tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post298194858314938569..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: Loneliness TodayStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-12486433970853027362015-10-26T05:57:37.642-07:002015-10-26T05:57:37.642-07:00Stuart: From a problem that belongs to the realm o...Stuart: From a problem that belongs to the realm of individual psychology--loneliness--Kaplan skips to the problem of group belief. ... Unfortunately, belief does not really solve the problem of loneliness. If loneliness is the problem then the solution is to socialize, to participate in a functioning society, to work with others toward common and productive goals. <br /><br />I thought about this question of group belief reading and article this morning, an email from Kim Davis that was released.<br />http://www.salon.com/2015/10/23/christian_fundamentalists_plot_against_the_constitution_what_kim_daviss_newly_unearthed_emails_reveal/<br />----------<br />The battle has just begun…It has truly been a firestorm here and the days are pretty much a blur, but I am confident that God is in control of all of this!! I desire your prayers, I will need strength that only God can supply and I need a backbone like a saw log!!…They are going to try and make a whipping post out of me!! I know it, but God is still alive and on the throne!!! He IS in control and knows exactly where I am!!…September 1 will be the day to prepare for, if the Lord doesn’t return before then. I have weighted the cost, and will stay the course.<br />----------<br /><br />So Davis has great belief, and great Faith, that her cause was just and supported by God, and she was willing to go to prison, to be a martyr, to be the lightning rod that god-fearing people could rally behind, to end this crazy supreme court ruling that allowed gays to marry, that disallowed states to prevent marriage between two same-sex adults who want to spend the rest of their lives together.<br /><br />So again, I agree, loneliness doesn't seem to explain her conviction, although her stand did collect her tribe of believers all together in common purpose, against ungodly behavior by people not like her.<br /><br />And loneliness also doesn't explain the rise of the prolife movement in general, that annually tallies up the millions of innocent babies who were prevented from being born.<br /><br />So these are all moral problems, and trying to use the state to control the behavior of people doing evil things, against our religious beliefs. And whatever the source of this passion, whether God or something else, there's a certainty, if this or that political battle can finally be won, that we'll gain some inner peace that we couldn't have, knowing there was evil being done that we didn't stop.<br /><br />Redemption is a powerful ideal, unable to undo our own sins past, we can try to control the sins of others to make things right. <br /><br />Again, I don't think loneliness explains, but some feeling of alienation might be closer to the mark.<br />Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-36111878866665232132015-10-25T01:22:53.394-07:002015-10-25T01:22:53.394-07:00I'm concerned about US & The West. In his ...I'm concerned about US & The West. In his final book, "Who Are We?", Prof. Sam Huntington raised fears about "Denationalization of the Elites". The Poobahs who jet to Davos, etc, and have more in common w/each other than their own citizens. BTW, Davos has a pecking order, top to bottom.<br /><br />Sam also worried about the huge influx of immigrants from different cultures (esp. Mexico - I'm half Mex myself) who aren't interested in US culture or traditions.<br /><br />After nearly 20 years, average Americans "get it". They're angry, and feel betrayed. Left & Right both. But Elites and the Left despise average Americans. Thom Hartman, on Left radio, called them (including me) "Old white people - one foot in the grave, the other on the Black Man's neck".<br /><br />In "The Clash of Civilizations", Prof Sam wrote about cultures who've tried to modernize & Westernize for a century or more, including the ME. Napoleon's invasion of Egypt scared them. But it hasn't worked. Their youth is "Re-Indiginizing", hearkening to their roots. We can't fix THAT. Whew. -- Rich LaraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-25444128013542677962015-10-24T08:36:11.294-07:002015-10-24T08:36:11.294-07:00Agreed, loneliness doesn't explain fundamental...Agreed, loneliness doesn't explain fundamentalistic beliefs, beliefs that you can find all wisdom by literal readings of holy books.<br /><br />I remember the most profound thing I got from a Christian "Alpha" program is an explanation of Jesus dying for our sins. It didn't make sense before that.<br /><br />There's a political idea "Don’t Bring Up a Problem Unless You Have a Proposed Solution."<br />http://kellblog.com/2014/03/05/the-old-dont-bring-up-a-problem-unless-you-have-a-proposed-solution-rule/<br /><br />So sin is a problem, and the old testament solution was a sacrifice. If you did something bad, you could offer a sacrifice to God to regain his favor, and it worked very well, at least for the people who had innocent lambs or goats or whatever to sacrifice.<br /><br />But Jesus had other ideas. After he had communicate all he could to his flock, he agreed in the end to sacrifice himself, to let himself be crucified, so we wouldn't have to offer sacrifices any more. So that's a very clever idea, and he promised anyone who confessed their sins with an open heart would be forgiven.<br /><br />It is strange how later people turned that around and persecuted Jews as "Christ-killers" while Jesus had surely already forgiven his persecutors.<br /><br />Anyway, if we can ignore clueless people, we can see his path to forgiveness wasn't in keeping your sins secret, but in confessing them openly to someone like a priest who could hear them and forgive you.<br /><br />Of course clever thinkers saw a loop-hole, why don't I just do whatever I want, break any law, civil or eternal, and then confess my sin, and poof I'm forgiven?<br /><br />But apparently the old thinkers are smarter than the new thinkers, or at least modern research has discovered confessing actually does change hearts, at least if you do it correctly, with an open heart, aware of the consequences of your actions, and willing to make amends.<br /><br />Still, I'm not fully convinced. I imagine myself a drunk driver caught in a hit-and-run accident, and later hearing the person hit died, and I'm responsible, and I got away with it, and I can't dare tell anyone, not even a priest. (I don't know what the moral responsibilities of a priest are towards ongoing harm, but maybe they wouldn't tattle on something done once, and I can't undo, but do I take that chance?)<br /><br />So if loneliness is a source of "hell on earth" I'd say it is because we keep dark secrets, whatever they are, whatever we can't ever undo, and have to live with for the rest of our lives, and see others in their merry-making that we can't participate in, because we know our dark sin that we don't dare believe anyone should forgive.<br /><br />And imagine living in a culture where revenge killings are ordinary, and expected, and mercy is rare? How does a person live innocently, being a part of such a culture, even if you yourself don't participate, even if you yourself has family members who have been murdered for stupid sacred books that convince people they must sacrifice someone else to make things right.<br /><br />Anyway, even as an agnostic, I can see why Jesus is popular, and with his prostitutes and tax collectors, no shame is great enough that he'll turn you away.Ares Olympushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09726811306826601686noreply@blogger.com