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Western civilisation, with all its contradictions, is worth studying, because of them : Comments
By Gregory Melleuish, published 22/1/2019In reality, the ethical values enunciated by a given civilisation may do little to explain why the states in that civilisation engage in violent activities.
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Posted by Alan B., Tuesday, 22 January 2019 11:09:38 AM
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Christianity opposed to violence - I nearly fell off my chair laughing.
In Truth and Reality it became the world-dominant "religion" via the point of Constantine's famous sword. This one stark image sums up the situation: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~spanmod/mural/panel13.html The colonial conquest depicted there was "authorized" in the "name of 'god'" and for the "glory of 'christ'" by the papal bulls of 1455 and 1493. Although they perhaps like to pretend otherwise most/all of those on the right side of the culture wars shouting match belong very squarely in the imperial conquest paradigm picture in the above image. Posted by Daffy Duck, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 12:05:17 PM
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A good response. Unfortunately Peter Bowden seems to be one of the leftist self-haters who has made a 'career' of criticising the West, and his own people. Appeals to logic, history and common sense are unlikely to be of any use.
Posted by ttbn, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 12:25:34 PM
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Good article, Greg. Cheers.
Posted by Steve Chavura, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 1:45:05 PM
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Remember the maxim about how power corrupts and how absolute power corrupts absolutely, especially if it justified by "god".
Remember too that many christians, especially right-wing "catholic-traditionalists" pretend that christian-ISM is the only source of truth in the world. Such a false claim necessarily implies that all other systems of belief including protestant-ISM and the multi-various cultures that extend from them are founded in "error" and therefore have to be converted to the "one-true-way" using whatever means that are available in any time and place. Ratzinger re-affirmed this dan doctrine. It is also quite rightly said that a fish rots from the head down. What then if the head in the form of the vatican or the so-called "holy sea" is rotten to the core, as this set of essays comprehensively describes: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vatican/esp_vatican30.htm#contents Posted by Daffy Duck, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 3:17:17 PM
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Western civilization has obviously has achieved many individual and collective goals which enhance the survival prospects of human beings, but on its own, uninformed and untempered by any Higher Wisdom it eventually leads to the exploitation, degradation, and suppression of the individual and humankind altogether.
This is because it is not based on even the slightest understanding of the totality of what human beings potentially and latently are. A potential and latency which is structured into our genes. We are meant or structured to be SUBLIMED by Light. Indeed in one way or another all of Western culture systematically reduces all human beings to the gross material level of existence ONLY. Any kind of profundity of both being, and thus by extension profound doings is strictly TABOO. Posted by Daffy Duck, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 4:47:49 PM
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On the proviso, they be free to study all religious philosophies and choose which of those they decided to follow after they reached an age where they were adults and capable of critical thinking. They seem to have chosen Buddhism.
And here I apply the same criteria to what is taught in university philosophy courses. It could be offered and paid for by the students that select it. Not mum and dad nor the long-suffering taxpayer!
Always proving the main subjects are STEM and economics and far more useful in the real world and the need to earn a living!
Conversely, in the real world of commercial capitalism with all its sham and drudgery, what one might earn as a consequence of becoming learned on western civilization?
But, more importantly, who foots the bill if the courses are not well supported by an essential critical mass of student interest?
Or if it is subverted by this or that religious body as a trojan horse, sent to recruit more disciples for brainwashed belief systems? No names no pack drill.
Alan B.