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The Forum > Article Comments > Stranded in the present > Comments

Stranded in the present : Comments

By Peter Sellick, published 4/1/2016

Even if we are not aware of it, the events of the twentieth century undermine our resolve, eat away at our certainty and colour our time.

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We humans are not inherently evil. Albeit, somewhat self obsessed and selfish. But not to the point where want to own and control the world? Or kill just for pleasure.

Yet we confront examples of such everyday, and worse. Or if you will, murdered innocence. Hate is learned and irrational and indeed self harming.

I had a stroke fairly recently, and opened death's door and saw what I can only describe as hell, and or our probable future.

A dog eat dog future where the only thing that matters is wealth and its acquisition? Where our planet is reduced to the dark side of the moon, as any and all resources are consumed harvested and sold.

The moral compass wrecked by mad desire. And all of it presided over by an entity so evil as to both beggar belief and instantly terrify simultaneously.

One explanation is a damaged brain hallucinating and it could have been?

But if you believe that, then you have to hold open in your mind the possibility of actual witnessed events taking place at another level of reality?

Yes Peter, there is evil abroad seeking to harvest souls, which it consumes to retain immortality, at least that was my impression before I was rescued by a angel.

This evil entity is at work in the world; otherwise some of the things we observe would just not be possible, like ISIS and intense evil committed in the name of God or even pedophilia in our so called religious establishments.

Where we allow members of the community of man to be crucified for daring to be born different!

And had J. C. walked among us today, this gentle kind galilean, who preferred the company of men, would in all likelihood been judged as daring to be born different and given the same inherently evil judgemental treatment?

If we all of us just judged the man in the mirror and then went to work on him as our only real responsibility; to be the best we can be, the whole world would come right tomorrow!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Monday, 4 January 2016 9:58:09 AM
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This essay describes what the Western way (or mind) in both its religious & secular forms is really all about.
http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/Aletheon/ontranscendingtheinsubordinatemind.html

Meanwhile the set of references featured on this site provide a very sobering assessment of the state of the humanly created world-mummery in the "21st century". Pointing out that, in one way or another, the much lauded old ways lamented by Sells have inevitably created the situation thus described.
http://www.beezone.com/news.html
This essay does the same:
http://spiralledlight.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/4068
Posted by Daffy Duck, Monday, 4 January 2016 11:39:53 AM
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Indeed/not Peter Sellick. You are a sage, seer and prophet, like me.

Ours is a wisdom profound, Buttercup.
Posted by plantagenet, Monday, 4 January 2016 11:41:10 AM
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'We humans are not inherently evil' You mean its taken you this long to find out Rhrosty. That is why the fools with psychology degrees (many very perverted) sowed the seeds for the outlawinfg of any reasonable discipline to be emparted to children. We now have many schools (mainly State) where young kids belt teachers, take drugs and bully only to have the teachers sacked. Rebellion, greed, lust and the resultant anger is very much part of humanity. Nowhere is it more expressed than in the feminist movement and other perverted displays of humanity.
Posted by runner, Monday, 4 January 2016 11:52:08 AM
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Stranded in the present? Westerners?

The most prominent feature of the Western lifestyle is the non-acceptance of the present, always seeking or hoping for a "better" future.

Whether one actively seeks or passively hopes for a future is relatively a minor difference: both are cases of addiction to future whilst the perfection of God's presence in this very moment is denied and forever postponed.

You correctly identified, Peter, that the source of this problem is the tragic Judeo/Christian idea as if time is linear and history has a direction.
Posted by Yuyutsu, Monday, 4 January 2016 12:39:51 PM
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Peter thankyou for this article ; I found reading it very interesting. I agree that we need to aim for more in our society, and in our world - that the perspective whereby the answer to every malady is just more consumption. I think of myself as a Christian very strongly influenced by Marxism. I hold on to the existential hope associated with that Christian faith. But I have hope for a better world as well. A world which overcomes oppression, falsehood, alienation... A world of plenty - where that plenty frees human beings to develop their talents and interests in every direction. But still holding on to the notion that "fulfilment in the world alone is not enough."

Rhrosty: It's against my self-interest to say this I guess, but I am sorry to hear you have suffered much. There are horrific things in this world ; beyond many peoples' willingness to even consider. But things are more complex than a simple binary. There are many types of evil. Trust in God ; but perhaps even God will not protect you from everything. So if it makes sense, walk as you think God would want you to walk. There is a reason for the idea of Christ as Shepherd.
Posted by Tristan Ewins, Monday, 4 January 2016 4:15:23 PM
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Runner, violence simply begets more violence.

I seen schools where the rod was replaced with a non violent model, and where none of the described bullying take place.
And where the biggest kids are tasked with protecting the little ones.

Even so, if those kids who use violence to intimidate/bash teachers are not only expelled, but blacklisted so they cannot attend an Australian public school, will be the ones missing the benefits of a good education.

I would however, offer the option of a boot camp before abandoning these kids to their fate and a lifetime of revolving prison doors etc; and the sort of rugged reform paradigm, that promotes, along with a new conformist attitude and self sufficiency, new and earned self esteem and gratitude for the tough love opportunity to turn their lives around.

Where to eat you must create a camp/cooking fire, by traditional methods that require some effort, rather than a box of all too convenient matches, and where all drugs, inclusive of tobacco and alcohol are simply verboten, without exception, and you carry all you need for a few months basic survival in the wilderness on your back. tent, blankets soap and a dry change. And where you learn to wash and dry your clothes in the most rudimentary of circumstances, it's no picnic.

Albeit, reapplied every few days in dry consumables like perishables flour, porridge, beans and safe drinking water!

While you dry out with just the aid of cold turkey; and where rebellion just results in increasing hunger/loss of minimal privileges or returning to your previous life is further extended.

And where the instructors are the biggest baddest entirely unsympathetic, in your face hombres you've ever seen.

And given these camp consequence camps are located on foreign soil, your survival and return from exile rests solely on your shoulders/completing the course and the recommendations of your re educators. And where physical violence is simply outlawed/made almost impossible by sheer exhaustion. Along with the imbeciles who still believe it has any positive lasting effects.
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Monday, 4 January 2016 5:56:48 PM
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I think this author could save himself a lot of work and just say in one sentence what he wants to say...namely that the human race (particularly the 'Western Countries" ) are damned in hell unless they repent and all believe in the Christian God and religion again.
Am I right?

" Such a domestic vision of the future does not have the breadth and dynamism to give hope. It is also, unlike the kingdom of heaven, all of our own making. What happens when we tire of next gadget that promises even more control and convenience? What will our politics focus on when we do achieve a surplus in the Federal budget?"

Who doesn't have hope? I have hope for the future, so you're not speaking for me.
The 'kingdom of heaven' IS a man made notion, since no one was told about it by any actual God, as far as I am aware, so don't go imagining it is not of our own making at all.

Politicians and politics have continued to survive and move on from Federal budget surpluses before, so I really don't see the point of that statement.
Is the author suggesting that if the politicians focus on more religious matters then all will be well? The mad Tea Party members in the US have demonstrated this is far from true...

One does not have to believe in a god or religion to be a good, moral person Mr. Sells, so you needn't fret that the Western Countries are 'losing their religion'.
I would suggest we give secularism a try because the fictional bible stories and religious mumbo jumbo are not relevant for many people anymore.
Posted by Suseonline, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 1:35:10 AM
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Executive summary: "People these days aren't buying my particular brand of snake oil. It's obviously because they're better educated, more technologically savvy and better-connected than humans have ever been before in history, But that doesn't suit my story, so I'll manufacture some other reason to explain it. It doesn't really matter which one, since the real purpose of this article is to sell my beliefs to gullible people who are distracted or depressed, and in a month or so I'll write another one finding some entirely different reason."

And a happy new year to you too, Peter.
Posted by Jon J, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 5:19:45 AM
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Peter, an interesting point of view. I hope you can read the two outpourings above in the light of J.W. Goethe’s

True, human beings may abound
Who growl at things beyond their ken,
Mocking the beautiful and good,
And all they haven't understood.
Posted by George, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 7:31:10 AM
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.

Dear Peter,

.

You wrote :

« There are traumas so great and so terrible in the lives of nations and individuals that their pull suffocates hope so that we remain stranded in the present. … The result of all this is a kind of post-traumatic stress that haunts both individuals and nations. The resultant anxiety, or more, our panic, closes down the future so that we remain stranded in the present. The forces of memory hold us captive to the past »
.

Past and future are human concepts. I’m inclined to agree with Einstein when he wrote :

“Time has no independent existence apart from the order of events by which we measure it.”

The present is all that there is.

Life and death is a process that takes place in the present. That is just as much a law of nature as gravity. It has nothing to do with “post traumatic stress”.

This is what the Roman poet, Horace (65 BC – 8 BC), has to say on the subject :

« Ask not—we cannot know—what end the gods have set for you, for me; nor attempt the Babylonian reckonings Leuconoë. How much better to endure whatever comes, whether Jupiter grants us additional winters or whether this is our last, which now wears out the Tuscan Sea upon the barrier of the cliffs! Be wise, strain the wine; and since life is brief, prune back far-reaching hopes! Even while we speak, envious time has passed: “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” (pluck the day, putting as little trust as possible in tomorrow !) »

And the English poet, Robert Herrick (1591 – 1674) :

« Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying »

.

(Continued ...)

.
Posted by Banjo Paterson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 10:58:43 AM
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.

(Continued …)

.

You also oppose “biblical telos” and a so-called “secular telos”.

The OED definition of secularism is :

« The principle of separation of the state from religious institutions »

The OED definition of “telos” is :

« An ultimate object or aim »

This would seem to indicate that the term “secular telos” might mean :

« The perfection or maturity of individuals and society ».

If not, would you kindly indicate what you mean by “secular telos”.

.

After noting the supposed superiority of “biblical telos” to what you refer to as “secular telos”, you add :

« While on one side of politics John Howard could talk about being captive to a "black armband view of history" that would refuse to deal with past trauma, Julia Gillard can say that "Today I seek a mandate from the Australian people to move Australia forward." Both statements demonstrate that we live in a stranded present that is closed to the past and to the future since "forward" is not a destination »

Unless I am mistaken, this appears to be a barely veiled advocacy for the establishment of a theocracy in Australia.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

.
Posted by Banjo Paterson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 11:01:38 AM
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.

Dear Tristan Ewins,

.

You wrote to Rhrosty :

« … perhaps even God will not protect you from everything »

.

I have no doubt you mean well but I think we should express our compassion as warmly and sincerely as possible in simple, respectful terms and not in such a paternalistic fashion.

Rhrosty has spontaneously revealed having recently suffered a very serious health problem. Though he has obviously received a severe shock, he has apparently had the strength of character to face up to it alone and assume it in a calm and responsible manner. He obviously does not need to be infantilised.

Of course, he did mention that he was “rescued by a angel”, but I don’t think that is sufficient indication to allow us to presume that he believes in “God”.

That said, I am convinced that “faith” is a very unique and powerful, individual, human force that can act as an effective placebo in certain extreme cases and work miracles.

But that is a personal matter which neither you, nor I, nor anybody else can ever hope to fathom.

.
Posted by Banjo Paterson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 12:43:26 PM
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'Runner, violence simply begets more violence'

this is far to simplistic a statement.

well Rhrosty if you call smacking a child violence I totally disagree. True these days having so many fatherless kids is probably an even bigger problem than lack of discipline.

Basically human nature is very self centred. If that self centredness is fed, then it will end up with many violent adults. I have certainly witnessed some of the worst behaviour from kids who are continually told they are victims and have so many rights. Many of them have ended in prison not because they received discipline but because they never had anyone who cared enough aqbout them to do so. Many single mums (and dads) try and be their kids best friend rather than parent.

Many teachers have been assaulted and a very large number take stress leave because they can't handle such chaos. Certainly when smacking was practiced as discipline assaults were much much less common.
Posted by runner, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 1:17:08 PM
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I have found an interesting site, which is http://winpokie.com/ and I would like to know your opinion in several issues such as, in which city is better to open a poker club in Australia? Why?
Do you know any examples of people who have developed in this area of business and have achieved success?
Posted by lastname, Wednesday, 6 January 2016 1:10:16 AM
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