tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post420046601569245357..comments2024-03-29T06:03:45.545-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: What Untamed Envy Looks LikeGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-75270193823523613532014-08-18T16:35:56.540-07:002014-08-18T16:35:56.540-07:00Well, looks like the Left has proven--with science...Well, looks like the Left has <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/08/18/false_facts_and_the_conservative_distortion_machine_its_much_more_than_just_fox_news/" rel="nofollow">proven</a>--with science-- that conservatives are delusional. With Science, people!<br /><br />It's kind of a relief, really. Though it makes me wonder how it is that I devolved from a young, leftish know-it-all to the conservative ignoramus I am today. <br /><br />But then again, I am conservative, so how could I possibly know?!<br /><br />Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708393262849661076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-63474727354547890252014-08-18T14:47:27.189-07:002014-08-18T14:47:27.189-07:00"But envy is a sufficient reason to account f..."But envy is a sufficient reason to account for poverty, and the left's core idea -- well, to be perfectly accurate, it is not an idea. Rather, envy is a human instinct that cannot be eliminated, only indulged or overcome."<br /><br />Seeing those on the left embracing envy motivates me to continue to overcome it.<br />Because I don't wanna go through each day with all that bitterness, hate, joylessness, ingratitude, and vileness eating at my soul.<br />What a hellish existence to embrace. <br /><br />Plus, there is no upside. Even if the envious got everything they wanted they would still be the same bitter ingrates they are now.USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9514632992680054602014-08-18T12:55:12.433-07:002014-08-18T12:55:12.433-07:00I think I get where you're coming from. In fac...I think I get where you're coming from. In fact, my first thought on reading it was pretty much, "Oh, yeah? What about all the self-hating Atheist Jews??"<br /><br />To some degree, he addressed that, by observing that it happens, and there isn't much you can do for the ones who fall away. Isn't that pretty much the entirety of the Old Testament? Anyway, in essence it seemed to me that his broader point was about being <i>in</i> the world - active participants in the communities in which we find ourselves - but not <i>of</i> it; that is, also acting in accordance with our faith. <br /><br />In other words, being that example that led the Corinthians to Christ, right where we are; not sequestered away.<br /><br />Or in other other words, being the leaven - even if the dough looks flat. <i>Because</i> the dough looks flat. See also light under a basket, etc.<br /><br />Going back to points made this morning, civilizations come and go. The Jews, relatively few though they are, have managed to stick around for an awfully long time, and they are still here. I don't have any doubts they'll survive the latest round of extermination attempts. We could do worse than figure out how they manage it. And we could do worse than finding ourselves to be as hated as they are.<br /><br />As to your final observation, you may well be right. In which case, it'll fall apart eventually, and one way or another the wheat will be separated from the tares.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35871349237035368172014-08-18T12:31:16.676-07:002014-08-18T12:31:16.676-07:00I had a negative reaction to that article. It soun...I had a negative reaction to that article. It sounds like Goldman wants Christians to be like Reform Jews, when the Orthodox Jews are the ones whose population is growing and having effect. And he writes:<br /><br />"I offer these arguments against communal withdrawal from a somewhat idiosyncratic motive. An heir to the Jewish diaspora, I am a relatively comfortable inhabitant of secular modernity. By what right do I counsel people whose first loyalty is to God? The answer is: self-interest. "<br /><br />With that, I shrugged and lost interest. <br /><br />Does anyone else look at our situation in terms of early Christian history? What led people back in Corinth to Christ? I'd say it was probably example (MacIntyre), not engagement (Goldman). The Christians weren't just local religious color to amuse the secularists and keep the peasants down. They represented an attractive invitation to reality.<br /><br />What worries me is how to separate this libertine, polyglot, city-state paganism we're living in from the huge Secular Imperium whose elites would love to throw us to the lions. I'm finding it harder to believe that you can have the former without the latter. Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-64441689299292096182014-08-18T11:59:27.284-07:002014-08-18T11:59:27.284-07:00I agree Julie. While I lament what I perceive to b...I agree Julie. While I lament what I perceive to be the loss of the ideal, I am heartened to know that truth will prevail regardless of the external circumstances. Besides, I believe that while the influence of the Christian faith is eroding in the US, it is growing in other places. Our nation may be slowly dying but the Kingdom of God is alive and well.EbonyRaptorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02483546359869912858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83524839758580086312014-08-18T11:45:12.949-07:002014-08-18T11:45:12.949-07:00Interesting article on how to maintain the seeds o...<a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/what-would-jeremiah-do/" rel="nofollow">Interesting article</a> on how to maintain the seeds of tradition in the midst of a culture that no longer recognizes traditions.<br /><br />"The Hebrew Bible and Jewish history suggest a different strategy, according to which exiles plant roots within and work for the improvement of the society in which they live, even if they never fully join it.<br /><br />This strategy lacks the historical drama attached to the Benedict Option. It promises no triumphant restoration of virtue, in which values preserved like treasures can be restored to their original public role. But the Jews know a lot about balancing alienation from the mainstream with participation in the broader society. Perhaps they can offer inspiration not only to Christians in the ruins of Christendom but also to a secular society that draws strength from the participation of religiously committed people and communities. Call it the Jeremiah Option.<br /><br />...<br /><br />The piety that God encourages, therefore, can be practiced by ordinary people living ordinary lives under difficult circumstances. God enjoins the captives not only to live in Babylon, but also to live in partnership with Babylon. Without assimilating, they are to lay down roots, multiply, and contribute to the good of the greater society."<br /><br />Food for thought; it's not as though we have much choice, anyway.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76454852272271540822014-08-18T10:50:09.369-07:002014-08-18T10:50:09.369-07:00Yes, sadly. One would wish the end would have been...Yes, sadly. One would wish the end would have been farther away. It seems like the only civilizations that really have staying power - thus far, anyway - are those which are stratified and structurally rigid. juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-3015720701744564662014-08-18T09:55:51.937-07:002014-08-18T09:55:51.937-07:00Everything the founders feared about democracy, an...Everything the founders feared about democracy, and from which they tried to shield us, is coming to pass. Seems that its end is in its beginning. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81517120058704217382014-08-18T09:44:00.378-07:002014-08-18T09:44:00.378-07:00I'm not sure how to express this eloquently, a...I'm not sure how to express this eloquently, and probably not adequately either, but I believe there is a national conscientious and it has changed over the course of time from Christian values based to something less - much less. When the nation was founded, there was a shared understanding of right and wrong that does not exist today among the majority of citizens. The majority no longer believe in the providence of God and consequently greed and envy breed a victim culture.<br /><br />While I don't want to go all "Bible thumper" here, I fear the only chance our nation has to stop the fall into further depravity and chaos is a Christian revival on a large enough scale to change the national conscience and while I would never discount what God can do, it seems highly improbable.<br /><br />My version of this country does not exist any longer. Or rather, it exists in the hearts and minds of fewer and fewer people. <br /><br />I wish I could be more optimistic.EbonyRaptorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02483546359869912858noreply@blogger.com