I propose a secular view one step closer to reality, Thom....and that it is, instead of "good vs. evil," what's at issue here is "love vs. hate" as manifested by the human ego....with the very real implications of their roots in the development of the human ego in childhood. Your have in the past discussed Trump's origins in his very dysfunctional German family....and I'm sure you know about Adolf Hitler's early life as well....yes? Point made?
1983 M. Scott Peck: "People of the Lie." Famously devoutly Christian M.D. Psychiatrist, author of huge best seller "The Road Less Travelled," takes on the development of a set of criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis of "evil." "People of the Lie" is a pretty striking read in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, to say the least. p. 177: "...suppose she had been the employer rather than the employee. Suppose she had inherited...a whole corporation to manage with her devious destructiveness....At one point I defined evil as "The exercise of political power...in order to avoid...spiritual growth." (Give her a husband, a child...ugly tragedy.) "GIVE HER A NATION and she would likely have been a Hitler or an Idi Amin." Caps mine. ff, like, goosebumps. Then there's the question, why does my skin crawl at a glimpse of T., and roughly 4 out of ten people are numb to his flagrant creepiness? Dr. Peck calls it the "revulsion" response to evil, and identifies it as a survival instinct.
i dont think you have to believe that J Cis god. He was a man of principle and compassion and justice. and he wanted all of us to live that way. I cannot find those qualities in Trump. Therefore he is the anti-Christ.
In a literal sense, the former president is a piker compared to Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and many other historical figures since Christ.
In a political sense, the former president is the anti everything; some of what comes to mind is truth, decency, and knowledge. He is not equipped to do the right thing. It is the tragedy of the Republicans surrendering to him. And, that's exactly what they have done, handed their party over to a creature without a conscience. They mean nothing to him, no one does. He owns them, and he uses them. I can picture the antichrist as a psychopath but not as a dumb-ass!
Of course Trump is the “Antichrist!” For all the reasons laid out above. Whatever works.
Viewed through the wider lense of empirical facts in an observable world, the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of life according to our more narrow personal viewpoints, such as religion and politics, are not that important. As long as outward reality is not denied and the proper response is not suppressed, what someone might believe or the terminology they might use, metaphorically or not, doesn’t really matter.
So, the larger question remains: Will we as a society through our agreed-upon, established, Constitutional institutions — Congress, courts, media — hold powerful, rich, white people, virtually all male, accountable for their ubiquitous, murderous crimes against democracy and humanity, obvious for all to see?
If not, what good are we? And what good is our so-called “democracy” when it fails its most crucial test? If we can’t even bring our own authoritarians to account, how will we ever cope with the rise of autocracy around the world?
How many “good” Germans, during Hitler’s rise to power, wish they would not have succumbed to the right-wing propaganda of their time, which stripped an established democracy from them and plunged the world into war, while they basically sat by and did nothing, trusting their god-like leader to do the right thing in the end?
Trump is unquestionably evil, in my view. Read Peck, M. Scott, "People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil." Peck defines evil as "lazy narcissism." If Peck were still alive today, he would have made Trump his number 1 example of evil. Additionally, Peck participated in numerous exorcisms, which he describes in the last part of his book. He believes that the "devil" is an "it," a process. Notably, he states that "the" devil is constantly preoccupied with preventing being discovered and is constantly focused on DESTRUCTION. Its glaring weakness is "extraordinary demonic stupidity." Peck: "Were it not for its extraordinary pride and narcissism, Satan would probably not reveal itself at all. Its pride overcomes its intelligence, so that the demon of deceit is also a showoff. .... It [cannot] allow itself to lose." Remind you of anybody? In a second book, Peck goes into much more detail about exorcisms. One of the clues about the 'presence' of Satan (evil) is it will speak about itself in the 3rd person. Look up the conversation that Bill Barr, Attorney General, had with Trump after Barr told Trump that there was no evidence that the 2020 election had been rigged - According to Barr, Trump got a look on his face of pure rage and said to Barr: "I guess you don't like Trump." I could go on.
More Trumpsploitation. Yes, we know how awful Trump and the Republicans are, the echo chamber is deafening. Now what can we do about the incompetent Democrats who were unable to protect us from his presidency and are currently unable to protect us, particularly immigrants and the more vulnerable among us, against anything.
I propose a secular view one step closer to reality, Thom....and that it is, instead of "good vs. evil," what's at issue here is "love vs. hate" as manifested by the human ego....with the very real implications of their roots in the development of the human ego in childhood. Your have in the past discussed Trump's origins in his very dysfunctional German family....and I'm sure you know about Adolf Hitler's early life as well....yes? Point made?
1983 M. Scott Peck: "People of the Lie." Famously devoutly Christian M.D. Psychiatrist, author of huge best seller "The Road Less Travelled," takes on the development of a set of criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis of "evil." "People of the Lie" is a pretty striking read in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, to say the least. p. 177: "...suppose she had been the employer rather than the employee. Suppose she had inherited...a whole corporation to manage with her devious destructiveness....At one point I defined evil as "The exercise of political power...in order to avoid...spiritual growth." (Give her a husband, a child...ugly tragedy.) "GIVE HER A NATION and she would likely have been a Hitler or an Idi Amin." Caps mine. ff, like, goosebumps. Then there's the question, why does my skin crawl at a glimpse of T., and roughly 4 out of ten people are numb to his flagrant creepiness? Dr. Peck calls it the "revulsion" response to evil, and identifies it as a survival instinct.
i dont think you have to believe that J Cis god. He was a man of principle and compassion and justice. and he wanted all of us to live that way. I cannot find those qualities in Trump. Therefore he is the anti-Christ.
In a literal sense, the former president is a piker compared to Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and many other historical figures since Christ.
In a political sense, the former president is the anti everything; some of what comes to mind is truth, decency, and knowledge. He is not equipped to do the right thing. It is the tragedy of the Republicans surrendering to him. And, that's exactly what they have done, handed their party over to a creature without a conscience. They mean nothing to him, no one does. He owns them, and he uses them. I can picture the antichrist as a psychopath but not as a dumb-ass!
Of course Trump is the “Antichrist!” For all the reasons laid out above. Whatever works.
Viewed through the wider lense of empirical facts in an observable world, the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of life according to our more narrow personal viewpoints, such as religion and politics, are not that important. As long as outward reality is not denied and the proper response is not suppressed, what someone might believe or the terminology they might use, metaphorically or not, doesn’t really matter.
So, the larger question remains: Will we as a society through our agreed-upon, established, Constitutional institutions — Congress, courts, media — hold powerful, rich, white people, virtually all male, accountable for their ubiquitous, murderous crimes against democracy and humanity, obvious for all to see?
If not, what good are we? And what good is our so-called “democracy” when it fails its most crucial test? If we can’t even bring our own authoritarians to account, how will we ever cope with the rise of autocracy around the world?
How many “good” Germans, during Hitler’s rise to power, wish they would not have succumbed to the right-wing propaganda of their time, which stripped an established democracy from them and plunged the world into war, while they basically sat by and did nothing, trusting their god-like leader to do the right thing in the end?
“Ignore” is the root meaning of ignorance.
Trump is unquestionably evil, in my view. Read Peck, M. Scott, "People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil." Peck defines evil as "lazy narcissism." If Peck were still alive today, he would have made Trump his number 1 example of evil. Additionally, Peck participated in numerous exorcisms, which he describes in the last part of his book. He believes that the "devil" is an "it," a process. Notably, he states that "the" devil is constantly preoccupied with preventing being discovered and is constantly focused on DESTRUCTION. Its glaring weakness is "extraordinary demonic stupidity." Peck: "Were it not for its extraordinary pride and narcissism, Satan would probably not reveal itself at all. Its pride overcomes its intelligence, so that the demon of deceit is also a showoff. .... It [cannot] allow itself to lose." Remind you of anybody? In a second book, Peck goes into much more detail about exorcisms. One of the clues about the 'presence' of Satan (evil) is it will speak about itself in the 3rd person. Look up the conversation that Bill Barr, Attorney General, had with Trump after Barr told Trump that there was no evidence that the 2020 election had been rigged - According to Barr, Trump got a look on his face of pure rage and said to Barr: "I guess you don't like Trump." I could go on.
More Trumpsploitation. Yes, we know how awful Trump and the Republicans are, the echo chamber is deafening. Now what can we do about the incompetent Democrats who were unable to protect us from his presidency and are currently unable to protect us, particularly immigrants and the more vulnerable among us, against anything.