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Wednesday, February 12, 2020

How We Ended Up In 2 Totally Divided Camps, Both Convinced They're Absolutely Right

If Trump-Cultists Must Believe This Is How People Used To Change Light Bulbs In Order To Justify Trump's Next Monstrosity, So Be It | made w/ Imgflip meme maker
"Three Videos Of Trump Supporters That Will Make Trump Supporters Turn On Trump Supporters"

When I was growing up in the 1950s, it was clear to me that my carpenter grandfather would routinely defer to my university-trained Dad when it came to political and social analysis because such analysis was my Dad's "area of specialization," just as my Dad deferred to Gramp's analysis of what needed to be done in the construction trades when he was put in charge of remodeling our home. 

Not only was this a workable division of labor, it was an admirable division of labor.
"The Greatest Generation: Labor, Capital And Betrayal Of The Social Contract"

Yet -- transcendentally -- when they knelt alongside one another in church on Sunday, it was presuppositionally clear that we were all God's children. It was also clear that this underlying "Democracy of Universal Dignity" -- informed by our family's Catholic faith -- was the most meaningful matrix of all. 

Some might say this religious foundation/matrix was the sine qua non that enabled very different people to not only meet but merge at that alpha-omega point where ontology and epistemology fuse.

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts: What I Think About Christianity


Relative to Catholicism's central belief that "God is Love" -- and that we were all subsumed by the Mystery of Love -- all else was secondary.

Only Love was ultimately real.

All other (derivative?) discussion of political and social value was like a "debating society" in which people choose to defend opposing positions, but no matter how passionately those opposing positions are argued, Ground Zero remains the transcendent-but-imminent Reality of Love. (Who woulda thunk it?!?)
"Love first. Everything else later. In fact, everything else is meaningless without love." James Martin SJ | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

I realize that "God talk" will alienate many of today's numerically-dominant secularists. 

But as a matter of "enduring functionality" -- and, apparently, as a matter of "bedrock civility" -- majoritarian belief in a transcendent value system rooted in Reality appears better-suited to Domestic Tranquility and the General Welfare (not to mention a truly Social Contract) than the atomized, hermetically siloed opinions that have become normalized.

"The Moral Confusion Of Trump Christians," John Pavlovitz

Armageddon Cheerleaders: "Christian" "Conservatives" Pining For Nuclear Conflagration

"Conservative" "Christians" Refuse To Distinguish Between Punishment And Compassion

Fr. Thomas Merton Explains -- In 16 Words -- Why "Christian" "Conservatives" Are Always Wrong

Evangelical Academic Decries Coronavirus Theories: "Gullibility Is Not A Christian Virtue"

(St. Paul Put To Evil Use By "Christian" "Conservatives")

"Jimmy Carter On The Separation Of Church And State And The Danger Of Religious Superiority"

Facebook Dialogue With Christian Fundamentalist Friend Who Asks: "How Does Morality Work?"

American Conservatives Are The Apotheosis Of Pharisaism. (Conservatives, Please Weigh In)

The Pharisee Party And The Devolution Of GOP Leaders Into Oligarchs Who Despise Democracy

Bibliolatry... And How To Live Happily Ever After

"My Attempt To Supply A Rigid Christian Friend With A Theological Alternative To Self-Strangulation"


 If nothing else, majoritarian belief in transcendent values rooted in Reality, enables the settled assumption that power will quietly pass - at predictable intervals - from one large faction of the electorate to another.

Aquinas Discovers That "Divine Truth" Cannot Contradict Nature And "The Natural Light"

I must mention that fundamentalist Christianity is not rooted in Reality and are therefore intrinsically incapable of guaranteeing -- or even honestly pursuing -- The General Welfare and Domestic Tranquility.

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts Concerning The Coming Collapse Of Evangelicalism
(Christian willingness -- indeed, the Christian obligation -- to believe irrational articles of faith predisposes believers to "believe anything.")
https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/01/compendium-of-best-pax-posts-concerning.html

"Evangelical Support Of Trump Will Be An Indictment Against Its Validity," Fr. Richard Rohr

Why "Christian" "Conservatives" Are Losing Their Souls
https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/09/christian-conservatives-are-losing.html


Because this bifurcated, bilateral "argumentativeness" -- this debate, this discussion -- was, at bottom, a kind of "game" in which different "parties," say Republicans and Democrats, would take turns "holding the talking stick," this culturally embedded alternation of power contributed mightily to a kind of core civility that enabled people to wait their turn.

And "as night follows day," actual possession of political power would result in Actonian decay -- "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" -- and before long the "talking stick" would pass to "the other side," partly driven by the cyclic need for one party to "clean up" after the excesses of the other, and partly driven by the desire for novelty: "Let's see what the new kid on the block can do."

Eric Hoffer: "Absolute Faith Corrupts As Absolutely As Absolute Power"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/04/eric-hoffer-absolute-faith-corrupts-as.html
At this moment in time, it appears that the alternative to a relatively settled belief system encompassing religious, spiritual and political values -- or, if you prefer "sacred" and "secular" values -- is the ongoing degradation of epistemology until individual citizens become not only fragmented but isolated in their ideological silos.

Tyranny's Best-Kept Secret: It's All About Epistemology
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2016/12/tyrannys-best-kept-secret-its-all-about.html 


I recall a cartoon showing a vast wasteland in which any number of foxholes are surrounded by concertina wire, every foxhole occupied by a single wild-eyed occupant hoisting a flag that proclaimed: "Republic of Me."

I have good friends who are conspiracists and this ringside seat to conspiracism informs me of their peril - and "ours."

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts About Conspiracies And Conspiracism


Conspiracy Thinking, The Death Of Shared Identity And The Collapse Of Common Purpose

For within each conspiratorial band-on-the-spectrum is a sprawling subdivision of opinions that is as radically-atomizing as the foxholes in the "Republic of Me." 

 Consider the staggering subdivision of conspiratorial views relating to 9/11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories 

 For that matter, consider the number of theologically "respectable" views concerning the biblical Book of Revelation, or, what used to be called The Book of Apocalypse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation#Interpretations

It has also become clear to me that the essential upshot of epistemological fragmentation (rapidly morphing into paranoiac conspiracism) is that authoritarian leaders are the ultimate beneficiaries of epistemological degradation because such leaders (almost always "populists") thrive on lies. 

 And conspiratorial lies -- or let's just say conspiratorial "viewpoints" -- open the floodgates to all manner of wild speculation, and on that limitless "playing field of the mind," people who were not educated in the ways of intellectual rigor and The Scientific Method will hear an authoritarian like Trump (whose presidential campaign was built on the conspiratorial cornerstone of "birtherism") and the populist ingenues will succumb to his endless blather about "people are saying"... "lots of smart people tell me"... "we really don't know" ... "look, it could be anything"... 
"Confirmation Bias And The Power Of Disconfirming Evidence"  

And so, in the minds of the uneducated (and in the minds of many people who have at least some reason to believe they're educated) the power of "autocratic suggestion" becomes "settled conviction." 

 To make matters worse, these people are likely to have some vestigial sense that they're cheating, and so they make their assertions increasingly strident in order to create enough din to drown out the whispering of their own residual conscience.

"A Video Collage Of Trump's Arrogance: If You Are Even Vestigially Normal, You Will Sicken"
https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2020/03/according-to-trump-only-human-who-can.html

Suddenly, conspiracists who are clever enough to create arguments capable of outwitting even themselves end up in league with this guy:

Sound Thinking Is A Learned Skill That Trump Supporters Seldom Possess | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

 And so it is that conspiracism and other forms of shoddy opinion formation redound -- ALWAYS -- to the benefit of right-wing authoritarian leaders like Trump, Putin, Mussolini and Hitler. 

In short, conspiracists, authoritarians and populists end up in bed with manipulative, self-seeking "leaders," not representatives.

"Seig heil der führer!"

A Confession: I'm Starting To Write Off Stupid People As Incorrigible
https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-confession-im-starting-to-write-off.html

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Alan: I realize the caption above is a complicated thought.
I encourage you to re-read it.

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In The Mouths Of Most Christians, "The Word Of God" Is Indistinguishable From... | In The Mouths Of Most Christians "The Word Of God" Is Indistinguishable From Personal Opinion | image tagged in christianity,christianity and manipulation,the bible can justify anything,biblical inerrancy,biblical literalism,making it up as | made w/ Imgflip meme maker


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Pax on both houses: Roy Moore Supporters Don't Want The ...


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The 1% Smart Enough To Know You're Stupid Enough To Applaud Your Own Oppression | made w/ Imgflip meme maker


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"The Moral Confusion Of Trump Christians," John Pavlovitz

"Conservative" "Christians" Refuse To Distinguish Between Punishment And Compassion

Fr. Thomas Merton Explains -- In 16 Words -- Why "Christian" "Conservatives" Are Always Wrong

Jimmy Carter On The Separation Of Church And State And The Danger Of Religious Superiority

"The Politics Of Horror" And "The Paranoid Style In American Politics"


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"My Gripe With Christianity"

To shed additional light on what I've already written -- but from an entirely different angle -- I will conclude with a story from my own life and how I came to realize that people are urgent to ensure their ability to misunderstand other people. 

For only misunderstanding allows them to validate their pre-existing views without need to adjust or enlarge their field of vision.

My story...

I started studying Spanish at 16 years of age.

 Back in 1963, foreign language instruction was very bookish, with almost no attention paid to speaking the language. 

 Three years later I ended up deep in the Mexican mountains -- beyond the reach of electricity and running water -- and a couple years later I embarked my studies at La Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia.

Truth be told, I was an unusually slow learner of spoken Spanish.

Consequently, there was a very long time in which my inability to speak Spanish - coupled with my inability to comprehend the language - provided ample opportunity for "playful ways" of getting my meaning across, and equally "playful ways" for others to communicate their meaning to me.

This prolonged period of "playing charades" was (mostly) great fun for all of us.

But there came a day when I started to "get it."

And the more I "got it" -- the more I was able to actually speak Spanish -- the more I realized a curious thing.

What used to be "playful fun" became an actual process of thoughtful, reflective, interactive communication.

And the more precise my communication became, the more I -- and my fellow conversationalists -- became aware of exactly what we were saying to each other. And under aegis of this precision afforded by my newly developed ability to communicate, we were increasingly aware of our differences.

Not infrequently, those differences were disappointing and sometimes disturbing. 

I came to realize -- as did my interlocutors -- that we were often on different sides of the political aisle, or had wildly divergent views on religion.

And so, the warm playfulness of "once-upon-a-time misunderstanding" gave way to understandings that were frequently chilly - and not infrequently chilling. 

Neither my fellows nor I could continue to bask in the playful good cheer of trying to "play charades" to "get" the elemental gist of what the other was saying.

Now, communication was real.

And often, that reality was disappointing, offputting or downright alienating.

And currently, in this politically supercharged election year of 2020, when -- thanks to social media -- everyone's skeletons are out of the closet and we no longer smile benignly on those same neighbors whose political and religious beliefs -- not to mention social-racial-ethnic beliefs -- were largely (if not entirely) unknown to us just 50 years ago. 

Previously, all those beliefs, views and opinions were essentially unknown. But now everyone's full-spectrum articles-of-faith are as well-chiseled as Mount Rushmore. 

And there our mutually-antagonistic credos stand -- as plain as potatoes -- implacably PRESENT, and often abhorrent... so abhorrent that compromise -- or pretending "we" don't know -- are impossible.

Welcome to The Ipecac Express!

How can I conduct a meaningful conversation with someone who thinks Donald Trump is either The Second Coming or a new expression of John the Baptist, The Necessary Precursor?

And how can they conduct meaningful conversation with me, a "baby killer?"

But even more fundamental than the "how" is the "why."

Why would they (or I) want to conduct conversation?

To answer this question, I am forced to be inconsistent.

For I can answer the question. 

But they cannot.

They will continue conversation only as long as they can parrot the same stock opinions that have made them who they are. 

But as soon as I talk enough sense to make them question their kneejerk beliefs, they immediately put an end to the conversation, depriving me of the ability to make enough sense to put them at risk of "losing their religion" (or as I see it, obliging them to renounce their false gods).

Faster than you can say "Confirmation Bias," they re-submerge themselves in their community of like-minded believers. 
"Confirmation Bias And The Power Of Disconfirming Evidence"  

"How Truth Is Determined In Rural America"
An Epistemology That Insures Wrongness And

Now, in the "empty-closet era of social media" -- like Adam and Eve after eating the forbidden fruit -- they know I am not just "that eccentric neighbor" five doors down from my 1950s home on Glenmont Drive. 

Now they know that I am someone whose ideas are inimical to the survival of their religion. 

Why are my ideas inimical to the survival of their religion? 

It is not because I hate their religion but because I have an a priori commitment to the pursuit of truth, using my brainpiece to undertake rigorous research that allows me to formulate reasonable, well-informed arguments that are inconsistent with their false gods and athwart their commitment to bearing false witness.

But they are not interested in Truth except insofar as they've been told that certain divinely-revealed truths are all they need to know, and that "free thinkers" are dangerous people to be shunned in favor of like-minded people who "check their brains" at the church door. 

Faster than you can say "Confirmation Bias," they re-submerge themselves in their community of like-minded believers. 
"Confirmation Bias And The Power Of Disconfirming Evidence"  

"How Truth Is Determined In Rural America"
An Epistemology That Insures Wrongness And

Now, in the "empty-closet era of social media" -- like Adam and Eve after eating the forbidden fruit -- they know I am not just "that eccentric neighbor" five doors down from my 1950s home on Glenmont Drive. 

 Now they know that I am someone whose ideas are inimical to the survival of their religion. 

 Why are my ideas inimical to the survival of their religion?

 It is not because I hate their religion but because I have an a priori commitment to the pursuit of truth, using my brainpiece to undertake rigorous research that allows me to formulate reasonable, well-informed arguments that are inconsistent with their false gods and athwart their commitment to bearing false witness.

 But they are not interested in Truth except insofar as they've been told that certain divinely-revealed truths are all they need to know, and that "free thinkers" are dangerous people to be shunned in favor of like-minded people who "check their brains" at the church door. 

 "God said it. I believe it. That settles it."

 And, as coup de grace, they now feel morally obligated to "damn the infidel" and keep him at arm's length.
Pax on both houses 

 They deliberately surround themselves with the only light their religion (or politics) allows them to see, and it is illuminating enough to see their way around the small, "clipped-wing world" they've made for themselves.
"The Divinity Of Donald Trump"
The Daily Show

 But it never occurs to them -- and given their credo, it must not occur to them -- that the purpose of light is to illuminate what they cannot yet see, and they don't see it because they refuse to shine a light on it - a perfect tautology for perfectly tautological people!?!
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"The Moral Confusion Of Trump Christians," John Pavlovitz

Armageddon Cheerleaders: "Christian" "Conservatives" Pining For Nuclear Conflagration

"Conservative" "Christians" Refuse To Distinguish Between Punishment And Compassion

Fr. Thomas Merton Explains -- In 16 Words -- Why "Christian" "Conservatives" Are Always Wrong

Evangelical Academic Decries Coronavirus Theories: "Gullibility Is Not A Christian Virtue"

(St. Paul Put To Evil Use By "Christian" "Conservatives")

"Jimmy Carter On The Separation Of Church And State And The Danger Of Religious Superiority"

Facebook Dialogue With Christian Fundamentalist Friend Who Asks: "How Does Morality Work?"

Aquinas Discovers That "Divine Truth" Cannot Contradict Nature And "The Natural Light"

American Conservatives Are The Apotheosis Of Pharisaism. (Conservatives, Please Weigh In)

The Pharisee Party And The Devolution Of GOP Leaders Into Oligarchs Who Despise Democracy

Bibliolatry... And How To Live Happily Ever After

"My Attempt To Supply A Rigid Christian Friend With A Theological Alternative To Self-Strangulation"


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