The Age of Enlightenment is worth a good look.
(The rise of Reason, Science, Art, Philosophy replacing superstition and 'belief.")
For millennia emperors and Popes enforced compliance in our world.
How? Propaganda backed by armies and Inquisition.
The Enlightenment sought to purify.
"Get the corrupt rascals out!"
Reform!
Revolution!
Good intentions!
Good intentions led to the THIRTY YEARS WAR.
Alas, we live in a Post Enlightenment technocracy.
Who has replaced Emperors and Popes?
Propagandist sociopaths and corporate narcissists.
Who will SAVE us? It's still some "LEADER" who promises exactly what we want to hear.
Democracy is voting.
Democracy is "two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for supper."
It's out of our hands, folks. Don't kid yourself.
Our conduit of factual evidence is choked off and polluted by money-grubbing news venues corporately poisoned.
(Pick and select your independent news sources v-e-r-y carefully!)
The best "choice" is always a "lesser of two evils." Right?
(Hint: you always end up with evil.)
I do not fear the future because I've read so much history.
Revolutions and Reformations are really house-cleaning good intentions run amok
as blood runs in the streets and propaganda drunk children leading the charge.
Good intentions and true believers are willing to destroy in order to "improve".
True Believers (in just about anything) are the most dangerous species on earth.
WHAT IS A TRUE BELIEVER?
The one who won't let you speak because you don't say
the "right words".
The people who shut you up, label you, marginalize you, and shun you are dangerous to civilization.
Always let an idiot and bad guy speak.
If you remove the rattle from the rattlesnake - you are in greater danger than ever.
How do you defeat Bad Ideas?
Not with censorship but with BETTER ideas.
A fair hearing has been disappearing for the last decade. S-l-o-w-ly.
In fact, it is all but extinct.
All of us here on the Jehovah's Witness Discussion forum lived under such mentality and power for way too long to not be able to recognize it in secular society.
Politics is filled with self-righteous Puritans.
Ideologues are Elite. The Elite simply know they are better and smarter than others.
Why let "ignorant" people speak? They surely have nothing worthwhile to offer.
Yes, it sounds so reasonable. But it is the knell of the bell at the crack of doom.
The dangerous species: The True Believer
by Terry 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Terry
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stillin
Heavy! Sounds a lot like my marriage, too.
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Terry
Yes, the "I am right and you are wrong" sonnet lives under everybody's bonnet.
In families and in nations. -
blondie
Reminds me of Eric Hoffer's comments:
“Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents … Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a god, but never without a belief in a devil.” ~ Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
https://reasonandmeaning.com/2017/09/04/summary-of-eric-hoffers-the-true-believer/Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true. Eric Hoffer
Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Eric Hoffer
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/eric-hoffer-quotes -
peacefulpete
I my mind this experiment of Western capitalist democracy is really only about 150 years old. I say that because though the ideals of democracy are much older it has only been since the industrial revolution that the challenges it poses have become manifest. Populations had acquired a lifestyle that provided the luxury of a curiosity about politics. Before that, most people were subsistence farmers or worked simple trades and showed limited interest in issues of national or international policy. However, as soon as the people expressed a thirst for information about the world newspapers were bought up by those with the means to, these often had a self serving message to promote.
Now in this post-industrial age/ information age there are sooo many competing messages that a well weighed assessment is difficult. Its just easier to pick a side and go with it. Some people have predicted this will result in the end of the experiment, I'm not convinced of this but boy do we need a space alien invasion soon.
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tiki
Excellent observations, Terry....
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Finkelstein
In these modem days science and acquired knowledge breaks down the ideology of spiritualism, which indefensibly has its roots in human ignorance.
Religion and religoius beliefs has created self driven individuals to be accepted as channels to the spiritual world, which inevitably creates...... Propagandist sociopaths and corporate narcissists.
Good point Terry
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OnTheWayOut
My JW mother likes to say
"The most dangerous people are those with good intentions but they are just wrong."
She doesn't see the irony in her saying that. -
DATA-DOG
Identity Politics and Ideological Possession are the enemy.
DD
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Terry
My grandmother once spoke the following self-statement aloud:
"I am the humblest person I know of."
She couldn't understand my laughter.