Tuesday, June 16, 2020

The Science of Political Religions

Here's another book I think we can knock out in a hurry, A Government of Laws, a collection of Voegelinian essays on subjects ranging from the American founding to the contemporary political religions we've been seeing on our TV screens, with their primitive gods and violent liturgies.

As to the latter, we should never forget that human sacrifice is the default liturgy of the vertically untutored man. How many sacrificial offerings have occurred already at the hands of the BLM/Antifa priesthood? And how many thousands more will result from the defunding of police?

The book has an epigram by Aristotle ending with The law is reason unaffected by desire. Its unstated corollary is that the left is desire unaffected by reason; or it is abstract ideological reason uninformed by, and oblivious to, concrete historical experience.

There may be a shortcut through the book: how about I skip the things we already know, and focus only on the things we don't? And maybe throw in any passages that tell us what we already know, but do so in a clever or incisive way.

Here's an intriguing little fragment of a thoughtlet: that it would "be strange if a man chose not to live his own life but someone else's."

Well, in our opinion this happens every time a man chooses not to live in conformity to truth. So it happens quite often indeed. If the Truth sets one free, the Lie imprisons; and if truth is conformity to the real, then the Lie shackles one to a delusion of one kind or another. One is either inside or outside the cave; or rather, riveted by the shadows on the wall, or open to the light streaming in from outside. But enough about CNN.

Bob, I thought we were going to limit ourselves to what we don't already know?

Look, I'm trying, but it's nice to occasionally hear someone else say it, okay? You're not the only one who gets sick of the sound of my voice.

[W]e seek attunement with truth as far as we can. If we do not attain it with some degree of satisfaction, then there is discord and misery in our own being. We become what is variously represented as evil, unjust, and unhappy men. The higher capacities do not master the lower. Such men may be a walking civil war...

Wait -- are you suggesting that the Walking Civil Wars who imagine they're unhappy because of the existence of statues of Winston Churchill, or Thomas Jefferson, or Christopher Columbus, will not become happy after vandalizing or tearing them down?

No, they'll be delirious for a few minutes -- that's how mob psychology works -- before needing to repeat the experience. As with any other addiction, the progressive mobster keeps chasing the high, from canceling Gandhi to Basil Fawlty to Penny Lane. Pretty soon there's no one left to scapegoat -- no imaginary dragons left to slay -- so they must consume one another. It's one of those ironyclad Laws of the Left.

Why has the left plunged back into a premodern rejection of science? Because the very conception of science depends upon a prior "de-divinization of the world, which results in something we easily call nature; and nature can then be explored by science."

But "when this break is not radical, as it is [was] in the West, then there is trouble in having natural science."

The left -- since it is a pre-reflective political religion -- essentially re-divinizes (or demonizes is more like it) the world, thereby effacing the distinction between transcendence and immanence.

Which is how we end up with such idiotic decisions as yesterday's invention of new rights based upon the idea that sex -- a biological reality -- really refers to religious totems such as "sexual preference," “gender identity,” and cross-dressing.

But of course, they won't pursue the principle to its end, and proclaim that the Constitution protects the person who has a sexual preference for children, or thinks he's a giraffe, or likes to dress up in Klan robes.

Oh well: "Hatred of divine being is the mark of the radical modern, and specifically of Marxian revolt." Come for the hatred, stay for the destruction.

"Dogma supplants reason and science," so the born-again-from-below leftist -- hello, New Man! -- "can successfully usurp his place in a Second Reality of dreamworld imaginings."

For -- again, just turn on the TV -- "the spiritual dimensions of human existence do not vanish simply because men become atheistic and rebellious."

Oh, and never equate "spiritual" with "good." But you knew that already.

I think we're done here.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Most of the better religions seem geared towards people residing in the range from psychologically normal to naturally nice in need of spiritual support. Those can usually be led to control their darker impulses with spirituality instead. I'm not aware of too many nihilistic or psychopathic religions or cults which have been successful, for long. The most successful of one that is a step in that direction might be Islam, which is a supposed improvement on Christianity. Personally, I think Mohammed just wanted to go out and conquer people and needed to rationalize that behavior.

Anonymous said...

MLK was said to have been a Republican, usually by Republicans, but the evidence suggests that he was a social Christian democrat instead. I don’t think Jesus ever preached mammon or objectivism, telling people to just obey whatever powers that be, even if they were slaves in whatever system. Would that make him an authoritarian or quasi-Buddhist? MLK might’ve had a problem with that one.

julie said...

[W]e seek attunement with truth as far as we can. If we do not attain it with some degree of satisfaction, then there is discord and misery in our own being.

Well yes, we do. Apparently there are an awful lot of people who care nothing for truth, because they are more interested in power or drama. Just think of the army of Karens, or the tantruming Trigglypuffs (saw one on a video just this morning wearing a shirt that said "riots not diets;" she looked exactly as you'd expect). Truth?! Don't oppress me with your hatefacts!

To be interested in truth, one must first reach a level of psychological development greater than early childhood, when one is much more interested in whatever he wants right now.

Anonymous said...

>> ...the left is desire unaffected by reason; or it is abstract ideological reason uninformed by, and oblivious to, concrete historical experience.<<

Like falling in love can be - see American divorce rate. Actually, remembering back to before I was a conservative mugged by reality (way back), I found anger directed at The Man to be positively fun. My anger was 100% unaffected by reason, but I was in with the ins and it was fun to feel righteously angry. As J Boehme points out, anger amps up sense of self, pride of self, and in that sense, is literally Satanic.

Of course there are forms of honest anger that are informed by reason, and that don’t pump up pride of self.

will

Anonymous said...

>> : that it would "be strange if a man chose not to live his own life but someone else's." <<

That would be a good portion of Bob Dylan’s career. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.

And what’s with Dylan anyway, picking the holy day of June 19th - Juneteenth - to release his new album??

w.

Greta said...

How dare he!!!11!!11

Gagdad Bob said...

Speaking of festivus observances, a Merry Bloomsday to all.

julie said...

This week I learned that Finnegan's Wake was originally a folk song.

Anonymous said...

Julie, cool data-point, thx!

w

Van Harvey said...

"...it would "be strange if a man chose not to live his own life but someone else's."

It would be strange, but not at all unusual, as that is and always has been the political ideal of the Pro-Regressive (Left and Right).

"Well, in our opinion this happens every time a man chooses not to live in conformity to truth. So it happens quite often indeed. If the Truth sets one free, the Lie imprisons; and if truth is conformity to the real, then the Lie shackles one to a delusion of one kind or another. One is either inside or outside the cave; or rather, riveted by the shadows on the wall, or open to the light streaming in from outside. But enough about CNN."

And yes, it is nice to see someone else speaking the self evident truths that are so rarely revealed. And also,

"...Aristotle ending with The law is reason unaffected by desire."

Ahhh... nice.

Theme Song

Theme Song