The Unconditional Human Spirit

Section topics:

The science of CO2– the true state of climate contradicts the Western climate apocalypse crusade (i.e. the “climate crisis” and consequent irrational salvation scheme of decarbonization that renders Western societies vulnerable to totalitarian threat);

Critical factors in climate science that counter the false assumptions and claims of climate alarmism;

David Coe on “Climate change: Emergency or not?”;

Russian financing of Western anti-fossil fuel groups (Russia gaining strategic advantage by funding climate misinformation projects in the West- even Hillary Clinton acknowledged this);

Basics of climate physics (i.e. the “miniscule” role of CO2 in climate change);

Glen Greenwald on “The Neoliberal war on dissent”;

Comment on Woke Progressivism;

Jordan Peterson interview of military historian Frederick Kagan re Putin’s ideology (i.e. the messianic crusade to restore the “special destiny of Russia” that has been thwarted by the West);

and more…

Note on the arguments made here especially regarding the science of CO2 and the wider climate debate- The point is to challenge remaining public hesitancy to freely and fully embrace fossil fuels, a hesitancy that is largely due to the unproven, unscientific assumptions of alarmist narratives that have wrongly demonized CO2 and fossil fuels. The alarmist narrative on climate, and consequent decarbonization policies, has been widely embraced by the political classes on both sides, by celebrity elites, and by mainstream media and social media companies. We are all anxiously watching the dangerous outcomes of the Western embrace of irrational decarbonization (i.e. the weakening of our societies in the face of totalitarian threat). Most of us are deeply concerned about the world that we are handing our children.

Key summary points:

See the evidence just below from climate physicists on the “miniscule” role that CO2 plays in climate change (“Nearly 140 scientific papers detail the miniscule effect CO2 has on Earth’s temperature” by Kenneth Richard, and “Climate Change: an emergency, or not?” by David Coe).

This evidence overturns the core claims of climate alarmists, showing, to the contrary, that fossil fuels are not mainly responsible for climate change and climate change has not and is not becoming catastrophic in any manner (i.e. there is no “climate crisis”). This evidence nullifies the climate alarm narrative. Conclusion: There is no “settled scientific” reason to tax carbon or decarbonize our societies, as it has now become painfully obvious that decarbonization has strengthened totalitarian regimes like Russia and weakened energy-dependent Western nations.

In answer to the question someone asked recently- “Where is courage today?”- it is time for waffling politicians to make this evidence public and to oppose unscientific and irrational decarbonization policies. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Topics below:

Incremental authoritarianism, creeping totalitarianism; Ellens and Lotufo on “Monster God” (core themes in human narratives); Climate updates; Fighting the ultimate monster; Alarmism patterns; Climate physicist William Happer on the warming influence of CO2 (warming influence declines logarithmically with rising levels, warming influence is already “saturated” in terms of ability to absorb and re-emit infrared radiation); Some metaphysics (love as the core nature of ultimate reality); Matt Ridley on the benefits of global warming; The Woke outrage cult; Breaking retaliatory cycles; and much more…

The comment below on “Monster God” and “Fighting the Ultimate Monster” is not a call to abandon religion wholesale but to deal thoroughly and properly with the single most critical failure of religion- that of the highly conditional deities at the core of religious traditions, deities that distort entirely and bury the unconditional nature of God, deities that embody the pathology of “threat theology”. Also deal with the entire complex of related ideas/myths that have been created to affirm those conditional deities, such as the varied features that portray deities as more animal-like than human- i.e. the portrayal of gods as tribal lords favoring true believers over unbelievers (small band orientation), the portrayal of gods as dominating lords, kings, rulers (alpha males), and the portrayal of God as the ultimate destroyer of dissenting others/outsiders (destruction through apocalypse or in hell).

While I affirm all endeavors to reform religion, too much religious reformism is just tinkering around the periphery and avoiding the core pathology/malignancy of the “monster gods”.

“Secular” alarmism movements today are fueled by the same core mythical themes that have incited religious apocalyptic eruptions across history. Secular alarmism often rehashes the same old mythological/religious pathologies as ever before.

Again, here is a summary of the more prominent and endlessly repeated mythical pathologies, the complex of related “monstrous” ideas that support monster gods (persisting in both religious and secular/ideological versions): Read the rest of the opening comment here

Section topics: Climate updates; Hollywood’s obsession with primitive apocalyptic mythology; Mulling/ruminating on theology; Creeping authoritarianism; The nature of core reality; No conditions at the core of reality changes everything; Humanity’s single most profound insight; Countering alarmism with evidence-based hope; Patterns/outcomes in alarmism movements; The shamefulness of being carried away by panic-mongering and crowd madness; Big picture perspective on the true state of things; Two prominent unproven assumptions of climate alarmism; The true state of life (main indicators); Eruptions/surges of apocalyptic hysteria; Consequences of persistent despair narratives…

more Section topics: Joe Rogan as freedom hero; And the Oscar goes to- Dicaprio’s validation of hysterical panic porn- “Don’t Look Up”; Optimism/Pessimism; Traumatizing children with climate apocalypse (the growing pathology of “eco-anxiety”); Research paper from physicist Ed Berry showing that natural sources (not human emissions) are behind the increase in CO2 over the past two centuries; Positive trends (cheer for the new year- the true state of life); Materialism/theism (a review of The Return of the God Hypothesis); Common sense from a geologist, and more…

The next four sections below now have reposted, revised versions of…

(1) “Humanity’s worst ideas, better alternatives”. The most dominant beliefs/ideas from across history with alternatives to transform human narratives, liberate minds. Bad ideas incite, guide, and validate bad behavior.

(2) “History’s single most profound insight buried by Paul’s Christ myth”. The Historical Jesus insight that deity was a stunning “no conditions love”, a reality that is entirely contrary to the highly conditional nature of all religion (i.e. religious conditions of right belief, demanded sacrifice/payment, required ritual and lifestyle, justice as punishment).

(3) “Speculating on the meaning of human life and experience”. Interacting with Joseph Campbell’s points on the “Hero’s journey” and how “no conditions love” enables us to “tower in stature as maturely human”. Unconditional/universal love is how we conquer our inner monster/enemy and maintain our humanity while we engage our “righteous battle against evil”.

(A necessary qualifier: Embracing an unconditional approach to imperfect humanity does not excuse anyone from the responsibility to hold all accountable for bad behavior, including the forcible restraint of uncontrolled bad behavior (i.e. the role of military/police and incarceration programs). An orientation to unconditional treatment of human failure (restorative/rehabilitative justice) is not an advocacy for pacifism in the face of evil. This needs to be said because of the too common ‘illiberal’ tendency to associate love with feeling warm and fuzzy toward offenders and for claiming that unconditional treatment of offenders means being soft or mushy toward offenses. This is more about love as thoughtful pre-determined intention to respond in a certain way, not love as predominantly “feeling”. More what is known as “agape love” in the Christian tradition. As noted before, (“Hear me once, hear me twice”) unconditional treatment of all others is how we maintain our own humanity while engaging our personal battles against evil.

Whenever we talk about any kind of love, we are talking about the best of being human, about what primarily defines us as human. And with no conditions love we are talking about the best of human response in the face of evil. But such response is never about abandoning common sense and the basic human responsibility to protect all from harm. Unfortunately, when discussing the ideal of unconditional you sometimes get those who swing extremist and chirp, “Oh you mean let the psychopaths go free”. No. No one means anything so foolishly void of common sense. It is about the humane way to treat human failure and offense. Again, what is the best of being human?)

(4) “The most good for the most people”. The two main approaches to organizing human societies across history- collectivism versus the orientation to the free individual. What approach has actually achieved the greater good for all most successfully? Read the rest of the opening comment here

Here is a list of some of the most fundamental ideas that have shaped human consciousness and life across the millennia of our existence. The list offers alternatives to some of the worst ideas that people have embraced across our history. The alternatives, drawn from varied ancient and contemporary sources, promote a mind revolution that is more foundational than anything before in history. The alternative themes offer potential liberation that is more profound than any other in history, liberation at the heart of human consciousness, at the core of the human spirit.

Intro to short version of Humanity’s Worst Ideas, better alternatives (long-form version available just below this short-form list)

Joseph Campbell noted that a prominent set of primitive myths has been repeated all across human history and across all the cultures of the world. These myths are profound distortions of reality. They do not express the true state of life yet they continue to dominate human narratives and distort consciousness today.

These ideas have long been the central beliefs of the world religions. They are now also embraced in “secular” ideological belief systems like Declinism, the belief that life is becoming worse and declining toward catastrophe and ending (the ideology of Environmental alarmism, climate alarmism). These ideas have even found expression in “scientific” versions. But at core they are the same old primitive pathologies as ever before.

We have better alternatives to the mythical themes that we have inherited, themes that have always deformed human consciousness and life with unnecessary fear, anxiety, shame/guilt, despair, depression, and violence. How we think (the ideas that we hold) shapes how we view life, how we feel about things, and how we respond and act.

Example: If you believe that some deity will judge, punish, exclude and destroy your enemies (i.e. send them to Hell) then you will inevitably end up treating your opponents in the same manner (judging, condemning, excluding, punishing). We become just like the God that we believe in. This “behavior based on belief” relationship operates in both religious and “secular” environments. Our beliefs subject us to confirmation bias and lead us toward self-fulfilling prophesy outcomes.

Insert note: Climate alarmism, with its apocalyptic scenarios and salvation schemes, is a profoundly religious movement fraudulently presented as secular ideology, even science.

Humanity’s worst ideas, better alternatives (short version), Wendell Krossa

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

Alternative: The new theology of deity as a stunningly no conditions reality (no conditions love). There is no threat from an unconditional God, no judgment, no exclusion of anyone, and no ultimate punishment or destruction.

2. Old story myth: The idea of a perfect beginning (Eden) and a God obsessed with perfection, enraged at the loss of perfection, and demanding punishment of imperfection.

Alternative: The world was purposefully created as originally imperfect in order to serve as an arena for human struggle, learning, and development. Deity has no problem with imperfection. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Intro comments:

Paul’s Christ myth has been the single most influential myth in history. It is primarily responsible for perpetuating the primitive myth of apocalyptic in Western consciousness. And yes, there is an “anti-Christ” in Christianity but its not who you think it is. Its someone dear and familiar.

What’s at stake in challenging the Christ myth? History’s single most profound insight- i.e. that God is a stunning “no conditions” reality. That insight has been buried for two millennia under Paul’s highly conditional Christ myth.

The Christ myth- separating diamonds from dung (revised) Wendell Krossa

The fundamental problem with Paul’s Christ myth was outlined by Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy. They stated that the Christ of Paul “buried the diamonds/pearls” of Historical Jesus (“Historical Jesus” is the title used to distinguish the actual historical person from the Christian version- known commonly as “Jesus Christ”). The message of Jesus emphasized the themes of unlimited forgiveness and inclusion of all (sun and rain given to both good and bad), unconditional love (no payment or sacrifice demanded before forgiving- e.g. the Prodigal Father), and non-retaliatory justice (no “eye for eye” retaliation).

Paul’s Christ buried these diamond themes of unconditional love in the “dung” (Jefferson’s term) of highly conditional salvation mythology. The main features of conditional salvation include (1) the appeasement of angry deity with the condition of a blood sacrifice as required payment (see Romans, Hebrews); (2) the tribal exclusion of unbelievers (Paul taught in Romans and elsewhere the condition of faith in his Christ myth as necessary for inclusion in salvation); and (3) ultimate retaliation/punishment through apocalypse or hell (see the Thessalonian letters and the Revelation of John). The conditional religious mythology of Paul and other New Testament writers buried the unconditional message of Jesus.

Preface to “The Christian Contradiction” (Jesus versus Christ) Wendell Krossa

Across history people have appealed to deity, as humanity’s highest ideal and authority, to validate their behavior and their treatment of others, notably, to validate justice as the punishment of others for wrongs done. This is the ‘behavior based on similar belief’ relationship. People have long appealed to, for example, the features of retaliation and punishment in God as the ultimate validation for their exercise of punitive, payback justice toward offending others. Punitive theology undergirds punitive justice.

Historical Jesus reframed entirely the behavior based on belief model when he rejected retaliation as a divinely validated ethic. He stated that, contrary to Old Testament teaching, God did not retaliate (“no more eye for eye”). He argued that, instead, God generously forgave, included, and loved all people whether good or bad. Note the essential point of his Matthew 5 and Luke 6 statements: “Love your enemies… (because God does). Be like God who generously and freely gives sun and rain to both righteous and unrighteous”.

Conclusion? You violate the central message of Historical Jesus if you try to appeal to him or his theology to validate retaliatory, punitive justice. Paul’s Christ is another matter altogether. The mythical Christ, a reality entirely opposite to Historical Jesus, validates ultimate divine retaliation. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Speculating with Campbell on the meaning of human life and experience Wendell Krossa

Or: How to tower in stature as maturely human, how to become the hero of your story or quest.

Joseph Campbell said that we all live a “hero’s quest or adventure”. Our lives and life experiences can be understood in terms of “the hero’s journey”. We all live heroic stories of adventure, struggle, suffering, conquest of monsters/problems, disintegration/re-integration, transformation, discovery and gaining insights that benefit others. I have added to Campbell’s basic framework, revising, paraphrasing, and changing some things.

Going right to the point on the big question- What is the greater goal or meaning of human life? Above all else that we might accomplish in life, I would suggest that we are here to learn what love is and how to love. Love is the fundamental reason/purpose for the cosmos, our world, and conscious human life.

Campbell affirmed love as the overall meaning of life in his comment that we become mature persons when we embrace “universal love”. Then we become the heroes of our story. I would use the broader term “unconditional” or “no conditions” to hone the definition of love. This boundary-breaking adjective takes love to a whole new level of courage and achievement. It is unconditional love that enables us to “tower in stature” as fully and maturely human.

Arguments for unconditional as the highest and most authentic form of love

Unconditional or no conditions love includes universal and more. Unconditional is about an unlimited generosity that demands absolutely no conditions of others before loving them. It is a big-heartedness that loves freely regardless of the response of the other person.

Note here the “hard sayings” of Jesus to “love enemies… to give expecting nothing in return”. (Insert note: I am referring to the Historical Jesus not the Christian Jesus Christ). Historical Jesus added that it is comparably easy to love and give if you expect an equal return:

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”.

Jesus’ point was that authentic mature love will not set any conditions before loving others. It is not dependent on similar response. And it is not limited to like-minded ingroup members. It will also love enemies. It is not tribally oriented or limited.

Unconditional love is the highest form of love that humanity has discovered and the ideal that takes us safely in the direction of a more humane existence. It guides us toward actions that cause the least harm to others. It provides the safest ethical standard to help us navigate the tests of life. How so? Unconditional urges us to be non-retaliatory, non-dominating, and non-punitive. There is nothing safer than these responses for assuring that the least harm is shown to others, and the most good is done to others. Read the rest of the opening comment here

The Two Main Approaches to Organizing Human Societies across history- Collectivism versus the free individual Wendell Krossa

Intro

The comment below comes from a “fiercely Independent” viewpoint. Kinda like Goldilocks- not too far Left, not too far Right. Sort of Libertarianish, or better- Classic Liberalism. Floating like a butterfly, free to alight wherever, enjoy the nectar and then move on. A self that is free in an open process and not fixed too rigidly on any “object” (i.e. not finding cemented identity in some immutable ideology, religion, nationality, race/ethnicity, or other objects of human identity). Open and free like ‘The Mutable Self’ of Louis Zurcher.

Independent because while both sides have commendable features and concerns, neither side gets it all right. David Boaz, for example, said regarding the US situation that Republicans needed to embrace more freedom in the social realm and Democrats needed to embrace more freedom in the economic realm. Neither side held a monopoly on good. My ‘Free Floating’ stance also keeps me from the dogmatic tribalism that locks into loyalty to one side only and views the other side as an enemy to be conquered or cancelled.

Interesting note: While some claim that the US Democratic party has previously been more centrist, many on both the Conservative and Liberal sides of the US situation now note that US Democrats/Liberals are being pulled further toward Leftist collectivist ideologies (Progressivism). US Republicans continue also to be pulled toward coercive state intervention on social issues (i.e. women’s rights, choices, and freedoms).

The foundations of modern freedom and equality trace back centuries to emerging ideas that all people in a society should be treated equally under law (i.e. Magna Carta and earlier documents/practises). Contemporary views of freedom and equality are grounded in beliefs that every person deserves the same rights and protections as all others. These beliefs include a foundational plank in modern freedom- i.e. protected property rights. That is the principle that you can create or improve something, and if you invest effort/resources in that something, then the resulting outcome of your investment is protected. You will reap the reward of your investment. Elites/powerholders, whether monarchy, lords, or government officials, cannot confiscate the outcome of your creativity and work. The protection of personal property under law is absolutely basic to equality and freedom. Protected property rights unleashed the modern burst of human creativity and progress that we all value.

Balancing sides and what works best:

(1) The primary orientation to the collective, or (2) a primary orientation to the individual. We never get all that we want on either side of these political divides hence, both sides are obligated out of common decency (“peace and love”) to make some compromise with, basically, what is often the other half of our societies.

The Left/Right or Liberal/Conservative dualism in our societies often becomes infected with the residual tribal impulse that we have inherited from our animal past. The tribal impulse continues to erupt in today’s societies, along with a dose of hardening dogmatism, to the detriment of the necessary cooperation to maintain peace. Fortunately, surveys show that most people on both sides identify with the more moderate/centrist positions in most social issues.

Is there some healthy balance between the free individual approach and the collectivist approach? Our societies continue the multiple-millennia back and forth tug between these two approaches to organizing human societies (see Arthur Herman’s “The Cave and The Light” for the long-term history of this tug-of-war, traced from the Greeks on down). It appears that most people will continue to embrace some mixed version of these two approaches that encompasses the concerns of both sides. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Section topics: Breaking retaliatory cycles, ending tribalism; Same old patterns in alarmism movements; The contradiction between Historical Jesus and Paul’s Christ myth (recovering the greatest of “lost loves”, the Christ myth of Paul buried the single most profound insight on Ultimate Reality ever offered to humanity); Climate briefs (evidence that counters climate apocalyptic); Some Jim Steele for your spine; What does it mean to be human (the basic experiences of human life).

Interesting data noting the significant contribution of natural sources to CO2 levels, sources that overwhelm the relatively small human contribution. This evidence undermines the “human-caused global warming” narrative.

Global Human CO2 Emissions Have Been On A Slightly Declining Trend Since 2011

News on the creeping censorship and totalitarianism of today… Read the rest of the opening comment here

Section topics: The myth of pristine nature defiled by corrupt humanity (nature becoming trapped in dead-ends); The meta-myth fallacy of too few resources, too many people; Decline or Rise: The actual trajectory of life; Short version of Old Story Themes, New Story Alternatives; and more…

Read this article from Spiked and get a sense of the madness that is climate alarmism. It is the world’s latest eruption of apocalyptic hysteria gone completely mad with politicians, media, celebrities, and other prophets trying to outdo one another with bizarre descriptions of the looming “end-of-days”.

Climate Derangement Syndrome

Note this link to data on the 96% decline in climate related deaths over the past century when we had a mild 1 degree C of warming. Remembering that 10 times more people die from cold every year than die from warmth, perhaps the correlation speaks to the benefits of warming, among other things.

Global yearly climate-related deaths

Another bad idea infecting public consciousness (add this to the list of 18 bad ideas below)

A notable theme from primitive mythology that persists today in environmentalism or Green religion- i.e. the belief that nature began as a pure, innocent, noble reality (original paradise) that has been “defiled and corrupted” by fallen, evil humanity. Hence the contemporary project of environmentalism to protect nature from humanity, to prevent human engagement with nature and human use of natural resources. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Section topics: Climate briefs; Notable features in human worldviews; Mendel on Vision and Violence; Narratives of despair; CO2 facts; and more…

Site project: Countering narratives of fear, narratives of despair, affirming hope/love based on good evidence of life improving on all fronts.

Galileo’s version of confirmation bias: “People tend to refuse to consider evidence, if what they might discover contradicts their beliefs.”

We are watching the eruption of obsessive-compulsive pessimism and nihilism on a world-wide scale today. Each new climate COP (Conference of the Parties) unleashes a renewed frenzy of beating apocalyptic into public consciousness with the same old prophesies of “last chance… final tipping point…”, with dates set for the “end-of-days”.

Climate alarmism has developed as another apocalyptic cult that zealously tries to panic populations toward ever new crescendos of unhinged hysteria. Every twitch in nature- e.g. too much heat/too much cold, too much rain/no rain, wildfires, and more- is obsessively seized upon as evidence to affirm the mind-emptying mantra of “human-caused climate change” that alarmists claim is becoming an “existential crisis and catastrophe”. Everything happening in nature that is divergent from normal patterns is proclaimed, with irrational exaggeration, as “the worst on record” and promoted as evidence of looming apocalypse. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Section topics: The true state of life on Earth; Beating a mantra into public consciousness; The unproven assumptions of climate alarmism; Patterns in alarmism movements; and more…

Here’s one from Wattsupwiththat.com… “One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool”, George Orwell.

Quotes from Richard Landes’ Introduction to Arthur Mendel’s “Vision and Violence”, on apocalyptic millennial movements. Point? Climate change alarmism has become the latest apocalyptic millennial movement.

Apocalyptic millennial movements foresee some catastrophic end to life, a necessary violent purging of some “evil” (CO2, greedy humanity in industrial society), before a new world (millennium, utopia) can be established or a lost paradise restored.

Landes’ comments…

“The Nazis were a millennial movement… millennial as a belief in a radically transformed future for all mankind… the secular is merely another clothing that millennialism has taken… and Nazism is as much a New Religious Movement as a new political one… Hitler was one of the most powerful and paranoid messiah figures that history has ever produced… the German response to him was a classic, if tragic, case of violent millennial enthusiasm… Democracy, Scientific Utopianism, Nationalism, Communism, Zionism, Nazism, Environmentalism are forms of millennial thinking, partly secular, partly still profoundly religious.”

“To the pessimists, the world and humans are so permeated by evil that terrible catastrophes must come to annihilate the evil at the dawn of the new world. Extremists of this school foresee immense violence and human destruction, they tend to view things dualistically, seeing everyone as part of the forces of “good” or “evil” with no middle ground… nothing can motivate more powerfully than apocalyptic beliefs”.

“We have reason to fear the apocalyptic believers- they believe we hate and want to destroy them, and their violence is, in their minds, purely self-protective, when it is not world saving…. Totalitarianism is the desperate effort of a millennial movement that has taken power to force the creation of the perfect world… millennialism can be the most violent and destructive force in history”. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Site topics: Resurging collectivism; The anti-liberalism of modern Liberalism; Presentism; The tragedy of being carried away by ‘crowd madness’; Hold something fundamental; Basic issues of the climate debate; and more…

Contact: wkrossa@shaw.ca While this site is copyrighted material, feel free to copy and share.

Important climate fact: 15- 20 times more people die every year from cold than die from warmth: (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150520193831.htm or https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673614621140?via%3Dihub) And you are afraid of more warming? A couple of more degrees warming in a still abnormally cold world will not be “catastrophic warming” but will benefit all life.

The arguments in the comment below are not intended to downplay the obligation to care for and use resources responsibly, conserving them for future generations. The comment is intended to counter the irresponsible fear-mongering over population growth and environmental issues. My comment is a counter to doom narratives that ignore the human success in caring for world resources and creatively finding alternatives to scarce resources. The true state of life is a narrative of hope. Read the rest of the opening comment here