There are those who want to stay in the box, and those who want to leave it.
Alan: There are two kinds of people in this world - absolutists and relativists.
Relativists are okay with absolutists -- so long as the latter "mind their own business" and don't impose their will on others.
But it also needs to be pointed out that absolutists are, by their nature, implacable moralists who cannot really be happy unless relativists are banished from "Righteous Society."
But it also needs to be pointed out that absolutists are, by their nature, implacable moralists who cannot really be happy unless relativists are banished from "Righteous Society."
Sadly, the only way to be surethat relativists are banished is by converting them, hermetically isolating them or killing them.
But since it is both difficult to implement any of these outcomes, absolutists have settled (at least until now) for vituperative condemnation, making it absolutely clear that "evil relativists" are damned -- by God Himself!!! -- and therefore ungodly relativists will spend eternity -- isolated -- in an "Unquenchable Lake Of Fire."
Absolutists rarely convert relativists and almost never kill them, although movement is underfoot to isolate them as we can observe with mass incarceration, the promotion of race-based divisiveness, Trump's Wall, concentration camps along the border, the horror of Family Separation and the public shaming of intellectuals.
Absolutists rarely convert relativists and almost never kill them, although movement is underfoot to isolate them as we can observe with mass incarceration, the promotion of race-based divisiveness, Trump's Wall, concentration camps along the border, the horror of Family Separation and the public shaming of intellectuals.
Tragically, anyone who believes that "others" are damned, cannot live at peace with them, at least not until those "others" are converted, "snuffed," politically disenfranchised or get their "just desserts."
Once disenfranchised/isolated, absolutists - left to their own unimpeded devices - tend to abolish meaningful democratic process, replacing it with theocracy (or some other authoritarian system.
At bottom, this is the modus operandi of Trump Cult, which has created a secular version of conservative Christianity in the guise of QAnon.
But just as Jesus pointed out that it is equally bad to commit adultery "in one's heart" as actually "doing the dirty deed," it is a short skip to being guilty of murder "in your heart" by wishing people dead.
At the end of the day, relativists are content to let absolutists live in peace.
By contrast, absolutists are NEVER content to let relativists live in peace.
Not only do absolutists prefer the demise of relativists, they can't wait to gloat over their eternal torment, "looking down on the damned" from the parapets of heaven.
There is no good will in these people.
Instead, we find an abundance of cruelty, malice and malevolence.
The crux of absolutists' essential hostility toward relativists is that absolutists spurn Lincoln's wisdom, instead presuming "God is on their side" which relieves them of any need to question finger-wagging (and ultimately damning) moral judgments.
Absolutists see themselves as divinely authorized (indeed, as divinely ordained) to act in God's stead even though this staggering presumption -- this self-apotheosis -- is the sin of hubris, perhaps in its most extreme form.
It is not an aberration but the norm that absolutists - working their evil "completely and cheerfully" - replace kindness with cruelty.
The collapse of contemporary American conservatism is - effectively - "stand your ground murder" writ large.
Conservatives only need to "feel threatened" and they are authorized -- legally! -- to blow the brains out of anyone they perceive as existentially threating.
Contemporary "conservatives" believe they are righteously ordained to kill "the bad guys" - even if their presumed badness is a misperception. A mistake.
Of course, contemporary Christians will couch their bloodlest in millenialist, eschatological terms which "sanitize" them as "subsidiary, faithful servants of Jesus" who is about to return in His Second Coming Glory.
At bottom, this is the modus operandi of Trump Cult, which has created a secular version of conservative Christianity in the guise of QAnon.
QAnon Is Nucking Futs: A Clearing House For Crazy People (Which Continually Tells Them THEY Are The Sane Ones)
At the end of the day, relativists are content to let absolutists live in peace.
By contrast, absolutists are NEVER content to let relativists live in peace.
Not only do absolutists prefer the demise of relativists, they can't wait to gloat over their eternal torment, "looking down on the damned" from the parapets of heaven.
There is no good will in these people.
Instead, we find an abundance of cruelty, malice and malevolence.
Compendium Of Trump Videos That Reveal His Arrogance, Inhumanity, Stupidity And Cruelty
The crux of absolutists' essential hostility toward relativists is that absolutists spurn Lincoln's wisdom, instead presuming "God is on their side" which relieves them of any need to question finger-wagging (and ultimately damning) moral judgments.
Absolutists see themselves as divinely authorized (indeed, as divinely ordained) to act in God's stead even though this staggering presumption -- this self-apotheosis -- is the sin of hubris, perhaps in its most extreme form.
But "Hubris be damned!"
These absolutists are the chosen agents of God, designated to work God's will, which is to say their own self-apotheosized will.
"Conservative" "Christians" Only Believe In God And Themselves & The Two Are Interchangeable
Inevitably, a time comes (often sooner than later) when these self-designated "chosen ones" mistake God's will as their own and go on a rampage (like Trumpism) inflicting tremendous damage in their unquestioning self-righteousness.
Blaise Pascal, a very devout Christian made this summary comment.
It is not an aberration but the norm that absolutists - working their evil "completely and cheerfully" - replace kindness with cruelty.
Compendium Of Trump Videos That Reveal His Arrogance, Inhumanity, Stupidity And Cruelty
Blinded by their unshakeable conviction that "God is on their side," they never even second guess their presumption of divinely-ordained virtue and proceed with the self-righeous conviction that cruelty (ultimately modeled on the eternal torment God Himself has designed for the denizens of Hell) is not only acceptable behavior, but is the distilled essence of God's will.
A calling. A vocation.
A calling. A vocation.
And so absolutists -- in an exceptionally subtle act of self-apotheosis -- confound God's infinite power with their own, and while seeing themselves as God's blessed agents (just as papal inquisitors did) they become evil people.
And they become evil people blithely - giddily - their lives consumed by the self justification of being absolutely right.
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.”
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton
Fr. Thomas Merton Explains -- In 16 Words -- Why "Christian" "Conservatives" Are Always Wrong
The collapse of contemporary American conservatism is - effectively - "stand your ground murder" writ large.
Conservatives only need to "feel threatened" and they are authorized -- legally! -- to blow the brains out of anyone they perceive as existentially threating.
Contemporary "conservatives" believe they are righteously ordained to kill "the bad guys" - even if their presumed badness is a misperception. A mistake.
Conservatives And Liberals: "How We Ended Up In 2 Totally Divided Camps, Both Convinced They're Absolutely Right"
On a larger scale - even on a global scale - American "conservatives" "know" that God has already prepared His unrelentingly torturous "Lake Of Unquenchable Fire" for "the God-damned Others" -- the "infidels" and anyone else who is not just like them. And so, re-making themselves in the image of their God, they are divinely authorized to begin the damnation of others whenever they damn well please.
Of course, contemporary Christians will couch their bloodlest in millenialist, eschatological terms which "sanitize" them as "subsidiary, faithful servants of Jesus" who is about to return in His Second Coming Glory.
Even now, millions of "Christian" "conservatives" (who are neither) are praying for Armageddon.
Even if it requires nuclear conflagration to make Jesus say "Do I have to come down there?", their resounding answer will be: "Yes, Jesus! Come! Can you not smell the blessed aroma of the divine holocaust we have prepared for you?"
Even if it requires nuclear conflagration to make Jesus say "Do I have to come down there?", their resounding answer will be: "Yes, Jesus! Come! Can you not smell the blessed aroma of the divine holocaust we have prepared for you?"
Alan: What follows is further elaboration of my essay above - work that is not yet fully edited.
This is, of course, true.
Undeniably true.
Incontrovertibly true.
But among other verities of this type is the truth that "there are two kinds of people in this world; absolutists and relativists."
There are, in fact, many "twin" truths, not least of which is the paradoxical truth that (good) Law and transcendent Spirit can co-exist. (Aquinas defines a law as "an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community." In "The City Of God" St. Augustine adds: “Without justice what are kingdoms but great bands of robbers? And what is a band of robbers but such a kingdom in miniature?" I have added the underlining.)
Whereas "relativists" accommodate "absolutists" and are content to let them live their personal lives as they see fit, absolutists do not reciprocate.
Absolutists are haughty, supercilious, self-righteous people who always "know what is best" - and what is best coincides with the relentless condemnation of "the damned."
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.”
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton
Furthermore, absolutists exhibit no willingness to let relativists live by their convictions, whenever those convictions cross their will. Absolutists are convinced - absolutely convinced - that relativists are absolutely wrong.
And arising from this conviction (usually grounded in religious belief, not knowledge) they are absolutely determined to put an end to relativism, and by extension to relativists, either by "conversion," or by some form of "damnation."
Damnation is to say that "the damned" are removed from "Good Society" in such a way that they will be forever contained, never again befouling the mirror-image world view of "The Saved!"
Once banished to the inescapable confines of Hell, they are right where they belong. Right where they deserve to be. Right where their all-loving God created a space just for them.
But note well.
In the story of Noah and The Flood, "the salvation of humankind" is (supposedly) achieved by God killing every human being on earth with the exception of Noah's immediate family.
Few people ponder how this "salvation" -- this radical elimination of evil and correlative restoration of virtue -- actually work out.
And no one asks if God's genocide even worked.
Or, as seems more like, was God's flood a collosal failure?
Here's the scoop. (It's not hard to understand. You just have to read the tale with eyes un-blurred by blind, chest-thumping, triumphalist faith. What's to be afraid of? The story is told in The Bible.)
"The Great Flood" Was "God's Plan" To Cleanse The World Of Evil. As Events Unfolded, Noah's Own Children Came To Be At Least As Bad As The Humans Killed By The Flood
Jesus counsels us that we let "the sun shine on the good and bad alike" -- and that we "let the wheat and the weeds grow up together."
The New Testament also enjoins Christ's followers to refrain from forcing others to mend their evil ways: "Resist not evil."
In the Old Testament, we witness active collaboration between Yahweh and Satan in The Book of Job, as well as Yahweh's insistence that Cain not be killed for murdering his brother. What?!? Fratricide?!? And no divine punishment?!?
The New Testament also enjoins Christ's followers to refrain from forcing others to mend their evil ways: "Resist not evil."
In the Old Testament, we witness active collaboration between Yahweh and Satan in The Book of Job, as well as Yahweh's insistence that Cain not be killed for murdering his brother. What?!? Fratricide?!? And no divine punishment?!?
It is commonplace for Evangelicals and Fundamentalists to affirm that their grasp of Scripture is "literally true," when, in fact, all of us pick and choose those biblical verses most to our liking, leaving aside those verses we choose to ignore.
And in the end, it is no secret that people will do what they damn well please.
Even so, there is such a thing as an informed conscience.
And to have one, it is almost always necessary to respect Reason and the findings of Science and other forms of sound, intellectually-rigorous research. No matter what Paul says about "the wisdom of the world," Jesus does not want practitioners of "The Way" to be ignorant - to leave their brains at the church door.
Similarly, Jesus doesn't want his followers to ignore history, or to assume that "being saved" makes learning unnecessary or beside the point.
Among his followers in ancient Israel, Jesus was called rabbi - teacher.
Here is The Cornerstone of American history as it relates to the refusal of Evangelicals and Fundamentalists to compromise.
The foundational basis of The United States IS compromise. And unless we sign off on the cornerstone-compromise, we participate in neither the letter nor the spirit of The Constitution.
It is true that the Constitution can be used to deconstruct American democracy and replace it with an absolute theocracy.
But hear this.
And hear it well.
To claim that the legal deconstruction of American democracy represents the collective will of The Founding Fathers (and the political lineage they created) is a baldfaced lie.
To argue on behalf of absolutist theocracy is to betray America - as it was founded and as it evolved.
At least until The Traitor occupied The Oval Office.
If you take time to read history -- even 15 minutes a day -- within weeks you would realize that the foundational purpose of America was NOT to establish a rigid, unbending theocracy - no matter how much theocrats wave the flag and proclaims platitudes.
The purpose was to create a brand new political form based on balancing competing claims through a form of republican government based on compromise.
If you're ever tempted to learn history, here is Wikipedia's list of historians by subject area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historians_by_area_of_study#History_of_the_United_States
However, if you're not interested the actual foundational history of America and are determined to remain within the theocratic bubble of "The Saved!" --- which is to say, if you care to acknowledge what you already are --- that is fine.
But don't think it will end well.
Or at least don't think it will end by making America great again.
Rather, it will be the end of America.
And it will end much like The Great Flood, starting off full of promise and ardent triumphalism, with every "true believer" briefly joyful that God's Will will finally be done!
But in that absolutist quest - blind and blinding - you will soon realize that what you have wrought with your uncompromising absolutism is just another manifestation of our perpetually "fallen" world - but this time that realization will only take root after America has been destroyed.
Well, sort of...
Here's what I see happening next if Trump is re-elected.
Christians Ignore Jesus' Direct "Commandments" But Are Punctilious About Things He Never Said
And in the end, it is no secret that people will do what they damn well please.
Catholics Are Just As Likely To Get An Abortion As Other U.S. Women. Why?
American Divorce: Mainstream Christians Divorce More Often Than Atheists
Even so, there is such a thing as an informed conscience.
And to have one, it is almost always necessary to respect Reason and the findings of Science and other forms of sound, intellectually-rigorous research. No matter what Paul says about "the wisdom of the world," Jesus does not want practitioners of "The Way" to be ignorant - to leave their brains at the church door.
Similarly, Jesus doesn't want his followers to ignore history, or to assume that "being saved" makes learning unnecessary or beside the point.
Among his followers in ancient Israel, Jesus was called rabbi - teacher.
Here is The Cornerstone of American history as it relates to the refusal of Evangelicals and Fundamentalists to compromise.
The foundational basis of The United States IS compromise. And unless we sign off on the cornerstone-compromise, we participate in neither the letter nor the spirit of The Constitution.
"Frank Zappa Prophesied A Fascist Theocracy. Barry Goldwater Agrees"
It is true that the Constitution can be used to deconstruct American democracy and replace it with an absolute theocracy.
But hear this.
And hear it well.
To claim that the legal deconstruction of American democracy represents the collective will of The Founding Fathers (and the political lineage they created) is a baldfaced lie.
To argue on behalf of absolutist theocracy is to betray America - as it was founded and as it evolved.
At least until The Traitor occupied The Oval Office.
If you take time to read history -- even 15 minutes a day -- within weeks you would realize that the foundational purpose of America was NOT to establish a rigid, unbending theocracy - no matter how much theocrats wave the flag and proclaims platitudes.
The purpose was to create a brand new political form based on balancing competing claims through a form of republican government based on compromise.
If you're ever tempted to learn history, here is Wikipedia's list of historians by subject area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historians_by_area_of_study#History_of_the_United_States
However, if you're not interested the actual foundational history of America and are determined to remain within the theocratic bubble of "The Saved!" --- which is to say, if you care to acknowledge what you already are --- that is fine.
But don't think it will end well.
Or at least don't think it will end by making America great again.
Rather, it will be the end of America.
And it will end much like The Great Flood, starting off full of promise and ardent triumphalism, with every "true believer" briefly joyful that God's Will will finally be done!
But in that absolutist quest - blind and blinding - you will soon realize that what you have wrought with your uncompromising absolutism is just another manifestation of our perpetually "fallen" world - but this time that realization will only take root after America has been destroyed.
Well, sort of...
Here's what I see happening next if Trump is re-elected.
Is It Time For Red States And Blue States To Collaborate On The Creation Of Two Nations?
To be a true American as envisioned by The Founding Fathers, one must welcome compromise, especially with people whose political orientation we loathe.
So historians argue that the United States would not have come into being were it not for The Great Compromise, that it is fair to say that there is consensus around The Great Compromise as the central feature of The United States of America.
The Great Compromise
Only when everybody gets enough of what they want to render people reasonably content with their lives, will it be possible for people to live together in peace.
And it is impossible to live in peace with people you consider to be damned.
And in these United States, white "Christian" "conservatives" are psycho-spiritually committed to the damnation of many --- probably most --- citizens.
I think you know this truth and that it undergirds your passion to invoke damnation of "the ungodly others" so they have no voice in "The Godly World" you would create for "The Saved!"
And it is this punitive, vengeful heartlessness that lies at the heart of the heartlessness which your absolutism engenders.
In contemporary America, absolutism is most often justified by the core issue of abortion, even though there is no persuasive evidence that outlawing abortion would result in fewer abortions.
And at the same time, there is evidence that societies providing legal abortion have lower abortion rates.
Abortion
Once absolutists transform people who would allow legal abortion into "Baby Killers," they have created an unshakeble, unbending and harmful foundation that (in their eyes) justifies self-righteous contempt for others, a self-righteousness that is champing at the bit for those others to "get their just desserts" by being eternally damned to "The Unquenchable Lake Of Fire."
This damning outlook makes "Christian" Trump cultists feel transiently good that their bloodlust is being satisfied, and to the extent that they feel good about the damnation/exclusion/disenfranchisement of others, they lose their compassion, and soon thereafter their souls.
Already you are in league with Trump Cult cruelty, signing off on "family separation" which - along with all the detriments of breaking families -- is a form of child abuse.
Egregious child abuse.
Compendium Of Trump Videos That Reveal His Arrogance, Inhumanity, Stupidity And Cruelty
To be a true American as envisioned by The Founding Fathers, one must welcome compromise, especially with people whose political orientation we loathe.
So historians argue that the United States would not have come into being were it not for The Great Compromise, that it is fair to say that there is consensus around The Great Compromise as the central feature of The United States of America.
So historians argue that the United States would not have come into being were it not for The Great Compromise, that it is fair to say that there is consensus around The Great Compromise as the central feature of The United States of America.
The Great Compromise
Only when everybody gets enough of what they want to render people reasonably content with their lives, will it be possible for people to live together in peace.
And it is impossible to live in peace with people you consider to be damned.
And in these United States, white "Christian" "conservatives" are psycho-spiritually committed to the damnation of many --- probably most --- citizens.
And in these United States, white "Christian" "conservatives" are psycho-spiritually committed to the damnation of many --- probably most --- citizens.
I think you know this truth and that it undergirds your passion to invoke damnation of "the ungodly others" so they have no voice in "The Godly World" you would create for "The Saved!"
And it is this punitive, vengeful heartlessness that lies at the heart of the heartlessness which your absolutism engenders.
In contemporary America, absolutism is most often justified by the core issue of abortion, even though there is no persuasive evidence that outlawing abortion would result in fewer abortions.
And at the same time, there is evidence that societies providing legal abortion have lower abortion rates.
And at the same time, there is evidence that societies providing legal abortion have lower abortion rates.
Abortion
Once absolutists transform people who would allow legal abortion into "Baby Killers," they have created an unshakeble, unbending and harmful foundation that (in their eyes) justifies self-righteous contempt for others, a self-righteousness that is champing at the bit for those others to "get their just desserts" by being eternally damned to "The Unquenchable Lake Of Fire."
This damning outlook makes "Christian" Trump cultists feel transiently good that their bloodlust is being satisfied, and to the extent that they feel good about the damnation/exclusion/disenfranchisement of others, they lose their compassion, and soon thereafter their souls.
Already you are in league with Trump Cult cruelty, signing off on "family separation" which - along with all the detriments of breaking families -- is a form of child abuse.
Egregious child abuse.
Compendium Of Trump Videos That Reveal His Arrogance, Inhumanity, Stupidity And Cruelty
Yes, you have arranged a semblance of legal justification.
Absolutists always put disproportionate emphasis on legalism which St. Paul described throughout his ministry as the fundamental difference between the Old Testament and the New. Between Christ spirit and the stone hearts of those who focus inordinately on Moses' stone tablets.
"He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Corinthians, 3:6
In this same chapter Paul goes on to say: 7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
You lack the freedom to move away from the destructiveness of punitive "Christianity" because you value the law far more than the spirit. Like most "conservative" "Christians" you are much more at home with the retaliatory nature of the Old Testament's "Thunder Sky God" than you are with Jesus who hung out with hookers, wine bibblers and traitorous tax collectors, reserving his most acid criticism for his fellow Pharisees who were the "good, upstanding Jews" of Jesus' time.
The Pharisees Are Always With Us: A Field Guide
Since your entire worldview depends on "upholding the law," your world will fall apart -- in effect you will "lose your religion" -- if you embrace the sacred heart that loves people without asking if they are "deserving" -- which is to say, if they are just like you in "upholding the law over the spirit."
White, Trump-Christians are not doing their job.
And so, forever saddled by the onerous burden of heavy stone tablets, their spirits never rise except as a function of cultist enthusiasm.
And Trump-cult enthusiasm is no more real than the enthusiasm of the 900 true believers in Jonestown who literally drank the Kool-Aid.
Note well:
Yes, you have arranged a semblance of legal justification.
Absolutists always put disproportionate emphasis on legalism which St. Paul described throughout his ministry as the fundamental difference between the Old Testament and the New. Between Christ spirit and the stone hearts of those who focus inordinately on Moses' stone tablets.
"He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Corinthians, 3:6
In this same chapter Paul goes on to say: 7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
You lack the freedom to move away from the destructiveness of punitive "Christianity" because you value the law far more than the spirit. Like most "conservative" "Christians" you are much more at home with the retaliatory nature of the Old Testament's "Thunder Sky God" than you are with Jesus who hung out with hookers, wine bibblers and traitorous tax collectors, reserving his most acid criticism for his fellow Pharisees who were the "good, upstanding Jews" of Jesus' time.
The Pharisees Are Always With Us: A Field Guide
Since your entire worldview depends on "upholding the law," your world will fall apart -- in effect you will "lose your religion" -- if you embrace the sacred heart that loves people without asking if they are "deserving" -- which is to say, if they are just like you in "upholding the law over the spirit."
White, Trump-Christians are not doing their job.
And so, forever saddled by the onerous burden of heavy stone tablets, their spirits never rise except as a function of cultist enthusiasm.
And Trump-cult enthusiasm is no more real than the enthusiasm of the 900 true believers in Jonestown who literally drank the Kool-Aid.
Note well:
The Holocaust Was Legal. Slavery Was Legal. Segregation Was Legal. Genocidal Theft Of U.S.
There are two ways of lying, as there are two ways of deceiving customers. If the scale registers 15 ounces, you can say: "It's a pound." Your lie will remain relative to an invariable measure of the true. If customers check it, they can see that they are being robbed, and you know by how much you are robbing them: a truth remains as a judge between you. But if the demon induces you to tamper with the scale itself, it is the criterion of the true which is denatured, there is no longer any possible control. And little by little you will forget that you are cheating.
I will close on a light note.
As you read the following account of "Jonah And The Whale," please understand that once we abandon the grandiloquence of King James' Bible, there are a great many bible stories that can be rendered with similar insight and new power.
"The Story Of Jonah And The Whale"
Retold For The Righteous By Anne Herbert
Like many people - perhaps most people - you think it's enough to be right.
But to be right, you must be right, rightly.
As long as you remain stuck in scriputral verbiage -- and your well-practiced rants with
At minimum you will have to renounce the (percieved) righteousness of Trump World cruelty.
You simply can't continue being an accomplish to child abuse, no matter how much legal precedent you can cite and no matter how "right" it feels.
Here is how the absolutist agenda plays out as it transits from enthusiam to the social, political, economic and moral wreckage Trump will visit on the country.
"The Story Of Jonah And The Whale"
Retold For The Righteous By Anne Herbert
Like many people - perhaps most people - you think it's enough to be right.
But to be right, you must be right, rightly.
As long as you remain stuck in scriputral verbiage -- and your well-practiced rants with
At minimum you will have to renounce the (percieved) righteousness of Trump World cruelty.
You simply can't continue being an accomplish to child abuse, no matter how much legal precedent you can cite and no matter how "right" it feels.
You simply can't continue being an accomplish to child abuse, no matter how much legal precedent you can cite and no matter how "right" it feels.
Here is how the absolutist agenda plays out as it transits from enthusiam to the social, political, economic and moral wreckage Trump will visit on the country.
Santorum, Savonarola and The Pending Apocalypse of The Republican Party
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/02/santorum-savonarola-and-pending.html
Inevitably, perfection becomes enemy of the good.
Religion and Perfectionism
How Too Pure Principles Make Things Worse
Biblical Literalism And The Cultivation Of Hatred
Inevitably, perfection becomes enemy of the good.
Religion and Perfectionism
How Too Pure Principles Make Things Worse
Biblical Literalism And The Cultivation Of Hatred
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