Paul G.

Paul G.

But in the reign of the Devil, as he felt it, "We walk by faith and not by sight." (2 Corinthians)

He was in the religious dilemma of Faith versus Works.

     The institutions, technology, and communications have infected even the "biological core"
so that people's sexuality and other desires are no longer genuine.  One cannot trust in their
spontaneous choices. Subliminal suggestions have invaded the unconscious, and superficial
pleasure is used as a means of social control, as in Brave New World.

     And another cause of metaphysical confusion is the sheer prevalence of the man-made,
with nothing to compare and contrast it with; everything is stamped with social messages.
It has always been the case, in the arts and rhetoric, and in technology in general, that the
medium is the message-- one cannot separate "form" and "content"; but mass
communications are uniquely swamping, all goods are styled and packaged commodities,
the medium-message is the only experience. Young people brought up among so much
artifice dare not trust the evidence of their own senses and craftsmanship unless it is
confirmed on the T.V. screen or by being on the market; but these messages, they know,
they certainly can't trust.

Administrators are hypocrites who sell out people for the smooth operation of their systems.

     Alienation is a Lutheran concept: "God has turned His face away; things have no meaning;
I am estranged in the world."

     Comte and Durkheim spoke of the weakening of social solidarity, the loss of common faith,
the contradiction among norms, so that people lost their bearings--this was anomie, an acute
form of alienation that could lead to suicide or aimless riot.

Not only all institutions but all learning had been corrupted by the Whore of Babylon, and
there was no longer ay salvation to be got from Works.

they have hit on new sacraments, physical actions to get them out of their estrangement and
break through (momentarily) into meaning.

     But it is human touch, without conquest or domination, and it obviates self-consciousness
and embarrassed speech.

.....that T.V. diminishes experience....

     With excruciating slowness, in a dehumanized society, they are recollecting that religion
has some essential relation to human beings, and humanity is in danger.

......the zenith of science as a beneficent religion. .....

     For these two reasons, explaining away the miracles and destroying the old faith, and
producing goods and wonders of its own, we can say that natural philosophy itself
eventually became the orthodox faith that everybody believed in.  Correspondingly, scientists
and inventors as a class became esteemed and were rewarded.

.....one made citizens not by growing them but by imposing laws. ....


The history of civilization, both western and oriental, has consisted of visitations of spirit,
in individuals and communities, which have then enlightened mankind.

.....it is understandable polemical spite.....

......Liberation from the Whore of Babylon and return to the pure faith.

     I need hardly point out that American society is peculiarly liable to the corruption of
inauthenticity. Busily producing phony products, it lives by public relations, abstract ideals,
front politics, show-business communications, mandarin credentials. it is pre-eminently
overtechnologized.

Without moral philosophy, people have nothing but sentiments.

It is overproduction that burdens life and the environment.