Thank you. I see it, too. I am decidedly anti religion. I am anti patriarchy. Religion and patriarchy and racism has brought the US to it’s knees. I am so over “culture”. Be fucking nice to each other. It’s not hard. 🤬
Here is another excellent essay by Dr. Lee. "comfort but for a time" Yes, it's totally expediency based on grievance/selfishness that divide people. The genuine majority in the U.S. favor policies and programs (based on credentialed surveys) that are for the common good--uniting people. We must run and vote for candidates with integrity and who support such programs (i.e., non-Republican), not just for us but also for the world.
This is an admirable and illuminating piece, cogent and simultaneously unified and fine-grained. It maintains an exemplary judiciousness and restraint in both content and tone throughout its treatment of extremely contentious issues. Presumably this quality is a product not only of Dr. Lee’s temperamental gifts and religious background, but also of her professional experience in dealing with violent individuals who lack insight into their own feelings and actions. One can only try to emulate Dr. Lee’s judiciousness. It is embarrassingly easy to slip, despite oneself, from argument into polemic, and from rhetorical urgency into verbal histrionics.
I would like to add an observation to one point Dr. Lee makes. She states that “violence” in the service of “maintain[ing] dominance . . . stems . . . from a sense of victimhood and vulnerability”; and that the resulting ”exaggerated, self-perceived victimhood transforms a culture into becoming the greatest aggressor.” It may be worthwhile to consider some of the complexities involved in the transformation from victim into aggressor. In this process, the aggressor internalizes the psychology of the aggressor (a process originally studied by Sandor Ferenczi and Anna Freud, under the rubric, “identification with the aggressor.”) In domestic life this transformation is commonly described with the expression, “the abused becomes the abuser.” The victim adopts the aggressors’s traits of brutal sadism, his lust for malignant domination, and, in the worst case, his analizing personality (the wish to turn everything in the universe into excrement, which is to say, aggressive nihilism). At this point, the victim’s status as a victim has ceased to exist except in his rhetoric and his own psychodynamics.
This transformation cannot and does not run it course with a single individual or in a single generation. Abuse runs in families, with the abused son becoming the abusive father of a son who in turn becomes an abusive father; the nation that has experienced abuse in one generation becomes a nation whose later generations in turn abuse other nations. By this point, furthermore, the cycle of abuse and aggression has already acquired a cultural dimension. The foremost quality of this cultural dimension is revenge-morality. The abused individual psychologically wants revenge. The abused nation—psychologically, socially, economically, and militarily—wants revenge. The Allies wanted revenge against the Central Powers in WWI, and we still live with the disastrous consequences of their revenge. The US wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor, and inflicted it on the innocent victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The US again wanted revenge for 9-11, and inflicted it on the innocent victims in Iraq.
This desire for revenge is not solely psychological. It is culturally embodied in morality; and morality is institutionalized in religion. Morality is inextricable from the Abrahamic religions, beginning with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, and this morality is almost always a revenge-morality, the morality of self-righteous accusation and punishment, beginning with the accusation and punishment of Adam and Eve. Talionic justice (“an eye for an eye”) has a long, multicultural history; it is expressed in the Book of Exodus. Revenge is the negation of forgiveness, and morality must be revenge-morality unless religion devotion can attain to a vision of forgiveness.
Furthermore, revenge-morality is implanted in the psychological makeup of every individual in the form of the superego (which Freud said is the same as the conscience). It is in the nature of the superego of every one of us that it is extremely sadistic and unforgiving; it is therefore perfectly suited for the internalization of revenge-morality. In private life, morality turns everyone into Mr. or Ms. Nose-of-Wax by means of moral accusation, which is the fulcrum of revenge-morality. The history of the nations, a hamster-wheel on which victims are perpetually turned into persecutors, is a history of paranoid revenge-morality. The propaganda with which the nations justify the evil they do invariably depends on hypocritical, sanctimonious, self-righteous, moral accusation. The human race is always drunk, individually, socially, and politically, in war and peace, on its own moral self-righteousness. Dr. Lee writes, “Human psychology dictates that the greatest atrocities and ‘evil’ will be committed in the name of religion.” It is also true that religion dictates that the greatest evil will be committed in the name of psychology—that is, in the name of individuals’ and nations’ psychological demands for “moral justice.”
Your reply reminds me of the triad: victim (or target/survivor), perpetrator (or abuser), and rescuer. It's complicated by a process of each taking on the roles of the other two at various times. The "victim," through angry grievance, can become a perpetrator; the rescuer can, too, if its perhaps overdone; etc. Of course, the perpetrator can have grievance through blame and put self forward as a victim (guess who?). Along with those who've worked with "victims" for healing, I think it best for victims to be one's own rescuer in the long run.
Great comments, Bandy. I am happy you devoted them to what is going on in Israel. The utlra-orthodox Jews are in the minority but, as Fareed Zachariah pointed out in his Sunday show, they have an average of 8 children and are rapidly increasing in numbers. They don't want their kids to learn Math and Science and not have to work or serve in the military. It is pretty disgusting.
There is another form of ultra violent religious cult in the world. It's called Hindu zionism or Hindutva. Hindutva is allied with Israeli Zionists. The most prominent feature of Hindutva is mission to wipe out Indian Muslims and make India a Hindu nation. Hindutva terrorists murdered Gandhi (who believed in secular Indian state). However, one critical feature of Hindutva is that it's also anti-christian. The attacks on Christians, the rapes of nuns & christian minority women, vandalization of churches is carried out by Hindutva militants. Present dictator of Hindutva agenda is Indian PM Modi who presided over mass murder of Muslims in Indian state of Gujarat. He was sanctioned by US State Deptt for 12 years but after he won elections (India is potemkin Democracy with sham elections), the sanctions were lifted. Now Biden has become friends with Modi because US wants to use Hindutva regime of India against China's communists.
Religion that has this influence is described in scripture at Revelation 17:2, pictured as a bedecked whore sitting on “many waters,” which are explained in verse 15 as “peoples and crowds and nations.” She is rich from her relationship with the “kings of the earth” (verse 2) and she makes the people “drunk” with the “wine of her immorality.” A better description of wicked religion could hardly be found. Not just one religion, but all of them who act this way.
But it really gets interesting in verse 16 and 17: the “kings” of our day will be moved by God himself to turn on her and destroy her utterly. Why? See verse 6, and verses 5-8 in chapter 18.
When? Who knows. But that moment seems to be developing.
This doesn’t make those “kings” God’s friends. They meet their end in chapter 19 (verses 17-21). This is the long awaited “Armageddon.” It doesn’t end all life on earth, far from it. It opens the way for a new era, a peaceful new world.
If you believe God really exists, and is not merely something inside us, an invention of our psychological needs, this is the most comforting news, a sure hope that will see us through these times. Steady on.
Thank you. I see it, too. I am decidedly anti religion. I am anti patriarchy. Religion and patriarchy and racism has brought the US to it’s knees. I am so over “culture”. Be fucking nice to each other. It’s not hard. 🤬
Here is another excellent essay by Dr. Lee. "comfort but for a time" Yes, it's totally expediency based on grievance/selfishness that divide people. The genuine majority in the U.S. favor policies and programs (based on credentialed surveys) that are for the common good--uniting people. We must run and vote for candidates with integrity and who support such programs (i.e., non-Republican), not just for us but also for the world.
This is an admirable and illuminating piece, cogent and simultaneously unified and fine-grained. It maintains an exemplary judiciousness and restraint in both content and tone throughout its treatment of extremely contentious issues. Presumably this quality is a product not only of Dr. Lee’s temperamental gifts and religious background, but also of her professional experience in dealing with violent individuals who lack insight into their own feelings and actions. One can only try to emulate Dr. Lee’s judiciousness. It is embarrassingly easy to slip, despite oneself, from argument into polemic, and from rhetorical urgency into verbal histrionics.
I would like to add an observation to one point Dr. Lee makes. She states that “violence” in the service of “maintain[ing] dominance . . . stems . . . from a sense of victimhood and vulnerability”; and that the resulting ”exaggerated, self-perceived victimhood transforms a culture into becoming the greatest aggressor.” It may be worthwhile to consider some of the complexities involved in the transformation from victim into aggressor. In this process, the aggressor internalizes the psychology of the aggressor (a process originally studied by Sandor Ferenczi and Anna Freud, under the rubric, “identification with the aggressor.”) In domestic life this transformation is commonly described with the expression, “the abused becomes the abuser.” The victim adopts the aggressors’s traits of brutal sadism, his lust for malignant domination, and, in the worst case, his analizing personality (the wish to turn everything in the universe into excrement, which is to say, aggressive nihilism). At this point, the victim’s status as a victim has ceased to exist except in his rhetoric and his own psychodynamics.
This transformation cannot and does not run it course with a single individual or in a single generation. Abuse runs in families, with the abused son becoming the abusive father of a son who in turn becomes an abusive father; the nation that has experienced abuse in one generation becomes a nation whose later generations in turn abuse other nations. By this point, furthermore, the cycle of abuse and aggression has already acquired a cultural dimension. The foremost quality of this cultural dimension is revenge-morality. The abused individual psychologically wants revenge. The abused nation—psychologically, socially, economically, and militarily—wants revenge. The Allies wanted revenge against the Central Powers in WWI, and we still live with the disastrous consequences of their revenge. The US wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor, and inflicted it on the innocent victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The US again wanted revenge for 9-11, and inflicted it on the innocent victims in Iraq.
This desire for revenge is not solely psychological. It is culturally embodied in morality; and morality is institutionalized in religion. Morality is inextricable from the Abrahamic religions, beginning with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, and this morality is almost always a revenge-morality, the morality of self-righteous accusation and punishment, beginning with the accusation and punishment of Adam and Eve. Talionic justice (“an eye for an eye”) has a long, multicultural history; it is expressed in the Book of Exodus. Revenge is the negation of forgiveness, and morality must be revenge-morality unless religion devotion can attain to a vision of forgiveness.
Furthermore, revenge-morality is implanted in the psychological makeup of every individual in the form of the superego (which Freud said is the same as the conscience). It is in the nature of the superego of every one of us that it is extremely sadistic and unforgiving; it is therefore perfectly suited for the internalization of revenge-morality. In private life, morality turns everyone into Mr. or Ms. Nose-of-Wax by means of moral accusation, which is the fulcrum of revenge-morality. The history of the nations, a hamster-wheel on which victims are perpetually turned into persecutors, is a history of paranoid revenge-morality. The propaganda with which the nations justify the evil they do invariably depends on hypocritical, sanctimonious, self-righteous, moral accusation. The human race is always drunk, individually, socially, and politically, in war and peace, on its own moral self-righteousness. Dr. Lee writes, “Human psychology dictates that the greatest atrocities and ‘evil’ will be committed in the name of religion.” It is also true that religion dictates that the greatest evil will be committed in the name of psychology—that is, in the name of individuals’ and nations’ psychological demands for “moral justice.”
Your reply reminds me of the triad: victim (or target/survivor), perpetrator (or abuser), and rescuer. It's complicated by a process of each taking on the roles of the other two at various times. The "victim," through angry grievance, can become a perpetrator; the rescuer can, too, if its perhaps overdone; etc. Of course, the perpetrator can have grievance through blame and put self forward as a victim (guess who?). Along with those who've worked with "victims" for healing, I think it best for victims to be one's own rescuer in the long run.
Great comments, Bandy. I am happy you devoted them to what is going on in Israel. The utlra-orthodox Jews are in the minority but, as Fareed Zachariah pointed out in his Sunday show, they have an average of 8 children and are rapidly increasing in numbers. They don't want their kids to learn Math and Science and not have to work or serve in the military. It is pretty disgusting.
There is another form of ultra violent religious cult in the world. It's called Hindu zionism or Hindutva. Hindutva is allied with Israeli Zionists. The most prominent feature of Hindutva is mission to wipe out Indian Muslims and make India a Hindu nation. Hindutva terrorists murdered Gandhi (who believed in secular Indian state). However, one critical feature of Hindutva is that it's also anti-christian. The attacks on Christians, the rapes of nuns & christian minority women, vandalization of churches is carried out by Hindutva militants. Present dictator of Hindutva agenda is Indian PM Modi who presided over mass murder of Muslims in Indian state of Gujarat. He was sanctioned by US State Deptt for 12 years but after he won elections (India is potemkin Democracy with sham elections), the sanctions were lifted. Now Biden has become friends with Modi because US wants to use Hindutva regime of India against China's communists.
https://theconversation.com/why-indias-hindu-nationalists-worship-israels-nation-state-model-111450
I don't believe in any religion. Religion imho is normalized delusions.
Religion that has this influence is described in scripture at Revelation 17:2, pictured as a bedecked whore sitting on “many waters,” which are explained in verse 15 as “peoples and crowds and nations.” She is rich from her relationship with the “kings of the earth” (verse 2) and she makes the people “drunk” with the “wine of her immorality.” A better description of wicked religion could hardly be found. Not just one religion, but all of them who act this way.
But it really gets interesting in verse 16 and 17: the “kings” of our day will be moved by God himself to turn on her and destroy her utterly. Why? See verse 6, and verses 5-8 in chapter 18.
When? Who knows. But that moment seems to be developing.
This doesn’t make those “kings” God’s friends. They meet their end in chapter 19 (verses 17-21). This is the long awaited “Armageddon.” It doesn’t end all life on earth, far from it. It opens the way for a new era, a peaceful new world.
If you believe God really exists, and is not merely something inside us, an invention of our psychological needs, this is the most comforting news, a sure hope that will see us through these times. Steady on.