Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains
Malcolm Pollack and Mark Lewis cut to the heart of the matter.
Prominent commentators are beginning to speak the truth about our political opponents: they are not good people. Kurt Schlichter is one. Mark Levin is another.
UPDATE (5/28)
More proof that our political opponents are not good people, and this from an unlikely source.
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Let us go further than calling Biden, Obama, Hillary, Francis, and all such monsters “not good people.” They are Evil, and they need to be called what they are. One of the causes of WW2 was the inability of many, many people to recognize radical Evil. Chamberlain failed spectacularly, of course. But Halifax would have cut a deal with Hitler. I am linking an article about that. Churchill saw with clear eyes, and the hand of God was on him, and he saved civilization. Let’s not squander it. Memorial day, of all days, should remind us of our duties. And Hitler was outside the gates. Evil now, is inside them. God help us. It will take that.
Link:
https://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/1/1696/how-can-they-have-been-so-wrong-the-appeasers-who-failed-to-recognise-pure-evil
Well, Joe, I am trying to moderate my righteous anger. There is a serious problem here for those of us who are not secularists but spiritual seekers. A serious problem and a dangerous temptation, namely, the temptation to sacrifice our equanimity on the altar of hate. The temptation is to think that our hatred for the bastards is justified since without hate we will not be able to combat them effectively — and if we don’t all is lost.
You are attracted to Eastern Orthodoxy as I am. From this morning’s reading of Vladimir Lossky:
>>The contemplation of this absolute perfection, of this divine plenitude which is the Trinity . . . lifts the human soul beyond the world of being , changing and confused, in bestowing upon it this stability in the midst of passions; this serenity, or apatheia which is the beginning of deification (theosis).<< (The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, p. 48)
First light is approaching and it is time to prepare for the morning ride, but later in the day I hope to explain the problem we face more clearly.
The problem in a nutshell is that we cannot surrender this world to the monsters you mention, but we must if we are not to lose the “pearl of great price.”
More later. To the bike, and the sunrise!
Joe,
Here is a further attempt at clarification. A few posts ago I said that chess was useful for getting my mind off the “filthy Dems” and what they are doing to the country. And then, shortly thereafter, I picked up a book, *The Roots of Christian Mysticism,* and happened to open it right to a page where I read:
>>The whole of virtue is comprised in the refusal to despise<< and then the author quotes John Climacus, *The Ladder of Divine Ascent*:
>>The failures of beginners result almost always from greed. In those who are making progress the failures come also from too high an opinion of oneself. In those nearing perfection they come solely from judging their neighbor.<<
And then Theodore of Pherme is quoted: >>There is no other virtue than that of not despising anyone<<
As you can see, I am conflicted.
Bro Bill, the line is between despising their Evil, and not despising the thin husks, and remaining contents of their battered souls, which may be left to the judgement of the Creator. But as for the Evil, Psalm 97:10. I think this would be a practical guide.
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