See the comment below in this opening section on reviving Magna Carta principles to counter the excessive criminalizing and lawmaking trends of today (countering “moralizing busybodies”).
Note: To doubters of the fact that the most primitive of ancient mythical themes still dominate human narratives/worldviews today. I have posted below a brief list of these primitive themes for readers on the run who prefer quickie summaries. Others would say these themes are about “archetypes” of the subconscious. OK, but let me deal with this in a more street-level manner befitting my “independent commoner” status.
Paul embedded these pathological themes listed below in his Christ myth giving them respected status as ultimate religious or metaphysical/spiritual truth, thereby perpetuating the worst of mental pathology in human narratives and consciousness, especially for those of us in Western civilization.
Historical Jesus had previously severed the long historical tradition of mental/emotional enslavement to these personality-deforming themes by presenting a stunning new alternative- i.e. a non-retaliatory, unconditional God that should have become the cohering center of a new complex of supporting ideas, an entirely new narrative. His breakthrough insights could have sparked the greatest liberation movement in history if early Christians had understood him and embraced his core message. Then we would have gotten true “Jesus-ianity”, instead of the opposite- “Christ-ianity”.
It would have been profound liberation of mind and spirit from threat theology that deforms human personality with fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, despair, depression, nihilism, and violence.
Here again is a summary of the basic themes- the baddies, framed in terms of contemporary “secular/ideological” versions like environmental alarmism:
(1) There was a better past (i.e. the wilderness world before humanity and human civilization).
(2) Essentially “corrupt, greedy” people (“virus, cancer on the planet”) are consuming too much of Earth’s resources and are ruining the originally paradise world (this expresses an essential anti-humanism, hatred of humanity).
(3) Life is now declining toward a worsening state, even toward an apocalyptic ending.
(4) Humanity must make a sacrifice/payment and endure punishment for human sin- i.e. such as give up the good life in modern society and return to the “morally superior low consumption lifestyle”. Meaning- Embrace a retreat to primitivism framed as “de-growth, de-development”.
(5) Humanity must also purge life of some great “evil” threat (CO2 has been lasered in on as the chief marker of human sin today- i.e. human greed in using too much of Earth’s resources like energy. Try to comprehend the insane irrationality of demonizing the basic food of all carbon-based life as a “pollutant/poison”. Yes, Bill Maher, who did not attend Grade 1 science class, called CO2 a “poisonous gas”.).
(6) Only after embracing and fulfilling this salvation scheme can we then restore the lost paradise or achieve some new utopia (i.e. as in the Marxist restoration of original communalism with people re-engineered to become once again “Noble savage collectivist humans” liberated from the great evil of private property, “owning nothing and happy eating bugs”).
Added note on feature 3 above: “Life declining toward a worsening state” is the central feature of the primitive psychopathology of apocalyptic- “the most violent and destructive idea in history” (Arthur Mendel).
Historian Arthur Herman (“The Idea of Decline in Western History”) rightly states that the idea of “decline” is the most dominant and influential theme in today’s world. “Ten Global Trends” (Tupy and Bailey) affirms this dominance with world survey data.
Declinism dominates public consciousness worldwide despite the best evidence that reveals life is improving over the long-term and today we are living in “the best time ever to be alive on Earth” (Humanprogress.org, and of course- Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource”). Most notably, the life-distorting myth of declinism dominates the “profoundly religious” climate alarmism crusade.
Other historians have detailed the evidence that the primitive themes outlined above shaped and fueled Marxism, Nazism, and are now shaping environmental alarmism and driving its “salvation” scheme of Net Zero decarbonization. The salvation schemes (“save the world”) of apocalyptic movements have consistently “destroyed the world to save the world”.
Conclusion: We are not as advanced, or “secular/ideological”, as we like to imagine ourselves. Many of us would find ourselves clapping and cheering if we teleported back some 5000 years ago into a Sumerian temple where the priests droned on about Enlil, the waterworks god, who threatened to send a Great Flood to punish “too many people” (early “overpopulation bomb” nonsense) making “too much noise” (enjoying the good life too much). Too many of us still embrace those most primitive myths of an ancient past, even many with PhDs.
My list of Alternative themes to frame/shape/construct a more humane narrative:
http://www.wendellkrossa.com/?p=12043#more-12043
Topics below:
(1) Revive Magna Carta- The origins and main principles of Classic Liberalism that grant us the freedom and equality that we value today.
(2) The process of leaving my religion- example of death and rebirth in human story.
(3) The transformation of narratives, consciousness, and life at the “archetypal” level.
(4) James Tabor on the still dominant influence of Paul and his apocalyptic Christ myth on our lives and societies today. (Insert: And you wonder why apocalyptic continues to dominate Hollywood story-telling, media narratives of “climate apocalypse”, and resonating with the general population? Well, when Paul embedded that primitive mythical theme in his Christ myth, he gave apocalyptic supreme, unquestionable status “protected under the canopy of the sacred” in the most influential icon in Western consciousness and narratives, for two millennia. Not just influential in religious consciousness but also in “secular/ideological” consciousness, even in “scientific” consciousness.)
(5) The God obsessed with perfection- The baseline myth of “ruined original paradise” that sets the stage for all the rest of the complex of bad religious ideas- “lost paradise, corrupt humanity, life declining toward apocalypse, demanded salvation as sacrifice and purging, promise of restored paradise”.
(6) Goodies from Michael Shellenberger. And more…
A fundamental transformation of consciousness, Wendell Krossa
As we look around our world today at the intense tribalism, the hatred of differing others/enemies, the apocalyptic alarmism in climate crisis claims that we are facing the end of life, the end of the world, I would argue that we have to understand the narrative themes that people hold, the ideas they embrace that validate these pathologies. We do well to comprehend what ideas are validating this destructive hatred of others as enemies to be eliminated, what beliefs are feeding the hysteria that the world will soon end, beliefs that incite the withdrawal of groups into tribalism where they then blame their enemies for the looming existential crisis and argue for the need to purge those enemies as threats.
Where do these themes come from that validate all this hysteria and hatred? Many of these themes have ancient roots and across millennia have become embedded as archetypal in human narratives and consciousness, even in human subconscious from where they continue resonating with populations, thereby leading many people to intuitively affirm contemporary apocalyptic narratives as right and true.
See the summary list just above of the main ideas that have prominently structured human narratives across history and across the cultures of the world:
We first see these ideas/myths written in ancient mythology of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Egyptians, among other primitive traditions. Most critical for our Western tradition, these primitive mythical themes were embodied in Paul’s Christ in an effort to grant them status as supreme and universal truths.
Most essentially, Paul’s Christ myth was created as a repudiation of the message of Historical Jesus who had previously rejected all such primitive mythical ideas. Unfortunately, Paul’s Christ-ianity won the early battles over truth/heresy and become the dominant narrative shaping the consciousness of the West. Paul rejected Jesus’ Jewish movement as heretical and deserving God’s destruction (Gal. 1:8,9- “all who refuse my Christ myth are ‘accursed'”, and Thessalonians- “all who refuse to believe my Christ myth will be punished in fire”, among other similar threats of divine destruction). We inherited Paul’s religion and it has been most influential in shaping our Western narratives, consciousness and civilization (see James Tabor quotes below), shaping our ethics, laws, and justice systems.
The human creation of themes/myths to shape narratives arises from something that people have always done intuitively. From the beginning people have based their behavior on similar beliefs, particularly on similar theological beliefs, embracing views of God as the highest ideal to follow, the ultimate ideal to validate their lives, much like children wanting to be like Daddy and do the right thing. As Matthew and Luke noted- “Do this and be like God”. This all arises from our primary impulse for meaning and purpose that appeals to the highest ideal and authority. And yes, this involves speculation on the metaphysical, just as materialists do with their speculation on multiverse theories to affirm random meaninglessness as the ultimate ideal.
Where the ancients erred was in projecting their worst features onto their early gods, creating prototypical deities that have changed little across history. Gods as tribal deities, lords, kings, rulers with humans created to serve the gods who then validated human relationships of domination/submission. Gods were also ultimate judges who would restore unbalanced cosmic justice with ultimate reckoning, finally purging all evil with severely punitive justice, and rewarding good.
So, if want to solve problems like tribalism, hatred of differing others, and alarmism then understand these deepest roots of such problems and how they influence us because they still dominate narratives today, both religious and secular.
Religious reformism is too often tinkering at the periphery and does not tackle core beliefs, like the basic features of God, and thereby does not solve the problem for the long-term future. Hence, pathologies like tribalism and apocalyptic alarmism keep erupting as in the current climate apocalyptic crusade. Just as the military guy said about ISIS years ago- you can crush such eruptions with force but they will keep erupting because you are not dealing with ideas that validate and fuel them.
Richard Landes stated the same in his conclusion re Nazism and Hitler. It is a serious mistake to dismiss Hitler as just another madman. You can crush the Nazis militarily but if don’t understand what really fueled that madness, particularly how apocalyptic millennial ideas can carry a society of “good Christian people” toward mass death, then you have not learned the most important thing and that madness will only repeat again and again.
And I would add that it was more than just apocalyptic millennialism that fueled Nazism. It was the full complex of the above themes that influenced these varied death cults, whether religious as in ISIS, or in the apparently “secular ideological” versions like Nazism. If you don’t get a mind-grip on the dangerous religious themes behind such crusades then you will just see repeated eruptions of such movements in varied versions because you have not dealt with the basic themes that validate these “profoundly religious” crusades of destruction.
And that is just what we are seeing again today. Resurging Marxism/collectivism, ongoing fringe Nazism (i.e. at the core of the Ukrainian army), and resurging apocalypticism in climate alarmism and its endless prophecies of the end of days accompanied by the mass destruction outcome of Net Zero decarbonization madness presented as the salvation scheme (to “save the world”). Add here the millennial hope element that deludes populations with the promise that the destructive salvation scheme will restore a lost paradise.
The continued embrace of these themes in our narratives does not solve the major problems of our era but only continues to fuel new eruptions of the same old “madness of crowds”.
To solve the problems of tribalism, apocalyptic alarmism, etc., thoroughly and for the long-term, it would be helpful to consider a critical contributing factor in the mix. Go after the Christ that has been the dominant influence validating apocalyptic millennialism in Western consciousness for two millennia, in both religious and secular versions of alarmism movements.
And understand the profound contrast between Paul’s apocalyptic Christ and Historical Jesus who rejected all that primitive nonsense and offered an entirely new narrative with a stunning new theology of a nonretaliatory, unconditional God. He pointed us toward a better direction for the future. He offered us liberation from the old deity that had long validated tribalism, exclusionary hatred (true believers vs unbelievers), domination and destruction of differing others, pathological features projected onto the highest human ideal that then functions to incite our worst impulses to similar tribalism, domination, and destruction of differing others.
Know the striking contrast between these two icons, and their entirely opposite messages, that function as ultimate ideals to shape our narratives, consciousness, and lives.
Added note re the Nazi madness:
Note, for example, that Hitler first presented himself to the German Christian public as the forerunner to the Messiah, then as the Messiah, and then finally as the violent Christ of Revelation. His appeal to basic Christian themes resonated with German Christians. German Evangelicals were among his main supporters.
Related trends to note over past decades (understanding our world today)- Wendell Krossa
(1) Criminalizing more and more things minor things that were previously tolerated and left to individual evaluation and choice.
(2) ”Concept creep” where more and more things are included as “hate speech”.
(3) The drive in some (moralizing, interfering busybodies) to make laws to cover all areas of life, down to small details. Daniel Hannan, in his excellent history of Classic Liberalism- “Inventing Freedom”, noted that Liberal Europeans were on the constant prowl to find areas of life not yet covered by some law and then to create a law to govern those areas. Meddlers all. This, said Hannan, is contrary to the English who when finding some area of life not covered by law prefer to leave it to citizens to decide what to do in such areas.
(4) People in general have become more risk averse. Now that humanity has solved many of the big problems of life and alleviated our fears of those things (i.e. major diseases, protection from major natural disasters, etc.) now people are becoming more afraid of microscopic, invisible things, tiny things.
The push for more laws/regulations and more criminalization in all areas of life is often promoted with the defensive claim to be protecting someone or something. But it is over-protection to the point of too much intervention to control everything.
The excessive criminalization and endless manufacture of increasing laws/regulations is to prevent a tiny minority that abuse something (i.e. alcohol prohibition, drug criminalization) and that excessive control then robs majorities of freedom in some area where most behave moderately and responsibly.
(Added note: In “Chasing the Scream: The first and last days of the war on drugs”, Johann Hari notes that only some 10% of drug users become addicts and most do not. The 10% are struggling to deal with trauma and need restorative help, not criminalization. Further, prohibitions do not work and only increase violence as people involved in prohibited things do not have access to courts to settle disputes, but, as a Boston University professor argued, have to settle disputes among themselves.)
Here is 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 through the manufacture of endless laws, rules, regulations that overrule the freedom and self-determination of 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”.
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 other and will use the coercion of centralized state bureaucracies to control others.
More on “related trends to note”– as in excessive lawmaking, criminalizing more and more things, the “social contagion” fad of today to criminalize opponent’s past mistakes, differing opinions and speech, and policies, among other things.
It has never been more critical to revive the spirit and letter of Magna Carta insights where all, both elites and commoners, are to be treated equally under common law. Meaning particularly in relation to the above trends, all are to be equally protected from unlawful accusation, from seizure of property (e.g. demonetization on social media) and arrest, from destruction of reputation and livelihood, and from unwarranted imprisonment, etc. Under Classic Liberal common law, all are to be given full due process before peers.
This stuff is critical (in relation to the above comment on excessive lawfare) in our crazy world where tribal hatred has been unleashed, along with a perverse lust to harshly judge and condemn differing others, to demonize, dehumanize, and mercilessly criminalize differing others (i.e. using today’s go-to common smears of “Nazi, racist, fascist, hate speech proponent, threat to democracy, domestic terrorist, liar, etc.”) and then to destroy opponents via censoring, demonetizing on public media, silencing, banning, full-frontal cancelling, and criminalization, thereby ruining careers and lives.
We saw this in the veering of Me Too toward extremism with public charges made without due process, that even notable public women pushed back against and took flack for repudiating- e.g. Margaret Atwood, Sharon Stone, etc.
This from “The Contents of Magna Carta”
“Magna Carta… set out what the king could and could not do. In other words, Magna Carta set out the laws which the king and everyone else had to follow for the first time….
“The Clauses of Magna Carta…
“No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or ruined in any way, nor in any way proceeded against, except by the lawful judgement of his peers and the law of the land.”
Also on Magna Carta…
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Magna-Carta
Magna Carta, charter of English liberties… declaring the sovereign to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by “free men,” the Magna Carta provided the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American jurisprudence.
And further… “What does the Magna Carta mean?”
https://ipamagnacarta.org.au/what-does-magna-carta-mean/
“There are three important things that the tradition of the Magna Carta has given us: the rule of law; due process; and taxation.
“The rule of law
“The ‘rule of law’ is the idea that the law is sovereign and applies to everyone equally. This includes even the most powerful figure in the state—whether that should be the King, Queen, Prime Minister, President, other lawmakers, or the government as a whole…. Law is not merely a reflection of the ruling government’s arbitrary will at the time.
“In England, the Magna Carta cemented the idea that the King should not be allowed to do whatever he pleases—that there should be some limits to his powers.
“Due process
“‘Due process’ is the idea that the state should treat everyone fairly and respect their legal rights. This means that everyone has the right to a fair trial and that nobody should be subjected to an arbitrary judgement….
“In a mid-fourteenth century edict, it was expanded from applying just to any ‘free man’ to any man at all. In the seventeenth century, it also inspired the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act, and the Bill of Rights, which gave further protections against arbitrary court judgments.
“Fair taxation…
“In fact, the Magna Carta was all about tax.
The document’s most enduring legacy is the rule that the King needs to consult his subjects before he can tax them….
“The idea is simple: that a ruler should not demand taxes without the consent of the ruled… It was inspiration behind the motto ‘no taxation without representation’—a slogan which was used both by American revolutionaries in the eighteenth century and by the suffragettes in the early twentieth. This idea was a key factor behind the extension of the vote to the general population and the development of our democracy.”
On the freedom front
“David Inserra: The Global Rise in Censorship: David Inserra, a fellow for free expression and technology at the Cato Institute, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss recent attacks on free speech and how censorship can threaten progress”, Humanprogress.org, Episode 51, July 2024
https://humanprogress.org/david-inserra-the-global-rise-in-censorship/
Quotes from this link…
“Chelsea Follett: Cultural support for freedom of speech in many democratic countries is declining right now….
“David Inserra: Judge Learned Hand says that if freedom of expression dies in essentially the heart of a man, no law can revive it. Similarly, George Orwell talks about how if free speech is not supported by the general population, then we won’t have freedom of expression….
“We see, unfortunately, a start of this sort of decline in the way our populations are thinking about free expression. They think of it as increasingly harmful. They especially think about things like hate speech or misinformation… you get these calls like hate speech isn’t free speech or the belief that the government should step in to actually counter misinformation. I believe somewhere around a majority of Americans now think that the government should do something about misinformation just to stop it. And that’s like, no, like misinformation can be harmful. It can be bad, but it can also, first of all, it’s not always misinformation. Sometimes it’s actually the truth that we just haven’t figured out yet, but that’s what the purpose of free expression is supposed to protect us from the government stepping in to decide what is true, what is false and to criminalize false or harmful beliefs or bad tendencies that people may have. That’s the whole purpose of the first amendment….
“Chelsea Follett: Historically, freedom of speech and greater access to free expression has caused people in high positions of power. People in government, especially to panic….
“David Inserra: These elites respond by freaking out…. Their power is being challenged, their control over authority and information is being challenged…. There’s always a challenge. There’s always like a, the elites in society are always then saying that this new technology that is increasing access to communication, increasing access to the way people view and think about the world, these are harmful, bad things….
“David Inserra: In academia… the next generation, the people who we’re teaching to, who are stepping into the workplace and to society are being taught and increasingly agreeing with this sort of these ideas that believe in some sort of repressive tolerance….
“Greg Lukianoff talks about in the book, and I think we’ve sort of seen increasingly in my eyes even we’ve seen play out, is that this idea that there are bad ideas that need to be stopped. And we, and by we, I mean those enlightened experts who understand what is good and bad, they believe that it is somehow incumbent upon them to stop that harmful speech, in order to bring about the good that they believe, that they believe should be brought about.
“And you see this now as being sort of the, I think, a largely prevailing sort of belief in academia. And I said increasingly, what is taught to students and what students are coming out of college with thus… believing things that are antithetical to the First Amendment because they bought into this pessimistic narrative that there’s these powerful bad people who are using expression to abuse us in the minority, us in the, who are this true enlightened, good people. And this, it is a pure sort of power grab is what it is. It’s, oh, you just are saying our side deserves to set the rules for what speech is and isn’t allowed. And I think that’s for what it’s worth that school largely started on the left….
“You’re seeing the increased pressure, increased growth of government activity that is gnawing away at free expression….
“So that pessimism, while it may have started as in sort of an academic fringe theory, I think has really worked its way into a culture that is largely not capable of tolerating views that are not their own, canceling other people and has grown into, morphed into governments seeing maybe we have some room here to expand our reach and ability to restrict expression, in a way that, like I said, is harmful and is, I said, that is clearly important enough for the Supreme Court to take up….
“David Inserra: I think I will make a couple points. The first is that for people who believe that we need to restrict speech, I would immediately warn you about, the power to restrict and control speech will almost always end up in someone else’s control…. (But) if you give people more expression, they usually don’t have to resort toward more extreme actions and violence. If they are given a peaceful way to express themselves.”
A preface qualifier to the “Leaving my religion” thing below. As I go after Paul’s Christ myth, in the Evangelical version of that, I want to make clear that I appreciate so much the many good people that I met and befriended in that religion, a loving, caring, generous, and diverse group of people and a lot of fun. Still good friends with many of my former colleagues there and keep in touch. And so many good insights and lessons from those folks. Thank you all.
If it works for you, go for it.
But we all have a responsibility when we see something not fully human or humane and can offer suggestions on how to improve it, to do so. Just sayin. And after all, for those who claim to be followers/believers of Jesus, shouldn’t we all be concerned to properly honor the man and his actual message, according to the best research on him? (i.e. “Search for Historical Jesus”, “Jesus Seminar”, “Q Wisdom Sayings” gospel research, etc.)
As the police supervisor said to his new recruits in the Netflix movie “Will”, “You will stand by silently and observe”. Insinuating- Or will you?
Comments here on religion are never intended to offend. But I understand how we fix our identity on our beliefs and become intensely emotionally attached to them. I understand that when beliefs are then challenged that evokes a survival response in some people (my take from Louis Zurcher’s “The Mutable Self”).
Leaving my religion- Engaging the death/rebirth process as related to a religion, Wendell Krossa
I have left religion as thoroughly and completely as humanly possible. I did this through a decades-long process of death and rebirth (i.e. dying to something old, an old narrative, and rebirth to something new, a new more humane narrative to inspire new ways of thinking, feeling, and living).
My interest in what lies beneath or behind religious traditions and beliefs, stems from my brief sojourn in Evangelical Christianity during my youth. Following that detour, I was curious to know more about the actual nature of the main themes of that religion and where did they come from. They obviously were not “from God” according to the Christian claim to “divine inspiration” for the entire Bible. The undeniable inhumanity in many Bible stories and much bible teaching is no longer tolerable to modern ethical sensitivities in light of contemporary insights on humane reality. Examples: Stories of an Old Testament God ordering Hebrews to engage mass-rape of captured women, the genocide of entire groups of Hebrew “enemies”, and a New Testament God promising to cast all unbelievers into eternal hell.
Further, the events in the Bible that are considered critical and unique to Hebrew and Christian history had precursors all through the primitive mythology that predated Christianity by millennia. The Bible simply replicated previous mythological events with its own version of stories of the “Fall of man”, loss of original paradise (Sumerian Dilmun predated Eden), a great Flood (Sumerian Flood predates Genesis flood), threat of apocalypse (Sumerian Flood), demand for sacrifice/payment, myths of virgins impregnated by gods, dying and rising gods (Egyptian tale of Isis/Osiris predates the Christ version of same), and on and on.
I wanted to understand as fully as possible what religion was about in general. So I went to the furthest origins of historical religion as explored, for example, in John Pfeiffer’s “The Creative Explosion: An Inquiry into the Origins of Art and Religion”.
I then probed the subsequent history of mythology and religion across the millennia, via the research of historians of mythology like Joseph Campbell (Masks of God), Mircea Eliade (History of Religious Ideas), Harold Ellens (The Destructive Power of Religion), as well as the many single volume studies on diverse religious traditions across the world and across history.
I saw that, yes Joseph Campbell, people have believed the same primitive myths/themes all across history and across all the cultures of the world. Myths of an original paradise, a “fall of man” (original sinfulness) and loss of paradise. Myths of the subsequent decline of life toward something worse. Myths of a great flood. Religious demands for sacrifice/payment/punishment. Myths of looming apocalypse and demands to purge evil from the world. Then the religious promises of salvation in the restoration of the lost paradise or the installation of utopia- i.e. a millennial kingdom.
These stories have traceable origins to the earliest human writing and subsequent lines of descent down through history from religion to religion. See, for example, prehistorians John Pfeiffer and Jacquetta Hawkes noting that what we find in the earliest writing we may assume to represent what was believed in the prehistory era.
I found the same basic complex of mythical themes in the major religious traditions or our contemporary world and even embraced in varied “secular” versions of the modern era- i.e. in the “profoundly religious movements” of Marxism, Nazism, and environmental alarmism.
I also tried to sort through the good and the bad in all traditions, noting that the mixing and merging of contradicting ideas/themes does not work because the bad in the mix distorts, deforms, and buries the good, eviscerating the meaning and potency of good ideas or ideals. Consequently, love in many religious traditions is tribally limited love, favoring fellow true believers but excluding and damning to hell the infidels and unbelievers to a religion. That is not authentic love that should be universal, non-discriminatory, inclusive, unconditional.
Hence, I have emphasized the need to distinguish the actual nature of the good in the mix, to recover the authentic nature of the better ideas and ideals. As Bob Brinsmead says, “If love is not unconditional then it is not true love”.
Mixing and merging of good features with primitive pathologies as in religious traditions only results in cognitive dissonance among adherents to such traditions. Example: Trying to hold onto the ideal of love that is defined by a larger context that focuses true believer love more specially on fellow true believers, not so much on the infidels/unbelievers who are eventually damned to eternal exclusion and torture. You end up with basically tribal love that is not authentically universal, inclusive, unconditional. Not authentic love.
And I have repeatedly offered the iconic example here of the profound difference between the truly humane and the inhumane as illustrated in the contradiction between Historical Jesus and the Christ of Paul. Jesus advocated for a new theology and ideal of non-retaliatory, unconditional love while Paul re-established retaliatory deity and highly conditional love in his Christ (i.e. the divine demand for severe punishment by torturous death- bloody crucifixion- to pay for all sin). Jesus and Paul’s Christ illustrate the completely opposite theologies (as ultimate ideals) in the messages of those two icons of religion, opposite messages that embody the main themes that help differentiate between the general categories of good and bad today, human and inhuman.
In looking at the history of mythology/religion (the history of how humans have thought) I also discovered what went wrong with the first gods- i.e. that early people projected their worst features onto their gods. They projected their inherited animal impulses (i.e. tribalism, alpha domination, destruction of competing others) onto their deities and that “evil triad” has prominently shaped deity theories ever since with little challenge or reformation. It was all they knew at that time. The prominent features of a brutal life that was necessary to survive.
There have been repeated attempts across history at religious reformism but often it has only been peripheral tinkering around edges due to fear of religious authority and threat- i.e. being smeared as “heretical”, with threats of exclusion from the ingroup of saved “true believers” and consequent hell fire. Most reformers, under threat of exclusion from an ingroup or even worse, are scared back into line with the dogma or orthodoxy of their ingroup.
Also critically, I have looked at the influence of bad religious ideas on human personality and society- how bad religious ideas deform human personality (i.e. as done so well by Zenon Lotufo in “Cruel God, Kind God”). This stems from my own experience of the deforming power of bad religious ideas. Deforming human personality with fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, despair/depression, nihilism, and even violence.
I have spent subsequent decades probing the impacts of bad religious ideas in order to understand more why bad religious ideas have remained dominant in modern religious traditions despite a proven history of damaging outcomes/impacts. Further, the very same ideas had also been embraced by so-called “secular ideologies” where they have also caused immense damage.
And I have focused especially on how the great lie of apocalyptic retaliation alarms people, inciting their survival impulse and rendering them susceptible to irrational and destructive salvation schemes as in Marxism, Nazism, and now environmental alarmism with its damaging Net Zero decarbonization. The outcomes of this deeply embedded religious influence have been mass-death and mass-harm movements at horrific scale.
I have tried to understand and elaborate on how, for example, the primitive religious mythology of a perfect past/original paradise ruined by corrupt early human has spawned a dark anti-humanism that persists today in modern myths of humans as a “cancer/virus” on the earth who continue to ruin the world. This psychopathology continues to shape contemporary alarmism crusades that claim the human enjoyment of the good life in industrial civilization is a disorder that is causing a decline of life toward collapse and ending. Modern apocalyptic prophets in the profoundly religious climate alarmism crusade continue the ancient tradition of prophesying the “end of days” contrary to good evidence that shows that life is on a long-term improving trajectory because of human goodness, love, and creativity.
I have further noted how bad religious ideas like a retaliatory, punitive God, with the related apocalyptic threat, incites the “evil triad” on inherited impulses in people to tribalism, domination, and destruction of enemies, thereby ruining societies.
But to return a bit to what was noted above- I have argued that Paul’s “Christ-ianity” has dishonored the real historical Jesus (“Jesus-ianity”) by contradicting his central message. Jesus’ stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory, unconditional God offered the potential to spark the greatest liberation movement ever, liberation at the depths of human consciousness, even transformation of subconscious archetypes, thereby revolutionizing human thought, emotion, motivation, and life. It offered freedom from a long history of the threat theology of all previous mythologies and religions with their tales of gods punishing human imperfection through natural disasters, disease, accidents, and the predatory cruelty of others and ultimate punishment in a life-destroying apocalypse. To further add to the psychic misery, religious gods threatened “after-life harm” in harsh future judgment and eternal destruction in hell.
Jesus rejected all that past theology based on retaliatory punitive deity, gods who were tribal, dominating Kings, who would bring ultimate destruction via apocalypse and hell. Jesus presented the potential to free us from those primitive ideas that had long incited the animal inside people (the impulses to tribalism, domination, destruction of differing others). The Jesus breakthrough insights pointed us to how we could reach heroic status as maturely human, offering us the safest route through life with the new ideal of unconditional love that would enable us to do the least harm and the most good to imperfect, failing others. The unconditional ideal that Jesus taught showed us that love and freedom are one and same reality.
And then, over subsequent decades, I have isolated the core of what went wrong with Christianity- i.e. that Paul rejected the stunning new theological insight of Jesus (i.e. God as universal, unconditional love), his “greatest contribution to the history of ideas”, and retreated back to retaliatory apocalyptic deity in his Christ that is entirely contrary to Jesus’ message.
All this is why I have left the Christian religion. With Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy I see that Christianity has buried the “diamonds of Jesus in a religion of inferior minds”.
And to conclude, my leaving religion was not about tossing out a baby with bathwater. It was more about embracing a new stance as “spiritual but not religious”. It’s about embracing the status of “Independent” in all areas of life, as “a mutable self” (Louis Zurcher) in the process of maintaining openness to the new, to ongoing change, and never-ending development and growth. Dying to something old and rising to something new is an ongoing process.
Added note:
This site is about trying to understand the natural things that we fear, notably, why some people persistently resort to “catastrophism” as in the excessive exaggeration of natural cycles, natural vagaries in weather, and natural disasters to apocalyptic scale. Why that exaggeration that increases the burden of fear and anxiety, especially when evidence shows that the exaggeration distorts the true state of things. Its bad enough to endure the things that we legitimately fear. There is no need to add to such fears with endless apocalyptic-scale panic mongering.
This site probes how religious beliefs are very much behind the exaggeration as in threat theology and apocalyptic mythology that claims there is an angry God punishing human failure through nature, religious beliefs that present the anti-humanism that humanity is a corrupt species deserving punishment for “destroying life” when the very opposite is true- i.e. that human goodness, compassion, and creativity have been solving problems and making life ever better.
Insert note: Classic Liberalism is the best that we have discovered to save us from the worst in ourselves, from our worst impulses to tribalism, domination and control of others, and punitive destruction of differing others. Classic Liberalism orients us to defending the equal rights and freedoms of everyone, with laws and institutions that seek to protect all equally. Classic Liberalism gets us to true liberalism, liberal democracy.
And then…
Some “deeper level” problem-solving, Wendell Krossa- Thorough long-term problem solving that goes to the “archetypal” level
We approach problems in our societies with all the tools that are available to us. For example, when countering the climate alarmism crusade, we bring the best of evidence on the complete big picture of climate, the long-term climate patterns that show we are observing normal climate changes today that are actually mild compared to paleoclimate changes (see, for example, the graph on page 33 of Ian Plimer’s “Heaven And Earth”, his research on paleoclimate).
With such evidence we can then safely conclude that there is “no climate crisis” and life is not descending toward collapse and ending, toward climate apocalypse. And due to human goodness, compassion, and creativity, we have done well in adapting to climate as evident in the 99% decline over the past century in deaths due to climate disasters.
https://nypost.com/2022/04/30/deaths-in-climate-disasters-declined-99-from-a-century-ago/
So also, we use all tools available to solve the larger problem of evaluating our meta-narratives and correcting the fundamental errors in these narratives, ideas/beliefs that continue to have significant ongoing impact today, ongoing and critical influence on human thought, outlook, emotions, motivations, and consequent responses/behaviors, consequences that are often destructive.
Contemporary alarmism crusades all appeal to a core body of themes, buttressed by a cohering center that is a specific religious theory of deity, a speculation on the metaphysical that was long-ago deformed by primitive thinking. That became deeply embedded “archetypal” stuff, first embodied in early mythical narratives and subsequently rooted in human subconscious (“beaten into human consciousness over millennia”). Due to that deep rooting of themes as archetypes over millennia, new versions of alarmism crusades then intuitively resonate with people.
With each new alarmism eruption in the modern era, away we go again, rushing feverishly into the latest eruption of apocalyptic hysteria, ready to embrace the next salvation scheme that will, like all previous ones, destroy the world to “save the world”. We repeatedly and endlessly fall for these eruptions of “madness of crowds” because they just “feel right, feel true”.
As noted above: “Appeal to a core body of themes”? Yes, the complex of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” and the cohering center of this complex, the God of the “evil triad” of features- i.e. (1) tribalism (favoring true believers, excluding unbelievers, validating human tribalism), (2) domination (God as lord, king, ruler validating human relationships of domination/submission), and (3) punitive destruction (validating human justice as punitive, God validating violence to solve problems as in apocalypse, hell).
Contemporary apocalyptic alarmism crusades, both religious and secular versions (i.e. ISIS, climate alarmism, Marxist and Nazi apocalyptic millennialism, etc.), all spring from the same taproot. All derive their core themes from the same primitive complex of myths, the same old complex of ideas that we have inherited from the past and that still dominate human consciousness today. This site repeatedly lists good sources of historical research on this.
My summary below of the basic themes is supported by historians who have done detailed historical analysis of “apocalyptic millennialism”, presenting information on these mythical themes that have shaped the destructive alarmism crusades of recent history, themes from a primitive past that still dominate our narratives today. I offer a more complete set of the basic themes than those in the apocalyptic millennial complex of myths.
Today’s alarmism crusades continue to promote the myths of:
(1) The baseline myth of a better past that has been ruined by corrupt humans (the core anti-humanism). In Marxism this was framed as humans corrupted in modern capitalist society who were responsible for ruining the original pure communalism of primitive noble savages in hunter gather societies. In Nazism it was the corruption of the formerly strong and pure German race and culture by Jewish Bolshevism and other factors. In climate alarmism it is the corruption of a formerly better past (i.e. more wilderness world) as imagined to have existed in the colder preindustrial world.
(2) The myth that the trajectory of life is now declining toward something worse, toward collapse and even apocalyptic ending due to the corrupting influence of humanity as noted above.
(3) The alarmism crusades all push the demand for a great sacrifice/punishment of humanity- (i.e. give up the good life of consuming too much of Earth’s resources in modern civilization, return to the “morally superior” simple life- i.e. suffering as redemptive).
(4) Add the demand to purge some great threat to life (in Marxism- the threat of capitalist civilization, in Nazism and general antisemitism- the threat from Jews, in climate alarmism- the threat of CO2 as the marker of too much human consumption).
(5) And then the element of hope in a promised restoration of the better past (in Marxism- restoration of communalism/collectivism, in Nazism- restoration of German purity and power in a Third Reich. In climate alarmism- a return to a better past in a colder world with less people consuming far less. Urging a return to the primitivism of “You will own nothing and you will be happy eating bugs” (my paraphrase of former WEF slogan).
A notable breakthrough…
The egregious shame in all this contemporary alarmism is that we have long had the alternatives to completely overturn the old archetypal themes, to replace them entirely with something far more humane that inspires our better angels and no longer incite our worst impulses. Better narratives that give us the true state of life and the true nature of core archetypes that inspire hope in people to continue improving all.
Good scientific evidence affirms that there was never any better past. And there is no decline of life to a worsening state. Humanity is not fundamentally corrupt but fundamentally good and has been creatively improving life over long-term (Julian Simon’s “Ultimate Resource” is a critical summary of evidence here).
Most important is the information that probes the deepest historical roots of the mythical themes behind alarmism crusades and offers new alternatives. Again, the modern understanding of the history of mythology/religion reveals there was no such reality as some original perfect world or paradise. There is no evidence of an originally pure and strong “noble savage” humanity that became corrupted (i.e. “fall of man, original sinfulness”) and that original corruption then resulted in the ruin of paradise (Adam and Eve in Eden, Enki in Dilmun).
Further: There is no angered God punishing humanity with a declining trajectory of life and the introduction of death. There is no angry God behind nature punishing people through natural disasters, disease, accident, or the cruelty of others. There is no threat of looming apocalypse. And there is no divine demand for sacrifice, payment, or punishment. No demand for purging some imagined threat to life, for “instantaneous transformation by violent purification” as in Marxism, Nazism, and environmentalism. There is no promised instantaneous installment of an earthly utopia but just the ongoing gradualism in the improving trajectory of life.
Notably, Historical Jesus (contrary to Christian “Jesus Christ”) rejected the above primitive complex of “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” myths. And he did something profound- he went right to the core issue- the cohering center of all narratives and he replaced that with an entirely new cohering center, a new deity, and new related themes.
Paul then subsequently rejected the breakthrough insights of Jesus. Paul rejected Jesus’ stunning the new theology, and retreated to re-embrace and re-establish the old retaliatory, apocalyptic God and related core themes of the old complex of themes in his Christ myth.
That was the profoundly fundamental mistake of Paul’s Christianity. We suffer the outcomes of Paul’s mistake still today. Paul re-established the pre-eminence of a retaliatory, apocalyptic God and that has dominated Western narratives and consciousness ever since (again, see James Tabor quotes below).
This is about properly understanding and honoring the message of the actual historical person- the “Historical Jesus”.
Imagine the potential for transformation of narratives, and hence for transformation and liberation of consciousness and life, if we start by replacing the cohering center of our narratives (i.e. the deity thing) with the “stunning new theology” of Historical Jesus, his God that was defined by no conditions love, thereby replacing the central idea- i.e. the threat theology- that sustained the entire complex of bad ideas in the old narratives.
Summary of the choices: A non-retaliatory, non-apocalyptic cohering Center for human narratives, or a retaliatory, apocalyptic cohering Center for our narratives, Wendell Krossa
The Christianity that we inherited has distorted and buried the central insight, theme, and message of Historical Jesus. It has, instead, focused public consciousness on the opposite message of Paul- i.e. his apocalyptic Christ, thereby re-enforcing for two millennia the single most damaging theme in Western consciousness- the threat of life declining toward apocalyptic catastrophe as divine punishment for corrupt humanity ruining the original paradise. Result? The latest eruption in a never-ending flood of apocalyptic hysteria in the “climate crisis” crusade and its society-destroying “salvation” scheme of Net Zero decarbonization (to “save the world”).
Another take on a central point of this site– Wendell Krossa
The Christianity that we inherited in our Western tradition has profoundly shaped our thinking, our behavior/ethics, our societies (see James Tabor quotes below). The Christianity that we inherited contradicts and buries Jesus’ central message of a non-retaliatory God and hence, a non-apocalyptic God (apocalyptic is the ultimate act of divine retaliation against corrupted humanity and defiled life).
We inherited Paul’s religion that embodies his egregious retreat from the non-retaliatory and non-apocalyptic message of Jesus and his opting instead for the message of a retaliatory and apocalyptic God/Christ.
Paul rejected the core theme and gospel of Jesus and presented in its place a completely opposite God and message.
If we continue to defensively affirm Paul’s Christ-ianity then we are affirming the pathology of apocalyptic, punitive divine justice, the very “eye for eye” retaliation that Jesus rejected. To affirm contemporary Christianity is to “bury” Jesus, just as Paul did. Bury? Yes, that was the evaluation and summary conclusion of Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy of what has happened in the Christian gospels that support Paul’s views of the Christ, just as the rest of the New Testament is also dominated by Paul’s apocalyptic Christ myth.
My point in this blunt assessment is that we have lost/rejected the core message of Jesus and instead inherited Paul’s obsession with the apocalyptic Christ (again, see James Tabor quotes below). Paul’s version of Christianity has dominated Western consciousness for two millennia and shaped our narratives both religious and secular. Paul’s apocalyptic Christ has influenced our repeated embrace of apocalyptic mythology and apocalyptic movements, both religious and secular.
This goes to a significant contributing factor in the hysterical “madness of crowds” eruption that we are currently living through, notably the climate alarmism crusade and its Net Zero decarbonization project that is ruining our societies through (1) state-hindered development of fossil fuel resources and consequent rising energy costs that inflate all else- i.e. the 6000 “fossil fuel derivative products”, all essential to our lives, (2) the dangerous destabilization of electrical grids with unreliable renewables, (3) the state coercion to embrace Net Zero goals that erodes our freedom with elite state domination of all areas of life, and (4) with the elite push to retreat to de-development, de-growth primitivism.
My argument: This current destruction in Western civilization is fueled, among other contributing factors, by the climate apocalyptic narrative and its decarbonization salvation scheme that stems ultimately from Paul’s apocalyptic Christ myth, because Paul’s apocalyptic God and apocalyptic Gospel has shaped everything in our Western narratives, consciousness, and societies (again, Tabor below offers summaries that affirm my point). Paul’s obsession with apocalyptic is evident in his first letters to the Thessalonians, on through his other letters, culminating in John’s graphic illustration of what the apocalyptic Christ monster looks like when fully unleashed on the world (Revelation 19).
(Insert on the relationship of contemporary alarmism narratives to ancient systems of mythology: The impact of primitive mythology has to do with that fact the core themes of primitive mythologies became deeply embedded as archetypes in human consciousness/subconscious. Hence, in subsequent generations when someone declares a new alarmism over another looming “end of days”, that new alarmism crusade intuitively resonates with most people’s subconscious. It just “feels right… sounds true” to many people. Hence, my argument that critically important to countering present alarmism crusades is the need to deal with all the contributing factors, including these deeply embedded mythical archetypes. Bad ideas have been beaten into humanity for so long that they just resonate as true even when amassed evidence reveals that they are entirely false.)
Jesus, in midst of the apocalyptic hysteria of his day, had courageously rejected all that apocalyptic nonsense from earlier centuries and millennia (i.e. Sumerian Flood, Egyptian Return to Chaos, Destruction of Mankind, Zoroastrian apocalypse, etc.). He was the first to do so by going to the fundamental element in the mix- the mythology of a retaliatory, apocalyptic God. Why beat around the bush (play around the periphery) when you can cut the taproot idea?
Jesus was not apocalyptic because his new theology was not retaliatory, meaning God would not therefore enact the greatest act of retaliation that is the apocalyptic punishment and destruction of humanity and the world.
His new non-retaliatory and non-apocalyptic God was “his greatest contribution to the history of human ideas” (James Robinson).
Two decades later, Paul publicly rejected the God of Jesus and restored the retaliatory, apocalyptic God to central place in his gospel, notably in his Christ. We then inherited Paul’s “Christ-ianity” instead of the entirely opposite “Jesus-ianity”.
Decades ago, I felt the lights click on in regard to this core contradiction between these two contrary messages, between these entirely contradictory Gods/theologies- i.e. Paul’s retaliatory apocalyptic God versus Jesus’ non-retaliatory, non-apocalyptic God. It all came clear when I finally recognized the “behavior based on same belief” relationship that Jesus used in Matthew 5:38-48 and Luke 6:27-36.
He said basically- “Do not engage retaliatory eye for eye behavior. Instead, love your enemies. Do this and you will be like God because God does this”. Be like your Daddy. “Love your enemies unconditionally because God loves God’s enemies unconditionally”. He illustrated God’s unconditional love for all by stating that God gave the two great gifts of agrarian life- sun and rain- indiscriminately to both good and bad people. Unconditional love.
An Asian Studies prof at UBC, years earlier, had us read anthropologist Clifford Geertz who had noted this “behavior based on similar belief” relationship in Balinese villages and houses- i.e. people trying to replicate in their houses and villages what they believed to be a divine pattern or model. So also, the Old Testament Hebrews and ancient Greeks had tried to replicate in their temples, behavior, and many details of their lives and societies, what they believed to be the divine ideal, model, template, word, will, law.
Jesus used that behavior based on similar belief to establish his new God as non-apocalyptic. His was a stunning new breakthrough insight to overturn everything in human narratives, especially the cohering center of narratives that is the deity element.
The Jesus insight and message goes to the critical root issue of the apocalyptic pathology that is ruining our societies once again today.
Paul’s apocalyptic Christ has shaped Western narratives and consciousness narratives for 2 millennia now. We see the lingering influence everywhere today both in the world religions of Christianity and Islam, and in secular ideologies. Hollywood domination of public story-telling obsessively pushes apocalyptic as accepted truth. Most egregiously, apocalyptic is pushed through contemporary climate hysteria that is beaten into public consciousness daily by mainstream media alarming populations with endless “end of days” scenarios.
We are enduring Chicken Little catastrophism over all sorts of things now- i.e. even with AI, and with elite panic-mongering that smears populism movements that express the will of commoners fed up with elite collectivist madness (i.e. Woke Progressivism, DEI, ESG, etc.), that populist revolt against such elite madness is posing the threat of “the end of democracy”. Nonsense. Populism is democracy (Winston Marshall). And its not “far right” but is a mixed bag of moderate right, centrist, independent, and moderate left, among others on the spectrum.
You can go after the ideologies and policies of the alarmism crusades, and must do so, especially go after core science issues, but if we ignore the religious themes at root of these contemporary ideologies then you may not change many minds, because climate alarmism resonates with deeply embedded archetypes in most people, further affirmed by their religious beliefs and narratives. Meaning, the primary human impulse for meaning results in emotional attachment to beliefs/archetypes, for varied reasons that people often cannot explain themselves.
OK, now I will let James Tabor buttress my points, from his research, specifically on the ongoing dominant influence of Paul’s apocalyptic Christ on Western narratives and consciousness and hence on our lives…
James Tabor quotes on the contradiction between the messages of Jesus and Paul and Paul’s influence on Christianity and on Western society- “Paul and Jesus: How the apostle transformed Christianity”.
“The message of Paul, which created Christianity as we know it, and the message of the historical Jesus and his earliest followers, were not the same. In fact, they were sharply opposed to one another with little in common beyond the name Jesus itself…”
Tabor notes that his research into the origins of Christianity was about “probing into the very foundations of our civilization in an effort to assay our most basic assumptions…”
His conclusion:
“Paul is the most influential person in human history, and realize it or not, he has shaped practically all we think about everything… the West in particular, but since Christian culture has had such a global spread, I think my somewhat extravagant language about ‘human history’ can be justified….the foundations of Western civilization- from our assumptions about reality to our societal and personal ethics- rest in a singular way upon the heavenly visions and apparitions of the apostle Paul.
“We are all cultural heirs of Paul, with the well-established doctrines and traditions of mainstream Christianity deeply entrenched in our culture. In contrast, Jesus as a historical figure… has been largely lost to our culture…”
“The fundamental doctrinal tenets of Christianity, namely that Christ is God ‘born in the flesh’, that his sacrificial death atones for the sins of humankind, and that his resurrection from the dead guarantees eternal life to all who believe, can be traced back to Paul, not Jesus…”
He adds that in Paul’s message we “understand the deeper roots of our culture”….
Continuing with Tabor… “Paul operated with a strongly apocalyptic perspective that influenced all he said or did”….
Tabor notes, “Paul’s apocalyptic urgency, so dominant in the earlier letters… the day of judgment was imminent- the very thing Paul constantly proclaimed (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)”…
He then notes that “Paul (became) terribly bitter against his fellow Jewish Christians… The radical nature of the break that took place between Paul and the original apostles is so threatening to our most basic assumptions about Christian origins that it is easy to think that it just can’t be true… the entire New Testament canon is largely a… pro-Paul production…”
“The Jesus who most influenced history was the “Jesus Christ” of Paul, not the historical figure of Jesus… Paul transformed Jesus himself, with his message of a messianic kingdom of justice and peace on earth, to the symbol of a religion of otherworldly salvation in a heavenly world… Paul’s view of Christ as the divine pre-existent Son of God who took on human form, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and was resurrected at God’s right hand becomes the Christian message…”
He says the form of Christianity that developed in the Roman Empire “was heavily based upon the ecstatic and visionary experiences of Paul. Christianity, as we came to know it, is Paul and Paul is Christianity. The bulk of the New Testament is dominated by his theological vision…”
Then Tabor notes that the early First Century AD Jewish movement was the actual religion of Historical Jesus. This is critical to recognize because other scholars have concluded that what Jesus’ brother James taught is also what Jesus believed and this is affirmed by the fact that Jesus appointed his brother James to lead the Jewish movement after his death.
Just an insert- Bob Brinsmead has done some important research on James the brother of Jesus and argues with others that understanding James is how we know who Jesus was and what he believed and taught. See https://bobbrinsmead.com/the-historical-jesus-what-the-scholars-are-saying/
Further, Tabor quotes this from the Gospel of Thomas…
“The disciples said to Jesus, “We know you will leave us. Who then is going to be our leader then?” Jesus said to them, “No matter where you go you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being”… Jesus passes to James his successor the rule of the church…”
“For James the Christian message is not the person of Jesus but the message that Jesus proclaimed. James’s letter lacks a single teaching that is characteristic of the apostle Paul and it draws nothing at all from the traditions of Mark or John”…
Then Tabor notes along with many other scholars of early Christianity that the Q Wisdom Sayings gospel is the closest that we get to what Historical Jesus actually taught, his actual message- “The Q source is the earliest collection of the teachings and sayings of Jesus… the most striking characteristic of the Q source in terms of reconstructing Christian origins is that is has nothing of Paul’s theology, particularly his Christology or view of Christ…”
(End of Tabor quotes)
Qualifier on a main theme on this site:
Holding an unconditional theology and an unconditional ideal to guide our treatment of failing others has nothing to do with contemporary Woke Progressive “compassion” that refuses to hold people responsible for their behavior as in “de-carceration”, “no cash bail”, and “refusal to prosecute” laws that have contributed to the ruin of US cities and elsewhere.
As stated often here- pacifism (i.e. “turn the other cheek”) does not work when confronting evil. The primary responsibility of criminal justice systems is to protect innocent people, meaning incarceration of people who cannot or will not control their impulses to harm others. The protection of citizens from assaults both foreign and domestic is the most fundamental mandate of any government.
The unconditional ideal that is argued for on this site has to do with understanding the nature of Ultimate Reality and defining, in authentically humane terms, the highest human ideal to shape thought, emotions, motivations, and responses/behavior that help us maintain our own humanity in the face of evil. It’s about breaking the cyclical destructiveness of “eye for eye” or punitive justice approaches that have never properly solved problems for the long term, as contrasted with restorative justice approaches.
Over a lifetime we cobble together a narrative, a story, a worldview and we tie our identity to that. It helps us make sense of our existence. It tells us how to understand and explain life. It tells us how to behave, how to view and treat others. It contains our story and identity. To construct our narratives we draw on scientific discoveries, on larger public narratives and ideologies, and we draw on inherited religious beliefs.
Foundational themes from the very beginning of this human adventure: Wendell Krossa- The myth of deity obsessed with perfection
Researchers of the earliest human art (cave drawings, temple inscriptions/art- Egypt) and writing (Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian) have revealed a complex of themes in early human narratives that show how primitive people thought. Those original themes shaped early people’s narratives, their consciousness, how they behaved and lived, how they treated one another, and on out to shape their entire societies. Their ideas/myths validated their behavior, often to harmful outcomes (i.e. the tribalism, domination, destruction elements).
And those ideas/themes/beliefs were subsequently passed down from generation to generation across history to dominate world religions and in the modern era to also dominate “secular ideological” systems of ideas/beliefs. It has always been the same old, same old themes, given ever new variations in expression- i.e. new terms, definitions, categories. But the core themes have remained stubbornly the same and the outcomes continue to be the same as the darker themes of our narratives continue to validate our worst impulses and behaviors.
How do narrative ideas/themes work on us, on our minds? Bad ideas in the mix deform human consciousness and life by shaping how people view and evaluate life, how they feel about what they are seeing, how that motivates them in terms of inciting and validating inner impulses, and then how that influences their responses and behavior toward others.
Bad narrative themes generate harm among people, for example, in terms of re-enforcing the tribal impulse and related hatred of differing others- i.e. viewing differing others as threatening enemies to be excluded, dominated, and even punitively destroyed/exterminated. Hence, our long history of tribal conflict and wars.
We will never fully get to the root of our problems and solve them thoroughly for the long term until we go to the root ideas in our narratives and understand exactly what the core themes are, differentiating good from bad, and how the baddies in the mix function as contributing factors to bad behavior- i.e. influencing how we think, how we view life, how we feel, how they motivate us, and then how they influence our responses/behaviors.
Once we get a grip on the core themes of our narratives, and understand how they shape us, our behavior and societies, then, as critical to proper problem solving, we need to consider exchanging them for better more humane alternatives (i.e. engaging the process of death to the old and rebirth or resurrection to something new). This is about the even more fundamental confronting, evaluating, and changing archetypes in the subconscious- engaging the inner battle against the Jungian “shadow” that is the inherited animal in us. This is the real battle of life, more critical than any outer battle against differing others, this inner battle is against our inherited animal, and against the narrative themes that validate and incite our worst impulses.
Insert: On some recent video clip Jordan Peterson commented on Carl Jung and how terrifying he, Peterson, found the “demonic” part in man. Meaning the “shadow” that Jung spoke about? I would suggest that shadow is the inherited animal in us, not something “demonic” as in some sort of spirit entity. It is more those cold drives of the predator that lives to destroy prey in order to eat, doing so without emotion, compassion, feeling. Just kill to satisfy hunger. In this regard, see “Dark Nature” by Lyall Watson.
So also, there is no great satanic being as per the Zoroastrian theology of cosmic dualism where a Good God battles some great evil Force or Spirit. “Satanic” is again the expression of that dark animal nature in humanity. So also there is no metaphysical reality behind natural disaster who is punishing people for their sins. Natural disaster is just that- natural.
Continuing with those dark narrative themes….
The challenge: Change your mind (your narrative, your belief system that shapes how you think, how you view reality and life) and that will help you to change your behavior and that is our greatest contribution to changing life for the better. This is about the most fundamental and influential transformation possible. It’s about changing the root causal contributing factors, at an intensely personal level, to problems in our world.
The “God obsessed with perfection”:
Especially, go after the baseline myth that undergirds the entire complex of bad ideas- i.e. the myth of an original perfection that sets the stage for all the rest of the pathological complex of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption”. The myth of original paradise or perfection states that the God who creates all is obsessed with perfection (God being the core of narrative themes, complexes- the Cohering Center). Original perfection mythology claims that the creator is obsessed with perfection, that God only creates perfection.
Christian theologians therefore had a difficult mental adjustment to make when the telescope was invented and they saw the planets had imperfect elliptical orbits (not perfect circles), and there were pock marks on moon. Such obvious imperfection violated their belief that God would only create perfection as in the myth of Eden or Sumerian Dilmun.
But once the myth of original perfection took root in ancient human consciousness, a pathological antihumanism was developed in response- i.e. blame humanity for ruining God’s perfect creation. This foundational anti-humanism has dominated narratives ever since, even in ideological versions of humanity as a “cancer/virus” on life.
Our ancestors reasoned that people were obviously evil/corrupt, and they had committed an original error/fault/sin that ruined the original paradise world. Consequently, the God of perfection was obsessed with punishing human imperfection, whether in this world through natural disasters, disease, the cruelty of others, or destroying people in a future apocalypse as punishment for ruining his perfection. And then early people went further with the divine punishment of imperfection, extending it even into the metaphysical, the afterlife.
See the New Testament expressions of divine rage at imperfection and the promises to destroy humans, and the world, notably in Paul’s first letters to the Thessalonians, where an enraged Christ will return to fry and destroy all who do not believe his Christ myth.
Or see Paul’s wrathful God of Romans promising to destroy all sinners. And then note John’s culminating statements of this fury and destruction in his graphic portrayal of the Christ of Revelation chapter 19 trampling out not just “the wrath of God”, but “the fury of the wrath of God” before throwing all the dissenters to his “Christ-ianity” into a lake of fire. Sheesh, eh.
And then the God obsessed with perfection, enraged at the ruin of perfection, promises salvation in the form of the restoration of perfection in the future- the millennial or utopian feature in narratives.
The God obsessed with perfection, and punishing imperfection, is the cohering center of the complex of the “lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption” complex of ideas. Do not ignore or dismiss the fact that these themes still dominate and shape modern narratives and worldviews, hence they still influence human consciousness, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior.
The religious rage at imperfection, and blaming humanity as responsible for ruining perfection, still shapes overall narratives, both religious and secular. The other themes in this complex were all created to affirm the baseline myth of lost original perfection. We see this in the divine demand for sacrifice, payment, and punishment for ruining perfection- i.e. the myth that Christ had to suffer and pay for sin. And as preparation to restore lost perfection there must be great purge of the evil that ruins perfection as in the great apocalyptic purge of the defiled world. This is all part of the mythology of a perfect deity demanding the restoration of offended honor, the rebalancing of upset cosmic justice.
To wrap this up- Today in a dominant secular/ ideological version of this primitive mythology, CO2 has been fingered as the main marker of corrupt people ruining perfection or paradise. CO2 has been pushed today as the key marker of human sin- i.e. too many corrupt people consuming too much of Earth’s resources, enjoying the good life too much, and they are destroying an original paradise world, an originally perfect world before humanity (i.e. the previous dominantly wilderness world). It’s all the same old primitive mythology in terms of the complex of basic themes.
Consequent to identifying the evil force that has ruined paradise- i.e. human success in improving life in industrial society- this “corrupting evil” must be purged in order to save life and to restore the original paradise, the original perfection. The salvation scheme to restore lost perfection? Embrace de-growth, de-development, as essential to purging the evil threat that is humanity and human success and thereby restore lost paradise and achieve salvation (“save the world”).
My point in this comment is to highlight the primitive nature of still dominant themes in our contemporary narratives- i.e. the anti-humanism of the myth that claims people ruined some imagined original perfection. One of best counters to this mythology was given by Bob Brinsmead who stated that the story of humanity is not about how far we have fallen from some imagined original perfection (Eden, noble savage) but about how amazingly we have risen from a brutal animal past to become something better, to become more humane.
Like Julian Simon said, we are just getting started on our amazing improvement of life. And there is no evidence that the long-term trends of progress are declining or reversing. Due to fundamental human goodness and creativity, we can expect our improvement of life to continue.
And this is a potent counter to the pathology and fraud that after ruining an original paradise we are now on a trajectory of decline toward something worse, toward an apocalyptic ending.
The ongoing presence of these primitive themes in our narratives helps us to better understand resurging neo-Marxism (Woke progressivism) and related alarmism crusades that push this same old narrative of some original paradise ruined by corrupt humans, and life now declining toward catastrophic ending, hence the demand for a salvation scheme with the elements of sacrifice/payment/punishment and a purging of some evil threat to life. Then we get the promised salvation in restored paradise or a new utopia.
These ideas shaped Marxism, Nazism, and are now shaping environmental alarmism with its salvation scheme of destructive decarbonization as the sacrifice/payment/punishment (i.e. de-develop, de-growth). If we purge the evil threat of CO2 (as the marker of our excessive consumption and enjoyment of the good life) we thereby “save the world”.
Note:
The creation of a world that was imperfect from the beginning prompts questions as to why God would create such a world that has caused immense suffering to people across the millennia. Sages from varied traditions have responded that we do not know good aside from contrast with bad. That there is no moral good aside from genuinely free choice against the opposite- evil. Moral good can only become a reality in a world that offers authentic freedom of choice against an opposite.
Add here that where there is no authentic freedom, then there is no authentic love. If God is love, then God will not intervene or overrule human freedom of choice or the consequences of natural law.
Others suggest that this imperfect world exists as a learning arena for humanity, as an arena for human experience, development, and growth. And the struggle with imperfection brings forth the best in humanity, pushing us to find solutions to problems, to counter evil with good. An imperfect world brings forth human compassion, goodness, and creativity.
All such speculative insights help to understand why this world was created originally imperfect.
And more on the freedom files…
Another good one from Michael Shellenberger… He is worth subscribing to, along with Matt Taibbi/Walter Kirn, and other journalists in independent/alternative media.
This is a good historical analysis of what has happened and changed in today’s Democrats… how liberals in general have become “highly illiberal”. This shows how anti-democratic authoritarianism took over this party. It poses the question of who is the real threat to democracy, now a common smear that Democrats project onto the other side. As someone said recently- “Look in the mirror”.
This also from Shellenberger:
“Authoritarian Psychology Behind Democrats’ Bad Bet On Biden: Why the party of democracy turned against democracy”, Michael Shellenberger, Alex Gutentag, July 1, 2024
“Swiss psychologists recently found an almost exact overlap between dark personality traits and social justice commitment
“This is not the Democrats’ only authoritarian turn. Since at least 2016, Democrats have undermined democracy by facilitating and supporting the Censorship Industrial Complex. In 2020, the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop, coordinated by party operatives and the intelligence community, may have impacted the election results. What’s more, Democrats overwhelmingly support the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), even as both of these agencies have engaged in profoundly anti-democratic activities….
“Writer Michael Lind explains that the Democratic Party currently consists largely of an alliance between the “professional bourgeoisie,” which includes lawyers, teachers, doctors, and journalists, and the “hub-city working class,” many of whom “work directly for the urban overclass as maids, nannies and other domestic staff, or otherwise indirectly in luxury services that cater to the affluent elite.”
“And Republicans are disproportionately entrepreneurs and small business owners less obedient to governmental authority. These small business owners, Lind argues, are aligned with the “heartland working class” who work in “manufacturing, agriculture, energy, retail distribution and warehousing.”
“Since 2016, corporate and government functionaries have had a clear affiliation with the Democratic base of the professional bourgeoisie in opposition to Trump. This powerful alliance of elites has strongly authoritarian characteristics, attempting to eliminate all other spheres of influence, such as small businesses, religious groups, and other centers of potential populist dissent. Using tools of censorship, propaganda, and state power, the professional-managerial class has increasingly aimed to place all facets of life under its expertise and technical guidance.
“In this way, the progressive ideology of these elites is deeply authoritarian, as it demands the subordination of the will of the people to the rule of experts. On Covid, climate change, and social media censorship, the progressive professional bourgeoisie has determined that their ideological and political views are settled science, and that disagreement is fundamentally illogical or hateful. Only professionals, they say, hold the keys to reality, and they demand that democracy defer to “the science,” by which they mean committees of experts.”
This repost as a preface to comment further below by Shellenberger. Leftist Woke Progressive compassion and the psychopathology of that. See, for example, Christine Brophy on the “Narcissism Behind Lef-Wing Authoritarianism”…
https://public.substack.com/p/christine-brophy-narcissism-and-agreeableness
Michael Shellenberger said this in a previous post on his Public site:
“Stop Telling Police They’re Oppressors And Criminals They’re Victims: Democrats won’t do what they must thanks to Soros funding for policies that allow crime and disorder”, Michael Shellenberger, June 24, 2024
https://public.substack.com/p/stop-telling-police-theyre-oppressors
Quotes:
“The top donor to Biden and the Democrats is Geroge Soros. He gives hundreds of millions to politicians and groups demanding the defunding of the police and no accountability for crimes. His policies have destroyed our cities and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people from lax drug laws.
“Does Soros want to destroy civilization? A lot of people think so.
“To me, Soros seems more like someone who is out of touch than someone who is deliberately setting out to destroy Western civilization. He lives where there is almost no violent crime and enjoys 24-7 private security. He is surrounded by radical ideologues who think the 36 deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of the police are a more significant threat than the 8,000 deaths of black people from homicide. In that way, he is a lot like California’s progressive politicians and the wealthy elites who get them elected.”
And then this from another recent post by Shellenberger. I want to affirm his comments on the need to uphold law as in robust response to hold people responsible for their behavior. Unfortunately, Shellenberger is not fully clear on the issue of religion, making no clear distinction between the benefits and the damage that religion has done historically.
“They’re Undermining Civilization: Every single pillar of our liberal democracy is under attack. Why?”, Michael Shellenberger, July 3, 2024
See full set of pictures and graphics at link….
https://public.substack.com/p/theyre-undermining-civilization
Quotes:
“I was honored when my friend Winston Marshall asked me to give the first talk at his new Dissident Dialogues. What you see here is the latest evolution of my thinking and the basis for the creation of a new NGO, Civilization Works. I hope you enjoy it! — Michael
“I think we can all agree that America has some really big problems.
“The number of Americans dying every year from drug poisonings or drug overdoses has gone from 20,000 in the year 2000 to over 112,000 last year. That’s 50 percent more than the total number of Americans who died in the Vietnam War.
“The number of people crossing our border illegally has quadrupled since 2020.
“And the percentage of students who are chronically absent from school rose from 15 to 25 percent between 2019 and last year. In the big states of California, Florida, and New York, it’s 30 percent or higher….
“But from another point of view, each of these problems results from not enforcing basic laws, whether against illegal drug use, border enforcement, or student truancy.
“The reason is that, as a society, we’ve decided that it’s cruel to enforce these laws: cruel to crack down on people that are coming here to seek asylum or opportunity; cruel to crack down on addicts; and cruel to try to get kids who are suffering from other problems in their home life to come to school.
“But from another perspective, it’s much more cruel not to enforce these laws….
“It all raises this question: why did so many people decide that it was more cruel to enforce the law than to not enforce it?”
He then details the psychopathology of left-wing compassion and the deformed narrative that has resulted in the problems that we have today.
It’s a story of how contemporary Woke Progressivism has deformed the liberal Democratic side of society with the same old Marxist collectivism of oppressed/oppressors, a tribal dualism that has repeatedly and consistently ruined societies.
Quoting Shellenberger again:
“So our priorities are warped precisely because we’ve come to see police as the problem, not the solution”, (i.e. As he notes, police are framed as oppressors, a now common Hollywood story theme).
Insert note:
Among a litany of go-to smears, the Woke Left obsessively dehumanizes all who disagree, with the go-to pejorative of “rightwing or far right”. In addition to other common smears- “racists, Nazis, bigots, fascists, liars, threats to democracy, etc.”
In relation to the above, this insight from one of the comments below…
“James Orr: Political Earthquakes Are Coming To The U.S. And Europe: Listen to our fascinating conversation with the Cambridge Professor of Philosophy and the UK representative of the National Conservative movement on overcoming the threats to Western civilization”, Michael Shellenberger, June 26, 2024
https://public.substack.com/p/james-orr-political-earthquakes-are
Quote:
“If a growing majority of voters is embracing “rightist” policies, they are by definition no longer “rightist”. They are now centrist. It is not for the media to falsely characterize a growing consensus as an extremist movement. In response to policies and events, the center has shifted, and the media should focus on why this has occurred rather than characterizing their fellow citizens as right-wing deplorable zealots….
“Yes. The majority of media actors are left to far-left propagandists. They have no intellectual capabilities to see anything as centrist. They can only grok anything to their political right as “far right” or “extreme far right”.
Elon Musk also noted this in the US, that Progressivism has now gone so extreme left that anyone to the right of it is now “right wing”, even fellow leftists who are less zealous than the extremists.