Re: The Black Death was cataclysmic but didn't produce Utopia back in the 14th century Archived Message
Posted by turtleman on March 12, 2019, 10:37 pm, in reply to "Re: The Black Death was cataclysmic but didn't produce Utopia back in the 14th century"
"As you say though, the plague was seen as a punishment from God. Nobody could control it or influence it." Whether the punishment is from God or from nature, it still has something to do with the consequences for our ways and therefore something we are responsible for. And this is precisely where all the big problems spring from. If it all comes down to our ways, the temptation is very strong to rewrite human nature and control them towards those ends. Why is the left in such utter shambles? Because large chunks of it succumb to this very temptation, if not explicitly, certainly implicitly by the assumptions within their ideologies. Caitlin article displays some of these worrying assumptions. Fear, greed, anger, envy, vanity, the sex drive, ETC. are primordial and permanent. Conflict, competition, scarcity, chance, natural disaster, ETC. are primordial and permanent features of life, and nature makes it so because mental/spiritual/physical/moral muscles NEED to be challenged. It is the stuff of life. Character can not be imparted or merely taught. It MUST be earned. Alone. The hard way. When an individual is sick, he/she is imbalanced. Their envy, vanity, resentment, fear, ETC. are like invasive mold on their soul. A sick society is a permissive society that tolerates and normalizes our lower and easiest natures. Understanding this, knowing this basic truth of life, we are equipped for true compassion, learning, and teaching. DENYING this basic truth of life, we become foolish Utopians, easy prey for the devil's manipulations and deceptions, doing his bidding unwittingly, all the while convinced to be on the side of good. Read The Screwtape Letters! I reject Caitlin's view. I am with the Stoics. I am with Christ. What we need is faith (true faith, which is true character). What we need to pray for (or seek, or aspire to) is the grace and strength to endure, and in so doing, being a rock to those around you. The other way - to pray for good outcomes, for riches and harmony and "peace on Earth" - is ancient folly, with centuries and centuries of tears and blood to prove it. turtleman
|
Message Thread: | This response ↓
- Caitlin: The Revolution Has No Hollywood Ending - johnlilburne March 12, 2019, 10:52 am
- Richard Wolff points out that, historically, it only takes 10% to re-make their minds like this for - Rhisiart Gwilym March 12, 2019, 12:43 pm
- The Black Death was cataclysmic but didn't produce Utopia back in the 14th century - SueC March 12, 2019, 1:29 pm
- Re: The Black Death was cataclysmic but didn't produce Utopia back in the 14th century - Bluefool March 12, 2019, 3:03 pm
- Re: The Black Death was cataclysmic but didn't produce Utopia back in the 14th century - brooks March 12, 2019, 3:11 pm
- Re: The Black Death was cataclysmic but didn't produce Utopia back in the 14th century - dovetailjoint March 12, 2019, 4:25 pm
- Re: The Black Death was cataclysmic but didn't produce Utopia back in the 14th century - turtleman March 12, 2019, 10:13 pm
- I don't think the solution to black death was to come together as one .. - Shyaku March 14, 2019, 8:16 am
|
|