Many thanks for another excellent, enlightening essay. I discovered your work only six months ago, and have gone through only a portion thus far, finding a tremendous treasury of nutritious food for thought.
Born 1943 in the academic community of Southern California, I was not brought up Christian, so didn't get the programming that burdens (to be honest) so many of my fellows. The last several years I've been spending a lot of time at the "freeze peach" social website Gab.com (which I expect you've heard about), and been struck by innumerable posts from Americans (and other Westerners) concerned about what has become of our civilization, and where it looks to be going (a concern I very much share). And, of course, the role played by "our elder brothers in the Faith" in these events. And by the fact that so many of these same complainers advocate Moar Christianity as the solution to the problems we face.
I've never known much about Christianity, but though I have known (and heard of) a few sincere Christians who impressed me positively, my overall impression has been rather negative. (My father – a WW2 vet – endured a "Christian upbringing", which was why I didn't; he did me a lot of damage due to his own damaged condition, but that at least he was able to spare me.)
Increasingly I've been wondering Why? How has it come about that such a small, distinct (if one is paying attention) minority group seems to have totally taken over, and is now running the whole show for their benefit? How did we end up in a situation where in our recent "election" the choice was simply between two groups of Chosen, which were to rule us – with no self-rule option on the ballot?
(There was indeed a significant difference between the two, which was why I voted, for the first time in 36 years. I'm not happy with the result, but it sure beats the looming alternative, and at least we have a little more time perhaps to decide if we really want to remain slaves for the rest of whatever history we may have remaining.)
So then a post at Gab alerted me to your book "From Yahweh to Zion", I went looking, found your archive at Unz, and began reading. Which shortly resulted in my posting links to your work at Gab. The result has been… well, what you might expect. I've been insulted, abused, excoriated… blocked by more than 150 people… and mostly ignored. A handful have offered at least calm replies, but all have been variations on the proposal that "The Jews are not the real Jews, because, see, we (Christians) are the real Jews." Apparently this rather pilpul (פלפול) reasoning is sufficient to prove that everything is okay, no worries.
(I am also unusual in that I know far more about the Jews than almost any of the "anti-Semites" at Gab. In my youth ~60 years ago I was philo-Semite, fascinated with the people, their history, languages, culture, and religion. I married a Jewish girl, 60 years ago last month (after 3 years, adventures, parted amicably, no issue, thank God). Even briefly considered conversion (after all, I was already circumcised). Having, like many Americans, little sense of identity, I found their strong one interesting and attractive. And I've had Jewish friends ever since high school, still do, nice folks – which also gets me abuse at Gab. Sometimes….)
Nevertheless I continue to post, whenever I see another complaint about "Da Joos", variants of the text below:
"So long as White people continue to worship the Jews' bloodthirsty, psychopathic G-d יהוה (YHVH, whom Christians call "Yahweh") we will remain in thrall to (and envious of) that G-d's favorite people. Who will use us as they wish. It cannot logically be any other way: 'The borrower is servant to the lender.' (Proverbs 22:7) Americans even circumcise their sons, marking us as slaves of the Chosen (as Abraham did to his slaves, who were not thereby freed). Only if/when we find our own inner strength, our validity as a people, from within ourselves – rather than borrowed from another people who despise us – will we escape our bondage. If you want to get the Jews out of your government (and your life), you must first get them out of your religion."
For instance, here: https://gab.com/AmatorVeri/posts/113971387344892547. And I finally got around to making a general post on the subject in my Profile Timeline: https://gab.com/AmatorVeri. More can also be found by clicking the "Comments" button – over 10K I've posted in four years, a significant portion on what I call the "JCQ".
I am very busy, overwhelmed with things that need doing, primarily dealing with long term chronic illness triggered by – as I eventually realized – the deeply buried trauma of the circumcision I experienced at birth, which came back to the surface in 1993 as a horrific PTSD flashback episode (a tour of hell for several days), resulting in several decades of both physical and psychoemotional distresses. (I have been most interested in your comments on this subject, and can confirm: It is a horrendous trauma, though almost totally unrecognized. But I see its effects everywhere in our culture.)
Anyway, I apologize if this comment is overlong; I tend to do that, as my mind is constantly seeing connections and patterns. Which I enjoy following up – when I can find the time/energy. I'll have more to say about your work. (Almost every paragraph in your essay sparks thoughts to share.) But for now: My most profound thanks. I hope in time your work can come to be recognized for its real importance – if indeed our people can rekindle an interest in survival.
Nietzsche knew about censorship:"As a general rule,only the truth has always been suppressed."
Or Theodor Fontane(1819-1898):"When you are angrily denounced,with the police at your door,then you have spoken the truth.For the reason why people are silenced,is not because they lie,but because they speak the truth.When people lie,their own words can be used against them,but when they speak the truth,there can be no logical argument,only violence as an antidote.
Thanks for the Likes, folks. After my starvation diet at Gab, it's encouraging to know there are some who get it. If you like what I'm trying to do there, you might find this morning's post of interest: https://gab.com/AmatorVeri/posts/113980357955627581. Blessings.
Also, anyone can make an account at Gab, and post whatever they like. It can get gnarly, but that's "free speech". (Gab's ToS is simple: the First Amendment to the Constitution of the USA, only exception that pornography is not allowed.) Join me if you feel inclined.
Thanks for your reply. However, I just clicked on the word LIKED (10) (shown in red), it blinked and changed to LIKE (9) in grey. So looks like it did what I wanted, removing the LIKE I'd added by mistake. If I click it again, it once again changes to LIKED (10) in red. Same results if I click on the ❤️. Anyway, I can see who has Liked my comment on my Activity page.
Brilliant, indeed more so than I was wont to imagine, this despite my foreknowledge of your overall position on such deep matters as foundational ethno-religion as it pertains to the last 2000 years of European life. Though I haven't read your works yet, I found myself already in the same territory as you. This not because of some odd foible, that the greater the minds the more alike they think (which is actually nonsense), but because the better the soil the more similarly healthy the flora, that soil being the reality of the world and that flora being the vitality of theses loyal to reality.
We don't think exactly alike either, and I'm not prone to arbitrarily assess "the greatness" of minds anyway, as that is a multidimensional analysis for which most great minds know a bit of modesty is in order before approaching. Indeed, I have a disagreement born of alignment, for reasons perhaps stemming from a boldness I can't even defend, a disagreement about the probity of maintaining Christianity, even with, or perhaps especially because of its adaptation of some minimal potential space for the WEIRD man to rekindle his connection to his blood essence, namely and as you say, the cult of the family.
I think we are all far better off when we go cold turkey from anything insidious and pernicious, especially if it develops some sort of "reaction formation" to sustain itself, which is indeed the compromise it formed with its non-jewish host: You can keep your kin, but only after you commit a profound sacrifice of the soul, a "circumcision of the heart" as they so disgustingly recommended through the Pauline weaponization against non-jews of which you are acutely and deeply aware.
I recommend a New Baptism of a Nietzschean order. It is the only thing that can unify the blood essence among so many White folk, with so many diverse backgrounds and personal aspects, and bring them all together into one tent of unity which, I would declare, is both necessary and sufficient for the needed transformation in racial consciousness which must take place if the White race, in both blood and soul, is to survive in any recognizable form.
I don't think Nietzsche is the right vehicle. He's just too much of an elitist and, just too *German*. I love the guy, but I would not offer 'The Geneology of Morals' or 'The Gay Science' to a White person working three part-time jobs as an 'assist' with their racial consciousness. What people like you and I first need to do is show racial loyalty to the Whites we meet during our daily lives. 'Philosophy' is a luxury.
Excellent essay. You ask 'The biggest mystery of all is why the Romans swallowed it.' I have an idea. The ancient system of 'patriarchy' was tied to real estate, to territorial control. If you look at the decline of 'ancestor worship' and 'ancestral duty', we see a concommitant (and preceding) decline in territorial control by the 'patriarchal' families who truly practiced ancestral duty and the ongoing presence of 'duty to the family name (blood)'.
As the Romans allowed Roman families to sell their estates *including the burial grounds of their ancestors*, the ability for 'patriarchy' to maintain the connection between the living and the dead was gradually eroded to nothing. The same thing happened as the lands on which these burial grounds existed were seized by enemies of Rome (including Christians).
But there might be a solution to the 'real estate' and 'territorial control' problem: Family name and family urns.
I was fortunate to have a father who reminded us that outside the home, we 'represented the family name' and to no behave in a way that besmirched it. In the context of an entire civilization trying to get Whites to ignore both their families and their race, this admonition did not work for some of his children (but did work for others). Perhaps returning to this practice of emphasizing 'the family name' and 'family legacy' might be one element of a return to a more natural and less racially-destructive path.
I mention 'family urns' because, to the extent that war and conniving (((bankers))) can cause one to lose the lands of one's ancestors, we need a way to keeping them with us. Cremation into a collective urn would be one way to emphasize the collective nature of one's own.
Family urns are a good idea. I've seen family shrines in Japanese homes, not in all but often enough. An urn could be placed in something like these to emphasize the sacral character.
Jung has nothing to do with Darwin and the 'materialism' of Jung simply isn't. Jung is more of an archaic thinker and is really doing 'ancestor worship' under a different name.
I don't think Freud and Jung are the same at all in their approach to 'healing'.
In the long decades since the creation of 'mental therapy' it turns out that almost every form of therapy has the same success rate (about 20%).
Now, if I had a system where the choice was between recovering 20% of my investment and losing 100% of my investment, I'd take the former, wouldn't you?
Freud may not have helped anyone but he opened the floodgates to a 'profession' that did.
But, I agree that Freud was a liar and I'd go so far as to say he was a monster. When is female jewish patients told him about their dreams of having sex with their fathers, he eventually figured out that, in fact, jewish fathers were frequently committing incest with their daughters. But he suppressed this reality in order to conceal this part of jewish life.
Instead, he created two lies, the 'Oedipal Complex' and the 'Electra Complex'.
Notice how Freud used non-jewish mythological figures to describe this violation of the family rather than use *judeo-christian* (Pentateuch). And in both cases, he blames the child, not the parent.
Ok. Constantine after the Civil War fundamentally changed what his father had helped preserve. His decision for New Faith to solidify his power over time begat Theodosius. Had Theodosius not ruled there would not be Christianity.
I've long been fascinated with an infamous radio preacher, Brother Stair (who died 3 or 4 years ago) who was a shortwave legend for his 24hour, world-wide broadcasts of his nutty (but well-versed) Christianity. He's been my main source for pure, no apologies NT Christianity, not that namby-pamby stuff the churches peddle.
Now and then he would mock, with his characteristic hysteria, any notion of family ties, etc. NO, Mommy isn't looking down on you from heaven; NO, you won't be reunited with your dead wife, etc. First of all, no one but Jesus is in Heaven; the dead are dead, until resurrected on Judgement Day. Even then, if you and your Mom or wife meet in Heaven, you won't remember each other anyway. All you do in Heaven is adore God, shouting "Holy Holy Holy" for eternity. All this was very well founded in a literal reading of the NT, before all that "interpreting" went on for centuries, trying to make it more palatable.
One of many reasons why the Christian idea of Heaven sounds more like Hell.
Excellent! Your thesis resonates with what I read in the Codex Oera Linda (said to be the ancestral writings of the Frisia (Fryas), dating back to 2600 BCE https://oeralinda.org/en/about-oera-linda/ ). A passage from 803 CE reads:
Dear heirs,
For our beloved ancestors’ sake, and for the sake of our precious freedom, a thousand times I beg you — dearest to never let the eyes of a monk pass over these writings.
They speak sweet words, but they subtly distort all that concerns us Fryas.
To gain rich endowments,3 they collaborate with the puppet kings, who pay them well.
These know that we are their greatest enemies, because we dare speak to their people about freedom, justice, and the obligations of the nobility.
Therefore, they want to obliterate all traces of our ancestral heritage and what is left of our morals.
My dear ones! I have visited their palace.
If Wralda permits, and if we fail to strengthen ourselves, they will exterminate us all.
Written in Liudwerd, year eight hundred and three in Christian understanding.
I think you are on to something here. Aligns with the process of strenthening and purifying the spirit by aligning with one's ancestors, being willing to examine your history and lineage, to atone and address unfinished business, to close the loop and increase the reciprocation of forces leads to more and more refinement of spirit
While I haven't always agreed with you, your work is always exceptional. But in this case, your work is not only exceptional but you are apparently reading my mind, though you said it better than I could in a thousand million years. Our people need you, Laurent. Keep the flame.
I don’t think your theory about the emphasis on individual salvation in Christianity undermining the family makes any sense at all, much less the frankly crazy idea about reviving ancestor worship.
I am not a Christian, but it is obvious to anyone who has had at least some exposure to people who genuinely practice their faith , that the family is a cornerstone of that faith. The same applies to people of any faith be it Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish etc. All of these state that salvation is individual, but duty to family (without undue attachment ) as well as yearning for God must be balanced . The sayings of Jesus you quote lack any real context, and using these as part of your argument “that Christianity undermined the family” is at best self serving.
Thanks. Another nuanced view on the multi trillion dollar "Antichrist-Question". We should make up our minds, to take over again the steering wheel of our lives.
It would be great to have someone commenting on Greek philosophy analyze the 150 Delphic maxims. It seems to me they are an expression of a timeless (Western?) ethos, that could form the basis for a future society, perhaps including one where e.g. Christianity or Islam could be added "on top" of that base, for those so inclined.
Synchronicity! Here's Academic Agent, this very day, talking about how at a certain point empires require a universalistic religion to keep the subjects "grilling and paying taxes." From Persia to England to the USA, empires require a tolerant and universal religion as a unifying factor. This addresses the question of "Why did the Romans do it?" At 14:00 he brings in the Mongols, who, once they established their vast khanate, realized they couldn't impose their shamanistic religion and force Chinese, etc. to worship Mongol ancestors. You have ancestor worship or empire, but not both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNb5GZTqPg0
Cher M. Guyénot,
Many thanks for another excellent, enlightening essay. I discovered your work only six months ago, and have gone through only a portion thus far, finding a tremendous treasury of nutritious food for thought.
Born 1943 in the academic community of Southern California, I was not brought up Christian, so didn't get the programming that burdens (to be honest) so many of my fellows. The last several years I've been spending a lot of time at the "freeze peach" social website Gab.com (which I expect you've heard about), and been struck by innumerable posts from Americans (and other Westerners) concerned about what has become of our civilization, and where it looks to be going (a concern I very much share). And, of course, the role played by "our elder brothers in the Faith" in these events. And by the fact that so many of these same complainers advocate Moar Christianity as the solution to the problems we face.
I've never known much about Christianity, but though I have known (and heard of) a few sincere Christians who impressed me positively, my overall impression has been rather negative. (My father – a WW2 vet – endured a "Christian upbringing", which was why I didn't; he did me a lot of damage due to his own damaged condition, but that at least he was able to spare me.)
Increasingly I've been wondering Why? How has it come about that such a small, distinct (if one is paying attention) minority group seems to have totally taken over, and is now running the whole show for their benefit? How did we end up in a situation where in our recent "election" the choice was simply between two groups of Chosen, which were to rule us – with no self-rule option on the ballot?
(There was indeed a significant difference between the two, which was why I voted, for the first time in 36 years. I'm not happy with the result, but it sure beats the looming alternative, and at least we have a little more time perhaps to decide if we really want to remain slaves for the rest of whatever history we may have remaining.)
So then a post at Gab alerted me to your book "From Yahweh to Zion", I went looking, found your archive at Unz, and began reading. Which shortly resulted in my posting links to your work at Gab. The result has been… well, what you might expect. I've been insulted, abused, excoriated… blocked by more than 150 people… and mostly ignored. A handful have offered at least calm replies, but all have been variations on the proposal that "The Jews are not the real Jews, because, see, we (Christians) are the real Jews." Apparently this rather pilpul (פלפול) reasoning is sufficient to prove that everything is okay, no worries.
(I am also unusual in that I know far more about the Jews than almost any of the "anti-Semites" at Gab. In my youth ~60 years ago I was philo-Semite, fascinated with the people, their history, languages, culture, and religion. I married a Jewish girl, 60 years ago last month (after 3 years, adventures, parted amicably, no issue, thank God). Even briefly considered conversion (after all, I was already circumcised). Having, like many Americans, little sense of identity, I found their strong one interesting and attractive. And I've had Jewish friends ever since high school, still do, nice folks – which also gets me abuse at Gab. Sometimes….)
Nevertheless I continue to post, whenever I see another complaint about "Da Joos", variants of the text below:
"So long as White people continue to worship the Jews' bloodthirsty, psychopathic G-d יהוה (YHVH, whom Christians call "Yahweh") we will remain in thrall to (and envious of) that G-d's favorite people. Who will use us as they wish. It cannot logically be any other way: 'The borrower is servant to the lender.' (Proverbs 22:7) Americans even circumcise their sons, marking us as slaves of the Chosen (as Abraham did to his slaves, who were not thereby freed). Only if/when we find our own inner strength, our validity as a people, from within ourselves – rather than borrowed from another people who despise us – will we escape our bondage. If you want to get the Jews out of your government (and your life), you must first get them out of your religion."
For instance, here: https://gab.com/AmatorVeri/posts/113971387344892547. And I finally got around to making a general post on the subject in my Profile Timeline: https://gab.com/AmatorVeri. More can also be found by clicking the "Comments" button – over 10K I've posted in four years, a significant portion on what I call the "JCQ".
I am very busy, overwhelmed with things that need doing, primarily dealing with long term chronic illness triggered by – as I eventually realized – the deeply buried trauma of the circumcision I experienced at birth, which came back to the surface in 1993 as a horrific PTSD flashback episode (a tour of hell for several days), resulting in several decades of both physical and psychoemotional distresses. (I have been most interested in your comments on this subject, and can confirm: It is a horrendous trauma, though almost totally unrecognized. But I see its effects everywhere in our culture.)
Anyway, I apologize if this comment is overlong; I tend to do that, as my mind is constantly seeing connections and patterns. Which I enjoy following up – when I can find the time/energy. I'll have more to say about your work. (Almost every paragraph in your essay sparks thoughts to share.) But for now: My most profound thanks. I hope in time your work can come to be recognized for its real importance – if indeed our people can rekindle an interest in survival.
Best wishes, Phil Alethes
Nietzsche knew about censorship:"As a general rule,only the truth has always been suppressed."
Or Theodor Fontane(1819-1898):"When you are angrily denounced,with the police at your door,then you have spoken the truth.For the reason why people are silenced,is not because they lie,but because they speak the truth.When people lie,their own words can be used against them,but when they speak the truth,there can be no logical argument,only violence as an antidote.
Thanks for the Likes, folks. After my starvation diet at Gab, it's encouraging to know there are some who get it. If you like what I'm trying to do there, you might find this morning's post of interest: https://gab.com/AmatorVeri/posts/113980357955627581. Blessings.
Also, anyone can make an account at Gab, and post whatever they like. It can get gnarly, but that's "free speech". (Gab's ToS is simple: the First Amendment to the Constitution of the USA, only exception that pornography is not allowed.) Join me if you feel inclined.
Oops, I clicked on the ❤️ to see who had Liked my comment, but it added a Like from me. Does anyone know how I could remove that? TIA.
Yes, just click it again to remove the "like". Then, to see who's liked your comment, click on the word "like" rather than the heart.
Thanks for your reply. However, I just clicked on the word LIKED (10) (shown in red), it blinked and changed to LIKE (9) in grey. So looks like it did what I wanted, removing the LIKE I'd added by mistake. If I click it again, it once again changes to LIKED (10) in red. Same results if I click on the ❤️. Anyway, I can see who has Liked my comment on my Activity page.
Brilliant, indeed more so than I was wont to imagine, this despite my foreknowledge of your overall position on such deep matters as foundational ethno-religion as it pertains to the last 2000 years of European life. Though I haven't read your works yet, I found myself already in the same territory as you. This not because of some odd foible, that the greater the minds the more alike they think (which is actually nonsense), but because the better the soil the more similarly healthy the flora, that soil being the reality of the world and that flora being the vitality of theses loyal to reality.
We don't think exactly alike either, and I'm not prone to arbitrarily assess "the greatness" of minds anyway, as that is a multidimensional analysis for which most great minds know a bit of modesty is in order before approaching. Indeed, I have a disagreement born of alignment, for reasons perhaps stemming from a boldness I can't even defend, a disagreement about the probity of maintaining Christianity, even with, or perhaps especially because of its adaptation of some minimal potential space for the WEIRD man to rekindle his connection to his blood essence, namely and as you say, the cult of the family.
I think we are all far better off when we go cold turkey from anything insidious and pernicious, especially if it develops some sort of "reaction formation" to sustain itself, which is indeed the compromise it formed with its non-jewish host: You can keep your kin, but only after you commit a profound sacrifice of the soul, a "circumcision of the heart" as they so disgustingly recommended through the Pauline weaponization against non-jews of which you are acutely and deeply aware.
I recommend a New Baptism of a Nietzschean order. It is the only thing that can unify the blood essence among so many White folk, with so many diverse backgrounds and personal aspects, and bring them all together into one tent of unity which, I would declare, is both necessary and sufficient for the needed transformation in racial consciousness which must take place if the White race, in both blood and soul, is to survive in any recognizable form.
I don't think Nietzsche is the right vehicle. He's just too much of an elitist and, just too *German*. I love the guy, but I would not offer 'The Geneology of Morals' or 'The Gay Science' to a White person working three part-time jobs as an 'assist' with their racial consciousness. What people like you and I first need to do is show racial loyalty to the Whites we meet during our daily lives. 'Philosophy' is a luxury.
Excellent essay. You ask 'The biggest mystery of all is why the Romans swallowed it.' I have an idea. The ancient system of 'patriarchy' was tied to real estate, to territorial control. If you look at the decline of 'ancestor worship' and 'ancestral duty', we see a concommitant (and preceding) decline in territorial control by the 'patriarchal' families who truly practiced ancestral duty and the ongoing presence of 'duty to the family name (blood)'.
As the Romans allowed Roman families to sell their estates *including the burial grounds of their ancestors*, the ability for 'patriarchy' to maintain the connection between the living and the dead was gradually eroded to nothing. The same thing happened as the lands on which these burial grounds existed were seized by enemies of Rome (including Christians).
But there might be a solution to the 'real estate' and 'territorial control' problem: Family name and family urns.
I was fortunate to have a father who reminded us that outside the home, we 'represented the family name' and to no behave in a way that besmirched it. In the context of an entire civilization trying to get Whites to ignore both their families and their race, this admonition did not work for some of his children (but did work for others). Perhaps returning to this practice of emphasizing 'the family name' and 'family legacy' might be one element of a return to a more natural and less racially-destructive path.
I mention 'family urns' because, to the extent that war and conniving (((bankers))) can cause one to lose the lands of one's ancestors, we need a way to keeping them with us. Cremation into a collective urn would be one way to emphasize the collective nature of one's own.
Family urns are a good idea. I've seen family shrines in Japanese homes, not in all but often enough. An urn could be placed in something like these to emphasize the sacral character.
"how can Darwinism breathe new life into the peoples of Europe when it is a materialistic theory that allows no place to spiritual forces?"
Through recognizing and embracing the existence of what Carl Jung called the Collective Unconscious.
We carry within us a living race memory, or race soul, that we inherit genetically from our ancestors.
Jung has nothing to do with Darwin and the 'materialism' of Jung simply isn't. Jung is more of an archaic thinker and is really doing 'ancestor worship' under a different name.
Freud was a fraud, fake, liar. Charlatan. Pervert & a psycho. Jung was the same.
I don't think Freud and Jung are the same at all in their approach to 'healing'.
In the long decades since the creation of 'mental therapy' it turns out that almost every form of therapy has the same success rate (about 20%).
Now, if I had a system where the choice was between recovering 20% of my investment and losing 100% of my investment, I'd take the former, wouldn't you?
Freud may not have helped anyone but he opened the floodgates to a 'profession' that did.
But, I agree that Freud was a liar and I'd go so far as to say he was a monster. When is female jewish patients told him about their dreams of having sex with their fathers, he eventually figured out that, in fact, jewish fathers were frequently committing incest with their daughters. But he suppressed this reality in order to conceal this part of jewish life.
Instead, he created two lies, the 'Oedipal Complex' and the 'Electra Complex'.
Notice how Freud used non-jewish mythological figures to describe this violation of the family rather than use *judeo-christian* (Pentateuch). And in both cases, he blames the child, not the parent.
Ok. Constantine after the Civil War fundamentally changed what his father had helped preserve. His decision for New Faith to solidify his power over time begat Theodosius. Had Theodosius not ruled there would not be Christianity.
http://mountainman.com.au/essenes/
The Gnostic Gospels and Acts were authored 325-336 CE as a reaction to the Constantine Bible
Idea (2) Evidence of systematic Christian identify theft suggests Arius may not have been a Christian,
but in fact a Platonic theologian, and may be identified with the Gnostic Leucius Charinus
Idea (3) Constantine commissioned the fabrication of the New Testament and its history 312-324 CE
Index Chronological index of articles related to the field of ancient history in the 4th century.
Another thought-provoking essay!
I've long been fascinated with an infamous radio preacher, Brother Stair (who died 3 or 4 years ago) who was a shortwave legend for his 24hour, world-wide broadcasts of his nutty (but well-versed) Christianity. He's been my main source for pure, no apologies NT Christianity, not that namby-pamby stuff the churches peddle.
Now and then he would mock, with his characteristic hysteria, any notion of family ties, etc. NO, Mommy isn't looking down on you from heaven; NO, you won't be reunited with your dead wife, etc. First of all, no one but Jesus is in Heaven; the dead are dead, until resurrected on Judgement Day. Even then, if you and your Mom or wife meet in Heaven, you won't remember each other anyway. All you do in Heaven is adore God, shouting "Holy Holy Holy" for eternity. All this was very well founded in a literal reading of the NT, before all that "interpreting" went on for centuries, trying to make it more palatable.
One of many reasons why the Christian idea of Heaven sounds more like Hell.
Excellent! Your thesis resonates with what I read in the Codex Oera Linda (said to be the ancestral writings of the Frisia (Fryas), dating back to 2600 BCE https://oeralinda.org/en/about-oera-linda/ ). A passage from 803 CE reads:
Dear heirs,
For our beloved ancestors’ sake, and for the sake of our precious freedom, a thousand times I beg you — dearest to never let the eyes of a monk pass over these writings.
They speak sweet words, but they subtly distort all that concerns us Fryas.
To gain rich endowments,3 they collaborate with the puppet kings, who pay them well.
These know that we are their greatest enemies, because we dare speak to their people about freedom, justice, and the obligations of the nobility.
Therefore, they want to obliterate all traces of our ancestral heritage and what is left of our morals.
My dear ones! I have visited their palace.
If Wralda permits, and if we fail to strengthen ourselves, they will exterminate us all.
Written in Liudwerd, year eight hundred and three in Christian understanding.
Liko, surnamed Ovira Linda.
I think you are on to something here. Aligns with the process of strenthening and purifying the spirit by aligning with one's ancestors, being willing to examine your history and lineage, to atone and address unfinished business, to close the loop and increase the reciprocation of forces leads to more and more refinement of spirit
While I haven't always agreed with you, your work is always exceptional. But in this case, your work is not only exceptional but you are apparently reading my mind, though you said it better than I could in a thousand million years. Our people need you, Laurent. Keep the flame.
Bled
I don’t think your theory about the emphasis on individual salvation in Christianity undermining the family makes any sense at all, much less the frankly crazy idea about reviving ancestor worship.
I am not a Christian, but it is obvious to anyone who has had at least some exposure to people who genuinely practice their faith , that the family is a cornerstone of that faith. The same applies to people of any faith be it Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish etc. All of these state that salvation is individual, but duty to family (without undue attachment ) as well as yearning for God must be balanced . The sayings of Jesus you quote lack any real context, and using these as part of your argument “that Christianity undermined the family” is at best self serving.
Thanks. Another nuanced view on the multi trillion dollar "Antichrist-Question". We should make up our minds, to take over again the steering wheel of our lives.
It would be great to have someone commenting on Greek philosophy analyze the 150 Delphic maxims. It seems to me they are an expression of a timeless (Western?) ethos, that could form the basis for a future society, perhaps including one where e.g. Christianity or Islam could be added "on top" of that base, for those so inclined.
Synchronicity! Here's Academic Agent, this very day, talking about how at a certain point empires require a universalistic religion to keep the subjects "grilling and paying taxes." From Persia to England to the USA, empires require a tolerant and universal religion as a unifying factor. This addresses the question of "Why did the Romans do it?" At 14:00 he brings in the Mongols, who, once they established their vast khanate, realized they couldn't impose their shamanistic religion and force Chinese, etc. to worship Mongol ancestors. You have ancestor worship or empire, but not both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNb5GZTqPg0