It was a deep insight of Orwell that it is important we should love Big Brother; although Orwell did not, himself, appreciate exactly why.
We are all supposed to love Big Brother because BB is the Ahrimanic Satanic System by which Men are corrupted into evil.
And to be properly corrupted into evil means to regard evil as our-good, Satan as our God.
To love Big Brother is value-inversion.
In other words, it is not enough merely to submit to the totalitarian tyranny for reasons of fear and expediency. If Men are actively to reject Jesus's offer of Heaven, and instead to desire their own Hell, then they must regard the Godless, Christ-hating tyranny as A Good Thing.
Each person must desire and embrace his own assimilation into The Matrix.
(Philip K Dick's term for The System/ Matrix/ Single-global-bureaucracy was the Black Iron Prison (BIP) - and, I would say that he saw this reality earlier, deeper and more clearly than perhaps anyone.)
Thus we can perhaps understand how the psuedo-health-justified, caring-sharing birdemic crisis has - in a valuation heel-turn, utterly characteristic of the demonic Left - suddenly turned-into the violent, destructive, race-justified, mob-stoking cultural-wildfire of Cultural Revolution and Struggle Session.
The global totalitarian coup of early 2020 is in-place; achieved. We are living in the Big Brother world of surveillance, control, arbitrary authority, propaganda as mandatory reality... Now, They want us to love our state, to love The Government/ Media/ Corporate/ Bureaucratic System.
With this aim, The Matrix has taken-up, and is assimilating, the mantle of the highest abstract moral value in our Godless, spirit-denying, purposeless and meaningless world: antiracism...
The propaganda is that the BIP is now not only the saver of lives - saving our bodies from the Black Death of birdemic; but also the saviour of our minds, saving us from the malignant cancer of honesty, experience and common sense that is currently termed "racism".
The BIP has been made sacred, and a new inverted symbolic and ritual Black Mass is being constructed on the fly, day by day; to subvert the Good - and baptise fear, resentment, guilt and despair as the new virtues.
Thus (in these End Times) the Antichrist impulse borrows some of the trappings of Jesus Christ; and has directed them towards the material and perceptual aspects of our mortal lives in this-world.
Mixing scraps and twists of virtue into their Big Evil Lies; They work to turn Men against God, the Good, and Creation. And against the gifts of Jesus: denying the primacy of eternal resurrected life in Heaven; denying the (always-and-everywhere) friendship and guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Friday 12 June 2020
Thursday 11 June 2020
In the land of the psychotic
On the one hand, the Establishment have made this world into a madhouse. Decades of increasing political correctness have climaxed in the fake birdemic/ response, and now an orgy of state-media-business-bureaucracy sponsored self-hatred and self-destruction.
THEY are messing with your mind, you are being terrorised and isolated. Encouraged to feel afraid, demanded to confess guilt, punished without limit or extent - at the whim of the authorities.
How have people reacted? By trying to become good patients. By accepting their assigned roles and status. By pandering to the whims of the Caligulas who rule us.
After all, nobody wants to be the only sane man in a madhouse.
Not when you believe there is nothing else but this madhouse, and that we cannot escape ever, because there is nowhere to escape to - except death (which is believed to be inevitable annihilation).
Note added: Yet, if we know that there is life beyond life, we can recognize and learn from our situation.
THEY are messing with your mind, you are being terrorised and isolated. Encouraged to feel afraid, demanded to confess guilt, punished without limit or extent - at the whim of the authorities.
How have people reacted? By trying to become good patients. By accepting their assigned roles and status. By pandering to the whims of the Caligulas who rule us.
After all, nobody wants to be the only sane man in a madhouse.
Not when you believe there is nothing else but this madhouse, and that we cannot escape ever, because there is nowhere to escape to - except death (which is believed to be inevitable annihilation).
Note added: Yet, if we know that there is life beyond life, we can recognize and learn from our situation.
Listen again: the British coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest
OK, you've heard it before; but this time really concentrate on the first two minutes - the instrumental build-up to the As Loud As Possible choir entry of: "Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon King".
Here is a performance from one of the great orchestras of all time - the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, back when they were directed by Neville Marriner.
It is the build-up of pulsing, arpeggiated chords (in their various forms), and their extraordinary harmonies, that makes the culminating, climactic choral entry so overwhelmingly powerful. And, because this is Marriner's band; each rising and falling chord is phrased and shaped, the string tone is sheer silver, and the music has a sinuous and sustained line.
The first 16 bars are tremendous, but also exactly what we would expect - and seem to be just about to be followed by the chorus; but it has been a feint leading to some decorative violin shapes.
The volume and expectation then drop right back down; and we seem to 'start over again' with the intro. We are just 30 seconds into the piece, and already there is a sense of confused expectation...
This time we seem at first to be getting an almost repeat; but then, just as we might expect an end to it, from about 60 seconds the harmonies start becoming dissonant and 'scrunchy', the chords cease to be predictable, the volume dies down again - where is this piece going?
For some twenty seconds we seem to be adrift in an sea of clashing notes.
Then gradually we become aware that, in fact, we have reached a kind of sea-bed. A firm base. The harmonies are gathering-themselves. The dissonances are moving step-wise towards something. The volume and tempo seem to be surging like an oceanic wave...
Good grief; this is the countdown, and lift-off is imminent.
Then: Bam! The resolution is given by the major chord of the choir's first word.
At full volume; the force of seven-part choral harmony hits you with Solid Block Chords; one for each word or syllable of the text. Simple. Devastating.
2 minutes...
The rest is fine; but inevitably doesn't live-up-to what we have just heard.
Here is a performance from one of the great orchestras of all time - the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, back when they were directed by Neville Marriner.
It is the build-up of pulsing, arpeggiated chords (in their various forms), and their extraordinary harmonies, that makes the culminating, climactic choral entry so overwhelmingly powerful. And, because this is Marriner's band; each rising and falling chord is phrased and shaped, the string tone is sheer silver, and the music has a sinuous and sustained line.
The first 16 bars are tremendous, but also exactly what we would expect - and seem to be just about to be followed by the chorus; but it has been a feint leading to some decorative violin shapes.
The volume and expectation then drop right back down; and we seem to 'start over again' with the intro. We are just 30 seconds into the piece, and already there is a sense of confused expectation...
This time we seem at first to be getting an almost repeat; but then, just as we might expect an end to it, from about 60 seconds the harmonies start becoming dissonant and 'scrunchy', the chords cease to be predictable, the volume dies down again - where is this piece going?
For some twenty seconds we seem to be adrift in an sea of clashing notes.
Then gradually we become aware that, in fact, we have reached a kind of sea-bed. A firm base. The harmonies are gathering-themselves. The dissonances are moving step-wise towards something. The volume and tempo seem to be surging like an oceanic wave...
Good grief; this is the countdown, and lift-off is imminent.
Then: Bam! The resolution is given by the major chord of the choir's first word.
At full volume; the force of seven-part choral harmony hits you with Solid Block Chords; one for each word or syllable of the text. Simple. Devastating.
2 minutes...
The rest is fine; but inevitably doesn't live-up-to what we have just heard.
Wednesday 10 June 2020
We must meet understanding halfway
A great and vital insight that I got from Rudolf Steiner is that - however it may have been in the past - here and now, we must meet things halfway.
That is, we need consciously and actively to seek and choose that which we need; whether that be understanding or God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost.
We cannot sit back and expect to have the truth and goodness passively and unconsciously forced upon us.
We must become aware of and voluntarily choose to know and to believe in eternal resurrected life in Heaven, and the presence of the divine in our lives.
And must means Must. Or else we shall surely become sucked-into the evil that waxes all around us.
Note: The 'heart thinking' I have written about recently is distinguished from 'gut-thinking' or spontaneous innate instinct, by exactly this. Heart thinking (aka 'intuition' in this meaning) is conscious and chosen, whereas instinct works often without our knowledge or consent.
That is, we need consciously and actively to seek and choose that which we need; whether that be understanding or God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost.
We cannot sit back and expect to have the truth and goodness passively and unconsciously forced upon us.
We must become aware of and voluntarily choose to know and to believe in eternal resurrected life in Heaven, and the presence of the divine in our lives.
And must means Must. Or else we shall surely become sucked-into the evil that waxes all around us.
Note: The 'heart thinking' I have written about recently is distinguished from 'gut-thinking' or spontaneous innate instinct, by exactly this. Heart thinking (aka 'intuition' in this meaning) is conscious and chosen, whereas instinct works often without our knowledge or consent.
Tuesday 9 June 2020
Monday 8 June 2020
New World Dis-order?
It looks more as if it is not a "New World Order" that is being pursued, but an increase in disorder. At least, it is hard to square disbanding the police (which is being called for, and is apparently planned in some places) with the kind of escalating militaristic NWO of omni-surveillance and micro-control that has looked-like Their aim throughout the early part of 2020.
Of course, surface deniability is always sought when disorder is fomented; but those (apparently few) with an ability to think can easily see that the current disorder is a product of the-powers-that-be. Indeed, there has been implemented an astonishingly-rapid emergence of an inverted ritual religiosity towards the proximate agents of disorder (gestures of submission and surrender such as genuflecting, mass hand raising, foot-washing etc) - or, at least, that is what the mainstream media want people to believe and emulate.
Why would the Global Establishment be working so hard to destroy The System they control, and to make a blasphemous Satanic cult about it all? Well, it makes sense if the ultimate controllers are demonic - since an inverted-/ anti-Christ-ianity is exactly what we would expect of them.
But why Now; and why such a hurry? It may be that they know something that we don't. It may be that something is coming - some 'natural disaster' - that will destroy The System anyway; and they are trying to get as much done as possible before it happens.
Since we are dealing with supernatural demons, this is at least possible. But would not the supernatural powers of Good then be warning us of the same thing; so that we can 'get our houses in order'?
We, yes they would; and maybe they are indeed doing exactly that but few people will listen?
Have you consulted with the Holy Ghost recently, and have you asked him about the future of the world in the next few months?
I would advise that you try to find-out for yourself - as a matter of urgency - best straightway.
Of course, surface deniability is always sought when disorder is fomented; but those (apparently few) with an ability to think can easily see that the current disorder is a product of the-powers-that-be. Indeed, there has been implemented an astonishingly-rapid emergence of an inverted ritual religiosity towards the proximate agents of disorder (gestures of submission and surrender such as genuflecting, mass hand raising, foot-washing etc) - or, at least, that is what the mainstream media want people to believe and emulate.
Why would the Global Establishment be working so hard to destroy The System they control, and to make a blasphemous Satanic cult about it all? Well, it makes sense if the ultimate controllers are demonic - since an inverted-/ anti-Christ-ianity is exactly what we would expect of them.
But why Now; and why such a hurry? It may be that they know something that we don't. It may be that something is coming - some 'natural disaster' - that will destroy The System anyway; and they are trying to get as much done as possible before it happens.
Since we are dealing with supernatural demons, this is at least possible. But would not the supernatural powers of Good then be warning us of the same thing; so that we can 'get our houses in order'?
We, yes they would; and maybe they are indeed doing exactly that but few people will listen?
Have you consulted with the Holy Ghost recently, and have you asked him about the future of the world in the next few months?
I would advise that you try to find-out for yourself - as a matter of urgency - best straightway.
More on heart-thinking from Rudolf Steiner
Excerpted from the ninth of a 1910 lecture series entitled Macrocosm and Microcosm (GA 119). I have made cuts indicated... and added italics for emphasis:
...In ordinary life we have the feeling that we think with the head. That of course is a pictorial expression, for we actually think with the spiritual organs underlying the brain; but it is generally accepted that we think with the head... We have a quite different feeling about the thinking that becomes possible when we have made a little progress. The feeling then is as if what had hitherto been localised in the head were now localised in the heart...
This thinking of the heart is very different from ordinary thinking. In ordinary thinking everyone knows that reflection is necessary in order to arrive at a particular truth. The mind moves from one concept to another and after logical deliberation and reflection reaches what is called ‘knowledge’. It is different when we want to recognise the truth in connection with genuine symbols or emblems. They are before us like objects, but the thinking we apply to them cannot be confounded with ordinary brain-thinking. Whether they are true or false is directly evident without any reflection being necessary as in the case of ordinary thinking.
What there is to say about the higher worlds is directly evident... This is the characteristic of heart-thinking.
There are not many things in everyday life that may be compared with it but I will speak of something that may make it intelligible.
There are events which bring the intellect almost literally to a standstill. For example, suppose some event confronts you like a flash of lightning and you are terrified. No external thought intervenes between the event and your terror. The inner experience — the terror — is something that can bring the mind to a standstill. That is a good expression for it, for people feel what has, in very fact, happened...
Experiences which arise when an action or inner state of mind directly follows the first impression are the only kind in everyday life that may be compared with those of the spiritual investigator when he has to say something about his experiences in the higher worlds. If we begin to reason, to apply much logical criticism to these experiences, we drive them away. And furthermore, ordinary thinking applied in such cases will usually produce something that is false.
Essential as it is first of all to undergo the discipline of sound, reasoned thinking before attempting to enter the higher worlds, it is equally essential to rise above this ordinary thinking to immediate apprehension... With ordinary intellectual thinking we are incapable of judging rightly in the higher world, but equally we are incapable of judging rightly in that world if we have not first trained our intellectual thinking in the physical world, and then, at a suitable moment, are able to be oblivious of it...
In the ordinary life of today man experiences — or can at least experience — these three stages. — The majority of people are at the stage where in their normal consciousness an immediate, innate feeling tells them: this is right, that is wrong; you ought to do this, you ought not to do that... That is the first stage of development.
At the second stage, man begins to reflect. More and more people will be prone to abandon their original feeling and to reflect about the circumstances and conditions into which they have been born. This is why there is so much criticism today of creeds and of sacred traditions from the past. All this criticism is the reaction of the intellect and the reasoning mind against what has been accepted out of feeling and left unproven by the intellect...
Thus there are these two stages in the development of the human soul. In respect of what a man accepts as true he may be at the stage where he is guided by primitive, undeveloped feeling, feeling that is inborn or has been acquired through education. A second factor is what is called intellect, intelligence.
But anyone who has a little insight into the nature of the soul knows that a very definite quality of this intelligence is that it has a deadening effect upon the emotional life... Hence those who out of certain primitive feelings — which are entirely justifiable at one stage of development — incline towards this or that truth are reluctant to let these beliefs be affected by the withering and devastating effect of intellectuality. This reluctance is understandable.
If, however, it goes so far as to make people say that in order to rise into the higher worlds they will avoid all thinking and remain in their immature emotional life, then they can never reach the higher worlds; all their experiences will remain on a low level.
It is inconvenient, but necessary, to train the power of thinking — which is of course invaluable for life in the external world, although for those who aspire to reach the higher worlds thinking serves merely as a preparation, as training. The validity of truths of the higher worlds cannot be established through logic.
The thinking that is applied to machines, to the phenomena of outer nature, to the natural sciences, cannot be applied in the same way to experiences connected with the higher worlds... Without intellect we could not construct machines, build bridges or study botany, zoology, medicine, or anything else; its use in those domains is apparent inasmuch as it is applied to the immediate objects. For higher development, intellect has approximately the significance that learning to write has in youth. Learning to write is the exercise of a faculty that must be behind us when it has to be applied; it has significance only when we have got beyond it...
So it is too, with thinking. Anyone who wants to undergo higher development must for a certain time also undergo training in logical thinking and then discard it in order to pass over to thinking with the heart. Then there remains with him a certain habit of conscientiousness with regard to the acceptance of truth in the higher worlds. Nobody who has undergone this training will regard every symbol as a true Imagination or interpret it arbitrarily; but he will have the inner strength to draw near to reality, to see and interpret it rightly.
The very reason why a thorough training is necessary is because we must then have an immediate feeling as to whether something is true or false. To put it exactly, this means that whereas in ordinary life we use reflection, in the higher worlds our thinking must previously have been developed sufficiently to enable us to decide spontaneously about truth or falsity.
Other thoughts on heart-thinking can also be found described under the categories of primary thinking, direct thinking and Final Participation. It is the basis of Romantic Christianity.
...In ordinary life we have the feeling that we think with the head. That of course is a pictorial expression, for we actually think with the spiritual organs underlying the brain; but it is generally accepted that we think with the head... We have a quite different feeling about the thinking that becomes possible when we have made a little progress. The feeling then is as if what had hitherto been localised in the head were now localised in the heart...
This thinking of the heart is very different from ordinary thinking. In ordinary thinking everyone knows that reflection is necessary in order to arrive at a particular truth. The mind moves from one concept to another and after logical deliberation and reflection reaches what is called ‘knowledge’. It is different when we want to recognise the truth in connection with genuine symbols or emblems. They are before us like objects, but the thinking we apply to them cannot be confounded with ordinary brain-thinking. Whether they are true or false is directly evident without any reflection being necessary as in the case of ordinary thinking.
What there is to say about the higher worlds is directly evident... This is the characteristic of heart-thinking.
There are not many things in everyday life that may be compared with it but I will speak of something that may make it intelligible.
There are events which bring the intellect almost literally to a standstill. For example, suppose some event confronts you like a flash of lightning and you are terrified. No external thought intervenes between the event and your terror. The inner experience — the terror — is something that can bring the mind to a standstill. That is a good expression for it, for people feel what has, in very fact, happened...
Experiences which arise when an action or inner state of mind directly follows the first impression are the only kind in everyday life that may be compared with those of the spiritual investigator when he has to say something about his experiences in the higher worlds. If we begin to reason, to apply much logical criticism to these experiences, we drive them away. And furthermore, ordinary thinking applied in such cases will usually produce something that is false.
Essential as it is first of all to undergo the discipline of sound, reasoned thinking before attempting to enter the higher worlds, it is equally essential to rise above this ordinary thinking to immediate apprehension... With ordinary intellectual thinking we are incapable of judging rightly in the higher world, but equally we are incapable of judging rightly in that world if we have not first trained our intellectual thinking in the physical world, and then, at a suitable moment, are able to be oblivious of it...
In the ordinary life of today man experiences — or can at least experience — these three stages. — The majority of people are at the stage where in their normal consciousness an immediate, innate feeling tells them: this is right, that is wrong; you ought to do this, you ought not to do that... That is the first stage of development.
At the second stage, man begins to reflect. More and more people will be prone to abandon their original feeling and to reflect about the circumstances and conditions into which they have been born. This is why there is so much criticism today of creeds and of sacred traditions from the past. All this criticism is the reaction of the intellect and the reasoning mind against what has been accepted out of feeling and left unproven by the intellect...
Thus there are these two stages in the development of the human soul. In respect of what a man accepts as true he may be at the stage where he is guided by primitive, undeveloped feeling, feeling that is inborn or has been acquired through education. A second factor is what is called intellect, intelligence.
But anyone who has a little insight into the nature of the soul knows that a very definite quality of this intelligence is that it has a deadening effect upon the emotional life... Hence those who out of certain primitive feelings — which are entirely justifiable at one stage of development — incline towards this or that truth are reluctant to let these beliefs be affected by the withering and devastating effect of intellectuality. This reluctance is understandable.
If, however, it goes so far as to make people say that in order to rise into the higher worlds they will avoid all thinking and remain in their immature emotional life, then they can never reach the higher worlds; all their experiences will remain on a low level.
It is inconvenient, but necessary, to train the power of thinking — which is of course invaluable for life in the external world, although for those who aspire to reach the higher worlds thinking serves merely as a preparation, as training. The validity of truths of the higher worlds cannot be established through logic.
The thinking that is applied to machines, to the phenomena of outer nature, to the natural sciences, cannot be applied in the same way to experiences connected with the higher worlds... Without intellect we could not construct machines, build bridges or study botany, zoology, medicine, or anything else; its use in those domains is apparent inasmuch as it is applied to the immediate objects. For higher development, intellect has approximately the significance that learning to write has in youth. Learning to write is the exercise of a faculty that must be behind us when it has to be applied; it has significance only when we have got beyond it...
So it is too, with thinking. Anyone who wants to undergo higher development must for a certain time also undergo training in logical thinking and then discard it in order to pass over to thinking with the heart. Then there remains with him a certain habit of conscientiousness with regard to the acceptance of truth in the higher worlds. Nobody who has undergone this training will regard every symbol as a true Imagination or interpret it arbitrarily; but he will have the inner strength to draw near to reality, to see and interpret it rightly.
The very reason why a thorough training is necessary is because we must then have an immediate feeling as to whether something is true or false. To put it exactly, this means that whereas in ordinary life we use reflection, in the higher worlds our thinking must previously have been developed sufficiently to enable us to decide spontaneously about truth or falsity.
**
Other thoughts on heart-thinking can also be found described under the categories of primary thinking, direct thinking and Final Participation. It is the basis of Romantic Christianity.
Sunday 7 June 2020
Jesus on the Sabbath and God as his Father - from William James Tychonievich
Regular readers will know that my understanding of Christianity is based upon the Fourth Gospel - called John; and that I have written a small 'book' about this.
One happy consequence has been that William James Tychonievich has embarked upon a somewhat-complementary project of putting the Fourth Gospel under a microscope, moving through it in considerable detail - and with a greater focus on linguistic and historical aspects; as well as exploring links with the Old Testament and other parts of the New.
William's latest offering is another extremely valuable addition to the series, in which he focuses on the passages of the Fourth Gospel describing the 'Take up thy bed and walk' incident at the healing pool in Bethesda.
Two points he makes towards the end of the post struck home particularly strongly (I have made a few cuts, indicated...):
Chapter 5:[16] And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
While it is true that Moses decreed the death penalty for sabbath-breaking, the Jews of Jesus' time had no authority to execute that penalty. Judaea was under Roman rule, and only the Romans could put a man to death...
[17] But Jesus answered them, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."
This is perhaps not the sort of defense we might have expected. Jesus does not say that carrying a "bed" (probably just a mat) hardly counts as "bearing a burden" and is not a violation of the sabbath. He does not say that, while keeping the sabbath is important, healing a man who needs healing is even more important. Instead, he says, "God is still working, and so am I." God, contrary to what Moses said, never rested from his labors, and neither should we. Rather than argue that his apparent sabbath-breaking was justified in this particular case, Jesus denies the whole idea of the sabbath.
If you search the Gospels, I think you will find not a single instance of Jesus keeping the sabbath or encouraging anyone else to do so. Even when he rattles off some of the Ten Commandments in response to the rich young ruler's query (Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20), he is careful to omit that one. The only time the sabbath ever comes up in connection with Jesus is when he is breaking it, which he does repeatedly and deliberately.
[18] Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Centuries of Christianity have made it so natural to think of God as "Our Father" that it is easy to forget that the fatherhood of God is not a Jewish doctrine and was among Jesus' more controversial teachings. Although I am open to correction on this point, I do not believe the Old Testament contains a single unambiguous reference to God as the Father...
It may seem a small thing to say "Father" rather than "Creator," but I think Jesus' would-be murderers were right to regard it as revolutionary and to equate it with "making himself equal with God." If a man builds a house, the house is never going to be anything like the man who created it -- but begetting a son is another thing entirely. A son is fundamentally the same sort of being as his father and is destined to become like him.
To call God one's Father is to make an astonishing claim about oneself, and the Jews are not to be faulted for finding it shocking in the extreme.
My reflections:
It suddenly seems obvious (to one who regards the Fourth Gospel as primary) that the breaking of the Sabbath was Jesus's message, rather than its keeping. This is surprising, considering the history of most of the Christian churches; but then, the idea of an institutional church and priesthood of Jesus Christ is itself alien to the Fourth Gospel.
Aslo; I had not reflected before that Jesus was making a new designation of God as Father; and, in the Fourth Gospel, very literally and repeatedly so.
Later mainstream Christians (before the Mormon 'Restoration' in 1830) have failed to take into account the implications of Jesus's claim that God was his Father. Which is: "A son is fundamentally the same sort of being as his father and is destined to become like him."
Instead, presumably under the influence of Greco-Roman Philosophy, mainstream Christian theologians have abstracted God into a infinitely-alien 'Omni-deity' (or what William terms a Supergod).
So, by taking the Fourth Gospel with full seriousness, and as the primary source on Jesus; we get two striking conclusions: 1. That the Sabbath ought not to be observed (at least not in a way analogous to the Anceint Jews); and 2. That for Jesus to tell us that God is our Father, is a qualitative break with the Ancient Jewish understanding of the nature of God, and brings God much closer to Man: continuous-with Man.
One happy consequence has been that William James Tychonievich has embarked upon a somewhat-complementary project of putting the Fourth Gospel under a microscope, moving through it in considerable detail - and with a greater focus on linguistic and historical aspects; as well as exploring links with the Old Testament and other parts of the New.
William's latest offering is another extremely valuable addition to the series, in which he focuses on the passages of the Fourth Gospel describing the 'Take up thy bed and walk' incident at the healing pool in Bethesda.
Two points he makes towards the end of the post struck home particularly strongly (I have made a few cuts, indicated...):
Chapter 5:[16] And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
While it is true that Moses decreed the death penalty for sabbath-breaking, the Jews of Jesus' time had no authority to execute that penalty. Judaea was under Roman rule, and only the Romans could put a man to death...
[17] But Jesus answered them, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."
This is perhaps not the sort of defense we might have expected. Jesus does not say that carrying a "bed" (probably just a mat) hardly counts as "bearing a burden" and is not a violation of the sabbath. He does not say that, while keeping the sabbath is important, healing a man who needs healing is even more important. Instead, he says, "God is still working, and so am I." God, contrary to what Moses said, never rested from his labors, and neither should we. Rather than argue that his apparent sabbath-breaking was justified in this particular case, Jesus denies the whole idea of the sabbath.
If you search the Gospels, I think you will find not a single instance of Jesus keeping the sabbath or encouraging anyone else to do so. Even when he rattles off some of the Ten Commandments in response to the rich young ruler's query (Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20), he is careful to omit that one. The only time the sabbath ever comes up in connection with Jesus is when he is breaking it, which he does repeatedly and deliberately.
[18] Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Centuries of Christianity have made it so natural to think of God as "Our Father" that it is easy to forget that the fatherhood of God is not a Jewish doctrine and was among Jesus' more controversial teachings. Although I am open to correction on this point, I do not believe the Old Testament contains a single unambiguous reference to God as the Father...
It may seem a small thing to say "Father" rather than "Creator," but I think Jesus' would-be murderers were right to regard it as revolutionary and to equate it with "making himself equal with God." If a man builds a house, the house is never going to be anything like the man who created it -- but begetting a son is another thing entirely. A son is fundamentally the same sort of being as his father and is destined to become like him.
To call God one's Father is to make an astonishing claim about oneself, and the Jews are not to be faulted for finding it shocking in the extreme.
My reflections:
It suddenly seems obvious (to one who regards the Fourth Gospel as primary) that the breaking of the Sabbath was Jesus's message, rather than its keeping. This is surprising, considering the history of most of the Christian churches; but then, the idea of an institutional church and priesthood of Jesus Christ is itself alien to the Fourth Gospel.
Aslo; I had not reflected before that Jesus was making a new designation of God as Father; and, in the Fourth Gospel, very literally and repeatedly so.
Later mainstream Christians (before the Mormon 'Restoration' in 1830) have failed to take into account the implications of Jesus's claim that God was his Father. Which is: "A son is fundamentally the same sort of being as his father and is destined to become like him."
Instead, presumably under the influence of Greco-Roman Philosophy, mainstream Christian theologians have abstracted God into a infinitely-alien 'Omni-deity' (or what William terms a Supergod).
So, by taking the Fourth Gospel with full seriousness, and as the primary source on Jesus; we get two striking conclusions: 1. That the Sabbath ought not to be observed (at least not in a way analogous to the Anceint Jews); and 2. That for Jesus to tell us that God is our Father, is a qualitative break with the Ancient Jewish understanding of the nature of God, and brings God much closer to Man: continuous-with Man.
A world without hope is a world without courage - and a world of passive short-termist survival
At a certain point, we have to acknowledge that (over and above Establishment manipulation) what is happening is
what masses of people want to happen; and to try and understand why -
and then, what is the alternative for those who do not want to share in
the world of despair.
If there was any doubt before, there is none now that this is a world without hope. Without hope then the only concern is with short-termist survival - whether physical or social.
Thus we have seen (over the past couple of weeks) a sharp transition from a cowardly mass concern short-termist physical survival of the body; to a short-termist focus on social survival, on status, on publicly affirming the Big Evil Lies.
Because people lack hope (which is an inner motivation) therefore people are passive; they do what they are told (because they are afraid of dying), they believe what they are told (because they are scared of, and want to be on the side of, the masses like themselves).
Thus another day is negotiated... and nothing matters beyond the day, because there is no hope for anything better.
Beneath this hopelessness is a despair that is blazingly evident as what economists call 'revealed preferences'. In other words, the despair of our world is shown by our choices, by what we choose to do - rather than by what we say (which is, after all, just a matter of parroting).
En masse; the people of the world chose social isolation and the destruction of all social systems, and are now choosing to active destruction of... well, whatever the mobs have a motivation to destroy.
The people of the world overwhelmingly cheered-on and zealously enforced social isolation and passive cessation of nearly all functional activity; now they cheer-on mass mobs and active destruction of stuff.
In other words; the revealed preference of the world is for short-term (one day at a time) survivalism, and in the long-term the destruction of The System by which the world operates.
More precisely the Leftist world view that has dominated for two generations has created a world, a system, an ideology - that the people of the world have taken-on-board; but now find intolerable, hateful, and want to destroy (and themselves along with it).
And this process is being led by those who have the greatest power in The System, those who run the economy, finance, multinational corporations and agencies... (call them the Global Establishment).
This is what is happening, yet how could this be?
The answer to all of this is clear (albeit not obvious, because unprecedented) from a Christian perspective.
Hope depends on Christianity - there is no other, there is now not even any pretence of other hope.
Our Christian hope is for life eternal after death, and during this life of a life of purpose and meaning with the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
A hope rooted outside of The System (beyond death), ramifying through all of daily life...
From this perspective; we can see that this modern Leftist System - that is based on hatred of real Christianity, denial of the spiritual (i.e. materialism, positivism), and promotion of a negative ideology of despair, suicide and the embrace of chaos; is of Satanic origin - and that the Global Establishment are merely serving their demonic masters (in pursuit of their short-termist survival, pleasure and status; and at the cost of their own long-term dispossession, suffering and death).
The People of the world have been induced to build-up a world System of evil, upon which almost everyone relies for survival; and which almost everyone supports in word and deed - although simultaneously hating it - due to the cowardly demoralisation that results from this ideological embrace.
And these same People are now being induced to tear-down this System of evil, this Thought Prison that they have themselves laboured to construct and maintain. To resist today would be costly, here-and-now; so everyone goes-along because - why not? What else is there?
But at some level these People know what they are doing, hate themselves, hate their situation, and desire their own annihilation - that death-as-an-end which Satan promises (yet does not deliver).
So this is our situation, and I have described the answer. We each need to take personal responsibility for our-selves, for our souls (if we believe in our souls - which most don't) - responsibility for deciding what to believe.
Do you want hope, can you believe in hope; or not?
In this world; only if you want, can you believe.
If there was any doubt before, there is none now that this is a world without hope. Without hope then the only concern is with short-termist survival - whether physical or social.
Thus we have seen (over the past couple of weeks) a sharp transition from a cowardly mass concern short-termist physical survival of the body; to a short-termist focus on social survival, on status, on publicly affirming the Big Evil Lies.
Because people lack hope (which is an inner motivation) therefore people are passive; they do what they are told (because they are afraid of dying), they believe what they are told (because they are scared of, and want to be on the side of, the masses like themselves).
Thus another day is negotiated... and nothing matters beyond the day, because there is no hope for anything better.
Beneath this hopelessness is a despair that is blazingly evident as what economists call 'revealed preferences'. In other words, the despair of our world is shown by our choices, by what we choose to do - rather than by what we say (which is, after all, just a matter of parroting).
En masse; the people of the world chose social isolation and the destruction of all social systems, and are now choosing to active destruction of... well, whatever the mobs have a motivation to destroy.
The people of the world overwhelmingly cheered-on and zealously enforced social isolation and passive cessation of nearly all functional activity; now they cheer-on mass mobs and active destruction of stuff.
In other words; the revealed preference of the world is for short-term (one day at a time) survivalism, and in the long-term the destruction of The System by which the world operates.
More precisely the Leftist world view that has dominated for two generations has created a world, a system, an ideology - that the people of the world have taken-on-board; but now find intolerable, hateful, and want to destroy (and themselves along with it).
And this process is being led by those who have the greatest power in The System, those who run the economy, finance, multinational corporations and agencies... (call them the Global Establishment).
This is what is happening, yet how could this be?
The answer to all of this is clear (albeit not obvious, because unprecedented) from a Christian perspective.
Hope depends on Christianity - there is no other, there is now not even any pretence of other hope.
Our Christian hope is for life eternal after death, and during this life of a life of purpose and meaning with the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
A hope rooted outside of The System (beyond death), ramifying through all of daily life...
From this perspective; we can see that this modern Leftist System - that is based on hatred of real Christianity, denial of the spiritual (i.e. materialism, positivism), and promotion of a negative ideology of despair, suicide and the embrace of chaos; is of Satanic origin - and that the Global Establishment are merely serving their demonic masters (in pursuit of their short-termist survival, pleasure and status; and at the cost of their own long-term dispossession, suffering and death).
The People of the world have been induced to build-up a world System of evil, upon which almost everyone relies for survival; and which almost everyone supports in word and deed - although simultaneously hating it - due to the cowardly demoralisation that results from this ideological embrace.
And these same People are now being induced to tear-down this System of evil, this Thought Prison that they have themselves laboured to construct and maintain. To resist today would be costly, here-and-now; so everyone goes-along because - why not? What else is there?
But at some level these People know what they are doing, hate themselves, hate their situation, and desire their own annihilation - that death-as-an-end which Satan promises (yet does not deliver).
So this is our situation, and I have described the answer. We each need to take personal responsibility for our-selves, for our souls (if we believe in our souls - which most don't) - responsibility for deciding what to believe.
Do you want hope, can you believe in hope; or not?
In this world; only if you want, can you believe.
Saturday 6 June 2020
My review of Tolkien and the Silmarillion by Clyde Kilby (1977)
Tolkien and The Silmarillion by Clyde Kilby is a hardly-known, slim, minor, but fascinating contribution to the writings about Tolkien; published in the UK in 1977. Its centre is an account of the summer of 1966 which the author spent meeting with the seventy-four year old Tolkien a few times per week, ostensibly to provide him with informed and enthusiastic secretarial assistance to get The Silmarillion ready for publication...
The special value of Kilby's book, and why it still remains well worth reading (if you can get hold of a modestly priced copy) is the 28 page chapter Summer with Tolkien. This I would rate as the best concentrated account I have ever read of what Tolkien was like as a person - in his old age...
So, there are some really good descriptions of Tolkien's appearance, behaviour, manners, mode of speech - and the conversational topics that interested him. Kilby provides a specimen day where he lists, in order, the subjects into-which Tolkien led the conversation:
1. Fan letters, and how T replies to them; 2. Annoyance at an article on T in the Saturday Evening Post; 3. Declaring the birch outside to be his totem tree; 4. How he and Mrs T were annoyed with WH Auden for reportedly making the remark that T's home was 'hideous' in a meeting of the T Society in the US; 5. His dislike of the covers on the Ballantyne paperbacks - and (on publishers more generally) that he was both annoyed and gratified by the Ace paperbacks pirate edition of Lord of the Rings; 6. That he was pleased with the Japanese edition of The Hobbit; 7. Discussing Mrs T's chronic illness; 8. K asks if anyone has asked to write a biography, T says yes and discusses his worries at inner motives being misrepresented; 9. His intention to write a book on the Second Age of Middle Earth, especially Numenor; 10. T showed K some old manuscripts of his work, with evidence of much re-working.
In general; Kilby commented (what the above list confirms) that Tolkien did not seem much interested in working on The Silmarillion!...
The special value of Kilby's book, and why it still remains well worth reading (if you can get hold of a modestly priced copy) is the 28 page chapter Summer with Tolkien. This I would rate as the best concentrated account I have ever read of what Tolkien was like as a person - in his old age...
So, there are some really good descriptions of Tolkien's appearance, behaviour, manners, mode of speech - and the conversational topics that interested him. Kilby provides a specimen day where he lists, in order, the subjects into-which Tolkien led the conversation:
1. Fan letters, and how T replies to them; 2. Annoyance at an article on T in the Saturday Evening Post; 3. Declaring the birch outside to be his totem tree; 4. How he and Mrs T were annoyed with WH Auden for reportedly making the remark that T's home was 'hideous' in a meeting of the T Society in the US; 5. His dislike of the covers on the Ballantyne paperbacks - and (on publishers more generally) that he was both annoyed and gratified by the Ace paperbacks pirate edition of Lord of the Rings; 6. That he was pleased with the Japanese edition of The Hobbit; 7. Discussing Mrs T's chronic illness; 8. K asks if anyone has asked to write a biography, T says yes and discusses his worries at inner motives being misrepresented; 9. His intention to write a book on the Second Age of Middle Earth, especially Numenor; 10. T showed K some old manuscripts of his work, with evidence of much re-working.
In general; Kilby commented (what the above list confirms) that Tolkien did not seem much interested in working on The Silmarillion!...
Nitro-glycerine really was dangerously unstable
I can remember, vaguely, a (re-run) episode of Casey Jones, the 1950s American TV series, when I was a kid; which impressed me greatly with its plot that hinged on the incredibly powerful, dangerously unstable explosive nitro-glycerine - used, I seem to recall - by gold miners.
I discovered a few years ago that Newcastle upon Tyne has its own nitro-glycerine story. The tragedy played-out on the Town Moor, a large expanse of cattle-grazed rough pasture at the edge of the old city, and which I often walked on my way to and from work.
You can read a contemporary account; but here are some excerpts.
From: Historical Register of Remarkable Events, Vol IV by T. Fordyce (Newcastle, 1876) Transcribed by Chris Morgan. December 17.
A frightful and lamentable accident took place on the Town Moor, Newcastle-on-Tyne, whereby eight persons lost their lives...
From the evidence brought out at the inquest, it appeared that a considerable quantity of a very dangerous material, which, on examination, proved to be nitro-glycerine (for blasting purposes in mines, &c.), was stored in a cellar at the White Swan Yard, Cloth Market. On examining the cellar, the police found eight tins.
After conferring with the magistrates and Town Clerk, it was ordered to be removed out of the town or destroyed. Not being able to induce the Railway Company to carry it, it was decided to destroy it by removing it to the Town Moor, and emptying it into the earth at a part of the Moor where there was a subsidence in the ground, caused by the workings of the Spital Tongues Colliery.
The Sheriff and Mr. Bryson determined to accompany the material to its destination, and see it destroyed. When on their way to the Moor, Mr. Mawson thought it desirable to examine one or two of the cases, for the purpose of ascertaining what kind of instruments would be required for opening them.
On arriving at the spot on the Moor, which is a little to the west of the Cholera Hospital, there were eight canisters in baskets, and one without a covering of that kind, taken from the cart and placed upon the turf; and, by direction of the Town Surveyor and the Sheriff, the cartman, the labourer, Sub Inspector Wallace, and P.C. 34 A. Donald Bain (who had also been sent on this duty), proceeded to draw the corks.
Mr. Bryson drew several of the corks, a pricker being used for the purpose. They emptied the liquid of the whole nine into the subsidence of the earth, and after this was done they found that three of the canisters still felt weighty. The Sheriff thereupon ordered the men to take off the ends, which was done by means of a shovel, when it was found that a portion of the contents had crystallised, and were adhering to the tin.
The Sheriff expressed a desire to obtain a piece of the crystallised material, and asked for a piece of paper, but what followed is not known. He said, however, "Bring them away and we will bury them on the other hill," referring to a hill a little further from where they put the liquid material. He also gave directions to Sub-Inspector Wallace to place some soil over the spot into which they had poured the liquid.
Wallace immediately engaged himself in this occupation, and Bain, Shotton, Appleby, the Sheriff, and the Town Surveyor, went away to the hill with the three canisters containing the crystallised nitro-glycerine, for the purpose of burying it.
What occurred here is unknown, and probably never will be. The Sub-Inspector had got his task completed, and was about leaving to join the others, when a dreadful explosion took place. Wallace felt the earth shake, and at the same time saw fragments of clothing and other articles flying high up in the air. Though so near to the scene of the explosion, he was happily uninjured himself, his escape being accounted for by the fact that the bank was between him and the explosion.
He immediately proceeded to the spot, and, on the west side of the hill, where the explosion took place, found a portion of the body of P.C. Bain dreadfully mutilated and shattered - the other portions of the body, horrible to relate, being blown away. On the south side of the hill was also a body frightfully mutilated: this was the body of the cartman, Thomas Appleby; and, near at hand, was the body of Shotton, the labourer, also mutilated.
In a hole of the ground, immediately above, was a boy alive, but greatly injured: this was the son of Mr. Wadley, living in Villa Place, The body of another man, unknown, was also found. Mr. Bryson, severely injured, was lying on the side of the bank to the eastward; and immediately on the top of the bank was Mr. Mawson, who was also much injured.
The jury returned the following verdict:- "That death has been caused by the explosion of nitro-glycerine accidentally; and the jury are unanimously of opinion that the law in reference to the storing of nitro-glycerine has been grossly violated in this case.
The Sheriff was John Mawson, who was a significant historical character being the business partner of Joseph Swan - and Swan invented an incandescent light bulb; of the type that illuminated Lord Armstrong's mansion in Cragside, Northumberland - the first use of hydroelectricity; and the Savoy Theatre in London - the first public building lit by electricity.
I discovered a few years ago that Newcastle upon Tyne has its own nitro-glycerine story. The tragedy played-out on the Town Moor, a large expanse of cattle-grazed rough pasture at the edge of the old city, and which I often walked on my way to and from work.
You can read a contemporary account; but here are some excerpts.
From: Historical Register of Remarkable Events, Vol IV by T. Fordyce (Newcastle, 1876) Transcribed by Chris Morgan. December 17.
A frightful and lamentable accident took place on the Town Moor, Newcastle-on-Tyne, whereby eight persons lost their lives...
From the evidence brought out at the inquest, it appeared that a considerable quantity of a very dangerous material, which, on examination, proved to be nitro-glycerine (for blasting purposes in mines, &c.), was stored in a cellar at the White Swan Yard, Cloth Market. On examining the cellar, the police found eight tins.
After conferring with the magistrates and Town Clerk, it was ordered to be removed out of the town or destroyed. Not being able to induce the Railway Company to carry it, it was decided to destroy it by removing it to the Town Moor, and emptying it into the earth at a part of the Moor where there was a subsidence in the ground, caused by the workings of the Spital Tongues Colliery.
The Sheriff and Mr. Bryson determined to accompany the material to its destination, and see it destroyed. When on their way to the Moor, Mr. Mawson thought it desirable to examine one or two of the cases, for the purpose of ascertaining what kind of instruments would be required for opening them.
On arriving at the spot on the Moor, which is a little to the west of the Cholera Hospital, there were eight canisters in baskets, and one without a covering of that kind, taken from the cart and placed upon the turf; and, by direction of the Town Surveyor and the Sheriff, the cartman, the labourer, Sub Inspector Wallace, and P.C. 34 A. Donald Bain (who had also been sent on this duty), proceeded to draw the corks.
Mr. Bryson drew several of the corks, a pricker being used for the purpose. They emptied the liquid of the whole nine into the subsidence of the earth, and after this was done they found that three of the canisters still felt weighty. The Sheriff thereupon ordered the men to take off the ends, which was done by means of a shovel, when it was found that a portion of the contents had crystallised, and were adhering to the tin.
The Sheriff expressed a desire to obtain a piece of the crystallised material, and asked for a piece of paper, but what followed is not known. He said, however, "Bring them away and we will bury them on the other hill," referring to a hill a little further from where they put the liquid material. He also gave directions to Sub-Inspector Wallace to place some soil over the spot into which they had poured the liquid.
Wallace immediately engaged himself in this occupation, and Bain, Shotton, Appleby, the Sheriff, and the Town Surveyor, went away to the hill with the three canisters containing the crystallised nitro-glycerine, for the purpose of burying it.
What occurred here is unknown, and probably never will be. The Sub-Inspector had got his task completed, and was about leaving to join the others, when a dreadful explosion took place. Wallace felt the earth shake, and at the same time saw fragments of clothing and other articles flying high up in the air. Though so near to the scene of the explosion, he was happily uninjured himself, his escape being accounted for by the fact that the bank was between him and the explosion.
He immediately proceeded to the spot, and, on the west side of the hill, where the explosion took place, found a portion of the body of P.C. Bain dreadfully mutilated and shattered - the other portions of the body, horrible to relate, being blown away. On the south side of the hill was also a body frightfully mutilated: this was the body of the cartman, Thomas Appleby; and, near at hand, was the body of Shotton, the labourer, also mutilated.
In a hole of the ground, immediately above, was a boy alive, but greatly injured: this was the son of Mr. Wadley, living in Villa Place, The body of another man, unknown, was also found. Mr. Bryson, severely injured, was lying on the side of the bank to the eastward; and immediately on the top of the bank was Mr. Mawson, who was also much injured.
The jury returned the following verdict:- "That death has been caused by the explosion of nitro-glycerine accidentally; and the jury are unanimously of opinion that the law in reference to the storing of nitro-glycerine has been grossly violated in this case.
**
The Sheriff was John Mawson, who was a significant historical character being the business partner of Joseph Swan - and Swan invented an incandescent light bulb; of the type that illuminated Lord Armstrong's mansion in Cragside, Northumberland - the first use of hydroelectricity; and the Savoy Theatre in London - the first public building lit by electricity.
Friday 5 June 2020
Christianity is a child-like and non-intellectual faith
Ghosts in Hades (=Shades in Sheol), according to the Disney Hercules movie
Christianity is a child-like and non-intellectual faith, as can be seen from the fact that even demented Shades in Sheol (as well as children, and the simple-minded) can understand enough about it to follow Jesus to Heaven.
**
Note: I owe this clarification to an interchange with William James Tychonievich, at his blog. If you like this blog, you should consider following and engaging-with William's work; because I have learned multiple (and continuing) in-depth insights from our comment and e-mail interactions over the past decade.
Should we stop thinking, or think better?
The usual coping mechanism for spiritual people in these times is to try Not to think about things.
Clearly, this is at least partially right; because it is right Not to think about the continually unrolling politico-media agenda. But not-thinking is a primary aim of that Eastern-flavoured spirituality that has been a factor in The West since Theosophy and Jung; and it fits very well with the distractive immersion of the mass media, just as it fits with the common conception of meditation. It is also a goal of some kinds of drug-taking, including alcohol intoxication.
This is a primarily-therapeutic concept of spirituality, a tranquillizer or 'opiate' way of numbing our pain in this illusory and suffering mortal life (Maya); aiming at the blissful annihilation of thinking after death as we are absorbed into the All (Nirvana).
I suspect that this kind of Not Thinking spirituality has become (in a bastardized form, befitting our corrupt and evil culture) more common since the birdemic crisis; since it effectively addresses the consequences of Project Fear.
However, Not Thinking exacerbates, makes-worse, the follow-up phase of Project Despair - because Not Thinking is a covert embrace of death-as-annihilation.
I would advocate almost the opposite; which is to think better: to think in a way which is infused-by and based-upon intuition (the heart-thinking I discussed recently). Ultimately, the goal is creative-thinking; thinking that participates in the primary creative work of God even during our mortal lives.
Since our God is a God of love; we can only participate in creation from a basis in love; and love is (in a sense) the opposite of fear - so we must cast-out fear as a first step.
We can see, therefore, that the treatment of acute and present fear is common to the 'stop thinking' and 'better thinking' strategies; but after fear has been cast-out the two paths move in almost-opposite directions.
Another commonality is that both strategies reject 'normal' everyday thinking; which is driven either by perceptions or by memories - and is therefore manipulated-thinking (and in this world of evil lies, such thinking is merely expressive of evil).
But the one hopes that thinking will end, fully and forever; the other that we will - by-means-of our primary thinking, our Final Participation - become co-workers with God (albeit, during mortal life, in a temporary and partial fashion).
Clearly, this is at least partially right; because it is right Not to think about the continually unrolling politico-media agenda. But not-thinking is a primary aim of that Eastern-flavoured spirituality that has been a factor in The West since Theosophy and Jung; and it fits very well with the distractive immersion of the mass media, just as it fits with the common conception of meditation. It is also a goal of some kinds of drug-taking, including alcohol intoxication.
This is a primarily-therapeutic concept of spirituality, a tranquillizer or 'opiate' way of numbing our pain in this illusory and suffering mortal life (Maya); aiming at the blissful annihilation of thinking after death as we are absorbed into the All (Nirvana).
I suspect that this kind of Not Thinking spirituality has become (in a bastardized form, befitting our corrupt and evil culture) more common since the birdemic crisis; since it effectively addresses the consequences of Project Fear.
However, Not Thinking exacerbates, makes-worse, the follow-up phase of Project Despair - because Not Thinking is a covert embrace of death-as-annihilation.
I would advocate almost the opposite; which is to think better: to think in a way which is infused-by and based-upon intuition (the heart-thinking I discussed recently). Ultimately, the goal is creative-thinking; thinking that participates in the primary creative work of God even during our mortal lives.
Since our God is a God of love; we can only participate in creation from a basis in love; and love is (in a sense) the opposite of fear - so we must cast-out fear as a first step.
We can see, therefore, that the treatment of acute and present fear is common to the 'stop thinking' and 'better thinking' strategies; but after fear has been cast-out the two paths move in almost-opposite directions.
Another commonality is that both strategies reject 'normal' everyday thinking; which is driven either by perceptions or by memories - and is therefore manipulated-thinking (and in this world of evil lies, such thinking is merely expressive of evil).
But the one hopes that thinking will end, fully and forever; the other that we will - by-means-of our primary thinking, our Final Participation - become co-workers with God (albeit, during mortal life, in a temporary and partial fashion).
"Virtue-signalling" = "I am an evil liar"-signalling
That's it, really*.
The idea that what is being signalled is 'virtue' (in the sense intended by, say, Aristotle, or Christians) is itself an example of the value inversion that characterises this - the most evil (especially dishonest) of times in world history.
*Note: An alternative translation is: I serve The Matrix.
The idea that what is being signalled is 'virtue' (in the sense intended by, say, Aristotle, or Christians) is itself an example of the value inversion that characterises this - the most evil (especially dishonest) of times in world history.
*Note: An alternative translation is: I serve The Matrix.
Thursday 4 June 2020
We can't stop Them collapsing The System - but we can know that They are doing it (and that is what Ultimately matters)
In this spiritual war, the aim is to 'save souls' - first our own soul, then contribute to helping those we love to make the right choice. Because damnation is a choice - the choice to reject Heaven, the choice to embrace evil.
In the material world of The System, there is no way that you or I can stop the demonic Global Establishment from collapsing it. They have the power to do so, and it is easy to destroy when one has power.
(And of course The System is net-evil; it is, increasingly, a machine for human damnation.)
But you will observe that although They want to collapse The System, They want to do so covertly.
Destroy the economy, and all social life; but do so deniably, blaming something else, explaining their evil as necessary for our good.
They want The System to collapse but for this Not to be blamed on the demonic powers; and for the collapse to be seen in material, not spiritual, terms.
This is why They lie. They lie to prevent people knowing the reality of the situation.
They want to have people deny the reality of the demonic - to regard it as a stupid joke, the ludicrous belief of a lunatic, or the lie of a political manipulator.
Their aim is to do evil; but for people not to realise that the evil is done by Them.
They are evil liars, and the lie is a denial of Their evil and a pretence of good; their ultimate intent is to to invert values, so that people want the opposite of that which is Good, and seek the destruction of Good.
They want for people actually to want wickedness; want that which evokes natural disgust, and prefer systemic dishonesty; because people have come to regard these as the highest and necessary values.
They want for people to regard the naturally virtuous, spontaneously beautiful, plain honesty - as laughable, dumb, crazy, oppressive.
So, although we cannot prevent Them from collapsing The System and causing vast physical suffering; we can prevent this from benefitting Them.
We may do this by understanding who is ultimately to blame and what are their true purposes.
We can negate the harms of collapse by insight, by discernment, by knowing good from evil - and then choosing the side of Good.
We can negate the harms of collapse by acknowledging its reality but not fearing; by facing whatever happens and whatever may happen with courage and trust; and base that courage and trust on Love of God, as the basis for our love of fellow Men.
And we need to recognise that love of fellow Men is the greatest actual help we can give them. Real love of actual people, or even a single person (Not abstract love of 'humanity'.)
Or, at least, so I believe. When it comes to their making the decision whether or not to accepts the resurrected lif that is the gift of Jesus; making the choice whether or not to follow Jesus - then those we love will at that time become aware of our love, and will take that into consideration.
In the material world of The System, there is no way that you or I can stop the demonic Global Establishment from collapsing it. They have the power to do so, and it is easy to destroy when one has power.
(And of course The System is net-evil; it is, increasingly, a machine for human damnation.)
But you will observe that although They want to collapse The System, They want to do so covertly.
Destroy the economy, and all social life; but do so deniably, blaming something else, explaining their evil as necessary for our good.
They want The System to collapse but for this Not to be blamed on the demonic powers; and for the collapse to be seen in material, not spiritual, terms.
This is why They lie. They lie to prevent people knowing the reality of the situation.
They want to have people deny the reality of the demonic - to regard it as a stupid joke, the ludicrous belief of a lunatic, or the lie of a political manipulator.
Their aim is to do evil; but for people not to realise that the evil is done by Them.
They are evil liars, and the lie is a denial of Their evil and a pretence of good; their ultimate intent is to to invert values, so that people want the opposite of that which is Good, and seek the destruction of Good.
They want for people actually to want wickedness; want that which evokes natural disgust, and prefer systemic dishonesty; because people have come to regard these as the highest and necessary values.
They want for people to regard the naturally virtuous, spontaneously beautiful, plain honesty - as laughable, dumb, crazy, oppressive.
So, although we cannot prevent Them from collapsing The System and causing vast physical suffering; we can prevent this from benefitting Them.
We may do this by understanding who is ultimately to blame and what are their true purposes.
We can negate the harms of collapse by insight, by discernment, by knowing good from evil - and then choosing the side of Good.
We can negate the harms of collapse by acknowledging its reality but not fearing; by facing whatever happens and whatever may happen with courage and trust; and base that courage and trust on Love of God, as the basis for our love of fellow Men.
And we need to recognise that love of fellow Men is the greatest actual help we can give them. Real love of actual people, or even a single person (Not abstract love of 'humanity'.)
Or, at least, so I believe. When it comes to their making the decision whether or not to accepts the resurrected lif that is the gift of Jesus; making the choice whether or not to follow Jesus - then those we love will at that time become aware of our love, and will take that into consideration.
It's not revolution, it is destruction
I've heard the current engineering of mob violence described as a revolution: that's nonsense. The revolution happened earlier in the year, when the world was placed under house arrest and almost all human activities were prohibited or controlled.
Of course, even the international coup of early-2020 was a quantitative enhancement of the grip of the Global Establishment, who were already dominant - however, that enhancement of control was so great and rapid that it certainly should count-as qualitative. Almost everybody's life has already been transformed, and your future and mine is (here-and-now) one that depends on what we are allowed to do.
The revolution has-happened and is in-place.
What this current mob violence is about is therefore not a revolutionary regime change but destruction. It is made possible because the regime is already in-place, and has initiated and sustains the mob violence - so the new chaos is merely another aspect of Their power.
But it is net-destructive in the sense that The System of bureaucracy, official coercion and media by which They control Us is also weakened by the mob.
Covertly-planned, not-suppressed, and officially-approved Mob violence is a demonstration of lack of control, of weakness; and that fuels genuine breakdown of The System. This is why regimes that genuinely want control, do not allow mob violence (or indeed unofficial mass gatherings of any kind); and crush them, publicly and harshly, if they occur.
Also, regimes that genuinely and unambiguously want control (especially when control systems have only been in place for a couple of months) do not subvert, humiliate, restrict and attack their own coercive arm - the police.
So, as we should by now we well aware; we are in uncharted territory here. There has never been a society like this current one - an anti-society, strategically dedicated to all-round destruction; so historical examples are misleading.
Which is another way of saying that the powers of purposive evil - the side that is against God, the Good and Creation - have never been so dominant as they are now; have never had such wide-support and such weak-opposition as they do today.
Those of us who have actively, consciously chosent to be on the side of God, the Good and Creation are therefore in an unprecedented situation; although perhaps not an unforeseen situation, since this was described in some of the end times/ latter days prophecies.
The situation is that (nearly-) all Men are against us; we have God on our side; but God's focus is on individuals and their eternal destiny.
The World, on the other hand, is a place of experience and learning only for the duration of our mortal lives; and there is no reason to suppose that God would have as a high priority the preservation or restoration of the things-of-the-world; when most Men want to destroy them.
The challenge of this time is therefore to learn from the unique experiences of this era; but not to try and preserve The World. Strive for those individuals we love, and for those who want to be saved for Heaven - but don't fight to sustain an evil System, nor to sustain those who have embraced chaos, despair, Hell, and death-of the-soul.
Of course, even the international coup of early-2020 was a quantitative enhancement of the grip of the Global Establishment, who were already dominant - however, that enhancement of control was so great and rapid that it certainly should count-as qualitative. Almost everybody's life has already been transformed, and your future and mine is (here-and-now) one that depends on what we are allowed to do.
The revolution has-happened and is in-place.
What this current mob violence is about is therefore not a revolutionary regime change but destruction. It is made possible because the regime is already in-place, and has initiated and sustains the mob violence - so the new chaos is merely another aspect of Their power.
But it is net-destructive in the sense that The System of bureaucracy, official coercion and media by which They control Us is also weakened by the mob.
Covertly-planned, not-suppressed, and officially-approved Mob violence is a demonstration of lack of control, of weakness; and that fuels genuine breakdown of The System. This is why regimes that genuinely want control, do not allow mob violence (or indeed unofficial mass gatherings of any kind); and crush them, publicly and harshly, if they occur.
Also, regimes that genuinely and unambiguously want control (especially when control systems have only been in place for a couple of months) do not subvert, humiliate, restrict and attack their own coercive arm - the police.
So, as we should by now we well aware; we are in uncharted territory here. There has never been a society like this current one - an anti-society, strategically dedicated to all-round destruction; so historical examples are misleading.
Which is another way of saying that the powers of purposive evil - the side that is against God, the Good and Creation - have never been so dominant as they are now; have never had such wide-support and such weak-opposition as they do today.
Those of us who have actively, consciously chosent to be on the side of God, the Good and Creation are therefore in an unprecedented situation; although perhaps not an unforeseen situation, since this was described in some of the end times/ latter days prophecies.
The situation is that (nearly-) all Men are against us; we have God on our side; but God's focus is on individuals and their eternal destiny.
The World, on the other hand, is a place of experience and learning only for the duration of our mortal lives; and there is no reason to suppose that God would have as a high priority the preservation or restoration of the things-of-the-world; when most Men want to destroy them.
The challenge of this time is therefore to learn from the unique experiences of this era; but not to try and preserve The World. Strive for those individuals we love, and for those who want to be saved for Heaven - but don't fight to sustain an evil System, nor to sustain those who have embraced chaos, despair, Hell, and death-of the-soul.
Wednesday 3 June 2020
Establishment-crafted chaos confirms that collapse is the goal
Now that the world is under totalitarian rule, everything Big that happens (i.e. everything that the mass media has decided to give blanket coverage over several days) is done purposively by the Global Establishment.
Now, the lockdownsocialdistancing strategy is a cold, calculating, crushing, atomising, Ahrimanic-evil bureaucratic strategy for surveillance and control. But if that was the kind of world They were aiming-at; then They would not be (as they currently are) actively initiating, funding and officially-encouraging the hot, impulsive, Luciferic-evil, violent and destructive mobs all over the place.
OK both are evil, but they point at quite different kinds of society: one tightly-controlled, the other chaotic.
So... my assumption is that this pattern confirms that They really are aiming at System collapse, rather than a micro-System of technocratic surveillance-control. LDSD will, by itself, destroy the system; but injecting chaotic destruction and violence will surely accelerate the process.
Now, the lockdownsocialdistancing strategy is a cold, calculating, crushing, atomising, Ahrimanic-evil bureaucratic strategy for surveillance and control. But if that was the kind of world They were aiming-at; then They would not be (as they currently are) actively initiating, funding and officially-encouraging the hot, impulsive, Luciferic-evil, violent and destructive mobs all over the place.
OK both are evil, but they point at quite different kinds of society: one tightly-controlled, the other chaotic.
So... my assumption is that this pattern confirms that They really are aiming at System collapse, rather than a micro-System of technocratic surveillance-control. LDSD will, by itself, destroy the system; but injecting chaotic destruction and violence will surely accelerate the process.
Tuesday 2 June 2020
Emergency treatment for Project Fear
Since it seems that fear is the prime weapon that the Global Establishment are deploying for the damnation of Men's souls (more exactly, Project Fear leading to Project Despair); and since it is obvious that the recent totalitarian coup has all of societies institutions sewn-up (such that there is nobody with power that can be trusted - because they are all on the side of evil); therefore an emergency treatment for escalating acute, or grinding chronic, fear is useful.
The antidote to fear is a combination of love and trust in that which is good and powerful.
I find that what works best as a start is to concentrate on the here-and-now - in other words self-remembering; because fear is about the future. This can then be followed-up by reflection on the fact that God is the creator of this world, who is our loving Father, therefore can be trusted to do whatever is necessary and possible.
Another source of fear is about whether we ought to be doing something to prevent the feared from happening, but what? And how can we be sure what is for the best?
This is when self-remembering can be followed by seeking the guidance of the Holy Ghost, who will tell us here-and-now what, if anything - and often there is nothing - should be done. This obviates the guilt pressing us towards that obsessive but fruitless planning, which plagues modern Men.
John Butler is very good on the specific business of detaching from abstract and theoretical angst; and becoming aware of oneself in the here-and-now; and (at his quietest) has just about the most soothing voice I've ever heard! - This immediately takes the sting out of present fear, and can be used to lead-into the process described above:
The antidote to fear is a combination of love and trust in that which is good and powerful.
I find that what works best as a start is to concentrate on the here-and-now - in other words self-remembering; because fear is about the future. This can then be followed-up by reflection on the fact that God is the creator of this world, who is our loving Father, therefore can be trusted to do whatever is necessary and possible.
Another source of fear is about whether we ought to be doing something to prevent the feared from happening, but what? And how can we be sure what is for the best?
This is when self-remembering can be followed by seeking the guidance of the Holy Ghost, who will tell us here-and-now what, if anything - and often there is nothing - should be done. This obviates the guilt pressing us towards that obsessive but fruitless planning, which plagues modern Men.
John Butler is very good on the specific business of detaching from abstract and theoretical angst; and becoming aware of oneself in the here-and-now; and (at his quietest) has just about the most soothing voice I've ever heard! - This immediately takes the sting out of present fear, and can be used to lead-into the process described above:
White Sunday, Whit Sunday, Whitsun Day, Pentecost
Whitsun has been and gone. The essence of this celebration is the confirmable fact of existence that the Holy Ghost is everywhere at all times and for all people who choose to acknowledge and meet with him; a guide and comforter; a beloved friend.
This was the "other" great work of Jesus, that completed his ministry for our mortal lives. First he gave us the choice of resurrected life eternal in Heaven; second the presence of the Holy Ghost.
These are all we need, and always available to everyone.
This was the "other" great work of Jesus, that completed his ministry for our mortal lives. First he gave us the choice of resurrected life eternal in Heaven; second the presence of the Holy Ghost.
These are all we need, and always available to everyone.
Do not focus on convincing other people you are right
We need to stop thinking-about, focusing-on, the problem of convincing other people.
This matter of 'argument' is a separate matter from the necessary task of each of us reaching solid ground about our own beliefs (our basic assumptions concerning reality); the task of reaching the bedrock of what we actually do currently believe in practice -- and then discovering whether this unconscious belief of ours is something we can or should consciously embrace, or else whether it should be rejected.
Indeed, the constant concern about how we are going to convince other people, is something that poisons the whole spiritual search from the get-go.
It would be better (it is better) to do 'it' by oneself, take responsibility for oneself alone; maybe not talking about it with anyone else - certainly not trying to persuade anyone else.
These things are hard enough to put into words, but putting them into persuasive words is even more remote from the primary experience; and actually persuad-ing some other person (leave aside group!) to adopt what we personally believe, is not a matter we can control (nor should we).
This matter of 'argument' is a separate matter from the necessary task of each of us reaching solid ground about our own beliefs (our basic assumptions concerning reality); the task of reaching the bedrock of what we actually do currently believe in practice -- and then discovering whether this unconscious belief of ours is something we can or should consciously embrace, or else whether it should be rejected.
Indeed, the constant concern about how we are going to convince other people, is something that poisons the whole spiritual search from the get-go.
It would be better (it is better) to do 'it' by oneself, take responsibility for oneself alone; maybe not talking about it with anyone else - certainly not trying to persuade anyone else.
These things are hard enough to put into words, but putting them into persuasive words is even more remote from the primary experience; and actually persuad-ing some other person (leave aside group!) to adopt what we personally believe, is not a matter we can control (nor should we).
(From a comment at William Wildblood's blog.)
Monday 1 June 2020
Maxims for the mainstream mass media
The following applies to all major mass media stories, without any exceptions:
1. It did not happen as described.
2. It does not mean what they say it means.
The mass media pretends to be an impersonal system, functioning by objective algorithms; in reality it is personal - and must be recognised as such.
We should treat the mass media as we would any other proven evil liar; that is, we should not believe it. Ever.
You know the kind of person we call a spiteful gossip; and how she will only speak to you (for any length of time) in order to manipulate and poison your mind against somebody else; or to to make you admire someone despicable...
The mass media is that person on steroids. If they have made the sustained effort to go on-and-on about something-or-another; this will always be with malign intent. Since they are liars, they will lie; since they are evil that lie will aim at the subversion, destruction or inversion of that-which-is-good.
And if you can't see how, it doesn't matter. You can't know the details of their specific current agenda, or the exact blend of truth and falsehood they are currently using. You can't know, so you should not try - don't be pulled-in.
The only way to treat evil liars is to disbelieve them, primarily by refusing to listen to them; secondarily by consciously rejecting their story as-a-whole.
1. It did not happen as described.
2. It does not mean what they say it means.
The mass media pretends to be an impersonal system, functioning by objective algorithms; in reality it is personal - and must be recognised as such.
We should treat the mass media as we would any other proven evil liar; that is, we should not believe it. Ever.
You know the kind of person we call a spiteful gossip; and how she will only speak to you (for any length of time) in order to manipulate and poison your mind against somebody else; or to to make you admire someone despicable...
The mass media is that person on steroids. If they have made the sustained effort to go on-and-on about something-or-another; this will always be with malign intent. Since they are liars, they will lie; since they are evil that lie will aim at the subversion, destruction or inversion of that-which-is-good.
And if you can't see how, it doesn't matter. You can't know the details of their specific current agenda, or the exact blend of truth and falsehood they are currently using. You can't know, so you should not try - don't be pulled-in.
The only way to treat evil liars is to disbelieve them, primarily by refusing to listen to them; secondarily by consciously rejecting their story as-a-whole.
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