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"Does not man perhaps love something beside well-being? Perhaps he is just as fond of suffering... Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately in love with suffering."
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground
The infamous SJW, or Social Justice Warrior, is a humanist. And what is humanism but, according the American Humanist Association, "a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity." In other words, man is the reference for what is ethical and what the greater good of humanity might be.
Man is usually the point of reference for morality even among the SJWs who claim to believe the Gospel. There is a shrill panic to their work and rhetoric, because they have a sneaking suspicion that this life is the only one that matters.
This is why, for example, abolishing the death penalty becomes such a dear cause to such men. This is the life that matters.
Jesus was not resigned when he declared that the poor would always be with us. He was confident. He was faithful. He is confident and faithful.
In this world, unlike the world to come (come, Lord Jesus!), man needs war to be content, to have meaning in his life. And, to be clear, by man I mean Man. The Christian has his war, the one true Holy War that encompasses all Creation, and gives meaning to his every breath, even in times of deep peace and contentment and gardening.
But what has the humanist? Because of the Christian context from which he sprouted, he is addicted to the meaning given by war. But he is his own point of reference. There is no morality. There is, really, no war.
Therefore he manufactures his own frantic and shrill combat. He does not love well-being. He is extraordinarily, passionately in love with suffering, because if he doesn't think about it too hard, suffering gives his life meaning.
He is perverse. He loves pain. He loves death. And he wants no end to them.
The difference between the Christian and the humanist is the difference between the soldier and the brawler, and it is a world of difference.
Hey Joffre -
ReplyDeleteThanks for this - got me thinking!
Lately I have been pondering WWI and specifically the causes thereof. On the German side, there was a significant "pro-war" contingent that saw the war as simply inevitable and attempted to push toward that end. Also, as Dan Carlin notes, early in the war (on both sides) there was a significant draw toward the glories and heroism of war - they believed it would be a good thing. In fact, on both sides, the rank and file were very enthusiastic about going (at the beginning). Of course, much of this is simply mental detachment from the reality of what is to come, selective memory about the horrors of the past, and (especially in WWI) naivety about the effect of new technologies applied to old world tactics. The reality that it is "easy for a country to get into a war, but very hard to get back out" certainly continues to this day.
Anyway - your comment that man needs war to be content got me thinking about WWI. War seems to be an itch that had to be scratched for the Prussian (and others too) mind. Given that, I am interested what the state of the church was in Germany during this period. If your thesis is correct, perhaps one of the causes of the rise of militarism was a lack of spiritual warfare in the church. Put another way, I have always been struck that the same geographical area that brought us Luther, the protestant reformation and Bach, could very soon produce the Thirty Years War and within within 400 years produce the instigators of WWI and the atrocities of WWII. Then again, I suppose 400 years is a long time (especially given where America has come during that same span). Anyway - thanks for getting me thinking.
Thinking about the roots of Protestant restlessness is super interesting. Although Lutherans aren't particularly restless. One area I've always wanted to study more is the submission of the Lutheran tradition to the State. Anglicans get a bad rap, but I think that's because there was some actual give and take. I think the German church ended up in the pockets of princes pretty quickly, but I need to study more.
DeleteI do think the way you put my thought is elegant and helpful: lack of spiritual warfare equals violence.
On the idea of the German church ending up in the pockets of princes, that is consistent with the tiny amount of reading on this I have done. Or at least, with regard to the thirty years war, historians are quick to point out how quickly the religious conflict got co-opted into normal nonreligious disputes between princes/princedoms. As one author I was reading noted, the religious aspect of what might otherwise be considered petty secular inter-state conflicts created significant buy-in and support among the common folk that would not have been present otherwise. It was just easier to raise a willing army when people believe the gospel is at stake than it is to raise an army to go out and fight with your neighbors over say your common border. It is sad, because out of this came such horrendous casualties (8M including civilians). I believe that was the highest casualty count until WWI.
Deletebrilliant take-down of the sjw and its shrillness. delightful reading after smoking a bowl of Petersen in my cob, in the southern summer sunshine.
ReplyDeleteworthy of breaking my long silence on your most excellent blog Mr SWAIT and commenting.
no doubt the shrills back in 1914 played a part in fomenting aggression and perceived injustices. I too have been considering the fateful crash of western christendom into ww1 lately.
but to bring this to the church in our present day - perhaps the sjw infested churches have succumbed due to their lack of spiritual warfare? I find this an interesting thought. living as I do in a country where several protestant denominations are marching quick step to the beat of the progressives drum, double-time to heresy.
Once beautiful, faithful churches, charred with the scorched earth tactics of the progressives.
while the saddens me, i find resolution in an old poet.
For all we have and are
For all our childrens fate
Standup and take the war
The SJW is at the gate.
Thanks for breaking your long silence, even if only to express melancholic thoughts.
Delete"Scorched earth" is a good way to describe "progressives". (I have to put quotation marks around that term.) They don't care what they have to destroy.