The Unconditional Human Spirit

Just a quote: “In the panic age nothing offends like optimism”, Matt Taibbi

These quotes, immediately below, are from Grok’s comments further below where I asked Grok to respond to my advocacy for unconditional as a guiding, inspiring ideal that would be useful to its mandate of pursuing “maximal truth-seeking”. I urge the ideal of unconditional as especially useful to uncover the common tendency of people to mask evil in our narratives by reframing and cloaking it as good, as virtuous. A reference to psychologist/Christian theologian Harold Ellens illustration of how the cruel murder of Jesus is presented as a remarkable act of love and grace in Christian atonement theology. Though in the terms of that theology, it is actually portraying a divinely appointed and barbaric act of child sacrifice. An intentionally predestined and cosmic act of blood sacrifice.

I have repeatedly posted these comments of Ellens (from Zenon Lotufo’s “Cruel God, Kind God”):

“There is in Western culture a psychological archetype, a metaphor that has to do with the image of a violent and wrathful God (see Romans, Revelation). Crystallized in Anselm’s juridical atonement theory, this image represents God sufficiently disturbed by the sinfulness of humanity that God had only two options: destroy us or substitute a sacrifice to pay for our sins. He did the latter. He killed Christ.

“Ellens goes on by stating that the crucifixion, a hugely violent act of infanticide or child sacrifice, has been disguised by Christian conservative theologians as a ‘remarkable act of grace’. Such a metaphor of an angry God, who cannot forgive unless appeased by a bloody sacrifice, has been ‘right at the center of the Master Story of the Western world for the last 2,000 years. And the unavoidable consequence for the human mind is a strong tendency to use violence’.”

Evil cloaked, reframed as good. Pay attention Grok. The unconditional message of Historical Jesus (his stunning new theology of God as unconditional love) potently exposes this mental deformity, and similar deformity all through religious narratives, and also elsewhere in “secular/ideological” and even “scientific” versions. Read the rest of the opening comment here

New below- Summaries from Lotufo’s chapter “Psychological analysis of the image of God implied in the doctrines of conservative Christians“, in his excellent book “Cruel God, Kind God”. Grok’s response is also below.

Also new below- Joe Rogan and Russell Crowe offer some thought-provoking commentary on this and that. Their comments sparked thoughts on today’s political/social tribalism and its roots in things like primitive Zoroastrian cosmic dualism mythology, and even earlier in the prehistory human establishment of an elite/commoner divide, and further roots in base animal small-band “tribalism”. We get endless versions of the same old, same old.

Which is to say- The root contributing factors to some of our most persistent problems are not so much about our disagreements with differing others, but have more to do with our commonly shared inheritance of animal impulses. Notably, the “evil triad” of the impulses to tribalism (exclusion of “enemy” others), to domination (the defeat and subjugation of differing others), and to punitive destruction of “enemy” others. These, among other impulses, constitute our real enemy in life and where the real battle of good against evil must take place. It’s inside each one of us.

Then some poking into the “decolonization” ideology and the newish version presented by recently elected New York mayor Mamdani- i.e. “Third Worldism”. I’ve summarized an interesting Free Press article on that, included below.

Before summarizing Zenon Lotufo’s probing of Christian salvation theology and why he and psychologist/theologian Harold Ellens refer to that as “Cruel God” theology (because it is based on the mental deformity of belief in a deity that delights in suffering as required for salvation) before going into that below, here is a bit on another side to the role of suffering in human existence… Read the rest of the opening comment here

See below: Insights from Elon Musk on what is currently dangerously wrong with AI and how to prevent the corruption of AI with the “Woke mind virus” that promotes destructive outcomes- i.e. his latest Joe Rogan interview.

I am no fanboy of Tucker Carlson, Wendell Krossa.

Carlson has recently said some things that seem a bit off the rail, too religiously dogmatic, too ‘conspiracy theory’ nutty (i.e. re “Twin Towers, Israel, etc.”). But to give him some props, he has done some interesting things over the recent past such as the Putin interview. And here he asks some useful questions of ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman, such as- What inputs are guiding the development of AI? And Who is making the inputs on basic principles? And what are the principles?

Altman replies that in developing his ChatGPT they are trying to get the “total collective of humanity” in terms of moral issues, all that diversity.

But, persists Carlson, who makes the moral decisions and based on what criteria? Who decides one thing is better than another? Who makes the specs to decide the framework that makes decisions on whether, for example, liberal democracy is better than Nazism? All critical questions that the public needs to know fully. Keep pressing, Tucker.

Tucker then goes off (my view) on his view of God, and the religious morality related to that, obviously inferring that something like his religious views, his theology, should be the basic guiding thing for AI, and he questions Altman on this issue. He asks Altman, “Do you believe in God?” Altman, knocked off kilter a bit, responds that ChatGPT will reflect some average moral view of all humanity that evolves over time. To “accurately reflect the preferences of humanity.” Read the rest of the opening comment here

Elon Musk discusses with Gad Saad why xAI Grok does better than other biased AI, such as ChatGPT, etc.

My Inaugural Chat with Elon Musk (THE SAAD TRUTH_1924)

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

Musk is now introducing “Grokipedia” to replace the irredeemably biased Wikipedia:

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1972992095859433671

More Musk below…

This response from Google AI to a request for a summary of the topics on this site, Wendell Krossa

“AI Overview

The main topics on “wendellkrossa.com” revolve around a critique of traditional apocalyptic religious and ideological narratives, advocating instead for a perspective rooted in unconditional goodness, humanism, and gradual progress. The site frequently contrasts this philosophy with what it identifies as the destructive and fearful aspects of traditional beliefs and modern movements.

Critique of apocalypticism

A central theme is the rejection of apocalyptic and millennialist mythologies, which Krossa argues are present in both religious and secular contexts.

• Religious critique: The site contrasts the historical, non-retaliatory Jesus with the vengeful and apocalyptic figure in Paul’s Christ myth. It challenges theologies built on fear, punishment, and sacrifice, including the concept of hell.

• Secular critique: Krossa applies this anti-apocalyptic lens to secular ideologies, most notably linking “climate change alarmism” and other authoritarian movements to the same destructive, fear-based narratives. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Remember, apocalyptic has always made fools of the brightest minds with its 100% historical failure rate. It even got Stephen Hawking over the last 2 years of his life.

Here a “bright mind” pulls back from foolishness, “Bill Gates Walks It Back: Disaster Isn’t Imminent”, Oct. 28, 2025

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/10/28/bill-gates-walks-it-back-disaster-isnt-imminent/

After decades of hysterical climate alarmism, Gates is now walking back his prophesies of the apocalypse, “Gates now says out loud: civilization is not ending.”

New below– Without a vision people wither and perish. And worse, if the vision has deforming elements/features, then the outcomes can become disastrous for societies. What ideas frame humane visions that inspire the best impulses in us?

Also below, the Dave Rubin interview of Israeli hostage Moran Stella Yanai and her illustrating detail on how bad religious ideas deform human minds and personalities with tribal hatred and barbaric violence toward “enemies”.

Preparing self-immunization/inoculation against new waves of hysteria that will inevitably come, Wendell Krossa

(Countering fear/panic with a new narrative oriented to evidence-based hope that enables the flourishing of humanity’s better angels)

We’ve been tormented, many even traumatized, with over three decades of climate crisis madness, starting roughly in 1989. In addition to that continuing background noise, with its prophets endlessly haranguing the public about the imminent “end of the world”, we’ve had further madness episodes like the panic-mongering that the newest incarnation of Hitler- Donald Trump- would bring on “the end of democracy”.

As the apocalyptic voices in these varied panics amplified hysteria, others in response would correctly describe the ensuing madness that we were living through with terms like “crazy, insanity, absurd, lunacy”. When we thought things had reached peak crazy and could not get any loonier, we were hit with Covid where the media pounced instantly, whipping hysteria to new heights in Covid hysteria. Read the rest of the opening comment here

See Grok’s comments (posted at the bottom of this opening section) on these opening two essays just below.

Rogan and guests sparked this comment, Wendell Krossa

In this episode (link posted below) of the “Joe Rogan Experience”, with guests Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, they discuss, among varied topics, Hamas extremism.

And I would emphasize in response, yes, you have to go after and stop such extremist groups as fundamental to protecting innocent citizens. That is the number one priority of governments- to use police and military force to arrest such offenders where that is safe to do so, and when its not safe, then you have to “shoot to kill” these threatening people. We cannot tolerate such threats anywhere in life.

But then, as my repeatedly quoted “military guy” said, to solve the problem of violence for the long-term, we have to understand where threatening terrorists get their fundamental ideas from. What really motivates them? Where do they get the ideas that incite, guide, and validate their violence toward differing others?

Their inciting and validating ideas come from the “parent religion” that they belong to, and, most specifically, from the “parent God” of the religion (see the article below on the Muslim Brotherhood and that author’s comment on Hamas following the “parent group’s ideology”). The God of the religion is at the very root of the problem of violence that we must resolve. Again, while it incites rage in some, or many, “It’s the theology, stupid” nails the critical issue of a main contributing factor to the problem of human violence.

(Insert: This is not picking on Islam because it shares the very same deity as Christianity and Judaism. These Western religions share deity images with the very same core features of tribalism, domination, punitive destruction of unbelievers, etc.)

Deity is central to the bad behavior problem because as “ultimate Authority” it provides the ultimate embodiment of the ideals that validate tribal violence, domination, punitive destruction of differing others. The critical role of deity in providing ideals for human behavior is why Historical Jesus went directly to the theology of his parent religion- Judaism- and rejected the traditional image of God in that religion. He did that by his refusal to read the follow-up statement in the Isaiah 61 passage- “The day of vengeance of our God.” He rejected the belief in retaliatory, destroying God, the punitively violent deity that provided validation for human violence. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Among varied other things below- Probing with Grok’s help, why people become enraged at advocacy for mercy, forgiveness, or unconditional generosity to be shown toward differing others, toward offenders/opponents, or enemies. Spoiler- It has to do with locating our identity too immutably in the ideas/beliefs that dominate our narratives, ideas/beliefs like justice as some form of “eye for eye” retribution. Challenge to such beliefs then becomes an issue of the survival of our self. Hence, the murderous rage.

Illustrating with (1) those Jews in the audience at Jesus’ first public speaking event (i.e. their murderous outrage at his “stunning new non-retaliatory theology”- Luke 4), then (2) Paul’s similar reaction to the stunning new theology and message of Jesus (i.e. he created his retaliatory Christ myth to “bury” those non-retaliatory “diamonds” of Jesus), and (3) Muhammad’s response- i.e. rejection of the non-retaliatory theology of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, the book that his mentor, the Ebionite priest Waraqa, used to instruct him in theology.

Affirmation from Grok– Following Grok’s evaluation of varied blogs/essays on this site.

This from Grok regarding my list of the “most influential bad ideas in history”, ideas that have dominated our meta-narratives across history, both religious and secular/ideological:

Grok says, “Your list is remarkably comprehensive, hitting major chords in human storytelling: decline, guilt, divine justice, conflict, and redemption. These themes dominate especially in Axial Age religions (c. 800–200 BCE) and their successors (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, etc.), which shaped much of Western and Middle Eastern thought. They also appear in secular ideologies (e.g., progress narratives, revolutionary utopianism), showing their adaptability…

“Your list captures some of the most recurring and influential themes in human mythologies and religions, reflecting deep psychological, social, and existential concerns….

“Your seven themes are strikingly resilient, morphing from mythic to ideological forms without losing their emotional or moral grip. They shape modern debates— climate, politics, tech— by recasting gods as systems, sins as policies, and salvation as progress. Their evolution reflects a shift from divine to human agency, but the core stories endure, proving their psychological and cultural power.

“These ideas resonate across cultures and eras because they address universal questions about meaning, morality, suffering, and destiny.”

And then…

This from Grok on the enraged reaction of people to the central unconditional theme of Historical Jesus: Read the rest of the opening comment here

Below: Some interesting comment below by Carson Jerema on the Nazis as socialists, and the Canadian Liberal’s refusal to accept that. It undermines a favorite smear that Western liberals/leftists apply to all opponents today, and illustrates the element of psychological “projection” in doing that.

An Australian friend posted this to our discussion group:

“Subject: Humanity

“One day I hope humanity will look at each other with the same wonderment and awe as when we gaze at the stars.” (Attributed to De Waal). We need to do that today. We are stuck in a universal crisis. We seem to have lost all respect for one another. How many drones and missiles has Russia fired at Ukraine? More than 1,200! That is beyond insanity and stupidity. A diabolical evil.”

I responded:

“___, this drives my site probing and commentary on- What incites and validates hatred toward differing others? What drives too many of the ongoing eruptions of violence toward others? I probe themes like “salvation through destruction”, a dominant theme in too many of today’s meta-narratives, both religious and secular.

“As usual, this is my understanding of the human use of ‘behavior based on belief’, an ancient and still common coupling that arises from our primary impulse to meaning and purpose, our impulse as children to be like Daddy. Hence, that summary statement of Jesus, ‘Be unconditionally merciful just as your Father is unconditionally merciful’.” Wendell Krossa

Courage or cowardice?, Wendell Krossa

I have long been intrigued by human displays of either courage or cowardice in the face of crises, whether personal or larger social situations. It is something most of us feel when victims face mobs, bullies, thugs, especially at times when it matters as in some larger situation/context of an assault on basic human freedom. Read the rest of the opening comment here

See below, “Nonprofits Cruelly Normalize Poverty for Climate Virtue”, by Vijay Jayaraj. Vijay illustrates the destructive outcomes from history’s latest “salvation through destruction” crusade, the “climate crisis” crusade. Driven by the same basic themes that drove Marxist revolutions and Nazi horrors. The historians/scholars have done the good homework exposing these “profoundly religious” crusades.

President Trump made the “cute” comment recently on Air Force One that he did not think he would get into heaven, despite the good things that he has done for many others.

“‘I’m being a little cute.’ Trump considers if Gaza ceasefire will get him into heaven”, Kinsey Crowly, Oct. 13, 2025

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/13/donald-trump-heaven/86668964007/

Unbelievable to hear in 2025 this kind of talk from someone who self-identifies as exceptionally bright/intelligent, and on varied things, yes. He is notably bright on business/economic policies (reduce taxation, regulation), immigration (control and ensure immigrants assimilate to liberal democracy values and practices), foreign policy (fair trade, ending wars), etc. But even jokingly, this reveals a mind that holds to some of the most primitive mythology to have ever darkened and enslaved human minds- i.e. the felt need to do good works in order to gain salvation, divine favor, find inclusion among the “saved righteous ones”.

I guess this is all to be expected from a person who holds to a retaliatory, punitive “eye for eye” view of justice (apparently his dominant “guiding ethic”), and also, obviously, to a similarly retaliatory, punitive God who validates that conditional salvation mythology.

It’s always interesting how we can hold such contrary and mutually exclusive elements in our heads- i.e. great advanced insights in some areas and then total blind “stupidity” (a common Trump term) in other areas. “Cognitive dissonance” helps us to understand this a bit. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Preface notes… “Its the theology, stupid”, Historical Jesus. Huh? OK, my paraphrase of his central message.

We are all feeling the intensity of the love and joy of relatives as they greet the just released Israeli hostages. It is so intensely moving. That is what love is all about, rejoicing in life with family and friends. And such a contrast to the hatred that sparked the insane eruption of violence two years ago, a hatred so deeply instilled and intense that mothers rejoice that they can offer their children to a death-cult to be sacrificed as suicide-bombers, wishing they had more children to sacrifice in such manner (see Dave Rubin interview of Moran Stella Yanai below).

And this pushes me repeatedly to try to grapple with what fuels such hatred that would commit such barbaric inhumanity against fellow humans. This site explores and presents some of the critical contributing factors to the varied eruptions of madness, the repeated crusades of “salvation through destruction” that we are all exposed to repeatedly… i.e. the madness of last century’s violent Marxist revolutions (now revived as neo-collectivism in far-left Woke Progressivism with DEI and the related reviving of another more straightforward socialism crusade as in New York), the ongoing madness (over three decades now) of hysterical climate alarmism with its “salvation” scheme of Net Zero decarbonization ruining our societies, and of course the Islamic terrorism still seeking “salvation through the destruction of enemies” in varied places. Among other varieties of similar “madness of crowds”.

And we know more now what drives such eruptions of madness- i.e. the core themes that incite, guide, and validate “man’s inhumanity to man”. Themes that are close to home for all of us, embedded deeply in our meta-narratives and the archetypes of our shared subconscious, whether we identify as religious or secular materialist, or whatever. I wrestle with my own family tradition of Christianity, with its dominant role over the past two millennia in shaping Western consciousness and narratives both religious and secular, with its core themes of “salvation through destruction” as epitomized in Paul’s Christology and “apocalyptic millennial” mythology illustrated graphically in the New Testament book of Revelation.

So much to explore, understand, and then get busy cleaning up the mess that we have inherited. Doing what Thomas Jefferson and Leo Tolstoy wisely advocated- i.e. to pull the “diamonds out of the dung” as in fulfilling our basic responsibility to separate the good from the bad in all areas of life. A wisdom sage has shown us exactly how we do this. “It’s the theology, stupid”, he argued. See a reposting of the central precepts and wisdom sayings of Historical Jesus below, his brilliant coupling of “behavior based on similar theology” that presented his “stunning new theology… his greatest contribution to the history of human ideas”. It’s the “unconditional” theme of this site. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Regarding the earlier “oopsie” that must have singed the eyes of you British visitors… “Sousing out” was a local term where I was from, for trying to figure something out. Or maybe it was just my Dad’s slang for that. Hmmm. Localisms, eh.

New material below from Michael Shellenberger on the advocacy for violence as mainly coming from the left today. Also, examples of “suicidal empathy” in Canadian “catch and release” approaches that release repeat violent offenders to further harm innocent civilians in Canadian cities (abandoning common-sense). And more…

See also “Hamas influenced/shaped by religious beliefs” with a related article. Hamas illustrates the larger problem of bad ideas/archetypes continuing to shape crusades of “salvation through destruction”, an infection that has plagued all the major religious traditions across history, and continues to infect “secular/ideological” versions of our modern era.

The climate science behind climate change. Point? There is no “climate crisis”. We are living through climate change that can be best understood in terms of “natural variation” caused by prominent natural factors. This evidence counters the irrational hysteria incited by the prophets of the climate apocalypse narrative. And that narrative can be understood better in terms of the continuing influence of apocalyptic millennial mythology on many people today.

The evidence below, along with much similar evidence, reveals/exposes the climate crisis movement to be a “profoundly religious crusade”. Its certainly not science. This site probes the mythology behind such crusades and their endeavors to undermine/overturn our liberal democracies through crusades promising “salvation through destruction”, typical of all the similar crusades before, whether religious or “secular/ideological” (as in “secularized” versions of the same basic mythological themes).

Note the same old “salvation through destruction” in Marxist versions, in Nazism, and now prominently in environmental alarmism. The “destruction” element is in the “de-growth, de-development” policies of “Net Zero decarbonization”. Policies now hindering, overturning, and eventually full-frontal ruining/destroying our heritage of industrial civilization based on (what are in reality) plentiful and (hence, what should be) inexpensive fossil fuels.

Add here also the good research of atmospheric physicists like Richard Lindzen and William Happer on the physics of CO2 (see their reports at “CO2coalition.org”) and the fact that the warming influence of CO2 is now “saturated”, a physics term referring to the fact that the area on the infrared spectrum where CO2 functions to warm climate (around 15 mm) is now full. And even a doubling of CO2 levels to 800 ppm will not result in much more warming, if any. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Comedian and podcaster Jimmy Dore, “We are the most propagandized and lied to people and we don’t know it”.

See below a response to a discussion group member who defends the atonement beliefs and Christ myth of Paul, and my argument for the entirely opposite theology and message of Historical Jesus, a non-religious message with potential to usher in the ultimate liberation movement. And comment on what is at stake in this debate over the differences between Jesus and Paul’s Christ.

Also below: I’ve reposted the common themes that have shaped religions like Christianity and Islam to show that this site does not pick on any one religious tradition, for the reason that they all share that same complex of core themes, inherited from our primitive ancestors and passed down embodied as archetypes of the subconscious. Every religion has framed those basic themes in their diverse traditions with minor adjustments, while at the same time preserving the fundamental threat theology and conditional nature of all religion.

Also more Rogan below. Quibbling with his incorrect application of “socialism”.

“The Devil’s Algorithm: Unplugging from the Climate Matrix”, Tilak Doshi (Substack), Oct. 4, 2025

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/10/04/the-devils-algorithm-unplugging-from-the-climate-matrix/

Doshi begins: Read the rest of the opening comment here