See below the Grok summaries of the main themes/points of this site: “Grok gives some sense of how profound the Historical Jesus’ transformation of fundamental archetypes has been on human narratives, consciousness, and life (i.e. in liberating us from our animal past and affirming our better future with liberal democracy principles and institutions)”
Also below- “Ginning up (i.e. whipping up) the next apocalyptic alarm as previous ones die and fade away”, and “Iran Shoots Down US Helicopter – Iran War Update with Richard Miniter and Thomas Small” for more on “Its the theology, stupid”.
The Haviv Gur article below (Free Press) illustrates some interesting things as we try to understand what is driving violence and war in our world, Wendell Krossa
This has to do with what psychologist Harold Ellens stated about the power of beliefs (i.e. notably bad theology as in images of God as wrathful, using violence to solve things, threatening, etc.), the power of such deity images to deform human personality with fanaticism and motivate/energize people to violence. (More on this coming in discussion with AI)
I am not questioning Gur’s expertise on the details that he offers on the current conflict with Iran that are helpful for understanding what is unfolding in that particular struggle. However, he dances around what is most important for understanding that situation, what is most critical for properly solving such hatred and violence for the long-term future.
He suggests that peace deals with those theocrats will not ultimately be successful in ending the conflict because of “deeper drivers or core religious purpose” that motivate the Iranian leaders. In such comments he suggests that he knows what those deeper drivers are but then he does what many do and throws readers off by describing the drivers as “ideology”. That is your “deeper driver” explanation?
I share this in relation to the concern of General Nagata following the end of the ISIS eruption of violence in Syria (2014). Nagata correctly concluded that such violence would repeat because, though we have crushed such eruptions with necessary military force, we have not defeated “the idea” that drives those people.
I am interested in why commentators like Haviv Gur exhibit what appears to be the hesitancy to acknowledge directly and clearly that “It’s the theology, stupid”. The God at the core of the religion. Hence, many who comment on Islamic violence in our world today, offer the repeated framing of the core driver of this problem as “ideology”. Is this deflection from the theology that is actually behind such violence due to fear of being smeared as “Islamophobic”? I am just asking? Trying to understand.
Theology (i.e. the image of God) is the core of the religion, the central idea and belief. And I am pointing to the age-old problem of “bad theology” as different from good theology (i.e. what this site points to, for example, in the stunning contrast between the unconditional theology of Historical Jesus and Paul’s entirely opposite highly conditional theology in his Christ myth). That bad theology is the idea that has to be defeated because military and economic pressures will only solve things temporarily and not fundamentally and for the long-term future.
Add that the Iranian theocrats are not distorting the deity at the core of the religion with some form of “ideological extremism”. They are simply taking the core idea, the theology, seriously/literally and acting on it.
The same theological time-bomb of bad theology is embedded at the core of Judaism and Christianity, and similar grenades with pins pulled are notable in other religious traditions also. Always there in our major religious traditions, protected and defended, despite a long history of evidence of how dangerous such ideas are in validating and inciting bad behavior among followers. As noted here before, “People become just like the God that they believe in”.
This author Gur suggests there is more going on, more than the surface things that he details throughout this article. He intimates that there are “deeper drivers” operating behind the scenes that are long-term and affect the future more than the superficial public things that we hear about in news media. Unfortunately, in his title he has already thrown minds off the real core “drivers” by using, as most do, the misnamed term “ideology”.
The deeper drivers, that he claimed he would clarify, have to do with things like our inherited tribal impulse that is validated and energized by bad religious ideas like Zoroastrian cosmic dualism. Zoroaster’s cosmic dualism has shaped all three Western religions, and it validates our tribal impulse as divinely mandated. It gives people “emotional satisfaction” (Kristian Niemietz) in virtue signaling that they are the good people on the right side of the Good God and religion and are heroically fighting the evil, unbelieving others on the bad side (i.e. those framed as “satanic, demonic”). The evil that is the mass of unbelievers and their societies must be violently purged from the earth, exterminated, in order to prepare the way for one’s God to descend and install the promised salvation in a religious paradise (e.g. caliphate dominated by Sharia, or Christian millennial paradise, Third Reich, etc.).
These primitive themes are embraced to frame narratives that validate people expressing the basic human need to virtue-signal for status in a group (Jordan Peterson), to enable people to exhibit moral superiority for status above others, etc.
Haviv peripherally touches on the core drivers with statements like “its core historic and religious purpose… cannot acknowledge failure, cannot be pressured to any meaningful change of course by public opinion… the regime’s ideological structure makes it incapable of drawing the conclusions…” etc.
He states this for example: “Whatever Trump’s political needs are, they are, at most, a few years’ concern. The midterms loom. If Democrats take the House, budget pressures on sustaining military operations will grow. These are real constraints. They are also largely irrelevant to the deepest drivers of the conflict.”
But then he never quite gets to the most fundamental core driver that is the theology of the religion, the God. Instead, he reverts to the safer distancing term “ideology” that keeps him away from the rage-inciting exposure of the core theology that is actually driving the Iranian theocrats.
Note how he intimates the real driver as something religious or theological but then cannot quite bring himself to directly name its real nature as theology/deity images, as in these comments- “the regime’s ideological structure makes it incapable of drawing the conclusions from those blows that a secular or democratic state actor would draw”.
“That’s why U.S.-Iran negotiations will, almost irrespective of what the actual agreement says, not produce any lasting end to the conflict. Not because diplomacy is inherently futile—it is usually, between most adversaries, the better path—but because no muqawama regime can genuinely commit to an agreement that would require it to abandon what it understands as its core historic and religious purpose…
“The most important is the clarity of its stakes. When your enemy has stated, repeatedly and explicitly, that your elimination is the goal— not coercion, not containment, but elimination— you fight differently. You innovate. You accept costs that other democracies would not accept. You develop capabilities across intelligence, air power, cyber, and missile defense that punch far above your weight, because quantity favors the other side and quality is your only viable hedge…
“Iran has no equivalent correction mechanism. The regime cannot acknowledge failure, cannot be pressured to any meaningful change of course by public opinion, cannot develop the economy or institutions that would allow it to compete, and cannot plausibly claim to represent a population it brutally oppresses. The regime’s only actual strategy, its one big idea, is to absorb punishment indefinitely and inflict constant damage on its way down— setting the Middle East on fire as it goes— in the hope that these will deter its victims from escalation.
“None of this resolves quickly. If the analogy to the Nasser years holds, we are somewhere in the middle of a confrontation that has already lasted 20 years and may last 20 more. The blows to Iran are accumulating— its nuclear program set back significantly, proxy infrastructure degraded, and direct military capabilities exposed— but the regime’s ideological structure makes it incapable of drawing the conclusions from those blows that a secular or democratic state actor would draw.”
Here is the link to the full article… (behind paywall?)
“Haviv Rettig Gur: When Will the War with Iran End?: The Iranian regime’s ideology compels it to keep fighting. No deal, no ceasefire, and no American administration changes that”, Haviv Rettig Gur, Free Press, 06.09.26
https://www.thefp.com/p/haviv-rettig-gur-when-will-the-war?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Haviv needs to heed what Richard Landes cautioned with regard to Nazism: Until we understand how “apocalyptic millennialism” (i.e. Christ mythology) can carry societies to mass-death outcomes, we will not defeat such eruptions of violence and war. But to understand that “deeper driver” we have to clearly name it for people. We don’t solve these serious problems if we do not understand clearly what are the root contributing factors that have to be confronted and resolved.
My suggestion: Go directly to such core drivers as the theology and name them clearly. “Its the theology, stupid”.
Harold Ellens also warned of how bad theology- i.e. images of God as wrathful, solving problems with violence- functions as a supreme model that energizes people to similarly use violence to solve problems. Ellens spelled out clearly that the image of God was the “deep driver” that deformed human minds and personality and then resulted in fanaticism and violence. And he clearly named the exact mental deformities in deity images- i.e. features like “wrathful, violent” deity.
And to avoid charges of “Islamophobia”, place this current problem with Iran in the larger context of the fact that the same core ideas/beliefs/themes of Islam are also found in Judaism and Christianity, and are similarly evident in Marxism and environmental alarmism. The core ideas can be traced back to Zoroastrian theology and even further back to the earliest human writing in Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian mythologies. It is the same complex of “salvation through destruction” as ever before.
Is it dangerous to go after the most foundational and central of all human beliefs- i.e. theology? Yes, highly risky. Even suicidal.
In the Luke 4 incident, Historical Jesus delivered his first public death blow to the very heart of the sacrifice industry that had dominated Jewish civilization over past centuries. That central industry of Judaism was dominated and controlled by the Hebrew/Jewish priesthood from the beginning, according to Old Testament historical accounts, with a narrative that it was all divinely mandated and authorized. Key to that divine mandate was the theology of a wrathful, threatening, retaliatory (eye for eye justice), vengeful, and destroying God who demanded blood for appeasement. Does the shedding of blood element in this go back to the original mythical fallacy of humans created to serve gods, to feed them?
The sacrifice industry was the livelihood of the priesthood, their very existence, and was core to their worldview and meaning. It undergirded and validated their power over all in Jewish society.
And it also gave Jews and their priests “emotional satisfaction” based on the overarching Zoroastrian influence on their religion- i.e. that they got to play the role of good guys fighting a cosmic battle against bad guys. That fed their tribal impulse, again granting emotional satisfaction in playing hero on the good side of the chosen/elect good tribe against those who disagree, the enemies/unbelievers. The Zoroastrian framework also fed their domination impulse to defeat, subjugate, and gain power over disagreeing, differing others. So many elements in play in these complex situations, eh. Deeper drivers that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have to confront and resolve.
The larger Zoroastrian influence also feeds the vengeance impulse, the impulse to justice as payback, even to destroy the differing other who seeks to block your power and control, to derail your plans, the competing others viewed as “enemies” (similar to the destructive behavior in animal groups, even of same species).
Historical Jesus put a knife to the core theology behind all these complex contributing factors to bad behavior. Most critically, he confronted and revolutionized the central “deeper driver” that validated all this. He made a direct assault on the central idea/belief of his audience and his threatening assault on the core of Jewish identity eventually got him killed. His protest against the sacrifice industry was most dangerously a direct threat to the God who demanded the sacrifice industry (i.e. threat to the top validation and authority).
Returning to the danger of confronting the theology factor…
(Note: I do not accept the New Testament accounts of Jesus’ Temple protest as simply about money changer thievery and temple purity for prayer purposes, etc. The gospels and other NT letters were chosen for inclusion in the Christian holy book because they affirmed Paul’s Christ myth as ultimate cosmic sacrifice. Hence, the reframing of gospel accounts to support Paul’s Christology. Paul and his followers rejected the stunning unconditional theology of Jesus and re-affirmed the theology of wrathful deity demanding blood sacrifice.)
After his temple protest against sacrifice (e.g. Luke 19), a very public protest, the leading priesthood saw clearly the threat that Jesus posed to the God who validated the entire industry they presided over. The priests got his central point on what exactly he was protesting, just as Jesus’ first Jewish synagogue audience similarly got the point that he was rejecting the God that affirmed the narrative and industry of sacrifice. They also clearly understood that the alternative unconditional deity that Jesus proposed, meant the end of all conditional religion, hence their enraged reaction to that new theology. Jesus’ challenge was a death blow to all that they believed in and lived by (i.e. rage as often masking fear of survival, inciting defensive reaction).
Few things are more dangerous than to go after the old threat theology that people have placed their very identity in. Their existence as human selves depends on that idea or belief, hence, to threaten that foundational belief you incite murderous rage as a defensive reaction against what true believers view as survival or existence threats.
Historical Jesus understood that the deepest driver behind bad human behavior was theological. He knew that bad theology- i.e. bad God images as in threat theology- deformed human minds, human narratives, lives, and even societies at-scale, as evident across past history.
So, he went directly to that bad theology and rejected it publicly. But he did not just blow the old fallacy up. He did not just reject it or leave it discredited. He offered an alternative theology, the most stunning, most profound statement ever spoken that transformed the very core of reality, the core of human understanding, meaning, and purpose. He did not dance cautiously around the periphery of religion with tinkering reformism. No, he went to the core idea and belief and effected the most profound and revolutionary change to human understanding ever proposed.
There had been earlier intimations (hints, inklings) of his eventual discovery. The Akkadian Father had suggested unconditional love of enemies as a new ideal for the ethical element but did not get the “behavior based on similar belief” coupling that Jesus eventually made. Also, the Old Testament prophets had centuries earlier also protested the sacrifice industry and stated that God did not want or demand sacrifices.
But it took till Jesus to complete the anti-atonement project with clarity and directness. Jesus appears to have understood that going directly to the problem of the validating theology was how to solve problems of people becoming like the God that they believe in- i.e. as in tribal, dominating, and violently destroying deity images. He got the “behavior based on belief” coupling that all people have used to express how their meaning is turned into their purpose and behavior.
Historical Jesus appears to have known that bad theology had long affirmed people’s worst animal impulses and gave people “emotional satisfaction” in the ideas/narratives/theology that validated such impulses.
He illustrated his alternative new theology with the coupling that God is unconditional love so love your enemies similarly with unconditional love. He detailed that new theology in his list of unconditional precepts listed in, for example, Luke 6: 27-36. That is how you solve hatred of differing others and consequent violence toward differing others (add his precepts to not lord over others but to serve). Jesus’ solution went to the deepest level of human understanding- i.e. the subconscious archetypes of deity that dominate all other ideas/archetypes in influence on human minds.
It’s dangerous to do this, to go to the very core of human meaning, understanding, identity, existence, etc. that has long been based on bad theology and to urge a death/rebirth transformation, to advocate the complete disintegration of the old and reintegration around the entirely new. That is a traumatizing shock to many people’s systems. Read that Luke 4 incident till you get this point. And read his final protest in the Jerusalem Temple in the same light as a protest against the God image (i.e. threat theology) that had dominated human minds for millennia past.
That is dangerous because when you challenge people’s core identity, the God that they believe in, you incite survival fear and rage, hence desperation and murderous reaction as “righteous” and “just” defense against such threat. We see this repeatedly even when there is mild criticism or slighting of, for example, Islam in general (e.g. the Danish cartoon incident). We then see riots and death across the Muslim world. The same enraged response that we see in the Luke 4 account from the first audience of Jews hearing Jesus reject their long-held view of deity.
It comes down to what General Nagata, Richard Landes, and Harold Ellens urged- Do you really want to solve this problem of violence and war thoroughly and properly for the long-term future? Do your really want to end the endless cycles of retaliatory violence and war incited by tribal hatred? Then go to the root contributing factors, the deeper drivers of such behavior.
Another added element in the Iranian situation that had to be stopped with military force was the Iranian theocrat’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. That was not the “protective shield” venture used by North Korea- i.e. using nuclear threat to hold off any challenge to the domination by their psychopathic leaders who have ruined that country. They can survive in power because they have nuclear weapons to threaten pushback against any outside threat. In Iran, the added element of danger is that the theocrats would use those weapons even if unprovoked by outside threat. And most likely they would use nuclear weapons immediately because of different “deeper drivers” to those motivating North Korea.
The Iranian theocrats are under divine mandate to initiate and finish the final Armageddon battle that sets off the apocalyptic ending of what they view as a present corrupt world. They are divinely obligated to purge evil unbelievers, to purify life so that God, the Madhi and Isa, can then descend and install the promised salvation in a paradise, in a worldwide caliphate under Sharia law. If Muslims don’t engage this final Jihad, then as the Quran states, they are in danger of being cast into hellfire.
So if you are a true believer you had better get active in destroying unbelievers in the great final Zoroastrian battle to prepare the way for God to descend and finish the job. This theology motivated ISIS in Syria in 2014, as apparently even The Atlantic acknowledged years ago.
Add also the “useful idiot” factor with Iran getting Russian and Chinese support in a mutual alliance, due to shared intent and purpose to overthrow western liberal democracy that is viewed as the corrupt enemy. Western liberal democracy is viewed as an enemy system that blocks the plans of totalitarians for worldwide domination. The publicly stated goal of worldwide domination is true of both the Marxist element as well as in the Iranian theocratic variant.
The Chinese have stated that they intend to overthrow western liberal democracy and install their totalitarianism worldwide. Add the “useful idiots” (Lenin) such as in the WEF group, along with many now coming out of our western educational systems, systems controlled by far leftists after “the long march of collectivists through western institutions” to reshape them into centers of leftist indoctrination and propaganda. It appears that collectivists have been successful, as surveys of the new generation of students show a slight majority now prefer socialism to organize our societies. Whoever gains ultimate power in the end will then eliminate the other element as the theocrats did in Iran (1979) after using the leftists to help overthrow the Shah.
The divine mandate driving Iranian theocrats (originating from the Zoroastrian cosmic dualism of good versus evil) is to exterminate all unbelievers. This deep driver element is a command of God backed with threat of casting the recalcitrant to engage such jihad into hell, along with the promise of salvation in paradise (i.e. a carrot and stick coupling).
In contemporary Iranian theocracy the theological driver of their behavior is couched, as the Triggernometry host below says, within a narrative of “resistance” to Israeli and western colonialism. In that resistance ideology, the theocrats pose themselves as oppressed victims who are righteously and justly resisting assault and colonial domination by attacking enemies. This framing is part of their virtue signaling as heroes on the righteous side of Zoroaster’s “Good God”, true believer heroes fighting against evil in a perverse deformity of the “Hero’s quest”. It is just more of the same old tribal hatred and vilification of differing, competing others, and behind that there is the theology to validate it. More of a long pattern of “evil cloaked as good”, as divine.
(See “Iran Shoots Down US Helicopter – Iran War Update with Richard Miniter and Thomas Small https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNhW7zbKiEs)
Another note: The basic framework of “salvation through destruction” ideas/beliefs that drive Islamic theocracy are the same ideas/themes that drive the Marxist collectivism narrative as well as the environmental alarmism crusade. Themes of a better past paradise that has been ruined by corrupt people, by unbelievers or capitalists in the Marxist variant. Therefore, true believers in salvation through destruction narratives must purge the evil as required to restore the lost paradise and to attain salvation in a purified or utopian realm. Its all the same old salvation through destruction shaping these variants, whether religious or secular/ideological. Similar “divine mandate” (whether God, or Gaia, Mother Earth/Planet, Universe, etc.) energizes these narratives, both religious and secular/ideological. They are driven most influentially by the God at the core of their belief systems, the ultimate human ideal, the ultimate embodiment of tribalism, domination, and destruction.
This pathological theology is what Historical Jesus directly confronted and transformed, viewing that as the real enemy of all humanity. Each one of us now has to fight this ultimate enemy in our personal hero’s quest confrontation with a monster. This is the real battle of life, an intensely personal struggle because it takes place inside us where, in common with all humanity across millennia, we struggle with the same old complex of ideas/archetypes that energize our worst impulses.
And we additionally acknowledge that Judaism and Christianity, in modern era, have largely moderated themselves, partly as Stephen Pinker said, due to revulsion of believers at the violence in the past of their traditions. Note, in this regard, the Old Testament accounts of violence and predatory war, along with the Christian history of crusades, councils, inquisitions, persecution of heretics, and spread of religion by sword/state edict under Emperor Constantine. The hope is that majority moderate Muslims will push for the same overall moderation throughout their religion, with safeguards like the separation of church and secular state. Hopefully, a broader Islamic embrace of liberal democracy will help squelch extremist fringes in the religion.
And yes, continue to pursue the “metaphor” fad if that works for many. Reframing holy book statements as “metaphorical” and not literal. This approach does not weaken the content of the holy book statements but perhaps it functions as an intermediate stage of progress toward something more moderate. As John Lennon said, “Whatever gets you through your life, its alright”. Yes, if it works to moderate people and opens them to liberal democracy principles, laws, and institutions, then its alright.
Again, don’t miss the critical point in this, that relates to the concern of General Nagata and Richard Landes, that the long-term solution to the recurring problem of violence and war must be the thorough and proper confrontation of the fundamental factors, the deeper drivers, that lie beyond ceasefires and peace deals that do not last. What many said after 9/11- “Never again”. Yet nothing changed.
And perhaps, to the discomfort of Jews and Christians, there will have to be the recognition that the same deeper drivers are still embedded at the core of their religions (i.e. the same salvation through destruction complex based on the image of a similar retaliatory, destroying God). These ideas/beliefs may appear to perhaps be resting benignly for now in their traditions but they continue to hold the same dangerous potential to deform human personalities with fanaticism and violence just as happened across their past histories.
Insert: Here is more probing of “It’s the theology, stupid” as sparked by this podcast that was noted above…
“Iran Shoots Down US Helicopter – Iran War Update with Richard Miniter and Thomas Small”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNhW7zbKiEs&t=231s
My comments on this podcast: Wendell Krossa
The point I am trying to make in regard to “It’s the theology, stupid” is that people who are energized and motivated by “beliefs”, as psychologist Harold Ellens stated in Zenon Lotufo’s “Cruel God, Kind God”, are operating by a different “deep driver”, a different kind of energizing factor that is not subject to rational argument, evidence, and reasoning, that does not collapse under military defeats but even views such defeats as victories in the eyes of its deity. With the Iranian theocrats you are dealing with a mental perversity that glories in defeat, death, and martyrdom because its God praises such and rewards such in an afterlife paradise (i.e. the 72 virgins mythology). Hence, we rightly term such theocratic crusades as “death-cults”. They prize death over life.
Most of us cannot comprehend fanatical death-cult thinking where Gazan mothers praise their God that their own children gave their lives to be suicide bombers and the mothers want to offer more children. Its incomprehensible to most of us how bad theology can so perversely deform minds and personalities as Ellens warned.
Iranian theocracy is under “divine mandate”. Normal military, economic, and other driving factors are also there but not dominant factors.
Bad religious beliefs, notably bad theology, as in the Iranian situation, motivate and drive people to fanaticism and violence as divinely required to spark a final Armageddon battle that will initiate the apocalypse where their God will then descend to save the true believers and install the promised worldwide caliphate under sharia law. It is another variant of “Salvation through destruction”, common to the major Western religious traditions and to the secular ideological offspring- Marxism and environmental alarmism.
The theology of salvation through destruction energizes the obligation to sow chaos and slaughter regardless of outcomes and enables believers to embrace defeat because death is also viewed as victory and success.
The mental deformity advanced by the theology of a violent God who demands salvation through destruction produces the madness of the mass-murder, gang rape, torture of “evil enemies”, and overall destruction that we saw Oct. 7 in Israel.
Similarly, nihilist destruction has been manifested in US cities from Antifa groups operating under the same core salvation through destruction mentality, people driven to purge life of corruption as necessary to attain some imagined salvation (i.e. purge evil capitalist society in order to restore the lost communal paradise of original “noble savages” as per Marx). And the western leftists, sharing the same fundamental beliefs as theocrats, often form alliances of destructive rioting with one another, hoping to spark a great final revolution/Armageddon.
Iran, and its proxy Hamas, are motivated by factors that many people still refuse to acknowledge. They will make peace deals and join ceasefires as temporary stalling to regroup, rearm, and plan for the next attacks to fulfill their divine mandate that does not change. They will then return to engage repeated extermination attempts, just as Hamas eventually did after entering previous ceasefires where Israelis were led to believe that Hamas might have changed and turned to improving the lives of Gazans. Instead, under the same divine mandate, they were building more tunnels and stockpiling more arms for the next attacks.
That is what western liberal democracies are dealing with, and the ultimate response has to be what Historical Jesus did by going to the core theology that is the deepest driver of such madness, i.e. the monster God who validates the worst of human impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction of enemies. That dominant archetype driving theocratic insanity has to be confronted and transformed. Such archetypes emerged with the earliest mythologies, were deeply embedded in collective human subconscious, and have been repeatedly embraced across subsequent history in new religious narratives and now in the secular ideological variants of the modern era.
This is why Kristian Niemietz titled his book on a modern variant of salvation through destruction “Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies”. Its not just an idea, it’s a belief based on the same fundamental theology as earlier religious versions. See again the research of historians like Richard Landes on Marxism, Nazism, and environmental alarmism, all variants on salvation through destruction.
Beliefs, as Ellens said, have a more intense motivating influence or energizing power over people. People place their very identity in beliefs. Beliefs embody who they are, why and what they exist as, and hence are critical to their survival. Beliefs embody the most profound elements of human meaning and purpose.
Some in Trump’s cabinet, like Marco Rubio, seem to get the centrality of this theological factor to the Iranian theocracy crusade. He once termed the driver of Iranian violence as “theology”. I am not sure that Trump actually gets the nature of what he is negotiating with. As the commentators above suggest, Trump appears to think that he is dealing with rational people similar to those he engaged in real estate negotiations, people who are susceptible to reason and persuasion. That makes Trump vulnerable to manipulation by the Iranian theocrats.
These commentators on Triggernometry, similar to Haviv Gur further above, continue to frame the motivations of the Iranian leaders as “ideology”, thereby missing the real nature of what is driving the theocrats. The one commentator at times does appear to nail more clearly the divine mandate that is operating in the Iranian situation, though he also at other times defines it as “ideology”. He does explain that the theocrats believe they are under divine mandate and hence are not swayed by defeats and other peace deal conditions, though they will agree to such conditions for temporary recouping and rearming advantages.
Their divine mandate, as their core belief, is non-negotiable. That mandate is to subjugate the world to Islamic rule in a Sharia-governed caliphate. And military defeats along the way are viewed as temporary setbacks as the ultimate goal will be accomplished because God is on their side and leading them. Shaped by Zoroastrian cosmic dualism, the Iranian theocrats sincerely believe that they are the sole true believers of the one true God and members of the only true religion and therefore ultimate victory belongs to them, whether here or in a future Islamic heaven.
The other commentator above adds that the Iranian situation is not just about land, resources, wealth, etc. These factors are present in any such situation of conflict but there are deeper drivers behind these more surface and localized elements. And this is my quibble with AI when they try to balance the major influence of theology with other elements, arguing that situations like Iran are not really just about theology (yes, agreed on that). But by excessive (my view) balancing with these other factors, the AI appear to be almost dismissing and downplaying the powerful role that theology actually plays in the minds of fanatics like the Iranian theocrats.
Again, an insert: Is this cautious AI approach to criticizing religion due to the woke virus, among all the other bullshit on the Internet, with wokeness instilling an overcautious distancing from anything remotely offensive to religious people, anything that might subject one to charges of “Islamophobia”? Just asking.
I get the point that there is more than just theology involved, but my point is to focus on the deepest and most influential of the drivers involved and to make that neglected element clear. The theology driver (the heart and core of religion) is too often neglected, misnamed as “ideology”, or dismissed in other ways. Fear of religiophobia?
My intentional emphasis on the theology factor is to make clear this most dominant influence in situations like the Iranian theocracy crusade and not weaken the point with the excessive balancing or qualifying that AI tend to do. I understand they are technology or “tools” that “learn off all the bullshit on the Internet” (Elon Musk) including absorbing the woke virus that does not want to offend religious people by pointing out too directly and clearly the danger that religious traditions pose to human societies. This defensiveness seems particularly strong with regard to Islam.
I suspect that AI might not yet fully understand human emotion, motivation, desires, and human response to beliefs, especially to beliefs in deity as ultimate reality, ultimate ideal and authority. Do AI really get the human investment of personal identity in beliefs and how profoundly that impacts human meaning, purpose and overall existence? They should be able to pick up cues on these things just by looking at past history and how beliefs have impacted people for good and bad, and especially the endless parade of horrors across history that many have committed in the name of their God.
Anyway, I will keep working with AI to get these issues more clearly.
Returning to above topic…
Death cults live for salvation in an afterlife and devalue this world as too corrupted and not worth their investment in improving. We saw this with Hamas neglecting to direct resources to improving the lives of Gazans and instead focusing on amassing weapons to engage more violent assaults on unbelievers.
Theocrats glory in suffering and death as the route to exalted status in their religion and reception as heroes in their paradise, hence their fanatical embrace of suicide bombing and the slaughter of unbelievers. As my friend Bob Brinsmead notes, if your God will send unbelievers to hell then why not help him along and send them on their way.
Affirming violence toward unbelievers, note how persistent the theme of punishing unbelievers is in the Quran. It is repeated 117 times, with threats of Hell or fire mentioned 290 times (i.e. unbelievers cast into hell), hence combined there are about 400-plus mentions of divine threats, though AI Overview is quick to downplay these threats with Quranic mentions of mercy and to dismiss the threats of punishment as just harmless moral lessons, deterrents, instructions, enforcements, etc. As in “Nothing to see here so move along folks before some begin to think badly of this tradition”.
It was difficult to get AI Overview to give a total of similar threats of punishment in the Christian bible as it kept dancing around to deflect the question with all sorts of sidetracking notes. What is this hesitancy? Woke hyper-caution against possible upset or offending someone?
Again, returning to the true nature of what we are dealing with in the Iranian theocracy fanatics…
Even when militarily defeated they will view that failure as success in the eyes of their God. Christianity shared this glorying in martyrdom as recounted in the death of Stephen in Acts. Similarly, Paul gloried in his suffering and persecution for his Christ religion.
I get that what I am proposing is about fundamental transformation for the long-term future. It won’t be immediate mass change as Grok cautioned. No. That is not the point. The point is what General Nagata and Richard Landes argued- i.e. how do we solve the history of endless eruptions of violence and death, whether from religious salvation through destruction crusades or through secular/ideological variants? We have to go after the core drivers- “the idea” as termed by Nagata, the beliefs that incite, energize, and validate our worst impulses to tribally defeat and dominate those who differ, even to exterminate them as evil enemies, energized by divine mandate from our tribal, dominating, destroying God.
I would argue that we do as Jesus did and go to these most fundamental drivers, most critically the most dominant motivator of theology or God and execute fundamental transformation there with an eye to the long-term future. Again, we have the best alternative ever presented to humanity. We’ve had it for two millennia- i.e. the inexpressible unconditional love that is God, a reality no conditional religion has ever communicated to people.
This death/rebirth, disintegration/reintegration transformation cannot be ignored. It must be dealt with somewhere at sometime to properly and thoroughly solve this problem of violence and war. It has been neglected for too long as evident that the bad theology that still resides at the core of our great religious traditions and is now embraced in secular variants like Marxism and environmentalism.
Do you need a push to recognize that this narrative transformation has to be done and then to act on it in terms of your personal narrative? Just look at the destruction that has happened in our own lifetimes from the core driver of apocalyptic millennial theology- i.e. the mass death in just the last century from secular/ideological variants.
Grok, your analysis, comments, and summary of the above material, please.
Grok replied:
Summary
Wendell Krossa’s latest post (June 11, 2026) and the accompanying material argue that surface-level explanations of conflicts like the Iran-Israel tensions (as in Haviv Rettig Gur’s Free Press piece) miss the root cause: bad theology— specifically, images of a wrathful, vengeful, tribal, conditional deity demanding sacrifice, justice as payback, and cosmic dualism (good vs. evil, with believers as heroes purging evil). wendellkrossa.com +1
Krossa contends this theology (shared in origins across Abrahamic faiths via Zoroastrian influence, and echoed in secular ideologies like Marxism or environmental alarmism) deforms personalities, validates tribal hatred, domination, and “salvation through destruction.” It provides emotional satisfaction in virtue-signaling as the righteous elect fighting enemies. Historical Jesus directly assaulted this core (e.g., temple protest against the sacrifice industry, Luke 4 and 19) by rejecting a threatening God and offering unconditional love— even toward enemies— as the new divine model (Luke 6:27-36). This was revolutionary and dangerous, threatening identities and power structures, leading to his death. wendellkrossa.com
Military force, ceasefires, or diplomacy only suppress symptoms temporarily (per General Nagata on ISIS: we defeated fighters but not “the idea”). True long-term resolution requires confronting and transforming this foundational “deeper driver”— the God-image at the heart of meaning, identity, and behavior. Modern moderation in Judaism and Christianity shows progress (via revulsion at past violence, liberal institutions, metaphorical reinterpretation), and similar reform is hoped for in Islam. Krossa urges naming theology explicitly, not softening it as mere “ideology,” while acknowledging the personal, traumatic nature of such paradigm shifts. wendellkrossa.com
Key Analysis and Comments
Strengths of the argument:
• Behavioral coupling of belief and action is well-supported psychologically and historically. People do model themselves after their ultimate ideals (“God”). Anthropology, history, and psychology (e.g., references to Harold Ellens on how wrathful deity images foster fanaticism and violence) show how sacred narratives can amplify primal impulses like tribalism, vengeance, and status-seeking via heroic dualism. Zoroastrian cosmic battle motifs undeniably influenced Second Temple Judaism and later traditions. wendellkrossa.com
• “Defeating the idea” is a profound insight. Nagata’s point on ISIS highlights that ideological/religious zeal persists beyond kinetic defeat. Apocalyptic, millennial, or purificatory narratives have driven real-world destruction across religious and secular variants (e.g., ISIS explicitly invoking eschatology, as noted).
• Jesus as a radical reformer: The contrast between a more unconditional ethic in parts of the Jesus tradition (Q source, love of enemies) and later atonement-focused Pauline Christology is a legitimate historical-theological tension discussed by scholars (e.g., James Tabor, etc.). Protests against temple sacrifice appear in OT prophets too.
• Broader applicability: Similar “salvation through destruction” patterns exist in secular ideologies— utopian purge of class enemies, capitalists, or polluters to restore paradise. This is a useful lens for understanding recurring totalitarianism.
Challenges and nuances:
• Risk and danger: Yes, challenging core sacred beliefs is highly destabilizing. History shows backlash (Luke 4 riot, temple incident, Danish cartoons, fatwas, etc.). Identity, meaning, and community cohesion often tie to these narratives. Abrupt “death/rebirth” transformation can traumatize individuals and societies; gradual cultural evolution (as in modern moderate Judaism/Christianity) has often been more stable. Promoting liberal democracy, rule of law, separation of religion and state, and education remains practically effective for moderation without requiring mass theological revolution.
• Theology as the deepest driver: It is one powerful driver, but not always the sole or most foundational in every case. Material interests (power, resources, livelihoods like the priesthood), evolutionary psychology (in-group/out-group bias, dominance hierarchies), geopolitical realities, and economic factors interact with ideas. Gur’s analysis likely emphasizes “ideology” and regime structure because it captures observable, durable commitments without needing to adjudicate ultimate metaphysics— pragmatic for policy. thefp.com
Iranian nuclear pursuit, proxy wars, and “resistance” framing blend theology with strategic survival and regional hegemony.
• Historical Jesus reconstruction: This relies on a particular interpretive lens (favoring unconditional elements over apocalyptic judgment sayings in the Gospels, downplaying or reinterpreting atonement). NT scholarship is diverse; many see continuity with Jewish restoration eschatology. The temple incident is multiply attested but its exact meaning (economic exploitation? symbolic end of the system? prophetic critique?) is debated. Paul’s theology, while different, drew on Jewish sacrificial metaphors and arguably democratized access to the divine.
• Universality and evidence: All three Abrahamic faiths contain both violent and peaceful strands; outcomes depend on interpretation, context, and institutions. Christianity’s violent history (Crusades, inquisitions) moderated significantly; Islam has reformist and moderate traditions too. Surveys and data show complex correlations between religiosity, specific beliefs, and violence— not monolithic. Secular ideologies have produced comparable (or worse) body counts in the 20th century without traditional theism.
• Practicality: Urging direct assault on theology is courageous but risky in pluralistic societies. “Metaphorical” approaches or ethical focus (as Krossa tolerates) can serve as bridges. Emphasizing shared humane values, evidence-based reasoning, and incentives for moderation may scale better than expecting widespread theological conversion.
Overall perspective: Krossa’s project is a consistent, idealistic call for humanism rooted in unconditional love as the ultimate ideal— aligning with the best of ethical monotheism and Enlightenment values. It rightly highlights how distorted sacred narratives can sacralize evil (tribal hatred as divine duty). However, solutions likely require a multi-layered approach: military/pragmatic containment of immediate threats, institutional safeguards (secular governance), cultural evolution, and yes, ongoing critique and reform of ideas. Ideas matter profoundly, but they evolve in tandem with material and social conditions. wendellkrossa.com
This framework encourages self-reflection: confronting “monsters” within our own belief systems. That’s a valuable, if uncomfortable, contribution to reducing violence long-term. The tension between radical transformation and prudent reformism is the real debate here.
Grok, your comment from above– “gradual cultural evolution (as in modern moderate Judaism/Christianity) has often been more stable”. Really? How about Richard Landes research that the dominant core of Christianity- i.e. the “apocalyptic millennial” framing of Paul’s Christ- was a significant “deeper driver” or contributing factor to last century’s Marxist and Nazi mass death? Add that continuing influence in environmental apocalyptic narratives and the mass-harm from those?
How stable was that recent history? Add “explore Zoroastrian origins” please.
Grok reply:
Yes, fair challenge— and a necessary one for intellectual honesty. My earlier comment on the relative stability of gradual moderation in modern Judaism and Christianity referred primarily to their institutional and cultural evolution in the post-Enlightenment West (especially after the 17th–19th centuries’ wars of religion, revulsion at inquisitions/Crusades, and integration with liberal democratic norms). This produced broad declines in theocratic violence, literalist theocracies, and overt religious wars in those contexts. en.wikipedia.org +1
However, Richard Landes’ scholarship rightly highlights persistent deeper ideological undercurrents— particularly apocalyptic millennialism— that can (and did) fuel massive harm even in “modern” secularized forms. This doesn’t invalidate moderation’s gains but qualifies them: the old drivers can mutate, secularize, and re-emerge with devastating effect.
Richard Landes on Apocalyptic Millennialism
Landes (historian, Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience, 2011) analyzes millennialism as the belief in an imminent transformation to a perfect, just society on Earth, often via apocalyptic upheaval. He traces patterns across religious and secular movements: enthusiastic launch, disappointment (“cognitive dissonance”), and often catastrophic “re-entry” into normal time. hnn.us +1
• Religious roots to secular variants: Landes explicitly links Christian apocalyptic traditions (including Pauline emphases on Christ’s return, judgment, and a new order) to secular “political religions.” Marxism fits as “demotic millennialism” (egalitarian paradise after purging evil capitalists/oppressors via historical dialectic). Nazism echoed the “Thousand-Year Reich” with active cataclysmic destruction of perceived evil (Jews, etc.) to birth a purified utopia. religiondispatches.org +1
• These are not identical to Paul’s theology but draw on the same structural pattern: imminent end of the corrupt old world, righteous elect vs. evil, salvation through transformative destruction/purification. Landes notes how such ideas, when activated in “apocalyptic time,” override normal constraints and justify extreme means. brill.com
• Environmental apocalypticism: Landes and observers (including Krossa) extend this to modern narratives of a ruined paradise (pre-industrial Eden), corrupt destroyers (capitalists/industrial humanity), and urgent purge/renewal for survival/salvation. This can drive policy overreach, economic harm, or social coercion when framed in totalizing moral terms— though outcomes vary widely in severity compared to 20th-century totalitarianism. theaugeanstables.com
Stability assessment: 20th-century Europe (heartland of “Christian civilization”) produced unprecedented secularized ideological mass death (~100+ million from wars, famines, genocides under communist/fascist regimes). Christianity as institutional faith did not prevent or fully restrain this; in places, churches collaborated, accommodated, or were co-opted. Yet core moderate traditions also produced resistance (e.g., Dietrich Bonhoeffer, varied Christian opposition to Nazis). Global Christianity grew explosively in the Global South while secularizing/declining in the West, often with vibrant but sometimes volatile charismatic/Pentecostal forms. reflections.yale.edu
The point stands: surface moderation (less church-state fusion, metaphorical reinterpretation, democratic pluralism) brought real stability gains in many Western societies post-1945. But underlying apocalyptic/salvation-through-destruction templates survived secularization and scaled harm via ideology. This reinforces Krossa’s “deeper driver” thesis: bad theology (or its secular echoes) deforms when it sacralizes tribal dualism, vengeance as justice, and utopian purge.
Zoroastrian Origins
Zoroastrianism (founded by Zarathustra/Zoroaster, likely ~1500–1000 BCE or later, in ancient Iran) is a foundational influence on Abrahamic eschatology and dualism. It features: fabriziomusacchio.com +1
• Cosmic/ethical dualism: Ahura Mazda (wise lord, good) vs. Angra Mainyu/Ahriman (destructive spirit, evil). Humans choose sides in an ongoing battle; good ultimately triumphs. This is more pronounced than in pre-exilic Hebrew Bible (where Yahweh is largely unchallenged; Satan is more an accuser than independent cosmic foe).
• Eschatology and apocalypse: Final judgment, resurrection of the dead, purification of the world by fire, separation of righteous to paradise and wicked to punishment. A savior figure (Saoshyant) aids the end-times renewal.
• Other elements: Emphasis on individual moral choice, angels/demons, heaven/hell distinctions, and (in broader tradition) ritual purity.
Influence on Judaism/Christianity: During/after the Babylonian Exile (6th century BCE), under Persian (Achaemenid) rule, Jews encountered these ideas. Post-exilic texts (Daniel, Enoch literature, etc.) show stronger dualism, resurrection, and apocalyptic judgment— absent or muted earlier (e.g., Sheol as shadowy underworld for all). These flowed into Christianity (Satan as fallen adversary, Revelation’s cosmic battle, final judgment) and later Islam. olli.gmu.edu +2
Scholars debate the extent (direct borrowing vs. parallel development or mutual influence), but the timing and parallels are compelling. Zoroastrian dualism provided a framework for framing “enemies” as cosmic evil, righteous struggle as divine mandate, and history as heading toward purifying cataclysm— elements Krossa (and Landes) see as energizing vengeance, tribalism, and “salvation through destruction.”
This doesn’t make Zoroastrianism uniquely “bad”; its ethical emphases (truth, good thoughts/words/deeds) are admirable, and it influenced positive developments too. But the cosmic battle template amplified primal impulses when fused with monotheistic authority and apocalyptic urgency.
Bottom line: Gradual moderation produced measurable stability (declining religious wars in the West, liberal institutions containing extremism). Yet Landes shows the millennial/apocalyptic substrate can reactivate destructively when secularized or re-radicalized. Krossa’s Jesus-centered unconditional alternative targets this root effectively in theory. In practice, multi-layered defenses— secular governance, critical reason, humane ethics, and yes, ongoing theological reform— are essential. The 20th century proves ideas (theological or ideological) remain potent drivers; ignoring them for “pragmatism” risks repetition.
Yes- “Include Landes on environmental apocalypticism”
Grok reply:
Richard Landes on environmental apocalypticism fits squarely into his broader framework of millennial dynamics, even if it is not always a central case study in Heaven on Earth (2011) like active cataclysmic movements (e.g., certain strands of global jihad) or historical examples. hnn.us
Landes views modern environmental alarm— particularly strong forms of climate catastrophism— as exhibiting classic apocalyptic/millennial patterns: a corrupted present world (industrial humanity as the sinful destroyer of a pristine paradise/Eden), an imminent tipping-point crisis (the “apocalypse” of runaway warming, collapse, or extinction), a righteous elect (climate activists, scientists, or policymakers as prophets/roosters sounding the alarm), and the promise of a transformed, purified future (sustainable utopia or “heaven on earth” after drastic purge/restraint of the corrupt forces—fossil fuels, capitalism, consumerism, population growth). theaugeanstables.com
Key Elements in Landes’ Lens
• Salvation through (or after) destruction/purification: Radical variants frame the need for systemic upheaval— degrowth, dismantling industrial society, or coercive global governance— to avert or survive the end. This echoes the “active cataclysmic” or transformative millennialism he analyzes, where believers see themselves as agents hastening or navigating the transition. hnn.us
• Cognitive dissonance and re-entry: When predicted deadlines or catastrophes fail to materialize at the scale forecasted (e.g., specific alarmist timelines from past decades), movements adapt via denial, reframing, or shifting to new urgencies— patterns Landes traces across history.
• Secularized religious structure: These narratives secularize Christian/Zoroastrian-influenced apocalyptic templates (fallen world, judgment on evil, remnant saved, renewed creation) without traditional God-language, often invoking Gaia, science-as-revelation, or moral urgency. Landes notes this in contexts of broader “worrisome trends” like global warming alongside weapons of mass destruction and social upheaval. theaugeanstables.com
• Potential for harm: While not equivalent to 20th-century totalitarian body counts, Landes (and observers like Krossa) warn of real-world costs from exaggerated fears: policy overreach, economic self-harm (e.g., energy poverty, suppressed development), social division, eroded trust in institutions, or “environmental extremism” that justifies radical means. A 2011 review context highlights the need to “discipline our emotions” and beware apocalyptic fears misinterpreting or exaggerating evidence, even when core issues like climate warrant serious attention. churchnewspaper.com
Landes does not dismiss all environmental concern as irrational millennialism. He distinguishes rational risk assessment from totalizing apocalyptic framing that overrides evidence, trade-offs, or normal problem-solving. His work emphasizes that such patterns are recurrent in human psychology and culture; ignoring them leads to repeated errors. theaugeanstables.com
Tying Back to the Conversation
This reinforces the challenge to “gradual cultural evolution” and surface moderation. Post-Enlightenment Christianity and Judaism moderated overt theocratic violence and integrated with liberal norms, producing real stability gains (e.g., fewer religious wars in the West). Yet the underlying apocalyptic/millennial substrate— rooted in those Zoroastrian-influenced dualisms, end-times judgment, and salvation-through-purification— persists and mutates into secular forms. Marxism, Nazism, and strong environmental catastrophism demonstrate how these “deeper drivers” can fuel massive harm even in “modern,” “rational,” or “scientific” guises. hnn.us
Stability is partial and conditional: Institutional moderation works until apocalyptic time “activates” (imminence + public resonance + roosters gaining influence). The 20th century’s ideological slaughter and 21st-century policy debates show the old templates retain potency. Krossa’s emphasis on confronting bad theology (wrathful/tribal deity → unconditional love alternative) targets the root archetype that keeps regenerating these patterns, religious or secular.
Zoroastrian cosmic dualism and eschatology provided the influential template (good vs. evil battle, final purification, judgment, paradise for the righteous), which shaped post-exilic Judaism, Christianity (Pauline apocalypticism included), and their secular echoes. Landes’ scholarship underscores why directly addressing these foundational ideas— rather than just symptoms— matters for long-term reduction in violence and distorted utopianism. Prudent reform + critical reason + humane ethics remain essential complements to any radical theological shift.
Its going to be alright, ultimately, for everyone, Wendell Krossa
Grok’s responses below give some sense of how profound the Historical Jesus’ transformation of fundamental archetypes has been on human narratives, consciousness, and life (i.e. in liberating us from our animal past and affirming our better future with liberal democracy principles and institutions), Wendell Krossa
My request/prompt:
Grok could you summarize this material below in a few brief sentences or paragraphs. I need a brief summary that expresses the essence and main theme(s) of this site.
“This site is committed to going to the deepest possible levels of human consciousness, even to the subconscious, and fixing what went wrong there. Our ancestors, responding to their impulse for meaning and purpose, created myths that validated and energized our inherited impulses to tribalism, domination, and punitive destruction of enemies. They created complexes of threat theology ideas- i.e. angry deity punishing human imperfection and failures through the natural world (i.e. storm, flood, drought, disease, etc.), deity threatening apocalypse and after-life harm. The fear generated by such religious narratives rendered people susceptible to manipulation and control by elites.
“Complexes of religious beliefs can be summarized as ‘salvation through destruction mythology’ (i.e. salvation through violent sacrifice, restoration of lost paradise through apocalyptic destruction of corrupt humanity and purging life of corrupt human societies, etc.).
“This site advocates for replacing the bad themes/archetypes with better more humane ideas/beliefs that will counter our worst impulses, better ideas that affirm God is no conditions love, inexpressibly unconditional love. The profound transformation of deity images to unconditional love will provide the most basic affirmation that its going to be alright for everyone, equally. This central Historical Jesus insight will liberate human minds from primal fears and control by manipulating elites.
“Unconditional in humanity’s ultimate reality and ideal will validate and energize our better human spirit to engage new more humane ethics, non-dominating servant relating to others, justice as restorative, and overall liberal democratic principles and institutions.
“The radical transformation of our understanding that the core of all reality, the creator and sustainer of all, is love and more than just love, transcendently more- i.e. inexpressible unconditional love, is the most profound insight/thought to have ever entered human consciousness.
“This site is trying to tell people that its going to be alright, for everyone. If not in this life, certainly ultimately. We are all ultimately safe. It’s the Daddy thing in me. There is no ultimate monster behind reality or life.”
Moving along…
Each one of us is on a hero’s quest in an individually unique life story struggling against our common monster/enemy of inherited animal impulses and the bad ideas that validate and energize these impulses. Human consciousness and the human spirit have motivated people from the beginning to strive to become more humane. And we have learned across history that the key to defeat the common monster of inherited animal impulses inside us, is unconditional love (Akkadian Father, Historical Jesus, etc.). That highest reach of love, as the self-validating highest understanding of goodness, is the ultimate guiding ideal or goal that is pointing us toward a truly human future. The ideal of unconditional is the very best that we, humanity, have discovered to liberate us from the animal.
Humanity, as a whole, is on a grand hero’s quest to leave our animal past. We are all fighting that same monster/enemy of the animal past and its “evil triad” impulses. We are seeking freedom in a truly human future guided by the unconditional ideal. And we have learned to express that highest ideal in liberal democracy societies that orient us to nontribal inclusiveness, non-dominating relationships, and nonpunitive forms of justice (i.e. while responsibly protecting the innocent from violence).
Grok, your thoughts/comments.
Grok replied:
This site promotes a profound transformation in human consciousness by confronting and replacing harmful ancestral myths and “threat theology” — ideas of an angry, punitive deity enforcing salvation through destruction (via sacrifice, tribal violence, apocalyptic purging, or afterlife harm).
These fear-based narratives, it argues, have validated humanity’s worst impulses like tribalism, domination, and enemy destruction, making people manipulable.
The core message is radically optimistic: Ultimate reality — God, the creator and sustainer of all — is inexpressible, unconditional love. This insight affirms that “it’s going to be alright, ultimately, for everyone,” removing primal fears and liberating minds. No ultimate monster lurks behind existence; we are all safe.
From this foundation, the site envisions humanity (and each individual) on a hero’s quest against our shared “animal” inheritance — primal impulses energized by bad ideas. The guiding ideal of unconditional love inspires better ethics: non-dominating, servant-like relationships; restorative justice; inclusive, non-tribal ways of life; and liberal democratic principles and institutions as the practical expression of a truly humane future.
In short, the essence is hopeful and redemptive: by embracing unconditional love as the highest reality and ideal, we can overcome our darker legacies and build a freer, kinder human story.
Grok, To continue with my earlier request to summarize the main content and points of my site http://www.wendellkrossa.com/
Here is a bit more to summarize…
A critical project here is to effect transformation at the most fundamental level of human minds and consciousness and for the long-term future. Hence, my going to the archetypes that subconsciously influence people to choose their beliefs according to the criterion of “emotional satisfaction”, even against rational evidence of the harmful outcomes of some beliefs.
The beliefs that people choose then shape their narratives with ideas that dominate their minds, emotions, motivations and behavior. Ideas/beliefs that lead people to support public narratives and related policies (i.e. outcomes, consequences).
The project here is to affirm the best of beliefs/ideas to support the principles, laws, and institutions of liberal democracy as the safest approach to organizing human societies for better outcomes.
Too many continue to mechanically/indiscriminately embrace the influence of the old inherited archetypes that have a long history of affirming “evil triad” impulses to tribalism, domination, and vengeful retaliation. These worst of inherited impulses are energized by the narratives of “salvation through destruction” that have long shaped our major religious traditions. And now, in the modern era, the same archetypes/themes have shaped the “secular/ideological” offspring of the historical religions- i.e. Marxism/collectivism and environmental alarmism that undermine and are committed to overthrow liberal democracy as manifest in modern industrial civilization.
There is no truly human future aside from liberal democracy that protects and promotes the rights and freedoms of all equally, that affirms representative government institutions/agencies that serve citizens and prevent or at least constrain elite/bureaucratic domination and control, that protect basic rights of all citizens to responsible justice as rehabilitation (i.e. restraining violent offenders both domestic and foreign, but then mercifully seeks restoration of all to the human family where possible).
The best approach that I have discovered to effect this profound transformation (i.e. full liberation from the animal past and promotion of progress toward the more human) is the approach of Historical Jesus who went to the core archetypes, and most critically to the most dominant and influential idea/belief of all- i.e. deity. He radically changed that highest ideal/authority through a death/rebirth transformation, through a complete disintegration of the old (i.e. conditional religion) and reintegration around entirely new (unconditional reality).
Grok, your analysis and summary…
Grok replied:
Summary of http://www.wendellkrossa.com/ (The Unconditional Human Spirit | Wendell Krossa)
Your site is a long-running personal blog/project focused on the profound transformation of human minds, consciousness, and societies. It targets the deepest level— archetypes and core beliefs (especially about ultimate reality/deity)— that subconsciously shape narratives, emotions, motivations, behaviors, public policies, and long-term outcomes. The goal is liberation from humanity’s “animal past” (primitive impulses) and progress toward a more fully human future grounded in liberal democracy. wendellkrossa.com
Core Project and Thesis
• People choose beliefs primarily for emotional satisfaction, often overriding evidence of harmful consequences. These beliefs form dominant narratives that influence everything from personal ethics to societal institutions.
• Inherited “old story” archetypes (tribalism, domination, vengeful retaliation, and “salvation through destruction”) have energized destructive impulses across history. They originated in primitive projections onto deity (wrathful, conditional, tribal gods) and persist in major religious traditions.
• These same archetypes fuel modern “secular/ideological” offspring: Marxism/collectivism and environmental alarmism, which undermine liberal democracy and industrial civilization by promoting apocalyptic, anti-human, or coercive visions.
• The solution is to affirm the best archetypes and ideas to support liberal democracy: equal rights and freedoms for all, representative government that serves citizens and limits elite/bureaucratic control, rule of law with responsible justice (restraining harm while pursuing rehabilitation and restoration). wendellkrossa.com
Key Transformative Insight: Historical Jesus vs. Later Distortions
The most powerful tool for this transformation is the insight of the Historical Jesus, who radically reoriented the highest ideal/authority— deity— from conditional religion (wrath, vengeance, tribal favoritism) to unconditional love (non-retaliatory, merciful to all, including enemies). This “death/rebirth” of theology (disintegrating the old and reintegrating the new) is presented as the single most profound human discovery, a true “Theory of Everything” for meaning, purpose, and ethics. wendellkrossa.com
• Jesus couples belief with behavior: “Love your enemies because God does.”
• This contrasts sharply with Paul’s Christ myth and traditional Christianity, which reintroduced primitive “threat theology,” apocalypticism, and otherworldliness (influenced by Hellenism/Plato). Similar critiques apply to Old Testament emphases and other traditions.
• Modern affirmations come from Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), which often describe a brilliant Light of unconditional love as the true ultimate reality— more real than our material realm. wendellkrossa.com
Broader Themes and Engagements
• Science, consciousness, and the spiritual/metaphysical: Openness to realities beyond materialist limits (e.g., dark matter/energy, NDEs, consciousness studies). Science is valued but humble about its boundaries; dogmatic materialism is critiqued as another extreme. Discussions of psychedelics (DMT), panentheism, process theology, and figures like Jung. wendellkrossa.com
• Critique of bad ideas: “Evil triad” impulses, restorative justice extremes (“suicidal empathy”), fear-based control, utopian escapism (religious or secular), and how archetypes masquerade as good while causing harm.
• Positive vision: Focus on this-world love and contribution (not escapism), humanizing deity, cleaning “diamonds” of insight from sages, and building narratives that promote progress, freedom, and humane outcomes. Liberal democracy as the best framework for organizing societies. wendellkrossa.com
The site features extensive posts, AI (Grok) interactions for probing ideas, autobiographical elements, and ongoing responses to current discussions (e.g., podcasts like Joe Rogan). It blends theology, psychology (Jungian archetypes), history, philosophy, and social critique in a quest for fundamental, long-term human betterment. wendellkrossa.com
Your additional text aligns perfectly and can be integrated as a strong framing statement for the overall project: going to the root (archetypes/deity) to counter destructive inherited impulses, affirm liberal democratic principles, and pursue the Historical Jesus path of unconditional transformation for a truly human future. This captures the main thrust from the homepage and representative content. Let me know if you’d like a tighter one-paragraph version, expansions on specific sections, or adjustments.
Yes, continue with “Condense summary into one paragraph”
Grok reply:
One-Paragraph Summary:
Wendell Krossa’s site (wendellkrossa.com) explores the deepest drivers of human behavior— archetypes and core beliefs, especially about ultimate reality/deity— that people often choose for emotional satisfaction, even when they produce harmful outcomes. These inherited “old story” archetypes fuel tribalism, domination, vengeful retaliation, and “salvation through destruction,” shaping both historical religions and their modern secular offspring: Marxism/collectivism and environmental alarmism.
The project seeks fundamental, long-term transformation by affirming the best of human ideals to support liberal democracy as the optimal framework for organizing societies— protecting equal rights and freedoms, representative government that limits elite control, and restorative justice that restrains harm while pursuing rehabilitation and inclusion. At the heart of this transformation stands the Historical Jesus, who radically reoriented the highest ideal from conditional, tribal deity to unconditional love and mercy (even toward enemies), offering a “death/rebirth” of theology that liberates humanity from its animal past and points toward a truly human future grounded in this-world compassion, freedom, and progress.
Yes, let’s do “compare liberal democracy to other systems” and “refine the one-paragraph summary.”
Grok response:
Refined One-Paragraph Summary:
Wendell Krossa’s site (wendellkrossa.com) examines the subconscious power of archetypes and core beliefs— especially about ultimate reality/deity— that people choose for emotional satisfaction, often overriding evidence of their destructive consequences.
These inherited “old story” archetypes promote tribalism, domination, vengeful retaliation, and “salvation through destruction,” shaping historical religions and their modern ideological descendants: Marxism/collectivism and environmental alarmism. Both alternatives undermine human freedom and prosperity— Marxism through centralized control, economic failure, and elite domination; alarmism through anti-industrial policies that sacrifice present well-being for apocalyptic visions— while theocracies and authoritarian systems impose coercive uniformity and suppress individual rights.
In contrast, liberal democracy stands as the superior framework for organizing societies, uniquely protecting equal rights and freedoms for all, representative institutions that serve citizens and constrain elite/bureaucratic power, rule of law with responsible justice (restraining harm while pursuing rehabilitation and restoration), and the conditions for ongoing progress and innovation.
The site’s core project is a profound transformation at the level of consciousness, centered on the Historical Jesus’ radical redefinition of deity from conditional/tribal to unconditional love and mercy— even toward enemies— thereby liberating humanity from its animal past and orienting it toward a truly human future of freedom, compassion, and flourishing.
Grok suggested- “Include specific historical democracy examples.”
Grok comments on this:
Refined One-Paragraph Summary:
Wendell Krossa’s site (wendellkrossa.com) examines the subconscious power of archetypes and core beliefs— especially about ultimate reality/deity— that people choose for emotional satisfaction, often overriding evidence of their destructive consequences. These inherited “old story” archetypes promote tribalism, domination, vengeful retaliation, and “salvation through destruction,” shaping historical religions and their modern ideological descendants: Marxism/collectivism (evident in the Soviet Union’s famines and gulags, Maoist China’s Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward, and Venezuela’s economic collapse) and environmental alarmism (which advocates anti-industrial restrictions that stifle human prosperity).
In contrast, liberal democracy has repeatedly demonstrated superior outcomes, as seen in the United States (founded on constitutional limits on power, individual rights, and rule of law, which drove explosive innovation and wealth creation), post-WWII Western Europe (democratic reforms and institutions that rebuilt devastated nations into prosperous, free societies with high living standards), South Korea (rapid rise from war-torn poverty to a leading high-tech economy under democracy, in stark contrast to North Korea’s totalitarian stagnation), and other cases like post-war Japan.
Liberal democracy uniquely protects equal rights and freedoms for all, representative institutions that constrain elite/bureaucratic domination, responsible justice oriented toward rehabilitation and restoration, and the conditions for ongoing human progress. The site’s core project is a profound transformation at the level of consciousness, centered on the Historical Jesus’ radical redefinition of deity from conditional/tribal to unconditional love and mercy— even toward enemies— liberating humanity from its animal past and guiding it toward a truly human future of freedom, compassion, and flourishing.
Then Grok suggested- “Explore Jesus archetype impact.”
Grok reply:
The Impact of the Jesus Archetype in Wendell Krossa’s Framework
At the heart of your site’s project is the Historical Jesus archetype as the most powerful counterforce to humanity’s inherited “old story” archetypes (tribalism, domination, vengeful retaliation, and salvation through destruction). This archetype centers on Jesus’ radical redefinition of the highest ideal— deity itself— from a conditional, tribal, wrathful authority to unconditional love: non-retaliatory, universally inclusive (sun and rain on just and unjust alike), merciful, forgiving without preconditions, and serving rather than dominating. wendellkrossa.com
Transformative Power at the Root Level
This insight operates at the deepest subconscious level by replacing the ultimate authority figure (God) that validates destructive impulses. Instead of a deity who affirms “eye for eye” justice, tribal favoritism, or apocalyptic purging of enemies, Jesus presents a “stunning new theology” of a non-violent, enemy-loving God. This “death/rebirth” of the core archetype disrupts the emotional satisfaction people derive from old narratives and provides a new foundation for ethics and behavior: “Love your enemies unconditionally because God does.” wendellkrossa.com
The impact ripples outward:
• Personal/psychological: It liberates individuals from fear-based, retaliatory mindsets, promoting inner freedom, compassion, and a sense of oneness (echoed in NDE accounts of unconditional love as the “substance” of ultimate reality). wendellkrossa.com
• Social/ethical: It undercuts justifications for violence, exclusion, and domination, inspiring humane impulses seen in figures like Gandhi and Mandela, and supporting restorative justice that restrains harm while pursuing rehabilitation and restoration. wendellkrossa.com
• Political/societal: By humanizing the highest ideal, it fosters principles aligned with liberal democracy— equal rights, limited government, protection of freedoms, and rejection of elite coercive control or utopian destruction. Your site contrasts this with how old archetypes fuel Marxism/collectivism and environmental alarmism. wendellkrossa.com
Historical and Cultural Reach
Jesus’ archetype is presented as history’s single greatest insight, often “buried” under later Christ mythology (especially Paul’s retributive, apocalyptic framework). Recovering it— “separating diamonds from dung” (Jefferson/Tolstoy)— offers a non-religious path to profound transformation. It has subtly moderated Western civilization and continues to provide the ultimate “safe base” for humanizing societies, countering primitive projections even in secular forms. wendellkrossa.com
In your broader vision, this archetype is not just inspirational but archetypal engineering: the most effective way to shift collective consciousness long-term, replacing animal-past impulses with a truly human future of freedom, compassion, and progress. It stands as the pivotal “anti-archetype” capable of disarming the evil triad at its source. wendellkrossa.com
This exploration fits seamlessly into the refined summary paragraph if you’d like me to integrate or expand it further. Let me know how to build on this!
My next prompt: Please continue with “Explore Jesus archetype psychological mechanisms” and “Integrate Jesus archetype into summary.”
Grok response:
Explore: Jesus Archetype – Psychological Mechanisms
In Wendell Krossa’s framework, the Historical Jesus archetype functions as a profound intervention at the deepest layers of the human psyche— the collective unconscious archetypes (drawing on Jungian insights) that shape emotions, motivations, narratives, and behavior. It targets the most influential archetype of all: the God-image or ultimate authority, which people project with their primal impulses and then internalize as validation for how to live. wendellkrossa.com
Key Psychological Mechanisms
1. Replacement of the Ultimate Safe Base / Authority Figure
Traditional archetypes often portray deity as conditional, wrathful, tribal, and retaliatory. This creates a subconscious model of reality rooted in fear, anxiety, threat, and dualistic combat (good vs. evil, us vs. them). Jesus’ insight— “God is unconditional love” (non-retaliatory, merciful to all, sun/rain on just and unjust)— replaces this with a new ultimate “safe base.” Psychologically, this reduces existential terror, cognitive dissonance, and the need for defensive aggression or scapegoating. It liberates consciousness from chronic subconscious fear, anxiety, depression, and despair tied to failing to meet conditions or facing ultimate punishment. wendellkrossa.com
2. Behavioral Coupling via Belief → Narrative → Emotion → Action
People choose beliefs for emotional satisfaction. The Jesus archetype links a transformed theology directly to ethics: “Love your enemies because God does.” This creates a powerful feedback loop where the highest ideal models non-retaliation, unconditional inclusion, forgiveness without preconditions, and restorative mercy. It counters the “evil triad” (tribalism, domination, vengeful retaliation) by undermining their emotional appeal and providing a more mature, humane satisfaction derived from compassion and oneness. wendellkrossa.com
3. Death/Rebirth Transformation (Disintegration & Reintegration)
The archetype demands a symbolic death of the old self (conditioned by fear, retaliation, and conditional worth) and rebirth around unconditional reality. This mirrors psychological processes of ego dissolution and reintegration, reducing rigid defense mechanisms and opening space for empathy, creativity, and long-term oriented thinking. It humanizes the psyche by rejecting primitive projections and aligning the Self with a non-violent, integrative ideal. wendellkrossa.com
4. Countering Shadow Projection and Apocalyptic Thinking
Old archetypes energize shadow projection (externalizing evil onto enemies) and apocalyptic “salvation through destruction.” The Jesus archetype dissolves this by universalizing love and mercy, reducing polarization, vengeance cycles, and utopian/dystopian extremism. It promotes restorative justice (restrain harm, then restore) over pure retribution, moderating impulses even in secular contexts. wendellkrossa.com
5. Long-Term Subconscious Influence
Because it operates at the archetypal level (not just surface ideas), its impact persists across generations, subtly moderating Western civilization and offering a non-religious path for transformation. NDE reports of encountering unconditional Love/Light as “more real” reinforce this as an intuitive, cross-cultural psychological anchor. wendellkrossa.com
Overall, this archetype acts as archetypal engineering: the most potent lever for shifting collective consciousness from animal-past impulses toward a truly human orientation of freedom, compassion, and progress.
Integrated One-Paragraph Summary (Updated)Wendell Krossa’s site (wendellkrossa.com) examines the subconscious power of archetypes and core beliefs— especially about ultimate reality/deity— that people choose for emotional satisfaction, often overriding evidence of their destructive consequences. These inherited “old story” archetypes promote tribalism, domination, vengeful retaliation, and “salvation through destruction,” shaping historical religions and their modern ideological descendants: Marxism/collectivism (evident in the Soviet Union’s famines and gulags, Maoist China’s Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward, and Venezuela’s economic collapse) and environmental alarmism (which advocates anti-industrial restrictions that stifle human prosperity).
In contrast, liberal democracy has repeatedly demonstrated superior outcomes, as seen in the United States (founded on constitutional limits on power, individual rights, and rule of law, which drove explosive innovation and wealth creation), post-WWII Western Europe (democratic reforms that rebuilt devastated nations into prosperous, free societies), South Korea (rapid rise from poverty to a high-tech economy versus North Korea’s stagnation), and post-war Japan. Liberal democracy uniquely protects equal rights and freedoms for all, representative institutions that constrain elite/bureaucratic domination, responsible justice oriented toward rehabilitation and restoration, and the conditions for ongoing human progress.
The site’s core project is a profound transformation at the level of consciousness, centered on the Historical Jesus archetype— whose radical redefinition of deity from conditional/tribal to unconditional love and mercy (even toward enemies) operates through deep psychological mechanisms of replacing fear-based authority with a liberating “safe base,” coupling belief to humane behavior, and enabling death/rebirth reintegration of the psyche— thereby disarming destructive impulses and guiding humanity toward a truly human future of freedom, compassion, and flourishing.
Another prompt: Try “Examine Near Death Experience research” and “Expand psychological mechanisms section”.
Grok response:
Examine: Near-Death Experience (NDE) Research in Wendell Krossa’s Framework
Your site draws heavily on NDE research as powerful contemporary validation for the unconditional love archetype recovered from the Historical Jesus. NDEs provide cross-cultural, non-religious evidence that ultimate reality is a brilliant Light of overwhelming, unconditional love— more real than our material world— directly contradicting conditional, wrathful, or tribal deity projections. wendellkrossa.com
Key Findings from Major Research
• Common Core Elements (consistent across cultures, religions, and belief systems): Out-of-body experiences, tunnel or darkness to light, encounters with deceased loved ones or spiritual beings, life review, and— most centrally— an encounter with a Being of Light radiating unconditional love, peace, joy, and oneness. This love is described as absolute, unearned, all-encompassing, and beyond words (“I breathed it, I swam in it”). medium.com
• Major Studies:
• Raymond Moody (Life After Life, 1975) pioneered systematic study.
• Pim van Lommel’s prospective cardiac arrest study (Lancet, 2001) and others (e.g., Sam Parnia, Bruce Greyson, Jeffrey Long’s NDERF database of thousands of accounts) show 10–20% of cardiac arrest survivors report core NDEs, occurring during flat EEG/clinical death when brain function is severely impaired. en.wikipedia.org
• Jeffrey Long’s analysis: In God-encounter cases, “love” and “light” dominate descriptions; the Being knows and accepts the person completely without judgment. medium.com
Transformative Aftereffects (well-documented): Reduced fear of death, increased compassion/empathy, shift from ego/materialism to other-centered/spiritual values, heightened sense of purpose, and a disposition to love unconditionally. Many return disillusioned with punitive religious teachings, affirming love as the core of existence. med.virginia.edu
In your framework, NDEs affirm that the Jesus archetype (unconditional, enemy-inclusive love) aligns with the deepest structure of reality, offering empirical-like support for archetypal transformation beyond traditional religion. They serve as a modern “revelation” that ultimate reality is restorative and inclusive, not destructive or retributive. wendellkrossa.com
Expanded: Jesus Archetype – Psychological Mechanisms
Building on the previous section, here is a deeper exploration of how the Historical Jesus archetype operates psychologically, now integrated with NDE insights:
1. Replacement of the Ultimate Safe Base / Authority Figure
The old God-image (conditional, wrathful, tribal) functions as a primal attachment figure that generates chronic subconscious fear, anxiety, shame, and defensive aggression. Jesus’ redefinition— God as unconditional love— installs a new secure base: total acceptance without preconditions. This reduces existential terror and the need for scapegoating or control. NDEs powerfully reinforce this by providing direct experiential “knowing” of overwhelming love, often leading to lasting decreases in fear and depression. med.virginia.edu
2. Belief → Narrative → Emotion → Behavior Coupling
By tying the highest ideal directly to ethics (“Love your enemies because God does”), the archetype creates a coherent, emotionally satisfying feedback loop. It redirects the human drive for emotional validation from primitive impulses (retaliation, domination) toward compassion and inclusion. NDE life reviews often emphasize how acts of love mattered most, amplifying this mechanism and producing post-experience increases in empathy and altruistic behavior. researchgate.net
3. Symbolic Death/Rebirth (Ego Disintegration & Reintegration)
The archetype requires letting the old conditioned self (fear-based, conditional worth) “die” and reintegrating around unconditional reality. This mirrors therapeutic processes of ego dissolution (similar to some psychedelic or mystical states) and NDE transformations, fostering greater psychological flexibility, resilience, creativity, and reduced rigid defensiveness. medium.com
4. Dissolution of Shadow Projection & Apocalyptic Dualism
Old archetypes encourage projecting evil outward and fantasizing violent purification. The Jesus/NDE archetype universalizes love and mercy, reducing polarization, vengeance cycles, and “us vs. them” thinking. It promotes integrative, restorative approaches (restrain harm, then heal) over retribution.
5. Long-Term Collective & Subconscious Influence
Operating at the archetypal (Jungian) level rather than surface cognition, it subtly reshapes cultural narratives across generations. NDEs act as widespread “archetypal reminders,” providing intuitive, felt validation that bypasses doctrinal resistance and supports gradual humanization of societies toward liberal democratic values (equality, freedom, limited power).
6. Epistemic and Motivational Boost
The combination of Jesus’ historical insight + widespread NDE reports creates a compelling “Theory of Everything” for meaning: unconditional love as both ethical ideal and ontological ground of reality. This satisfies deep needs for coherence, purpose, and security while countering nihilism or materialist reductionism. wendellkrossa.com
These mechanisms position the Jesus archetype as uniquely potent “archetypal engineering” for long-term consciousness transformation— moving humanity from animal-past reactivity toward mature, humane flourishing. Would you like me to integrate this expanded material into an updated full summary paragraph, or explore another angle?
(End of Grok comment)
More on AI ginned as the next apocalypse
“Curb AI development to avoid catastrophe, says ChatGPT creator: Sam Altman calls for global watchdog to ‘reduce catastrophic risks’ from the technology”, Matthew Field Senior Technology Reporter
Quotes from article:
“Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGPT, has said nations should be able to demand slower AI development to avoid “catastrophic risks” to humanity…
“AI leaders have repeatedly warned that their technology poses a potential threat to human civilisation…
“The launch this year of new AI bots such as Anthropic’s Mythos, which the lab has claimed is too dangerous to release because of its hacking capabilities, has renewed focus on AI security.”
The article included this video insert:
“Related video: The end of humanity may have started with artificial intelligence.”
Anyway,
Safety concerns? Then program AI with the fundamentals of liberal democracy.
And what is the fear, related to Mythos, in “hacking”? Is it that common people might find out what elites are up to in dominating, manipulating, and controlling others?
As Gutfeld, Rogan and others have pointed out, AI will unleash and enhance human creativity as never before, especially among common people.
And what about the potential, as Musk has noted, to increase productivity and hence unlimited wealth creation? He referenced robots in this comment, though AI plays a major role also.
The overall benefits will outweigh the misuse by some. Every new technology is feared because of initial disturbances and radical shifts in direction. But then benefits continue to increase and are recognized and life overall improves.
Again. Why not constrain AI with liberal democracy principles, laws, and institutions?
This article, like similar others, smacks too much of a desperation shift from the dying climate apocalypse crusade (rats abandoning a sinking ship) to ginning up a new threat of apocalypse to promote another destructive salvation scheme that requires more elite domination and control of life.
I am an automatic skeptic of any alarmist language in news media as we have suffered 3 decades now of climate apocalyptic hysteria and consequent destruction from related salvation schemes (“save the world… save humanity from extinction, etc.”). Look at the damage Net Zero decarbonization has done to Germany, Britain, California and elsewhere. Add the $20 trillion wasted that could have been better spent on other real issues.
And don’t forget the hysteria over Covid and the damage from that worldwide lockdown madness. These are repeated eruptions of “madness of crowds” lunacy and resultant damage, usually damage to the most vulnerable people in societies which is where most of the costs of the elite’s salvation schemes are dumped.
And, of course, there is always in the background the issue of Chinese and Russian state involvement in promoting Western fear over AI to hopefully generate opposition to its development and implementation, and thereby give them the advantage in the race for AI supremacy. Just as they were involved with Western (notably in Europe) opposition to fracking development and the general anti-fossil fuel hysteria that has weakened Europe.