Friday, July 29, 2016

The Devil's Catechesis

We're talking about minds and worlds, i.e., the access to the latter given by the former. For example, animals know nothing about aesthetic worlds, i.e., beauty. While they are no doubt "attracted" to certain patterns or colors or shapes, they do not reflect upon it. Likewise, they do not wonder about truth, nor do they nurse regret over what they ought to have done.

So, the human world is a specifically human world, containing categories found nowhere else in nature: experientially "negative" qualities such as guilt, shame, and envy, as well as a host of positively transcendent ones such as love, exaltation, laughter, awe, reverence, etc. It is as if there is a human "form," not just externally, i.e., the body, but internally, i.e., the soul.

Or just say "human nature," which is precisely what the left denies, always and everywhere. Indeed, in order for leftism to work, it must not only deny human nature, but abolish it. Yes, there is a contradiction at the core of leftism, to wit, "there is no such thing as the soul, and we will gleefully annihilate it!"

Example. In this enjoyable book on Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History, Stark references Engels, who wrote in 1844: "We want to sweep away everything that claims to be supernatural and superhuman.... For that reason, we have once and for all declared war on religion and religious ideas..."

Likewise, in 1911, the Socialist Party of Great Britain proclaimed that "Socialism is the natural enemy of religion.... No man can consistently be both a socialist and a Christian.... Socialism, both as philosophy and as a form of society, is the antithesis of religion."

True then, true today: socialism is at war with the very transcendence that defines our humanness. Which is why the DNC wanted to paint Bernie Sanders as a secret atheist in order to fool some of those deplorably dim Democrats who still insist upon calling themselves Christian. How can a Christian be so stupid as to not realize his whole philosophy and way of life are under attack? By a lifetime of the Devil's Catechesis, I suppose.

Speaking of the Devil's Catechesis, out here in California, the indoctrination begins early, with seven year olds being forced to learn about "LGBT History." The California State Board of Education voted unanimously to shove this pernicious twaddle down the throats of our children. They want to ensure that the most vulnerable among us grow up irreparably warped. It is child abuse, pure and simple.

(Related: Obama to Name Navy Ship After Notorious Child Molester. Why not? No more perverse than having the mothers of would-be cop killers speak at their convention.)

Back to minds and worlds, if we ever left. There is the world and there is our description of the world, and the two are often conflated. For example, if I recall correctly, only 17% or whatever believe the country to be "on the right track," whatever that would be. I would interpret the statistic to mean that people are feeling a lot of existential anxiety that is not being "contained" by "the system"

One of the key functions of this so-called system is to contain our anxiety; sometimes a dysfunctional and self-defeating system such as the New Deal successfully contains group anxiety, whereas a functional one unleashes it -- as in how inner city blacks only began rioting in the 1960s with the passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts, in the context of low unemployment and a greatly expanding economy. Clearly, Democrat rhetoric is successful in containing black anger, frustration, and anxiety, despite the damage and destruction done to them and their communities by Democrat policies.

I well remember the anxiety unleashed on the left in the midst of the incredible success of Reaganomics in the 1980s. Indeed, I probably have my REAGAN HATES ME! t-shirt stored away somewhere.

Perhaps you will have noticed that the whole noxious spectacle of the DNC convention was to convince us not to believe our own lying eyes. But it goes deeper than mere empirical reality, rather, to an existential and even ontological level -- to more primitive levels of existence and being. Very hard to paper over those. When these levels are "uncontained," it is like trying to tell someone in the midst of a panic attack to just calm the fuck down. It doesn't help.

America is -- or at least was -- a unique place, in that it was founded upon the idea of sharply constraining the realm of politics, such that we could claim our own existence without placing the blame on (or giving credit to) the state. In other words, liberty. Never forget that liberty is a terrible thing, for while it connotes the joy of freedom it also implies the terror of nothingness -- of life without a net. Humans are not accustomed to this, and in most places and for most of history they have utterly rejected it in favor of collective security.

It is not so much that collectivism is designed to prevent anxiety. Rather, it is our default state. Human beings were social animals long before they became individuals, such that the progression into individuality is always accompanied by a degree of anxiety. You can't have one without the other.

This is precisely why psychotherapy was invented in the west and nowhere else. Over the years I have had the opportunity to conduct psychological evaluations of people from third-world and non-western cultures, and it is often so ridiculous as to be comical. Here I am, deploying concepts and techniques designed for modern, self-aware, neurotically conflicted westerners, on people who don't even know they have a mind.

I remember evaluating a recent immigrant from the deepest interior of China. He grew up a peasant in conditions hardly different from 500 or a 1000 years ago. No offense, but his worldspace was so narrow that he simply had no words for concepts we take for granted. Offering such a person "psychotherapy" was as bizarre and beside the point as giving acupuncture to your car. Rather, he needed a shaman or witch doctor or spirit visitation or something. Short of a blow to the head, I couldn't imagine his world, and he certainly knew nothing of mine.

There's a lot more of that going on than we realize. In other words, much of what passes for horizontal multiculturalism is really a vertical and hierarchical multi-worldism. It's why you can't argue with a liberal -- unless they have an unusually open mind and a deep regard for the truth that is prior to them.

31 comments:

julie said...

Rather, he needed a shaman or witch doctor or spirit visitation or something. Short of a blow to the head, I couldn't imagine his world, and he certainly knew nothing of mine.

I'm reminded of the utter absurdity of German authorities prescribing sensitivity training for "immigrants" to teach them how to respect European women.

Gagdad Bob said...

That horse has left the barn. Or that camel has left the tent.

Gagdad Bob said...

Good rant by Daniel Greenfield, AKA Sultan Knish.

Joan of Argghh! said...

Happy Friday, brethren under the pelt!

Allena-C said...

America is -- or at least was -- a unique place, in that it was founded upon the idea of sharply constraining the realm of politics, such that we could claim our own existence without placing the blame on (or giving credit to) the state. In other words, liberty. Never forget that liberty is a terrible thing, for while it connotes the joy of freedom it also implies the terror of nothingness -- of life without a net. Humans are not accustomed to this, and in most places and for most of history they have utterly rejected it in favor of collective security."

You nailed it! Leftism is about "teaching" people to deny liberty and individualism. Liberty is too scary! Don't you wanna be secure and safe?
They cannot see that if they listen to leftists they will get neither liberty or security.

Allena-C said...

"There's a lot more of that going on than we realize. In other words, much of what passes for horizontal multiculturalism is really a vertical and hierarchical multi-worldism. It's why you can't argue with a liberal -- unless they have an unusually open mind and a deep regard for the truth that is prior to them."

If they had an open mind they probably wouldn't be liberals for long. The very rare liberal who does have an open mind always makes me wonder why they don't make a break for it.

Gagdad Bob said...

I was once a liberal with an open mind, and look what happened to me. So I can't blame them for keeping it closed.

Allena-C said...

I suppose that last barrier, the net, is the hardest to break through.

mushroom said...

How do they reconcile animosity toward the police with a worship of the state the police represent? I am somewhat anti-police in some respects, but I am much more anti-state. I'm all for my local Andy and Barney down at the county seat.

It seems like the left loves the State, but they hate order. They want the State to enforce chaos. So, when they get it they have nothing to complain about. They might want to realize the cops aren't protecting me from the BLM'ers.

Gagdad Bob said...

--How do they reconcile animosity toward the police with a worship of the state the police represent?

Because a bigger government is needed in order to solve the problems caused by big government.

Allena said...

Ha ha! Thank you Joan!

julie said...

Speaking of the Devil's Catechesis, this morning I followed a Happy Acres link over to Everyday Feminism. They live in a completely different reality. It must be tough being a SJW, the burden of changing the entire world and destroying the white male patriarchy is always on their shoulders.

Jules said...

very well said.. the quote by Engels is quite chilling. On left-ministry of truth ABC (Australian public TV), on TV series, chat shows... always full of subtle or less subtle mocking of christianity. Not Islam though... maybe because they realise it's not a real religion , just an authoritarian brainwashed collective, like the left...

Also I note that both Islam and the left have a penchant for suicidal tendencies. And canibalistic behaviour towards apparent allies... backstabbing a la "Saddam Hussein" of former political allies.

The left is fundamentally joyless and anti-human, and turns it's proponents into joyless droids..

julie said...

Joyless droids, definitely. A perusal of the trending topics over at Everyday Feminism could be summed up as "5 Easy Steps to Becoming a Miserable Cu--!"

Top headlines include: "5 Fantastic ways to Engage in Feminist Hookup Culture," "5 Reasons Your Idea of Intersectionality is Anti-Black Racism in Disguise," "Sociopaths, Borderlines and Psychotics: 3 Mental Illnesses We Must Stop Hating On," "5 Common Behaviors Cis Men May Not realize Are Abusive (And How To Stop Them)," and the link I clicked on, "3 Reasons it's Irrational to Demand 'Rationalism' in Social Justice Activism."

If I didn't know better, I'd think it was a parody site. The horrid reality is, for all too many women this is the outcome of our current educational system and broader culture. They didn't have to be this way. Mind parasite transmission in action. They don't have kids, they just infect everyone else's.

Gagdad Bob said...

No one combines cynicism and credulity like a leftist: cynical to the point of paranoia toward reality, credulous to the point of worship toward the fantasies they impose upon reality.

Gagdad Bob said...

One thing I took away from the DNC convention is that the left really, really likes speeches. They needn't have any bearing on reality, and indeed, it is preferable that they don't. This allows them to celebrate their wondrous policies without paying attention to their destructive results.

Gagdad Bob said...

Just a matter of time: BILL WOULD PREVENT LGBT DISCRIMINATION AT RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS.

California is at the cutting edge of societal devolution.

Allena-C said...

Sorry Bob, that is horrible! And as terrible as liberty can be we all know socialism is far far worse. I hope you can mive out of California before it gets much worse, although I am certain you and Mrs. G. have innoculated FL from the poison of the left.

Joan of Argghh! said...

The Left can cause words to flow as water from the rock. You just strike them with a problem and they will gush with words. And words. And more words. Then, they will form them into proposals, initiatives, studies, and finally, more government jobs will be created to implement. And then managers hired to manage the implementation, auditors to oversee the managers, and when it all launches, you get more words and definitions and re-definitions, outcome measures, safety initiatives, new college courses to teach the new definitions, new majors and departments in colleges, which in turn write theses and studies about unseen factors creating the problem you originally were trying to talk about. You know what that means? New proposals, initiatives, studies, and finally, more government jobs will be created to implement the fix to the first fix to the original problem. Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Gagdad Bob said...

Really, government has become a giant jobs program to employ the hordes of dysfunctional people produced by big government.

julie said...

One downside of commenting on Blogger: you can't share images in the comments. This one, seen at Bookworm's, is perfect here.

Van Harvey said...

Julie, I don't have my glasses handy, but I assume that desert is full of snakes?

julie said...

And scorpions. So many scorpions.

Van Harvey said...

Mushroom said "How do they reconcile animosity toward the police with a worship of the state the police represent?"

I think that the Left's problem with the Police, is that Americans, including most of the police, still associate the Police with Marshall Dillon, Joe Friday and the guys of Adam-12, people who care about, and defend what is right, good and true, from those who'd abuse them.

Sooo... you see the roots of their animosity there.

If they complete their project, and our police are transformed into a European police-state police, then they'll be able to embrace them. But not until then.

Van Harvey said...

"Example. In this enjoyable book on Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History, Stark references Engels, who wrote in 1844: "We want to sweep away everything that claims to be supernatural and superhuman.... For that reason, we have once and for all declared war on religion and religious ideas...""

This morning I posted (on FB, hasn't made it to Blogger yet) about an elderly lady, a DNC delegate, who was incensed at the the corruption and hostility to truth and justice that the Hillary led DNC embodied, and then in the next breath talked of her passion for Bernie's Revolution... seemingly oblivious to the fact that such a revolution would mean the erradication of truth and justice. I included a longish quote from the end of the Communist Manifesto, including their 10 Step Plan that Hillary/Bernie will be expected to complete, and this at the close:

"...When, in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lose its political character. Political power, properly so called, is merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another. If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to organise itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class.

In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all....
"

The emphasis, which is mine, illustrates exactly how the Pro-Regressive Left has always viewed and approached political power - might makes right, for the good of the rulers, power for the power of oppressing 'others' for your benefit.

That they can see that as a path to a workers paradise, says much about their natural affinity for the islambies.

Kurt said...

There is something foundational going on here. The progressive movement is, in essence, the revolt of millions of human beings against reality/Reality, AKA God. Each one of these folks is recreating the revolt of Satan against the Lord as succinctly described in Isaiah 14:13-14:

You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

RE: Mushroom's comment: "It seems like the left loves the State, but they hate order. They want the State to enforce chaos." I would say that the left loves the state only when it reinforces their rebellion against reality. The chaos they just blame on everyone but themselves, and the cure for the chaos is always to move farther away from reality.

RE: Bob's comment: "No one combines cynicism and credulity like a leftist: cynical to the point of paranoia toward reality, credulous to the point of worship toward the fantasies they impose upon reality." That struck home after reading this article by James Delingpole at Breitbart.com: www.breitbart.com/london/2016/07/26/need-lesbian-james-bond-says-guardian-announcing-record-173-million-losses/ the key point of which is:
"All this would be fine and dandy and good for a laugh if there weren’t a hard core of malcontents, activists and figures of influence out there who take the Guardian very seriously...These people do not read stories in the Guardian for the laughs. They read these stories...because they actually believe they are a reflection of the real world as inhabited by most normal people. This, in turn, leads them to the tragic delusion that they themselves are normal – and that anyone who doesn’t think like them (ie actual normal people) must be a dangerous extremist."
It would be funny if it weren't exactly true...

Of course, all of this will end, just as it did for Satan: "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!...But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit." Isaiah 14:12,15

It just baffles me why folks just don't see all this for themselves...

NightFlight said...

My question is, do they (the Left) believe their own bullshit? The way they went on about Trump's Russia joke, as if they really cared about national security and "treason"......

Gagdad Bob said...

I think the one percent at the top don't believe it, but they manipulate the other 99%.

Van Harvey said...

I think that when what is true ceases to be of value, it becomes a fervent necessity to assert what your group agrees upon - that becomes the only 'center' you can orient upon.

Gagdad Bob said...

I just read this quote at the zerogate blog:

"The human mind is like a ship at sea that is unable to correct its direction without a compass or an external source of reference, such as the stars. It is important to realize that a system is only correctible when it has access to an external point of reference (like a global positioning system) that serves as the Absolute by which all other data are compared."

Playmobile Popemobile said...

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZT! You moral genius-genius moralists just got buzzed! I love you guys, and you treated me like crap! END OF SEQUENCE TRANSMISSIONS>

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