Liberal Democracy and God

[A window to the soul]

Stop living in the 17th century, Victor, and join the rest of us in the 21st century. You seem to be one of the few people who can't see with their own eyes the evils that the enlightenment has visited upon us. Even ignorant ass postmodern hipsters can see it and I know you're far smarter than most of them.

Shhh, patience. When the gold medallion stops swinging.

 

[onemoretime]

The problem is that all people spend their time convincing themselves that they aren't any worst than the next guy when the truth is that we are all horrifically evil living only by the grace granted to us by God and each other.

How very... masochistic.

 

[Beorn]

How very... masochistic.

I take no pleasure in the pain of my past guilt, but my desire is to squeeze every drop of enjoyment from the grace that has been granted me.

If you live a life dependent on grace you are more likely to grant it to others.

 

[onemoretime]

I take no pleasure in the pain of my past guilt, but my desire is to squeeze every drop of enjoyment from the grace that has been granted me.

If you live a life dependent on grace you are more likely to grant it to others.

Sounds like a hell of a drug.

 

[Beorn]

Sounds like a hell of a drug.

Better than deceiving myself into believing the guilt within is just a nagging neurosis.

 

[Mole]

How long are you going to ignore simple historical fact Victor?

We both have a lot in common in that we believe that the present is shaped by the past. So rather than opponents I think we are competitors.

 

[Mole]

From the Enlightenment to the Global Village

Stop living in the 17th century, Victor, and join the rest of us in the 21st century. You seem to be one of the few people who can't see with their own eyes the evils that the enlightenment has visited upon us. Even ignorant ass postmodern hipsters can see it and I know you're far smarter than most of them.

Western civilization is based on Ancient Greek philosophy, Judaism, Christianity and the Enlightenment.

And without the Enlightenment we wouldn't have modern medicine, liberal democracy, modern economics and science.

And without the Enlightenment we wouldn't have the abolition of institutional slavery, the emancipation of women and the protection of children by our criminal courts.

However I will grant you that that the ascendancy of the Enlightenment is coming to an end for the simple reason that the Enlightenment is based on the printing press and universal literacy. And now it is the electronic media that is ascendant and we are returning to a form of universal tribalism, electronic tribalism.

So the ascendancy of the Enlightenment is being replaced by the ascendancy of the global village.

 

[Mole]

From Original Sin to Original Blessing

The world's greatest evil lies in the heart of every person.

This is the doctrine of Original Sin. And when we had sacrificial, abusive and authoritarian modes of child rearing, it was plausible to believe evil lies in the heart of every person.

But as we overcame scarcity with modern economics, we started to use the helping mode of child rearing.

And the helping mode of child rearing creates more empathic and creative children, and so Original sin becomes less plausible and Original Blessing more a reality.