The Unconditional Human Spirit

Section topics:

(1) The best time ever to be alive (report on basic evidence of progress- Humanprogress.org).

(2) IDF soldier, “I was always taught to be human first.”

(3) What does “love your enemy” mean in the face of evil.

(4) The primary responsibility to maintain our humanity at all times, and especially when confronted with the savagery of others.

(5) The muddled thinking of Western intellectuals (inability to make fundamental distinctions between the civilians in Gaza and the indefensible Hamas terrorists).

(6) Psychologists Harold Ellens and Zenon Lotufo on theological beliefs (ideas of God) that incite violence in people. Point? Go to the fundamental beliefs/ideas behind eruptions of hate and violence, notably the animal-like features in humanity’s highest ideal and authority- deity- the features of tribalism, domination, punitive destruction.

(7) Climate alarmism updates (there is no “climate crisis”).

(8) More on the real battle of good against evil (Solzhenitsyn’s point that the real battle of good against evil runs down the center of every human heart).

(10) “I wouldn’t fall for it”. “Good people” oblivious to their support of mass-death movements. Don’t deny the power of bad ideas to deform human consciousness and life.

And much more…

Further on New comment below:

A reposting of the “evil triad” and the real battle of good against evil that takes place inside each of us.

Also, some insights to counter the tribal impulse that has erupted with such intensity today, notably, emphasizing humanity’s fundamental “oneness” as a potent counter to tribalism. Humanity’s oneness means that harm done to others is harm done to oneself.

And then, again, some metaphysical speculation (“spiritual” stuff) to help cope with the hell on earth that too many people experience during their life journey. Explaining, understanding, and affirming hope in a better future.

Site project: Basically, to tell people that its going to be alright, ultimately, for everyone. We are all safe in love, in the end. It’s a “Daddy” thing, reassuring the kids. There is no ultimate monster. In the end, we all return to our true home in an inexpressibly wondrous Love. This is critical to our full understanding of reality and life, to fully informing the meaning and purpose impulses in human consciousness. Read the rest of the opening comment here

These quotes from below…

Love your enemy transforms the very core of human systems of meaning- i.e. our ideas of deity, as our highest ideal and authority. Love of enemy transforms that core ideal entirely.

Unfortunately, that transformed ideal has still not been embraced anywhere in world religions or other human systems of thought or belief. Unconditional deity has still not been permitted to express its consciousness-transforming influence on people. In fact, world religions have buried that great discovery under endless religious conditions.

Paul most egregiously buried it in his highly conditional Christ myth. There is no “love your enemy” God in Paul’s letters. Note, for example, the wrathful deity of Romans demanding the ultimate condition- i.e. the condition of the bloody sacrifice of a cosmic godman to pay for sin- and then threatening ultimate destruction for any who refuse to believe Paul’s Christ myth. Hence, Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy’s statements that the “diamonds/pearls” of Historical Jesus were buried by Paul’s Christology that dominates the New Testament (the “product of inferior minds”).

“Q Wisdom Sayings” scholar James Robinson got it right that a “love your enemy God”, a non-retaliatory, unconditional deity, was “Jesus’ greatest contribution to the history of human ideas”. That was the very center and core of the teaching of Historical Jesus, his main theme or message. His gospel. As Robinson notes, it was a stunning new break-through in theology that was rejected a generation later by Paul and his Christian movement. Paul retreated back to the retaliatory, conditional deity of all previous primitive mythologies.

See Paul’s direct confrontation and rejection of Jesus’ non-retaliatory God in Romans 12:17-20. Paul retreats to a retaliatory “eye for eye” God in re-affirming his theology as- “Leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay’, says the Lord”.

In the Jesus Seminar book “The Five Gospels”, they point to this issue of a fundamental contradiction between core messages- i.e. that it is entirely contradictory to present Jesus stating “love your enemy” in Matthew 5 (the ultimate statement of love of an enemy), then a few chapters later (Ch.11) claim that he stated that those refusing his miracles and message were condemned to “outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (i.e. hell- the ultimate statement of hatred of an enemy). That is an irreconcilable contradiction to claim the same person said such entirely contradictory things.

This contradiction in fundamental messages, between Jesus and Paul, is at the heart of Christianity. No amount of endless defensive apologetics can paper over this basic contradiction between core theologies and messages in the New Testament. Its about the contradiction between non-retaliation and retaliation, non-violence and violence, unconditional and highly conditional, anti-sacrifice and pro-sacrifice, among other issues. Detail in sections and articles below…

Section topics:

(1) “There is no climate emergency”- the conclusion of over 1600 leading climate scientists in the “World Climate Declaration”.

Quote from article summary posted below: “There’s no climate emergency. And the alarmist messaging pushed by global elites is purely political. That’s what 1,609 scientists and informed professionals stated when they signed the Global Climate Intelligence Group’s “World Climate Declaration.”

(2) Some of the highest achievements in life are ethical/moral/spiritual. “Love your enemy” embodies the single most significant human achievement of all. “Love your enemy” takes us to the very heart of what it means to be authentically human, how we achieve human maturity, how we fulfill the hero’s quest and win the inner battle against our inherited monster, our inner enemy that is those inherited impulses to tribal animosity and exclusion of differing others, to domination of others, and to vengeful, punitive destruction of differing, offending others.

“Love your enemy” is the core ethic of the unconditional spirit, the authentically human spirit. Love your enemy offers the most potent solution to end “eye for eye” cycles of vengeance, prevent violence, and shift societies toward a more peaceful future and hence promote human progress toward the better future that we all want. Love your enemy is how we overcome the evil triad of (1) tribal exclusion of differing others (by full inclusion of all), (2) domination of others (by honoring the freedom and self-determination of all others), and (3) punitive destruction of offending others (by unlimited forgiveness and restorative justice).

That this ethic actually works at a societal level- Note that Nelson Mandela’s embrace of “love of enemy” guided his struggle to overcome his African National Congress colleague’s impulse to more aggressively confront their former oppressors. The millions of young South African men who wanted Mandela to lead them in taking vengeance on their oppressors could have erupted into bloody civil war in South Africa around the same time that Serbia and Rwanda rejected love of enemy and descended into the horrific violence of eye for eye vengeance. See “Mandela’s Way” by Richard Stengel. Mandela’s response to his former oppressors was not some form of pacifist “turn the other cheek”. He established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights abuses and hold offenders responsible, but also as a restorative justice response to heal the country.

(3) To embrace of the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of primitive myths is to embrace of the most destructive ideas in history. Evaluate your own worldview to see if these themes are still present and working the varied forms of psychopathology noted by psychologists Harold Ellens and Zenon Lotufo in articles below (see “Cruel God, Kind God” by Lotufo).

(4) Kip Hansen on the fact that cold kills 10 times more people every year than warmth does. This fact renders the alarmist crusade over the mild warming of the past century, absurdly irrational and fraudulent. Where are the news media on cold as the real threat to life? We are still in the coldest period of our Holocene interglacial and on a long-term cooling trend since the end of the Holocene Optimum some 6000 years ago. All life would benefit from the much warmer climate that was the average over the past 500 million years- i.e. 3 to 6 degrees C warmer than today.

(5) The endless repetition of the same old damaging myths. This site notes the historical descent of primitive ideas from ancient mythology, then to world religions, and now embraced in “secular ideologies”, even science.

(6) History’s single most profound insight- “Love your enemy because God does”. This “ethic based on similar theology”, or “behavior based on similar belief”, presents the best of human insight into the nature of ultimate reality- deity. “Love of enemy” takes love to its absolute height in deity as humanity’s highest ideal and authority, to then inspire, guide, and validate authentically human behavior.

(7) Another on the real battle of life- i.e. the inner struggle against the evil triad of our inherited animal impulses to tribal exclusion, domination, and destruction of differing others. This inner battle includes the battle against the inherited ideas that validate our worst impulses, ideas that still dominate our narratives. Unconditional is the potent weapon to win the battle, to slay the monster/enemy inside us. Embracing unconditional love as our highest ideal overturns the worst ideas of the old mythical, religious meta-narratives that we have inherited.

(8) “Superlatives” to get the point across- Deity as no conditions love is about transcendent reality. Something infinitely and inexpressibly better than the best that we can ever imagine with our material brains limited by 3-dimensions and informed by 5 senses.

(9) Paul’s rejection of the unconditional message of Historical Jesus, and his rejection of the unconditional God of Jesus, resulted in the single greatest dissonance in religious history. It left Christianity with the most egregious contradiction in the history of thought/belief at the very heart of the religion and its holy book- the Bible, notably in the New Testament. Paul buried the Jesus insight regarding an unconditional God under his highly conditional Christ myth and that became the highly conditional atonement gospel of Christianity as we know it, a denial of the core message of Historical Jesus. That is a great belief contradiction in the extreme that has resulted in the major cognitive dissonance/disconnect that is lodged at the heart of Christianity.

The messages of Historical Jesus and Paul’s Christian “Jesus Christ” are two entirely different and opposite things.

(10) Jordan Peterson and Christine Brophy (different articles) on “the psychology of Left-wing authoritarianism” as compared with “Right wing authoritarianism”.

(11) Joe Rogan and Bill Maher on the pathology of Woke extremism.

(12) Incarceration, de-carceration- criminal justice issues and data facts.

(13) And some further comment on my “evil triad” of the inherited animal impulses to tribal exclusion, domination of others, and punitive destruction of differing others.

(14) Comment on the natural human fear of death and the human longing for continued existence, negative and positive arguments.

And much more…. Read the rest of the opening comment here

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

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

Other comment below:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From the list of Carl Jung sayings below:

“Man cannot stand a meaningless life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hang in there… Project continues

We are moving to another area of BC in the near future and that will mean scattered postings here till we settle in there later this summer. Then this site will continue its project to go after and bring down a monster- humanity’s greatest monster/enemy, the monster of “cruel God” mythology, or “threat theology”. This is a continuation of the long-ago project of Historical Jesus to deal a death-blow to that monster with his “stunning new theology” that radically redefined deity as “non-retaliatory, no conditions love”.

Unfortunately, that brilliant and liberating insight of Historical Jesus was then buried by Paul under his retaliatory, apocalyptic Christ myth. The project here is about recovering and honoring the best of Jesus, as contrasted with the worst of primitive ideas that were embraced by Paul- i.e. the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of myths.

In the larger context of human meaning- i.e. the stories that we tell ourselves about reality and life- this is about the core beliefs in our narratives, and the outcomes of our beliefs- good and bad- in terms of impacts on human mind, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior.

And to quote my good friend Bob Brinsmead again- “We become just like the God that we believe in”. Psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo affirm Bob’s comment on the influence of beliefs on human life and society. They present, particularly, the harmful impact of “cruel God/monster God” beliefs on human personality, life, and society (see Lotufo”s book “Cruel God, Kind God”).

Another: This site tackles the “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” complex of themes that have, arguably, been the most dominant set of ideas shaping human narratives across history, whether in religious or secular narratives. This complex has most recently shaped the “profoundly religious” climate alarmism crusade. Recognize this complex of themes and that will help you understand the patterns in alarmism crusades where people endlessly fall for the same old, same old “end-of-days” hysteria and try to “save the world by destroying it”. Think Net Zero decarbonization in this regard.

See just below the recent articles by Glen Greenwald, Michael Shellenberger, and Matt Taibbi on the new totalitarianism and censorship that is overwhelming our societies through the Woke Progressivism crusade.

The totalitarian’s use of fear– a most potent weapon to control people, to herd them into destructive salvationism. Wendell Krossa

Be aware of what is happening across the public realm today, that apocalyptic mythology continues to function as “the most violent and destructive idea in history”- Arthur Mendel in “Vision and Violence”.

Apocalyptic narratives have been repeatedly used to alarm populations, incite people’s survival impulse, and thereby render people susceptible to totalitarian “salvation” schemes. No one wants to die. Especially not those 56% of young people worldwide who now think humanity is doomed (see world survey in link below). Read the rest of the opening comment here

New material is coming… We are currently in the process of moving to another region of our province and that is time-consuming… travel days to look for a house, making offers in a hot housing market with little inventory (due to restrictive municipal bylaws preventing densification of housing, among other factors), losing bids and needing to start all over again…

But I will eventually continue the basic project of this site to probe the primitive mythical ideas behind alarmism movements like climate apocalyptic. The ideas/beliefs of apocalyptic movements incite unnecessary fear in people and render them susceptible to irrational salvation schemes like Net Zero decarbonization. We have much better alternative views on the true state of our world that provide sound evidence-based hope that life is overall improving and not declining toward some catastrophic collapse and ending.

The climate alarmism crusade has too often crossed the threshold of rationality into the realm of irresponsible panic-mongering that is harming people with unnecessary fear, anxiety, shame/guilt, despair, depression, and even violence (i.e. deforming the natural impulse to engage a hero’s journey to fight some righteous battle against evil/monsters). Note below a recent post on Wattsupwiththat.com on how climate hysteria harms chilren…

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/08/climate-anxiety-doomsday-cult-or-mental-illness/

New material just below: The critical behavior/belief coupling (Historical Jesus got it right, finally, but Paul, with his Christ myth, then buried the critical breakthrough insight and main theme of Jesus). And the big Switcheroo (Democrats/liberals now embracing McCarthyism). Also, “Manufacturing monsters to alarm populations who will then surrender to irrational salvation schemes”.

Keep informed: How alarmism crusades try to “save the world” by destroying it. The inevitably destructive outcomes of “lost paradise/apocalypse/redemption” narratives, whether religious or “secular/ideological”.

https://dailysceptic.org/2023/05/13/can-anyone-now-stop-the-greens-from-destroying-germany/?mc_cid=6734205f8b&mc_eid=bbd9cad85f

The ancient validation coupling: Validating behavior by basing it on similar belief, Wendell Krossa

Summary: Historical Jesus (the one who is opposite to Christian “Jesus Christ”) used the “behavior based on similar belief” pairing to present his stunning new breakthrough insight- “the single most profoundly humane insight ever presented to humanity”- his “stunning new theology of a non-retaliatory God”, an insight that revolutionized theology. His insight absolutely revolutionized humanity’s highest ideal and authority over the millennia- deity. Paul then rejected that core insight and retreated to the primitive retaliatory theology of all past mythology. He retreated to the barbaric primitivism that has darkened and deformed human consciousness since the beginning.

Four thousand-plus years ago, two millennia before Jesus, an Akkadian Father had offered the single most humane ethical insight that humanity had discovered to that point in time. He urged his son to not retaliate against his enemies but instead to be kind to his enemies. His advice on non-retaliatory response toward offenders/enemies was a proto-version of the later “love your enemy” precept.

His words: “Do not return evil to your adversary; requite with kindness the one who does evil to you, maintain justice for your enemy, be friendly to your enemy… Do not speak ill, speak only good. Do not say evil things, speak well of people….”

But the Akkadian father did not make the full breakthrough on the belief side of the “behavior/belief” coupling that has always been foundational to human meaning and life. In his statement he re-affirmed the pagan ideal of threatening deity (threat theology) in urging his son to make a sacrifice to his god- “Sacrifice and pious utterance are the proper accompaniment of incense… this is proper toward a god…” Read the rest of the opening comment here

See the good post from Bob Brinsmead, below, on the contradiction in both the Old and New Testaments between the priests (pro-sacrifice) and the prophets (anti-sacrifice). Also new below- links to MMA star Chael Sonnen’s interview re his promotion of “bad guy narratives” in the UFC. Also, a personal update note on my experience with aggressive, metastatic prostate cancer over the past 9 months. And more on the inevitable human speculation on metaphysical realities, something done by both religious/spiritual types and materialist/atheist types. We all share that primal impulse to meaning.

Also below, a reposting of Ira Glasser’s comments on the critical need to protect free speech, even offensive/repugnant speech, as fundamental to all freedom. He points to the key issue in the free speech debate- “Who gets to decide what is ‘hate speech’?” So also, this must be put to the “disinformation” crusaders of today- “Who gets to decide what is ‘disinformation/misinformation’?” In the highly tribalized atmosphere of today these categories are being used to validate censorship of the speech of disagreeing, differing others. The disinformation crusade is becoming just another eruption of the totalitarianism impulse, once again. And the stunner- it is mostly coming from the “liberal” side of society, from those we not long ago considered to be the main defenders of inclusion, diversity, freedom and equality for all. What happened?

And, more revised reposting of comment on the Woke social contagion that has tsunamied across Western societies- i.e. minorities claiming that their hurt/offended feelings must be the determining standard for the permissible views, speech, and actions of all others in our societies. And comment on the abandonment of common love in this extremist Woke Progressive crusade.

Read this for your life, for your future…

https://public.substack.com/p/world-on-cusp-of-woke-totalitarianism

From Michael Shellenberger and Alex Gutentag, “World On Cusp Of Woke Totalitarianism As Governments Act To End Freedom Of Speech: Media blackout as politicians in EU, US, UK, Brazil, Ireland, Canada, and Australia seek to jail citizens for wrongthink under cover of a Big Lie about ‘hate speech’”, May 3, 2023

Quotes from link above:

“The Twitter Files gave us a window into how government agencies, civil society, and tech companies work together to censor social media users. Now, key nations are attempting to enshrine this coordination into law explicitly.

“Around the world, politicians have either just passed or are on the cusp of passing sweeping new laws, which would allow governments to censor ordinary citizens on social media and other Internet platforms.

“Under the guise of preventing “harm” and holding large tech companies accountable, several countries are establishing a vast and interlinked censorship apparatus, a new investigation by Public finds.

“Politicians, NGOs, and their enablers in the news media claim that their goal is merely to protect the public from “disinformation.” But vague definitions and loopholes in new laws will create avenues for broad application, overreach, and abuse…. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Section topics:

Summary facts to counter climate alarmism narratives;

The real enemy of humanity, the real hero’s quest to slay a monster- the monstrous mythology of apocalyptic declinism;

Core themes of lost paradise/apocalyptic/redemption mythology (the ideas and impulses);

Patterns in apocalyptic alarmism movements;

Did you really leave your religion? (The endless regurgitation of mythical themes in newer “secular/ideological” versions);

The true state of life on earth- data on main indicators;

And more… Read the rest of the opening comment here

Section topics:

(1) Comment on “lost paradise/redemption” mythologies;

(2) The transition from animal to human (inherited impulses and validating ideas, what has hindered the full transition to human, what hinders the full liberation from our animal past);

(3) Unconditional as the potent weapon to slay the inherited animal monster;

(4) Climate alarmism is not a scientific narrative;

(5) What lies beneath- the primitive mythology of “apocalyptic millennialism” behind climate alarmism;

(6) Applying the unconditional ideal- its not dogmatic pacifism, it never avoids taking personal responsibility for the consequences of behavior;

(7) Democrats locked in a reality-distorting bubble, the new authoritarianism of Woke racism- US liberalism has become “highly illiberal” by embracing collectivism approaches that deny/ignore individual differences (i.e. viewing people in terms of groups, and condemning entire groups by skin color, and ignoring individual uniqueness and differences);

And more climate news, along with other comment…

Offering better alternatives to shape meta-narratives

This site does not ‘tear down’ without also offering something to build up- i.e. better alternatives to replace the worst stuff that we have inherited from our ancestors. In sections below, I have listed better alternative ideas to the worst pathologies/myths that we have inherited.

Note especially “Explaining reality and life: The worst and best ideas that we have come up with” (i.e. “Inherited bad myths and better alternatives”). This points to the greatest liberation movement ever- the liberation of human consciousness/subconscious at the deepest levels of thought, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior, at the level of embedded archetypes (archetypes as our fundamental impulses and the related ideas/myths that validate the impulses).

The “true state of life on Earth”…

When all is said and done- hope is re-affirmed by the best evidence on the true state of life. Life on Earth is not heading to hell in a handbasket. Contrary to the apocalyptic Declinism mythology that dominates most narratives and many minds today, life is not declining toward something worse. Fundamental human goodness and creativity has lifted humanity out of a dark place and set us on a trajectory of improvement and progress toward a much better future, notably over the past few centuries.

But the threats are everywhere and must be guarded against and responded to. Note one of the greatest threats to human progress today as outlined in this good report on the “disinformation” crusade that is undermining our freedom and liberal democracies- “A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century: Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation” by Jacob Siegel…

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation

Read the rest of the opening comment here

The very best climate science reports and news:

https://co2coalition.org/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/

https://www.netzerowatch.com/

http://co2science.org/

An affirmation of unconditional

An underlying assumption in my arguments for unconditional is that unconditional is “self-validating” as good, right, and therefore true. And if basic theodicy is right to assume that ultimate reality/deity is fundamentally good in some way (i.e. God is love) then there is no higher understanding or definition of good, right, truth, or love than unconditional. We all know this at an intuitive and daily-experience level- i.e. that unconditional is the best of being human, the best way to relate to failing others. We know this from our personal experience in relationships with spouses, children, family, friends, neighbors, others, etc. Unconditional is also how we would like to be treated in terms of our own imperfections and failures.

(Theodicy- The affirmation of deity as fundamentally good.)

The assumption of “self-validating” means that unconditional does not need outside validation from some other authority- whether from a religious tradition, holy book, philosophical argument, ethics “experts”, or other sources of authority. Its ultimate validation comes from the intuitive common sense of ordinary folks like ourselves.

Historical examples of the potential effectiveness of unconditional in human ethics: Note Nelson Mandela and his approach of forgiving, loving opponents and his arguments that the unconditional treatment of enemies “brings out the best in others” (not all, but most) and “turns enemies into friends” (not all, but most). And a balancing note re Mandela: Offenders were held responsible/accountable for their crimes by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Mandela did not embrace unconditional as some form of dogmatic pacifism in the face of evil (i.e. “turn the other cheek” and just ignore or dismiss offenses).

The evidence that an unconditional approach toward enemies also works at a societal level- Remember the strikingly different outcomes in the early 1990s between Mandela’s unconditional-like approach to enemies in South Africa (avoiding civil war and mass-death as noted by Richard Stengel in “Mandela’s Way”), compared to the retaliatory approaches toward “enemies” in Rwanda (1994) and Bosnia (1992-95) around the same time.

Unconditional works in very practical ways to break retaliatory cycles and thereby defuse potentially harmful situations. It is potently successful at personal and societal levels. It is simply the highest and best that we have discovered for taking humanity to the heights of humane thought, feeling, motivation/intention, and response/behavior. But it takes the unique courage of a Mandela (“towering in stature as maturely human”) to initiate an unconditional response in situations where the primal and instinctual felt urge when offended in some manner is to strike back in like manner (eye for eye, tit for tat, hurt for hurt, humiliation for humiliation, getting even, getting “justice”, etc.). Read the rest of the opening comment here

The very best climate science reports and news:

https://co2coalition.org/

https://wattsupwiththat.com/

https://www.netzerowatch.com/

http://co2science.org/

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

“I think and therefore I am”.

“There are no really bad people, just bad ideas that make people do bad things”, comment of a friend.

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

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

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

Below are the some of the more prominent myths that have dominated human consciousness beginning with the earliest human belief systems, and down into our modern world. These myths still dominate religious traditions today and have even been embraced in “secular/ideological” versions. Note, for example, the “apocalyptic millennialism” or “lost paradise/redemption” themes regularly expressed by the climate alarmism cult. Even many in “science” embrace such myths. I recently noted again how Stephen Hawking fell for apocalyptic mythology in the final two years of his life, making his own prophesies of the “end-of-days”, even setting dates.

The ideas below have profoundly influenced human outlook, emotion, motivation, and response/behavior, often for the worse- i.e. inciting our worst animal impulses to tribalism, domination, and destruction (see psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo’s comments at bottom).

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

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