Man, I can’t seem to get a post to go through… 
Just trying again
Ok, lost another one…
I’ll try again tomorrow, Dave and Grant. You’ve missed some great thoughts and I’m so sorry you’re deprived. 
My new rule is I’ll copy any long post and save in case it gets obliterated.
More later,
Steve
Nick, I’m definitely not within the majority on my views so I don’t think your spiritual maturity is in question 
For me, to love is to overcome. NOt any doctrine. No magical saving prayer. Do those who earnestly seek God receive a snake? Those who don’t know the name of Jesus that are overcomers know the NAME of Jesus, the nature, which is love (to those who overcome I will give a new name, a new nature). These are a law unto themselves.
Its not that all roads lead to God for me, but that all roads are named Jesus, they just don’t realize it yet. Just as the prophets longed to see what we see but couldn’t, and gave a muddy vision, so also the prophets of the nations gave muddy visions named Rama, or Osiris, or Buddha.
Why is it that Jesus is so close to the sun-gods? Are they satanic corruptions? maybe, or maybe they are muddy visions of Jesus. They are seeing in a mirror an enigma, or seeing through a glass darkly.
He sends rain on the just and the unjust you know, the jew and the gentile. Since you are a fan of Stephen Jones, then I would bet you understand the rain as the Holy Spirit.
The hebrew vision of the Son was just as marred as the pagan vision of the son. Some diamond, some coal. No man has seen the Father except the son, must have pissed off the jews who believed they had the lock on God. You don’t know what spirit you are of, when the Thunder Sons wanted to reign down fire on those unbelievers. God is light and in him there is no darkness or turning was Johns response to “I create light and darkness, good and evil”.
On the affirmative to paganinity 
would be the logos doctrine, which was very well established in the greek world. Hermes is the logos to the greeks. And Jesus was very likely transfigured on Mt. Hermes (Hermon,the mountain of the gods, the original Mt. Olympus)
psalm 133
1How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity! (Love one another)
2It is like precious oil poured on the head, (Christening, Meshiach)
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe. (new garments)
3It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
Btw Moses the type and anti-type of Christ died on Mt. Nebo. Nebo is the Babylonian version of Hermes.
Ok, just tried to post again but when I “previewed” it, the post disappeared!
I’m going to try and post part of this here and part (to Grant) tomorrow…
Hi Dave. 
When reading your post here I couldn’t help but think of the “50’s” thread which in turn made me think of “Mutually Assured Destruction” and the very real threat of nuclear holocaust. I suspect the younger members of the forum have no idea how real a threat we perceived this to be during the cold war from the 50’s through the 80’s. They didn’t have to do “bomb drills” at school or see the “fall-out shelter” signs on subways etc. Those that were in the military during this time period had an even closer exposure to this threat. I can’t help but think that his is part of the reason Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth did so well. What he presented really seemed to make sense at the time. I was absolutely sure after reading that at age 16 or 17 that “Gog and Magog” was the Soviet Union and its satellite nations. My 17 year old self would be quite surprised that I’m still here on “Planet Earth.” I am obviously no longer a believer in Darby’s Dispensationalism as presented by Hal Lindsey, but I suspect it will be with me subconsciously forever…
Same here Steve. I remember now with some discomfort, speaking to a CA group (Christ’s Ambassadors, the youth group at the AoG) on Lindsey’s book Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth, which had the same level of exegetical expertise and theological insight as did his earlier works. Ok that was a little sarcastic .
I read a book of letters written from husbands to wives in the 18th century. The men were all sailors/merchant marines, and a topic that ran through a great majority of the letters - from men out on the bounding main, at the mercy of weather and capricious captains, in a world where life was truly nasty short and brutish - in short, a main topic was - fleas. How to keep the marital bed free of fleas. The children, not so much but at least the main bed. Remedies from ports far and wee, as fleas were, it appears, a worldwide curse on conjugal bliss.
My point, such as it is, it’s possible to be a cheerful pessimist. That’s what I aim for in the “better or worse” arena. Sure, as grandpa said, the world is going to Hell in a handbasket, but ! - finding a remedy for fleas, or a new friend, or writing some good music - and a trust in our Heavenly Father - and all tempered with some good humor, is worthwhile and a homely balm.
Steve,
If you hit the “back” arrow on your browser, I think you can find your post again. At least that works in Firefox. Sometimes I might hit “back” quite a few times if I hit preview and then think I’ve posted 
and then go on to do something else entirely different only to realize that no, I DIDN’T in fact post that missive. 
I just go “back, back, back, back” until I find it. Then if I’m worried that it might be the server and not me, I copy it before I hit “send.”
Hope this helps,
Cindy
Thanks everyone for the posts. I have been enlightened by the posts here.
Sorry, I have not been able to come on here the past couple of days. For some reason, I couldn’t get to the website but everyone appeared to be able to do so. I don’t believe in coincidences. God, in His righteous ways, blocked me until I understood the idols of my heart before I engage in spiritual warfare. Thus, I repent.
The Good Lord has led me to apologize. I have been getting upset about not clearly reflecting what I believe. I want everyone here to know that despite what I believe about some scary, prophetic events to occur soon that I truly believe that those who put their trust in Him and let His laws/principles/character refine them will overcome the fleshly mind and go on to help Jesus in administering His “Judgement” of love over everyone else. This is the time to build ourselves in the Word and pray to have our bodies and minds renewed to do the holy, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
So, I ask for your forgiveness for my ignorance and my use of fear to bring everyone’s mind into one accord. I’ve learned my lesson: I am to speak the Truth with love. “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up into all aspects of Him, who is the Head, even Christ.” Ephesians 4:15
Hi Nick,
I’m not sure there’s anything you need to repent of (though your conscience knows you better than I do.) I do agree that we are in good hands with Jesus. (Sounds like the Allstate insurance commercial… ) I guess my point is that having been a child of the Cold War, I actually see some light breaking through the clouds and reasons for hope—not just because of historic events, but from a changed eschatology. I suppose I’m less sure about how things will all play out than I was in my dispensationalist days, but I really wonder if Christ working through us and the effects of his story, death and resurrection may lead to to the New Creation. I’m by no means certain about this, but I see reasons to be optimistic which I will list in a bit. That said, too much or unreasonable optimism leads to complacency and on the flip side, a view of the future that is too pessimistic, tends to lead to despair and inaction because “nothing I do matters in the long run.” Both big mistakes in my view.
To get to Grant’s post above (finally!) I want to start out by saying** I agree wholeheartedly** that there are ongoing egregious abuses by nations, banks and other “principalities and powers” causing untold grief and hardship throughout the world. These abuses need to be seen, recognized, condemned and stopped. No questions asked. I think most people in the world (even those in the well-off West) are affected by these principalities and powers though not as severely as others in the “underdeveloped world.”
I do think the majority of the world is better off than say 1,000 years ago. This not only involves improved health, nutrition and other aspects that provide needs for the human “animal,” but also others that I’ll be listing. Any improvements are not due to any change in human nature which is constant–or at least there hasn’t been enough time for any real evolutionary changes in our DNA. Rather, the improvements are due to the environment we all grow up in, our governments and our education. These are where real improvements effect us and others on this planet. There are of course some developments with great risk that make it possible that all the gains we’ve made go down the drain. I do think it is important not to idolize “Progress” and think things will always get better. Some of the advances human civilization has made actually make the possibility of catastrophic collapse of civilization possible. I think that technological progress especially is given far too much credit and the risks are discounted by too many. Anyway, here’s a list of things that give me hope (and a subsequent list of those that worry me… )
#1 The recognition of victims as innocent and not as deserving punishment (I’m leaning on Girard here) I think this is far more important than we recognize for the most part. In the past, the “losers” in world history were too easily scapegoated—described as deserving their dire fate. There are now many to stand up for these people and #3 has much to do with this.
#2 The rise of representative democracy. Though getting this up and running smoothly is always harder than it seems, giving power to the people, having even the least significant person in a society have a say, is a major plus.
#3 The rise of the free press. The injustices you describe, Grant, would be unknown to you without a free press. This is a major, major reason I think things will get better.
#4 The rise of the “Rule of Law”. No longer in most countries is a leader seen as “Above the Law.” Even the President of the United States has to follow the law. (Though admittedly, those in power are still less likely to be prosecuted.) Richard Nixon’s fate and that of the former mayors of Chicago and New Orleans show that at least some are held accountable.
#5 Rise in literacy. I think we take this for granted sometimes, but how important is this if “the people” are in essence ruling themselves?
#6 Rise in global communication. The improvements in information flow help keep isolated areas from being a “backwater”–a place with no access to ideas and information from outside their geographic area and also allows the rest of the world to understand what’s going on there such as oppression and governmental corruption.
#7 Improvements in technology. This is one with a downside as well. Technology has enabled the world to provide food for billions more than could be fed otherwise, but has also provided the means to destroy the population of the earth in a nuclear holocaust. Right use of technology requires wisdom which is often in short supply.
That’s probably enough of the major positives. Feel free to add to that and the list of “negatives.”
On to the negatives (or at least risks)…
#1 Improved weapons technology. Pretty self evident, but it makes any country no matter how small, capable of massive destruction. On a smaller scale it leads to mentally unstable persons going on a shooting spree and killing far more than they could otherwise
#2 The continuance (or possibly “rise”) of fundamentalism combined with #1 above is an horrific combination
#3 Excessive power of multi-national corporations. This is something that is more and more concerning as you pointed out above, Grant. I do believe that capitalism is the best economic system we have right now, but the power of these corporations is definitely excessive.
#4 “Consumerism” Any economy or nation dependent on consumerism for its well-being is in deep trouble…
#5 Global interconnectiveness. The connections on so many levels around the world make a financial meltdown in one corner felt globally. Of course this connectiveness also dampens the impact on that same local to some degree.
I’m sure there are many other “positives” and “negatives” I’ve forgotten, so I’d love to hear more discussion. Anyway, these are my thoughts…
And good thoughts they are, Steve. I’ll leave the heavy lifting here to you guys who like to write big essays but will just chip in the little thought, a pessimistic one, sorry…that almost all of the reasons for hope, that you gave, are, like everything human, two-edged swords. We here in the USA have, ostensibly, a ‘free press’ - whereas in fact the mainstream media has lost all semblance of being objective and is actually a propoganda tool. So the printing press - yay - does not print just the truth; and literacy is not education.
I could go over the other points, but the ‘double-edgedness’ principle seems to always hold when it comes to human affairs.
Carry on, heavy lifters!!
Yes, I thought the post was long enough without nuancing it a bit, but you make some excellent points and I hope you continue to do so. The “double-edged sword” is a very apt analogy. The “positives” I’ve listed are not without their own risks and being so powerful there is always the possibility of them being used for evil-- and of course “the press” is a good example. I guess I remain hopeful, but recognize that misuse of these things could easily lead to catastrophe (and has in the past). I remain hopeful that we can learn from the past and civilization’s mistakes and learn to use these things appropriately though recognizing the potential for disaster.
Hope, with our eyes open, is a good thing, and I will hope along with you.
BTW the essays here are good and provide lots of food for thought.
OK, this song’s been running through my head throughout this thread and I’m sure it applies somehow… Yes, it’s bad history, and “bad” sacrificial myth, but an awesome song. Here’s “Cortez the Killer” by Neil Young (“Plenty Bad Man!”) I love Young’s guitar on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GDIkb5CDUY
Wow, quite a performance, I’d not heard that one. A Les Paul guitar, an all-tube amp with the master tubes turned to 11, glowing hot, and some great speakers - gets that fat, sustainy, and musical sound “to die for.” (hyperbole)
Erg; that happened to me with a nice leatherbound copy I had of the “trilogy” of five books of Hichhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Still haven’t gotten around to checking if there’s an e-version out there somewhere… 
Regarding the “free press”, I thought I’d post this to show how this concept is percolating through the world. This is something Dave and I never saw in the Cold War days with Pravda…usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/18/malaysia-airlines-russian-reporter-quits/12847251/ From the Russian reporter’s comments, it’s obvious the Russian press is not especially “free”—no surprises there! But the idea of the “free press” is spreading…
Dave said:
I don’t know Dave, it might not be hyperbole after all… I really appreciate your expert input on this, BTW! This sort of guitar playing (On Rust Never Sleeps) is where Neil Young got the title of the “grandfather” or “godfather” of grunge—a style of music I continue to like. That being said, there is a soaring, melodic aspect to this “dirty” guitar playing that I don’t see in Grunge which is more primal, angry, and at times, nihilistic.My favorite song on this album is probably, “Powderfinger” which is so American, and has so much depth I can’t recommend it enough… youtube.com/watch?v=j7KrUM7-o70 I do think this track (Cortez) is worth listening to in an unhurried moment (being 9+ minutes long). Something you don’t hear these days and well…just Awesome!
Edit:This song reminds me in some ways of Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubla_Khan–a fantasy, a dream (in Coleridge’s case, opium induced). Not sure, nor what to make of Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan”, other than to enjoy the beauty of the song and take the lyrics as a beautiful myth. No need to take either as “true” history…
PPS: Dig the “Jawas” in this video. Especially good in “Cinnamon Girl” youtube.com/watch?v=3XWHF27R0AA from the same concert.
PPS: I try not to hold the fact that he is Canadian against Neil Young. My sister in-law is Canadian, and until I met her, I thought Canadians were wonderful. She has affected my impression, unfortunately, so I’ll try and remember that with Canadians on the forum (Hi James! )
I’d think the Canadians would be the ones justified in holding the fact that Neil is Canadian against him; He’s got one of the worst singing voices I’ve ever heard! 
I simply can’t account for his popularity; perhaps he’s an acquired taste, but I’ve never been able to acquire it: fingernails on a chalkboard for me, (vocally speaking).
I work with a lot of Canadian students, and they’re by and large great people; although I have met a few rare stinkers!
I don’t really enjoy taking the role of naysayer, or talk against hope, as there is little worse than to see someone in whom hope has died, true hopelessness ripps all beauty and joy from life, and is nothing but a void of cold, empty darkness, a glimpse into the heart of death itself, so I think this is likely my post on this, so I can confine myself to posts with at least some positive aspects to them .
Firstly, I’m not sure most people in the world do enjoy improved health or nutrition now than they did in most of the world of 1014ish (and arguably quite a number of people actually enjoyed better nutrition and health barring environmental catastrophes), with many highly undernourished, starving and having no access at all to even the most basic medical care. The difference between now and then was at least in part technological limitations and lacking the medical advances we have made, we don’t have that excuse at all, we have the knowledge and technology, we just as an age as a whole let these people suffer and die, or even worse our wars, global games of playing politics with people we don’t take time to properly understand (something both those who place themselves on the left and right of Western politics are guilty of, and than others pay the price) and the injustices of economic debt and slavery create or make these situations worse.
One the first point, I’m not sure how true that is, we have a number of different narratives for a number of figures from the past, from different sources to current ones, including the defeated who are described in somewhat sympathetic or even heroic light if said person or people was seen to exemplify the virtues admired in the ancient world (a whole host of enemies at least eventually defeated by Rome or internal enemies who ended up on the wrong side in internal conflicts, would fit this category, Hannibal, Anthony and Cleopatra, Arminius of the Cherusci, Caratacus (the Senate even cheered him after he railed against them following his capture and being brought to Rome in chains, followed by spending the rest of his days in Rome), Tacitus giving voice to the Briton of the opinion of the defeated in the face of Roman conquest and ‘peace’ - they make a desert and call it peace’ , Socrates in his suicide against Athens, the legends of respect that grew up in both Christian and Muslim contexts in remembering Saladin and Richard the Lionheart respectively. And in terms of standing up for and recognising the victim, the poor and the downtrodden, the influence of Christianity from the start as been immense in this area, the Lord Himself changed the object of utter destruction and humiliation in the world of Rome into one victory, and it is due Christianity that such things as humility and charity to all outside kin groups or hospitality commitments became seen as virtues at all, neither was not just not regarded as high virtues, they were not considered virtues in the ancient world at all. One of the things the early Christians were most famous for was their compassion and identification with the poor, the shamed, the despised of society, the prisoners and the dishonoured (in honour-shame societies this was significant), this constant witness turned that world upside down, when St Pachomius, then a pagan, was a conscript to the Roman army and was in prison while awaiting service, groups of Christians came and ministered to him and the other conscripts, and wondering why they did this, he was told that Christians were famous for being ‘merciful to everyone including strangers,’ and it moved him deeply, and the early Christian history has martyrs who died in such identification with the poor, whose witness spoke and related to many victims (including not a few who had been Roman soldiers or magistrates who refused to take up arms against any or even in their acts of conversation took their Christian prisoner’s place), and neither thread have always remained strong themes of Christian expression and witness down the centuries, with strong witness to the social truth of the Gospel, and whole orders founded on identifying with the weak, the poor, the prisoner in both East and West. Neither has Christianity been alone in this at all (but that deepens the point ), but it has always been a strong and enduring emphasis and witness of the Church at it’s best, there are saints who have humbled emperors and kings just by such self-less witness even if at times it took their lives, and of course centred in Jesus own teaching has always been the imperative to see Christ in the lost and the weak, in not just the victim but even in the despised and wicked. So recognition of victims and more than that, identifying with them, including those deemed out of society or those who lost is not as new as you might think, nor is it something that our age has that previous ages lacked, communications and technology might make us more aware of such witness with quicker speed then before, but I don’t our age having greatly improved in this area when I look at these examples and long-standing traditions.
Equally representative democracy I don’t necessarily see as a positive, there have been representative forms of government and social organization since humans first emerged (the San people, the oldest human population alive, are very egalitarian in their social organisation and tribal structure), Athens was a true democracy unlike the republics and constitutional monarchies of today, citizen had a vote in any decision or action of Athens and it’s empire, yet it it’s citizens set themselves on the path of conquest, exploitation of surrounding nations and were quite vicious to non-Athenians at times, and was a society with much inequity and levels of injustice. In the end it was stopped by the even more vicious rival of Sparta, so true democracy did not there and does not now necessarily bring more freedom and justice… Rome was also a Republic originally, many German cities and the Switzerland had various aspects of such representative structures or there were those that had those aspects in other governmental structures such as principalities and kingdoms and empires, these things are not new, so our age cannot claim them is something unique to us, nor is it fully clear now or then that by itself it encourages or produces more free, just, prosperous and generous nations and societies ( that I believe is on of the many of the Western myth of progress and cultural imperialism carried out by both right and left in different ways, if other nations just had our democratic type of government, our concept of splitting politics into right and left, if we just bring our systems to them, ‘freeing’ to our ideology and culture they will become little liberal democracies like us, clones of the West, which is why we are always surprised when this doesn’t happen). One of the problems is democracies reflect the prejudices and whims of a particularly group of the population against the others, who often aren’t even a majority of the population themselves, but just happen largest section voting of the incoming government (and reflect and are subject to fears, prejudices, beliefs and pressures of a particular time or even(s), and are prey to them and because of them, creating an inherent opening to all sorts of actions that are truly ‘democratically’ legitimate that have been a constant problem to greater and lesser extents now as in the past, more below). It also encourages a system of politicians gambling and creating short-term impossible promises and gearing much of the consequent government to win the next election, rather than serve their people and do what is best for them, and when combined with the ideology of progress leads to the never-ending competing promises each election that if you just vote for them the process to utopia will get underway and the Enlightenment dream will happen (process of course being a crucial Enlightenment term), but of course it never arrives, it can’t, and much genuine political discourse is lost and drowned under performance, rhetoric, deception and spin. However the ancients were a bit a wiser then we are, they held those who had held office to account once their completed their term, often putting them on trial afterward when they abused or failed their term, though this of course was not perfect but subject corruption and in some cases eventually subverted completely due to events, persons and pressures such systems might not have been designed to bare (the transformation of Roman Republic to Empire due in part to the pressures of conquering an Empire is an example), but we have no such system to hold our rulers to account. An election win becomes a mandate that then allows the government do what it wants, it is given complete authority and autonomy in their decisions with no real account for what they did in office put in place by a section of the population and to an extent (and if it’s a massive majority, virtually near complete autonomy), that is a weakness that limits freedom and doesn’t guartee peace or justice any more than other systems of government. Instead the sitting government gains it’s absolute right to rule and decide their nation’s direction by this one process and decision, and have nothing else they derive their authority from, and nothing else they will need to reference themselves to or answer to, their mandate is that decision, the only checks being possible representative houses or parliaments. But depending on the system (where the decision-making is invested and on what areas) that can have little effect, and depends on what majorities of parties exist in such houses, and the control they are under and who they answer to and what pressures they are subject to, and if there is an overwhelming majority there, then autonomy is absolute. Which underlines representative democracy’s central problem and threat to liberty, true justice and freedom, that that one decision gives the incoming government mandate and endorsement to anything, and authorises anything they will do subsequently. This has and continues to lead to problems, injustices and pain, many dictatorships and regimes of our time were elected and given such a mandate, often without corruption or tampering, preying on fears, hate and prejudice (the most infamous tryant and his twisted regime of the 20th century came to power due to such a free election, and gained mandate and autonomy for everything they subsequently did, and it is not an isolated example), representative democracy put them in place and gave them free authorization of all they would proceed to do. But you don’t even have to go as far as those extremes, governments here gain power than make all sorts of decisions, changes to long standing laws and rights based on that mandate without reference to anyone or ever having to answer for it, the constant taking away and eroding of out freedoms, of extreme introduced because of the nebulous threat of terror, in the UK making a decision to commit us to war and forced interventions in the Middle East even when the majority in the country did not wish it, but people didn’t don’t have a choice, they in the election already agreed that the sitting government has complete authority and autonomy in the act and mandate of the election, essentially agreeing the government has complete power and authority in these areas without question or any subsequent accountability. Such films over here as the trial of Tony Blair though over-the-top hint at the desire for some older wisdom in some places that did hold those in office to account for their decisions and their time in office, there they don’t receive the blank check we give our governments.
So no, I don’t think representative democracies are necessarily a sign we have made things better, particularly as they exist and run today (even when up and running properly), and are inferior in some respects to the wisdom of past ages, and is not an inherently better form of governance than some other options in terms of delivering freedom, justice and peace, but just like others can be varying degrees of absolute authority in decision and law making sometimes resulting in actual or effective dictatorships. The only counterbalance might be the rule of law, but that is easily subverted, again due to the authority our mandate implicitly hands the sitting government and has happened around the world, including the US and UK where conventions, laws and rights have been subverted, changed or overcome and the rule of law ignored or law just changed, thus rendering the sitting above the law to varying extents.
And the freedom of the press is another relative fiction, all press are media and have various ideological, political, and commercial pressures and commitments, even in countries where they have little interference from the government
The press exists to sell their paper, get people to watch the news, read the site and so on, that is ultimate paymasters and commitment, and project a specific political or social view. Just read a number of stories around say Ukraine from Western and Russian sources, you would swear you were reading about completely incidents, or Israel and the Palestinians, Japan and China, or watching a Western news channel then Russia Today or Al-Jazeera, all news items are interpretations and are often ideological and polemically, and only the integrity, time and commitment of the journalist themselves will determine to extent to which the piece avoids straying into the territory of propaganda. All journalism is subject to the demands, interests and popular opinion of their readership/viewers and the desires of those who fund them, this is particularly the case in deciding what gets coverage and what doesn’t, what angle it is given and when a story is either let go or slips from the front page or the news altogether. So many stories deserve be heard but never are because it isn’t believed either the readers will want it, and if the consumer isn’t interested it isn’t reported, and instead often focuses on celebrity culture and brings that same focus to much else (or it prior ideological angle), news is inextricably bound up in entertainment, and is part of that industry. And this is all in countries where the media is,largely free of government interference, in many countries this simply not the case, so these situations become worse. As for time past it probably wasn’t better (though the press or a form of it have been around for a while) but people were not uninformed, there were a number of different information exchange systems and networks that existed, particularly in more oral based communities with networks of kin and trading ties, often in which the rulers or governments had little ability to greatly control or influence. Their ability to know things and events could be quite extensive though it lacked the immediacy and global extent our technology affords us (it was also subject to it’s own interpretation biases and controls), but again it was not the advent of the press that allowed people to know what happened, or hear news or issues outside government control (and the press itself was the creation of a previous age, not ours). The Gospel and early is itself a good example, an anti-Caesar and anti-imperial movement spread and retained both contact and information sharing despite suppression or persecution, while Paul’s letter to the Corinthians provides of their awareness of the famine affecting Jersusalem through kin and group networks independent of imperial control.
However it is true both the quantity of information we can access is much more starting with public libraries and the expansion of schooling and literary and the rise of the internet and more communication networks which can bypass restrictions to an extent. So a diligent inquirer might keep themselves better informed but it requires active intent and searching, and hopefully as access expands this will improve with better communication. But it needs to emphasised strongly that this is still largerly a privilege of the wealthy and powerful nations and individuals, for many none of these things are true.
The rule of law I agree on the whole is a good thing and should be improved but that is not something special to our time, the idea of holding people to account, of none being beyond being held account is not unique at all to our time and civilization, many groups at have held it to some extent and it medieval age that birthed the idea in the manner we have inherited it (in fact the Renaissance period that saw great loses in freedom and rights than had existed before as government and court became centralized and ideal of the Renaissance prince became developed and brought the concept of absolute monarchy with it). So we have inherited a concept and idea already familiar in different forms to other ages, groups and civilizations, it is not unique point of advancement. As to it’s problems, they are the same as the past and some alluded to above, governments can either subvert or change that law, or find ways it doesn’t apply. And ironically representative democracy is a system that can more than some, less than others, open the door of significant abuses in this area, as the government has been given it’s mandate whatever it then proceeds to do, and so these two concepts stand in an uncomfortable antagonism beneath the surface. The government needs another accountability for it to have true strength and power. The other issue is the law itself, if it is unjust than it is no help. One positive thing I will note though has on the whole been in some countries the improvement in dealing with crime, criminals and the removal of torture and either death sentences as a whole or at least public and more torturous death. On the other hand much of restorative justice has been the revival of older communal ways of doing justice and dealing with offense and it’s effects on all, including it’s ontological aspects, which is something we lacked that groups in the past knew. Also, as soon as it was convenient we have found ways to torture and terrorize those we deem enemies again, and disturbingly in the UK at least attitudes on the legitimacy of torture is growing more accepting than they are in Russia, and that is disturbing, and again raises the problem inherent in representative democracy, those whims, even hateful and unjust ones, will be pandered to and reflected by the government.
Global and interconnections I agree in both positive and negative’s, though for the problems (for instance allowing abusers to form global rings and making such abuse almost an global industry, and the effects of pornography on such a vast and easily accessible scale, and the vast and often highly abusive environment it supports for it’s performers and the harm they can go through, if it isn’t outright criminal) the communication, information and educational opportunities it can provide is immense.
It is more the global companies, the governments of the powerful have both set up and supported the creation of these debts and continue to hold them in place, and often advance the interests of either their own nation or preferred companies over these nations with agreements for new ventures that just exploit the nations and usually does little than a few publicity band ages on the oozing wounds we are part responsible for inflicting, and does nothing about the underlying problem, let alone liberating them. We haven’t stopped our imperialism, we just conduct it in more cost effective ways, and nations like China have watched and learned from us. The other deeper problem is the fact that our global system is based on debt and trading of debt, rather than commodities. But this began in the 18th century and has process underway for a long time, with abandoning the gold standards (of our currencies being based on real commodities, such gold and silver reserves to promises of debt), in the UK for example prior to the abandoning of the gold standard the price of bread was stable with small variations for 200 years, afterwards it’s price has risen and increases to rise exponentially, such inflation is inherent to our economic system, one based on debt and interest.
Hi Grant,
I want to get to some of your points but I’ll do this in a series of posts. I’ll start here:
I didn’t mean to say that recognition of the downtrodden and marginalized in societies and recognition of “scapegoating” is something entirely new but that with the “demythification” of scapegoating, there is more and more recognition of this. Girard himself sees this come to the surface in places in the OT but it is finally uncovered in the gospels. So, of course I agree with you that Christianity has a lot to do with this. This is Girard’s point and mine as well. Has the whole loaf been leavened? Certainly not, but the story of Christ and the Gospel continues to have its influence— even where Christianity is not prominent. I think this demythification of scapegoating is extremely important and I do think in our age it continues to grow. Girard does recognize that this does have its downside but I won’t get into that here…
Hi Melchi,
You said:
Yes, Neil Young is definitely an acquired taste. The one thing to be said for his singing is that it’s easy to sing along. If someone gets out a guitar and starts to play an Neil Young song, you don’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself too much.
I have limited exposure to Canadians, I suppose. I won’t say more about my sister-in law as I think she’s a bit of an outlier…(Thinks she’s a Disney Princess… )
Edit: Oh in support of Canadians, I offer this review from “Rolling Stone” of Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps, the album I’ve been linking videos to. This in particular is important, I think.
The emphasis on violence is important, in my mind.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/rust-never-sleeps-19791018