tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post5928124606988395368..comments2024-03-01T14:27:35.794-08:00Comments on Albion Awakening: Truth and IdeologyBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-4405945410884631662019-01-06T22:34:11.886-08:002019-01-06T22:34:11.886-08:00@WmJas - It's a question of the necessary but ...@WmJas - It's a question of the necessary but not sufficient kind. A religion is necessary, but not sufficient, for basic, commonsensical sanity. <br /><br />Of course a person, or a society, does not go fully mad in the instant they exclude God and the spiritual; but the process begins. <br /><br />I find it amazing to observe how so many people go insanne through life, even in middle and old age, nowadays; so that instead of wise old men and women, there are throngs of absolute crazies, caricature teenagers in their sixties and seventies.<br /><br />(Actors and actresses etc. have apparently always been that way, but now ordinary people act like thespians.) Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-71606998129913297542019-01-06T22:04:05.697-08:002019-01-06T22:04:05.697-08:00"It is pretty clear that when God has been su..."It is pretty clear that when God has been subtracted and the spiritual excluded from human thinking, then people can (temporarily, but fanatically) become convinced about almost anything, and any number of starkly contradictory things - as in the case of the modern ideology of sex and sexuality."<br /><br />To be fair, Bruce, people can also be fanatically convinced of almost anything, and any number of starkly contradictory things, <i>by means of</i> the concepts of God and spirituality. The issue here is not really religion vs. irreligion, or spirituality vs. materialism, but, as William says, truth vs. ideology. Religious ideologies can be every bit as insane and toxic as secular ones.Wm Jas Tychonievichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07446790072877463982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-41936999788372221322019-01-05T04:05:06.247-08:002019-01-05T04:05:06.247-08:00No, I'd not seen that but I'll have a look...No, I'd not seen that but I'll have a look. Thanks.William Wildbloodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231219533755925897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-13183173434585797542019-01-04T12:27:01.521-08:002019-01-04T12:27:01.521-08:00I was wondering if you'd come across this in y...I was wondering if you'd come across this in your internet travels? https://modernmedievalism.blogspot.com<br />It seems relevant to some of the things you discuss here.<br />Keep up the good work!<br />Thomas Michaelsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-72607532286893085682019-01-04T08:38:17.833-08:002019-01-04T08:38:17.833-08:00"Man must confront ideas as master, lest he b..."Man must confront ideas as master, lest he become their slave." - This is the last paragraph in the opening section of Philosophy of Freedom. It endorses William's point that we have become cowed and enslaved by ideologies, even in the religious sphere. All of the comments concerning Steiner are interesting and, I think, accurate. I spent a few weekends at a Steiner farm and was saddened to discover how little anyone there knew or cared about Steiner's principle work. They were all left-wing ideologues. I never went back and, at the time, abandoned Steiner ("by their fruits, etc.") But I am rediscovering the value of his concept of freedom. It think that Christianity is the truth that will make us free, but it is not a set of propositions but a way of living, and no church or group can take the place of a freely chosen moral act.edwin faustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-19294984940986309612019-01-04T05:43:46.400-08:002019-01-04T05:43:46.400-08:00I think this goes back on a collective inflation o...I think this goes back on a collective inflation of the scientific mindset, which then backfired. Our age gives primacy to objective explanations, interpratations and descriptions of the world, not the subjective experience of it. From this comes ideology, which posits a consensual reality branded as "objective", where opposing views become merely "subjective", which in turn throws actual truth out the window because it can't be experienced anymore. This is why the poetic spirit is higher than the scientific mindset, because it senses the whole picture instead of pausing and analysing its parts. Man is not a fully developed creature. Psychology is the youngest of sciences and perhaps only the development of real spirituality will complete the pyramid and fully enlighten our being.Adilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12458942641355740167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-12560793929234465422019-01-03T05:23:19.269-08:002019-01-03T05:23:19.269-08:00@MS - "It has been said that Anthroposophy cu...@MS - "It has been said that Anthroposophy currently lies entombed. The concrete Goetheanum is the perfect symbol of this, preceded by the Wood of the First Building and the Death of its burning."<br /><br />I agree. From the photos and movies I have seen of the concrete Goetheanum, I regard it as a truly horrible, soul-crushing edifice; the effect amplified by the surrounding campus. <br /><br />I am, in fact, either indifferent to, or mildly repelled by, Steiner's artistic legacy - the original Goetheanum, the sculpture, artwork, eurythmics, music etc. If people enjoy it - this is fine by me!; but it would be an error to claim an intrinsic spiritually ennobling quality in Steiner's Art. <br /><br />Some kind of Steiner rebirth (focused on his core philosophical and spiritual ideas ideas, and rooted in Christianity like Steiner; but setting aside the great mass of applied stuff related to education, medicine, agriculture etc.) would indeed be a great thing - in a sense it is almost an essential thing. It is not quite essential because the necessary insights might come indirectly. For example, Owen Barfield or Jeremy Naydler might be a better way of learning Steiner than reading the man himself. <br /><br />Others seem independently to have reached the needful insights as articulated by Steiner (or some of them) by honest intuition. William Arkle is an example - although Arkle did, in fact, know a lot of Anthroposophists in Bristol during the 1950s-70s, and probably absorbed what he needed from them. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-34353618383154978222019-01-03T03:42:29.549-08:002019-01-03T03:42:29.549-08:00@Bruce. Indeed, modern Science has become no-less ...@Bruce. Indeed, modern Science has become no-less zombiefied. I should have scare-quoted the word lest it seemed I give it any honour or status.<br /><br />On the question of Anthroposophy - I can only sadly agree with you. But I found my way to Steiner independently of any official organisation. It has been said that Anthroposophy currently lies entombed. The concrete Goetheanum is the perfect symbol of this, preceded by the Wood of the First Building and the Death of its burning. It is to be hoped that some form of Resurrection may take place in the future.<br /><br />This imagery may sound somewhat sacrilegious as I know you have deep reservations regarding Steiner, but it does represent my own view of his legacy and his value to future humanity.Moonspherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015070450886972955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-65241942097981204182019-01-03T03:18:12.903-08:002019-01-03T03:18:12.903-08:00I think you are right, Moonsphere. As people have ...I think you are right, Moonsphere. As people have become separated from the idea of God they have developed what you call a zombie mindset. No God ultimately seems to lead to no real individual self.William Wildbloodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231219533755925897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-36509157340673701462019-01-03T03:18:06.242-08:002019-01-03T03:18:06.242-08:00@Moonsphere - "This outsourcing of ones own j...@Moonsphere - "This outsourcing of ones own judgement to external authority, especially to Science,"<br /><br />Science would be bad enough, but this is not real science, which has (for some thirty years) almost completely died out, to be replaced by bureaucratic careerism controlled by The Establishment - mainly by controlling grants and making grant-income the basis of jobs, promotions and status. Also by subjecting scientific communications to the full intensity of political correctness. <br /><br />https://corruption-of-science.blogspot.com/<br /><br />But you basic point of 'outsourcing' is surely correct. This is the Achilles heel of traditional, mainstream, church-rooted Christianity as well - the expectation that the adherent should outsource judgment to the institution. <br /><br />However, Anthroposophy has utterly failed to do anything different! - and the Anthropos Society is as converged to political correctness as the very worst actually-political, pseudo-Christian churches - such as Unitarians, The Episcopal Church in the USA, or the Methodists. This is partly due to faults and contradictions in Steiner himslef, and partly to the selective and distorted misreading of Steiner; contrary to his own wishes and instructions. <br /><br />At any rate, nowadays a serius Steiner scholar needs to set aside the Anthroposophical Society, much as a serious Anglican needs to set aside the Church of England. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-52870319149821722872019-01-03T02:34:44.380-08:002019-01-03T02:34:44.380-08:00You describe the situation very well. Whilst this ...You describe the situation very well. Whilst this has been a long time coming - a huge "leap forward" for this inhuman ideology has occurred only in the last 3 or 4 years. It is quite a thing to experience intense nostalgia for times as recent as 2014! We have moved into a demonically inspired phase of human existence that is no passing fad.<br /><br />As a student of Rudolf Steiner, I can't help but think that we now live in times where a substantial minority of western humans exist without a fully embedded "I". The result is this zombie mindset that characterises the western world today.<br /><br />In an online debate recently I was accused of "personal incredulity". I asked if there was any other kind. This was met with blank non-understanding. This outsourcing of ones own judgement to external authority, especially to Science, is now mandatory. What one could think and say freely just a few years ago, I fear may even lead to actual loss of liberty today.Moonspherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015070450886972955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7154359965221795553.post-37216370672499286322019-01-03T00:56:10.903-08:002019-01-03T00:56:10.903-08:00It is pretty clear that when God has been subtract...It is pretty clear that when God has been subtracted and the spiritual excluded from human thinking, then people can (temporarily, but fanatically) become convinced about almost anything, and any number of starkly contradictory things - as in the case of the modern ideology of sex and sexuality. <br /><br />But once enmeshed in this morrass of confusion, the capacity to escape is destroyed by the same factors that cause the confusion. Pseudo-social, fake-peer group pressure make people (esepcially women) afraid to disengage from the mass media - for fear of becoming socially incompetent and excluded. <br /><br />None of this could happen without a tendency to correction when the mind has a centre and potential for coherence; but the modern mind lacks this. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.com