I think you would enjoy THE EMANCIPATION OF THE MIND: Radical Philosophy, the War over Slavery, and the Refounding of America, by Matthew Stewart.
The book's message could be summarized as: the justification for enslaving people was so deeply rooted in biblical thinking that undoing slavery required, in many ways, the adoption of an entirely new way of thinking (in this case, German philosophy). It's a good companion to GOD, HUMAN, ANIMAL MACHINE: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning, by Meghan O'Gieblyn, which discusses how the world has become disenchanted, the supernatural worldview of The Christian no longer capable of dealing with or even viewing the actual world, especially one where mediocre white men are presumed to be superior just because of their pale penises.
What's relevant for today is that the evangelicals and conservatives are trying to force that same magical thinking on America again through violence, legislation and a corrupt judiciary as detailed in their Project 2025--but America's not having it, their revanchist, backward positions utterly unpopular, if not reviled. Because ultimately they want to make slaves of us all again, not just Blacks, in order to make the mediocre white men of MAGA--the mudsill whose inability to handle hard work created the need for slavery--feel better about themselves.
not happy about this comment. it seems to me the necessary complement to the madness on the Right. Not explicitly violent itself, it gives the Right the excuse for feeling in danger from the Left. i would notice this about the "GOD, HUMAN, ANIMAL, MACHINE" which sounds like Trump's "cognitive test," Note that it goes from evil religion down through human and animal to Machine....which looks to me like the evil we are driving ourselves toward. i may be misreading this, but our evil "pale penises" does not reassure me. i don;t have any answers...but i will suggest that if anyone actually reads, say, the gospel according to matthew they might notice a remarkable lack of magical thinking, and some suggestions about finding sanity and getting along with neighbors not of your own tribe or religion.
Fair point, but kindness towards others would be considered woke to the Republicans, and what they want or do, such as Trump not getting injured more severely, is considered ordained by their god, as Trump said himself on Truth Social.
that's true. but because the MAGAs are addled doesn't mean we don't need to try to avoid thinking in the same ways ourselves. i have known a lot of men, and some of them not very nice people, but i think most of them try to be. Lumping them all together as privileged by pale penises is ...unh...an unhelpful overgeneralization. i can assure you that dropping this kind of rhetoric, and overcoming this kind of thinking, would not be considered woke. or, if it would, maybe the "woke"..whoever they are, if there are any at all, need to think more carefully about what they think, say, and believe...that drives the MG's crazy...or gives their leaders the basic material they need to drive them crazy.
be sure i regard MAGA as the most dangerous thing to come to America since the lead up to the Civil War. the apologists for slavery did resort to twisting the language of the bible, but the anti-slavery movement was inspired by people who read the same bible but drew a different meaning. and for what it's worth,my own reading leads me to believe that Jesus' teching was exactly against the superstition that had crept into Judaism over time. superstition is not the same as belief in the super-natural.
To demonstrate just how hard he said the test really was, he went on television to recite, over and over, the words that he had been asked to remember in the right order: “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”
They could have just used the teachings of Jesus from the Gospels. In fact that is exactly what the abolitionists used to fight slavery. Too many so-called Christians justify their hateful, violent beliefs by referring to the Old Testament because Jesus clearly stood against those things.
For example many rightwing “Christians” refer to the story of King David, who sent Uriah to die in battle so he could have his wife Bathsheba for himself, to rationalize supporting immoral leaders. The Old Testament says King David was a great leader despite the horrible things he did, therefore great men should not be held to the same standards as ordinary folks. They are allowed to murder, commit adultery, etc. and still be Christian leaders.
The lunatics have the megaphones, and it's very possible we are going to see tragic events come to pass that will dwarf those that took place in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. And they will be fomented not by "the left," whoever they are, but by the degenerate Republican party.
Trump is the mot dangerous man ever to be born on American soil, and the attempt to kill him has made him, and his cult, giddy with blame and dreams of revenge. Trump has always been a stupid man with a need to be famous and a hunger for attention. He's now getting it, at last. And he's surrounded himself with people who are using Trump as a useful idiot who will carry out their agenda by feeding him with flattery.
I think you would enjoy THE EMANCIPATION OF THE MIND: Radical Philosophy, the War over Slavery, and the Refounding of America, by Matthew Stewart.
The book's message could be summarized as: the justification for enslaving people was so deeply rooted in biblical thinking that undoing slavery required, in many ways, the adoption of an entirely new way of thinking (in this case, German philosophy). It's a good companion to GOD, HUMAN, ANIMAL MACHINE: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning, by Meghan O'Gieblyn, which discusses how the world has become disenchanted, the supernatural worldview of The Christian no longer capable of dealing with or even viewing the actual world, especially one where mediocre white men are presumed to be superior just because of their pale penises.
What's relevant for today is that the evangelicals and conservatives are trying to force that same magical thinking on America again through violence, legislation and a corrupt judiciary as detailed in their Project 2025--but America's not having it, their revanchist, backward positions utterly unpopular, if not reviled. Because ultimately they want to make slaves of us all again, not just Blacks, in order to make the mediocre white men of MAGA--the mudsill whose inability to handle hard work created the need for slavery--feel better about themselves.
not happy about this comment. it seems to me the necessary complement to the madness on the Right. Not explicitly violent itself, it gives the Right the excuse for feeling in danger from the Left. i would notice this about the "GOD, HUMAN, ANIMAL, MACHINE" which sounds like Trump's "cognitive test," Note that it goes from evil religion down through human and animal to Machine....which looks to me like the evil we are driving ourselves toward. i may be misreading this, but our evil "pale penises" does not reassure me. i don;t have any answers...but i will suggest that if anyone actually reads, say, the gospel according to matthew they might notice a remarkable lack of magical thinking, and some suggestions about finding sanity and getting along with neighbors not of your own tribe or religion.
Fair point, but kindness towards others would be considered woke to the Republicans, and what they want or do, such as Trump not getting injured more severely, is considered ordained by their god, as Trump said himself on Truth Social.
Stephen
that's true. but because the MAGAs are addled doesn't mean we don't need to try to avoid thinking in the same ways ourselves. i have known a lot of men, and some of them not very nice people, but i think most of them try to be. Lumping them all together as privileged by pale penises is ...unh...an unhelpful overgeneralization. i can assure you that dropping this kind of rhetoric, and overcoming this kind of thinking, would not be considered woke. or, if it would, maybe the "woke"..whoever they are, if there are any at all, need to think more carefully about what they think, say, and believe...that drives the MG's crazy...or gives their leaders the basic material they need to drive them crazy.
be sure i regard MAGA as the most dangerous thing to come to America since the lead up to the Civil War. the apologists for slavery did resort to twisting the language of the bible, but the anti-slavery movement was inspired by people who read the same bible but drew a different meaning. and for what it's worth,my own reading leads me to believe that Jesus' teching was exactly against the superstition that had crept into Judaism over time. superstition is not the same as belief in the super-natural.
Trump's cognitive test"
To demonstrate just how hard he said the test really was, he went on television to recite, over and over, the words that he had been asked to remember in the right order: “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”
They could have just used the teachings of Jesus from the Gospels. In fact that is exactly what the abolitionists used to fight slavery. Too many so-called Christians justify their hateful, violent beliefs by referring to the Old Testament because Jesus clearly stood against those things.
For example many rightwing “Christians” refer to the story of King David, who sent Uriah to die in battle so he could have his wife Bathsheba for himself, to rationalize supporting immoral leaders. The Old Testament says King David was a great leader despite the horrible things he did, therefore great men should not be held to the same standards as ordinary folks. They are allowed to murder, commit adultery, etc. and still be Christian leaders.
The lunatics have the megaphones, and it's very possible we are going to see tragic events come to pass that will dwarf those that took place in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. And they will be fomented not by "the left," whoever they are, but by the degenerate Republican party.
Trump is the mot dangerous man ever to be born on American soil, and the attempt to kill him has made him, and his cult, giddy with blame and dreams of revenge. Trump has always been a stupid man with a need to be famous and a hunger for attention. He's now getting it, at last. And he's surrounded himself with people who are using Trump as a useful idiot who will carry out their agenda by feeding him with flattery.
So I liked the Fox headline. Trump ducked. And let the fire chief take the bullet. The fire chief covered his family. Trump ducked.
And has he uttered even one word of sympathy for this man's family, or concern for the wounded?
We go Joe!