20120324 (J)
Journal: March 24, 2012
     Index     
Return to:   Site   or   Journal   Description

Desire                             Morality                             Senses                             Souls

Winter: End of the late winter 2012 heat wave, eight days of record (tied once) high T, not by a degree or two but by 7 to 11 degrees above the record on 6 of the days.

Instincts vrs. Free Will: Many ISTMRN disparage instinct and laud free will, often defining free-will as the ability to choose, often between good and evil among others. Some even carry the concept to the point of denying humans have any “controlling” instincts. It’s all “free will”. We have the “power” to override ALL instinct, we are human, not animal. “Animals” are controlled by instinct. We have free will (read “morality”). Of course when pressed, most but not all would accept that the Promethean fire in mitochondria might be a little beyond the reach of free will and therefore “control of free will”. Even then they still maintain belief that disparages our “urges” because suicide or self-sacrifice is possible to extinguish the fires within.

Many urge are assigned to sin, the ultimate control. For example my aggressive “urge” to hit my neighbor when he interferes with my “rightfully” unimpeded wanderings (e.g. cutting me off in a car) and my urge to fuck pretty young girls, among many others. The more “urges” and the more “instinctual” the urge, the “deeper” the sin, the greater the control administered by sin’s ever present companions, guilt and shame.

"Hope” is possible in atonement, repentance, and punishment that you may yet earn God’s grace despite your sinful urges and even a few actions, i.e. your sinful history. Hope; yes; but only if you closely adhere to the “rules”; rules that I, we, the “authorities” (authors of rules) consider moral, consider “right”.

This all applies as much to today’s “secular humanism”, “world-community” values, “civilized” values embedded in rules (civilized meaning “civil”; not religious) as to medieval Catholicism. Modern secular sins? “not caring”, discriminating among people based on their genes (e.g. “racism”, “sexism”, etc.). Caring people discriminating among people based on their values, e.g. democracy, human rights, and freedom are good values; dictatorhships, oligarchies, offending people, and slavery are bad values (but recommended by many e.g. love thy neighbor AND thy enemy, e.g. the terrorist, extremist, etc).

What is the consequence of sin? Well, jail as I well know of course, but that is only reserved for the “worst” – Cain’s punishment: banishment, “aloneness” from God not from people.

“We won’t like you or talk to you”: Ed’s at MCC solution to the Taliban. I can agree, but not with “bomb them”. I would prefer talking, at least as polite acknowledgement of deep disagreements.