Saint-Simon, Comte Henri de

Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon

Saint-Simon, Comte Henri de (1760-1825)

Aristocrat and founder of French socialism, placed in jail during the French Revolution.

Saint-Simon’s writings remain influential in sociology. He had particular impact on the political views of Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857), especially with regard to progress.

Comte in turn influenced Emile Durkheim, one of the founding fathers of Sociology.

Saint-Simon reacted against the brutality of the French Revolution and advocated a society where science and technology would guide the workings of religion and politics.

His work included a belief in God but he wanted to strip away the dogmas of both Protestant and Catholic Christianity to get to the core of Jesus’ message as he saw it. He was particularly interested in the plight of the poor, believing that theory and practice should go hand in hand to elevate all peoples to the highest possible good.

Unfortunately he squandered his money and lived out his last days in severe poverty.

Tumba de Saint Simon by Cosmovisión / Juan Luis Sotillo

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Wells, H.G.

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Wells, H. G. (Herbert George, 1866-1946)

British author born in Bromley, Kent, who once taught at a Grammar School.

He went on to study biology and taught at the Universal Tutorial College while writing short stories on the side and dabbling in liberal-progressive politics and human rights issues.

The success of his short stories lead him to pursue a full-time writing career that produced over 100 books and articles.

Wells is regarded by many as the father of modern science fiction, a title also given to Jules Verne.

He is credited with authoring several classics, such as The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), The First Men in the Moon (1901), Men Like Gods (1923) and The Shape of Things to Come (1933).

Wells enjoyed immense popularity during his lifetime, although this began to diminish somewhat during his final years.

Concerning religion, in one letter he wrote

I can’t – in my present state anyhow – bank on religion. God has no thighs and no life. When one calls to him in the silence of the night he doesn’t turn over and say, ‘What is the trouble, Dear?’

Source » http://www.libidomag.com/nakedbrunch/archive/sexbiowells.html

Wells, however, did seem to have a mystical side:

At times, in the lonely silence of the night and in rare, lonely moments, I come upon a sort of communion of myself with something great that is not myself.

Source » http://ext.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/103/2/45

Among many other successful comedic and dramatic works, he additionally wrote an impressive two-volume Outline of History (1920).

Image Source:

• H. G. Wells – Sandgate – Project Gutenberg eText 13715.png

» Alien Possession Theory (APT)

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Evil

Evil The idea of evil has several meanings and different types of arguments try to explain its existence.

Some materialists and scientists scoff at the notion of evil as if it were an antiquated legacy from a superstitious past.

Violent criminals are usually explained away on the evening news in medico-psychiatric terms. Murderers are often reported as ‘mentally-ill’ rather than ‘possessed by the devil.’

Sometimes attempts are made to integrate these two perspectives and other times not. Meanwhile, tyrants and warmongerers are often viewed through a historical or perhaps political lens.

A basic theological distinction exists between natural evil and moral evil. Natural evil includes “acts of God” such as floods, earthquakes and avalanches. Moral evil is a conscious human choice to turn away from God’s will and participate in some action harmful to self and possibly others.

Duns Scotus classified “intrinsic evil” as acts that are inherently evil and accordingly prohibited. But intrinsically evil acts are not evil because they are prohibited.

In Christian theology evil is often seen as a necessary component of God’s plan of salvation. Here one accepts as an article of faith that God permits evil for some greater good, beyond the comprehension of mere mortals (see Isaiah 55:8-9).

One school of thought, begun by Irenaeus and popularized by John Hick, argues that evil is permitted but not caused by God.

Why, one might ask, would a good and all-powerful God permit evil?

According to the Irenian school the answer lies with the idea of ’soul making.’ A soul freely choosing to abstain from evil is of greater value than one that automatically avoids evil like a robot. The free soul apparently better glorifies God than a sinless automaton.

Although evil may ravage, test and torment good souls living on earth, the true goal of our finite, earthly life is to be made worthy of eternal heavenly life.

According to this perspective the evils of the world act as a crucible. Souls not succumbing to but resisting evil are purified and strengthened towards the good. Evil, then, is necessary. It acts as a kind of ‘hammer’ that pounds out the soul’s impurities.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in keeping with the final winnowing of the Apocalypse (Luke 3:17, Matthew 3:12), writes that

God permits some evils lest the good things should be obstructed.

Another argument, influenced by Plato’s idea of the Forms, is forwarded by St. Augustine. Augustine sees evil as a privatio boni–the absence of good. According to this view, since God is good, evil must be where God is not present. Therefore God doesn’t create evil. It’s a choice.

The theological debates get complicated here and some ask whether Augustine’s theodicy holds up for both natural and moral evil.

Different branches of Christianity hold different views about the afterlife condition of the evil soul. Some damn sinners eternally. Martin Luther, for instance, believed that some souls are predestined for hell.

Meanwhile many contemporary religious persons pray for the liberation of souls in hell. And the Catholic Purgatory is neither heaven nor hell but a difficult preparation for heaven.

Evil in Islam is similar to that of Christianity. But for Muslims it is evil to suggest that Christ is one with God (John 10:30). And the prohibitions in the Koran differ from those of the New Testament. Notably, killing is permitted in the Koran in some circumstances (see http://www.yoel.info/koranwarpassages.htm and http://www.islamreview.com/articles/jihadholywarversesinthekoran.shtml), whereas the very thought of killing is denounced in the New Testament.

Many branches of Christianity do, however, entertain the idea of a Just War.

In Hinduism a different view of evil is presented. Evil is permitted to maintain a proper balance of sacred heat or power (tapas) within the universe.

Aspects of Hinduism speak to the reality of hell for evildoers. But evil in Hinduism is mostly viewed in terms of ignorance and spiritual evolution, making punishment temporary instead of eternal.

According to this perspective, the evil soul reincarnates on earth until it is cleansed of the ignorance that influenced it to commit bad deeds.

The Hindu aspires to transcend relative ideas about good and evil through an experiential knowledge of universal truth.

Accordingly, the goal of Hinduism differs from both Christianity and Islam. For the Hindu, heaven is akin to a halfway house on the road to ultimate realization. The reincarnating soul may enjoy periodic visits to different heavens but though the round of rebirth it eventually transcends all heavens and ultimately achieves the greatest good of the Brahman.

A similar but in some ways different view of evil is presented in Taoism. It remains uncertain as to whether Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu heavens and hells are identical in character.

Mircea Eliade notes that heavens and hells are described differently among world religions. And it seems that we cannot know if these are experientially equivalent across the board.

Most global cultures at some point in history have seen evil as a cause of mental or physical illness. This view is prevalent in Shamanism. And some religious writers, such as the Catholic Michael Brown, claim to feel the presence of evil almost anywhere.

On the inferiority of evil as compared to good, W. H. Auden writes in A Certain World:

Good can imagine Evil; but Evil cannot imagine Good.

» Determinism, Free-will, Shamanism, Siva, Suffering, Trickster

On the World Wide Web:

• That Religious Studies Website: The freewill defense (St. Augustine of Hippo): Part 1

Image Credit:

• “Sauron’s eye : my church is turning evil !” originally uploaded to flickr.com by AmUnivers / Amelie » http://www.flickr.com/photos/amunivers/199008242/, Creative Commons Share Alike License

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Anathema

Anathema
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Anathema A term with Greek roots meaning something lifted up as an offering to a deity or deities.

In Catholicism it came to mean a severe denunciation of some theological idea or practice and usually the complete separation of the culpable person or persons from the saving power of the Church.

Essentially, this meant that guilty parties were condemned to eternal fire with Satan and his demons lest he or she repent and display obedience to the Church.

In 1983 the Code of Canon Law entirely replaced the now archaic word anathema with excommunication.

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Athleticism

Athleticism In 1973 a Canadian not-for-profit private company called Participaction ran TV messages, similar in style to commercial ads, calling viewers to get physical exercise.

One segment claimed the average 30-year-old Canadian was in similar physical condition to the average 60-year-old Swede.

The ad had significant impact across Canada while years later it was suggested that

This was pure fiction. No one had any real evidence for this assertion other than international fitness comparisons that put the Swedish population well ahead of Canada and everyone else.

Source » “Bring Back the 60-year old Swede!”

TV viewers in Canada continue to watch newer ads, such as Body Break (1989-), which advocate an active lifestyle.

Michel Foucault and other sociologists argue that discourses about the body often hide behind their innocuous and benevolent exterior a marked political agenda–the legitimization of a social system that claims to ‘scientifically’ improve society.

From this perspective, scientific and medical discourses focusing on personal health tend to deflect public attention from pressing environmental matters–such as toxic waste.

The same has been said with regard to aspects of discourse about crime and mental illness. The emphasis on personal remedies arguably eclipses the need to address greater societal maladies.

This seems especially so with minority groups and the economic poor. “Decadent rap music” and “drugs,” for example, are often singled out as factors contributing to higher crime rates and mental illness among youths within visible minority groups. But often overlooked is systemic racism and the significant stressors encountered by so-called “have-nots” living in societies marked by sharp economic disparity.

A New Testament view of athleticism, often ignored by Christians, presents another extreme perspective that differs from contemporary wisdom:

For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come (1 Timothy 4:8).

» Poststructuralism, Scientism

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Caste

Caste In ancient India caste was apparently regarded as a positive, divinely-based phenomenon. The hierarchical differentiation of human beings on the basis of color (varna) and birth (jati) was seen as a worldly reflection of a ritually sacrificed Divine Body (purusa).

Accordingly, the Rig Veda of the conquering northern Aryans (if one subscribes to that version of history) tells of the ritual dismemberment of a Primal Cosmic Man, on which the caste system is based.

The highest, fair-skinned Brahman caste (priests, thinkers) emanated from the head, the lower and darker Kshatriya caste (rajas, warriors, persons of action) from the arms, while the next lower and darker Vaisna caste (merchants) originated from the thighs.

Later, the additional fourth, lowest and darkest Sudra caste (servants) was added, believed to be the “feet” of the purusa. This caste was probably created by the Aryans to account for the indigenous Dravidians.

Like distinctions made by the apostle Paul in the New Testament, each caste had a unique social duty (dharma) to fulfill, corresponding to the particular part of the cosmic body from which it originated.

Unlike Pauline Christianity, however, the Sudras were forbidden to study the sacred scripture of the Veda (although similar prohibitions later arose in the Christian Church regarding the study of Latin and the reading of the Bible).

Another fifth category evolved, the “untouchables” (quite literally, societal outcasts). Deploring the caste system, Mahatma Gandhi called these people Harijans (“Children of God”).

The western equivalent to caste is the equally misguided idea of class. Both concepts not only separate but attempt to evaluate individuals on a hierarchical scale. Caste did this exclusively by birth. Class includes other variables. Despite the fact that caste was openly challenged by Gandhi in the 1930’s and legally criminalized in the 1950’s, both subtle and overt injustices based on caste distinctions continue to this day, just as they do with the idea of class in other places.

Of the upper three castes, at age twelve the Hindu male undergoes the ritual of upanaya, receiving a sacred thread to indicate his status as ‘twice born.’  Not unlike the Christian Confirmation or Jewish Bar Mitzvah, this ceremony contains both cultural and spiritual significance. » Class, Karma-Yoga, Party, Status, Weber (Max)

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Chaos Theory

Chaos Theory A popular idea centering around the view that social organizations, to include businesses, operate more like clouds in the sky than a railroad train.

In chaos theory systems interactions may be perceived and even predicted in a general, non-linear sense but precise numerical and linear-based predictions are beyond its reach.

Chaos theorists point out that theirs is not a theory of randomness. In chaos theory causes and effects are seen as complicated, making prediction and control far less precise than in linear systems. This lack of linear precision, however, apparently enables individuals to set off explosive social effects, providing they’re adept at perceiving trends.

A small action within the correct part of a system can create chaotic social reactions, not unlike in an atom bomb. A tragic example of chaos theory in action would be the terrorist attacks on the New York World Trade Towers of 9/11/01.

A purely natural example would be the idea of the butterfly effect–could a butterflies’ wings at one side of the globe cause a chain reaction of events to bring about a hurricane at the other side of the globe?

Like many contemporary theories, the idea of universal morality is generally omitted in chaos theory, being replaced by the belief that cleverness alone is the justified criterion for social engineering.

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Chomsky, Noam

Chomsky, Noam (1928 -  ) American intellectual and political activist who initially distinguished himself in linguistics.

During the Vietnam war Chomsky became increasingly vocal, criticizing those who see the United States as the center of the ideological universe. Since then he’s never looked back.

He and others like Michael Moore figure prominently in the 2003 film, The Corporation. The film offers important insights into the nature of human hypocrisy, especially when connected to the profit motive. However, as one reviewer at http://www.imdb.com put it, “the film is useful but incredibly biased.”

The same could be said of Chomsky’s work. Specifically, Chomsky seems to downplay the positive aspects of corporate production. Chomsky’s critics say that the capitalist impulse and profit motive are necessary for technological progress.

Those sympathetic to Chomsky’s views would argue that more egalitarian, socialist-style systems could also be creative and progressive. A particularly vehement attack against Chomsky’s views on terrorism and the post 9/11 Iraq war is found in The Anti-Chomsky Reader by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, eds.

According to Chomsky, parroting his Marxist mentors-what Uncle Sam really wants is to steal from the poor and give to the rich. America’s crusade against Communism was not a battle for human freedom, but actually a war “to protect our doctrine that the rich should plunder the poor.” This is why, according to Chomsky, we have busied ourselves in launching a new crusade against what he regards as a fictive terrorism after the end of the Cold War” (Encounter Books, 2004, p. 185).

On the World Wide Web:

• Justice vs. Power: Chomsky and Foucault (Video Debate)

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Determinism

Determinism The belief popularized by John Stuart Mill that choice and free will are unreal. In determinism, every event is the outcome of previous causes and nature is believed to be uniform. Moreover, the notion of chance is merely a concept incorrectly used by those unaware of all previous causes. » Predestination

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Dogma

Dogma A doctrine or a creed that may refer to religious or non-religious belief. “Dogma” is often used to refer to beliefs endorsed by the Papacy of the Roman Catholic Church. » Aquinas (St. Thomas), Assumption, Church Fathers, Doctrine, Enlightenment, Heterodox, Holy Spirit, Infallibility, Postmodernism, Science, Transubstantiation, Wisdom

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