Nicholas Berdyaev, a Russian Christian philosopher who fled the Soviet Union, expressed in The Fate of Man in the Modern World (1935) that as a Christian, communism and Nazism were modern forms of idolatry:
- · The world is witnessing the process of dehumanization in all phases of culture and of social life
- · A bestial cruelty towards man is a characteristic of the age, and this is astonishing since it displayed itself at the very peak of human refinement
- · The bestialism of the time is a continuation of the war, it has poisoned mankind with the blood of war
- · National passion is tearing the world and threatening the destruction of European culture
- · The results of the Christian-humanistic process of unifying seem to be disappearing.
- · Nationalism is polytheism: it is incompatible with monotheism
- · Nationalism turns nationality into a supreme and absolute value to which all life is subordinated – this is idolatry
- · Nationalism involves not only love of one’s own, but hatred of other nations, and hatred is usually a stronger motivation than love
- · If all of this racism and Nazism is pure and true, then if one is born a black or Jew, then he has no chance of salvation – even if he converts to Christianity
Christianity shares the same flaws.
ReplyDeleteThe far fight against individualism.
The far left and far right both tend towards a need to belong and reject individuality in favor of authority and society. They see this need to be obedient to cultural authorities as the only legitimate way to live.
They are wrong.
Without the individuals creativity and rationality society cannot survive yet every authoritarian must kill these in the individual because competition from other individuals is their biggest fear for though they will not admit it the representation of the leader is a sham. It is theft of the power of the individual.
The most common tactic used to take away choices is saying there is no right and wrong, good and bad and all is one is the only truth as defined by their rules. It takes away the process of selection and denies the perspective of the individual.
Is wrong to much of an absolute and definitive? What isnt defined? How far does a chair extend into the infinite at the scale of quantum fields?
Everything is an abstraction defined into existence which means that everything is perspective based and all meaning is created by conscious individuals.
The biggest problem with religion is the same as the biggest problem with representative politics. It brings extremes to the left and right which are totalitarian in their representation of the individual.
It is their aim to nullify you as a person. Whether fascist, capitalist or communist,
Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Hindi, these systems of social and cultural control are damaging to the individuals ability to choose their interests and seek to kill this necessity by means of destroying the ability to reason, act, communicate and otherwise make choices.
They all survive by convincing you to give up your choices in favor of their representation.