The Antics of Alex Jones

[Hammer of Los]

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Us and them.

What is the synthesis?

Only Us.

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[Hammer of Los]

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Besides, if you wanna talk about a death cult, I don't think you can really get any better than what is commonly referred to as Christianity, which I understand Mr. Jones is quite fond of. I mean, doesn't it all pretty much hinge around life here on earth being little more than an audition for the after-life? Neat trick, that.

I wouldn't call Christianity a death cult.

There may be death cults though.

Hmm.

But I don't think they got any real adepts.

So no worries on that score.

Now technological enhancement, the death cultists are big into that.

They know not the true way of the Great Work.

Earth First!

Battalion.

Er, what was I saying again?

Oh yeah.

AI an' cyborgs an' drones, oh my!

In the world that's already here, who we gonna need?

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[Ben D]

Hammer of Los, awesome...

[brainpanhandler]

Awesome.

[JackRiddler]

Christian and Conspiratainment commentators who take on the weighty topic of Hegelian Synthesis usually present it as something invented, an intellectual technology that was unleashed upon the world. Actually, Hegel was diagnosing a pre-existing condition of the human species. The endless iterations of Thesis and Anti-Thesis stretch back throughout the history of human culture. It is a binary trap that has always shaped us: East and West, victors and victims, war and peace. Us and them.

Patriots and Hegelians.

[compared2what?]

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Besides, if you wanna talk about a death cult, I don't think you can really get any better than what is commonly referred to as Christianity, which I understand Mr. Jones is quite fond of. I mean, doesn't it all pretty much hinge around life here on earth being little more than an audition for the after-life? Neat trick, that.

I wouldn't call Christianity a death cult.

That's a good point. I wouldn't either.

Hmm. I guess that a case could be made that Christianity was more easily, readily and plainly adaptable for death-cult purposes than any other great religion is, purely because there's a much more direct, immediate, simple and global correspondence between individual death and individual salvation in Christianity than in any other great religion.

But...I don't know. Though valid on its face, that seems like a specious argument to me. Christianity just isn't a death cult. And it also just isn't any more or less death-cult-y than other great religions are. Therefore, in short:

Agree.

[JackRiddler]

[justdrew]

what it is and how it's used are different things. There's a major tendency to obsess over 'end times' and demons, etc. which is kinda death-cultish

[JackRiddler]

The worship of a dead man suspended on an instrument of execution may be a tip-off. You'll find death-cult symbols elsewhere, but few so central to the service.

But obviously it's not only that, or necessarily that. When Christianity is about the Word of the gospels, rather than the myth of the story understood as something literal, it's a different creature. Is it a set of moral laws in this life, or is it about obeying in the hope of posthumous reward? Is it about Love-thy-Neighbor or Fear Hell? Death cult or no, the latter (as many have remarked) is a religion suitable for slaves.

[compared2what?]

I took that into consideration, actually. (Short version: More of a death fetish,, really.) But it's a judgment call.

what it is and how it's used are different things. There's a major tendency to obsess over 'end times' and demons, etc. which is kinda death-cultish

Honestly, I thought about that, too. And what you say is exactly what I concluded. So:

Agree!

IOW, I think it's true that Christian eschatology is pretty straightforwardly kinda death-cultish, by definition, whether it's particularly emphasized in practice or not. But the "kinda" and "-ish" aren't just there in there capacity as rhetorical flourishes, imo. I'd say that on as-it-stands-on-its-own terms, eschatological teachings/doctrine/what-have-you aren't really about death as much as they're about life as a cause that's worth dying for. And...I totally admit that that's a pretty nuanced distinction. But it's also such an incredibly key distinction that I think it has a little more oomph than that, in practice.

In a way, I guess that it's probably always pretty safe to conclude that Christianity is the most [FILL IN THE BLANK] of the great religions, just because it's so far and away the most influential, as well as the most popular. At this, our tiny little moment in time. That doesn't really seem fair, though.

[compared2what?]

The worship of a dead man suspended on an instrument of execution may be a tip-off. You'll find death-cult symbols elsewhere, but few so central to the service.

But obviously it's not only that, or necessarily that. When Christianity is about the Word of the gospels, rather than the myth of the story understood as something literal, it's a different creature. Is it a set of moral laws in this life, or is it about obeying in the hope of posthumous reward? Is it about Love-thy-Neighbor or Fear Hell? Death cult or no, the latter (as many have remarked) is a religion suitable for slaves.

If, for some reason, I had to name the one concept introduced by Christianity (meaning "the whole phenomenon," not "the faith") that had had more of an impact on life/thought/society everywhere on earth in the post-Christian era than any other, I'd probably say: Institutional hierarchy, as we presently understand it.

It's not very sexy. But it's the case. It changed the world.

[compared2what?]

Although....Well. Long story short. That "institutional hierarchy" thing is a governing force in the post-Christian history of the west. The Christian east is a whole other set of stories.

^^That's addressed to YOU, JackR!

[JackRiddler]

What, you're pointing out that we're Orthodox? Kicking us out of the Papist tyranny when we long ago left and came up with our own? Eh?

[Ben D]

Awesome.

There there brainpanhandler, don't be jealous, Ben D loves you dearly too...

[Hammer of Los]

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I have a lesson for the brainpanhandler;

Gestalt theory and practice are the same as the Pure Mind, Pure Land doctrine of the ultimate boddhisatvas.

I certainly observe gestalt theory.

It ain't no theory to me.

The death of the old man that is risen again in Christ is metaphorical.

Perhaps not surprisingly, insofar as I am a follower of Christianity, which I'm not, it is of the mystical persuasion.

To the trained eye universal truths are revealed.

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