today and all life flourished.

Add the fact that over the last century there has been a 95% decline in deaths due to natural disaster causes like climate.

https://www.humanprogress.org/dataset/deaths-from-natural-disasters/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/07/21/climate-crisis-ever-fewer-people-dying-of-climate-disasters-theres-hype-and-theres-reality/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/03/14/inconvenient-data-fewer-and-fewer-people-die-from-climate-related-natural-disasters/

Meteorologist Anthony Watts responded to the recent hysteria over warm summer days that media have claimed are the “hottest ever”.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/13/opening-up-a-can-of-climate-whoop-ass-on-this-guy/

Other responses to the ongoing exaggeration, distortion, and hysteria over warm summer days... (from Jim Lakely’s “Heartland Weekly”)

https://climaterealism.com/2023/07/earth-experiencing-hottest-day-ever-is-a-deliberate-lie/

https://climaterealism.com/2023/07/no-the-earth-did-not-have-an-unprecedented-and-terrifying-all-time-high-temperature-on-july-4th/

Further…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/13/2022-nobel-prize-winner-climate-science-has-metastasised-into-pseudoscience/

“Dr. John F. Clauser, joint recipient of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, has criticized the climate emergency narrative calling it “a dangerous corruption of science that threatens the world’s economy and the well-being of billions of people.”

From H. Sterling Burnett, July 14, 2023: “Climate Change Weekly #476: New Claims of Record-Setting Temperatures Are Nothing but Hot Air”

https://heartlanddailynews.com/tag/climate-change-weekly/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Climate+Change+Weekly+%23476%3A

From Glen Greenwald’s latest July 12, 2023- “US Sends Deadly Cluster Bombs to Ukraine After Years of Condemning Their Use. Plus: YouTube’s Censorship of Jordan Peterson’s Talk with RFK Jr.” (Note re the comment below that mainstream news media- variously referred to as “legacy media… corporate media… liberal media…”- play the central role as public megaphones for government, intelligence agencies, and Big Tech corporations.)

Quotes from article:

“This is the dirty secret of establishment power the Internet is being increasingly controlled and censored. If you go back and read the literature in the mid-1990s about the reason people were excited about the Internet and its advent, they viewed it as a liberatory technology or something that would emancipate individuals from the need to rely on centralized corporate and state control to communicate, to organize. It would allow individuals the freedom to disseminate use without having to rely on corporations or state power to do so. It had the potential to be the most empowering technological innovation in history.

“That’s what its proponents were heralding it as being. And instead, it has been degraded into its exact opposite by allowing the U.S. government to turn it into a tool of mass surveillance, it became the greatest tool of coercion and monitoring in human history. And now it is one of the most closed information systems and one of the most potent propaganda systems in the world – under the control of the U.S. security state, the U.S. government, exercising its power through Big Tech, with the ability to ban all dissent and all dissidents to make them disappear. And that’s what happened. And the more that happens, the more the word prison gets created in the mind. That’s how real despotism works.

“There’s a prelude, an introduction to “1984” that George Orwell wrote and that ended up being banned, I believe it was to 1984. It might have been to his essay about Catalonia. We’ll check on that. But the essay didn’t get published because the point that Orwell made was too threatening to the West right after World War II. What he was essentially saying was, we’re taught that despotism means this blunt use of force, that if you criticize the government, death squads in black costume show up at your house, point guns at your head, haul you off to a gulag, put you in prison. That is a form of despotism.

“But the much more effective form of control is to so propagandize the public so that dissent disappears in people’s minds. The prison exists in people’s minds. So that you don’t need to punish dissent because there is no dissent or there’s so little dissent that it’s easily marginalized. And you’ve just turned the population into such conformists that they believe everything the government says. That is a much more effective form of despotism. It doesn’t create a backlash. It creates the illusion of freedom.

“And that’s what the Internet is designed to do, to create the illusion that you have freedom and you have a choice when in reality everybody knows that there’s a tiny little range of freedom in which they can function and everything that falls outside the line, no matter who you are – even if you’re an heir to one of America’s most storied and powerful and political families like RFK, Jr. – if you step outside that line set by the U.S. government in collaboration with Big Tech, you will be silenced, censored and disappeared….

“What we have to understand is that this is a war on dissent.

“This is a war to cleanse the Internet of anyone who questions U.S. orthodoxy and to ensure that the Internet is banned from being what it was supposed to be – a source of free information and free expression – into what really is the most potent and most inescapable propaganda weapon ever to be developed. It’s aimed right at people’s brains and the idea is to cleanse it of the sense that the only information to which people are exposed is information that American power centers want them to think and want them to have….

“That is why I really do regard as the overarching cause the preservation of the few remaining places on the Internet devoted to free speech. Remember, Elon Musk turned into public enemy number one. He was beloved by the global public. He was the person who was going to give us electric cars and save the planet from climate catastrophe and get us to Mars. Someone who has been a success story in everything he touched. Overnight, he turned into public enemy number one because he bought Twitter based on the promise to just allow a little bit more free speech. Take away that weapon from them. That’s how valuable the censorship regime is to them. And now you have the entire U.S. security state creating vast tentacles to ensure that this happens.”

Comment sent to Matt Taibbi in response to his recent July 12, 2023 article on Substack– “Where Have All The Liberals Gone?” https://www.racket.news/p/where-have-all-the-liberals-gone

Re: Where have all the liberals gone? Wendell Krossa

I would suggest the “archetypes” thing, as in our inherited impulses (from our origins in an animal past) and the ideas/myths that our ancestors created to validate their more primitive impulses.

My point? We are battered endlessly with end-of-world narratives as in climate alarmism. That incites the human survival impulse. No one wants the world to end. No one wants to die. Especially not those 56% of young people worldwide who now believe “humanity is doomed”.

These apocalyptic narratives incite more than just the survival impulse. They resonate with the entire complex of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” myths and stir the associated impulses that complex of myths has always incited and validated.

Notably, the dominant narrative of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” incites the tribal impulse to oppose some threatening enemy (the dualism thing- myths of cosmic dualism validating many “this-world” tribal dualisms).

And “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex stirs (and deforms) the impulse to engage a “hero’s quest to conquer some monster/enemy”, to engage a righteous battle against evil (CO2 now lasered in on as the main indicator of human evil today- corrupt, greedy humans in industrial society that is destroying the former paradise of a wilderness world before humans).

Add the myth and impulse to violence in the apocalyptic millennial demand to purge some threatening evil in order to prepare the way to restore the lost paradise or install a new millennial utopia.

This stuff is as old as conscious humanity and has never been corrected at the most fundamental levels of our meta-narratives. We have just moved from primitive mythological versions to world religious traditions to the “secular ideological” versions of today as in “Declinism” ideology that dominates the modern world (Arthur Herman- The Idea of Decline in Western History). Note those surveys (Tupy and Bailey- Ten Global Trends) that show most people across the planet believe “the world is becoming worse”.

Many walk around self-identifying as “secular materialist” but sound no different in terms of the basic themes of their narratives than those ancient Sumerians who first gave written expression to these primitive myths that validated their basest impulses to tribalism, domination of weaker others, and destruction of differing others.

Campbell was spot on- the same primitive myths have been believed all across history and across all the cultures of the world. They still dominate our narratives today both in religious traditions and secular, even scientific versions.

Restore liberalism? Go to the root issues behind the surface things going on in our societies today. Like those military guys when ISIS was erupting a few years back, telling us that military force would not solve the problem for the long term. You had to go to the “ideology… ideas” behind such eruptions. Change the basic themes of our meta-narratives (the “archetype” stuff) and we transform what most powerfully influences human thinking, emotions, motivations, and response/behavior. Wendell Krossa

Added comment in response to Taibbi article:

My earlier point on the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex was that deeply embedded impulses and ideas (subconscious) overwhelm modern era Classic Liberal principles and ideas that have liberated us from our past that was governed by the primitive impulses to tribalism, domination of others, and the impulse to engage righteous wars against evil enemies (a deforming of the “hero’s quest”).

We need to recover and reaffirm Classic Liberal principles and ideas (even build them into AI) to counter the endless resurging of the old primeval stuff that is then once again validated by newer versions of the same old narrative themes that incite the same old impulses.

The old impulses, and the narrative themes that validate them, overwhelm Classic Liberalism because the old resonates with deeply embedded emotions, motivations, impulses, and validating themes that have dominated human consciousness/subconscious for millennia. Impulses and validating ideas that relate to survival and salvationism (i.e. the primal felt need to make a sacrifice, to pay for sin- as observed today in things like calls to give up the good life in industrial society for a return to the primitivism of a tribal past, to a low consumption lifestyle as “morally superior” to modern consumerism).

It is an issue of fundamental narrative themes and how those impact human thought, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior.

I see all these impulses and themes, no different from their primitive expressions thousands of years ago, being acted out today in the climate alarmism crusade and the response to that with destructive salvationism as in Net Zero decarbonization. Observe the features of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex being played out once again.

The battle against debilitating alarmism narratives- narratives of despair. Wendell Krossa

I am concerned by the distressing levels of anxiety and depression in our societies- notably among family, friends, and throughout the wider public realm. I think of those 56% of young people around the world, having been terrorized by extremist narratives of despair, like climate alarmism, who now believe that “humanity is doomed”. The irresponsible panic-mongering has to stop.

To the alarmists- you are traumatizing a generation of young people, deflating and destroying their hopes and dreams. Take some responsibility and acknowledge some awareness of the damage that your exaggerated and irrational alarmism is causing, especially to young minds.

This site, overall, is committed to fighting fear, to countering alarmism narratives with evidence-based hope, and with better alternatives to the pathology that is the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths. We need to purge the irrational mythology that has long infected our narratives. This will involve a thoroughgoing overhaul of our belief systems, from the core on out.

Sitesplainin… Project focus– More on the reasons why its important to understand the belief/behavior relationship, how beliefs incite, guide, and validate behavior. Wendell Krossa

The comment throughout this site on the Christ myth continues my project (one of the main projects here) of going after history’s single greatest monster and enemy, a monstrous version of deity that, as humanity’s highest ideal and authority, and from its entrenched dominant position in human narratives and consciousness, has long incited and validated our worst impulses, the inherited impulses that constitute our inner enemy and monster- i.e. our inherited animal passions.

The Christ of Paul is perhaps the best-known public representative of all similarly primitive deity theories that present deity to the public as ultimate threat, deity as judge, dominating lord/king/ruler, ultimate destroyer in apocalypse and hell, etc.

Site project, Wendell Krossa

This site repeatedly points out that the alarmism movements of today- e.g. climate alarmism- are “profoundly religious” movements. Their core inciting/validating themes are no different from the narratives of the more overtly religious eruptions of apocalyptic hysteria over past history.

The core themes of climate alarmism derive directly from the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths.

This site warns of the destructive outcomes in human societies from embracing these themes. They incite and validate our worst impulses, notably (1) to tribal exclusion and opposition, (2) to domination and meddling control of others, and (3) to violent destruction of differing others. The themes of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” profoundly deform the “hero’s quest” and otherwise “righteous battle against evil”.

Potent alternatives to the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex are offered in “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives”, reposted repeatedly below. That list goes to the very core of our narratives to offer new ideas that affirm the better angels of our nature, alternative ideas that inspire our essential goodness.

Because alarmist crusades are essentially religious movements, it helps to recognize the deeply felt needs that alarmism narratives resonate with. This will help to understand why people continue to embrace alarmism crusades- i.e. what impulses alarmism narratives appeal to (what we call “archetypes”). This has to do with subconscious things, deeply embedded things in human perception, feeling, and belief that powerfully influence our motivations and responses/behavior.

Scientific fact, as critical as that is to building more rational narratives, will not change many minds committed to apocalyptic alarmism narratives. Bare-bones empiricism, especially when marinated with a philosophical materialism tone, does not meet people’s deeper felt needs for meaning and purpose that have long been central to what it means to be human.

In response to climate alarmism, and the frustration of some skeptical scientists that their factual presentations are not gaining ground with alarmists (not changing many alarmist minds), I would paraphrase Bill Clinton’s “It’s the economy, stupid” with- “It’s the narrative, stupid”. Lets all become more truly “woke”, and pay attention to what is actually going on behind the public noise.

Human fascination, curiosity with God ideas.

The human curiosity and speculation regarding deity stems from our primary impulse to meaning. We curiously probe the question of our ultimate origins because it is central to understanding the reason for our conscious existence. It helps explain our purpose in this life. We just “have to know” such things. Hence, the entire history of speculation on this, from the earliest beginnings in primitive mythology, then in world religious traditions, and now in “secular/philosophical/ideological” traditions, even in “science”, often better understood as “scientism” shaped by philosophical materialism that endlessly crosses the science/philosophy boundary to speculate on the metaphysical. Just like religious people do.

Science as often similar to “spiritual” probing? Remember the search for the “God particle” (Higgs Boson)? Also “multi-verse” speculation (widely believed to be proven truth), or “Self-Organizing Principle”, or Dawkins’ “Natural Selection Is The Source Of All Enlightenment” (God Delusion), and the other diverse god theories of our era- “Vengeful Gaia, angry Planet or angry Mother Earth, punitive Universe, payback Karma”, among other god theories today. (Jim Baggot in “Farewell to Reality” notes that multi-verse theory is widely accepted in the public as fact.)

The probing and speculating on ultimate origins/causes arises from the natural human desire to align life with the ultimate reason or purpose for creation. This has to do with our natural desire to fulfill the reason for which we exist.

Here’s a reposting of comments from psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo that make my point on the belief/behavior relationship in the human quest for meaning. This is from their material on the influence of bad religious ideas on human personality and society. Again, my point here is that the fundamental themes of primitive mythologies have not faded from human narratives and consciousness today but continue in the great world religions and have also been given new embodiment in so-called “secular/ideological” versions, as in the climate alarmism crusade. The same old pathological themes continue to harmfully impact our consciousness, lives, and societies.

Psychotherapist/theologian Zenon Lotufo (quoting psychologist/theologian Harold Ellens) details how images/beliefs, notably images of ultimate reality and ideals like deity, how such images influence human consciousness, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior in daily life. Both men affiliated with the Christian tradition. Ellens was a US Army chaplain.

Quotes from Lotufo’s book “Cruel God, Kind God”

The Introduction states that, among others, “(Lotufo) explores the interface of psychology, religion, and spirituality at the operational level of daily human experience… (this is of the) highest urgency today when religious motivation seems to be playing an increasing role, constructively and destructively, in the arena of social ethics, national politics, and world affairs…”

Lotufo notes the dominance of ‘Cruel God Christianity’ in Western society, with its portrayal of deity as monarch and judge, the accompany fear of this deity, and the atonement theories that this image of deity affirms, all ideas that deform human personality and societies:

“(This image results) in the inhibition of the full development of personality… The doctrine of penal satisfaction implies an image of God as wrathful and vengeful, resulting in exposing God’s followers to guilt, shame, and resentment… These ideas permeate Western culture and inevitably influence those who live in this culture…

“Beliefs do exert much more influence over our lives than simple ideas… ideas can also, in the psychological sphere, generate ‘dynamis’, or mobilize energy… (they) may result, for instance, in fanaticism and violence, or… may also produce anxiety and inhibitions that hinder the full manifestation of the capacities of a person…

“Basic cultural beliefs are so important, especially in a dominant widespread culture…

“There is in Western culture a psychological archetype, a metaphor that has to do with the image of a violent and wrathful God. Crystallized in Anselm’s juridical atonement theory, this image represents God sufficiently disturbed by the sinfulness of humanity that God had only two options: destroy us or substitute a sacrifice to pay for our sins. He did the latter. He killed Christ….

“Ellens goes on by stating that the crucifixion, a hugely violent act of infanticide or child sacrifice, has been disguised by Christian conservative theologians as a ‘remarkable act of grace’. Such a metaphor of 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 2,000 years. And the unavoidable consequence for the human mind is a strong tendency to use violence’.

“Hence, in our culture we have a powerful element that impels us to violence, a Cruel God Image… that also contributes to guilt, shame, and the impoverishment of personality…”.

As Harold Ellens says, “If your God uses force, then so may you, to get your way against your ‘enemies’”.

Add also that the themes of (1) tribalism (true believers favored and “saved”, versus unbelievers who are rejected and destroyed), (2) domination (deity as dominating Lord, Ruler, King), and (3) ultimate violent destruction of the differing others (apocalypse, hell)… such themes, sacralized in deity as ultimate ideals and authority, then serve to incite and validate the same features in the adherents to such belief systems.

Point from above comment? Wendell Krossa

The point is that bad ideas- bad myths that embody primitive archetypes- have always incited and validated our worst impulses. The endless promotion of these themes in our narratives, whether in historical religious traditions or today’s “secular” versions… the ongoing promotion of systems of belief that embrace these myths has always buried history’s single greatest insight that there was no monstrous threat at the core of reality. There has always and only been “no conditions love” at the core of all things. This is an insight that was first clearly stated by Historical Jesus, an insight to finally liberate us in the depths of our consciousness, an insight that would take us to new reaches of liberation in mind, consciousness, emotion, and motivation (and thereby liberating our potential to respond more humanely in life).

Speaking of “bad ideas” and their harmful influence on humanity…. The Christ myth, the most prominent “God” in the world pantheon of menacing gods today, with its embrace of monstrous threat themes from primitive mythology, is the cohering center of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex that dominates narratives today, both religious and secular. (Christ as “threat theology”? What about the loving, kind, and gentle Jesus in the New Testament? Well yes, but that Historical Jesus is someone entirely opposite to Paul’s Christ that buries the more humane features in the Jesus material.).

Note, just for example, that the “lost paradise” feature of primitive mythology is replicated in the contemporary “noble savage myth”- i.e. the myth that hunter gatherers of the past were a more pure and strong version of humans, more connected to nature with their low consumption lifestyles. This myth dominates academia today, as detailed in sources like Steven LeBlanc’s “Constant Battles: The myth of the peaceful, noble savage”.

Add also the myth that the past wilderness world was a better, more pure world free of corrupting, defiling humanity (today’s faddish demonization of humanity as primarily defined by greed, selfishness, destruction- humanity as a “virus, cancer” on Earth, an unwelcome outsider to nature). Consequent to humans fucking everything up, now life is in decline toward something worse, toward collapse and ending.

The themes of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” are all related in a cause-effect progression…

Salvation is then to be found in curbing the number of humans and severely diminishing our consumption, even to the extent of violently purging our industrial civilization (e.g. Marxist revolution). By such purging we thereby restore the imagined lost paradise.

The “violent purging” feature of primitive belief systems is drawn from mythological accounts like the New Testament book of Revelation where such violence is presented as the necessary prerequisite to restoring the lost paradise (the ultimate roots of this mythology go further back to the Sumerian Flood myth (i.e. purging “too many noisy humans” that disturbed the waterworks god- Enlil). Similarly, violent purging was a central theme in Zoroaster’s theology- i.e. his apocalypse of molten metal washing across the planet to purge the evil from the world.

These ideas are all based on the foundational myth of a vengeful, violent deity. They are themes that have long incited people to fear “fallen” humanity as the threat to the world and life, as the enemy of life, as the threat to be opposed and violently purged in order to save the world and regain the lost paradise.

These myths further incite the tribal impulse to see oneself as set in irreconcilable opposition to differing others who are viewed as the threatening enemies. Add that the myth of God as dominating lord, king, ruler then validates human domination and destruction of the threatening other. These pathological ideas have always deformed the hero’s quest to fight righteous battles and conquer monsters. To save something.

Full liberation from our animal inheritance, the liberation to live as fully human, will entail the discarding of these ideas that incite our worst impulses, and replacing them with new themes that affirm our better impulses to live as human. This is a narrative “total overhaul” project, going to the very core bad ideas, such as the God theories that provide validation for entire complexes of related bad ideas.

Start by replacing all threat theology residue with the new central cohering theme of “love at the core of reality”- the ultimate definition of love as “absolutely no conditions”. That stunning new theology embedded at the core of our narratives will radiate out to change everything. It takes “God is love” to new heights of wondrous inexpressibility with the feature of “unconditional” that will fully transform and humanize everything else. Marinate a bit on this insight that a stunning new definition of “God is love” is the core of reality and feel how that liberates consciousness and emotion from ultimate threat. We are all safe… in the end, in an ultimate sense.

I would wrap up this point by applying it to climate alarmism today where we see the same old complex of myths stirring populations with fear (aroused survival impulse) to embrace another destructive salvation scheme (decarbonization) that involves a righteous war against evil (the war on fossil fuels), with violent purging of evil (purging human industrial civilization based on fossil fuels), as preparation to restore a lost paradise.

In terms of our meta-narratives across history, there has been nothing new under the sun. Joseph Campbell was right that the same primitive myths have been embraced all across history and by all the cultures of the world. Nothing changes until we thoroughly rethink and revise our basic narratives with better alternatives. There is no excuse now as we have the better themes.

Distortion of the real world with “virtual reality” modelling:

Good one on the discredited climate models that are the “factual” or “evidence” basis of the climate alarmism crusade.

https://dailysceptic.org/2023/07/10/climate-models-come-with-dangerous-co2-warming-baked-in-code-review-finds/?mc_cid=5172751342&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

The disconnect of model predictions (i.e. “running way too hot”) with real world observation of climate has been well-documented at sites like “Wattsupwiththat.com” and “co2coalition.org”.

Censorship Creep, Wendell Krossa

Who sets the limits, and how do we set limits, on censorship “mission creep”?

People have cautioned us about the dangers of “mission creep”- defined as “The gradual addition of new tasks or activities to a project so that the original purpose or idea begins to be lost”.

You similarly get “totalitarian censorship creep” when you abandon absolutist-type positions on free speech and open the door to censorship of things like “hate speech”. You then get totalitarian censorship creep- a form of mission creep as more and more things previously acknowledged and tolerated as legitimate dissent or difference of opinion are now becoming classified as dangerous or harmful hate speech.

The problem remains- Who defines such things as hate speech, or “disinformation/misinformation”. Tribally-oriented minds cannot be trusted to do this.

How do we keep such projects as protecting people from hate speech, from extending beyond real dangers and evil, to areas where now its just difference of opinion and speech that are being classified as dangerous hate speech?

Differing sides of social partisan divides will push through any opening of a crack in the door and begin to extend their definition of “hate speech” to include their opponents differing opinions and speech just because its disagreeable and makes them feel “uncomfortable/threatened”. This is consequent to the impulse to dominate and control others, with the accompanying impulse to exaggerate the dangers of others, to excessively demonize their opinions and speech, the demonization of enemies as “dangerous threats”. (Threats to what? To your control of all? To your domination of public discourse? Is that how you view and define democracy?)

Such is the outcome of abandoning absolutist positions on freedoms like free speech. As former ACLU chief Ira Glasser said- We must protect even speech that is repugnant and offensive to people. It too must be protected. In today’s hyper-sensitive atmosphere, where sensitivity to feelings (feeling “upset, uncomfortable”) has become a dominant criterion for censoring others, we are giving away basic freedoms.

We counter bad speech with better speech, duking things out in the public arena and letting people freely make up their minds in response to such robust debate. This means affirming absolutist-like positions on freedoms. That alone protects us all.

This from The Free Press, July 11, 2023- “AI Will Save the World: Artificial Intelligence won’t end civilization, argues Marc Andreesen. Just the opposite. It is quite possibly the best thing human beings have ever created”, Marc Andreesen.

“… the slippery slope is not a fallacy, it’s an inevitability. Once a framework for restricting even egregiously terrible content is in place—for example, for hate speech, a specific hurtful word, or for misinformation, obviously false claims like “the Pope is dead”—a shockingly broad range of government agencies and activist pressure groups and nongovernmental entities will kick into gear and demand ever greater levels of censorship and suppression of whatever speech they view as threatening to society and/or their own personal preferences. They will do this up to and including in ways that are nakedly felony crimes. This cycle in practice can run apparently forever, with the enthusiastic support of authoritarian hall monitors installed throughout our elite power structures. This has been cascading for a decade in social media and with only certain exceptions, continues to get more fervent all the time.

“And so this is the dynamic that has formed around “AI alignment” now. Its proponents claim the wisdom to engineer AI-generated speech and thoughts that are good for society, and to ban AI-generated speech and thoughts that are bad for society. Its opponents claim that the thought police are breathtakingly arrogant and presumptuous—and often outright criminal, at least in the U.S.—and in fact are seeking to become a new kind of fused government-corporate-academic authoritarian speech dictatorship ripped straight from the pages of George Orwell’s 1984.”

Throwing wrenches into the gears of the climate alarmism crusade, Wendell Krossa

While it is appreciated when politicians apply the brakes to Net Zero, it is disconcerting when they follow that “urging-caution” approach with pledges to still eliminate CO2 emissions eventually, in order to “do something to fight climate change”. Danielle Smith of Alberta recently stated this in her meeting with climate change fanatic Justin Trudeau. But why commit to eliminating fossil fuels? Based on what evidence do we need to control emissions? Answer these issues first before you re-affirm the alarmist narrative on fighting looming “climate change catastrophe”.

Start with the best evidence on CO2 which shows that CO2 levels are still at historical lows due to the dangerous decline of CO2 over the past millions of years, as compared to the much higher levels of most of the history of life. Patrick Moore, in “Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom”, explains why CO2 has been disappearing from Earth’s carbon cycles due to sequestration in carboniferous rocks via absorption by marine species… https://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/jon/climate.html.

And there is still much indeterminacy about what is contributing to rising CO2 over the past few centuries, with the human contribution playing a minor part among other natural contributing factors (i.e. the “perturbations” in Earth’s carbon cycle are larger than the human contribution).

Note also that when CO2 was in the multiple thousands of ppm over the past there was no climate crisis and there was even the disconnect of climate cooling. And with the slight rise in CO2 over past centuries (compared to the multiple-thousands ppm levels of history) we have seen a massive greening of earth, resulting in more food for animals and increased crop production for humanity. Both huge benefits.

Add the evidence that the warming influence of CO2 has now peaked, it has reached “saturation” (in physics terms) and even the doubling of CO2 to 800 ppm that would take two centuries at the current rate of rise- 2 ppm per year- this doubling would contribute very little to any further possible warming. Maybe a degree or so. “Maybe”- because other natural factors show stronger correlations to the climate change that we are observing, contrary to the now discredited climate models.

All to say- Do not fear rising CO2 levels. There is no need to tax carbon or decarbonize our societies. But yes, revive nuclear and explore other options, even continue with some development of unreliable solar and wind, but do so on private dime because public subsidies to solar/wind unfairly harm the poorest the most with rising energy costs and general inflation from the anti-fossil fuel crusade.

https://financialpost.com/opinion/truth-about-forest-fires-up-in-climate-change-smoke

This is what insanity looks like- “madness of crowds” levels of insanity

Apocalyptic movements generate “madness of crowds” responses in populations. Alarmists promote panic-mongering with exaggerated scenarios of “crisis…. catastrophe… existential emergency…” and thereby arouse the survival impulse in people.

Panic-mongering is never a smart approach to helping people to understand problems and to come up with rational solutions. Panic-mongering, based on exaggerated and hence distorting apocalyptic alarmism narratives, generates responses that “save the world by destroying it” as in the Xhosa cattle slaughter of 1856-7 and the similarly destructive Net Zero decarbonization crusade of today. Hence, my conclusion that movements like climate alarmism are a form of mass insanity.

Illustrating detail…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/17/the-beatings-will-continue-until-morale-improves-should-not-be-a-template-for-energy-policy/

Where are the rational kids refusing to be carried away with crowd madness (social contagions) and willing to unembarrassedly shout out- “Mom, the emperor has no clothes” and thereby break the spell of social contagion eruptions.

What happened to traditional liberalism? (as we once understood it)

What is this widespread inability today to embrace diversity of views and speech? Why the endless search for dissenters to groupthink, the obsessive search for decades-past “sins” (i.e. the careless speech of youthful years). What is this harsh condemnation of difference of opinion and speech, with calls for merciless punishment, even destruction of careers, banning from public spaces, and the silencing of differing others entirely? What inhumane spirit is this? The busybody interference, the puritan moralizing, the obsessive-compulsive urge to dominate others- to control their speech, actions, and lifestyles.

What is going on?? Where is common love in all this, love as in the basic principles of Classic Liberalism- i.e. tolerance, inclusion of diversity, respect for others freedom and self-determination, and more? Why such perversion of “the hero’s quest and righteous battle for truth” in the tribal demonization of differing others as irreconcilable enemies? Are we now observing the ugliest outcomes of “noble cause corruption” that deforms human consciousness and basic human decency? Has this noble cause corruption been given precedence over all else- even common love, mercy, forgiveness, toleration, acceptance/inclusion, and restorative justice?

It appears that a seriously deformed understanding of the hero’s quest and righteous battle against evil has resulted in the perversion and abandonment of traditional Classic Liberalism.

Hope in pushback from ordinary people across the Earth:

Michael Shellenberger repeatedly reaffirms hope to continue the battle against the current totalitarian wave that has swept across our societies, the totalitarianism unleashed in the “Censorship Industrial Complex”, as also in the climate alarmism crusade. He notes the pushback in the farmer’s protests in Holland, the Yellow Vest protests in France, etc. I would add the pushback from ordinary people in Sri Lanka who suffered horribly from the insane policies of governing elites there. Add also the evidence of pushback from the majority of ordinary citizens in Europe, and elsewhere, reacting to the damaging costs from the war on fossil fuels (Net Zero policies).

Wealthy out-of-touch neoliberal elites like Justin Trudeau, Joe Biden and many others, have no idea of the suffering that they have caused by inflicting their irrational Net Zero policies on ordinary citizens and how that results in necessary citizen pushback just to survive. The suffering inflicted on average citizens is felt from the blocking of fossil fuel development, leading to human-caused increase in the costs of energy, and that results directly in inflationary pressure on the 6000 products that are derived from fossil fuels.

The growing revolt/reaction around the world needs, as Shellenberger says, more organization and more public voice.

On the growing resistance to Woke extremism “being pushed in our faces”.

Note particularly the section in the “public.substack” link below titled “Forever culture war”. Good on the elements of extremism that have emerged from the trans movement- i.e. the shift from gaining “equality of rights legally” to now “moral bullying” and totalitarian demands on others, with threats of cancellation for dissenters to the extremist demands. This is what people are reacting to in the “Go Woke, go broke” responses to major companies that have been embracing the extremist trans positions. The pushbacks are not mainly “transphobia” or “anti-trans” reactions, though such elements may be present in rare cases.

Most people simply want to be left alone to enjoy their favorite sport or product and not have lectures on some social issue pushed in their faces, with the understood background threat to any expression of dissenting opinion or speech.

A quote from the link below…

“Even people who are open to being persuaded, as they were over gay marriage, are resentful at being told not just how to act but what to believe (or how to speak, what terms to use).”

Note also the go-to reaction of Woke Progressive elites today– i.e. to smear all who disagree as “Right-wing nutcases” of some sort… “ULTRA MAGA White Supremacist Trump supporters.” Even though the protesters identified as liberals?!?

https://public.substack.com/p/censor-child-porn-not-citizen-speech

And this related comment from:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/joe-rogan-ice-cube-discuss-bud-light-fiasco-dylan-mulvaney-attention-people-sick-s-t

“Rogan said that Americans are tired of woke politics taking over their lives.

“People are sick of this shit. They’re sick of social things like that, that are controversial getting stuffed in your face, where you have to accept. People are like, ‘I don’t want to accept it,’” he said.

“Politics really shouldn’t be in someone’s beer mug,” Ice Cube added.

Good science includes the big picture context, the long-term patterns and trends:

Climate changes have been much more severe over past millennia (over the 30,000 years before our interglacial begins), with swings of up to 20 degrees C between warming and cooling periods. And that climate change was clearly caused by natural factors. Point? There is no evidence that starting around 1850, climate change of the mildest amount, has now become “human-caused” (i.e. the mild 1 degree C warming since the descent into the coldest period of our Holocene interglacial- the Little Ice Age of 1645-1715).

See the graph of climate changes over the past 50,000 years on page 33 of Professor Ian Plimer’s “Heaven And Earth” (paleoclimate history). Our interglacial warming has resulted in the significant moderation of climate change over the past 11,000 years. We can be very thankful for this now moderated climate change of our interglacial.

A “theological/spiritual” point re site project:

Exposing the great fraud of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” mythology.

Fraud? This historically dominant mythology distorts entirely the true story of life. And more to the point- This complex of myths is really about the great lie of “retaliatory, tribal, punitive, destroying deity” that is the cohering center of the mythology. So, slay the real monster or enemy- the God behind the myths, at the core of the lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption complex.

(Insert: Yes, I know that true believers will protest that the terms I use- i.e. retaliation, tribalism, punishment, destruction- such terms distort the features of deity that they prefer to view more positively as the divine attributes of “holiness, justice, goodness, and honor”. But my dissenting argument, backed by people like psychologist Harold Ellens, is that the religious believer’s defense of traditional views of deity is the real distortion of the true nature of what we are talking about in deity. Note how Ellens frames this issue (as quoted by psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo):

The claim that God was exhibiting love in offering his son as a sacrifice, distorts the fact that Paul’s view on the death of Jesus was really the glorification of the barbaric act of human sacrifice, child sacrifice.

So also, Charles Templeton exposed the true believer tendency to misread and reframe mythical pathology as ultimate good that is deserving of human worship. In his comment on the Old Testament deity, Templeton said that anyone demanding constant attention, praise, and worship on threat of death for not doing so, was very much behaving just like the psychopathic dictator Idi Amin. Yet how many of us grew up believing that such “worship of God” was the apex of human honor and respect for deity.

Alex Garcia in “Alpha God” similarly exposed the real nature of what human worship of deity is all about.

Contrary to the long history of humanity creating monstrous deities, I offer this insight…

There is only and always love behind all, at the core of reality. A stunningly inexpressible “no conditions love”. That is the ultimate reality, or true nature of deity, the creating and sustaining reality- a transcendently inexpressible love and light. That takes human understanding to the pinnacle of humaneness, to the summit of love and ultimate Good.

And try to get the central point in this- the scandalous feature of “unconditional” as foundational to defining the true nature of God. Unconditional deity revolutionizes everything in human narratives and consequently in human thought, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior. It overturns the entire history of mythology and religion.

Meditate on the implications of this…

You don’t need to be dependent on any higher authority

The authorities of Jesus day often asked him where his authority came from. He never answered them by referring to some holy book or religious authority. He referred to himself as the human one, one born of humans, an ordinarily human like everyone else.

Note in Matthew 5 how he dismisses the great authority of his era- the OT scriptures- by stating “you have heard it said ‘eye for eye’ but now I say to you… love your enemy”. He does not quote some verse in a holy book to affirm his stance on loving enemies. He simply says- “I say to you”. Me the human one, an ordinary human being.

His teaching was based on his sense of common humanness, what was the humane thing as he saw it. His sense of the human thing to do. We see that understanding of common humanity today in our human rights codes, our constitutions, and at its best in Classic Liberalism principles where all are included equally, all are equal under the same system of law, and government institutions exist to serve the people, and none are subjected to collectives that are run/dominated by elites who claim to know what is best for all others.

You don’t need any higher authority to tell you what is right and good, other than your personal sense of what is good and human (of course, our personal sense of things is informed by common human rights codes and constitutions…)

Saving the world by destroying it (as in de-development, better known as a retreat to primitivism)

Sites showing the outcomes of Net Zero decarbonization as “salvation” scheme. See also the regular reports on the devastating outcomes of Net Zero in Europe at “Net Zero Watch”, the newsletter of Global Warming Policy Forum.

https://financialpost.com/opinion/net-zero-impoverishment-how-lower-gdp-opportunity

“Musings on Forest Fires, Fuel Load, Dr. Ehrlich and the CO2 Fertilization Effect Upon US Forests”, by Don Healy, July 2023

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/10/musings-on-forest-fires-fuel-load-dr-ehrlich-and-the-co2fertilization-effect-upon-u-s-forests/

“We do know empirically that increasing CO2 levels will raise temperature modestly. In lab experiments a doubling of CO2 levels from 280 ppm to 560 ppm will raise temperate about 1-degree Centigrade. The next doubling would raise temperature even less as the absorption spectra quickly becomes saturated. So the actual temperature increase due to greenhouse gases is proving to be relatively minimal.

“A far more important effect, especially from the aspect of the fuel load situation in our nation’s forests is that of the CO2 fertilization effect (CFE) on all vegetative growth, plants, crops and certainly trees. We shall delve more deeply into this aspect shortly, but a little historical perspective is necessary first. When coniferous trees evolved about 360 million years ago, CO2 levels were about 4000 ppm (parts per million), 9 times today’s levels. When deciduous trees, broadleaves evolved about 160 million years ago CO2 levels were about 2200 ppm. The thousands of botanical experiments to study the effect of elevated CO2 on crops, trees, grasses, and other vegetative forms indicate that 800 to 1000 ppm CO2 is the optimum level for most species.

“Not only does CO2 fertilization produce more growth, but it also increases the drought resistance of most plants. Additionally, since the stomata, the pores on the leaves through which the CO2 enters the leaf to allow photosynthesis to take place do not need to remain open as long to allow CO2 to enter, less transpiration of water takes place and the plants become more drought resistant. Thus, plants grow more rapidly and require less soil moisture for the same unit of growth. These two issues, CO2 fertilization and increased drought resistance are two important factors in accelerating the increase in fuel load that have yet to receive much media coverage….

“At 430 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere currently most terrestrial plants are just starting to get in their happy zone. As mentioned above, the optimum CO2 levels for most plant species is between 800 and 1000 ppm…

“Global satellite surveys have confirmed a global greening of the planet with one study published April 26, 2016 from NASA titled, “Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds”.

The first two paragraphs read:

“From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands have shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide”, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25. “The greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to two times the continental United States.”

The persisting dominance of declinism thinking (due to the endless beating of the apocalypse theme into public consciousness?)

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01848-7

Political/social hope

Take note of the political scene today in the US- e.g. the campaign of Robert Kennedy on the Dems side, Tucker Carlson perhaps on the other side (or Vivek Ramaswamy?). And Elon Musk fronting the battle for free speech. And the excellent journalism of Michael Shellenberger, Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, among similar others. Hope in freedom springs eternal, eh.

Added note: In response to the larger emergence of Woke Progressivism and its push for renewed collectivism, one of our main projects should be the affirmation of Classic Liberalism. This generation seems unaware that this is where true social justice flows from, true progress.

Quote from https://www.humanprogress.org/erec-smith-the-human-progress-podcast-ep-41-transcript/

“Two, we need to reemphasize and make explicit classical liberal values. Classical liberalism is social justice if you do it right. There needs to be an explicit movement reemphasizing the primacy of reason, individuality, free speech, and deliberative democracy. We can’t just assume that these ideas are in the air. We have to assume that people don’t know about them and be upfront and direct about their value, especially individuality and free speech since we’re now steeped in racial essentialism and the idea that words are violence,” (Erec Smith).

More on distorting narratives

Example: https://www.foxnews.com/media/psaki-attempts-scare-muslim-parents-opposing-transgender-ideology-schools-gop-trying-recruit

Liberals have developed a nasty habit (conservatives do the same) of portraying their opponents in terms of the positions of minority extremists on the other side. This widespread pattern in news media has itself become a form of extremism.

It is a form of collectivist thinking- to view differing others stereotypically in terms of the worst features on the other side. To extrapolate the views and statements of the nutcase few as characterizing all on the other side.

Hence the reaction to the Supreme Court decision to overturn Affirmative Action as being about racism and anti-diversity and more. Or to portray those (parents) questioning the excessive and often bullying trans-indoctrination of young children as being “anti-trans” or “anti-gay” and even as “terrorists” for dissenting.

This is the framing of some issue in the distorting terms of the worst minority extremes on the other side. Like Michael Moore stating that all who voted for Trump are racists, or Nazis.

We see this endlessly with liberals who demonize all who disagree with Woke Progressivism, even fellow liberals, as “right-wingers… racists… white supremacists…anti-vaxxers…” and more. The generalization of all dissent in terms of the worst extremes of the other side. That helps promote fear of all differing others as a great threat- you stereotype all in collectivist terms, demonize in terms of the worst extremes and then state that all who differ with you are like that.

This then locks people on both sides in tribal polarity unwilling to even countenance that there are many issues that both sides can agree on and work together on. The areas of common agreement are more prominent than the extreme differences.

Add here, the complicating factor of the refusal to understand the other’s viewpoints, to see good intentions, to grant the benefit of the doubt re motivations and misspoken comments, to give second, third, and more chances to imperfect others.

This polarizing, and extreme demonization of differing others, validates the sense that we are fighting a righteous war against intolerable evil, against enemies that must be destroyed, that have no rights to free speech to push their life-destroying positions. They are a threat too great to even tolerate. They must be vanquished entirely in order to “save democracy or save the world”.

Hope will be located in the middle majority speaking out against this extremism on both sides. Not cowed to silence, not self-censoring out of fear of cancelling. We need the children who innocently shout in the midst of crowd madness- “Mommy, the emperor has no clothes” and break the spell of crowd-insanity. Kids who refuse to join social contagions and stand free for reality.

Brilliant. Brilliant. How many times do I need to say it… Wow. Go Michael (Shellenberger), go. Go Brendan, go.

From “Public”- “The Infantilism Of Totalitarianism: Why the ‘Meta-Facebook-Threads’ effort to make language safe is so dangerous”, by Brendan O’Neill. July 8, 2023.

https://public.substack.com/p/the-infantalism-of-totalitarianism

My hope resurges when I read these contemporary heroes battling for freedom. The future does then brighten. A similar “go” to Glen Greenwald and Matt Taibbi and their colleagues. Among the most credible of journalists today.

And then…. Skepticism over the climate alarmism narrative– i.e. the widely embraced story of “human-caused climate change that is becoming catastrophic”, life-threatening. The comment below continues the site project to counter alarmism narratives and crusades that wreak immense damage on our societies through their “salvation” schemes (“saving the world by destroying it”).

How can I be certain that the facts that I present here on climate are scientifically accurate? Wendell Krossa

Well, for starters, I exercise consistent skepticism toward the limiting and fact-distorting context of alarmism narratives that endlessly repeat such exaggerated claims as “hottest… or worst on record”. Their “on record” referring only to the last century or so of climate data and even within that limited context they distort climate facts. A proper and scientific “on record” would be the larger context that includes the longer-term trends of our entire Holocene interglacial of the past 11,000 years, and further notes the much longer paleoclimate context of climate- i.e. the entire 500-million year Phanerozoic history of life.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/06/24/how-to-compare-today-to-the-past/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/02/25/the-holocene-temperature-conundrum/

A proper “big picture” context will include the information that the “Holocene Optimum” (10,000 to 6,000 years ago) was warmer than today by a degree or more Centigrade. The complete big picture and longest-term trends that are associated with anything will get us to “the true state of things”. That is the proper context for understanding the thing that we are looking at (in this case- climate change), for putting that thing in its proper factual perspective.

So also, the Roman and Medieval warm periods were warmer than today’s Modern Warm Period. The full Holocene record shows that since the end of the Holocene Optimum we have been on a 6000 year long cooling trend with each subsequent warming period being less warm than previous ones.

https://co2coalition.org/news/new-scientific-evidence-robustly-affirms-scandinavian-temperatures-were-3-4c-warmer-9000-years-ago/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/06/24/how-to-compare-today-to-the-past/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/02/25/the-holocene-temperature-conundrum/

Note the graph in this report on climate over our Holocene interglacial (similar graphs are in the above links)

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/12/21/the-holocene-thermal-optimum/

Quote from the above link: “It is very premature to predict a disaster based on a shaky 150-year surface temperature trend.”

Include the fact that 3 centuries ago we descended into the coldest period of our interglacial- the “Little Ice Age” of 1645-1715. We have still not fully rebounded from that dangerously cold period (Northern hemisphere summers missed, starvation). A few more degrees C of warming would not be a “climate emergency or catastrophe” but would be a return to a more optimal, normal world that would benefit all life just as the warmer climate during the Holocene Optimum led to the emergence and flourishing of the great early civilizations and the development of agriculture.

The big picture context overturns climate alarmism by exposing it as a distorting apocalyptic-scale exaggeration that does not help us understand the true state of life.

The alarmist’ repetitious claim that recent heatwaves and warm years are “hottest on record” is not true as the hottest years of the last century (i.e. heatwaves with most days above 100 degrees F.) were in the 1930s, particularly in 1935 and 1936.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/07/hottest-day-evah/

https://co2coalition.org/news/the-deadly-heat-wave-of-july-1936-in-the-middle-of-arguably-the-hottest-decade-on-record-for-the-us/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/07/15/the-deadly-heat-wave-of-july-1936-in-the-middle-of-arguably-the-hottest-decade-on-record-for-the-us/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/08/06/science-studies-say-heatwave-were-more-common-in-usa-during-the-1930s/

My conclusion from the evidence is as always- There is no sound scientific reason to tax carbon or decarbonize our societies. The benefits of fossil fuels overwhelm any possible negative outcomes on life.

Also, to fill out the big picture on climate, note the dangerously low levels of CO2 during the past four glacial advances…

https://co2coalition.org/facts/water-vapor-is-the-primary-greenhouse-gas/

And another counter to the claim of “climate crisis”–

https://co2coalition.org/news/nobel-laureate-dr-john-clauser-i-dont-believe-there-is-a-climate-crisis/

A good one from meteorologist Anthony Watts…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/08/no-cnn-climate-isnt-the-cause-of-excess-deaths-in-europe/

And…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/09/milloy-in-the-wsj-beware-the-heat-hype-the-misleading-madness-of-mean-global-temperatures/

Switching topics: This from “Public” of July 7, 2023– “We Shall Overcome… By Censoring our Enemies” by Michael Shellenberger and colleagues (and they’re just kidding)…

“The Tribunal said “the fundamental rationale of the democratic process upon which our society is founded is that when competing views, opinions and policies are publicly debated and exposed to public scrutiny, the good will over time drive out the bad and the true will prevail over the false. Only when differing views are expressed, contradicted, answered and debated will the legislature be able to obtain the fullest picture of the views held by those they represent.”

Tribalism, hatred of the differing other: Wendell Krossa–

Some comment on the all-too widespread abandonment of common love and decency for unleashed hatred of differing others.

Both sides in our societies- i.e. the “left-right” divide- have been venting their tribal spirit in unhinged hatred toward differing others over past years. This exhibits in the congenital impulse to meddle with and control others, and the outcome is a general sense that things are messed up today.

Daily (most often on partisan news media) we see examples of the eruption of intense tribalism and the related demonization of differing others as irredeemable enemies who deserve varied forms of punishment- whether censorship, silencing, banning, or outright cancelling. This is the manifestation of a seriously deformed “hero’s journey or quest”.

Tribal partisans obsessive-compulsively scan public discourse (e.g. social media) for micro-mistakes of opponents to jump on and harshly condemn, framing any misspoken words in the worst possible way as “racism… fascism… hate speech… threats to democracy or life….”. The busybody puritans of today then demand censorship, silencing, banning, or cancelling entirely.

In this wave of unleashed totalitarian tribalism and hatred, there is little to no recognition of our fundamental oneness in the human family and our responsibility to love one another, to care for one another (yes, we are our brother’s keeper). What has happened to the responsibility to exhibit love as tolerating diversity of opinion and expression, love as respecting the freedom and self-determination of others, love as the embrace of skepticism and dissent? Too many appear to have abandoned the Classic Liberalism of “live and let live”.

Further notes on our basic tribal impulse and the related impulse to demonize our “enemies: Wendell Krossa.

The tribal impulse, along with the demonization of differing others- These are two of our more destructive impulses that have incited incalculable suffering among people across history. If these impulses are not understood, countered, and restrained they may yet unleash horrific levels of damage (i.e. the potential to unleash a nuclear exchange over Ukraine). We counter these dark impulses with such things as the fact of the oneness of humanity and consequent obligation to respect differing others as equally human, as family. As someone reminded us- consequent to our fundamental oneness, the harm that we do to others we also do to ourselves.

US Democrats, in particular, have been pulled into a group-deluding narrative that has led to some ugly expression of these impulses over the past decade or so. They have come to view all dissent from their extremist Woke Progressivism as dangerous “disinformation/misinformation” that must be censored in order to protect the public. Polls now show that a majority of Democrats now believe and affirm censorship (see note below on recent Glen Greenwald report).

Free speech, formerly honored by liberals as fundamental to all other freedoms, is now considered by many Democrats as a danger to be curtailed for some “greater good” (“greater good” meaning the domination of their worldview in society, Woke Progressivism imposed on all others). This attitude illustrates how totalitarianism erupts and spreads in a population. Many US liberals no longer see that what they are doing is highly illiberal, anti-democratic. They have convinced themselves that they are on the side of sole truth and fighting a battle for democracy against a dangerous enemy that must be restrained, subjugated, silenced, and even eliminated.

All of us are susceptible to self-delusion when we embrace narratives that we are in a righteous battle against intolerable and life-threatening enemies. And we cannot compromise with such enemies because we have framed them and their differing positions/views as “dangerously life-threatening”. We convince ourselves that have no choice but to censor, silence, ban, and eliminate entirely the threat to all that is good (again- our view of “good” as societies dominated by our worldview and principles).

In the “fog” of their righteous war, Democrats have developed the habit of framing any dissent to their views in terms of the worst forms of extremism on their opponent’s side. They then use such mischaracterization to validate their overall position as a righteous battle against evil. Example: They highlight real online evils such as child pornography, pedophilia, examples of actual hate speech, episodes of incitement to violence, etc. all legitimate dangers. But they do not clarify that these are minority extremist views and practises that are not representative characteristics all others who disagree with them. Nonetheless, they repeatedly restate these real problems to legitimize their overall project to censor public media in a broad-brush manner that does not properly distinguish between the minority that are guilty of such evils and their many other opponents that are just exercising common healthy diversity of opinion and speech.

Democrats/liberals have also generalized other fringe minority pathologies- i.e. White Supremacy, racism- out to similarly mischaracterize and smear all differing viewpoints and speech of their opponents. That is sloppy mischaracterization of the many in terms of the faults of the rightfully guilty few. It is a form of collectivist thinking and categorization.

Hence, Woke Progressives now commonly argue that all disagreeing others must be censored and silenced as dangerous threats. They are pushing a narrative that all dissent from their positions should be categorized as “dangerous disinformation, misinformation, mal-information”. Differing social/political opinions are framed as “speech that is violence”, even if such expression of difference is just making others feel “uncomfortable”. Comedy that pokes fun at Woke Progressivism has also been demonized by liberals in this manner.

This is how totalitarianism emerges, develops, and spreads. The sloppy mis-categorization and demonization of all disagreeing others as dangers to be constrained and eliminated. This excessive demonization of differing opinion has even moved toward the criminalization of difference.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-should-consider-legal-solution-to-fight-residential-school-denialism-report-1.6444093

In terms of the big ideological background, this is the misrepresentation of all differing others in terms of a collective that is defined as generally evil in some manner. We see this in the now common practise of framing opponents as epitome evil- i.e. “Hitler-like… Nazis”. Again, both sides have done this. Hillary Clinton was called a Nazi for her health care proposals when her husband was president.

People then pose this extremist demonization in terms of the tribal dualism element- i.e. you are either with me as fellow victims of some enemy’s threat, or you are with the differing others as the oppressor class that is the dangerous threat to our life, to our democracy, to our society. Such exaggerated demonization distorts all in the opposing collective, much like Michael Moore stating that all who voted Republican in 2016 were “racists”.

Note: The practise of mischaracterizing and demonizing an opponent’s views/speech as some form of intolerable evil then grants the demonizer a sense of guiltless self-righteousness, of heroically defending some good against injustice and wrong. A healthy introspection and self-awareness of our own imperfections will counter such pathology.

Notes:

Glen Greenwald July 7, 2023– “Establishment Dems Outraged as Court Bans Biden and FBI from Coercing Big Tech Censorship: NYT Defends Illegal Domestic Surveillance”

Quote: “Almost 7 out of every 10 Democrats want the state to censor the Internet, compared to only 28% of Republicans who want that, which is still too high but look at that division. Look at this division between Democrats who want the state to censor the Internet and Republicans who do. That is why censorship really is a Democratic Party ideology. The percentage of Democrats who want tech companies to censor the Internet – so they trust tech billionaires and Big Tech firms to censor the Internet: 76% of Democrats, 3 out of every 4 Democrats want Internet censorship – they do not want the Internet to be free – versus 37% of Republicans. This gap has widened significantly. The Democratic Party is rapidly headed to overwhelmingly favoring both state and corporate censorship and uniting state and corporate power by having the government collude with Big Tech firms to censor the Internet.”

Beware the deluding power of apocalyptic millennialism mythology, how the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths can deform the otherwise noble “hero’s quest”, Wendell Krossa

The continuing embrace of the primitive apocalyptic belief system incites and intensifies our inherited sense of tribal dualism. Apocalyptic mythologies, with strong tribal features, argue for the engagement of righteous battles against enemies that must be conquered/defeated as the means to satiate one’s personal sense of heroism, to legitimate one’s personal drive to fulfill a “hero’s quest”.

Apocalyptic (in the larger context of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” mythology) has always posited a fundamental dualism and opposition, a cosmically-grounded conflict of good versus evil, of a great battle to overcome and purge some evil as necessary to save life or the world. Apocalyptic, with its inherent exaggeration and distortion of reality, arouses the felt need to violently purge an enemy that threatens one’s very existence. Only when the preliminary violent purging of evil has been accomplished can salvation then be achieved, and the lost paradise restored.

These elements of apocalyptic mythology have long been embraced as essential to the “hero’s quest” or the “righteous war to conquer enemies”. Note how this plays out in the climate crusade, and in general in the Democratic censorship crusade to stop dangerous speech. Its all the same old impulses and ideas- archetypes- that have governed human narratives and life since our earliest beginnings.

These primitive ideas deform the human story with the dark impulses to dehumanize differing others, to unleash the defiling impulses to vengeance and violence.

Further on deforming our consciousness and life with bad mythology: Wendell Krossa…

The self-deceptive element in all this- When we unthinkingly, unquestioningly embrace the themes of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/Redemption” mythology (and related themes), whether in their religious versions or the more recent “secular/ideological” versions, we are embracing the ideas that have long incited and validated humanity’s worst inherited drives to tribalism, domination, and even destruction of differing others. The primitive mythical complex of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” affirms archetypal impulses and ideas that have long deformed consciousness and life with vengeful violence that too many people have wrongly validated as “righteous battles against evil enemies”.

The apocalyptic complex of myths distorts and buries the true story of life and humanity. It posits a cosmic dualism of good versus evil that has been endlessly replicated in this-world dualisms of “good people” battling against “evil enemies” (first brought to religious dominance in Zoroastrian theology, which then shaped all subsequent Western religions). The myth of cosmic dualism has been a central defect in old narratives. It buries the truth of cosmic oneness, a core oneness behind all reality, a oneness that also applies to the human family.

A new narrative will reject the fallacy of cosmic dualism and embrace the now affirmed truth of ultimate oneness, a oneness that also applies to humanity (note the “mitochondrial Eve” hypothesis that affirms our common descent from an East African woman).

We are not enemies locked in an eternal cosmic dualism of good versus evil. We are one family, all together on a great venture of making this wild planet our promised land, making life in this world a safer home for all. The impediment to success in our journey is that we have emerged out of a brutal animal past and have inherited the worst impulses from that dog-eat-dog past. To fully tower in stature as maturely human we must conquer our inherited animal passions (1) to small-band tribalism (good vs bad, insider vs outsider enemy, exclusion of the different), (2) to domination of others, and (3) to destruction of differing or competing others.

Success in the human journey will involve re-orienting our sense of heroic quest and “righteous battle against evil enemies” to the real enemy of us all. Our real enemy is not the diverse, differing people that we encounter throughout life, our fellow humans. We need to re-orient our struggle to the real enemy that dwells within each of us. This was Solzhenitsyn’s point- “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either- but right through every human heart- and through all human hearts”.

Our real enemy, the real monster that we must confront in our hero’s journey is the “animal passions” that we have all inherited from our past existence in animal reality. Real evil (“sin” in religious traditions) is the inherited animal inside each of us (See “Dark Nature: A Natural History of Evil” by Lyall Watson).

Additionally, our re-conception of “enemy” will include rejecting the myths/ideas that humans have long embraced to incite, guide, and validate our dark and destructive animal impulses. Success in our quest will involve exchanging the old narrative themes that affirm our worst impulses and creating new narrative themes to affirm the better angels of our nature.

A new narrative will affirm our fundamental oneness in the human family and will affirm respect for the freedom and diversity of each person, for individual self-determination. Classic liberalism embodies these more humane principles and supporting ideas.

Our problem is that we keep mindlessly re-embedding the old primitive themes in new versions, moving historically from primitive mythology, to later religious traditions, to more historically recent “secular/ideological” belief systems, and even embedding primitive themes in “scientific” belief systems. Old story themes reframed in new story contexts. Its always the same old that unleashes the same old damage by stirring the inherited impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction of differing others.

Another…

All of us possess the ugly totalitarian impulse and, ideally, all of us should assist in protecting the institutions that prohibit the eruption and spread of the nasty outcomes of these impulses (i.e. prevent harm to others). Classic liberal institutions and principles have done the best to protect us all from our own inherent totalitarian impulses- impulses to meddle in other’s lives, to coerce and control others, to disregard and override the self-determination of others that is critical to human well being and development.

Example: Note how during the Covid lockdowns little dictators emerged all over- i.e. at city, municipal, state/provincial, and federal levels- to overwhelm the freedom of others, to meddle in and control other’s lives, and to fully lockdown the lives of others. And that unleashed totalitarianism was often exhibited with rank hypocrisy as governing elites at all levels would prohibit “the little people who pay taxes” (Leona Helmsly) in many ways but continue to grant themselves freedoms that they refused to grant to others.

Leaving my religion- Then what next? Wendell Krossa

I left my religion (Evangelical Christianity) in the 1970s, and on leaving, I posed a question to myself- Where to next? Where do I go now in response to my personal impulse and quest for meaning/purpose? I have been exploring the alternatives over subsequent decades. On this site I offer some results of my own exploration. And no, hardcore atheism is not a seriously coherent alternative as it contributes little to answer the fundamental human questions of ultimate meaning. Dogmatic materialism is too much the throwing out the baby with the bathwater and not taking the human meaning impulse seriously. The essential role of the “metaphysical” in the human quest for meaning has been noted repeatedly in sections below.

On the other hand, “loss of faith” in traditional religions is not something to bemoan either (the growing “unaffiliated” of “independent” sector of populations). My conclusion is that the central beliefs of religious systems are just too beyond any “due date” to be redeemable. Many of the dominant themes of such traditions are just too primitive to salvage (i.e. notably, the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption’’ complex). Many prominent religious beliefs have been beyond the pale of rationality from the beginning. Further, religious reformism, as in tinkering around the edges of religious traditions, does not solve the basic problem of the fundamental conditional nature of all religion that profoundly distorts human perception of ultimate reality.

I repeatedly isolate this one primary problem with religion across history- i.e. The conditional nature of religion has never communicated to people the unconditional nature of ultimate reality/deity that is critical to human liberation and well being. The unconditional nature of deity is basic to the full liberation of consciousness from primeval fears (i.e. the sense of ultimate security/safety needed to buttress the human spirit during its journey through the suffering of life in this world). This is about the ultimate human liberation.

Further detail: Wendell Krossa….

Liberation from what? From the reality-distorting and consciousness-deforming myths of (1) a better past that has been ruined by corrupted/sinful people (lost paradise), (2) myths of life declining toward something worse, toward looming collapse and ending (apocalypse), (3) myths of angry deity demanding violent blood sacrifice to pay for sin, (4) myths of deity demanding the violent purging of “evil/enemies” from the world, and (5) myths of restored paradise or promised new millennial kingdoms. The horrific damage on human minds, lives, and societies from these ideas has been recounted in good studies like “Cruel God, Kind God, or the research of the apocalyptic millennial scholars listed below, among many others.

We need a thorough gutting of the very core of religious traditions- a fundamental transformation of the most radical kind at the level of foundational archetypes (see, for example, the following comment on the contradiction between Historical Jesus and Paul’s Christ myth). This is basically an advocacy for a new God, if you will, meaning entirely new God theories. The project that I am advocating is for the thorough transformation of humanity’s highest ideal and authority that has always been the cohering center of our meta-narratives.

Further, Commentators repeatedly note the loss of meaning as people abandon religious traditions. OK, but then offer people more helpful alternatives. Respond to their query- Where do we go next? This site offers/suggests ideas and alternatives for our meta-narratives (i.e. evidence-based input in regard to the main physical indicators of life, along with the best of speculation on metaphysical realities in response to the ultimate questions that physical science cannot answer). See, for example, “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives” in sections below.

And this on the “loss of faith” concern…

https://www.thefp.com/p/the-riots-in-france-and-the-west

New alternative narratives would embrace the fundamental truth of ultimate good behind all reality (as in the stunning new theology of God that is an inexpressibly wondrous unconditional love). Alternative narratives will also embrace the fundamental goodness and creativity of humanity as is evident in our improving life over the long term, making life so much better in every way- i.e. medical advances (doubling the human lifespan over the past century, economic progress (eliminating poverty, increasing wealth creation), political improvements (spread of liberal democracy), environmental improvement (Ecological Kuznets Curve research), social advances (spread of equality, inclusion), and more…. See “Humanprogress.org”, among other sources.

More on site project: Wendell Krossa

The climate alarmism crusade has become an apocalyptic movement that is indistinguishable, in its main themes, from all other apocalyptic movements across history. Climate apocalyptic embraces the same old monstrous myths that have incited, guided, and validated all similar eruptions of irrational end-of-days hysteria. I have summarized these pathological themes in the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex.

To fully understand and effectively counter the eruptions of irrationality in alarmism crusades, we need to further isolate out the inciting monster at the core of such crusades- the monstrous God at the heart of the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex. That is the judging, excluding, punitively destroying deity that is the cohering center of such belief systems, the God that gives validating affirmation to the rest of the primitive mythology in that complex.

That ultimate ideal and authority in human narratives across history (termed “Cruel God theology” by psychologists/psychotherapists Ellens and Lotufo) has incited the worst of human impulses across history as evident in the brutality that erupted from the early church Councils, the endless torture and burning of heretics, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the later “profoundly religious” Marxist, Nazi, and Environmental alarmism crusades (another example would be the ISIS eruption of recent years).

We properly and thoroughly solve the problem of alarmism crusades by going to the ultimate root pathology and we apply our corrective solutions there. That involves taking down the monster God that energizes and validates such destructive crusades.

Further comment on site project:

This site continues its project to confront and tackle humanity’s greatest monster and enemy- “threat theology” in the form of myths of threatening ultimate reality- meaning the threatening deity of apocalyptic mythology, the mythical deity that punishes human faults and failures through natural disaster/disease, as well as through after-life harm (i.e. deity engaging ultimate judgment, exclusion, and hell). These views of “cruel God” theology continue to dominate human narratives and belief systems today, both in religious and so-called “secular” versions.

A new cohering center for human systems of meaning: Wendell Krossa…

A major project here is to go to the very core of human meaning, to the historical quest of humanity to understand and explain reality and life, and there challenge the primitive threat theology that has dominated such quest for meaning (slay the monster) and then affirm that there is no retaliatory, punitive, destroying God. There has never been any such thing. That has always been “straw God” mythology, bad mythology that has never existed in any reality anywhere.

To the contrary, this site affirms, with the best of human insight from across history, that there is only love, inexpressibly wonderous “no conditions love” at the core of reality. This is the best of “theodicy” that affirms the true nature of ultimate Good as unconditional.

(Insert: Expect the counter-response that speculation on the metaphysical is “irrational… not scientific”. Nonetheless, we all do this- both religious and non-religious people. We all cross the philosophical/science boundary (or religion/science boundary) to speculate on diverse metaphysical things. Such speculation is natural to the human impulse for meaning, to understand and explain reality more completely. And yes, some speculations are more irrational than others. So let the debates roar on.)

The insight that an inexpressibly wondrous love is the creating, sustaining core of all reality overturns entirely the threat theology of ancient mythology, world religions, including the latest versions of threat theology in “secular ideological” versions such as “vengeful Gaia, angry planet/Mother Earth, punitive Universe, or payback karma”.

The two best sources that advocate for ultimate love as unconditional, that I have found, are Historical Jesus in his core message (i.e. the “Q Wisdom Sayings” gospel as in the Matthew 5 and Luke 6 summaries of his teaching). Also, I include the Near-Death Experience movement with its central discovery/insight that God was unconditional love and light.

Concluding thoughts…

If this insight is true- i.e. that God is stunningly unconditional love- then this insight radically transforms everything in human narratives and beliefs from across history. It means that there has never been a punitive deity behind the forces of the natural world (storm, flood, lightning, fire, earthquake, etc.) punishing people for their sins. And there is no judging, destroying God of the afterlife, populating hell with unbelievers and favoring/including only a chosen few who bowed and committed to some religious version of him. That has always been bad mythology. Untrue.

Think of the wasted emotional suffering (i.e. fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, despair, depression) of the countless billions who endured countless millennia of torment under such ideas. And think of the wasted time and resources of the same countless billions who tried to appease the wrath of such deities with blood sacrifices and other payments that exhausted the limited resources of those already impoverished people.

Insert: This report by Willis Eschenbach- “The Myth of Replacing Fossil Fuels”– gives some sense of the incalculable waste on salvation schemes that are the inevitable outcome of apocalyptic alarmism eruptions- i.e. “destroying life to save the world”.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/03/the-myth-of-replacing-fossil-fuels/

Once again, marinate on the liberating potency of this insight- There is only stunning love and light beyond the reach of our 5 senses and 4 dimensions. It changes/transforms everything.

Now:

The contradiction between the core themes of Jesus and Paul constitutes history’s single most profound and distorting difference between basic messages/ideas. The difference is between history’s potentially most valuable insight and the world-spanning gospel that subsequently buried that insight.

A pacifying qualifier (pre-empting possible outrage eruptions over the “blasphemy” of “tarnishing/dishonoring” the Christ myth of Paul), Wendell Krossa

Why do I insist that it is critically important to go after Paul’s Christ myth, even with the accompanying risk of potentially offending true believers? My intention in doing this is about re-affirming the single most profound insight ever offered to humanity, an insight presented by Historical Jesus (a person entirely opposite to Christian “Jesus Christ”). Historical Jesus offered an insight that no one had revealed before him, a discovery that was eventually buried by Paul’s gospel of the Christ. My comment here is to present the black/white contrast between the message of Historical Jesus and Paul.

My intention is to recover the best of Historical Jesus- i.e. the central message that he offered to liberate humanity from unnecessary myth-induced fear, shame, guilt, despair, and nihilism/violence. My project is to refocus the human impulse for meaning and purpose onto a stunning new view of the highest ideal/authority that humanity has ever known- deity. This involves reframing our highest human ideal- i.e. love- as unconditional.

Jesus took the belief that “God is love” to new heights of transcendence in stating that God was love that was “unconditional”. This involved broad redefining of God as non-retaliatory, non-judging, non-excluding (no favoring of believers, no damning of unbelievers), non-punitive, and non-violent (no destruction in apocalypse or hell).

So again, why I go after Paul’s Christ myth…. Paul is the “undertaker” or grave digger of Historical Jesus. (Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy back me up on this.)

Here is another post on this topic: Wendell Krossa

I am tackling the Christ myth of Paul because Paul denies, distorts entirely, and buries the single most profound insight ever offered to humanity, an insight to liberate human consciousness from uncounted millennia of slavery to threat theology- i.e. mental/emotional slavery to myths of deity threatening human imperfection with exclusion (favoring/saving only true believers while excluding unbelievers), deity meting out retaliatory punishment (God as ultimate Judge), and deity engaging ultimate violence by destroying imperfect people (apocalypse and hell myths).

Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy both made this point that Paul distorted and buried the message of Jesus- that Paul had buried the “diamonds/pearls” of Jesus under his Christ myth.

What did they mean by “buried”? Paul rejected Jesus’ stunning new insight that God was a non-retaliatory reality. Jesus had said that there should be no more eye for eye retaliation toward our enemies. He stated that, instead, we should be like God who loves God’s enemies.

Paul rejected that stunning new theology and retreated to re-affirm the primitive theology of a retaliatory God. He did this by quoting an Old Testament statement (OT as ultimate Jewish authority), “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” (see Romans 12:17-20). Using that appeal to the authority of the OT, Paul “buried” the non-retaliatory God of Jesus under his re-affirmation of retaliatory deity.

Worse, Paul added more layers of dirt to his already “six-feet-under” project and further buried the broader insight of Jesus that God was an unconditional deity (non-retaliation is a negative aspect of unconditional). Paul buried this wondrously liberating revelation of Jesus- i.e. God as unconditional reality as in the Father of the Prodigal parable- under the myth of ultimate divine conditions that he highlighted in his Christ myth- i.e. conditions of divinely demanded sacrifice/payment for atonement, conditions of required belief in his Christ, conditions of fulfilling Christian rituals (baptism, Lord’s Supper) and adherence to a Christian lifestyle, conditions of tribal loyalty and membership in a similarly-minded group of true believers, … conditions, conditions, and more conditions, all typical of salvation religions.

Paul’s views dominate the New Testament. The NT is a book that promotes Paul’s thinking and gospel. Christianity is Paul’s religion. The other books that were included in the NT canon were included because they affirmed Paul’s theology and Christology. Many other gospels (i.e. the gospels of James, Mary, Philip, Thomas, Peter, Judas, Marcion, Andrew, Barnabas, gospels of the Hebrews, Nazarites, Ebionites, etc.) were excluded as heretical because they did not affirm Paul’s views. Paul was an intolerant man who damned his opponents, damning even Jesus’ brother James and his lead apostle Peter to perdition for disagreeing with his Christ myth (see Galatians 1:8-9).

So, my complaints here against Paul and his Christ myth are not about engaging a destructive polemic due to an unreasonably contrarian spirit. My motivating impulse is to uncover again the inexpressible wonder of what Historical Jesus presented to humanity with his “stunning new non-retaliatory, no conditions theology”. My project is about restoring the actual message of Jesus (as in Q Wisdom Sayings gospel) to its rightful place and honoring Jesus’ actual contribution to human ideas, a contribution that Paul ignored, dismissed, and contradicted outright.

Nothing, nothing anywhere else in human thought or writing from across history has ever been presented to equal the “stunning new theology” of Jesus, a radically new view of deity that potently liberates consciousness from primal fears, anxiety, shame/guilt, despair, depression, and more. Nothing else goes to the deepest levels of human consciousness/subconscious (to the foundational archetypes in human narratives) than this insight that the ultimate reality behind all reality is love of an inexpressibly wondrous nature. A love at the core of all existence, both physical and metaphysical. This is “love is all” in the most foundational and true sense.

The Jesus insight radically reshapes and affirms an ultimate sense of safety, ultimate safety based on the truth that the core of all reality- the creating Mind/deity- is a love that is transcendently beyond our highest and best imaginations of love. This insight affirms a sense of ultimate security and safety to undergird our experiences in this world. God as stunningly unconditional love is the single best foundational idea to hold onto as we suffer through the horrors and mystery of suffering in this life.

Marinate your mind in this for a while. It is about the overthrow, the conquering of history’s greatest ever monster and enemy- threatening deity. Embracing unconditional deity points to the ultimate “hero’s quest” that we can engage against that ultimate monster/enemy.

Again, this is about going to the root of all, to the very core of human thinking, ideas, beliefs, myths, speculations, narratives, to make transformative corrections at that level. There is nothing more fundamental to change in human life and society. This is ultimate change, ultimate transformation and renewal, of the most profound kind- at the core of human perceptions and understanding of reality.

Added notes: Remember also psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo’s cautions that the ultimate ideal/authority that we embrace (deity ideas/beliefs) powerfully shapes our thinking, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior. If our ultimate ideal advocates threat, violence, coercion to solve problems then so we will inevitably emulate such behaviors, validated by our “God”. But if God is, as Jesus argued, no conditions love and does not, as Jesus stated, exclude, dominate, or destroy others… meaning, if true love is not threatening, coercive, violent… then that profoundly transforms how we think, feel, and act.

This gets to the root of my project here and why I go after Paul’s tribally excluding (saves only true believers), dominating (Lord Jesus, King Jesus), punitive (destroys unbelievers in Hell), and violence-advocating Christ (apocalyptic destruction of world).

We need far more humane ideals to center our narratives and thereby inspire our better angels.

To summarize once again Paul’s basic mistakes…

Paul distorts and buries the unconditional theme in Jesus with his highly conditional Christ, with supreme divine conditions (i.e. the condition of a cosmically oriented blood sacrifice to be the ultimate and universal payment for all sin across history).

Paul buries the non-retaliatory theme of Jesus with ultimate expressions of divine retaliation in the myths of apocalyptic destruction and hell.

Paul also buries the non-apocalyptic theme of Jesus (a non-retaliatory God does not retaliate with the ultimate expression of retaliation- apocalyptic punishment and destruction). Paul buried this with the ultimate myth of an apocalyptic Christ destroying the entire world in a history-ending eruption of divine violence (book of Revelation).

Paul’s Christ myth has profoundly deformed Western narratives, consciousness, and the human impulse to meaning as expressed in our endless project to understand and explain reality and life.

His Christ is the single most egregious distortion/contradiction of spiritual truth in all history because he rejected the single most profound insight to reaffirm the worst features of primitive pathologies, taking the features of primitive deities that had limited influence in tribal ingroups and giving the features of such deities ultimate expression in the Christ who would then be the cosmic, universal expression of those local features- i.e. applied to the entire world, via a monotheistic deity for all humanity.

Paul took features from local, tribal mythology and extrapolated those features out to universal, cosmic levels, making the features of local myths into cosmic universals. Sacrifice was taken from a condition for appeasing local, tribal deities to cosmic level universalism- a sacrifice to appease the God of all, an atonement for all humanity. Making features that were once local, now ultimate, supreme, cosmic realities. Monotheism extended to all, to the universe.

Paul took the single most liberating insight ever offered that would have freed human minds from threat theology fears, and he then revived the most enslaving features of past mythologies, features that have always engendered unnecessary fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, depression, and violence.

Stirring the sh_t pot over an icon? Wendell Krossa

Some more ‘sitesplainin’ re my confronting of Paul’s Christ myth as part of the project to uncover and restore the core Jesus insight- “the single most profound and important insight in human history”. My argument is that Paul’s Christ buried that insight and denied us proper access to it over subsequent millennia.

The Jesus insight is the “Single most profound…” ever offered. Isn’t this “Exaggeration…. Hyperbole…. Overstatement….”?

No where near such. The Jesus insight (“the stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God” or better and “unconditionally loving God)”, his insight offered a stunning new take on the single most prominent and important reality in human narratives- i.e. the nature of the creating/originating Source of all things.

In religious traditions the creating Source has long been defined as deity or God. “Secular” or scientific traditions also probe and speculate on the origins of all things, on the creating Source of material reality (e.g. some universe-creating mechanism that births infinite universes in multi-verse theory, or a “Self-Organizing Principle” as creative Force, or something that creates and sustains “natural law”, or “quantum fields”, among varied speculations on alternative creating forces.).

But physical science is probably forever limited and will not be able to finally answer the question of ultimate creating Source because such reality is “metaphysical” reality, something to be probed and more likely answered by philosophical or spiritual traditions. Early quantum theorists understood this in concluding that Mind was the creating reality behind all else.

By its very nature such reality would be “transcendent” as in incomprehensible to minds limited by 4-dimensional existence and 5 physical senses.

“The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter…we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter”, James Jeans.

Nonetheless, even in science the question of the nature of ultimate reality is the single most important thing that we all want to know- i.e. what is the nature of the creating Source of all things? Answering that has to do with the reason for reality, the purpose of reality, and that makes it profoundly important to human meaning.

Hence, an affirming “yes” to my hyperbole in defining the Jesus insight as “the single most profound insight ever in history”.

Further ‘sitesplainin’: Wendell Krossa…

This site is devoted to fighting irrational fear and promoting sound evidence-based hope. This involves probing the root themes of alarmism crusades to understand the motivating ideas of such movements and what original primitive myths those ideas are based upon.

The project here is not just another version of “religious reformism” but rather the more radical/foundational endeavor of understanding the core themes of human narratives across history and especially the “cohering center” of human systems of meaning and how such things impact our breaking into full freedom from religion to live as human, “to fully join the human race”. For instance, all religion across history has been essentially about religious conditions- i.e. conditions of right belief, required sacrifice/payment, required rituals and religious lifestyle as markers of true believers or affiliation with a religious group, etc. Conditions, conditions, conditions, and more damn conditions. An unconditional deity, as per the Jesus insight, overturns all conditional religion…. Entirely. That is liberation like none other, ever.

Moving along…

I affirm Joseph Campbell’s basic framework on human story as a “hero’s quest or adventure”- i.e. the going out into life to fulfill one’s destiny, to make a contribution to life, to embrace and engage the overall project of humanity in making life better, to help create a “promised land” out of a wilderness world. And in this quest, we confront a monster that we have to engage, struggle with, and conquer. Our monster may be a fight against physical disability and suffering, or a struggle with mental/emotional issues, or some form of political/social struggle. Monsters are diversely unique to each individual human story.

We will be wounded in our struggle with our monster, but we also gain insights and learn lessons from our struggle that we can then pass on to benefit others. Further, a wise person will give us the weapon to help us slay our monster. Example: Over decades of discussion, Bob Brinsmead helped me to get a grasp on the idea of “unconditional” as critical to redefine humanity’s highest ideal and authority- deity. Unconditional then became the potent weapon to slay the old conditional “monster” deities of religious traditions.

I’ve embraced Bob’s insights to use the authentically humane feature of “unconditional” (the highest and best definition of love) to slay the old monster deity ideas. Those traditional deity theories embrace onerous conditions such as demanded sacrifice (violence to solve problems), cosmic dualism that is expressed in righteous wars of true religions against false religions/enemies, and other primitive ideas that have always incited the worst of inherited “animal passions” in people. Unconditional slays those inherited ultimate ideals and authorities and gives humanity a new ultimate ideal and authority- unconditional love (love of enemy). (“Slays”? Yes, we are talking metaphor here, in terms of the “hero’s quest” to slay a monster.)

Campbell suggested the same in arguing that embracing “Universal love” (love that included enemies) was how we overcame our animal passions and learned to tower in stature as maturely human. I would use the broader more encompassing term- “unconditional love”- as the potent weapon that slays the old monster gods and enables us to conquer our animal passions that are incited by such primitive “monster God” mythology (i.e. Ellens and Lotufo’s argument that violence-oriented “cruel God” theology has incited the worst of human impulses to similarly solve problems with violence).

Hence my two-pronged approach to fighting monsters/enemies:

First, transform the “monster God” theology that incites our inner monster (our animal impulses). By transforming the core of human narratives- i.e. deity theories that are the cohering center of human narratives, the highest of inspiring human ideals and authorities- we then transform the historically dominant influence on human thought, emotions, motivation, and responses/behavior.

We replace the traditional conditional and violence-inciting ideal with unconditional as the authentic definition of love. This is true liberation of human consciousness/mind and life at the most foundational levels (subconscious archetypes). Wendell Krossa

Again, moving right along…

The fallacy of “presentism”: Wendell Krossa

Beware the fallacy of “presentism”… the belief that our problems are uniquely worse than any before in history, that our situation is uniquely bad and overwhelming. Presentism amplifies the sense of overall decline (i.e. life becoming worse). Declinism is a basic feature of apocalyptic thinking/narratives, and hence, when we inject the additional fallacy of presentism into the social contagion spread of general alarmism, we get the all-too-common tendency today of people concluding that we are sliding down the slippery slope to catastrophe and “the end-of-days”.

James Payne: “The fallacy of presentism: the tendency to assume that events of the present are larger, more important, or more shocking than events of the past. With regard to the use of force, presentism underlies an impulse to suppose that modern violence is worse than violence in the past… (hence the common reaction of “what is the world coming to?” in response to modern news reporting on outbreaks of violence)… (The one assuming the fallacy of presentism) assumes that the killings that loom so large in his consciousness must be worse than the killings about which he knows nothing”. (History of Force, p.8).

People also embrace the fallacy of presentism regarding many other things.

Varied indicators have now emerged that show pushback against narratives of decline, such as significant turnarounds in public perceptions of alarmist narratives (i.e. the surveys showing growing skepticism of the exaggerated alarmist scenarios- i.e. the never-ending claims of the looming end-of-days. Climate change now rates at the very bottom of lists of issues that concern people. Add also the eruptions of public outrage at declinism salvation schemes (i.e. the yellow vests in France and Canada, the Dutch farmers revolt in Holland, protests in Sri Lanka), etc. All such indicators re-affirm hope that many people are rejecting manipulation by alarmist elites and abandoning “the madness of crowds” for a return to rational common sense.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/17/peak-green-in-the-west-what-it-means-for-the-east/

“Humanprogress.org”, for one example, regularly posts good updates that counter alarmism exaggerations of looming catastrophe.

This from Jamie Sarkonak July 3, 2023 “American universities see end to affirmative action. Not so in Canada”

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/jamie-sarkonak-american-universities-see-end-to-affirmative-action-not-so-in-canada

“Affirmative action policies atomize people into their racial categories. Advocates and practitioners of racial handicapping ultimately become racist themselves, because their entire worldview depends on seeing collective identity (and the stereotypes of a particular collective identity) before the individual.”

This point was also covered in detail in Glen Greenwald’s June 30, 2023 article “Affirmative Action Ruled Unconstitutional by US Supreme Court: Superficial versus Substantive Diversity”

Good one by Brendan O’Neill on Public News/Substack, “I’m Afraid We Have To Talk About ‘Her Penis.’ Here’s Why- totalitarianism always begins with a monstrous lie”, July 2, 2023

https://public.substack.com/p/im-afraid-we-have-to-talk-about-her

Note to Politicos: Wendell Krossa–

Stop mollycoddling the alarmist narrative, calm the CO2 hysteria. It was off-putting to see Danielle Smith, premier of Alberta, meeting with Justin Trudeau to affirm her commitment to Net Zero targets. Why did she not first do some basic homework on climate science, especially on the physics of CO2 and recognize that the warming influence of CO2 is now “saturated” in physics terms and will not contribute much more to any further warming. Most critical, good climate science shows us that there is no evidence of any looming “climate crisis” (see good sites such as co2coalition.org or Wattsupwiththat.com).

All to say that there is no good evidence that we must tax carbon or decarbonize our societies. So please cease the mollycoddling of climate alarmism mythology.

End the irresponsible panic-mongering over normal, natural warm summer weather. Its not a “Climate crisis”.

Apocalyptic-oriented news media spew endless eruptions of hysteria over warm summer spells, grotesquely exaggerated as “hottest on record heatwaves”, accompanied with maps colored with alarming dark red to signify catastrophic, apocalyptic-scale heat. Contrary to such exaggeration, we are not experiencing a “climate crisis/emergency”. We have had a mild one degree C of warming over the past century, still not enough warmth to counter the still-too-cold world that we live in, where 10 times more people die every year from cold than die from warmth (Lancet report).

We are still emerging from the coldest period of our Holocene interglacial- the Little Ice Age of 1645-1715. We could benefit from several more degrees C of warming. All life would benefit from such warming.

Go to the core issue- the physics of CO2- and listen to the best of atmospheric physicists who help us understand this most basic issue in climate science. That will put things in perspective. It gets us to the true state of climate. The outcome will be learning more, fearing less.

Again, there is no climate crisis.

Cognitive therapy? Wendell Krossa

Cognitive therapy is a powerful tool to help deal with widespread maladies like depression- the “number one illness” across the world.

This site takes a kind of “cognitive behavioral therapy” approach where changing how we think about things can transform our emotions, motivations, and behavior. Much like what Julian Simon did when he was a “clinically depressed” man (his words in his autobiography) due to his earlier acceptance of the environmental alarmism narrative of the 1960s and 70s.

In response to that alarmism of the 1960s and 70s, Simon decided to research the evidence for himself on environmental issues and he discovered that while there were problems everywhere, humanity was doing well in solving those problems and life overall was improving, according to the best data on the main indicators. He learned more and feared less. And, he added, his depression then left and never returned. He freed his mind from despair with sound evidence.

Change your beliefs, your ideas on life and the world, build a new narrative of evidence-based hope and it will transform your consciousness and life. It will liberate you from unnecessary fear, from the anxiety incited by the exaggerated apocalyptic scenarios of catastrophists. Learn more and fear less.

This site extends cognitive therapy to the meta-narrative scale- challenging prominent historical belief systems, probing the core themes of such systems, isolating pathological ideas, and then offering better alternatives as replacements.

I have found help from the good research done by historians/scientists/theologians like Arthur Herman, Bob Brinsmead, Julian Simon, Joseph Campbell, and many others, people who have provided information on the origins, development, and history of human ideas that have shaped our great public narratives. They have shown us which ideas have consistently gotten people into trouble over history and offered us the better alternatives to liberate human consciousness from all such residual, lingering pathology.

Too many of the worst ideas that we have inherited still dominate our public narratives today, both religious and secular narratives. We know better now the harmful outcomes of holding various ideas- i.e. how beliefs in the “violent purging of threat” incite violence toward enemies, or how the demand to embrace a salvation scheme results in harmful solutions to exaggerated problems, etc.

We have no excuse for continuing to hold the themes of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths.

Note: Ask yourself what the constant battering of public consciousness with climate alarmism does to people? What role does constant apocalyptic-scale alarmism play in the widespread anxiety and depression in our societies, and the drug addiction in response to these mental-emotional maladies?

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The totalitarian’s useful tool- fear, alarmism

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

Hang in there… Project continues

We are moving to another area of BC in the near future and that will mean scattered postings here till we settle in there later this summer. Then this site will continue its project to go after and bring down a monster- humanity’s greatest monster/enemy, the monster of “cruel God” mythology, or “threat theology”. This is a continuation of the long-ago project of Historical Jesus to deal a death-blow to that monster with his “stunning new theology” that radically redefined deity as “non-retaliatory, no conditions love”.

Unfortunately, that brilliant and liberating insight of Historical Jesus was then buried by Paul under his retaliatory, apocalyptic Christ myth. The project here is about recovering and honoring the best of Jesus, as contrasted with the worst of primitive ideas that were embraced by Paul- i.e. the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths.

In the larger context of human meaning- i.e. the stories that we tell ourselves about reality and life- this is about the core beliefs in our narratives, and the outcomes of our beliefs- good and bad- in terms of impacts on human mind, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior.

And to quote my good friend Bob Brinsmead again- “We become just like the God that we believe in”. Psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo affirm Bob’s comment on the influence of beliefs on human life and society. They present, particularly, the harmful impact of “cruel God/monster God” beliefs on human personality, life, and society (see Lotufo”s book “Cruel God, Kind God”).

Another: This site tackles the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of themes that have, arguably, been the most dominant set of ideas shaping human narratives across history, whether in religious or secular narratives. This complex has most recently shaped the “profoundly religious” climate alarmism crusade. Recognize this complex of themes and that will help you understand the patterns in alarmism crusades where people endlessly fall for the same old, same old “end-of-days” hysteria and try to “save the world by destroying it”. Think Net Zero decarbonization in this regard.

See just below the recent articles by Glen Greenwald, Michael Shellenberger, and Matt Taibbi on the new totalitarianism and censorship that is overwhelming our societies through the Woke Progressivism crusade.

The totalitarian’s use of fear– a most potent weapon to control people, to herd them into destructive salvationism. Wendell Krossa

Be aware of what is happening across the public realm today, that apocalyptic mythology continues to function as “the most violent and destructive idea in history”- Arthur Mendel in “Vision and Violence”.

Apocalyptic narratives have been repeatedly used to alarm populations, incite people’s survival impulse, and thereby render people susceptible to totalitarian “salvation” schemes. No one wants to die. Especially not those 56% of young people worldwide who now think humanity is doomed (see world survey in link below).

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary”, H. L. Mencken- “In Defense of Women”.

“Endless series”? Yes- just considering the modern era- since the 1960s alarmists have spread panic over varied environmental apocalyptic scenarios (i.e. overpopulation mass-death, end of resources, lungs of planet disappearing, ocean species exhausted, etc.). They then shifted to climate change apocalyptic over more recent decades, starting late 80s, and are now moving to AI (artificial intelligence) as the great apocalyptic threat.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/12/george-soros-ai-is-a-bigger-problem-than-climate-change/

Narratives of fear/despair

(Prelude insert: We counter environmental “apocalyptic narratives of despair” by understanding the “true state of the world”, by carefully considering the best evidence on the lead indicators of life, the main resources of our planet- i.e. forests, soils, land species, ocean species, and atmosphere. Julian Simon set the baseline standard on how to do this in his “Ultimate Resource”, the single best book ever written.)

3 historically recent notable examples of the totalitarian use of fear to push irrational and destructive salvation schemes:

Marxists, over the past century, also embraced apocalyptic narratives (see research of historians Herman, Landes, Mendel, and Redles below). Marxists successfully used fear of “capitalism destroying formerly paradisal communal societies” to alarm populations and then lead them to embrace the salvation scheme of restored communalism/communism- the restoration of their “lost paradise”.

So also, last century, the Nazis used fear of “Jewish Bolshevism dominating and corrupting industrial civilization” to manipulate Germans to embrace a mass-death movement that would clear the way to the promised utopia of a new millennial Reich- the restoration of the lost paradise of pure and strong German spirit and culture.

And since the 1960s, environmental alarmists have been using fear of “industrial society destroying nature” to manipulate populations to embrace destructive salvation schemes like Net Zero decarbonization as the prelude to restoring their “lost paradise” world- a return to the past more “wilderness” world. Nothing changes as alarmist crusades keep erupting in ever-new varieties because we don’t deal thoroughly with the root ideas that fuel such episodes of madness- the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths.

And if the threat is exaggerated enough (i.e. the “end of democracy… the end of life and the world”) then any measures to stop the threat, whether using censorship to silence dissenters to your narrative, or banning and even criminalizing your opponents, even the use of violence and war- all such extreme measures are justified by your apocalyptic narrative.

Watch how the totalitarian mind works through apocalyptic-scale exaggeration- how an alarmist thinks, reasons, and justifies coercion as necessary for salvation. The totalitarian argues that if the threat is so ominously great then we must do all that we can to save the world now. “Imminence” is always an essential element to apocalyptic narratives, with end-of-days dates set just up ahead a few years or decades. The end-times dates must be endlessly set and reset due to the historical 100% failure rate of apocalyptic prophecies. (Examples of apocalyptic prophets repeatedly resetting their dates for the “end of days”- James Hansen, Al Gore, King Charles, Stephen Hawking, among others.)

Promoting the myth of the imminence of the apocalypse validates the rejection of democratic processes for authoritarian approaches because, as the alarmist mind reasons, there is no more time for debate, dissent, or delay. Democratic processes are dismissed as “dangerous”, and even “criminal”. (e.g. Robert Reich on the “danger” of granting freedom to his opponents to express their differing views.)

With an apocalyptic narrative you can convince yourself that your crusade to save life is even a “heroic quest and righteous battle against evil”. Further, if you demonize your opponents thoroughly enough, you then justify the employment of extreme measures to dismiss, discredit, and even destroy them (the totalitarian tools of censorship, silencing opponents, banning dissent, cancelling opponents outright).

We now have sound evidence-based alternatives to the core themes of alarmist narratives. Example: This site offers 18 counter themes to apocalyptic narratives- ideas to counter the overall “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of themes. See “Inherited bad myths, and better alternatives”, or “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives” in sections below (both short and long versions).

See also “The true state of life on Earth” further below on the main indicators of the state of the world- i.e. forests, soils, land species, ocean fisheries, atmosphere, etc. We counter apocalyptic panic-mongering with evidence-based hope in the progress of life toward a better future. That is the Julian Simon approach in “Ultimate Resource”.

And again, a main project of this site is to probe and tackle the mythical/religious ideas and themes that are the originating root myths of common themes in human narratives, including the themes of so-called “secular” narratives like climate alarmism, rightly identified by someone as “a profoundly religious movement”. As always- learn more, fear less.

Add here, regarding the totalitarian’s use of fear to control others, C. S. Lewis’s warning in relation to the moralizing busybodies who believe that they alone know what is right and best for all others and will self-righteously seek to coerce and control others:

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to heaven yet at the same time make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals”.

(Insert: The personal safeguard to the self-delusion of being solely right… Hold fast to Classic Liberal principles re the protection of individual rights and freedoms, as against the ever-creeping totalitarianism of collectivist approaches that subject individuals to some claimed “greater good or common good” that has to be managed by “enlightened elites” who believe that they alone know what is best for all others and will unapologetically use fear and coercion to control others.)

Hope revives as EU nations abandon “madness of crowds” climate alarmism (Norway follows)

https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2023/06/25/sweden-shocks-europe-abandons-unstable-green-energy-agenda-returns-to-nuclear-power-n766866?mc_cid=11e10fd973&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-28/norway-approves-more-than-18-billion-of-oil-and-gas-projects?mc_cid=11e10fd973&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f&leadSource=uverify%20wall#xj4y7vzkg

And this in The Australian of June 29, 2023, “Sweden’s botched ‘green dream’ a warning to us all”, Peta Credlin:

“Two days ago, the new centre-right Swedish government announces an energy policy U-turn. You won’t read much about it because the media’s confirmation bias means it mostly reports only “news” to reinforce climate alarmism.”

This from Public on Substack, “Escape the Woke Matrix: A pathological religion is destroying our civilization” by Michael Shellenberger, June 29, 2023

Quote of full post by Shellenberger:

“I had the pleasure on Monday of giving a keynote address to the students and faculty of the University of Austin titled “Escape The Woke Matrix.” In it, I argue that Western civilization is being rapidly taken over by a psychopathological religion, and that we must resist it by exposing it for what it is, and re-grounding our institutions in love of humanity, civilization, and freedom.

“You can hear the emotion in my voice. The global crackdown on free speech has left me feeling angry and afraid. Despite my emotional state, or perhaps because of it, the students gave me a standing ovation at the end.

“The week before I had been in London with my colleagues from Public and Environmental Progress. The highlight of the trip was speaking on stage at Westminster Abbey’s Central Hall with Matt Taibbi and Russell Brand. We will release a video of that event for subscribers next week.

“The next day we gathered with free speech advocates from around the world. Our goal? Build a global coalition to fight back against censorship.

“This is not an abstract concern for us. Two of the people in the room are facing criminal charges for things they have written or said. Another’s husband is facing prison for things he published.

“Behind the war on free speech is the same totalitarianism we have been watching sweep over the Western world for several years. It is relentless and uncompromising. It is driven by bullying people full of dogma and hatred of dissident views.

“The totalitarians are well-resourced and powerful, while we have few resources and are just starting to find each other. But we believe our love of humanity, civilization, and freedom will conquer their hatred, as it has so many other times in the past.

“It’s not enough to condemn, we must also seek to understand, and explain. We are going toe-to-toe with an opponent that would put us in prison for wrongthink. We must stand up to their bullying, and break their hyponotic trance over the population. That is how we will escape from the woke matrix.”

This from Matt Taibbi, June 23, 2023– “The Elite War on Free Thought: Address at Free Speech Event in London, with Russell Brand and Michael Shellenberger”.

Taibbi says that, as he was invited to become involved in the Twitter Files expose, he was stunned by the censorship of dissenting opinion and speech by US intelligence agencies (i.e. pressure from FBI, CIA, other government agencies), censorship mainly directed at conservative speech.

Taibbi was overwhelmed by the extent of the censorship and made this summarizing comment:

From Glen Greenwald’s June 26, 2023 article- “The Insidious and Unreported Legal Assault on Landmark Free Speech Ruling, from BLM Leaders to Donald Trump”. The “Censorship Industrial Complex” has become a worldwide crusade against democratic freedom.

“If forced to identify the single greatest danger the West faces, I would almost certainly choose the ongoing institutionalization of censorship. Or, put another way, the incremental yet aggressive erosion of free speech, both as a legal right and as a social value. There are multiple ways a censorship regime is being implemented.

“We know from the Twitter Files and from other reporting both before and since that U.S. and Western security state agencies apply enormous pressure on Big Tech corporations to heavily censor online political discourse, largely by banning dissent from establishment orthodoxies on virtually every consequential debate. From reporting on Joe Biden to the integrity of elections, from COVID to the war in Ukraine, all of those issues have ushered in extreme levels of censorship, invariably aimed at those who question or dissent from establishment narratives. We have reported on such efforts many times.

“Then there is the truly pernicious attempt to stigmatize or even criminalize political dissent by depicting it as “too dangerous” to allow, based on the theory that this dissent is the primary culprit that inspires violent attacks. After a white supremacist shooter murdered people at a grocery store in Buffalo, in May 2022, for instance, established media outlets instantly created the narrative that the real criminal with blood on his hands was not the shooter but instead, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose speech was blamed for inspiring the killer even though there was no evidence the shooter had even heard of Tucker Carlson, let alone watched this show, let alone was inspired by him to murder. This theory, of course, is never applied the same way to establishment voices.

“When a rabid fan of Rachel Maddow and Bernie Sanders tried to murder GOP Congressman Steve Scalise and other members of the Republican House caucus, in 2017, based on his view that Republicans are racist, traitors and Russian agents, nobody seriously tried to claim that Maddow or Sanders had blood on their hands, nor did anyone claim that about an environmental activist, when a climate activist murdered the Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn, in 2002, just nine days before a general election, which could have made Fortuyn the new Dutch prime minister.

“This media narrative is, again, yet another weapon designed to suppress and ultimately lead to the outlawing of dissent against establishment parties on the grounds that such dissent is too dangerous to permit. Then there are these social pressures designed to marginalize or silence establishment critiques in many countries.

“In the democratic world, major societal sectors barely pretend any longer to value or defend free speech. At most, they may pay lip service to free speech, but then immediately offer a mountain of other values that they insist are more important, and that justified the restrictions on free speech. Increasingly, the phrase ‘free speech’ is depicted as a far-right or even a fascist cause. Even though every fascist in history has embraced censorship and not free speech.

“And the demands are now intense for establishment critics to be silenced or censored. We saw just last week that liberal media figures demanded that nobody, neither Joe Biden nor Professor Peter Hotez M.D., Ph.D. debate RFK, Jr. on the grounds that RFK, Jr.’s ideas are simply too harmful to allow to be heard. Google has repeatedly censored RFK or even mentions of him from YouTube, and that should not be surprising. Seemingly every day new theories are invented as to why one should regard dissent not only as wrong but also as too dangerous to allow.

“That is the pernicious theory that is leading in many democratic countries throughout the world, from Brazil and Canada to Ireland and Germany. A spate of new censorship laws, regulations and judicial rulings is based on the view that dissent either constitutes “hate speech” or “disinformation,” terms that intrinsically cannot apply to establishment defenders, but only to their critics…

“In order to understand the ongoing multipronged attacks on free speech in the West and the attempt to institutionalize censorship, it is first extremely important to understand the mentality that underlies this craving for more censorship. This has become increasingly easier as a result of the stigma and shame that once surrounded, admitting that you were a believer in censorship, rapidly eroding where people now just stand up and freely admit they oppose free speech and instead believe censorship serves higher values. And that gives a lot of insight into this mentality.

“Currently, in Ireland, as we see from the Irish Times this week, there is a new hate crime law that is now a step closer to being implemented. The headline reads, “Introduction of New Hate Crime Law is Now a Step Closer.”

“The introduction of a new hate crime law is a step closer after it passed the second stage in the Seanad. The criminal justice Bill 2022 (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offenses), is aimed at updating laws criminalizing hate speech and legislating against hate crimes for the first time. It will criminalize any intentional or reckless communication or behavior that is likely to incite violence or hatred against a person or persons because they are associated with a “protected characteristic.” […] (The Irish Times. June 21, 2023)

“So just to be clear, anything that can be said to incite not just violence toward, but hatred against a particular minority group now is a crime. So, if you presumably were to say that you don’t believe that there are more than two genders or you believe that same-sex couples are a sin under the Bible, or you believe that women have certain capabilities that are less than men or different than men, you will now be charged criminally under this hate crimes law because you are inciting hatred toward a particular minority group. The article says,

“Such characteristics are said to include race, color, nationality, descent, religion, ethnic or national origin, gender (including gender expressions or identity), sexual orientation, or disability. (The Irish Times. June 21, 2023)

“The impetus for this bill is a debate almost entirely focused on the rights of transgender people, including the right to provide medical treatments for people under the age of 18 that include things like puberty blockers and all the debates with which you are now undoubtedly familiar.

“Throughout Western Europe, there are actually attempts in many Western European countries based on health concerns to scale back or even prohibit the administering of puberty-blocking medication or other types of quote-unquote “gender-affirming” care to minors. And yet there is also a reaction to that, which is to try to criminalize any kind of dissent to the prevailing orthodoxy on the new gender ideology. So even though it covers a broad range of issues and criminalizes the kinds of statements I just enumerated, the immediate impetus is this debate over transgender rights and the attempt to turn into criminals, people who question or dissent from the new prevailing orthodoxy.

“The reason I mention this law in Ireland is not only because it’s becoming representative of the trend throughout the democratic world concerning legislation, but because the senator, one of the key senators, who is in the Green Party, Senator Pauline O’Reilly, stood up and gave a speech on the floor of the Irish parliament that is incredibly revealing about the dominant mindset throughout the West when it comes to justifying censorship and dismissing free speech as no longer a paramount value. I want to show you what it is that she said because this really does shed vivid light on how these people think. Listen to what she said.

Sen. Pauline O’Reilly: “Think about it. All our legislation is about the restriction of freedom. That’s exactly what we’re doing here, we are restricting freedom, but we’re doing it for the common good. You will see throughout our Constitution, yes, you have rights, but they are restricted for the common good. Everything needs to be balanced. And if your views on other people’s identities go to make their lives unsafe, and insecure, and cause them such deep discomfort that they cannot live in peace, then I believe that it is our job as legislators to restrict those freedoms for the common good.”

“All right. Do you feel comfortable yet? Just so you know, your free speech rights are being restricted because of her view of what serves the common good. She believes, and she’s about to win this argument in Ireland and many other countries that if you say things that make other people uncomfortable, in their lives or make them anyway feel some kind of pressure societally. she doesn’t want to just restrict your rights to say, she wants to turn you into a criminal if you do.

“And obviously, this includes things like misgendering people or arguing against the idea that there are more than two genders. All of that would immediately fall into this criminalization scheme because her view is that you may think you have free speech rights, but those have to be restricted for the common good, meaning if your political views make other people uncomfortable, you can be turned into a criminal and will be. And this is absolutely the prevailing mindset that free speech no longer exists because the only things you’re permitted to say are things that align with establishment ideology.”

Insert: “Establishment ideology”- referring to the dominant Woke Progressivism ideology of the US Democrats and US mainstream media. In the interests of balance and fairness, note also that the conservative/Republican side of US society has its own totalitarian impulses to deal with- i.e. the impulses to legally/coercively restrict women’s rights and choices, the rights of gays, along other social issues. Libertarian David Boaz was right that both sides need to respect freedom more in all areas.

Continuing with Greenwald’s comments…

“… there’s a general prevailing sentiment getting stronger and stronger in the United States and the West every day that free speech really doesn’t matter and that there are values far more important than free speech that justify its curtailment…

“People who espouse establishment doctrine on Ukraine or COVID or Russiagate or Jan. 6 don’t get censored from the Internet. They don’t have their speech threatened with criminalization. It’s only critics of the establishment, either on the left or the right who are subject to those kinds of attacks….

“They (Democrat elites) genuinely regard dissent from their orthodoxy as illegal, criminal, dangerous, disinformation, and hate speech. All the terms that are in every country in the democratic world are being harnessed to curtail the right to free expression and free dissent in all kinds of ways…

“And I will reassert what I said at the beginning of this show, which is that if there is any danger or menace that can be identified as the greatest in the West it is these attempts to undermine dissent and free speech, because without the ability to speak freely, without the ability to question establishment decrees, without the ability to question them and oppose them, every single other right is basically rendered illusory. That is what they are trying to do.

“The attacks on independent media, the attempts to censor the Internet, the attempts to undermine First Amendment dogma are all about controlling the flow of information because they know that the public no longer trusts them and they can’t convince the public any longer. They’ve given up on debate, they’ve given up on persuasion, and the only tactic they’re using is brute force through censorship and this case law and these developments are some of the most important to understand as to how that is being done.

From Glen Greenwald’s June 22, 2023 article “CNN and their government sources….”

“Do you not find it unbelievable how much news is delivered within corporate media outlets by former officials of the U.S. security state? The journalist class is now basically composed of former operatives of the CIA, the FBI, the NSA and Homeland Security. Turn on MSNBC or CNN and all you will see are operatives of the U.S. security state. They are embedded up and down Big Tech.

“Just today, Big Tech promoted a former CIA operative to be head of their global elections desk. The people who control how political discourse is permitted and censored when it comes time to influencing other countries’ elections, he, too, was a former member of the CIA. So, of course, the Atlantic has former CIA operatives now pretending to be journalists.

“During the Cold War, the CIA had a program called “Operation Mockingbird” where it would find ways to covertly influence media outlets in the United States – The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC, CBS – by all sorts of covert tactics that the Church Committee uncovered when they investigated the U.S. intelligence community in the mid-1970s.

“That is now totally unnecessary. They now influence the media right out in the open. These media outlets just hire all of these U.S. security state liars and career propagandists to write for them to deliver the news, and they’re not embarrassed about it at all.”

Dominant ideology of the West today (Woke Progressivism), “Canada’s secular religion of cultural self-hate”, by Bruce Pardy

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/bruce-pardy-how-canadas-secular-religion-of-cultural-self-hate-took-hold

As always (a regular background project on this site), keep in mind the great contradictions between Jesus and Paul. These comments are about the fundamental themes (archetypes) of the narratives that we embrace to guide our lives… Wendell Krossa

This site takes Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy’s position that the “diamonds” of Jesus (his core teaching/themes) are buried in the New Testament under Paul’s distorting Christ myth. Meaning- There is a profound contradiction between the message of Jesus and the teaching of Paul. These two presented two entirely different gospels/realities.

(1) Jesus rejected the demand for sacrifice to appease an “angry” God and obtain forgiveness/acceptance with God. He died for his protest against the sacrifice industry (see https://bobbrinsmead.com/the-historical-jesus-what-the-scholars-are-saying/)

Paul turned Jesus into the Christ- the ultimate cosmic sacrifice for all sin.

(2) Jesus taught that God was an unconditional reality- fully accepting all, forgiving all, including all, showering generosity on all alike (“sun and rain given to both righteous and unrighteous”- Matthew 5). Notably, Jesus illustrated his view of an unconditional God in the parable of the Prodigal where the father did not demand that any conditions had to be met before forgiving, accepting, and loving the wayward son.

Paul, to the contrary, advocated for a highly conditional God who demanded full payment of all sin before forgiving, accepting, and fully loving anyone (see his letter to the Romans). Paul’s gospel was about the conditions of right belief, faith in his Christ myth, adherence to Christian ritual and lifestyle, and membership in a Christian church.

(3) Jesus declared God to be a non-retaliatory reality. This is clearly stated in his teaching that there should be no more eye for eye retaliation but, instead, we should love our enemy because God does (Luke 6:27-36). Paul rejected that view of non-retaliatory deity and retreated to the theology of a retaliatory God (Romans. 12:17-20).

These are fundamental and profoundly irreconcilable contrasts between the messages of Jesus and Paul.

The importance of understanding this contradiction at the heart of Christianity? The core message of Jesus (God as non-retaliatory and hence non-apocalyptic) overturns Paul’s myth of the apocalyptic Christ (Thessalonians). Paul’s apocalyptic Christ has been the single most influential myth in Western narratives and consciousness, the single greatest factor keeping the destructive pathology of apocalyptic alive in Western civilization.

This is about going to the ultimate root of the problem to find the most thorough and lasting solution to an ongoing problem. Much like the military leaders who stated in response to the eruption of ISIS violence years ago- You need to also respond to the ideas/ideology behind such movements if you are to solve the repeated outbreaks of such violence for the long-term.

Stand (or sit) back and observe the real-time “madness” movement that has swept across our world: Wendell Krossa

Over past decades we have been observing in real time a “madness of crowds” eruption of hysteria that has swept through public consciousness worldwide. The madness has been incited by the climate alarmism crusade that has been a denial of factual evidence for an embrace of the apocalyptic framework of mythical themes. When the irrationality of apocalyptic thinking possesses populations, it leads to the subsequent embrace of irrational salvation schemes like Net Zero decarbonization. The following link gives some sense of the Net Zero madness that we are observing today…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/10/column-looming-european-energy-crisis-a-lesson-in-averages-that-wont-soon-be-forgotten-2/

One notable indicator of the madness?- The endless daily harping by news media in response to every natural climate, or better, “weather” event, as portending the end-of-days (i.e. summer warm events, dry periods, rainfall, flooding events, etc.). This obsessive-compulsive media nagging betrays a cultic and moralistic spirit- i.e. a fundamentalist-like spirit that is pushing a “profoundly religious” belief system. Its certainly not science.

(Example of weather events that are not due to climate change- https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/25/no-wapo-a-texas-heat-wave-has-nothing-to-do-with-global-climate-change/)

Note that the climate panic-mongering is over the same old climate events (again, more accurately- “weather events”) that we all took in stride over past decades and adapted to by adjusting our clothing (i.e. coats removed and shorts put on for warm days, coats back on during cold days). Nothing was said about the world ending. You just adapted.

Example: An Alberta teacher back in the early 1970s told us about a record daily shift in temperature due to a natural weather phenomenon- a chinook- sweeping into the province. He said that the temperature shift in one day reached 100 degrees F (from about 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero to 60 degrees Fahrenheit above zero). That was Alberta winter weather and we welcomed the chinook arches appearing in the Western sky over the Rockies, especially on days when we suffered from subzero cold. It was considered a benefit to be able to remove our heavy winter coats a couple of hours later and enjoy the warmth.

When a far smaller chinook shift occurred during Leonardo DiCaprio’s filming of Revenant in Alberta, he concluded that it was a “terrifying” sign of the looming end of the world. Sheesh, eh. But that is the reaction of people who have embraced the fallacy of apocalyptic mythology and view natural weather events through that distorting lens.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/leonardo-dicaprio-witnesses-a-terrifying-sign-of-climate-change-in-calgary-a-chinook

Read this report on the highest daily temperature change in Alberta history (40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit)…

https://www.readersdigest.ca/travel/canada/extreme-temperature-change-in-canada/

Note to DiCaprio- Be thankful that you were not freezing to death, like the 10 times more people who die every year from cold in our still sub-optimally cold world, 10 times more than those who die from warming (Lancet study).

The climate alarmists have been terrorizing populations over a degree or two C more warming. They claim, for example, that a bit more warming will devastate nature and crop production. Oh? Then why, with more warming, are annual crop production records being exceeded every year around the world?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/01/16/fortified-by-global-warming-crop-production-keeps-breaking-records/?sh=46911a1da74f

Further, more warming leads to the extension of the habitats of life into colder regions. This is a benefit for far more diverse species than the fewer species that might be harmed by warming. And note that the iconic Arctic species- polar bears- have survived much warmer periods in the past.

https://co2coalition.org/news/scientists-the-arctic-was-sea-ice-free-19c-warmer-4-million-years-ago-and-yet-polar-bears-somehow-survived/

With global warming it is the colder regions of Earth that are benefitting most from warming. See detail below on the “equable tropical climate” fact, and the transport of tropical heat to the colder regions of Earth to even-out climate across the world, thereby returning Earth to the much warmer average temperatures of most past history- such as during the Eocene “paradise for mammals” (55-33 million years ago when climate was 3-10 degrees C warmer than today). This evidence counters the ongoing hysteria today over melting ice in our world.

The denial of factual reality in madness eruptions is further revealed by the fact that evidence on long-term trends continues to affirm that heatwaves, wildfires, storms, floods, and other natural events are not becoming worse. This evidence affirms that what is happening with climate today is not unprecedented compared to past climate history. See, for example, the masses of documented evidence on sites like “co2coalition.org” or “wattsupwiththat.com”, evidence from the best minds working in climate science (i.e. atmospheric physicists like Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and others).

And another example of evidence contradicting media hysteria over natural weather events- take a look at this research that evokes a “WTF” response in regard to the evidence that Canadian wildfires have decreased with global warming increasing over past centuries (read just the “Abstract” in the first link below)…. “Future wildfire in circumboreal forests in relation to global warming – Flannigan – 1998 – Journal of Vegetation Science – Wiley Online Library”

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2307/3237261

https://financialpost.com/opinion/truth-about-forest-fires-up-in-climate-change-smoke

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/10/you-are-being-conned-data-studies-un-ipcc-all-reveal-canadian-fires-not-due-to-climate-change-there-has-been-a-significant-continuing-decline-in-the/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/11/good-climate-news-wildfire-trends-have-fallen-off-significantly-over-the-recent-decades/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/13/unraveling-the-enigma-canadian-wildfires-a-stroke-of-misfortune/

What is “unprecedented” today is the panic-mongering and hysteria that are the outcome of viewing natural events through the lens of the primitive apocalyptic complex of myths that continue to dominate the worldviews of many people. Apocalyptic mythology shaped narratives like 19th Century Declinism and its direct offspring- environmental/climate alarmism. Apocalyptic themes are a subset of the larger complex of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” belief system that still dominates world religions.

These primitive mythical themes (archetypes) deform minds and short-circuit people’s ability to see evidence on the true state of life. Apocalyptic mythology influences the “confirmation bias” denial that results in the severe “cognitive dissonance” of living in an improving world while at the same time believing that life is declining and we are heading toward catastrophic ending. Media (obsessed with “Creating Fear: News and the construction of crisis”) worsen the situation by mindlessly acting as loudspeakers for apocalyptic-obsessed scientists, politicians, and celebrities. The result of such irresponsible panic-mongering is noted in this link…

https://www.humanprogress.org/why-are-we-so-gloomy/

Evidence on the true state of life calms the hyper-sensitive human impulse to fear. There are problems all throughout the world that need attention and solving but the evidence affirms that humanity is doing well in responding to and resolving such problems and thereby continuing the overall progress to a better future. And as the father of modern environmentalism, James Lovelock, stated after he recognized that his earlier alarmism over climate had been wrong, “Climate is doing what climate has always done”. That is- endlessly changing (warming or cooling in cyclical patterns that have been natural and normal throughout the history of Earth).

Read Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource” and tell your children the basic facts on the main indicators of the true state of our world. Teach your children how to practice good science, as Simon did, by looking at the complete big picture evidence that is related to any feature of life. And include, as Simon did, the longest-term evidence that is associated with the thing that you are looking at and trying to understand. And then reassure your children that their generation’s contribution to making the world better will also be effective and successful.

Calm your children’s fears. Don’t alarm them as these men irresponsibly advocate…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/12/aussie-academics-scaring-school-children-improves-their-climate-behaviour/

Another on “Stand back and survey the big picture”… Wendell Krossa

There is a darkness clouding public consciousness today, sometimes tending toward despair and even nihilism. Environmental alarmists have told us, for decades now, the anti-human tale that we are “a curse on Earth… a cancer/virus” infecting and defiling the planet. We are an intruder that does not belong in paradise. We have been told that we have ruined our previously paradisal world and all is now heading toward collapse and ending. That is classic Declinism thinking… primitive apocalyptic mentality.

Alarmists deny us a sense of “the wonder of being human”. They deny the wonder of our emergence from a brutal animal past to become progressively more humane across the millennia (i.e. less violent- See James Payne’s History of Force, Stephen Pinker’s Better Angels of Our Nature). Alarmists deny the wonder of our growing ability, over history, to solve problems and to make life ever better, to successfully create a promised land out of this too often destructive natural world. Note that there has been a 90-plus percent decline in deaths from natural disasters over the past century- https://co2coalition.org/news/why-deaths-from-hurricanes-and-other-natural-disasters-are-lower-than-ever/

We need an evidence-based sense of “the wonder of being human” (John Eccles’ term) in order to bring light back into the darkness that is shrouding contemporary consciousness, to affirm hope and to counter the dominant narratives of despair that dominate public consciousness today across the world. Note in this link just below that 56% of young people today fear growing up in our world. This is the outcome of endless irresponsible panic-mongering, notably from the climate alarmism crusade.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/08/climate-anxiety-doomsday-cult-or-mental-illness/

Evidence overwhelming assures us that life is becoming better and has never been better in all history.

https://www.humanprogress.org/weve-just-had-the-best-decade-in-human-history-seriously/

See also https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06137-x on “the illusion of moral decline”.

Add also, Julian Simon’s conclusion that “we (humanity) are more creators than destroyers”.

Now a theological point regarding the fact that apocalyptic panic-mongering incites and affirms the destructive tribal impulse, among other related base impulses (“animal passions”, Joseph Campbell). And some comment on how to counter the intense tribalism of today.

This relates to this site’s project to slay a monster (the monster of apocalyptic deity): Wendell Krossa

Here is a bit of theological reasoning that applies to humanity’s highest ideal and authority- i.e. to deity. Again, this is about probing and understanding the root ideas behind so-termed “secular” alarmism movements like climate change. Most importantly, this is about understanding the consequences of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of themes that have dominated human narratives across history.

Apocalyptic mythology and the tribalism impulse… Wendell Krossa

Historical Jesus (again- a person opposite to Christian “Jesus Christ”), in his central message, offered the “stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God, his single greatest contribution to the history of ideas” (James Robinson, “The Gospel of Jesus”). Here in the following paragraph is the central theme in the message of Historical Jesus as presented in Matthew 5:38-48, or better- the Luke 6:27-36 version of the same message. Luke’s version is “better”? Yes. He gets the spirit of Jesus better in summing up the message with “Be unconditionally merciful like God”. Whereas Matthew, obsessed with self-justifying righteousness, ends his summary of the Jesus message with “Be perfect as God is perfect”. That misses entirely the point on unconditional love that Jesus was making in the preceding verses.

Here again is my paraphrase of what Jesus was trying to say:

“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. Evidence? 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”.

(Note: As elsewhere on this site, I qualify the point that embracing the theology of an unconditional God, and a related unconditional approach to offenders (behavior based on similar beliefs or ideals), is not advocacy for the pacifist treatment of offenders. All of us must be held responsible for our behavior and the consequences of our behavior as foundational to our development and maturing. This means the restraint of violent people by criminal justice systems- i.e. incarceration where required for public safety. But holding an unconditional theology and ethic will mean advocacy for restorative justice toward offenders, not punitive.)

A one-sentence summary of the central theme of the Jesus’ message would be: “Love your enemies because God does”. Meaning- Do this and you will be just like God. That is some of the best motivation ever offered for meaning-driven people wanting guidance for their life stories and how to fulfil their heroic quest to live as maturely human. Treat all others, including offenders, just as God views and treats them (i.e. again- restorative, not punitive justice).

And my theological point from this? If God is, as Jesus clearly stated- “non-retaliatory” (again- “his single greatest contribution to the history of ideas”), then a non-retaliatory God will not bring on the apocalypse which would be history’s single greatest act of retaliation (i.e. God punishing people for sin by destroying life, by destroying the entire world).

But then Paul, in order to reaffirm his belief in the myth of apocalypse (the essential element in his Christ myth), had to re-establish that God was a retaliatory deity. Hence, some 20-plus years after the death of Jesus we find Paul (Romans 12:17-20) quoting an Old Testament statement that sets forth his retreat to a primitive view of God as retaliatory- “’Vengeance is mine. I will repay’, says the Lord”.

Paul also reaffirmed, in his other letters, his belief that a vengeful God would retaliate with apocalyptic destruction- i.e. “Lord Jesus will return in flaming fire (apocalyptic destruction) to punish/destroy all who do not believe my gospel” (see his Thessalonian letters).

In the above statements, Paul rejected the central point in the stunning new theology of Jesus- “God as nonretaliatory, unconditional love”. Paul retreated to the worst feature of primitive theology that had dominated the mythologies and the religions of all previous history. He short-circuited the single most potent discovery ever made- i.e. the Jesus insight that could have revolutionized human narratives, human thought, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior over subsequent history. (Note: Human views of deity have always been the cohering center of human narratives- shaping all else in our belief systems.)

With his retreat to re-affirm retaliatory vengeance in humanity’s highest ideal and authority- deity- Paul thereby re-affirmed the worst of human impulses, the impulse to retaliate, to take vengeance against others/enemies.

Retaliation is the one feature that renders us most petty and subhuman, entirely contrary to the great human spirits that we ought to be. Retaliation brings out the worst demons of our nature, the basest of our animal passions. The impulse to retaliate is one of the single greatest blocks to our progress toward a more human future.

Once again, note the comments (reposted just below) of psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo on how our beliefs shape our responses and behavior. To quote Bob Brinsmead again- “We become just like the God- the highest ideal and authority- that we believe in”.

I am arguing here that it is absolutely critical to recover the central Jesus insight that has been buried by Paul’s Christ myth that dominates the New Testament. “Critical” because many people, within and without the Christian tradition, take the Jesus teaching in the New Testament seriously as offering an authoritative ideal to guide life.

The Jesus insight- i.e. that God does not retaliate- overturns the primitive theme of “divine retaliation via apocalypse” that is central to Paul’s theology, a belief that has fueled endless violence and destruction across history. Religious beliefs, such as the apocalyptic Christ myth, incite the primitive human lust to engage “end-of-days” Armageddon-type battles to destroy enemies.

It is not my conclusion alone that retaliatory religious beliefs incite vengeful violence among people. The apocalyptic millennial scholars- Arthur Herman, Richard Landes, Arthur Mendel, David Redles- have all detailed the destructive historical outcomes of the belief/behavior relationship in their research. Add here the comments of psychologists Zenon Lotufo and Harold Ellens also posted below.

Again, to re-enforce my point on the necessity to tackle the Christ myth of Paul…

Paul embedded the feature of retaliatory deity in his Christ myth and that myth has been most responsible for keeping the pathology of apocalypse alive and prominent in Western narratives and consciousness. Primitive religious beliefs/themes are at the root of the endless apocalyptic panic-mongering in our societies (i.e. the never-ending prophesies of the end-of-days).

Examples of apocalyptic belief inciting violence against others:

The belief that God would soon return to destroy the world via apocalypse was a significant factor motivating the ISIS drive to establish the caliphate in Iraq and Syria (2013). That same belief fuels the desire of Christian Evangelicals to see the great final confrontation and annihilation battle take place in Israel. So also, the belief in looming apocalypse fueled Hitler’s crusade to engage the great extermination struggle against Jewish Bolshevism on the Eastern Front (the assault on Russia).

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

https://deadline.com/2023/03/praying-for-armageddon-cph-dox-film-evangelical-influence-on-american-policy-director-tonje-hessen-schei-interview-1235304641/

As with ISIS and Evangelicals, David Redles notes the following regarding Hitler and his belief in a great final battle of extermination/annihilation, “When one believes that an apocalyptic scenario is destined to occur and that one is part of a divine plan to help realize that scenario, then, quite often, as the history of millennial movements demonstrates, one finds some way to induce that apocalyptic event (“Hitler’s Millennial Reich: Apocalyptic Belief and the Search for Salvation”).

Our beliefs have consequences/outcomes in real life. Again, we become just like the God (ideals, authorities) that we believe in.

“Apocalyptic has been the most violent and destructive idea in history” (Arthur Mendel, Vision and Violence)

The apocalypse myth works its destructive outcomes by being ratified within a larger complex of supporting ideas that further incite people’s worst impulses, including the impulse to violence.

The idea of violent apocalyptic destruction as “the plan, purpose, or will of God” originated within the Zoroastrian theology of ultimate dualism- i.e. a Good God in conflict with an evil Force or Spirit (Satan). The myth of cosmic dualism has since incited and affirmed endless “this-world” dualisms among people. It affirms the tribal mindset of “us true believers (or tribal insiders) set in opposition to our enemies who are trying to destroy us and hence we must pre-emptively destroy them in order to survive”.

Apocalypse mythology incites, among other things, the tribal impulse. Apocalyptic end-of-world scenarios incite the fear of death and that then arouses survival desperation in people, a desperation that is subsequently focused on eliminating the purported threat to one’s survival- i.e. one’s enemies. Violent destruction as “salvation”.

Apocalyptic believers often frame the destruction of threatening enemies as a “righteous battle” against an intolerable evil.

These cause-effect correlations among ideas and behavioral responses are further intensified when frightened people demonize their enemies as subhuman in some manner and therefore believe that it is well-deserved “justice” to eliminate them. If your enemy is so “beyond-the-pale” evil and threatens your very existence, then all bets are off. You may do whatever you must to protect yourself and survive against such evil. You can convince yourself that you are fighting a “just war”, fulfilling a just and righteous cause. (This is not to deny that such battles have existed over past history. But the war against fossil fuels, among other battles today, is not one of those “just” causes.)

These are primitive ideas, related impulses, and outcomes, yet they are still given honored prominence in our modern narratives and practises. We are more subtle today in how we frame such primitivism to ourselves, and that allows us to maintain our sense of self-righteousness. We have learned to convince ourselves that we really are engaging some just cause, unlike our “evil” enemies. We all like to frame our belief systems and related practices as “righteous, true, noble, etc.” not like our subhuman opponents or enemies (i.e. The self-delusion of “noble cause corruption”, or “When they go low, we go high” thinking).

The apocalyptic myth now has a long track record of deforming the natural heroic quest to engage a righteous battle against wrong, to conquer and slay some monster, to save something. As noted above, apocalyptic deforms the hero’s quest by inciting us to view our enemies as “satanic/evil”, as belonging to a false religion, or as some “demonic” force that we view as life-threatening. Apocalypse mythology affirms the impulse to purge and purify life from such defiling and irredeemable threats as “heroic quests to save the world from a life-ending menace”.

Watch how this mythical thinking and related behavior is playing out in the climate alarmism crusade today (i.e. the alarmist claim that too many people enjoying the good life in industrial society, based on fossil fuels, is the great evil threat to life. CO2, as a lead indicator of human evil, is demonized as a “pollutant, poison”.).

Apocalyptic mythology also stirs the deformed hope for restoration of a lost paradise, or installation of a new utopia, after the evil threat has been violently purged (i.e. again, today’s apocalyptic prophets have lasered in on CO2 as the lead indicator of “world-destroying industrial, capitalist civilization” that must be purged in order to “save the world”).

“Deformed hope”? Yes, hope that is based on the destruction of your opponents is not authentically humane hope. See the book of Revelation for detail on how the world ends for the majority of humanity that did not walk the “straight and narrow” road of some version of Christianity. Enemies who are damned to the lake of fire for the “sins” of “gossip, boasting, lust, gluttony, enjoying life too much”, etc. Punishment all out of proportion to “crimes committed”.

Add here, regarding the supporting complex of ideas/myths that have affirmed apocalyptic mythology, that across history varied people have viewed their tribe as the group that is the specially “chosen people” aligned on God’s side and set against some dehumanized demonic enemy. This belief intensifies the self-deluding potency of self-righteous superiority that most of us like to embrace in some fashion (the innate tribalism in all of us- Jordan Peterson).

Many across history have believed that they were part of a “true religion” or righteous cause, that they were the ones engaged in some righteous battle and that God was helping them to defeat their enemies and thereby purge some evil threat from the world. And such violent destruction of differing others was the “will, plan, and purpose” of a good God.

That thinking has been embraced on all sides, by all tribes across history, as argued in an out-of-print book by a Catholic priest titled “God’s Chosen Peoples”. People who believe that they are the chosen ones, the favored of God, better than others, have then been susceptible to abusing and destroying differing others. Such ideas/beliefs have incited and affirmed incalculable bloodshed across history.

To sum up my point: I affirm with Arthur Mendel (Vision and Violence) that apocalyptic has been the most destructive myth in history and is part of a related complex of myths that have incited humanity’s worst impulses to separate from others, to oppose differing others, to embrace hate and the lust for vengeance, to dominate and destroy differing and “inferior” others.

The Jesus insight on non-retaliatory deity goes to the root or core of the issue to overturn the central apocalyptic theme of the Christ myth (i.e. the ideal of ultimate divine retaliation in apocalypse- Thessalonians, Revelation, etc.). The apocalyptic Christ of Paul has been the “most influential myth in history” that has long affirmed this destructive apocalyptic complex in Western consciousness, in Western meta-narratives (both religious and “secular”), and Western societies. The discovery of Jesus- i.e. that God was a non-retaliatory reality- overturned entirely the idea of retaliatory/punitive/destroying deity that has long functioned as the cohering center of human narratives.

Marinate on this- That there is no retaliatory, vengeful God fighting some opposing evil force or Spirit- i.e. Satan or “enemies”. As Jesus stated- “God loves God’s enemies and so we also should do the same”.

This single insight radically changes the core of our narratives (i.e. the deity ideals that have long been the cohering center of human narratives) and orients us to entirely new and more humane alternatives to inspire our thinking, emotions, motivations, and responses/behaviors.

Other counter points to the tribalism impulse:

As another counter to the tribalism impulse that has intensified across our societies over past decades, I would advocate consideration of the common descent of all humans today from the same African mother- the “Mitochondrial Eve”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

So go easy on Rachel Dolezal, the woman who identifies as black, even though her ancestry over more recent millennia descends through the Caucasian strain of humanity. She understands our longer-term history- i.e. human origins in East Africa- and she presented that understanding during a BBC interview. And yes, she sometimes obfuscates things a bit, in what appears, to others, to be a deceptive manner. But hey, why such hissy-fit fuss over her choice and personal narrative?

Our common origin in Africa constitutes the foundational “race/ethnicity” of all of us. This factual and established history affirms our common humanity in one family. And to buttress this fact, the best that we have come up with are the Classic Liberal principles that affirm our essential oneness in the one family of humanity- i.e. the principles of the full equality of all, the full inclusion of all diverse lifestyles, respect for the freedom of differing others, the affirmation of self-determination and personal choice as critical to human well being (no domination, no outside control), restorative justice toward human failure, the promotion of diversity of views and speech as healthy for humanity’s progress (multiple creative options/alternatives for our future), and so on.

Classic liberalism has provided the institutions- i.e. representative parliament, common law systems- that best protect the freedoms and rights of all individuals as full equals. The free market principles of Classic Liberalism include the protection of private property and private contracts, etc. These principles (distributing power among competing individuals and institutions) have worked best to protect us from the collectivist approaches that centralize power in state elites, thereby inevitably unleashing the totalitarian impulse that ends badly for all.

Added note on the mythological complex of themes that are behind “secular” alarmism movements- i.e. NDEs affirming the central theme of Historical Jesus:

The central discovery of the Near-Death Experience movement is that God is an unconditional reality, a stunningly inexpressible “no conditions love”. Well, consider that discovery was also the central theme or insight of Historical Jesus (a person entirely contrary to Paul’s Christ). Jesus’ main contribution to the history of human ideas was that God was “non-retaliatory” (James Robinson), meaning in negative terms that God did not threaten exclusion of anyone, punishment, or destruction via apocalypse or hell.

According to Jesus, God included all, forgave all, and loved all unconditionally. This was expressed in the Jesus statements to love your enemies because God did, as evident in God giving sun and rain to all, to both good and bad people. The unconditional nature of God was also expressed in the Prodigal parable where the father unconditionally forgave and welcomed the wasteful son.

The NDE movement includes a small percentage of credibility-stretching accounts (i.e. those affirming the pathological myth of hell). But the majority of those experiences confirm the central discovery that God is an unconditional reality (Disclosure point- I view the NDE movement as part of the latest historical stage of human spirituality and insight).

The singular insight from the NDE movement- i.e. deity as unconditional reality- overturns entirely and thoroughly the pathology of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of religious myths. Which is to say- the central NDE insight on God as unconditional reality spells “the end of religion as a highly conditional social institution”. The main NDE revelation goes to the root issue of all issues, to the real monster and enemy- i.e. the pathology of retaliatory deity that has dominated the heart of human meta-narratives across history. That is the real monster to confront and conquer in your personal hero’s quest. (See comment below on how nonretaliatory deity demolishes the apocalypse myth.)

Again, to buttress the above points, the excellent comments of Ellens and Lotufo on how beliefs influence human behavior:

A reposting of comments from psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo regarding their work on the influence of bad religious ideas on human personality and society. Again, my point here is that the fundamental themes of primitive mythologies have not faded from human narratives and consciousness today, but they continue their dominance in the great world religions and have also been given new embodiment in so-called “secular/ideological” versions as in the climate alarmism crusade. The most primitive of themes still impact our consciousness, lives, and societies. The sacred has also become “secular”, reconstructed as ideology.

Comments from psychotherapist/theologian Zenon Lotufo (quoting psychologist/theologian Harold Ellens) on how images/beliefs, notably images of ultimate reality and ideals, like deity, how such images influence human consciousness, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior in daily life. Both men affiliated with the Christian tradition. Ellens was a US Army chaplain. Point? With these two scholars there was no throwing of stones from the outside.

Quotes from Lotufo’s book “Cruel God, Kind God”

An insert: The destructive outcomes of “religious motivation” are notable also in terms of the “profoundly religious” climate alarmism crusade and its destructive “salvation” scheme of Net Zero decarbonization (“save the world”). Destruction is evident in the spreading harm, from Net Zero and renewables zealotry, in societies like Germany, Britain, and California. Climate alarmism exhibits the same old themes and destructive outcomes of all past apocalyptic crusades.

Lotufo then notes “the pathological nature of mainstream orthodox theology and popular religious ideation”.

He states, “One type of religiosity is entirely built around the assumption or basic belief, and correspondent fear, that God is cruel or even sadistic… The associated metaphors to this image are ‘monarch’ and ‘judge’. Its distinctive doctrine is ‘penal satisfaction’. I call it ‘Cruel God Christianity’… 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…

“The image of God can be seen as a basic belief or scheme, and as such it is never questioned…

“Basic cultural beliefs are so important, especially in a dominant widespread culture, because they have the same properties as individual basic beliefs, that is, they are not perceived as questionable. The reader may object that “God”, considered a basic belief in our culture, is rejected or questioned by a large number of people today. Yet the fact is that the idea of God that those people reject is almost never questioned. In other words, their critique assumes there is no alternative way of conceiving God except the one that they perceive through the lens of their culture. So, taking into account the kind of image of God that prevails in Western culture- a ‘monster God’… such rejection is understandable…

“Hence, in our culture we have a powerful element that impels us to violence, a Cruel God Image… that also contributes to guilt, shame, and the impoverishment of personality…”.

As Harold Ellens says, “If your God uses force, then so may you, to get your way against your ‘enemies’”.

Add also that the themes of (1) tribalism (true believers favored and “saved”, versus unbelievers who are rejected and destroyed), (2) domination (deity as dominating Lord, Ruler, King), and (3) ultimate violent destruction of the differing others (apocalypse, hell)… such themes, sacralized in deity as ultimate ideals and authority, then serve to re-enforce the same features, and related impulses, in the adherents to such belief systems.

Understand the basic themes that incite apocalyptic movements, the disastrous outcomes, and then consider the potent alternative ideas/themes that liberate human minds from enslavement to endless exaggerated scenarios of “crises… catastrophes….end-of-days…etc.” Learn more, fear less. Wendell Krossa

Note in the latest Global Warming Policy Forum newsletter– “Net Zero Watch” (June 2, 2023)- the reports on the German energy disaster that has resulted from Net Zero madness that has possessed the governing elites in that once prosperous country. Britain faces the same disastrous outcomes (rising energy costs from blocked fossil fuel development, the consequent inflationary impact on the 6000 products derived from fossil fuels, destabilized electrical grids). Other areas are suffering the same outcomes from the embrace of today’s apocalyptic crusade- the climate alarmism movement and its irrational decarbonization salvation scheme.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/01/new-york-senator-is-taking-legislative-action-to-stop-the-transition-until-a-fossil-fuel-replacement-is-identified/

Note the following consequences of embracing apocalyptic madness:

The cow culling in Ireland (Ireland’s mooted cow massacre is a warning to net zero Britain (telegraph.co.uk));

The shut down of farms in Holland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq34MyenrmE);

The disastrous collapse of agriculture in Sri Lanka (https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/05/sri-lanka-organic-farming-crisis/)

The above three situations illustrate the result of embracing modern versions of apocalyptic madness and are no different from the Xhosa cattle slaughter of 1856-57 (Richard Landes in “Heaven On Earth”). Contemporary apocalyptic movements like climate alarmism affirm Joseph Campbell’s statement that people have embraced the same primitive myths all across history and across all the cultures of the world. It appears that we never learn. Embrace bad ideas and we suffer the consequences in our lives and societies.

We continue to hold the same primitive beliefs as our ancestors, and then incited to panic by apocalyptic narratives like climate alarmism, and with our survival impulses aroused, we then embrace the same old irrational salvation schemes to save ourselves, to save our societies and our world. Apocalyptic salvation schemes that “save the world by destroying it”.

Ah, the insanity, the lunacy, the irrational madness that apocalyptic wreaks on human minds, personalities, and societies. Again and again. Hence, my repeated argument here to understand the basic themes of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” mythology and the outcomes of such mythology in human societies. Understand how alarmism movements incite survival fear in populations, thus rendering people susceptible to irrational and destructive salvationism projects like Net Zero decarbonization.

The patterns that unfold in apocalyptic movements: Wendell Krossa

First, alarmists incite fear in populations with an apocalyptic narrative and related end-of-world scenarios. That irresponsible panic-mongering arouses the survival impulse in people. Then the end-times prophets present their salvation scheme with the promise that it will save the frightened people and their world from the looming catastrophe that the prophets always claim is “imminent” (The actual date of the apocalypse is usually set 5 or more years out in the future as a protective measure to allow the apocalyptic prophet time to reset the date again and again when it fails to materialize as happens 100% of the time. It also provides time for people to forget who makes such ridiculous claims.).

The salvation scheme involves making some sacrifice/payment for sin, and also demands the violent purging of the thing that purportedly threatens the world. Today CO2 has been isolated and lasered in on as the lead indicator of the great apocalyptic threat to life- i.e. the indicator of the destructiveness of industrial capitalist civilization and human greed in over-consumption, excessive use of resources.

The salvation scheme also involves inciting the tribal dualism of engaging a righteous battle against demonized “evil” enemies. This plays on the ancient impulse of people to embrace the hero’s quest to conquer an enemy, a monster. And then once the enemy is vanquished, the monster conquered, then there is the promise of hope for salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise, or installation of a new utopia.

We have good alternatives to these narratives of despair/nihilism. Alternatives that affirm evidence-based hope. See, for example, in sections below- “Inherited bad myths, and better alternatives” for a list of suggested alternatives to the basic themes of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” mythology. We have more humane alternatives to the themes of the primitive narratives that we have inherited, better ideas (cognitive behavioral therapy) to overturn the mental pathologies that have long deformed human consciousness/mind, personality, emotions, motivations, and behavior/societies.

Don’t let yourself be conned by today’s so-called “secular” versions of apocalyptic that have been masking as “science”. In terms of the core themes, contemporary apocalyptic is still primitive mythology at its worst. It is ancient mythology that was transformed into the “secular/ideological” version known as 19th Century Declinism (Arthur Herman) that has subsequently affirmed offspring apocalyptic crusades like climate alarmism. Pay attention to the core themes and the patterns of these apocalyptic movements as they work out before our eyes. It is always the same old, same old irresponsible madness.

Again, learn more, and then fear less.

You want to cause real damage to young people, to children? Then embrace and propagate the climate alarmism narrative. This from Terry Etam- “This is the Century of Natural Gas”, May 30, 2023

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/05/30/column-this-is-the-century-of-natural-gas/

“The youth of today – have been taught and terrorized and tormented that fossil fuel usage is accelerating us towards Armageddon. They have thunderously been assured that they have no future whatsoever unless hydrocarbon usage ceases immediately.

“The news is full of stories like this: “As climate changes, climate anxiety rises in youth.” The article includes some horrifying stats: In a 2022 study of 10,000 people from around the world, “59 per cent of youth and young adults said they were very or extremely worried about climate change and more than 45 per cent said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning.”…

After detailing the expanded use and benefits of natural gas around the world, he concludes…

“Wouldn’t it be far better to be filling kids’ heads with positivity, and constructiveness, and point out where we can make things work better, rather than scaring them into therapy and wiping out their hope for any sort of future?”

The continuing project here is to go after the destructive apocalyptic mythology that incites fear in people (i.e. the survival impulse) and hence makes them susceptible to irrational salvation schemes to save their world, schemes that repeatedly “destroy the world to save it” (examples- Xhosa cattle slaughter, and today’s decarbonization crusade).

The project here is to go after the root themes behind such alarmism- the archetypal ideas/ideals/myths, and most critically the apocalyptic Christ myth that has been the mainly responsible for keeping the destructive apocalypse myth prominent in Western narratives and civilization. The climate alarmism crusade is the latest apocalyptic movement in Western history.

My two-pronged approach to slaying a monster (think- the “hero’s quest”): Wendell Krossa

Go after (1) climate alarmism- the latest in a long history of apocalyptic movements, history’s latest public face of an alarmism monster, and then (2) tackle the background mythology (the real monster) that drives such alarmism movements, whether religious or “secular”. The background mythology includes the primitive “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths and most importantly the threatening deity at the core of that mythology, the “cruel God” monster that has dominated meta-narratives across history. Today’s versions of this monster mythology include “vengeful Gaia, angry Planet/Mother Earth, punitive Universe, and payback karma”.

Again, when you isolate out the real monster at the core of alarmism movements you will have in view the threat theology of the “monster God” that is the cohering center of the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths- a God who tribally excludes unbelievers, dominates all (king, lord, ruler), demands blood sacrifice for forgiveness/salvation, engages retaliatory punishment, threatens to violently purge the world, and destroys unbelievers (apocalypse, hell).

Why is that deity so pissed at humanity? Well, our ancestors claimed that he created a perfect world at the beginning, but sinful people ruined his paradise so he consequently cursed the world and began punishing people’s sin through natural disasters, disease, accidents, and predatory cruelty both animal and human. Following the ruin and loss of paradise, life was sent into decline toward something worse. The angered deity also promised to exact vengeance in the future through an apocalyptic destruction of the world and the punishment of people in hell. His true followers were offered salvation if they would make some sacrifice/payment for their sin and join him in a crusade to violently purge the world of evil. They were offered the hope of salvation in restored paradise or a new millennial kingdom.

When you project the above themes onto humanity’s highest ideal and authority, onto the God that dominates all else in human narratives, you then provide the ultimate incitement, affirmation, and validation of our worst impulses.

You can see the above themes/beliefs clearly in religious traditions and systems of belief, but then do not dismiss the fact that these themes have been embedded and are just as prominent in “secular/ideological” systems of belief and are now expressed in secular movements like climate alarmism (a sub-strain within the more general environmental alarmism that is the offspring of 19th Century Declinism).

The core beliefs, as expressed in secular versions, include the myth that the past wilderness world was the original paradise that God created, but sinful people ruined that with their civilization, notably ruining paradise with industrial civilization. Hence, life is now declining toward something worse, toward collapse and apocalyptic ending (some looming environmental catastrophe such as climate change).

However, people are offered salvation if they make some sacrifice/payment such as abandoning the good life (suffering as redemptive) to return to primitivism- i.e. the self-denial, self-punishment of a low-consumption lifestyle. Then there is hope for salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise or installation of a new utopia. And yes, even the most hard-core materialists/atheists embrace these primitive religious myths, these fundamentalist beliefs, in movements like climate alarmism.

Why do we have such a hard time letting go of primitive thinking? What emotional needs, deep impulses, and urge for meaning are such beliefs fulfilling? Whatever your understanding of such things, be aware of the perversion of thought, emotion, and motivation that arises from such myths.

We have inherited the animal impulses to tribalism, domination, destruction of differing others and the archetypical beliefs in “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” mythologies have long explained and validated these base impulses. So my recommendation is to recognize the essential inhumanity of such ideas, their destructive animal nature and then find better alternatives to inspire our better angels. That will fulfill our primal impulse to meaning in a more humane manner. That will give a truer sense of the hero’s quest, what it means to tower in stature as maturely human, to conquer the real monster/enemy that is within us- these animal passions that we have all inherited. See below how universal/unconditional love, as the cohering center of a new narrative, is the weapon to slay the inner monster/enemy.

(Note: “Monster God” is the term used by Christian psychologist/theologian Harold Ellens and Christian psychotherapist/theologian Zenon Lotufo. They detail the influence of beliefs, notably theological or “God” beliefs, on human personality, behavior, and societies.)

First prong to slaying a monster- respond to the climate crusade:

I have repeatedly stated here that 3-6 degrees C more warming would be net beneficial to all life. That number may appear extreme, even excessively radical to minds that have been long brainwashed with the alarmist narrative that 1.5-2.0 degrees C more warming will be “catastrophic… a climate emergency… existential crisis… apocalyptic”. These climate alarmism apocalyptic scenarios have been beaten into public consciousness for decades now, since the late 80s. A few of the more notable claims of looming apocalypse- James Hansen prophesied in 2008 that there were only 5 years till it “was all over”. Al Gore prophesied in 2006 that there were only 10 years left to the end of days, and so on. Endless prophecies of the never-arriving end times that endlessly affirms the 100% failure rate of apocalypse prophecies.

Hence, my 3-6 degree C counter point to that alarmism exaggeration. That 3-6 degrees C more warming was the average climate over much of the Phanerozoic era of life (past 500 million years) when life emerged, developed, and flourished. That was the average temperature during the “golden age of mammals”- the Eocene of some 55-33 million years ago when temperatures were up to 10 degrees C warmer than today with no consequent “climate crisis”.

The stunning thing to note in this evidence: When average temperatures were that high, the already warm areas of Earth- i.e. the tropics- did not “fry”. Tropical temperatures remained stable during those much warmer eras. That “stable tropical temperature” fact confounds climate alarmists because it points to negative feedbacks that keep tropical temperatures within ranges that are beneficial to life. It points to the fact that the extra heat is carried by convection currents (ocean and atmospheric) to the colder regions of Earth, to the polar regions to spread life-affirming and net-beneficial warmth across the wider world. A return to that much warmer world would resolve today’s widely ignored problem of 10 times more people dying every year from cold than die from warmth.

The spread of life-affirming warmth points to the climate fact of “meridional transport”- the main influence on climate change (see Javier Vinos reports on “Sun-Climate Effect: Winter Gatekeeper hypothesis” at Wattsupwiththat.com). The spread of warming to the colder regions of the world means extended habitats for more diverse life forms, expanding the life-affirming warm conditions of the tropics where the largest diversity of life forms exist today. The transport of tropical heat to higher latitudes also explains why the polar regions are warming more today than tropical regions in response to our very mild 1 degree C warming over the past century.

Add the fact that the fossils of tropical plants and animals have been discovered at both poles, affirming the meridional transport hypothesis and that the much warmer paleoclimate past, with even the polar regions warm, was the more optimal and normal world for most of the past history of life, when it was a “paradise world” (Donald Prothero in “The Eocene-Oligocene Transition”).

(Note: my counter argument to climate alarmism is not to suggest that temperatures will rise multiple-degrees C more but to caution that whether natural warming or cooling occurs, we will adapt and that more warming would be the more beneficial outcome for all life. The point is to learn more about the above climate facts, and thus fear less.)

Second prong to slaying a monster– the mythological themes behind alarmism movements, whether religious and secular:

I go after the Christ myth of Paul because understanding the origins, development, and outcomes of that archetypal mythology is essential to overturning the pathology of the apocalyptic thinking that persists in our modern era, the pathology that has done more harm to human consciousness, personal lives, and societies than any other primitive myth (see Arthur Mendel’s “Vision and Violence”, among other sources on the destructiveness of apocalyptic narratives of despair). The Christ, along with Paul’s retaliatory God myth, is the cohering center of the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of ideas.

Paul’s apocalyptic Christ (see his earliest letters to the Thessalonians) has been the single most influential myth in history (James Tabor, “Paul and Jesus”), shaping both religious and related “secular” narratives and consciousness. My takeaway from the influence of the Christ myth- The apocalyptic Christ of Paul has been most responsible for affirming the myth of apocalypse in Western civilization, and worldwide, a myth that continues to dominate the thinking of most people today.

Perhaps you doubt such claims? Note then, for example, the dominance of the apocalypse theme in Hollywood storytelling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apocalyptic_films), and the world surveys that show most people across the world believe that “the world is getting worse” (YouGov survey note in the Intro to “Ten Global Trends” by Tupy and Bailey). That survey reveals that many people still believe that we are all going to hell in a handbasket. Especially note the influence of this apocalyptic pathology in today’s climate alarmism exaggeration and the endless setting of end-of-days dates by climate alarm prophets. The climate alarmism crusade is a “profoundly religious movement”.

My preference in combatting the apocalyptic mythology in climate alarmism is to go beyond the public expressions of the “secular” versions of such mythology, to go deeper to the root “archetypes” at the foundations of such narratives (the primitive ideas/myths that constitute the essential nature of these narratives- i.e. archetypes as the models, ideals, prototypes, patterns, standards, forerunners, prime examples, etc.). I would urge the transformation of narratives at this level of root archetypes as one of the most potent ways to effect thorough and long-term change in human thinking and society.

We can overturn the apocalyptic pathology that has caused so much damage across history by going to the very root ideas/themes in our meta-narratives and replacing those with alternatives themes/ideas that re-orient our consciousness to a new narrative of hope that then inspire the better angels of our nature. See, for example, “Inherited bad myths, and better alternatives” in sections below.

Further note on the repeated comment here that “Paul buried the critical breakthrough insight of Historical Jesus”…

Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy came to the same conclusion- i.e. that the “diamonds of Jesus” (his statements that God was a non-retaliatory reality) had been buried in the “du__, sli__, mu__, and gar____” of the rest of the New Testament. That is- The Jesus insights had been buried under Paul’s retaliatory Christology or apocalyptic Christ myth (apocalyptic as the ultimate exhibition of divine retaliation).

I am Canadian and we sometimes identify as “nice… polite”, so I hesitated (“self-censored”) to fully spell out the actual words that Jefferson and Tolstoy used to describe Paul’s theology. A milder, more palatable comment they made was that Paul’s letters, along with the gospel authors that supported his Christ myth (meaning the entire New Testament), were “the work of lesser minds”. Enough said, eh. Just trying here to not be too offensive to true believers while at the same time making the points clear on the stark contrast between the actual message of Jesus and Paul’s entirely opposite gospel of the apocalyptic Christ. Get this polar-opposite contrast between the core themes and messages of Jesus and Paul clear and you will understand what is right and what is wrong with the New Testament.

Paul contradicted Jesus on these 3 fundamental points:

(1) Jesus did not present himself as a divine person, as a godman or the singularly unique son of God, the incarnation of the second person of a Trinity. The evidence for this? “Q Wisdom Sayings” gospel research that is the “closest that we get to what Jesus actually taught”, notably the original or Q1 version (James Robinson, John Kloppenberg, Stephen Patterson, others). That original message of Jesus says nothing about Christology, about him being a divine Christ sent to Earth as a cosmic sacrifice.

Paul contradicted this fundamental point by divinizing Jesus as the special cosmic son of God sent from heaven to fulfil a unique plan of God. He Christified Jesus, divinized him. Turned him into the Christ figure that then contradicted Jesus’ main themes. Paul’s Christ buried the message of Jesus.

(2) Jesus believed that God was non-retaliatory, no conditions love. Paul contradicted this by re-affirming God as retaliatory, and highly conditional (i.e. demanding human sacrifice as payment for sin- Romans). Again, Paul buried Jesus’ main discovery and insight on non-retaliation.

(3) Jesus rejected sacrifice as a necessary condition for forgiveness, as required by deity. Paul then stated that Jesus himself was a great cosmic sacrifice for the sins of all humanity. Paul turned the anti-sacrifice Jesus into the ultimate sacrifice that has ever been presented by any religion. Once again, he buried a critical main theme of Jesus.

These are profoundly fundamental differences. The insights of Jesus overturn, entirely and radically, the most foundational themes of our meta-narratives, both religious and “secular” narratives. They are critical to finding liberation from the residual archetypes that incite our worst impulses, to finding our way to a more human future. Paul retreated from those discoveries back to the primitive ideals that had enslaved minds for millennia in subservience to our worst inherited impulses.

The fundamentally differing core themes of Paul and Jesus cannot be merged or combined (as in the New Testament) without serious cognitive dissonance, without weakening, distorting, and burying the core message of Historical Jesus. So go Tom and Leo, go.

Again, solving these belief systems at the level of primitive archetypes (foundational themes, myths) is critical to liberating minds from the destructive influence of apocalyptic mythology that persists today in such movements as in climate alarmism and its salvation scheme of decarbonization.

Climate change alarmism as a “profoundly religious movement”

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/05/24/its-climate-hypocrisy-wednesday-part-one-climate-activists-channel-michael-crichton/

Michael Crichton

“Environmentalism seems to be the religion of choice for urban atheists. Why do I say it’s a religion? Well, just look at the beliefs. If you look carefully, you see that environmentalism is in fact a perfect 21st century remapping of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and myths.”

Thanks Michael. Exactly my point that climate alarmism is the latest version of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” mythology. We need to deal with these movements at deepest levels of their inciting themes/beliefs and as with ISIS solve for the long-term, thoroughly or just repeat. So Richard Landes on Nazis- millennial ideas.

Offer better themes for new narratives… See my 18 “Inherited bad myths, and better alternatives”, or “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives”.

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Site project: Counter alarmism hysteria with evidence-based hope…

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

New material is coming… We are currently in the process of moving to another region of our province and that is time-consuming… travel days to look for a house, making offers in a hot housing market with little inventory (due to restrictive municipal bylaws preventing densification of housing, among other factors), losing bids and needing to start all over again…

But I will eventually continue the basic project of this site to probe the primitive mythical ideas behind alarmism movements like climate apocalyptic. The ideas/beliefs of apocalyptic movements incite unnecessary fear in people and render them susceptible to irrational salvation schemes like Net Zero decarbonization. We have much better alternative views on the true state of our world that provide sound evidence-based hope that life is overall improving and not declining toward some catastrophic collapse and ending.

The climate alarmism crusade has too often crossed the threshold of rationality into the realm of irresponsible panic-mongering that is harming people with unnecessary fear, anxiety, shame/guilt, despair, depression, and even violence (i.e. deforming the natural impulse to engage a hero’s journey to fight some righteous battle against evil/monsters). Note below a recent post on Wattsupwiththat.com on how climate hysteria harms chilren…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/08/climate-anxiety-doomsday-cult-or-mental-illness/

New material just below: The critical behavior/belief coupling (Historical Jesus got it right, finally, but Paul, with his Christ myth, then buried the critical breakthrough insight and main theme of Jesus). And the big Switcheroo (Democrats/liberals now embracing McCarthyism). Also, “Manufacturing monsters to alarm populations who will then surrender to irrational salvation schemes”.

Keep informed: How alarmism crusades try to “save the world” by destroying it. The inevitably destructive outcomes of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” narratives, whether religious or “secular/ideological”.

https://dailysceptic.org/2023/05/13/can-anyone-now-stop-the-greens-from-destroying-germany/?mc_cid=6734205f8b&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

The ancient validation coupling: Validating behavior by basing it on similar belief, Wendell Krossa

Summary: Historical Jesus (the one who is opposite to Christian “Jesus Christ”) used the “behavior based on similar belief” pairing to present his stunning new breakthrough insight- “the single most profoundly humane insight ever presented to humanity”- his “stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God”, an insight that revolutionized theology. His insight absolutely revolutionized humanity’s highest ideal and authority over the millennia- deity. Paul then rejected that core insight and retreated to the primitive retaliatory theology of all past mythology. He retreated to the barbaric primitivism that has darkened and deformed human consciousness since the beginning.

Four thousand-plus years ago, two millennia before Jesus, an Akkadian Father had offered the single most humane ethical insight that humanity had discovered to that point in time. He urged his son to not retaliate against his enemies but instead to be kind to his enemies. His advice on non-retaliatory response toward offenders/enemies was a proto-version of the later “love your enemy” precept.

His words: “Do not return evil to your adversary; requite with kindness the one who does evil to you, maintain justice for your enemy, be friendly to your enemy… Do not speak ill, speak only good. Do not say evil things, speak well of people….”

But the Akkadian father did not make the full breakthrough on the belief side of the “behavior/belief” coupling that has always been foundational to human meaning and life. In his statement he re-affirmed the pagan ideal of threatening deity (threat theology) in urging his son to make a sacrifice to his god- “Sacrifice and pious utterance are the proper accompaniment of incense… this is proper toward a god…”

Meaning- He still believed in wrathful, retaliatory, punitive, destroying deities that demanded blood sacrifice for appeasement/atonement. Primitive mythology at its worst. That left a fog of cognitive dissonance swirling over his breakthrough ethic. He did not make the breakthrough to the fully humane understanding of deity that would be presented by Jesus 2 millennia later and would become the far more humane ideal to validate behavior.

The human impulse to “base behavior on similar belief”, to “base ethics on similar theology”, arises from our primal impulse to meaning. As conscious beings, our earliest ancestors found themselves alive in this mysterious material world, in a complex reality shaped by opposing dynamics of good and evil, the presence of violence and consequent suffering, and more, to confound their meaning-seeking minds and they had to know what it was all about.

And they especially wanted to know that they were doing the right things, good things. They had to know that they were living in accordance with what their “creating force or spirit” intended for them. They had to know that they were fulfilling their purpose on this planet. And that means they had to know (via speculation on the metaphysical) what the ultimate ideal and authority was like so they could mimic or model that reality and hence get some sense that they were fulfilling their purpose for existing on Earth.

We see the fundamental human impulse to base behavior on similar belief in the Greek endeavor to explain the invisible Ideas/Ideals or Forms that should guide the creation of an ideal society (e.g. Plato). We see the impulse to base behavior on validating belief in the Hebrew project to ensure that all aspects of their lives were based on their beliefs in the revealed will, law, or word of their God (Old Testament). The Hebrews applied their understanding of the divine patterns or ideals to everything- i.e. to what foods they could eat, to what clothes they were allowed to wear, to sex and defecation protocols, to the location of the 12 tribes when camping in the desert, to the details of the portable temple that they believed was an exact replica of the divine holy of holies, to their ventures in war to destroy enemies, etc. Everything in their lives and society was to be modelled according to the law of their God.

So also, in a contemporary example of this “basing behavior on belief” relationship, anthropologist Clifford Geertz noted that the Balinese modelled/built their villages and houses according to what they believed was the divine model.

(I would add Bob Brinsmead’s point here that we ought to focus on improvement of this world without the felt need to appeal to metaphysical reality. We should embrace the full freedom to “play God” in life and take full charge/responsibility for our lives- i.e. fully embrace “self-determination”, with no felt need for divine approval. We ought to grow up and no longer play with “childish” things like seeking the approval of divine parents. But over the transition period to that more mature orientation to full “self-determination”, we need to provide better alternatives to people who still feel the need for some guiding ideal or authority, for a divine model or higher authority to submit to. Part of the transition would include helping people to focus their felt need for guidance from higher authority- to focus such felt need on their own personal authority, on their own personal sense of the human thing as the ultimate authority to guide and validate their lives. Their own “inner God”, if you will.)

Continuing…

The problem of the Akkadians, and other ancient peoples, was that they had projected inhumane features out to define the invisible realities (gods) that they honored as the guiding ideals and authorities of their era- the ultimate realities that served as the patterns and ideals for their lives (the deities of their age). Projecting the inhumane features of their primitive era onto their gods resulted in the creation of monster gods that then validated the worst of their inherited animal impulses.

(“We become just like the God that we believe in.”)

Two millennia after the Akkadian Father, Historical Jesus (someone entirely contrary to Paul’s Christ of the New Testament) finally made the critical breakthrough to the second part of the foundational coupling of “behavior based on similar validating belief”. He fully humanized the belief part of this pairing.

Jesus rejected the pathology of primitive deity that demanded blood sacrifice for atonement. He offered the stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory, non-punitive, non-destroying God. An unconditionally loving God. A God who did not demand blood sacrifice for appeasement (again, note the barbarity and personality-deforming outcomes of this “monster God” theology in the comments of psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo in sections below).

The stunning new theology of Jesus is expressed in the statements in Matthew 5 and Luke 6 to reject eye for eye retaliation and instead (here is the “behavior based on belief” relationship) “Love your enemies… because God does”. How so? Non-retaliation or unconditional love as evident in that “God gives sun and rain to all alike, to both good and bad people”. With the God of Jesus there is no discriminatory exclusion, no retaliatory punishment, and no demand for sacrifice or payment before forgiveness will be shown.

Such statements expressed “a stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God” (James Robinson) that should be the new ideal that our non-retaliatory behavior should be based on.

Jesus further illustrated this new theology of an unconditionally loving God in his short story of the father in the Prodigal parable. That father did not retaliate against the wasteful son. He did not punish him or demand sacrifice or payment for his “sins” (Note that the slaughtered calf was for a celebratory feast, not as a sacrifice, as some Christians argue).

The central unconditional feature makes the statement of Jesus in Matthew 5 and Luke 6 the single most profound statement in all history, the single most profoundly humane statement of “ethics paired to similar theology” to have ever arisen in human consciousness. It presented a new definition of ultimate ideal and authority (deity) to inspire and guide humanity to a more humane future.

(Insert: Again, note the qualifiers in sections below on issues like “restorative justice” as necessary to maintain our humanity in the face of evil, the irreplaceable role of criminal justice in restraining violent people, and love as primarily responsible to protect the innocent while also seeking to rehabilitate offenders where possible- holding offenders responsible for behavior. “Love your enemy/restorative justice” is not advocacy for pacifism in the face of horrific human offense.)

Jesus went directly to the most fundamental of models, patterns, ideals, or archetypes to correct a long-standing pathology that had darkened human consciousness over previous millennia. He rejected the inhumane features of previous deity mythologies and offered the single most humane alternative ever- that of a non-retaliatory, unconditional God.

These humane insights of Hist. Jesus are presented in the Christian New Testament but are embedded/mixed with the inhumane features of the larger New Testament context that is dominated by Paul’s Christ myth. That context distorts and buries the better insights of Jesus. This was the point made by Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy that the diamonds of Jesus were buried in Paul’s Christ myth.

And in a strikingly confusing use of the “behavior based on belief” coupling (but similar to the Akkadian Father’s statement), Paul presents a “consonant dissonant” contradiction that is a complete denial of the core message of Historical Jesus. He appears to pair a non-retaliatory ethic with the very opposite theology of a retaliatory God.

Paul intentionally confronts (my view) the coupling at the core of Jesus’ message in order to directly contradict the theological breakthrough of Jesus and re-establish the very opposite theology of divine retaliation that would be the core theme of his theology and his Christ myth (Romans 12:17-20, and related Romans passages on divine retaliation in “the revelation of the wrath of God”).

But closer examination reveals the basic harmony in Paul’s “behavior based on similar belief”. He only appears to initially urge the same non-retaliatory ethic as Jesus (“Don’t repay anyone evil for evil done to you… Do not take revenge…”).

He states clearly that retaliation is “evil”. But he then continues, basing that apparent non-retaliatory ethic on what appears to be an entirely contradictory theology (Don’t you retaliate because God will retaliate- “’Vengeance is mine. I will repay’, says the Lord”). The “evil” of retaliation is the divine prerogative.

But actually, while initially appearing to affirm non-retaliation, the ethic of Paul is also retaliatory in intent. He states that believers should not take revenge “in order to leave room for God’s wrath”. By not taking personal revenge you “will heap burning coals on your enemy’s head”. That is- Your non-retaliatory response toward enemies will ensure their punishment by a vengeful, retaliatory God. Hence, both the ethic and the theology are essentially retaliatory. The behavior that Paul advocates is essentially retaliatory in intent, and hence it does harmonize with a similar belief.

The book of Revelation takes Paul’s urge to validate retaliation, to ultimate expression. It presents the graphic rising crescendo of divine retaliation intensifying to its utmost summit of horror in the enraged and bloodied Christ (eyes of fire, sword coming out of mouth) trampling out the “fury of the wrath of God” in destroying the world and all who did not believe Paul’s Christ myth.

Added notes:

I repeatedly go after Paul’s Christ myth on this site because it has been the main source of validation for some of the worst themes in Western narratives, notably for validating the horrifically destructive myth of apocalypse, both in religious and “secular” versions.

This is part of my project to reveal how underlying mythical/religious themes (archetypes) still shape and influence both religious traditions and so-called “secular/ideological” systems of belief like climate alarmism. The primitive themes of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” mythology have been deeply embedded in human subconscious and narratives and continue to wreak harm on human personality and societies.

Another:

Note how materialist types also engage the “base behavior on similar belief” relationship. They do something similar in basing human behavior on what they believe to be greater realities, creating realities that explain what we are about. Richard Dawkins and others do this by presenting natural selection as a godlike reality that defines and explains human existence and life. They attribute godlike creating powers to natural selection in order for it to explain the existence and development of life. Note his comment in “The God Delusion” that “Natural Selection Is The Source Of All Enlightenment” (all capitals). That is his “secular” version of a deity-like reality that defines, guides, and explains all in the history of life. It is the ideal that explains and thereby should guide human life.

A young rapper also illustrated this pattern of basing behavior on some related belief in response to someone who criticized him for promoting violence in his songs. He replied, validating human violence with the argument that violence was natural to us because we were just animals. “Its just what we are”- descendants from animal reality. He used an evolutionary biology point as his appeal to a higher ideal and authority, the belief or explanation that validated his behavior.

Summary statement of Jesus’ core message

How to end cycles of retaliatory violence, how to achieve lasting peace in societies….

“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.)

This can be summarized in this single statement: “Love your enemy because God does”.

Again, an example of non-retaliatory, unconditional love: The Prodigal Father story in Luke 15:11-31 (the Father representing God).

Monetizing… Contact: wkrossa@shaw.ca

The material on this site is copyrighted but feel free to copy and share anything. It is more important to get ideas out into the public for discussion and debate. And I have never figured out the “monetizing” thing. I have never been good at business, so this has been a ‘freebie’ site.

I never figured out how to use media platforms to gain income to support and further spread the projects of this site. Any feedback ideas/input??

Wendell Krossa- Key points, arguments, facts, insights, speculations repeatedly presented on this site include:

(2) Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, floods, ocean rise, tornadoes, etc. are not getting worse and in some cases are decreasing in intensity and frequency. Even the IPCC admits this.

(5) Fossil fuels used by humanity are not threatening our world. CO2 is not a pollutant that needs to be decreased or banned.

(7) The Net Zero “decarbonization” salvation scheme of climate alarmists is destroying the energy sectors of Western nations in an irrational crusade to “save the world by destroying it”.

Further detail on the above topics, and much more, in sections below…

The big Switcheroo…

Greenwald and Siegel present the new McCarthyism, now on the other side- endless “Russia, Russia, Russia”

Note the point made below by Glen Greenwald and Jacob Siegel on how Joe McCarthy in the 1950s claimed to have a list of Americans who were Russian agents. Democrats/liberals at that time were rightly horrified at such lies and McCarthy never actually produced his list of collaborators. Now today, it is Democrats who have “wholeheartedly embraced the core tenets of McCarthyism” (i.e. the “Hamilton 68” list of supposed activists for Russia, that was referred to hundreds of times by mainstream media outlets- notably MSNBC- as their credible “source” on Americans collaborating with Russia). Democrats today are now doing just what McCarthy did decades ago.

The Hamilton 68 list had been exposed as a fraud but one Twitter executive argued that the public should not be told that it was a scam, while other Twitter executives strongly protested it as “bullshit” (notably, Yoel Roth- safety officer on Twitter and staunch opponent of Trump but with enough integrity to call a halt to something as outright fraud and lying).

Roth admitted privately that his company was allowing Americans to be labelled Russian stooges without evidence or recourse.

Note these sections from Glen Greenwald’s May 9, 2023 report on Locals- “The Disinformation Fraud: How America’s Most Powerful Institutions Joined Forces to Crush Speech and Silence Dissent, with Jacob Siegel.”

Quotes on the wholehearted embrace of McCarthyism tactics (Russia, Russia, Russia) by the Democratic/liberal side today:

Jacob Siegel:

“In 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy claimed that he had proof of a communist spy ring operating inside the government. Overnight, the explosive accusations blew up in the national press, but the details kept changing. Initially, McCarthy said he had a list with the names of 205 communists in the State Department; the next day, he revised it to 57. Since he kept the list a secret, the inconsistencies were beside the point. The point was the power of the accusation, which made McCarthy’s name synonymous with the politics of the era.

“For more than half a century, McCarthyism stood as a defining chapter in the worldview of American liberals: a warning about the dangerous allure of blacklists, witch hunts and demagogues. Until 2017, that is, when another list of alleged Russian agents roiled the American press and the American political class. A new outfit called Hamilton 68 claimed to have discovered hundreds of Russian-affiliated accounts that had infiltrated Twitter to sow chaos and help Donald Trump win the election. Russia stood accused of hacking social media platforms, the new centers of power, and using them to covertly direct events inside the United States.“

Glen Greenwald:

“One of the things that struck me in the article when I sat down to read it was you began a paragraph devoted to the scandals of Joseph McCarthy and the controversy surrounding what he did, namely, accusing all sorts of people of being covert agents of the Kremlin, claiming that he had secret lists of people whom he could prove to hide allegiances, American citizens, well, allegiances to the Russians. And I recall the very first time I heard the Russiagate narrative presented in May 2016, which was when the Clinton campaign released this very ominous ad with that kind of heavy music and that deep intonation – “What is Donald Trump doing with the Kremlin?”

“You know, I immediately assumed that everybody remotely affiliated with the left or with liberalism steeped in the evils of McCarthyism would be horrified by this resurrection of this narrative. It was almost verbatim what was used and what was said. And to this very day, anyone who now stands up and questions the proxy war in Ukraine or who dissented from Russiagate was accused of being a Russian agent.”

Jacob Siegel:

“I mean, for exactly the reason you just pointed out, which is that for more than half a century, the Red Scare and McCarthyism was not just one historical episode among many for American liberals, which is, you know, the tradition and the milieu that I grew up in was that kind of Cold War American liberalism and its aftermath is something I’m very familiar with. And McCarthyism was, if not the central moral allegory, then certainly the central moral allegory of the last 50 years, let’s say. And it was supposed to have revealed the true face of America and what the American political system was capable of. And all of that was supposed to be in the DNA of American liberalism.

“And to see all of that abandoned so quickly, to see it abandoned – abandonment is the wrong word – to see precisely the thing that American liberalism had supposedly been against – it had to find itself in opposition to – to see it so quickly and wholeheartedly embraced, seemed to me significant and to signal the kind of epochal change which is that something from the polls had reversed somehow. And north was south and south was north now. And also just the parallels were so striking with the two secret lists in narrative terms – McCarthy with his list, you know, the famous list that he brandished and then never actually produced, and then this Hamilton 68 secret list that they couldn’t produce, they couldn’t reveal to the public. And so, I found it – I couldn’t open it any other way.”

G. Greenwald:

“Yeah. I mean, even if people generally support the notion that there was more communist infiltration of the United States in the 1950s than was known or whatever, it’s still seemingly a support for the core tenets of McCarthyism because all of that was based on things like secret list and destruction of reputation with no due process and all kinds of excessive abuses of power that we should all object to, no matter what the cause.”

And this further note from Siegel’s report on Tablet- “A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century: Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation”.

“It is a supreme irony that the very people (Democrats/liberals) who a decade ago led the freedom agenda for other countries have since pushed the United States to implement one of the largest and most powerful censorship machines in existence under the guise of fighting disinformation.

“Or perhaps irony is not the right word to capture the difference between the freedom-loving Clinton of a decade ago and the pro-censorship activist of today, but it gets at what appears to be the about-face done by a class of people who were public standard-bearers for radically different ideas barely 10 years earlier. These people—politicians, first and foremost—saw (and presented) internet freedom as a positive force for humanity when it empowered them and served their interests, but as something demonic when it broke down those hierarchies of power and benefited their opponents. That’s how to bridge the gap between the Hillary Clinton of 2013 and the Clinton of 2023.”

Siegel details how and why this shift has occurred over the past decade or so.

Another note on the radical shift in Democrat/liberal attitudes to polar opposite positions today. US liberals, once known as the great advocates and defenders of freedom/free speech, inclusion, diversity, tolerance, and other great Classic Liberal or liberal democratic principles, have now taken the opposite stance in pushing the Censorship Industrial Complex.

“Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich responded to the news that Elon Musk was purchasing Twitter by declaring that preserving free speech online was “Musk’s dream. And Trump’s. And Putin’s. And the dream of every dictator, strongman, demagogue, and modern-day robber baron on Earth. For the rest of us, it would be a brave new nightmare.” According to Reich, censorship is “necessary to protect American democracy.”

Anti-farming crusade

Here’s a good report on the anti-farming crusade spawned by climate alarmism with some helpful detail from atmospheric physicists on climate science- “Entire Global Food Supply at Risk From Disastrous Response to So-Called ‘Nitrogen Crisis’” by Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic (posted by Charlese Rotter). This illustrates further the consequent destructive salvation schemes spawned from the alarmist creation of threatening monsters.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/05/11/entire-global-food-supply-at-risk-from-disastrous-response-to-so-called-nitrogen-crisis/

Quotes from report:

“The full horror of the ‘nitrogen’ war on agriculture is becoming more apparent every day. Food supplies around the world face collapse if the use of nitrogen fertiliser is severely restricted under Net Zero requirements. It is claimed that the fertiliser is warming the Earth and causing the climate to break down, as the by-product nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere. In fact the entire global food supply is in danger of being trashed for the sake of what recent scientific work notes is almost unmeasurable 0.064°C warming per century.

“Policies to address this non-existent crisis have already done enormous harm in Sri Lanka, where a ban on nitrogen fertiliser caused a rapid collapse in food yields, and led to the President fleeing the country in a hurry. The Canadian Government is committed to a 30% reduction in N2O levels by 2030. In the Netherlands, the Government is following European Union instructions and trying to remove farmers from the land… Political discontent is growing, and there are already fears for the supply of agricultural products since the Netherlands is the second largest food exporter in the world….

“Before the arrival of commercial nitrogen fertilisers, famine was a frequent feature of the unreliable food supply across parts of the world. Without the fertiliser, famine will resume its gruesome role, something mainstream Net Zero politicians have to address in the near future. Virtue-signalling green delusions about ‘rewilding’, bug diets and organic farming will not feed the world, probably not even a quarter of it.

“A recent theoretical physics paper from four distinguished scientists said there was evidence that the amount of N2O in the atmosphere, a gas with warming properties, had never been constant over time. There have been large changes in atmospheric concentrations in inter-glacial periods like the current one. Nitrous oxide is a more powerful ‘greenhouse’ gas than carbon dioxide, but it accounts for only 0.34 parts per million (ppm), growing at only 0.00085 ppm per year. Currently CO2 is at 420 ppm, and the molecules are increasing 3,000 times faster in the atmosphere than N2O.

“Like all greenhouse gases, (CO2’s) ability to trap heat within narrow bands of the infrared spectrum diminishes after a certain level as the gas becomes ‘saturated’. This helps explain why greenhouse gas levels have been much higher in the past without the Earth turning into an Armageddon fireball. After a certain point, any increased warming becomes logarithmic, according to the physicists, meaning it rises ever more slowly in response to additional greenhouse gases, which again provides a plausible explanation as to why temperatures have stayed within a relatively small band across the paleo record.

“Every day seems to bring fresh concerns about the destruction likely to be wrought by the collectivist Net Zero project. As we have seen in recent articles, absolutist Net Zero fanatics at the Government-funded U.K. FIRES project look to a world in 2050 where Britain will lose 75% of its energy. Flying, shipping and eating beef and lamb will be banned, while bricks, concrete and glass will almost cease to exist. All the major political parties supporting the current strategy run away from facing true Net Zero reality. In the view of U.K. FIRES leader Professor Julian Allwood, the current strategy is as unrealistic as “magic beans fertilised by unicorn’s blood”.

“The four physicists note that few citizens realise that the effects of N2O on the atmosphere are “negligible”. The proposed burdensome regulations on farming, ranching and dairying “will have no perceptible effect on climate, but some of them will do great harm to agricultural productivity and food supplies”. It is noted that one of the major factors behind the world’s “unprecedented” abundance of food in recent years has been the use of mineral nitrogen fertiliser. “It is not possible to maintain highly productive agriculture without nitrogen fertiliser,” they add.

“One of the authors of the recent report, Professor William Happer of Princeton, recently teamed up with Professor Richard Lindzen of MIT to make clear what a disaster the world faced. Billions of people around the world faced starvation if the production of nitrogen fertiliser was banned. It would create “worldwide starvation” once half the world does not have enough to eat.

“In his theoretical paper, Happer also notes some of the disasters that have occurred in the past when “ideologically-driven” government agriculture mandates “have usually led to disaster”. In the Soviet Union, a war on farmers in the 1930s led to millions dying of starvation. Folk memories of the Golodomor (hunger-murder), when millions of Ukrainians also died at the same time, “played no small part” in the present war in Ukraine.

“Mandates to restrict animal numbers and fertiliser use will dramatically slash agricultural yields.”

Two critically important reports on the “disinformation” crusade to undermine liberal democracy…

I posted this to a discussion group….

“Once again, a strong urging to read and pass on to others, especially these two articles below, along with others by Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi. They are outlining and presenting evidence of the great threat that we face today, a new totalitarianism perhaps worse than any before (reaches further beyond the geographical limitations of previous totalitarianisms) and it is coming from the very side of society that we not long ago (just around a decade ago) considered to be the main protectors of the rights and freedoms that we all value so highly in our liberal democracies.

“As Siegel states well- “It is a supreme irony that the very people who a decade ago led the freedom agenda for other countries have since pushed the United States to implement one of the largest and most powerful censorship machines in existence under the guise of fighting disinformation. (He quotes statements of Hilary Clinton where she had said previously that internet freedom was vital to democracy)

““Or perhaps irony is not the right word to capture the difference between the freedom-loving Clinton of a decade ago and the pro-censorship activist of today, but it gets at what appears to be the about-face done by a class of people who were public standard-bearers for radically different ideas barely 10 years earlier. These people—politicians, first and foremost—saw (and presented) internet freedom as a positive force for humanity when it empowered them and served their interests, but as something demonic when it broke down those hierarchies of power and benefited their opponents. That’s how to bridge the gap between the Hillary Clinton of 2013 and the Clinton of 2023.”

“His point is to show that Clinton represents something larger, more widespread- the stunning shift that has occurred among Democrats/liberals in the US, Europe, Canada, Australia, and other places. From formerly advocating for liberal democracy to now opposing and undermining it.

“They note statements of leading liberals who now argue that free speech and democratic freedom in general are too dangerous to continue and must be restricted. These liberals argue that freedom is “a threat to democracy”- meaning (“dogwhistle”) a threat to their power and control of society.

“These journalists are presenting the detailed history of this emerging threat and movement, the psychology, reasons, and events behind it- i.e. what changed in the minds of US Democrats/liberals to now censor free speech and push a totalitarianism as bad as any other under the worst regimes in history (their point that the worst totalitarian movements were hindered by geography but this new totalitarianism is not so limited).

“The two critical reports:

“Glen Greenwald: The Disinformation Fraud: How America’s Most Powerful Institutions Joined Forces to Crush Speech & Silence Dissent, with Jacob Siegel”

And “A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century: Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation”, Jacob Siegel.

With Solzhenitsyn, I would argue that our greatest threat and battle today is not with other people (i.e. the fight over political/social divides and differences). Our greatest battle takes place within each of us- the battle with our inherited impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction of differing others (what Joseph Campbell termed the “animal passions”). Critical to our struggle is to tackle the ideas in our narratives that continue to validate these base subhuman impulses. See detail below in “The core themes (mental pathologies) that have dominated human consciousness across history”- The “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths.

This “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex (also known as “apocalyptic millennialism”) still dominates world religions, and more critical to recognize, it shapes so-called “secular ideological” systems of belief also. This persistence of primitive mythology in modern narratives, both religious and secular, is notable in the climate alarmism narrative and the overall resurgence of collectivism ideology (“Woke Marxism”). The “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of mythical themes was given its initial ideological formulation in 19th Century Declinism and that ideology birthed or influenced varied offspring like Marxism, Nazism, and general environmental alarmism. Until we deal with the core themes of such narratives, this pathology will continue to incite and validate our worst impulses and thereby harm our societies.

Again, the more destructive impulses that are incited by the above complex include the impulse to tribally set ourselves against one another as enemies, the impulse to dominate others, and the impulse to destroy some competing other who is viewed as an enemy. These darker impulses of our nature have been behind uncountable eruptions of bad behavior (personal and larger scale) and consequent human suffering across history.

Patterns in alarmism narratives/movements:

Note carefully the patterns that unfold in the never-ending eruptions of alarmism that flood across our societies. H. L. Mencken warned us that the aim of politics was to alarm populations with an endless series of imaginary hobgoblins, rendering people susceptible to embrace the salvation scams of the alarmists. Politics, he claimed, was very much about manipulating people that have been made desperate due to their aroused survival impulse. Frightened people more willingly give up their freedom and surrender to the salvationist projects of totalitarians (that impulse to domination/control of others).

Matt Taibbi, and others, are warning that, as the climate alarm now appears to be losing credibility and steam, a new monster is being manufactured. The new alarmist monster to fear is AI (Artificial Intelligence) that the apocalyptic prophets claim will destroy us all. Additionally, alarmists have manufactured the monster of “disinformation” that they claim threatens democracy. So we must surrender our critical freedom of speech and submit to censorship by highly partisan and ideological state elites who claim to know what is right for all others.

Another emerging manufactured monster, noted by Michael Shellenberger, is the claim of Woke Progressives that “hate incidents” are rising (his May 9, 2023 post- “Elites Manufacture Fake ‘Hate’ Crisis As Pretext For Mass Spying, Blacklists, And Censorship: Totalitarian measures spread to California from Germany, New Zealand, and Europe”.

Shellenberger notes that while reporting on hate incidents has increased, there is no evidence that actual hate crimes have increased, and the actual prosecutable number of such crimes is miniscule in relation to population (e.g. 285 hate crime “complaints” in California with a population of 39 million). The increased reporting may be due to excessive media focus:

“It may be that Californians simply labeled more crimes as “hate” crimes because they were primed to do so by the media’s 700% – 1,000% increased focus on racism between 2011 and 2020”.

Shellenberger adds: “If there’s no evidence that “hate incidents” are rising, and abundant evidence that tolerance is rising, and overwhelming evidence that the media created a moral panic about racism, why are nations and nation-sized states like California urging mass spying and creating blacklists?”…

“In truth, acceptance of racial, religious, and sexual differences has never been higher in recorded human history. Never before have same-sex and mixed-race couples have been more accepted across all Western nations, which are far more tolerant than most other nations worldwide.

“Trans people are celebrated, with an entire reality show dedicated to documenting in celebratory fashion the sexual reassignment surgery and hormone use of a trans girl named Jazz Jennings. And few places are more celebratory of transgenderism than California.”

Shellenberger states that the crusade of numerous countries to now criminalize hate speech is motivated by the desire to use “hate speech as an excuse to spy on and censor citizens”.

He adds: “The motivation is plainly online censorship. What California is doing is effectively the same system that U.S. government-funded contractors like DiResta put in place to “flag” disfavored social media posts during 2020 and 2021 relating to elections and covid.

“If hate isn’t increasing, why are nations like Germany and nation-sized states like California cracking down on it? The answer is increasingly obvious: global elites are working together to instill fear in the population, turn people into spies, and control what information people are allowed to be exposed to online….

“Germany is leading the West into a totalitarian future. Currently, the government is investigating 8,500 cases of wrongspeech and, according to the New York Times, “more than 1,000 people have been charged or punished since 2018.”

“The government has brought charges against citizens for mere insults. “The police have raided homes, confiscated electronics, and brought people in for questioning,” reports the Times.

““We are making it clear that anyone who posts hate messages must expect the police to be at the front door afterward,” said the head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office last year.

“The claim by everyone from Biden and Obama to Newsom and Ardern that online hatred is so out of control that it imperils our democracy is part of a larger attack on free speech and, thus, democracy.

“Terrorizing a large share of the population into believing another share of the population threatens democracy, urging them to become spies, and creating blacklists, is the road to totalitarianism.

“The haters are the elites, not the people. Hilary Clinton called a significant percentage of the country “deplorables.” Obama faulted his political enemies for “clinging to their religion” rather than being Woke. And it was Arden who called her political opponent a “prick.”

“Through their gatherings at Davos, Aspen, and the United Nations, global elites have decided they know what’s best for the people and are deadset on imposing their Wokeism on the entire planet. As such, it’s not the public’s hatred that imperils democracy, it’s the elites’.”

Such is how you create a monster to terrorize populations and force them to give up their freedom and submit to totalitarian salvation scams.

Continuing with patterns in alarmism movements…

If we don’t familiarize ourselves with the patterns of alarmist movements, then we will continue to fall for alarmist narratives and their consequent irrational and destructive salvation schemes. That was historian Richard Landes’ point regarding Hitler and the Nazis. Landes said that if you dismissed Hitler as just another madman (he was) and did not understand how “apocalyptic millennial” themes can carry a society toward mass death, then you have learned nothing and will just repeat the same mistakes again and again with each new alarmism movement. In response to Landes’ good point, I would urge- keep an eye on the narrative themes that alarmists use to incite panic in populations (apocalyptic scenarios) and then manipulate them to embrace irrational and destructive salvation scams (millennialism).

We have been watching these alarmist patterns play out in the climate alarmism crusade over the past few decades.

Most harmful among the outcomes of these alarmism movements is that they rob us of our freedom. Frightened by some threatening monster, we become too willing to submit to self-appointed saviors and their irrational salvation schemes to save ourselves, to save our world. With our survival impulses incited by exaggerated apocalyptic scenarios, we too readily give up our basic rights and freedoms as required to combat whatever great monstrous threat that has been presented to us.

Alarmism eruptions and their irrational salvation schemes wreak immense damage as the decarbonization madness is exhibiting today. See further details below in varied essays on this topic, notably, the comments on the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of ideas. Note how these ideas influence thought, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior (e.g. Psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo).

The project here is to understand the basic themes and patterns used by alarmism movements, in both religious traditions and their “secular” offspring. The project is to probe how we can fight the monsters of alarmism narratives, what potent weapons we can employ to slay the monsters that are manufactured by alarmism prophets.

Trigger warning or spoiler alert:

My personal take on the “hero’s quest to slay a monster” focuses mainly on the “Monster God” of religious traditions (the term used by Christian psychologist and theologian Harold Ellens), notably the monstrous features of Paul’s Christ myth (contrasted with the central message of Historical Jesus- the single most profound ethical/theological insight ever presented). I then laser in on the monstrous offspring of Paul’s apocalyptic Christ- the manufactured monsters of “secular/ideological” belief systems like climate alarmism (looming apocalypse from industrial civilization purportedly destroying the planet). But most critical, I then re-orient the focus to the battle with the monster that resides within each of us- i.e. our inherited animal impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction of competing others. Ideas of monster gods (still at the core of our meta-narratives, both religious and “secular”) have been used across history to incite and validate our worst impulses to harm others.

More on Site project:

Understand the themes that define our narratives, both religious and secular, the themes that shape our consciousness, our emotions, our motivations, and our responses/behaviors. Understand the consequences and outcomes of varying ideas, at both personal and societal-scale impacts. Probe for better alternatives that tell us the true state of life, that defuse alarmist exaggeration and distortion, that enable us to maintain our humanity in the battles of life, that enable us to protect freedom, to counter totalitarianism… and more.

Go Michael, go- The never-ending battle to protect freedom (more on the new totalitarian censorship crusade)

This is critically important reporting from Michael Shellenberger. His latest post “Need To Keep Masses Afraid Is Behind Elite Embrace Of Wokeism And Censorship”, May 7, 2023 on Public News at Substack.

Quotes from post:

“For the last half-decade, elites in government and the media have created a culture of self-censorship on race, climate change, and trans issues. In the workplace, in schools and universities, and online, politicians, activists, and journalists instilled in ordinary people a paralyzing fear of saying the wrong thing and finding oneself accused of being a “climate denier,” a “racist,” or a “transphobe.”

“It’s now clear that, at this very moment, media elites are seeking to turn this culture of informal self-censorship into formal government censorship. They call their legislation, which would destroy free speech, based centrally on their hatred of the masses, “pro-democracy” and “anti-hate.”

“To be sure, Wokeism is a genuine grassroots religion. It demonizes and scapegoats heretics, journalists, and truth-tellers. And it demands sacrifices from ordinary people in the form of more expensive energy, the sterilization of psychiatrically disordered children, and self-censorship.

“But it is also a state religion. News media and social media elites took Wokeism from being a marginal cult into being the dominant ideology of every major institution, from NBC and the CDC to the AMA and the CIA.

““Think tanks” and “journalists” behaved as propagandists, leading much of the public to believe that police were wantonly murdering thousands of unarmed black Americans, that climate change threatened human existence, and that surgeons can (and should) “change the sex” of children.

“When people said, “Hold on a minute,” and point out that those things aren’t true, and result in bad outcomes, elite institutions and their activist Praetorian Guards, were on hand to attack the unwoke as witches, deem their claims “hate speech,” and un-person them socially, financially, and politically. The simultaneous worldwide push for censorship is the latest step in this rising, elite-driven totalitarianism.

“The truth is that Western societies have never been more tolerant. Over 90% of Americans support interracial marriages. Americans and Europeans are the most welcoming people in the world of people from different nations, cultures, and religions. Our governments allow same-sex marriages and adoptions.

“But elites apparently believe our unprecedented level of tolerance is a problem. They want intolerance, not tolerance. Elites plainly believe they must keep the population in a state of fear to stay in power. For that reason, they keep ginning up moral panics, whether of climate change, racism, and transphobia, or “Russian disinfo,” covid, and Ukraine.

“The other problem remains the Internet. The Internet means that people could learn inconvenient facts, including that: in 2022, thirty-one unarmed black Americans were killed by the police while 60 police officers were killed by gunfire; natural disasters are declining not increasing; and that no amount of surgery or drugs can turn a boy into a girl or vice-versa.

“Most troubling, they persuaded the leadership of the CIA, FBI, and NATO militaries to join them in using Woke fear-mongering campaigns to demand Internet censorship. It’s clear now that military and intelligence community elites feared that populist nationalism would undermine their ability to control the news media in the ways they had since World War II. And so they funded think tanks like the Atlantic Council to run Woke campaigns demanding censorship.

“Elites used fear-based campaigns in order to demonize, scapegoat, and marginalize the people and institutions in society who opposed their demands to make energy expensive, replace meritocracy with structural racism, control the minds and bodies of children, and be able to engage in wars abroad.

“But all that still wasn’t enough for people, particularly Americans, to give up their freedom of speech. And so they convinced millions of people around the world that the failure of security and resulting riot at the Capitol on January 6 was, in reality, a coup attempt meriting government censorship. That an almost identical incident in Brazil on January 8 is now being used to justify sweeping government censorship should not surprise us.

“Totalitarianism may be inevitable. Western civilization may be nearing an end. Woke totalitarianism may be replacing Enlightenment liberalism in the same way Christianity replaced the Roman empire. And it may be too late to stop government censorship.

“Or it may be that the love of freedom is stronger than Woke hatred. The secret ways in which Woke elites are demanding censorship is proof that they themselves know how unpopular agendas are. When Irish journalist Ben Scallon asked his country’s prime minister why he was pursuing censorship even though his own government’s polling found that 70% of voters are against it, the prime minister responded by denying the validity of the survey.

“Elites have over-reached, in our view, and badly. But we must also make that apparent. As such, the most important thing we can do is shine a light on their demands for censorship since once they are debated openly, they will fail.

“We must also turn the tables. That starts with our purpose. Because the hearts of the censorship Renees are filled with hate, ours must be filled with love — love of humankind, civilization, and freedom. We should celebrate our progress against intolerance, including racism and sexism, and defend it.

“That will require courage. The official state censorship we are seeing today emerges directly out of the culture of informal censorship elites imposed on institutions and the culture over the last half-decade. We can’t resist formal censorship without resisting informal censorship in the workplace, in schools and universities, and online.”

The warnings continue:

This from Glen Greenwald’s monologue of May 5, 2023 on “Locals”. He, along with Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi, among others, have been warning us of the totalitarian censorship crusade spreading across the world- i.e. the “Censorship Industrial Complex”…

“Media & Biden Admin Get Far Too Cozy at WHCD—Revealing Rotten Core of US Journalism. Plus: Lula/Google Ominous Online Censorship Battle”

Quotes:

“New Law Sought by Brazil’s Lula to Ban and Punish ‘Fake News’ and ‘Disinformation’ Threatens the Free Internet Everywhere. Many nations seem poised to abandon the core lesson of the Enlightenment: that no human institution can or should be trusted to decree Absolute Truth and punish dissent from it. (Glen Greenwald, Feb. 25, 2023)

“And that ultimately is the point. That was the lesson of the Enlightenment. Prior to the Enlightenment, we did have institutions, monarchs, churches, and emperors who dictated truth. Nobody was permitted to dissent or deviate from those decrees. You are punished, you are killed, you are in prison. You are exiled. And the point of the Enlightenment, of Voltaire and John Locke and the philosophers from France and Britain and the rest of Europe, that ended up being the foundation for the American founding and modern-day liberties throughout the democratic world is that what should dictate truth is human reason and a free debate, not centralized control. We’re reverting back to the pre-Enlightenment era, where institutions of authority dictate to us what truth is. That’s what this law is for.”

Libertarian David Boaz made the comment in his “Libertarianism: A Primer” that both sides of the US- political/social divide- Republicans and Democrats- lacked a full appreciation of Classic Liberal principles of freedom. Republicans, he said, needed to respect freedom more in regard to social issues (i.e. respect women’s freedom of choice regarding pregnancies, gay rights, etc.). And Democrats needed to respect freedom more in regard to economic issues (fight “Big government”, oppose excessive taxation, excessive regulation). His comments pointed to the needed revival of the “live and let live” ideal. Why do we find it so hard to grant others the freedom that we want for ourselves, to live uniquely diverse stories, to have full freedom of opinion and speech, to enjoy full self-determination over all aspects of our lives.

The crunch in respecting freedom for others is when they say or do things that we may find personally repugnant (as long as not overtly criminal). Classic Liberalism argued that states/governments should leave citizens alone. As long as people did not assault others (engage violence) then they should be left alone to enjoy full self-determination and freedom of choice. But the residual impulse to domination of others incites many of our fellow citizens to still engage busybody interference in other’s choices and lives. This totalitarian control impulse becomes worse when it is unleashed by those gaining position of power in states at any level. We saw this unleashed totalitarian impulse at its worst during the Covid lockdowns.

And continuing my “Learn more, fear less” project:

There is no “climate crisis” from the roughly 1 degree C warming over the last century. The real climate threat is from the current suboptimal cold state of our world and possible future cooling. 10 times more people still die every year from cold than die from warming. Place climate in the big picture context: We are on a 6000-year long term cooling trend, since the end of the Holocene Optimum (spanning 10,000 to 6,000 years ago) that was warmer than today.

Cautioning rushed decarbonization while affirming the climate crisis. Huh?

This linked article illustrates what confuses so many today- Politicians cautioning against rushed decarbonization while at the same time affirming climate crisis alarmism. Huh? I mean- WTF?

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/05/04/china-russia-oil-gas-coal-climate/

“The West faces a serious predicament: How to weigh the value of guarding against what many view as the potentially serious long-term effects of climate change versus the current phasing out of fossil fuels despite the risk of geopolitical failure.”

My response: Learn more about the actual physics of CO2 and stop affirming the exaggerated climate crisis narrative (“Human-caused climate change that is becoming catastrophic”). It has no scientific basis. See science details at “co2coalition.org”, notably the research of atmospheric physicists Richard Lindzen and William Happer.

Basic project and argument here: Wendell Krossa

We have inherited a complex of myths/ideas that shape our narratives, our worldviews, our belief systems, and hence, our outlook on life- i.e. the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” or “apocalyptic millennial” complex of myths. These inherited mythical ideas shape how we think about reality, how we feel about things (our emotions), our motivations, and hence, our responses/actions/behavior. And that influence, working through many individuals, shapes human societies. So narrative themes do matter.

Our inherited beliefs (views, ideas, values) were long ago created by our primitive ancestors to validate our inherited impulses, both good and bad. Among the worst of inherited animal impulses that people still validate today- (1) the tribal impulse (to separate from and oppose differing others), (2) the impulse to dominate others (not respecting the equality, freedom and self-determination of all others, controlling others), and (3) the impulse to punish and destroy differing others (retaliatory, punitive justice). These impulses, along with their validating ideas, have caused immense damage across history- especially when exhibited in retaliatory responses and cycles, when responding to “offenses” of imperfect others by resorting to violence/war.

Many have learned to moderate their worst impulses but still hold the themes or ideas in their belief systems that incite those impulses- themes long protected under “the umbrella of the sacred” in religious traditions, even embedded in views of God. Note, for example, the widely held beliefs (1) that God is tribal (God favoring true believers in a true religion, excluding and damning outsiders), (2) God as lord, king, ruler, validating the same domination by priesthoods or secular leaders, and (3) God as a judge that punishes and destroys unbelievers (apocalypse, hell).

Many continue to embrace these primitive themes in their personal narratives and worldviews, and that persistence in holding to the old validating ideas permits and incites a residual influence on our worst impulses. Hanging on to the old themes hinders our full liberation from the animal inheritance, from the old impulses. The old themes, merged in narratives and worldviews along with newer and better insights, results in confusion (cognitive dissonance). This is what Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy argued in stating that the “diamonds/pearls” of Jesus were “buried” in the larger New Testament context of Paul’s Christ myth. The old themes distort and bury the newer and better alternatives. You cannot merge the inherited animal with the truly human without deforming the human element.

An example of mixing/merging the old and the new- In Matthew 5:38-48 Jesus affirms the single most profound statement of love ever uttered- “love your enemies”. Then a few chapters later (chapter 11) Matthew has Jesus stating that those villagers who refused his miracles and message would be cast into hell- the single most horrific statement of hatred ever uttered. Those two entirely contrary statements could not have been made by the same person. So it goes throughout the New Testament- the mixing and merging of the core message of Historical Jesus with Paul’s Christology has led to endless confusion and the distorting and burying of the profound insights of Jesus.

Continuing…

Go to the root issues- to the ideas that validate our impulses, what many call the “archetypes”.

The old mythical themes that validate our worst inherited impulses are summarized in the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths. These myths continue to dominate the great world religious traditions and over past centuries the same themes have been embraced in newer “secular/ideological” systems of belief, notably in 19th Century Declinism and its offspring- Marxism, Nazism, and now environmental alarmism, climate alarmism. Sources: the “apocalyptic millennial” scholars Arthur Herman, Richard Landes, Arthur Mendel, David Redles, among others. The ongoing preservation of the old themes in contemporary ideologies continues to wreak horrific destruction on societies.

Critical to understand- What are the actual themes of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex and how do such ideas work out in alarmism movements to cause immense damage at a personal level and in wider societies. As Richard Landes stated at the end of his chapter on Nazism- If you dismiss Hitler as just another madman (which he was) then you have learned nothing about such hellish eruptions as in Nazism and you will repeat those mistakes again and again. Landes’ point: To learn the lessons of history, we have to understand how apocalyptic millennial ideas can influence societies toward mass-death.

Below are some revised repostings of the ideas/themes/myths of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” or “apocalyptic millennial” complexes, the impulses they incite, the harm they have caused, and how to counter them with better alternatives. Familiarize yourself with the key themes, their influence on people, the patterns exhibited in alarmist movements, and the outcome on populations/societies.

Most critical- Note how we can counter such pathology with entirely new alternative themes for new narratives that inspire our better impulses- i.e. more humane ideas that inspire and affirm the basic humane impulses of our human spirit. See “Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives” also posted as “Explaining reality and life: The worst and best ideas that we have come up with”, or “Inherited bad myths and better alternatives”.

See details further below in varied repostings of revised material….

Some main site points: Wendell Krossa

Evidence to counter alarmist narratives and exaggerations that distort the true state of life. Alarmism incites people to desperation (i.e. fear incites the survival impulse). That incitement then renders people susceptible to embracing irrational salvation schemes that “save the world by destroying it”, as with decarbonization.

I respond to climate alarmism as the latest incarnation of Declinism ideology. And I recognize that Declinism is the more historically recent “secular/ideological” formulation of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” mythology that has descended down through previous history, mainly through the Christian tradition (Arthur Herman- “The Idea of Decline in Western History”). Hence, I go after Paul’s Christ myth as the primary influence that has kept the pathology of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” alive in Western consciousness and society. And further, I also affirm Arthur Mendel’s evaluation of apocalyptic as “the most violent and destructive idea in history”. We are watching in real time as this pathology works destruction once again in climate alarmism and its highly irrational salvation scheme of Net Zero decarbonization.

My “go to the real roots of a problem” approach to problem solving explains the double-barrelled approach here of going after climate alarmism (as a movement that embodies and illustrates profoundly religious themes), along with going after the core background themes that fuel such “madness of crowds” eruptions- i.e. the themes of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” or “apocalyptic millennialism” mythology.

The first of the double-barrel- climate alarmism- can be countered with good climate science facts. The other barrel- “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” mythology- needs to be countered with good alternative information from areas like the history of mythology and religion research, notably, the almost three-century long “Search for the Historical Jesus” and his original message that contrasts with Paul’s Christ myth (i.e. “Q Wisdom Sayings” research). Along with input from related metaphysical speculations, alternative religious/spiritual beliefs, etc.

“Love your enemies because God does”. There is no more profound statement or insight anywhere in human thought and writing. It combines the single most profoundly humane ethic, with the single most profoundly humane statement of theology ever made. This coupling of a “behavior based on similar belief”, or ethic based on similar theology, is the central theme of Historical Jesus, and it is entirely contrary to the Christ myth of the New Testament. By the way: People have done this all across history- i.e. validating their behaviors and lives with appeal to metaphysical or divine realities. This illustrates the primal human longing to model human life according to some greater ideal and authority.

The central theme of Historical Jesus- unconditional love of imperfect others- presents the potent insight and ideal to liberate us from the animal inheritance in all of us, to humanize us at a personal level, and then to permeate and humanize our societies, as nothing else can.

The central message of Jesus overturns entirely the destructive tribalism of human history- the persistent tendency to separate from one another in groups that view differing others as threats, as dehumanized “enemies” to be excluded, dominated, and destroyed.

The central Jesus theme overturns the impulse to dominate others. His no conditions love is an advocacy to respect the freedom of others, to treat all others as equals who are not to be subjugated, manipulated, and controlled, but to be affirmed in their individual diversity with personal self-determination.

Further, “love of enemy” does not seek punitive justice or the destruction of the failing other. This love will hold all responsible for offenses committed (i.e. the responsibility to cease violent behaviors, to make fundamental changes to life, to “grow the fuck up”, and to make restitution). Love of enemies is not some form of “turn the other cheek” pacifism. But once violent people are restrained (as in the criminal justice system) then we are responsible to treat them humanely and thereby maintain our own humanity.

The “love of enemies” ethic enables us to become godlike- to become just like God who is unconditional love (“Be unconditionally merciful just like your heavenly Father is unconditionally merciful”, Luke 6). And anyone can achieve such godlike status in daily life. That is what Jesus meant by the unnoticeable spread of the kingdom of God throughout the ordinary and mundane of daily existence where God exists, as exhibited through the human spirit of ordinary people.

The unconditional ethic and theology of Jesus overturns the entire history of religion as an institution that has always been essentially about conditions. No religion has ever presented the reality of an unconditional God to humanity. All religions have advocated endless conditions- i.e. conditions of right belief, tribal membership in the true religion or tribe, demands for sacrifice/payment, demand to engage a righteous battle against evil enemies (the hero’s quest to conquer a monster), and the obligation to punitively destroy some enemy.

Summary statement of Jesus’ core message

How to end cycles of retaliatory violence, how to achieve lasting peace in societies….

This can be summarized in this single statement: “Love your enemy because God does”.

Again, an example of non-retaliatory, unconditional love: The Prodigal Father story in Luke 15:11-31.

The Father (representing God) did not demand a sacrifice, restitution, payment, apology, or anything else before forgiving, fully accepting, and loving the wasteful son.
The above statement and illustration by Jesus overturns the highly conditional Christian religion and Paul’s Christ mythology. Paul, along with the rest of the New Testament, preached a retaliatory God who demanded full payment and punishment of all sin via a blood sacrifice of atonement before he would forgive, accept, and ultimately love anyone (See Paul’s letter to the Romans for detail).

Campbell on universal love:

Added note: The “love of enemy” ethic is probably best exhibited through Classic Liberalism with its protection of the freedoms and rights of all individuals. Authentic love will respect the freedom of others, not overruling, intervening, and controlling others, but respecting their right to self-determination, their freedom of choice, etc. Where there is no such freedom (at the individual or societal level) there is no authentic love. Intervening, overriding self-determination, and controlling others is not love. The application of Classic Liberal principles is most difficult, but most necessary for overall freedom, when it comes to opponents/enemies that we find repugnant. Then we discover what it really means to “love your enemy”.

Added note (from another post but related to above point): Again, I would suggest that the core theme of Historical Jesus- unconditional love for all- is best exhibited today through the principles of Classic Liberalism, the system of institutions that affirms societies of free and fully equal individuals as the ultimate authority in society. The principles of Classic Liberalism urge us to protect the rights of all as free individuals. They urge us to respect every human person as a full equal in the human family. They urge us to respect the self-determination of every person, not dominating or controlling others. And they urge us to respond to human failure with restorative, not punitive justice.

Notable repeats: C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis’s warning in relation to the moralizing busybodies who believe that they alone know what is right and best for all others and will seek to coerce and control others:

The personal safeguard to the self-delusion of being solely right- Hold fast to Classic Liberal principles regarding the protection of individual rights and freedoms, as against the ever-creeping totalitarianism of collectivist approaches that subject individuals to some claimed “greater good or common good” that has to be managed by “enlightened elites” who believe that they alone know what is best for all other and will use coercion to control others.

Another notable repeat…

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spoke about the real battle against evil in the world when he said, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either- but right through every human heart- and through all human hearts.”

Ira Glasser on Joe Rogan’s podcast- the important issue re free speech, Wendell Krossa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kypokn111hU

The above link contains a brief explanation from Ira Glasser, former ACLU director, on the critical need to protect free speech, even hate speech, repugnant speech. The main issue, he says, is- “Who gets to decide what hate speech is?”. If your side bans the other side’s speech today as hate speech, then when the other side gains power in the future they will in turn ban your speech as hate speech. Everyone then suffers loss of freedom.

The only safe solution is to “duke things out in the public free speech arena”, countering other’s speech with your arguments and ideas. Protecting all speech, even repugnant speech, is the safest way to protect our own freedom of speech.

“Power is the antagonist”, says Glasser, and the great threat to civil liberties, and power must be restrained. No matter who has power. Both sides are equally dangerous with unrestrained power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kypokn111hU

Glasser offers one of the best explanations and defenses of free speech anywhere. As Glasser says, freedom of speech is not intuitive but is a learned taste. He presents helpful illustrations of the issues involved.

And Glen Greenwald again: “Your defense of free speech only matters if you’re defending the free speech rights of people who not just disagree with you, but who express views you find repugnant”.

Similarly, physicist Lawrence Krause warns regarding the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the concern to teach AI “universal human values” so it will not pose a danger to humanity. Krause says, “This sounds good, in principle, until one tries to define universal human values, because it is difficult “to find consistent examples of logical, ethical, or moral behavior running across time and geography”. The problem, he says, “is the question of who gets to provide the guidance, and what their values are”. It is very much, says Krause, the coding problem of “junk in, junk out”.

https://quillette.com/2023/02/21/artificially-intelligent-offense/

I would suggest, contrary to Krause, that Classic Liberalism or liberal democracy principles do “define universal human values” and “provide consistent examples of logical, ethical, and moral behavior running across time and geography”.

Added note: Who said that the most dangerous people in society are those who assume that they know what is best for all others and will coerce others to embrace their view of things, “for their own good” of course, or “for the greater or common good” as they see it?

Lots of interesting talk in public about AI (Artificial Intelligence) or AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). Some (e.g. Elon Musk) warn of dangers as they believe AI has become a “runaway train”.

Just a bit of speculation (from a place of personal ignorance): Why not program the principles of Classic Liberalism into the core of AI as a safeguard against abuse?- i.e. the protection of individual rights and freedoms in societies that are governed by institutions like “representative parliament” and “common law” (such as in the US Constitution), institutions that disperse power among competing individuals and groups. Why not program AI with principles where all are equally protected from totalitarian collectives and the elites that run the collectives. Just sayin…

Remember Frederik Hayek’s point that the best way to prevent totalitarianism is to disperse power among competing individuals, or competing institutions/organizations/groups, etc.

To the contrary, collectivist approaches centralize and concentrate power in states/governments. And then some elite, or some group, has to run the collective or the state, and that responsibility has inevitably been taken up by “enlightened elites” who believe that they know what is best for all others… according to their vision of the “common or greater good”. That mindset and approach to organizing human societies has inevitably unleashed the totalitarian impulse, as evident in the some 20 failed attempts at creating “true socialist societies” over the past century-plus.

For a good history of Socialist experiments and the views of Western intellectuals on those experiments- i.e. initially affirming each new Socialist project, then after the inevitable failure, the denial that they were truly Socialist approaches (“retroactively redefined as ‘unreal’”). See historical details of the repeated failures in Kristian Niemietz’ “Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies”.

See also former Socialist Joshua Muravchik’s “Heaven On Earth: The Rise And Fall of Socialism” for a good history of Socialism. Also, Arthur Herman’s “The Cave And The Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization”. Herman details the history of human endeavors to organize societies according to the collectivist approach versus “the free and equal individuals” approach.

Best books on the improving state of life on Earth:

Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource”. Simon set the standard for understanding the “true state of life on Earth” by looking at the complete big picture (all the data on any issue) and longest-term trends (not just focusing on short-term aberrations or downturns in longer trends).

Many subsequent studies have affirmed Simon’s basic research on the big picture and long-term trends of life-

Greg Easterbrook’s “A Moment On the Earth”,

Bjorn Lomborg’s “Skeptical Environmentalist”,

Ronald Bailey’s “The End of Doom”,

Desrocher and Szurmak’s “Population Bombed”,

Indur Goklany’s “The Improving State of the World”,

Matt Ridley’s “Rational Optimist”,

Tupy and Bailey’s “Ten Global Trends”, also “Superabundance”,

Hans Roslings “Factfulness”, and others.

The core themes of lost paradise/redemption mythology that dominate world religions, and also dominate contemporary “secular/ideological” systems of belief like Declinism (the most dominant and influential theme today). These core themes now dominate the offspring of Declinism, such as climate alarmism. Wendell Krossa

A ‘quickie’ summary for visitors on the run.

The core themes of the “lost paradise/redemption” complex of myths are evident in the earliest human writing (i.e. scattered throughout the Sumerian/Babylonian mythologies, later more formalized in Zoroastrian theology). These themes have subsequently dominated human narratives across history in the main religious traditions and are now found in the “secular/ideological” belief systems of the modern world.

The core themes of human narratives vary little across history. We repeatedly get the “same old, same old”, world without end. Young moderns self-identifying as “materialist”, even atheist, also mouth these very same themes, notably in “profoundly religious” movements like climate alarmism. The lost paradise/redemption complex of ideas are the basic themes of Declinism ideology, the “most influential and dominant ideology in the modern world” (i.e. life declining toward something worse, toward collapse and ending).

Note: Try to find a contemporary public story (i.e. Hollywood movie) that does not affirm some form of decline toward apocalypse as true and inevitable.

Get this point that in contemporary versions, primitive myths have been given new “secular/ideological” expression for the modern era. The terms may change but the core ideas or themes remain the same. Campbell nailed it in stating that “the same primitive mythical themes have been believed all across history and across all the culture of the world”. This speaks to the issue of deeply embedded “archetypes”, subconscious things that keep re-emerging in meta-narratives generation after generation. It helps us to understand why people keep falling for the same old scams again and again, despite the horrifically destructive outcomes.

Many people simply respond to narratives like climate alarmism at an intuitive, emotional level as unquestionably “true”. Apocalyptic Declinism narratives just “feel right and true”. That is how subconscious archetypes work on human minds, emotions, motivations, and responses. This subconscious intuition also explains the widespread tendency to “confirmation bias”- the tendency to select data that affirms our personal beliefs and to ignore or discredit contrary data. We have a hard time letting go of beliefs that meet deeply felt emotional needs.

(Again- archetype: “model, ideal, original, pilot, prototype, pattern, standard, classic exemplar, classic, representative, forerunner, epitome, prime example, etc.” My own definition of archetype would be- “inherited impulses and the ideas/myths people have created to validate the impulses”. These have become the models, ideals, prototypes, patterns that shape our narratives, consciousness, emotions, and behaviors.)

Re-evaluate your personal worldview to see if it is really as “scientific” and rational as you have assumed. Perhaps your worldview contains more primitive mythological themes than you might like to admit. The “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” or “apocalyptic millennial” complexes provide a baseline of comparative ideas against which to evaluate your own views.

Also worthwhile is the project to try to understand why we hold certain themes in our personal narratives. What “emotional” needs do our beliefs meet? What fears are we responding to, and what incites those fears? What sense of guilt are we trying to assuage, and what is that guilt actually based on? Much contemporary human shame/guilt is based on the primitive fallacies we have inherited in myths of a human fall from original purity into sinfulness/corruption, human guilt for ruining an original paradise and sending life into decline toward worse, and consequent human responsibility to make some sacrifice, to endure some form of suffering as redemptive, in order to “save the world” and restore an imagined lost paradise. The myths that have long incited such deeply embedded guilt are entirely false. And what “salvation/redemption” are we seeking? From what threat? Is it real or just mythical?

See in sections below… “False original premises or assumptions, and the wasteful outcomes and responses to the false original premises or assumptions”.

A repost of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex that is further detailed below:

As part of the salvation/redemption schema there must also be a violent purging of some purported evil threat to life (CO2 has been demonized as a “pollutant/poison” that threatens life today). Further, affirming the myth of cosmic dualism, people must heroically engage a righteous battle against the evil threat or enemy. Industrial civilization has been demonized today as the “evil” that destroys the paradise wilderness world (CO2 is the identity marker of this larger evil threat). With atonement and purging accomplished, people are then offered the hope of salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise, or the installation of a new utopia/millennium (i.e. a “fossil fuel-free” world).

(Note in sections below that tribal dualism is wrongly applied to differing others in the human family when any imagined dualism should focus on the real battle against enemies/monsters/evil that ought to take place inside each of us- i.e. the dualism battle of our better self against the animal inheritance in us that is our real “evil enemy” in life. This was Solzhenitsyn’s point, and Joseph Campbell’s point on conquering the “animal passions” in us.)

Continuing….

The above “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” ideas have shaped ancient and modern worldviews and this is not my conclusion alone. Good historians have traced these themes in recent past apocalyptic movements like Marxism and Nazism. These themes are also evident now in the latest apocalyptic movement of environmental alarmism (see, for example, Arthur Herman’s “The Idea of Decline in Western History”, Richard Landes’ “Heaven On Earth”, Arthur Mendel’s “Vision and Violence”, and David Redles’ “Hitler’s Millennial Reich”, among others historians of religious ideas.).

One book alone overturns entirely the above complex of apocalyptic Declinism themes- i.e. Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource”. Varied others have subsequently offered the same evidence. Simon potently discredited apocalyptic environmentalism, just as the one central insight of Historical Jesus on non-retaliatory, unconditional deity (his anti-sacrifice message) overturned the Christian version of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex (i.e. the core message of Jesus’ overturns Paul’s Christ myth).

The impulses and ideas that dominate human consciousness and life (a revised, updated reposting of the longer version of the “Lost paradise/redemption” complex of myths). Wendell Krossa

Subtitles: How to understand human thinking, feeling, motivation, response, and behavior today. The dominant themes of our narratives/worldviews and how they influence us.

(Useful definitions of Archetype: model, ideal, original, pilot, prototype, pattern, standard, classic exemplar, classic, representative, forerunner, epitome, prime example, etc. I would suggest that archetype has to do with our inherited animal impulses and the ideas/myths that our ancestors created to explain and validate these primitive impulses, notably the impulses to tribalism, to domination of others, and to predatory destruction of others. The ancients created the lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption complex to explain and validate these impulses. They tried their best to deal with the world that they lived in and the state of their consciousness at that primitive time.)

A prominent example to illustrate where I am going with this…

Climate alarmism is a “profoundly religious movement” with a consequent salvation crusade that is proving highly destructive of Western societies (i.e. Net Zero decarbonization). The “save the world” crusade of climate alarmism is being dogmatically and zealously pushed by elites (politicians, scientists, celebrities, others)- the people who control public narratives and consequently use state coercion to advocate policy applications that impact all of us, policies that consequently harm the most vulnerable people the most. Decarbonization is becoming very much like all apocalyptic alarmism across history with the same old outcome of “saving the world by destroying the world”. Such is the irrational outcome from inciting the survival impulse in people with alarmist narratives of looming apocalypse.

Some illustration of saving the world by destroying it…

Bob Brinsmead has often spoken of how dangerous people become when they place their loyalty in something that is set above people- in some law, religion, political ideology, nation state, or whatever. Loyalty to that thing that is placed above or before real people, then results in the neglect or harm of real people.

“Enlightened elites” have always believed that they have been called to heroically engage righteous battles against evil, and that they know what is best for all others. They come to view themselves as the specially enlightened ones who have seen some great injustice or wrong in life, some great threat to life, and have a vision of how to gain some version of salvationist utopia. And consequent to their unquestioning belief in the urgency of their cause (i.e. saving their world from an imagined “imminent” apocalypse and attaining utopian salvation) they will justify the need for violent crushing of any dissent or opposition to their crusade. Dissent from their vision and orthodoxy is labelled “dangerous and life threatening”.

Back to the “impulses and ideas” point of this article…

I repeatedly post lists of these themes on this site because they are foundational to what is wrong in our world today. And we have better alternatives now to take human consciousness and life in a more rational direction, toward a more humane future. We do not have to continue suffering under the impacts of the old mythologies that have contributed to so much misery across history by inciting unnecessary additional fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, resignation, fatalism, despair, depression, nihilism, and even violence. We can now embrace the ultimate human liberation- freedom from mythical pathologies that have long distorted reality and life and that have long incited our worst impulses. We have alternatives to inspire the better angels of our nature, alternatives that inspire our better impulses to live as authentically human.

Consider these most basic ideas or themes and their destructive outcomes, whether at the individual level or at larger societal scale:
The core themes (mental pathologies) that have dominated human consciousness across history… the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” narrative:

(1) The myth that a perfection-obsessed deity created a better past or original paradise (i.e. Sumerian Dilmun or Jewish Eden). This is the baseline bad myth. It is perhaps the single most fundamental pathology in human consciousness and narratives. It sets the stage for all the rest. If the past was better, and the present is so obviously worse (imperfect), then logically- What went wrong? The history-long obsession with blaming humanity (i.e. the myth of “fallen/sinful” humanity) arises out of this original error of a better past.

That wrong initial assumption of a past paradise world ruined by people became the baseline idea for a complex of related pathological ideas, notably myths that have subsequently blamed humanity for all that was wrong in life. That original bad myth then “logically” (logical to myth-oriented minds) led to the demand for punishment and a sacrifice to pay for the initial sin. And further, it led to the requirement that to make things better again you had to violently purge some evil threat to life. And thus, out of the original wrong assumptions, emerged all the rest of the lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption complex of bad myths.

(Insert: See below- “False original premises or assumptions, and the wasteful outcomes/responses to false original premises/assumptions”)

First, there was never a better past or original paradise, and the overall trajectory of life has never declined from a previous “golden age” toward a worsening future. Any history of our world shows this- i.e. the horrific conditions of early Earth (see, for example, Robert Hazen’s “The Story Of Earth”). And, since that early uninhabitable world, there has emerged a long-term trajectory of improvement toward a more habitable planet for life, such as in the emergence and development of an atmosphere suitable for life, along with many other factors. The history of our world shows long-term improvement in features like the emergence and increasing complexity of multi-cellular life, increasing organization/complexity in ecosystems, and an overall world that has become more conducive to life. There is nothing in the overall story of life on this planet to support the idea of a mythical decline of life from original perfection toward something worse.

Biologists like E. O. Wilson and Charles Darwin both affirmed the overall, long-term “improving” trajectory of life toward more complexity and more organization. Darwin added that life evolved toward more “perfection”.

Conclusion from such evidence? There was never an original paradise that humans ruined. Hence, reject that foundational myth that was the basis for blaming and devaluing humanity. There was no “original sin” or fault that resulted in the loss of paradise. We never “fell” or degenerated from something better to become something worse. We never, in the past, became corrupted beings. Imperfection was our original natural state in brutal animal existence.

Also, that problems, and consequent suffering, inspire our struggle to make life better, and bring out the best in people. For example, through suffering we learn compassion with suffering others (i.e. empathy as fundamental to being human). Much human creativity across history has arisen out of compassion for suffering others. Julian Simon noted that our problems bring out the best in us- i.e. creative endeavor to solve problems and find solutions that benefit ourselves and others. Imperfection is essential to human learning, growth, and maturing.

(2) (A further aspect of number 1) The myth that the earliest humans committed an original fault or error and subsequently “fell” or become “sinful/corrupted” beings who then ruined the original paradise. Again, this “original sin” myth is the primal root of all “blame humanity”, all anti-humanism. The Sumerians gave us the first examples of this pathology in the Sumerian Flood myth (Gilgamesh epic) with fuller versions coming later in subsequent Babylonian mythology. In the Sumerian Flood myth, Enlil, the waterworks god, was pissed at too many humans making too much noise- the original human “sin” of that era and place. Imagine: People just being sociable and having fun was considered an original sin by the grumpy gods of that time. That is as petty as Adam bringing the curse of “inherited sinfulness” on all humanity for just enjoying the taste of good fruit and curious to learn something new (i.e. wanting to access the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil’). Sheesh, eh.

(3) The vengeful deity of primitive imaginations, thoroughly pissed at human imperfection, then supposedly cursed the world and sent life declining toward something worse, eventually toward complete corruption, collapse, and final ending via apocalypse (as the final punishment for human sin). This apocalyptic decline myth has long incited survival fear, even terror and desperation to find some salvation.

Few raise the logical question here- Why can’t a God of love (supposedly much better than we are) freely forgive people just as we are expected to freely forgive imperfect others, as a response that is fundamental to basic human decency. Are we held to a higher standard of basic human decency or love, than God? As Bob Brinsmead reasons in a related manner- If you demand full payment for wrong before forgiving (like the Christian God), well, then that is not genuine forgiveness. Love and forgiveness must be freely given or they are not authentic.

(5) In “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” mythology, the angered deity also demanded suffering in this life as further punishment- “suffering as redemptive”. Humanity has long embraced this pathology in self-flagellation, in varied forms of self-punishment to assuage guilt/shame over being identified as bad. Today, one form of self-inflicted punishment involves giving up the good life for a return to the “morally superior” simple life (i.e. “de-development”). This myth-based thinking advocates for a retreat to the primitive status of original “noble savages”- i.e. early people who were believed to have been stronger and more pure humans who lived in tune with nature, who lived low-consumption lifestyles (i.e. hunter gatherers) before the “fall of humanity in civilization…the degeneration of humanity in the abundance of industrial civilization”. Such is the “human degeneration” theory of Declinism ideology (humanity degenerating in civilization) as set forth by Arthur Herman in “The Idea of Decline in Western History”.

The “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” narrative has been beaten into humanity for multiple-millennia now and the outcome is a deeply-rooted guilt and shame over being imperfectly human. Most people across history have subsequently felt the distressing obligation to find absolution for their sin. They long to be told how to make atonement, and in response, priesthoods across history have offered people the pathological solution of blood sacrifice, or other forms of sacrifice/payment/punishment to assuage the human guilt that has been exacerbated by the original sin myth. Declinism mythology (human sinfulness as the cause of life declining toward something worse), and the threat of looming apocalyptic destruction, intensifies the primal felt need to make atonement of some kind.

Again, it is the bogus problem of “False original premises or assumptions, and the wasteful outcomes/responses to false original premises or assumptions”.

(6) The punitive Force or deity behind life also demands “the violent purging” of some great threat to life, the purging of some threatening “enemy”. This involves the embrace of the hero’s quest, to heroically engage “a righteous battle against evil”, to engage the quest to conquer an enemy, to slay a monster. These ideas are validated by the myth of cosmic dualism- i.e. that there exists a great cosmic battle of a good Spirit against some evil Force or Spirit (see Zoroastrian mythology for detail). That “cosmic-level” dualism (as ultimate ideal and authority) has been endlessly replicated in “this-world” dualisms among people. Cosmic dualism myths have long validated various forms of human tribalism- i.e. tribalism based on race/ethnicity, nationality, religion, ideology, etc.

Think of the horrific outcomes of this pathological myth alone- i.e. the cosmic dualism of ultimate Good against ultimate Evil. Note the incalculable damage that has been caused across history by inciting the impulse to view differing others as “enemies”, accompanied by the felt need to engage a righteous battle against such enemies, to conquer and destroy them as threats to one’s own tribe. Tribalism, incited by dualism mythology, is among the most damaging of all primitive ideas. And tribalism intensifies its impulse to harm others by granting true believers the sense that God is on their side, that God approves their righteous battles against intolerably evil enemies who must be destroyed.

Remember again Joseph Campbell’s comments on conquering our “animal passions” by embracing “universal love”, by viewing enemies as family and thereby maintaining our humanity:

Further, religious mythology teaches that the ultimate violent purging takes place in the apocalyptic punishment and destruction of the present “corrupted world”, a necessary destruction in order to make way for the new world (see the New Testament book of Revelation for detail on this apocalyptic millennialism mythology). “Violent purging of evil” themes also validated the revolutionary purifying that was central to Marxism (purging the world of capitalism) and Nazism (purging the evil of Jewish Bolshevism). Again, see detail on this is Arthur Herman’s “The Idea of Decline In Western History”. Violent purging (“coercive purification”- Arthur Mendel) is also embraced by environmental alarmism today as in the need to purge purported threats like CO2, and industrial civilization in general.

Further comment on “Where and how it originally went wrong”… Wendell Krossa

An example of the primitive “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths resonating with modern minds to devastating outcomes:

Remember that Hitler, embittered by his WW1 experience and the Versailles Treaty, was initially considered a fringe lunatic madman and largely ignored by most Germans. But eventually his rantings began to resonate more widely with the Christian worldview of the German population. With the onset of the Weimar-era collapse of the German economy due to the Great Depression, his formerly ignored message of “decline toward looming apocalypse and promise of salvation (i.e. the creation of the millennial Third Reich)”- that message then began to resonate more widely with the same archetypical themes and impulses that had long dominated the belief systems and consciousness of most Christian Germans. Hitler was then able to persuade many ordinarily good Germans to join, or at least not oppose, his mass-death crusade. Again, note the good historical research of the apocalyptic millennial scholars Herman, Landes, Mendel, and Redles.

The message of “decline toward disaster” incites primal fears of some punitive spirit or force behind the natural world that is justly punishing “bad” people for ruining something originally pure and paradisal, such as nature. People then feel intuitively that they deserve such punishment coming at them through natural disaster, disease, accidents, predatory cruelty from “enemies”, and other misfortunes common to life. Remember the Japanese lady, after the 2011 tsunami, giving voice to this mythical pathology when she asked rhetorically, “Are we being punished for enjoying the good life too much?” She illustrated the very intuitive human sense that natural disasters are expressions of some angry god punishing people for their sins. Similarly, Nancy Pelosi claimed (Sept. 2020) that the forest fires of California were evidence that “Mother Earth was angry” with humans enjoying too much fossil fuel energy and causing the “climate crisis”. Bad people were being punished by an angry deity seeking retribution. Ah, its all just the same old, same old primitive thinking as ever before.

The belief that there exists some great threat to life then incites the human survival impulse. The panic-mongering over such threat (in the climate alarmism crusade it involves exaggerating natural events to apocalyptic scale) then pushes many to abandon rationality, out of their desperation to survive. Hence, many people will then accept the craziest exaggerations of the apocalyptic prophets of any given time. Note the repeated failing prophesies of Paul Ehrlich as a contemporary example, also Al Gore among others (i.e. his recent rant that “the oceans will be boiling”). Alarmed populations will then support the most irrational salvation schemes, to “save the world”, even when the evidence mounts that those schemes are so obviously destroying societies as in the outcomes of the Net Zero mania that is currently devastating Germany and Britain (see Net Zero Watch newsletters of Global Warming Policy Forum).

Now: A reposting of critical points on the harmful influence of bad theology…

Important comments from psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo (quoting psychologist Harold Ellens) on how images/beliefs, notably mythical images of ultimate reality and ideals, like deity, how such images influence human consciousness, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior. Note that such threat theology has long dominated primitive mythology, subsequent world religions, and now shapes modern belief systems both religious and secular. Threat theology incites fear and the consequent embrace of irrational salvation schemes. The outcomes of such panic-mongering do not enhance human well being.

Quotes from Lotufo’s book “Cruel God, Kind God”

I would insert here that the destructive outcomes of “religious motivation” are notable especially in the “profoundly religious” climate alarmism crusade and its destructive “salvation” scheme of Net Zero decarbonization (“save the world from the evil of CO2”). Note the outcomes of spreading harm, from Net Zero and renewables zealotry, in societies like Germany, Britain, and California. Climate alarmism exhibits the same old themes and destructive outcomes of all past apocalyptic crusades.

Lotufo then notes “the pathological nature of mainstream orthodox theology and popular religious ideation”.

He says, “One type of religiosity is entirely built around the assumption or basic belief, and correspondent fear, that God is cruel or even sadistic… The associated metaphors to this image are ‘monarch’ and ‘judge’. Its distinctive doctrine is ‘penal satisfaction’. I call it ‘Cruel God Christianity’… 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…

“The image of God can be seen as a basic belief or scheme, and as such it is never questioned…

“Basic cultural beliefs are so important, especially in a dominant widespread culture, because they have the same properties as individual basic beliefs, that is, they are not perceived as questionable. The reader may object that God, considered a basic belief in our culture, is rejected or questioned by a large number of people today. Yet the fact is that the idea of God that those people reject is almost never questioned. In other words, their critique assumes there is no alternative way of conceiving God except the one that they perceive through the lens of their culture. So, taking into account the kind of image of God that prevails in Western culture- a ‘monster God’… such rejection is understandable…

“Hence, in our culture we have a powerful element that impels us to violence, a Cruel God Image… that also contributes to guilt, shame, and the impoverishment of personality…”.

As Harold Ellens says, “If your God uses force, then so may you, to get your way against your ‘enemies’”.

Added comment- Bob Brinsmead: “We become just like the God that we believe in”.

Also note again, regarding the dualism myth in the “lost paradise/redemption” complex of ideas, Joseph Campbell’s comments on embracing “universal love” and viewing enemies as family and thereby maintaining our humanity. Campbell is countering the human tendency to divisive tribalism.

Added note on irrationality:

Marinate a bit on the scale of irrationality in the widespread public acceptance of the demonization of the basic food of all life- i.e. CO2- as the great threat to life today. And consider these contextual factors- CO2 levels over the past millions of years of our “ice age era” have been at “starvation” levels, just in the hundreds of ppm. Plant life prefers CO2 in the multiple thousands of ppm and thrives when it is that high. Over paleoclimate history, when, with CO2 levels 5 to 10 times higher than today, life was a “paradise… a golden age for mammals”. And with CO2 in the multiple-thousands of ppm over past history, there was no “climate crisis”, no “world on fire”. Varied paleoclimate studies (Phanerozoic era) note the significant disconnect when climate was much warmer but CO2 levels were low, or when CO2 levels were high but climate was cold. So also, the Vostok ice core samples appear to reveal that climate first warmed, followed by warming oceans that outgassed CO2, which then rose in the atmosphere. Not the other way around- i.e. rising CO2 causing climate warming.

Further note: Consider the fact that during the Eocene era some 55-33 million years ago, average temperatures were up to 10 degrees C warmer than today (25 degrees C average versus today’s world average of 15 degrees C) and that was the “Golden Age of mammals” when our ancestors flourished.

It needs repeating- That over the entire 500 million years of the Phanerozoic era life, when temperatures averaged 3-10 degrees C higher than today, and along with much higher CO2 levels, life thrived. Just as plant life is once again beginning to flourish with the restoration of more optimal levels of CO2 today- notable in the addition of 15% more green vegetation to the Earth since 1980. Sources: Wattsupwiththat.com, co2coalition.org, co2science.org, among others.

A further note on my claim that the myth of a better past or original paradise is the foundational or baseline myth of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of myths. Wendell Krossa

The belief in an originally more perfect world may have arisen from early humanity’s experience of decline in the natural world. John Pfeiffer (“The Creative Explosion: An Inquiry into the Origins of Art and Religion”) suggests that the belief in an original “golden age” may have emerged over 100,000 years ago. I took a closer look at how that mythical belief may have first arisen in early human minds.

The previous interglacial- i.e. the Eemian- occurred between 130-115,000 years ago. That blissfully warm interglacial (some 3-5 degrees C warmer than our current Holocene interglacial) may have ended quite suddenly, over just centuries or even decades. Life then descended from previous life-affirming warmth into the devastating cold of the following ice age or glaciation (called the “Wisconsin” in North America). Early conscious people would have remembered that better past compared with what became their more miserable conditions in a colder world. That would have given rise to their speculation that the past was more paradisal or perfect, and their present reality was a decline toward something worse.

That has been true at all times across history: If you believe that the past was better, or perfect, and then compare that better past with the obviously imperfect present world that you inhabit, then you can “logically” conclude that life is declining toward something worse. You have created a reasonable baseline argument for your belief in apocalypse- i.e. life declining toward something worse, even toward life ending. People have done that across history (the fallacy of “presentism”, according to James Payne in “History of Force”).

Add here that traditions of sacrifice have been around for a long time also. People have long offered sacrifices to appease what they believe were angry, punitive spirits or gods. The ancients believed that gods expressed their anger at “sinful” people through the destructiveness of the natural world- i.e. through natural disasters, disease, accidents, and predatory cruelty.

Those primitive beliefs contributed to the fallacious mythology of “Lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” that we have inherited from those ancestors. It is inexcusable that many people today continue to hold to contemporary versions of such primitive thinking, contemporary versions as in the major world religious traditions, along with many “secular/ideological” and even scientific versions (notably, in the “profoundly religious” cultic climate alarmism crusade).

This very appropriate (for today’s world) comment in David Redles’ history of how apocalyptic millennial themes shaped Nazism. He points to the irrational commitment of apocalyptics to their cause, despite evidence of the destructiveness of their salvation crusades (to “save the world”). Note this point in relation to the climate alarmist’s commitment to their salvation scheme of decarbonization that is destroying modern energy sectors, destabilizing electrical grids, and causing immense suffering with inflated energy costs that cause inflation throughout societies, with the consequent potential for general collapse.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/05/05/biden-and-the-bank-crash-why-green-energy-drove-banks-into-insolvency/

Redles’ comment: “For some millenarians, the signs of imminent apocalypse, and the promise of a coming, transformed, better world, is their signal to induce that apocalypse. Believing themselves chosen not only to witness the End-time, but also to help bring it to fruition, some true believers consciously or unconsciously induce the apocalypse, “forcing the end”, as the ancient Hebrews terms the actions of impatient messianic movements. These millenarians assume that, since the signs of the time tell them that now is the time and since they have been chosen for a special mission, then the apocalyptic event must occur in their lifetimes. The apocalyptic event is induced because the possibility that the prophesied apocalyptic event will fail to occur, means that the believer’s sense of being chosen, of having a special mission, of being immortal, indeed the whole new post-conversion identity, is illusory. This cannot be tolerated….”.

Also from Redles…

“The messiah/prophet (of apocalyptic millennialism) knows all truth, knows exactly what must be done to achieve salvation. He often is a warrior figure who will lead the righteous into battle against the minions of evil…” (David Redles in “Hitler’s Millennial Reich: Apocalyptic belief and the Search for Salvation”, p.6,5).

A contemporary example of a warrior figure leading true believers into righteous battle against evil enemies…

UN Secretary General says, “Battle against climate change calls for ‘war footing’”.

https://press.un.org/en/2008/ga10725.doc.htm

Another reposting- Patterns in apocalyptic movements: Destructive outcomes from alarmism crusades

Apocalyptic millennial scholar Arthur Mendel (“Vision and Violence”) stated that apocalyptic was the most violent and destructive idea in history. Today we are living through a real-life eruption of “human-induced apocalypse” (Redles’ point above) in the destructiveness created by history’s latest apocalyptic movement- the climate alarmism movement and its “human-induced” crusade to overturn the success of Western societies (too much abundance, too much resource use) by destroying their energy sectors (i.e. decarbonization, Net Zero- all in service to the larger crusade of “De-development”). Is climate alarmism exhibiting the pathology of “unconsciously inducing the apocalypse” through its “salvation” scheme of decarbonization? Nihilism is the inseparable consequence of apocalyptic thinking.

(Note: “Net Zero Watch” newsletters of the Global Warming Policy Forum daily update the devastation from decarbonization policies in European countries like Germany and Britain).

It needs to be probed: Is the destruction of Western societies perhaps more just an “unintended consequence” of the alarmist’s irrational, though otherwise ‘nobly-intentioned’ salvation scheme? That is quite likely. I would grant that possibility in the mix of motivations. As Redles said above- “true believers (will) consciously or unconsciously induce the apocalypse”. So yes, “unintended” may be the more logical explanation in the mix. True believers in some righteous crusade are often well-intentioned people, convinced by their narrative that they are heroically saving something, saving their world. I see that in Rachel Carson’s anti-chemical crusade, notably against DDT, and her sincere belief that she was saving life from her imagined and exaggerated chemical apocalypse. She probably did not imagine, nor intend, the mass-death that resulted from her influence (again, see “The Excellent Powder: DDT’s Political and Scientific History”, Richard Tren and Donald Roberts). See also…

https://21sci-tech.com/articles/summ02/Carson.html#:~:text=Her%20propaganda%20in%20Silent%20Spring,poor%20people%20in%20underdeveloped%20nations.

There is a well-known historical pattern that operates with apocalyptic millennial narratives and crusades, and if we had learned anything from history we would not be ignorantly and irresponsibly repeating this destructive pattern once again today. So yes, while “unintended” may be partly behind the alarmist’s motivation, I would be careful to not fall back on that for an excuse as the destructiveness of apocalyptic millennialism once again unfolds. We ought to know better, what with the historical examples that have occurred even over our lifetimes (i.e. the apocalyptic millennial movements of Marxism, Nazism, and general environmental alarmism).

(Further reposting of previous comment- revised) The pattern:

First, you abandon your own sanity and rationality by credulously and unquestioningly embracing primitive lost paradise, apocalyptic, redemption, and millennial themes. These themes are still everywhere present in the major world religions and are now also embraced by varied “secular/ideological” versions like Declinism and its direct historical offspring- climate alarmism, or overall environmental alarmism. Contemporary story-telling (movies) endlessly promotes apocalyptic as unquestionable fact.

With apocalyptic millennialism (or “lost paradise/redemption”) themes ensconced in your worldview, you then view life and its ever-present nasty elements (i.e. natural disaster, extreme weather events, disease, predatory cruelty) through that apocalyptic millennial lens. You also then begin to view yourself as some sort of enlightened insider who has seen the truth (true believer) and you then start to feel responsible to go forth and heroically save yourself, your people, and your world. You begin to believe that you have found a righteous cause, a “righteous battle against evil enemies/threats” that must be eliminated in order to “save the world” from imminent catastrophe.

Then you begin terrorizing others with your apocalyptic narrative and its exaggerated threat scenarios. Today’s apocalyptic prophets have been waging a crusade of panic-mongering over a very mild period of natural climate change (1 degree C warming over the past century). This hysterical panic-mongering exhibits the anti-science irrationality of apocalyptic alarmism crusades. Climate change has been very mild and beneficial in a still too cold world where 10 times more people die every year from cold than die from warmth. But such facts be damned. They get in the way of the apocalyptic narrative and its need to exaggerate every twitch in nature as something portending the imminent end of days.

Irresponsibly inciting fear among the wider public then results in the further spreading abandonment of rationality and a willingness of many to believe the most distorted scenarios of threat. Again, note the widespread practise of now viewing all extreme weather events (common all across past paleoclimate history) as ongoing affirmation of your hysterically exaggerated and irrational narrative. A narrative that is shaped by pathologically distorting mythical themes from the “lost paradise/redemption” or “apocalyptic millennialism” complex of myths.

(“Pathologically distorting themes”? Yes, apocalyptic themes distort entirely the true state of life and the actual trajectory of life across history. I repeatedly urge visitors to read the amassed evidence in studies like Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource”, and numerous similar follow-up studies. See also the good research of climate physicists Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and others listed below. “The True State of the Earth” is also reposted just below.)

(Insert note on the apocalyptic prophet’s exaggeration of contemporary mild climate change: See, for example, paleogeologist Ian Plimer’s graph (p. 33 of “Heaven and Earth”) of the past 55,000 years of climate change and note how massive were the changes in climate from roughly 55,000 to 20,000 years ago during the tail end of the Wisconsin glaciation (i.e. swings between cooling and warming periods of up to 25 degrees C). Then note how that previous severity of climate changes moderated significantly and became much milder with the beginning of our Holocene interglacial some 20,000 years ago. Subsequently, over our interglacial we have had swings between cooling and warming periods of only a few degrees. Nothing anywhere near any “climate crisis” scale of climate change. Point? To understand the “true state” of anything, place that thing in its fullest long-term context.)

Continuing with “human-induced destructive outcomes of alarmism crusades”…

Populations of normally rational people, now with their survival impulse incited, are then rendered desperate to embrace the most irrational of salvation schemes to save themselves, to save their world. Even if those salvation schemes entail the “unintended” destruction of their way of life, the destruction of their well-being and societies.

The promised hope of salvation offered by apocalyptic millennial narratives, the promise of a renewed paradise or utopian future, also helps keep alarmed populations receptive, subservient, and committed to apocalyptic millennial salvation schemes.

The apocalyptic millennial themes outlined above distort entirely the true state of life, of the world. But with exaggerated apocalyptic scenarios (manufactured monsters) they frighten people into embracing salvation schemes that “save the world” by destroying it. We know apocalyptic millennialism in its secular version today- “Declinism” (i.e. life declining toward something worse, toward collapse and ending). The direct offspring of Declinism is climate alarmism. Again, see Arthur Herman’s “The Idea of Decline in Western History”.

The entirely false narrative of apocalyptic millennialism, in its contemporary Declinism incarnation, states that human industrial civilization has destroyed the former paradise of a wilderness world and we are now heading toward environmental collapse and even ending. This narrative of despair has deformed public consciousness and prevented people from recognizing the amazing capability of humanity to correct mistakes of the past, to learn from such mistakes, to engage new measures to protect the natural world, and the result has been an ongoing improvement of life. We are now living in the best of all times, historically.

https://www.humanprogress.org/weve-just-had-the-best-decade-in-human-history-seriously/

Some authentically progressive facts (“progressive” in the sense of life progressing toward improvement over the long-term): The human lifespan has more than doubled over the past century. Deaths from climate-related disasters are down 95% over the past century. Major diseases have been eradicated. Species are protected and flourishing. There is more forest cover on Earth today than 70 years ago (with three times the population). Poverty has been undergoing a stunning decline across the world… and much more improvement of both the human condition and the natural world (see Humanprogress.org, Ultimate Resource, etc.).

Now- Alternatives to the lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption complex of themes:

Mental pathology and corrective alternatives, and the influence of both on human personality, to both good and bad outcomes.

“I think and therefore I am”.

“There are no really bad people, just bad ideas that make people do bad things”, comment of a friend.

“We become just like the God that we believe in”, Bob Brinsmead.

Project: Offer alternative themes to apocalyptic millennial narratives:

Much like Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the Wittenberg castle church door in 1517, so I am nailing my theses to this door of the Internet. But unlike Luther just protesting the way that the indulgences were sold, but not protesting the very sale of indulgences, I am going more directly to core issues of fundamental belief. Much like my friend Bob Brinsmead’s refreshingly direct presentation of the central anti-sacrifice message of Historical Jesus and exposing how Paul buried that liberating message in his contrary gospel of the Christ that presents Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. When Bob posts his good research on his site, I will link to that. It is mind-blowing. That the “stunning new theology of Jesus” (an unconditional God who does not demand sacrifice for forgiveness)- that central message of Jesus has been buried for two millennia under the entirely contrary message of Christianity- i.e. the claim that the supreme sacrifice of the Christ was necessary for the forgiveness of sin.

Below are the some of the more prominent myths that have dominated human consciousness, beginning with the earliest human belief systems and continuing down into our modern world. These myths still dominate religious traditions today and have even been embraced in more historically recent “secular/ideological” versions. Note, for example, the “apocalyptic millennialism” or “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” themes regularly expressed by the climate alarmism cult. Even many in “science” embrace such myths. I recently noted again how Stephen Hawking fell for apocalyptic mythology in the final two years of his life, making his own prophesies of the “end-of-days”, even setting dates (first suggesting an apocalypse in a millennium or so, then reducing that to just 100 years up ahead).

Fortunately, we have more humane alternative ideas now to inspire the “better angels of our nature”, to inspire our authentically human impulses. Embracing these new themes/ideas will involve the revolutionary transformation of human narratives, worldviews… the overturning of foundational core themes.

Responsible, mature humanity will be open to rethinking and challenging the primitively inhumane ideas in narratives, to reject the worst ideas, even those that have long been protected as “sacred” due to their history of having been long embedded in world religions.

Are you ready for a mind revolution? For the most profound form of liberation- liberation at the depths of human consciousness/subconscious, at the core of your human spirit and self.

The list below helps sharpen (focus) the weapon of unconditional that slays the monster. This list necessarily deals with metaphysical speculations because that is the underlying nature of most of our inherited ideas from prominent historical narratives.

Inherited “bad myths”, and better alternatives (revised short version, longer version in sections below on this site), Wendell Krossa

An alternative: The new theology of deity as a stunningly “no conditions” reality (no conditions love). There is no threat from an unconditional God, no judgment, no exclusion of anyone, and no ultimate punishment or destruction. All are safe- in the end.

2. The inherited myth: The idea of a perfect beginning (i.e. Dilmun, Eden) and a God obsessed with perfection, enraged at the loss of perfection, demanding punishment of imperfection, and atonement (sacrifice/payment) to remedy imperfection and restore the lost perfection or paradise.

Alternative: The world was purposefully created as originally imperfect in order to serve as an arena for human struggle, learning, and development. Deity has no problem with imperfection. Others include the argument that there can be no such reality as good without its opposite- i.e. evil/imperfection. Good cannot exist alone, or be known and experienced without a contrasting reality.

And in this life, as Campbell suggested, we are all just “actors on God’s stage” engaging oppositional roles in a temporary dualistic realm to provide one another with contrasting life experiences. Yes, this is metaphysical speculation. But what might be a better alternative to explain evil? The inherited mythical/religious speculations of the ultimate tribal division of humanity? Eternal cosmic dualism (i.e. the divide between true believers/unbelievers existing forever, eternal heaven and hell?). Or the better alternative- an ultimate return to our original “oneness” after experiencing a human story in this realm of material dualism?

3. The inherited myth: Humanity began as a more perfect species (the myth of primitive people as pure, strong, and noble hunter gatherers, “Adam/Eve”). But those early people then became corrupted/sinful (i.e. the myth of the “Fall of mankind”). This myth has led to persistent anti-humanism- blaming humanity for all the imperfections and suffering in the world.

Alternative: Humanity emerged from the brutality of animal reality to gradually become more humane across history (a long-term trajectory of humanity rising/improving, not falling into a trajectory of degeneration/decline). Rather than focus, as Declinism narratives do, on what is still wrong in life and humanity, we ought to focus more on how far humanity has risen from our primitive past and celebrate how well humanity has done in making things better. (Note, for example, the amazing decline in human violence across history- see James Payne’s “The History of Force”, Stephen Pinker’s “The Better Angels of Our Nature”)

4. The inherited myth: The world began as an original paradise (again, the past was better) but after the “Fall” the overall trajectory of life has been declining, degenerating toward something worse.

Alternative: The long-term trajectory of life does not decline to worse but overall rises/improves toward something ever better (i.e. more complex, organized, advanced).

5. Inherited myth: The belief that natural disasters, disease, human cruelty, and death are expressions of divine punishment, and that humanity deserves punishment.

Alternative: While there are natural consequences all through life, there is no punitive, destroying deity behind the imperfections of life. The natural consequences throughout life are just that- natural and not expressions of divine intent to harm or punish.

6. Inherited Myth: The belief that humanity has been rejected by the Creator and we must be reconciled via blood sacrifice/suffering. The deity offended by human imperfection demands payment/punishment for all wrong.

Alternative: No one has ever been rejected by the unconditional Love at the core of reality. No one has ever been separated from God. Ultimate Love does not demand appeasement/payment/atonement, or suffering, as punishment for sin. See the “Prodigal Father” story for an illustration of deity not demanding sacrifice/atonement before forgiving, accepting, and loving.

7. Inherited myth: The idea of a cosmic dualism between Good and Evil (i.e. God versus Satan) now expressed in human dualisms (tribes of good people versus their enemies- the evil people). Ultimate Good versus Evil is used to validate our inherited animal impulse to tribalism- to view ourselves in opposition to differing or disagreeing others (This is not to deny there is actual evil to be opposed, but to challenge the tendency to view differing others as irredeemable “enemies”, when they are essentially members of the same one human family.).

Alternative: There is a fundamental Oneness at the core of all and we all share that oneness. We all belong equally to the one human family and equally share the ultimate eternal Oneness that is God. Note that quantum mechanics also points to a fundamental oneness (i.e. the “Wuwu” factor that offends quantum purists).

8. Inherited myth: The belief in a looming apocalypse as the final judgment, the ultimate punishment of wrong, and the final destruction of all things.

Alternative: There are problems all through the world but there is no looming threat of final divine destruction and ending of the world. Apocalypse is a great fraud and lie. There will be no apocalypse as in the religious version of divine intervention to punish humanity and destroy the world (i.e. as illustrated, for example, in the New Testament book of Revelation).

9. Inherited myth: The always “imminent” element in apocalyptic mythology demands urgent action to save something, even the use of coercive violence to effect “instantaneous transformation”. (Arthur Mendel, in “Vision and Violence”, details the difference between the approaches of totalitarian “instantaneous transformation” by “coercive purification”, as opposed to democratic “gradualism”.)

Alternative: While unexpected catastrophes could still happen, there is no “imminent end of days” on the horizon, inciting the urgency to “save the world”. Rather, life improves through gradual democratic processes as creative humanity cooperatively solves problems.

10. Inherited myth: The demand for a salvation plan, a required sacrifice or atonement (debt payment, punishment). The cosmic principle that all wrongs must be righted/corrected, all debts must be paid somewhere, somehow, sometime. God cannot just forgive freely, as that father in the Prodigal Son parable did without demanding restitution.

Alternative: Unconditional deity does not demand sacrifice, atonement, payment, or punishment as required for appeasement- as prerequisite for divine acceptance, forgiveness, and love. Deity freely forgives, universally includes all, loves unconditionally. Just as we are told to do- to “keep no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13), to not expect repayment of debt (Luke 6), to love even enemies (Matthew 5). To forgive without limit.

Additionally, this important comment from Bob Brinsmead (“Understand the root themes of the environmental religion”):

11. Inherited myth: The belief that retribution or payback is true “justice” (i.e. eye for eye, hurt for hurt, humiliation for humiliation, punishment for punishment).

Alternative: Unconditional love keeps no record of wrongs, forgives freely and without limit. And yes, there are natural/social consequences to bad behavior in this world, but all justice should be humanely restorative/rehabilitative in response to human failure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCZt2YipiIs

Guard’s comment: “If we treat inmates like animals, they will respond like animals. If we treat them like humans, they will respond like humans”. Not all, but most.

Further consider again Campbell’s point- i.e. that how we treat others is vital to maintaining our own humanity as we engage “righteous battles against evil”.

12. Inherited myth: The belief in after-life judgment, exclusion, punishment, and destruction (i.e. hell). This pathology of after-life harm adds unnecessary sting to the natural human fear of death.

Alternative: Unconditional love does not threaten ultimate judgment, exclusion, punishment, or destruction.

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.

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 above on how images of violent deity incite/validate violence in humanity.

14. Inherited myth: The fallacy of biblicism- the belief that religious holy books are more special and authoritative than ordinary human literature, and the related fallacy that people are obligated to live according to the holy book as the revealed will, law, or specially inspired word of God.

Alternative: We evaluate all human writing according to basic criteria of right and wrong, good and bad, humane or inhumane. Holy books, written by fallible people like ourselves, are not exempted from this basic process of discernment/evaluation.

15. Inherited myth: The idea of God as King, Ruler, Lord, or Judge. This myth promotes the idea that God relates to humanity in domination/submission forms of relating. This is based on the primitive idea that humans were “created to serve the gods”. Such ideas have long been used to validate human forms of domination over others (i.e. the “divine right of kings, priesthoods, public leaders”).

Alternative: There is no domination/subservience relationship of humanity to God. True greatness is to relate horizontally to all as equals. The “greatness” of God is to relate to all as free equals, not to “lord over” others. Similar human greatness is exhibited in not overriding the free self-determination of others, not controlling others. Note the statement of Jesus in Matthew 20:25-28 that true greatness is not expressed in domination of others, but in service to others.

16. Inherited myth: The idea that humanity is obligated to know, serve, or have a relationship with an invisible reality (deity), that we are to give primary loyalty to something separate from and above people.

Alternative: Our primary loyalty is to love and serve real people around us. Their needs, here and now, take priority in life. Loyalty to realities placed above people (laws, institutions, or higher authorities) has always resulted in the neglect or abuse of people.

17. Inherited myth: The perception that God is silent or absent during the horrors of life (i.e. Where was God during the Holocaust?). This myth of absent deity is based on the primitive belief that God is a sky deity (dwelling in heaven above, separate from humanity), a deity that descends to intervene in life and change circumstances, override natural law, in order to save or protect people.

Alternative: There has never been a Sky God up above in some heaven. The reality we call “God” has always been incarnated equally in all humanity. God has always been immediately present in all human suffering and is intimately present in all human raging and struggle against evil. God is inseparable from the human spirit in all of us and is expressed in all human action to prevent evil, to solve problems, and to improve life. We are the embodiments/incarnations of God in this world, and nothing saves us except our choices and actions to oppose wrong and to help one another, to make life better in this world.

18. Inherited myth: The fallacy of “limited good” and the belief that too many people are consuming too much of Earth’s resources, and hence world resources are being exhausted. This relates to the ancient religious belief in the moral superiority of the simple, low-consumption lifestyle. The belief that denial of comfort- i.e. separation from “worldly things”, and rejection of material possessions, is a more “spiritual” and holy route to take. Add here the belief in suffering as somehow redemptive. Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist fell for this while Jesus took an opposite stance of “eating and drinking” and enjoying all that life had to offer.

Alternative: More people on Earth means more creative minds to solve problems. More consumption means more wealth to solve problems and enable us to make life better- i.e. enables us to improve the human condition and protect the natural world at the same time. Evidence affirms that human improvement and environmental improvement has been the outcome of more people on Earth enjoying the good life. See “Population Bombed” by Desrochers and Szurmak, “Ultimate Resource” by Julian Simon, “Humanprogress.org”, and related studies.

Further, we are not exhausting Earth’s resources. With the emergence of some apparent resource scarcity, humanity through improving technology then works to discover more reserves of those scarce resources or makes the shift to alternative resources. There is a superabundance of resources in our world. Note also the “dematerialization” trend in modern advanced societies (i.e. the ongoing trend of less material inputs per person, economies of scale with increasing urbanization, etc.)

Exchange this idea of stinginess as superior, for a theology of an extravagantly generous God (scandalously generous) who has given us an Earth of ‘superabundance’ to enjoy.
Add your own themes/ideas and alternatives.

Carefully observe the alarmist patterns that are repeatedly played out in our societies, patterns related to and incited by apocalyptic Declinism mythology: Wendell Krossa

First, apocalyptic prophets- e.g. Paul Ehrlich, Al Gore, James Hansen, John Holdren, and varied others- alarm people with hysterically exaggerated scenarios of the decline of life toward looming catastrophe. Commonly now, the apocalyptic prophets promote their message, via panic-obsessed news media, with claims that extreme weather events (i.e. rain, floods, heat, drought, wildfires, storms, etc.) have become more frequent and intense. Every extreme weather event becomes the latest indicator that the end is nigh, again and again and….

Evidence on extreme weather trends show that such events are not becoming worse, and in some cases they have even become less frequent, less intense.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/04/07/sorry-wqad-data-shows-climate-change-is-not-making-storms-worse/

https://co2coalition.org/news/why-deaths-from-hurricanes-and-other-natural-disasters-are-lower-than-ever/

https://co2coalition.org/news/doomsday-climate-models-wrong-again-hurricanes-decliningflooding-over-europe-not-more-frequent/

Further, paleoclimate evidence shows that extreme climate changes were far worse across distant past history. Note the graph of the last 55,000 years in Ian Plimer’s “Heaven And Earth” (p.33) showing that climate change has moderated significantly since the beginning of our Holocene interglacial roughly some 20,000 years ago.

The exaggeration and panic-mongering over historically ‘normal’ weather events then incites people’s natural survival fear and that leads to the widespread abandonment of rationality. Populations are then susceptible to embracing the most irrational salvation schemes of alarmists.

The alarmists then appeal to another primal human impulse- i.e. the impulse to make a sacrifice and voluntarily suffer some punishment for sin (the belief in and acceptance of suffering as “redemptive”). Many people will then readily embrace calls to make some sacrifice to pay for their sin, as in the calls to give up the good life in modern society, to repent of the “sin” of enjoying life and abundance too much (using too much energy, consuming too much of nature’s resources). Remember, we are dealing with a “profoundly religious” movement in climate alarmism.

Further in alarmist patterns- All people possess the fundamental impulse to engage a heroic battle against an evil enemy, to be on the side of good against some evil. Alarmists distort this fundamental impulse in their demonization of humanity enjoying the good life as the “enemy” of nature. Alarmists portray people as the corrupt destroyers of the world in human civilization, humanity as a “cancer or virus” on Earth.

Fleshing out this argument- alarmists have lasered in on CO2 as the main indicator today of human evil. They claim that CO2 is the main indicator of human excessive consumption, the leading indicator of how corrupt humanity is destroying life.

With that distortion of CO2 as a threat to life, as the evil monster to be fought and slain, climate alarmism has profoundly deformed the natural human impulse to engage a heroic battle against evil. Alarmists have created a new enemy for the modern world, claiming that humanity’s success in using cheap and abundant fossil fuels to lift billions out of poverty over the past two centuries to enjoy an immensely improved human condition- this is the great evil to be fought today by embracing “De-development” in a return to primitivism (reject fossil fuels). Add here the Ecological Footprint model that claims too many people consuming too much of Earth’s resources is leading to environmental collapse. Alarmists see themselves as heroically defending pure, innocent nature, and her limited resources, from human greed and plunder as in modern industrial civilization. But here, in response, is Bjorn Lomborg’s assessment of the Ecological Footprint…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bjornlomborg/2017/08/02/one-planet-is-enough/?sh=a25dc0b32631

The alarmist call to righteous battle against evil enemies also incites the innate human tribal impulse, the primal impulse to embrace the dualism of “good people fighting bad people”, heroes fighting and conquering some monster or enemy.

Include also in the alarmist call to heroic battle against evil enemies, the specific project to “purge” the evil from life, the thing that threatens life. This involves the demand to use “coercive purification” to get rid of your purported threat. The purging of the threat, according to alarmists, must be accomplished with coercion because regular democratic processes (open debate, questioning, dissent, challenge to dogmas) are too slow to deal with the threat that alarmists always claim is “imminent”- a claim they back with endless “end-of-world” dates always set, and reset, just up ahead a few years or decades. So keep the urgency pressure on. Democratic delay is deadly and threatens life itself, the alarmists claim. Hence, the slow, messy processes of liberal democratic freedom be damned. (Note: See Arthur Mendel’s treatment of “coercive purification” and “instantaneous transformation” in his book on apocalyptic millennialism- “Vision and Violence”.)

Alarmists view questioners and dissenters as “deniers/unbelievers” of the truth that they alone see clearly- the “truth” of their apocalyptic narrative. Add here the “true believers” delusion that they, as the enlightened elite, know what is best for all others. They have found their “righteous battle against evil”, their opportunity to engage a “hero’s quest to slay a monster”. Ah, such primal impulses at play in all this.

And finally in alarmist patterns, note the element of hope that is offered in the promised restoration of a lost paradise or the installation of a new utopia, as in the carbon-free future of the alarmist narrative (life purged of the “pollutant or poison” that is CO2, a world with far fewer “corrupt and greedy” people plundering the natural world).

Further note: Watch the element of irrational insanity in apocalyptic Declinism crusades. This is most notably evident today in the claim of alarmists that the food of all life- CO2- is now the main threat to life. This basic plant food has been in desperately short supply for the past millions of years. With the minor recovery of CO2 levels that Earth has experienced, 15% more green vegetation has been added to Earth just over the past 40 years. Earth would benefit even more from CO2 levels returning to the multiple-thousands of ppm that were common over most of the history of life. So also, all life would benefit from a recovery of temperatures to the 3-6 degrees C warmer climate that was the average for most of the history of life.

Qualifier note: The application of a difficult thing, Wendell Krossa

Note carefully: An emphatically repeated point on this site- We are responsible to maintain our own humanity in this life and that is most successfully accomplished by treating all others unconditionally (e.g. restorative approaches in criminal justice systems).

An unconditional approach toward others is not about dogmatic pacifist responses to human criminality (e.g. “turn the other cheek”). Maintaining our humanity is not about abandoning common sense in an imperfect and often violent world.

Dangerous, repeatedly violent offenders must be forcefully restrained/incarcerated to protect the public. They should be dealt with in criminal justice systems, and even permanently incarcerated where rehabilitation is not possible (i.e. in cases of psychopathy). Criminal offenders should also be held responsible to make restitution to victims.

An unconditional approach, in situations of criminal offense (also international aggression), is directly related to the issue of how we maintain our own humanity in responding to human failure and offenses. Unconditional is about how we treat criminal offenders once they are incarcerated and how that relates to reducing recidivism rates (reducing future victims) in order to protect the public (e.g. as per the evidence, for example, from the Norwegian criminal justice approach).

Unconditional treatment of offenders has a lot to do with love as the “intention” to do the humane thing, not primarily as emotion. We are naturally and rightly enraged at human criminality and offense but then we are best advised to respond as human by breaking patterns of hurt for hurt, pain for pain, etc., as in avoiding punitive justice approaches that dehumanize us.

Simon Wiesenthal (“Justice, Not Vengeance”) and others have wrestled with this struggle between punitive and restorative approaches. See also Karl Menninger’s “The Crime of Punishment”. Netflix has done documentaries on this- i.e. comparing the Norwegian restorative justice approach with punitive-oriented criminal justice that operates in US prisons like Attica.

This site argues that the feature of unconditional is absolute for defining theology- i.e. meaning, God is love as in the stunningly inexpressible wonder of unconditional love. Defining deity with unconditional means there is no such divine reality as in the “threat theology” that still dominates the major world religions and similar “secular/ideological” belief systems (i.e. “Angry God, Vengeful Gaia, angry Planet/Mother Earth, punitive Universe, or payback karma”). This is a critical point as human views of deity have always served as ultimate ideals and authorities. See again, Ellens and Lotufo’s comments on the influence of deity beliefs on human personality and life.

Threat theology has long been a primal fallacy, a pathology in human minds, a damaging mythology that has long deformed human consciousness and life. Threat theology has been most commonly expressed through myths of deity punishing human imperfection (”sin”) through the natural world (natural disasters, disease, accident, predatory cruelty), through threat of apocalyptic destruction, and through threat of after-life harm in hell.

Further, defining deity with unconditional means that there has never been any such reality as a tribal God that favors true believers but rejects and excludes unbelievers. Tribal thinking and opposition is very much the offspring of cosmic dualism mythology- i.e. the myth of a great Good deity opposing and fighting a great evil Force/Spirit (Satan mythology).

Also, unconditional deity means that there has never been any such reality as a dominating God (God as king, lord, ruler, judge), a deity that lords over humanity through dominating priesthoods or other forms of domination (i.e. the divine right of kings or other leadership positions). Humanity does not relate to deity in a domination/submission relationship (i.e. the fallacy of “humanity created to serve the gods”).

And unconditional deity means that there has never been a destroying God as in the mythical fallacies of apocalyptic destruction of the world and after-life harm myths (e.g. hell myths).
One of the more stunning insights on the unconditional nature of deity was presented in the central theology and message of Historical Jesus. He continued the anti-sacrifice theme of the Old Testament prophets, the theology of a God who desired mercy not sacrifices, a God that forgave all sin without demanding prerequisite sacrifice or payment (note the Prodigal Father story in this regard). More historians/theologians recognize today that Jesus was actually put to death for his public protest against sacrifice mythology and practice.

In part, I base my conclusion that unconditional is critical to maintaining our humanity on the profound breakthrough insights of the Historical Jesus that deity was an unconditional reality and that ultimate ideal/authority inspired similar unconditional ethics. Historical Jesus was a person quite entirely opposite to Christian “Jesus Christ”.

In his central message, as per Matthew 5:38-48 and Luke 6:27-36, Historical Jesus had argued for the radical overturning of all historically previous understanding of ultimate reality. He argued for a radical reframing of humanity’s ultimate ideal and authority- deity.

I have repeatedly noted, for example, James Robinson’s statement that Historical Jesus introduced the “Stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God”. That breakthrough insight was then subsequently rejected by Paul who gave us, in direct contradiction to the theology of Jesus, his Christ myth that re-enforced the primitive themes of a tribally-oriented deity (favoring believers over excluded unbelievers), a dominating Christ (supreme Lord, King), and a retaliatory God (ultimate retaliation in apocalypse and hell).

Most contradictory- Paul turned the anti-sacrifice Jesus into the ultimate icon of sacrifice- the demanded sacrifice of the cosmic Christ as punishment/payment for the sins of all humanity, as necessary for forgiveness and salvation. Paul rejected the unconditional God of Jesus for his highly conditional Christ religion- i.e. (1) the demand for sacrifice/payment to appease a wrathful God (see Romans), (2) the required belief in his Christ as necessary to access forgiveness and salvation, (3) along with the conditions of fulfilling Christian rituals and living a Christian lifestyle as identity markers of membership in his Christian religion.

Unfortunately, Paul’s “Christ”-ianity has shaped the dominating narratives of Western civilization for the past two millennia. His Christ myth has been mainly responsible for validating punitive justice approaches, for the ongoing tribalism of dualism theologies/mythologies (a cosmic Good against cosmic Evil with demand for people to engage similarly tribal battles), and worst of all- for maintaining the destructive myth of apocalypse in Western consciousness and narratives.

The central themes of Historical Jesus included the rejection of retaliatory, punitive responses to others, the rejection of tribalism, and the rejection of apocalyptic panic-mongering.

We need to restore and re-affirm the breakthrough insights of Jesus on unconditional reality and overturn the last two millennia of consciousness-deforming Christ mythology. We need to reaffirm “Jesus-ianity” (his actual core message) in contrast with Paul’s “Christ-ianity”.

Democrats locked in a bubble, Wendell Krossa

Intro-

When you demonize others excessively then you create for yourself a monster that is so dangerous that you must act to save yourself, your community, even if with violence to destroy the monster that you have imagined and manufactured. By excessively demonizing differing others, you have validated your totalitarian impulse to even use violence. The Germans did this with Jewish Bolshevism, the Hutu did it to Tutsis in Rwanda, and now US liberals are on the same spectrum moving toward demonizing all who differ as dangerous threats to democracy, as purveyors of hate speech and dangerous disinformation, and hence, enemies that deserve to be censored and even criminalized (e.g. parents disagreeing with school Woke policies have been labelled “domestic terrorists”).

Democrats have locked themselves into a mentally-limiting cul de sac position, a serious distortion of reality that many on the left appear to have become trapped within. You see this in statements made regularly on mainstream media- i.e. the references to all on the other side as intolerable evil in some manner. Commonly, the differing others are smeared as “racists, white extremists, fascists, threats to democracy, promoters of hate speech, purveyors of dangerous misinformation/disinformation, threatening violence, etc.”. That is the generalizing of all who disagree in terms of varied forms of extremism. We hear this generalizing extrapolation (all on the other side as “evil’) in the Democrat’s defensive validation of their censorship crusade that is now being exposed by journalists like Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberg, and others (The Twitter files thing).

(Insert note: Both sides of the political/social divides in Western societies practise this distorting “collectivist” projection- i.e. extrapolating the features of the extremist elements on the other side out to demonize the entire other side. This is the tribal dualism that uses collectivist thinking to manufacture the narrative that all members of an opposing group are oppressors, contrasted with all on one’s own side as victims, and righteous defenders of truth and good.

This “generalizing that threat emanates from all on the other side” has become more notably a problem exhibited today from the Democrat/liberal side of society. Again, note the work of the journalists listed above. And note the embrace of this “collectivist projection of evil to all on the other side” (common to Woke Progressivism) as it has spread to dominate higher education, Hollywood, mainstream media, Big Tech/social media corporations, etc.)

Democrats/liberals repeatedly point to right-wing extremists such as White Supremacists, and so on, as potentially dangerous threats, and they are. No one disagrees with that, including many on the right. But then Democrats cross the line and claim that such extremism on the far right characterizes the entire other side- it defines all conservatives/Republicans, all that disagree with the Woke Progressivism which now dominates the Left/liberalism. Woke Progressivism has itself become a form of extremism.

Democrats have taken the fundamentally “collectivist” approach in claiming that all on the other side can be reduced to the extremist positions of “Nazis, racists, fascists, white supremacists, threats to democracy… etc.” (Example: Michael Moore, among others, stated that all who voted for Trump in 2016 were racists- https://variety.com/2017/legit/news/michael-moore-cnn-interview-trump-racist-1202529456/). Hence, all Republicans are threats to democracy, purveyors of disinformation/misinformation, dangerous, and therefore it is valid to censor their dangerous, threatening comments and positions.

That focus on the minority extremists on the other side, and then extrapolating that minority extremist element out to characterize all on the other side, is actually the essence of racism. To view all those in some group, in terms of a collective, as “bad” in some manner (i.e. “all whites are oppressors”), to demonize all in some group as evil in some way, is a form of racism itself (see, for example, “Woke Racism” by John McWhorter).

Marxist Robin DiAngelo in “White Fragility” also takes this position– ignoring the uniqueness and difference among individuals to make collectivist generalizations (you are either, and only “oppressor or oppressed”). She then states that “there is no form of being white that is good”.

Added notes on generalizing about entire groups:

Here are some applicable points from author and scholar Douglas Murray (The War on the West), commenting on Robin DiAngelo’s arguments in “White Fragility”.

DiAngelo’s reasoning, says Murray, takes you into the logical trap of the witch-dunkers of the Middle Ages- If a woman drowns, she is innocent. If she floats, then she is a witch and must be burned. DiAngelo does this in claiming that white people are all racist and if they object to being labelled racist then that only proves they are. You can’t win with such logic.

White people are stained with this original sin (Black scholar John McWhorter notes the same- the irremovable stain and sin of just being white). Murray adds that DiAngelo knew that what she was doing was wrong but she didn’t mind and admitted it, saying, “I am breaking a cardinal rule of individualism- I am generalizing”. That is the essence of racism- to generalize about an entire group of people in some negative way. Yet she gloats about doing that and believes that she can get away with that because it is against white people, says Murray.

Her generalizing about entire groups affirms her Marxism, a form of collectivism that sees people as members of either the oppressors group or a victims group. The claim that blacks are subjects of endless victimhood is also dealt with by black scholar McWhorter who says that such ideology is harming blacks and is simply not true any more except in isolated cases. Blacks today have amazing opportunities for advancement and many have taken advantage of such opportunities.

Murray adds- DiAngelo makes the strongest claims without evidence- stating “white identity is inherently racist”.

During a Christiane Amanpour interview, DiAngelo made such extreme claims without evidence and a black guest, Michel Martin, tried to pin her down, asking “You’re a scholar. Where’s your data? What makes you say that?” She had no evidence to back up her generalizations. She also made other assertions like, “There’s a glee in the White collective when Black bodies are punished”. Another generalization that is not true. Pretty shoddy scholarship, said Murray.

Murray says later in his book that no amount of anti-racism will ever be enough for DiAngelo. She promotes the Woke Racism that McWhorter writes about that is making life worse for all groups as it advocates new forms of racism.

Murray then repeats the story of a life-long liberal, Jody Shaw of Smith College in Massachusetts, where white staff were constantly berated in diversity and inclusion initiatives. In her resignation statement Shaw said, “I asked Smith College to stop reducing my personhood to a racial category. Stop telling me what I must think and feel about myself. Stop presuming to know who I am or what my culture is, based upon my skin color. Stop asking me to project stereotypes and assumptions onto others based on their skin color”.

As more and more black people are also arguing now- this new Woke Racism is not what Martin Luther King advocated- that we stop judging one another based on skin color but rather judge one another on our individual character. The new Woke Racism is all about judging others as an entire group, based on their skin color, no matter how different each individual may be.

And “systemic racism”? What about US surveys showing that almost 100% of the US population approves of mixed marriages, mixed neighborhoods, mixed everything. What does that say? It shows amazing progress on this issue. Unfortunately, people like DiAngelo deny that progress and continue to divide groups over race.

Also notable: Movements like BLM start with wide acceptance by the public. But then, unfortunately, extremists tend to get involved and take movements off in extremist directions, like DiAngelo, and that shift to extremes turns many people off, including many blacks who are now protesting against Critical Race Theory which leans toward DiAngelo’s assumptions and distortions.

Both sides need to return to a more discerning approach that views people on any side in terms of their individualism- individual differences and uniqueness. And then we ought to affirm the commonalities that most people on all sides share. As presidential candidate Nikki Haley wisely said in an interview:

Interviewer: “You’ve spoken out against identity politics, and yet in your campaign announcement, you emphasized your identity as a minority woman, as the daughter of Indian immigrants. In that same announcement, you emphasized your femininity: “When you kick back,” you said, “it hurts them more when you’re wearing heels.” To me, it’s a kind of Lean in, you go, girl play that’s typically reserved for Democrats. How central is your identity as a woman, and particularly a woman of South Asian descent, to your candidacy? Do you draw a line between a sort of inclusive identity politics and exclusionary identity politics?”

Nikki Haley: “When I was bullied, when I was younger, my mom would say to me, “Your job is not to show them how you’re different; your job is to show them how you’re similar.” I think that’s a lesson for all Americans. Don’t let people divide you based on what you look like. Instead, show them how similar you are to them.

“I think it also helps people understand me more when I talk about being a woman. I’m proud of being a woman. I’m a feminine girl. I love that. I don’t deny what people can see, which is that I’m a brown woman. That’s fine. I have fun with it. If you’re going to criticize me for those things anyway, I’m going to lean into it and have fun. It’s not identity politics; it’s just loving who you are. I love being a woman. I love my heritage. I love how I was raised, and I love how it has made me who I am today.

“Identity politics are when you divide people based on what you are. I’m not dividing people based on what I am. I’m trying to show people that we are all more similar than we are different.”

A further post on the generalizing of the other side as all evil in terms of the minority extremists on that side…

Its more than unsettling, the apparent lack of self-awareness among many identifying as liberals today. Out of their zealous struggle to “protect democracy” against threats from the other side, there has emerged a dangerous authoritarianism that sees no danger in censorship, silencing dissent and free speech, banning others from public spaces (notable in university campus rioting and refusing to allow conservatives to speak), even criminalizing differing others (again, for example, Obama’s AG, Loretta Lynch, proposing to criminalize skeptical science on climate in 2016). These behaviors have always been emanations of the totalitarian impulse, more forms of extremist tyranny than any form of true liberalism.

Liberals need to ask themselves- What self-delusional arguments are validating this dangerous new authoritarianism? What liberals are doing in censoring others who disagree is undermining the very fundamentals of liberal democracy, of freedom in general.

I repeat, as noted previously above- Be careful of building features into your perspective that are distorting your ability to see reality clearly and objectively. I refer to what has become the common liberal tendency today to see extremists on the other side (the tiny minority of racists, White Supremacists, fascists) and then to extrapolate the disgusting positions of those lunatic fringe people out to characterize all on the other side- i.e. thereby demonizing all conservatives/Republicans, even demonizing center Right and center Left moderates who disagree with Woke Progressivism. (To balance- People on the Right also engage this collectivist demonization of all differing others in terms of extremists on the other side.)

The extrapolating of extremist positions out to characterize all who disagree with you, then validates your sense of engaging a “righteous battle against evil enemies” and provides the justification for your abandonment of basic Classic Liberal principles to descend into dangerous totalitarianism while at the same time feeling like a righteous savior when censoring, silencing, banning, and criminalizing all who disagree with you.

Note the justification when varied public “liberals” defend their crusades to censor and ban “misinformation/disinformation” (the views and speech of those who differ from them) which they claim is a “threat to democracy”. Differing opinions and speech are labelled “racist, fascism, hate speech, violent extremism…” and more. Again, those doing this will point to the minority of actual extremists on the other side with the claim that those few represent all on the other side. Notably public figures that have done this- i.e. Joy Reid of MSNBC, the ladies on The View (particularly Sonny Hostin arguing all who vote Republican are racists), Michael Moore, and others.

One liberal commentator took all this a step further when he argued, during Trump’s presidency, that liberal violence against those on the other side was legitimate violence. He said, if they- conservatives, Republicans- are all Nazis (and he affirmed that they were), then our violence, he argued, to stop them is like the Allies fighting Hitler during WW2. It is legitimate violence. Such logic advocated in public ought to be a wake-up call to many true liberals still on the left side.

Another example:

https://news.yahoo.com/prof-suspended-post-saying-admirable-000425889.html?

All sides need to pull back from these dangerous excesses.

And an interesting essay on “respectable authoritarianism” (validating your totalitarianism as “good”, versus the other side’s totalitarianism as “evil”)

https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/12/27/joe-biden-and-the-rise-of-respectable-authoritarianism/

This good counter to the false climate alarmism claim of “more people dying from warming”. The claim of more warming deaths (all deaths being regrettable) is never placed within the larger context that shows 10 times more people die every year from cold than die from warming (Lancet study). More warming decreases the deaths from cold by a larger number than the increased deaths from warming. Meaning- more warming will continue to be net beneficial to humanity and to all life.

Further contrary to John Kerry’s alarmism in the link below- Hard evidence shows that storms are not getting worse, tornadoes are declining, hurricanes are not increasing, floods are decreasing, crop production has improved significantly, and overall, temperature and weather-related deaths have declined dramatically over the past century. As the article says, the fear-mongering of Kerry is more dangerous than climate change. How so? Climate fear-mongering incites populations to embrace the irrational decarbonization crusade that is destroying Western societies.

https://climaterealism.com/2023/04/wrong-john-kerry-and-msnbc-climate-change-is-not-destroying-crops-or-killing-people/

Another good one in responses to alarmist claims that we are now experiencing a “Sixth Mass Extinction event”, also claimed by Kerry. I am not affirming all that the author argues or concludes below, but overall he makes important points. See Julian Simon also on the wrong assumptions made by extinction alarmists, notably that a loss of 90% of habitat would result in a loss of 50% of species related to such habitat loss. That assumption has been discredited by the experiences of the Northeastern US and Northeast Brazil over past history.

https://www.warpnews.org/too-bad-to-be-true/investigation-there-is-no-sixth-mass-extinction-going-on/

Quotes:

“”We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction.”

“”The sixth mass extinction has begun.”

“Such statements are repeated so often that they have become accepted as truth.

“But they are not true.

“There is no ongoing sixth mass extinction.

“For many species, the negative trend has been reversed.

“However, the issue is complex. The populations of many species have declined significantly, and this is a problem to be taken very seriously. Humans have been responsible for many extinctions throughout history.

“Today, we are much wiser, and support for preserving biodiversity is strong. We have learned how to solve the problem and protect the Earth’s species….

“We had six hypotheses before our investigation:

“(1) For the past 50 years, species populations are no longer shrinking in wealthy countries. In many cases, they are increasing. Recently, populations have also stopped declining in poor countries.

“(2) What is called species extinction is almost entirely about shrinking populations.

“(3) The extremely large number of species that are said to be continuously dying out comes from theoretical models of insects and even smaller organisms that are assumed to disappear.

“(4) Among larger species, few extinctions in modern times have been truly documented.

“(5) Humans were much worse for animals and nature in the past than they are today.

“(6) Many species thrive in urban environments….

And…

“There are documented cases of extinctions (relatively few).

“There are theoretical cases of extinctions (very many).

“Calculations are made of the extinction rate that should be normal.

“Assessments are made of species populations, which are often confused with actual extinctions….

“According to IUCN red list:

“… over the past 400 years, a little over 800 species have gone extinct, or around 900 with the definition of extinct in the wild….

“Notable critic of mass species extinctions: John Briggs

“Myers and Wilson were challenged by some colleagues, with marine biologist John Briggs being perhaps the most prominent critic. Before he passed away a few years ago, Briggs published over 150 scientific articles and six books.

“In a 2016 article, Briggs made short shrift of not just Myers and Wilson but also Al Gore, Richard Leakey, and Roger Lewin, who had all made estimates of between 17,000 and 100,000 annual extinctions. In the past 50 years, Briggs wrote, “a wave of propaganda” of exaggerated numbers and talk of an impending sixth mass extinction has washed over us “making the public feel guilty.”

“Briggs came to completely different numbers. He was skeptical of the calculations on the “background rate” of extinction that prevailed several million years ago. His own analysis suggested that humans are responsible for 1.5 extinctions per year beyond what can be considered normal. This loss is also likely offset by the concurrent formation of new species, he argued.

“John Briggs also pointed out that the studies done on plants have barely shown any decrease in diversity, which is rarely acknowledged.

“Without evidence of a significant net loss of species, mass extinction is merely speculation without substance,” he wrote. At the same time, it should be noted that he was very concerned about shrinking populations:…

“Ecologist Stuart Pimm

“… the greatest diversity does not and has never existed in the areas humans exploit the most.

“Is climate warming a threat?

“It is actually somewhat backward to say that a warmer climate is solely a threat to biodiversity. Earthly life thrives better in heat than in cold. This is a biological fact. Species richness declines dramatically from the equator towards the poles. Tropical rainforests harbor half of the world’s plant and animal species. Most species can be traced back to the tropics, including Homo sapiens….

“What conclusions can we draw?

“So, what conclusions can we draw from all these facts, estimates, and opinions?

“It is indisputable that the populations of a large number of species have shrunk as humanity has left a greater footprint on the Earth’s surface. However, the rate of decline has begun to slow down. It is documented that around 900 species, of which 350 are vertebrates, have gone extinct in the past 400 years.

“By common definition, it is clear that a sixth mass extinction is not taking place on Earth. With that established, however, a quagmire of trends and data awaits, which can be toned down or emphasized depending on their direction.

“At its core, as in many other cases, it is a matter of disposition. If one is a pessimist and downplays improvements and emphasizes everything that can go wrong, it may seem perfectly reasonable to decide, like Paul Ehrlich, that we are already in a sixth mass extinction.

“If one is an optimist and focuses on trends that have turned or slowed down and trusts that people’s desire to preserve nature is genuine, one can feel confident that a sixth mass extinction will not occur. We will be able to live side by side with all the fantastic biodiversity on this planet, even when our species reaches its expected peak of ten billion.

“In the misanthropic nature conservation debate, it is said that it is now the first time in Earth’s history that a single species, humans, is responsible for a mass extinction of other species. But it is equally true – and increasingly so with heightened awareness – that it is the first time a species actively protects and saves other species.

“The nature conservation efforts of recent decades show that when humans understand that they are destroying and therefore retreat, nature can recover quickly and strongly. North America and Europe are the best examples so far. Today, there are more mammals in Europe than in the past 8,000 years ….

“Warp News and our partner The Progress Network have a different view. We argue that alarms completely dominate media coverage. At the same time, we believe that most people can think for themselves and also hold more than one thought in their head at the same time. A report on the situation that is as objective as possible is likely to inspire confidence and does not affect people’s desire to protect nature at all.

“An international survey conducted in 2019 shows a strong willingness to care for animals and plants, and the extinction of species concerns virtually everyone. This applies to both the affluent part of the world and poorer countries….

“Hypotheses and results: Summary

“So, this is the result of our deep dive:

“(1) Hypothesis: For the past 50 years, species populations are no longer shrinking in wealthy countries. In many cases, they are increasing. Recently, populations have also stopped declining in poor countries.

“Not entirely accurate. Populations stopped shrinking only about a decade ago in most regions, but not all.

“(2) Hypothesis: What is called species extinction is almost entirely about shrinking populations.

“Mostly accurate. Media, environmental agencies, and even some researchers often describe decreased populations in terms of extinction.

“(3) Hypothesis: The extremely large number of species said to go extinct continuously comes from theoretical models of insects and even smaller organisms assumed to disappear.

“Accurate. Since Norman Myers’ book The Sinking Ark from 1979, spectacular assumptions have gained attention, suggesting that tens of thousands, perhaps even more, species go extinct each year. The numbers are impossible to verify.

“(4) Hypothesis: Among larger species, few extinctions in modern times have actually been documented.

“Generally accurate. The words “few” and “modern times” need to be more clearly defined. In a geological sense, even what we see as “few” (less than one percent of all vertebrates in 500 years) is a high rate.

“(5) Hypothesis: Humans were much worse for animals and nature in the past than today.

“Accurate. (However, the hypothesis mainly applies to inhabitants of civilizations, not indigenous people.) In our opinion, this is a key reason why a sixth mass extinction will never become a reality.

“(6) Hypothesis: Many species thrive in urban environments.

“Accurate. There are numerous studies showing that many animals and plants have successfully made cities their habitats.”
Full report at the link above.

The true state of life on Earth (a revised reposting- Evidence that is critical to a new narrative of life) Wendell Krossa

While problems exist everywhere, they are solvable and humanity has done well in caring for and preserving world resources. For detailed research on the true status of world resources see Julian Simon’s ‘Ultimate Resource’, Bjorn Lomborg’s ‘Skeptical Environmentalist’, or ‘Population Bombed’ by Szurmak and Desrochers, among many similar studies. Below are some basic facts on the main resources of our world. They are the main indicators of the true state of life on our planet. They all show that life is not declining toward something worse. There is no looming environmental apocalypse.

Leading indicators for evaluating the true state of life:

(1) World forest cover in the 1950s was 3.8 billion hectares (FAO stats). World forest cover today is 4.1-plus billion hectares, despite the world population tripling from 2.4 billion people in the early 1950s to almost 8 billion today. Deforestation rates continue to decline and reforestation/afforestation projects continue to succeed. We are not destroying the world’s forests.

http://www.fao.org/forestry/fra/52045/en/

and https://www.humanprogress.org/what-do-the-numbers-show-about-global-deforestation/

(2) Proven species extinctions. While any species extinction is unacceptable, we have dramatically improved our care of nature. Species extinctions are on a notably declining trend line and have decreased from about 5 per year in 1870 to about 0.5 per year today (see the IUCN Red List All Extinct Species by Decade on p.101 of Patrick Moore’s new book ‘Fake Invisible Catastrophes And Threats of Doom’). While nature has destroyed over 95% of all species over the span of life on this planet, compassionate humanity is now protecting species as never before.

See also Julian Simon’s chapter on the IUCN report on species loss (in Ultimate Resource and other books) and the discredited assumption/correlation between habitat loss and species extinctions. The wrong assumption was that with habitat loss of 90% some 50% of species would go extinct. Both the Northeastern US and Northeastern Brazil study areas disproved that assumption. The assumption did not understand the resiliency, adaptability, and toughness of life. There is no species holocaust occurring. Nature is not “fragile”.

https://www.warpnews.org/too-bad-to-be-true/investigation-there-is-no-sixth-mass-extinction-going-on/

(3) Climate change (the atmosphere as a main resource): There has been a mild 1 degree Centigrade of warming over the past century and a half. That slightly warmed our still abnormally cold world. We are still in an “ice-age era”. Average surface temperatures today are around 15 degrees Centigrade. That is 5-10 degrees Centigrade below the more optimal average surface temperatures of the past 500 million years. For over 90% of the past 500 million years there was no ice at the poles. That is a more normal and optimal world. And contrary to the falsified climate models, there is no settled evidence of much more warming occurring in the future. There is no “climate crisis” looming.

Also, most of our Holocene inter-glacial, that began around 11,000 years ago, has been warmer than today. The Holocene Climatic Optimum (roughly 10-5,000 years ago) was more than 1 degree C. warmer. The Roman Warm Period (250 BCE to 400 CE) and the Medieval Warm Period (950- 1,250 CE) were also warmer than today. Life overall and human civilization flourished during such warming periods. From about 5,000 years ago our interglacial began a long-term cooling trend (the “Neoglacial” period). Our current Modern Warm period is the coolest of the four warm periods of our interglacial.

We are also still in a “CO2 starvation era” where CO2 has declined to its lowest levels compared to most of past history. 20,000 years ago CO2 levels declined to 185 ppm, barely above the level at which all plant life dies (150 ppm). We have experienced a mild increase in atmospheric CO2 levels to 400-plus ppm today but this is still far below long-term historical averages (multiple-thousands of ppm) when life flourished with much more of its basic plant food.

(4) Ocean fisheries are not collapsing and aquaculture is meeting the growing human demand for fish. See Ray Hilborn reports and FAO summaries on fisheries. The world fisheries are not being decimated, though various species are over-fished and need more protection/better management. Wild fish consumption has peaked over past decades and aquaculture has been growing rapidly to meet the growing demand for fish. https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/01/13/fisheries-management-is-actually-working-global-analysis-shows/

(5) The overall agricultural land-base is not severely degrading. Also, any soil erosion must be understood in net terms, as related to new soil regeneration rates. Further, over the past century and more, we have returned several hundred million acres of agricultural land back to nature as hi-yield GM crops enable farmers to produce more crop on the same or less land. We have probably already passed “peak-agricultural land” use.

Thanks also to increasing levels of basic plant food in the atmosphere (i.e. CO2) there has been a 30% increase in green vegetation across the Earth over the past century. This aerial CO2 also contributes to remarkable increases in crop production (see CO2science.org). Humanity now produces 25% more food than we need. Hydroponics will also meet much of future food demands.
These, and other indicators, show that the overall long-term trajectory of life is improving, not worsening.

A note to our children: Do not fear the future of life on our planet. With continued wealth creation we will continue to solve the remaining world resource problems and life will continue to get ever better than before. Your personal contribution to making life better will add to humanity’s overall success. Do not let false alarmism narratives rob you of hope.
Other indicators of the state of life

These are some of the most important things in life and they tell us where life is heading. This is not to deny that serious problems remain in many areas of life, but to re-assure with hope that people are working to find solutions and our track record affirms that we have done well in solving problems and vastly improving life for most people. The best is yet to come.
Infant mortality rates

In 1800 one third of children (33%) died before reaching 5 years of age. The global rate today is 4.5% and much lower (well below 1%) in most of the more developed countries.

https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-global-overview

Human life span

In the pre-industrial era the average life expectancy was about 30 years. Today the world average is over 70 years and higher in many countries. See sources like Ourworldindata.org.

Human health

Over the past century major diseases have been conquered, others turned into long-term maladies. The current pandemic appears to have been caused by human action against better advice (i.e. continuing gain of function research despite a ban, and substandard lab safety measures). Hopefully, this outbreak will result in more pro-active vaccine research and other preventative measures that will lessen the chance of future similar outbreaks.

Decline in poverty

Poverty has declined rapidly over past decades and much of the world’s population is entering middle-class status. There is no reason this trend will not continue.

Human comfort and well-being

Ongoing technological advances have made human existence much less punishing with breakthroughs in transportation, communication, and general human comfort. Workplace safety has increased significantly. Deaths from natural disasters have declined by 96% over the past century.

Once more- Plant and animal life

With more basic plant food in the atmosphere (CO2) plant life has flourished with a 30% increase in green vegetation on Earth over the past century. Animals have benefitted with more food and humanity has benefitted with increased crop production from aerial fertilization. Also, GM crop breakthroughs have resulted in crop records being broken annually with more breakthroughs to come. We now produce significantly more food than humanity needs. And a warming climate (in an abnormally cold world) will further benefit animal and plant life with extended habitats.

Further, extinctions are at all time lows.

Committed pessimists ignore the many improvements to life and focus obsessively on remaining problems without locating them within the larger overall context of improving life. Alarmist types tend to exaggerate problems out to apocalyptic scale thereby distorting the overall big picture and long-term trajectory of life.

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Shellenberger: The growing threat of Woke totalitarianism

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

See the good post from Bob Brinsmead, below, on the contradiction in both the Old and New Testaments between the priests (pro-sacrifice) and the prophets (anti-sacrifice). Also new below- links to MMA star Chael Sonnen’s interview re his promotion of “bad guy narratives” in the UFC. Also, a personal update note on my experience with aggressive, metastatic prostate cancer over the past 9 months. And more on the inevitable human speculation on metaphysical realities, something done by both religious/spiritual types and materialist/atheist types. We all share that primal impulse to meaning.

Also below, a reposting of Ira Glasser’s comments on the critical need to protect free speech, even offensive/repugnant speech, as fundamental to all freedom. He points to the key issue in the free speech debate- “Who gets to decide what is ‘hate speech’?” So also, this must be put to the “disinformation” crusaders of today- “Who gets to decide what is ‘disinformation/misinformation’?” In the highly tribalized atmosphere of today these categories are being used to validate censorship of the speech of disagreeing, differing others. The disinformation crusade is becoming just another eruption of the totalitarianism impulse, once again. And the stunner- it is mostly coming from the “liberal” side of society, from those we not long ago considered to be the main defenders of inclusion, diversity, freedom and equality for all. What happened?

And, more revised reposting of comment on the Woke social contagion that has tsunamied across Western societies- i.e. minorities claiming that their hurt/offended feelings must be the determining standard for the permissible views, speech, and actions of all others in our societies. And comment on the abandonment of common love in this extremist Woke Progressive crusade.

Read this for your life, for your future…

https://public.substack.com/p/world-on-cusp-of-woke-totalitarianism

From Michael Shellenberger and Alex Gutentag, “World On Cusp Of Woke Totalitarianism As Governments Act To End Freedom Of Speech: Media blackout as politicians in EU, US, UK, Brazil, Ireland, Canada, and Australia seek to jail citizens for wrongthink under cover of a Big Lie about ‘hate speech’”, May 3, 2023

Quotes from link above:

“The Twitter Files gave us a window into how government agencies, civil society, and tech companies work together to censor social media users. Now, key nations are attempting to enshrine this coordination into law explicitly.

“Around the world, politicians have either just passed or are on the cusp of passing sweeping new laws, which would allow governments to censor ordinary citizens on social media and other Internet platforms.

“Under the guise of preventing “harm” and holding large tech companies accountable, several countries are establishing a vast and interlinked censorship apparatus, a new investigation by Public finds.

“Politicians, NGOs, and their enablers in the news media claim that their goal is merely to protect the public from “disinformation.” But vague definitions and loopholes in new laws will create avenues for broad application, overreach, and abuse…. Read the rest of the opening comment here

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Learn more, fear less.

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

Section topics:

Summary facts to counter climate alarmism narratives;

The real enemy of humanity, the real hero’s quest to slay a monster- the monstrous mythology of apocalyptic declinism;

Core themes of lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption mythology (the ideas and impulses);

Patterns in apocalyptic alarmism movements;

Did you really leave your religion? (The endless regurgitation of mythical themes in newer “secular/ideological” versions);

The true state of life on earth- data on main indicators;

And more… Read the rest of the opening comment here

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How we became the good/bad beings that we are today.

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

Section topics:

(1) Comment on “lost paradise/redemption” mythologies;

(2) The transition from animal to human (inherited impulses and validating ideas, what has hindered the full transition to human, what hinders the full liberation from our animal past);

(3) Unconditional as the potent weapon to slay the inherited animal monster;

(4) Climate alarmism is not a scientific narrative;

(5) What lies beneath- the primitive mythology of “apocalyptic millennialism” behind climate alarmism;

(6) Applying the unconditional ideal- its not dogmatic pacifism, it never avoids taking personal responsibility for the consequences of behavior;

(7) Democrats locked in a reality-distorting bubble, the new authoritarianism of Woke racism- US liberalism has become “highly illiberal” by embracing collectivism approaches that deny/ignore individual differences (i.e. viewing people in terms of groups, and condemning entire groups by skin color, and ignoring individual uniqueness and differences);

And more climate news, along with other comment…

Offering better alternatives to shape meta-narratives

This site does not ‘tear down’ without also offering something to build up- i.e. better alternatives to replace the worst stuff that we have inherited from our ancestors. In sections below, I have listed better alternative ideas to the worst pathologies/myths that we have inherited.

Note especially “Explaining reality and life: The worst and best ideas that we have come up with” (i.e. “Inherited bad myths and better alternatives”). This points to the greatest liberation movement ever- the liberation of human consciousness/subconscious at the deepest levels of thought, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior, at the level of embedded archetypes (archetypes as our fundamental impulses and the related ideas/myths that validate the impulses).

The “true state of life on Earth”…

When all is said and done- hope is re-affirmed by the best evidence on the true state of life. Life on Earth is not heading to hell in a handbasket. Contrary to the apocalyptic Declinism mythology that dominates most narratives and many minds today, life is not declining toward something worse. Fundamental human goodness and creativity has lifted humanity out of a dark place and set us on a trajectory of improvement and progress toward a much better future, notably over the past few centuries.

But the threats are everywhere and must be guarded against and responded to. Note one of the greatest threats to human progress today as outlined in this good report on the “disinformation” crusade that is undermining our freedom and liberal democracies- “A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century: Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation” by Jacob Siegel…

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation

Read the rest of the opening comment here

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The narrative of human exodus from animal existence to become human

Posted on March 24, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

The very best climate science reports and news:

https://co2coalition.org/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/

https://www.netzerowatch.com/

http://co2science.org/

An affirmation of unconditional

An underlying assumption in my arguments for unconditional is that unconditional is “self-validating” as good, right, and therefore true. And if basic theodicy is right to assume that ultimate reality/deity is fundamentally good in some way (i.e. God is love) then there is no higher understanding or definition of good, right, truth, or love than unconditional. We all know this at an intuitive and daily-experience level- i.e. that unconditional is the best of being human, the best way to relate to failing others. We know this from our personal experience in relationships with spouses, children, family, friends, neighbors, others, etc. Unconditional is also how we would like to be treated in terms of our own imperfections and failures.

(Theodicy- The affirmation of deity as fundamentally good.)

The assumption of “self-validating” means that unconditional does not need outside validation from some other authority- whether from a religious tradition, holy book, philosophical argument, ethics “experts”, or other sources of authority. Its ultimate validation comes from the intuitive common sense of ordinary folks like ourselves.

Historical examples of the potential effectiveness of unconditional in human ethics: Note Nelson Mandela and his approach of forgiving, loving opponents and his arguments that the unconditional treatment of enemies “brings out the best in others” (not all, but most) and “turns enemies into friends” (not all, but most). And a balancing note re Mandela: Offenders were held responsible/accountable for their crimes by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Mandela did not embrace unconditional as some form of dogmatic pacifism in the face of evil (i.e. “turn the other cheek” and just ignore or dismiss offenses).

The evidence that an unconditional approach toward enemies also works at a societal level- Remember the strikingly different outcomes in the early 1990s between Mandela’s unconditional-like approach to enemies in South Africa (avoiding civil war and mass-death as noted by Richard Stengel in “Mandela’s Way”), compared to the retaliatory approaches toward “enemies” in Rwanda (1994) and Bosnia (1992-95) around the same time.

Unconditional works in very practical ways to break retaliatory cycles and thereby defuse potentially harmful situations. It is potently successful at personal and societal levels. It is simply the highest and best that we have discovered for taking humanity to the heights of humane thought, feeling, motivation/intention, and response/behavior. But it takes the unique courage of a Mandela (“towering in stature as maturely human”) to initiate an unconditional response in situations where the primal and instinctual felt urge when offended in some manner is to strike back in like manner (eye for eye, tit for tat, hurt for hurt, humiliation for humiliation, getting even, getting “justice”, etc.). Read the rest of the opening comment here

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Explaining reality and life- the worst and best ideas that we have come up with

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

The very best climate science reports and news:

https://co2coalition.org/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/

https://www.netzerowatch.com/

http://co2science.org/

Mental pathology and wellness, and the influence of both on human personality, to both good and bad outcomes.

“I think and therefore I am”.

“There are no really bad people, just bad ideas that make people do bad things”, comment of a friend.

“We become just like the God that we believe in”, Bob Brinsmead.

Project: Much like Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the Wittenberg castle church door in 1517, so I am nailing my theses to this door of the Internet. But unlike Luther just protesting the way that the indulgences were sold, but not protesting the very sale of indulgences, I am going more directly to core issues of fundamental belief. Much like my friend Bob Brinsmead’s direct presentation of the central anti-sacrifice message of Historical Jesus and exposing how Paul buried that liberating message in his contrary gospel of the Christ that presents Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. When Bob posts his good research on his site, I will link to that. It is mind-blowing. That the stunning new theology of Jesus (an unconditional God who does not demand sacrifice for forgiveness)- that central Jesus message has been buried for two millennia under the entirely contrary message of Christianity- i.e. the claim that the supreme sacrifice of Christ was necessary for the forgiveness of sin.

Below are the some of the more prominent myths that have dominated human consciousness beginning with the earliest human belief systems, and down into our modern world. These myths still dominate religious traditions today and have even been embraced in “secular/ideological” versions. Note, for example, the “apocalyptic millennialism” or “lost paradise/redemption” themes regularly expressed by the climate alarmism cult. Even many in “science” embrace such myths. I recently noted again how Stephen Hawking fell for apocalyptic mythology in the final two years of his life, making his own prophesies of the “end-of-days”, even setting dates.

The ideas below have profoundly influenced human outlook, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior, often for the worse- i.e. inciting our worst animal impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction (see psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo’s comments at bottom).

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The human struggle with imperfection leads to bad mythology

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

Section topics:

Our ancestor’s struggle with imperfection led to the creation of bad mythology that still dominates human consciousness today;

Paul MacRae’s excellent article on the lost paradise of the much warmer paleoclimate era (3-6 degrees C warmer than today and life flourished);

Earth has been breaking records for the coolest years over long-term history;

Pres. Biden religiously predicting the “end-of-days” (“Mother Nature is revealing her wrath… a whole generation is damned”);

Patterns: The destructive outcomes of alarmism crusades;

Core themes of lost paradise/redemption mythologies;

Impulses and Ideas that dominate human consciousness and life;

Climate facts and more…

How did we get to where we are today? Wendell Krossa

The early human inability to understand/accept imperfection: That misunderstanding worked itself out in bad mythology, mythology that still widely shapes human thought, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior today:

Ancient logic (primitively mythical, irrational) found expression in the following myths, rooted in some distorting baseline assumptions.

It began with the belief in a deity that was obsessed with perfection and hence intent on punishing imperfection. An entire complex of related myths emerged from this baseline theology of a God that was angered by early humans ruining the original perfect world that they claimed he had created. The ancients reasoned that the upset deity then introduced illness and death as punishment for the “sinful” people who had ruined his original paradise world. Examples of this thinking- Enki made ill in the Sumerian “City of Dilmun” myth, and Adam/Eve cursed with suffering and death in the Hebrew “Eden” myth. Read the rest of the opening comment here

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The primitive mythical ideas that continue to shape human consciousness, emotions, motivations, and behavior

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Wendell Krossa

A central project on this site- Exposing the persistent embrace of primitive mythological themes to shape contemporary “secular/ideological” systems of belief, such as the climate alarmism narrative. And offer better alternatives for a new narrative.

New articles further below: This site will continue to tackle history’s most distorting and destructive belief systems- the pathological themes of the “apocalyptic millennial” or “lost paradise/redemption” narratives… Apocalyptic millennial ideas distort entirely the true state of the world, the actual long-term trajectory of life.

“True Woke: Tim Robbins had a real awakening (Russel Brand interview)“, see bottom of this opening section- (Woke recovery plan: Awakening to and affirming the fundamental principles of Classic Liberalism, or awakening to and affirming fundamental human love);

“The tribal impulse behind racism“;

“Affirming unconditional as the core of all reality“;

Good one on irresponsible panic-mongering- “With the ‘expert’ COVID view blown up, green terror must be next”, by New York Post Editorial Board;

Physicists Richard Lindzen, William Happer challenge Net Zero- “Challenging Net Zero with Science: Lindzen-Happer-CO2 Coalition Paper“;

Ira Glasser (former ACLU director) on Joe Rogan podcast: Defend free speech for all. The issue, says Glasser, is- “Who gets to decide what is ‘hate speech'”;

“I feel uncomfortable… threatened“- the new ‘authoritative’ standard to control the speech and behavior of all others;

“Hold a fundamental belief” (Something to center our spirits during the worst that life throws at us);

“The essential offensiveness of Historical Jesus:” Historical Jesus- A person entirely opposite to “Christian ‘Jesus Christ'”. Historical Jesus overturned traditional retaliatory, punitive justice that was affirmed by Paul’s Christ myth. But a qualifier, the breakthrough insight of Historical Jesus on theology- “a stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God”- is not an advocacy for pacifism in an imperfect world. The importance of understanding the breakthrough central insight of Historical Jesus lies in the fact that this person who overturned entirely the very core of all conditional religion was then turned into the ultimate icon of highly conditional religion.

Further, Jesus’ anti-sacrifice protest at the Temple in Jerusalem, that was the immediate cause of his death, that protest against sacrifice was rejected by Paul who then turned him into the ultimate cosmic sacrifice (i.e. the sacrifice of the godman Christ for the sins of all humanity).

The comments above continue the project of this site to go to the root of alarmism narratives/crusades, whether religious or secular- to go after the deeply rooted themes/archetypes that fuel destructive alarmism crusades. Read the rest of the opening comment here

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The Unconditional Human Spirit

Our real enemy: The bad ideas that continue to dominate our narratives and incite/validate the worst of our inherited impulses

Probe the root of the problem of alarmism crusades- bad ideas inciting/validating bad behavior

Paul’s apocalyptic Christ myth- embodying themes that shape alarmism crusades

The totalitarian’s useful tool- fear, alarmism

Site project: Counter alarmism hysteria with evidence-based hope…

Shellenberger: The growing threat of Woke totalitarianism

Learn more, fear less.

How we became the good/bad beings that we are today.

The narrative of human exodus from animal existence to become human

Explaining reality and life- the worst and best ideas that we have come up with

The human struggle with imperfection leads to bad mythology

The primitive mythical ideas that continue to shape human consciousness, emotions, motivations, and behavior

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