Beyond Belief

 Beyond Belief

History repeats the old conceits

the glib replies, the same defeats.

Elvis Costello

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To not know in the context of faith is to remain humble and teachable. To toss away the conflicting and unusable beliefs of the mind is to be free of human chatter and hubris and a step closer to the divine. Where faith does not fill in the cracks, fear will. Faith is an attitude of acceptance of not knowing.

Rea Nolan Martin

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Assuming certainty sacrifices truth for convience.  Abandoning doubt and reflection may make acting easier, but it risks enacting evil under the guise of good.  Here, belief becomes an excuse to justify ignorance, and an impediment to learning and growth.  The idea that ones "belief" legitimizes ignoring facts and opposing viewpoints poisons reasoned discourse, and leads to intellectual bigotry; the assertion that an opinion can't be challenged simply because one finds it desirable.  

Pursuing truth necessitates a willingness to change ones views, to admit a mistake or misconception and alter one's perspective.  It is disconcerting to concede error; but shackling one's self-esteem to any one way of thinking jeopardizes an objective connection to reality and compromises a commitment to a healthy personality.  

The question becomes- how does one act appropriately in the face of limited knowledge and understanding?  Faith, I believe, is the answer.  By accepting one's limitations and acting accordingly, faith allows us to overcome fear and hate, This affords us the opportunity to act with the compassionate comprehension that our best efforts are subject to failure, but we need not be deterred into inaction or despair.  Rather than deny the veracity of a given situation and repeat our blunders, we accept our responsibility and alter our actions.  

Ignorance isn't evil in and of itself, it's the ignorance we will upon ourselves and others that is malevolent.  Faith allows us to affirm that which lies beyond our cognizance; to deal with uncertainty in a fashion that befits our humanity.  By doing the best we can and demonstrating a willingness to change, faith allows us to reject hubris and remain both hopeful and humble.  

There may be comfort in seeing the world through an inflexible and unchanging worldview, but it is a cold comfort; one destined to leave us frozen in a wasteland of dread and doom.  The values of compassion and understanding are needed to guide us along the path of righteousness; so no matter what misguided footfalls befall us, we will not lose our way as we move beyond belief.

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I've got a feeling

I'm gonna get a lot of grief

Once it seemed so appealing

Now I am beyond belief

Elvis Costello

Patriotism. Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.

Ambrose Bierce

In an election year, there tends to be a great deal of flag waving.  The brandishing of Old Glory seems obligatory for candidates; yet it seems wielded more as a weapon than a standard of love for one's country.  Beneath the banner of the Stars and Stripes, the promise of liberty and justice becomes superseded by a nationalistic fervor intent on the exclusion and vilification of one's perceived opponents, as if cherishing America is contingent upon despising political foes.  Abandoning the notion of reasoned discourse in pursuit of truth, this brand of patriotism demands a slavish conformity to party above country; and leads inevitably towards the blind ambition of power at any price.  It brands disagreement as degeneracy; thus any dissimilarity is recast as deviltry worthy of contempt and destruction.  In doing so, the fires of discord blaze, and the resulting conflagration consumes the country that is supposedly revered.

In the pursuit of notoriety, the torch of this patriotism supplies more heat than light; illuminating a darkness best left to the shadows.

The B vocabulary / beguile, bedevil, berate

 The B vocabulary consisted of words which had been deliberately constructed for political purposes; words, that is to say, which not only had in every case a political implication, but were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them.  

George Orwell-1984

The control of language supplies a power seeker with an integral tool for shaping thought.  To win an argument without the use of logic or reason may seem counter intuitive, but in fact, it can be far more effective, and easier to accomplish.  Simply by framing the argument in terms that preclude an accurate analysis of the issue, an advocate sidesteps a rational discussion that could lead to greater understanding, and substitutes instead a nebulous concept ripe for manipulation.  

Thus, when the term "groomer" is bandied about in the discussion of child welfare, the revulsion it provokes impedes dispassionate discourse. It instead ignites a fearful hatred focused on anyone who disagrees with the proposition that orthodox gender conformity is the only measure of true rectitude, and any other opinion is tantamount to child abuse.  Likewise, using the designation "woke" reframes hateful bigotry as virtuous; implying that concern and compassion for others and their differences is inherently bogus, and such, must be strenuously opposed.  

The employment of such terms imposes a mental state of willful ignorance upon the user; rendering them nearly impervious to persuasion, no matter how reasonable or judicious the argument may be.  The development of such term doesn't occur by accident; they are crafted specifically to bend and warp sensible minds to an unsound state, and thereby beguile the unwary.

The B vocabulary may be trendy, it may be convenient, and it may be ubiquitous, but beware; lest it becomes an excuse to bedevil and berate others, thereby bedimming the perception of truth and virtue.

Tyrant's alibi / welfare lies

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants.

Albert Camus

When seeking to exploit others, a common rationalization centers on portraying the group as inhuman; unworthy of the rights afforded normal people.  When depicted as unfit for compassion and respect, the marginalized faction loses the claim to equal treatment; and becomes vulnerable to abuse.  Achieving such a recategorization often depends upon branding them a danger to cherished values.  By portraying the targeted group as a threat to the common welfare and a menace to hallowed virtues, it becomes easier to justify vilifying them.  Converting conformity into rectitude designates heterodoxy as vice, allowing a righteous indignation towards those who differ and a plausible pretext for exploitation.  

Thus, the welfare of the people turns into the Tyrant's alibi for victimization of others, and the suffering inflicted becomes a source pride rather than shame.  

Turning truth to falsehood

The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs.

C. S. Lewis

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Take one truth and follow it to the exclusion of all else- the truth becomes a falsehood, and the follower a fanatic.

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A single minded worldview is more than just limiting, it is an invitation to self deception.   The misconception that one particular fact, no matter how compelling, explains a complex situation leads to mendacity; no matter how earnest one may be in the pursuit of truth.  

Tunnel vision encourages a single minded track of thought; a course that invites haste and ignores alternative routes of travel.  Once set in motion, the headlong rush becomes inexorable; any delay or contemplation seems injudicious, if not malevolent in nature.  

Dissension invokes fear and anger, prompting attacks against any who would call for prudence, and leading to a rejection of temperance.  

The single truth, bereft of all context, becomes at first distorted, and finally a falsehood; obscuring clear sighted vision and leading its followers blindly into a fanatical pursuit of a phantom reality.

Distilled Shades of Desire

Nostalgia represents an interesting illusion. Through nostalgia, humans wish for things that never were. The positive memory is the one that sticks. Over several generations, the positive memory tends to weed out more and more of what really existed, refining down to a distillation of haunted desires.

Frank Herbert

Nostalgia remains one of the most intoxicating spirits.  Readily available and addictive,  it distorts memory as it besots reason and perception.  The false recollections about the past distort the present, and taint notions of the future.  Desire crowds out reality, and delivers a contorted sensibility which easily disfigures truth.  Worse, it motivates individuals towards creating an existence based on illusion; and fuels fury when the recreation fails to live up to the dream.  

Phantom cravings create ghosts of paradise pasts; spectral images that bedevil the dark corners of human minds.  These dismal spirits frighten away reason and compassion; drowning hope and happiness in bitter dregs of haunted desires.

The pit fear full

The fearful are often holders of the most dangerous power. They become demoniac when they see the workings of all the life around them. Seeing the strengths as well as the weaknesses, they fasten only on the weaknesses.

Frank Herbert

The inability to face change and accept it as a natural progression of life breeds a fear founded upon ignorance that disables courage and engenders hate.  This pit of dread and destruction swallows not only those who spawn it, but threatens to devour those within reach of the afflicted.  To focus blindly upon only weakness denies the strength also present, and threatens to raze the entire structure of creativity.  

Creation depends upon the ability to build together; pooling resources to achieve something that didn't previously exist.  It relies on an acknowledgment that individuals produce better together; a trust that valuing the contribution of others leads to greater deeds.  Fear casts out trust; it seperates and isolates in a way that precludes cooperation.  This weakens community, and strengthens suspicious belligerence- a recipe for ruin.  

Digging the pit of fear ensnares not only others, but ourselves.  Once full, such a pit becomes a trap which hinders both hope and happiness; where despair seems inescapable.