Hi there,
So I want to just get your initial thoughts on something that is pervasive in culture: violence. The problem is this, violence is typically created as a solution to a problem, which we are supposed to accept has no other answers. This vexes me as a philosopher, because in no way do I want to be fixated on violence, when precise meaningful concepts are the only way to have a meaningful experience of life.
Then there is the Devil. You would think that because the Devil is typically cornered into performing all kinds of evil acts, that he is somehow biased towards violent behaviour. But my experience, is that he is not. My experience is that if the Devil can get what he wants some other way besides violence, he will not only break the violent path in pieces, but he will set about strengthening the path of peace - not such that there is no chance of violence any more, but such that the only violence that is used is in the name of something which is to his advantage.
Now, this is something of a conundrum, how do you get from a culture of violence, where the Devil is continually cornered into violent acts - circumstances which he may create in ignorance, but which with time he could perceive a way out of - to a culture where the Devil is helped along his path of self-destruction to a more satisfying end, ultimately in Hell, but not necessarily with a slew of souls in tow? Do you see that the self-gratification of violence, is something that the Devil is wise enough not to indulge in, no matter how gratuitous his means force him to be?
I am not trying to advocate praise of the Devil, don't get me wrong, there is great danger in sharing anything with the Devil, that you cannot more than afford to part with, but there is this culture and it is wreaking havoc with the attempts of peaceful men to lead meaningful lives. Metaphorically we are being crushed by a machine of our own making, and it is dehumanizing us, rather than letting us relate to our destinies, as ones having self-control, even a little self-control. It's as if the more bombastic the entertainment has become, the less the ones who create it need to think about this difficult problem.
Correct me if I am wrong, but if I had been abusing the Devil all this time, you would not have read this far?
Thoughts?
So I want to just get your initial thoughts on something that is pervasive in culture: violence. The problem is this, violence is typically created as a solution to a problem, which we are supposed to accept has no other answers. This vexes me as a philosopher, because in no way do I want to be fixated on violence, when precise meaningful concepts are the only way to have a meaningful experience of life.
Then there is the Devil. You would think that because the Devil is typically cornered into performing all kinds of evil acts, that he is somehow biased towards violent behaviour. But my experience, is that he is not. My experience is that if the Devil can get what he wants some other way besides violence, he will not only break the violent path in pieces, but he will set about strengthening the path of peace - not such that there is no chance of violence any more, but such that the only violence that is used is in the name of something which is to his advantage.
Now, this is something of a conundrum, how do you get from a culture of violence, where the Devil is continually cornered into violent acts - circumstances which he may create in ignorance, but which with time he could perceive a way out of - to a culture where the Devil is helped along his path of self-destruction to a more satisfying end, ultimately in Hell, but not necessarily with a slew of souls in tow? Do you see that the self-gratification of violence, is something that the Devil is wise enough not to indulge in, no matter how gratuitous his means force him to be?
I am not trying to advocate praise of the Devil, don't get me wrong, there is great danger in sharing anything with the Devil, that you cannot more than afford to part with, but there is this culture and it is wreaking havoc with the attempts of peaceful men to lead meaningful lives. Metaphorically we are being crushed by a machine of our own making, and it is dehumanizing us, rather than letting us relate to our destinies, as ones having self-control, even a little self-control. It's as if the more bombastic the entertainment has become, the less the ones who create it need to think about this difficult problem.
Correct me if I am wrong, but if I had been abusing the Devil all this time, you would not have read this far?
Thoughts?
