THE MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES- BASIC VERSIONedited
JohnAndrew Sonneborn
Monday, July 26, 2021
THE
MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES- BASIC VERSION
This post is my attempt to crystallize some standard teachings of Unificationism, especially as written in Exposition of the Divine Principle, also in New Explanation of Unification Thought, sometimes elaborating/explicating, while suggesting new English terminology, (which are underlined.) in some cases. The framework is partner theology/project theology.
it is a purely humanistic version of a post in my blog johnnysonneborn.blogspot.com, “The Most Important Principles".
[For a full version for students of Unificationism, a stripped-down version of that, or other posts, click “Archive” on the right panel, then select a year, and a list of posts will appear.
Now I am going to write about this text: You may, if
you so wish, skip directly to the text by finding”1’.
[I will soon be posting several recently-written short
pieces.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES
The text is written from a humanist perspective so
that it could be used in all cultures, with a presenter tweaking according to
the culture.
Part I begins with an assumption. On the
foundation of the assumption, general principles are given, putatively
elucidating how the human mind thinks.
Part II will set forth principles relevant to our
common life riddled with pain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART 1
ASSUMPTION
1. Every human being has
the fundamental irrepressible impulse to give love to the greatest scope
imagined. (This may be called “heart”.)
1.1. Unlike
other species’, a human being’s imagination becomes unlimited upon the person
reaching adolescence.
HUMAN MATURATION
2.
Each human develops toward spiritual and physical maturity by the force
inherent in the creation principle. This force has also been called
“innate intelligence”. Within the creation principle, there are sub-principles,
as follows.
3. Development occurs through three stages: forming,
growing, and completing. Jesus teaches an explication of these in Mark
4:26b-29.
3,1. Emotional growth occurs when love is given and received,
enabling giving of love to a greater social scope, longer duration, and/or
depth (degree of subjective evaluation).
3.1.1 Action, above, is intended to benefit its recipient.
Since the recipient’s fundamental impulse is to give love, it follows that the
loving action should enable the recipient to love more greatly.
RELATIONSHIPS
AND NETWORK
4. The
existence of any entity can be described as one or more four position
foundations, which are networks of subject-object relationships.
5.
A subject-object relationship exists in a project and is established/formed as
follows: a would-be subject partner advertises as such in a new project;
another entity declares interest in becoming an object partner and gives
self-information, thus standing symbolically in the object position; the
subject partner expresses a desire for the other to be a substantial object
partner and states the processes and rules for the project; the other expresses
the desire to join the project as described. Subject-object projects exist
between human beings and within a human being, and we may describe such
interrelationships in the microworld
5.1. An object partner is not passive. The partner offers information and
may offer suggestions. As offerer, the partner is in the subject position.
Alternation of position is continuous. Yet, the subject partner
ultimately determines action, having taken responsibility for the project and
with a greater awareness of the greater project within which the project
is itself a sub-project.
5.2. There are types of subject-object partnerships. In one
type, the subject partner has delegated to the object partner responsibility
for part of the project (with the object partner thus poised to stand as the
subject in a smaller project). The subject partner is then bound to unite with
and support whatever the object partner says or does.
5.2.1 In another type, functioning according to
the principle of dual purposes, the subject-partner is designated to pursue
investment toward widening or deepening the project’s impact (purpose/interest of
the whole); the object-partner, being responsible for maintaining the project
and developing it (purpose/interest of the Individual), may warn the investing
partner that the risk involved in that investing appears intolerable, yet
cannot override it I think that the relationships in this horizontal form
are ultimately ones of increase and decrease, with
those in the other form ultimately ones of internal and external.
6.
At least when a project exists as a sub-project, it may be located in a diamond
figure quadruple base, as follows. At the diamond’s apex stands the greater
project; the narrower project’s subject partner and object partner stand at the
diamond’s sides; the fact of their union fills the remaining point. With this,
the occupant of any point may be seen in relation to that of any of the other
three points.
6.1 When a project is aiming for a specific effect, the purpose of
the effect, which is the project, stands at the apex of a temporary quadruple
base, with the result at the bottom: then the subject partner or object partner
takes the project into consideration when choosing actions. When projects,
described as quadruple bases, exist in a hierarchy of ever greater projects,
activity exists in a spiral.
7.
In projects of persons (having minds) a subject partner is always
expressing love, and an object partner returning beauty.
ETHICS
8.
The fundamental ethical principle guiding thinking beings is that of dual interests:
an action chosen toward fulfilling an interest of the self (object) should be
taken only if it is hoped that this will enable the person better to contribute
towards the interest of the whole project, represented by the subject,
who proposed it, while actions taken for the fulfillment of the interest
of the whole should respect the dignity of individuals affected by it and
facilitate the attainment of their self-interests. [This duality may be the
creation principle itself: building upon an existing foundation – developing
while maintaining a foundation.]
8.1. At the least in a humanistic perspective, there is an exception to
the second part of this principle, which will be shown in Part II.
9. God’s three blessings to each human being, told in Judaism’s
creation myth, embody complexification and indicate that a perfectly mature
human being takes the subject position toward any entity in the natural world
or to any angel.
THE IDEAL
CONCLUSION. We
can imagine a reality in which all persons live/act according to these
principles – a world of lovingness and joyfulness. However, reality as we
experience it is one of sorrow as well as happiness and can be analyzed as
featuring pain, impatience, fear, anger, and conflict.
PART II
I will begin
with a suggested origination of our common pain-filled reality. The reader
interested only in the principles derived from this reality can search for ”10”
for the principles.
The origin of painful reality.
(Garden of
Eden). During childhood the boy and girl separated from the maternal
species and formed a project whose goal was the full maturation of each. They
exchanged love and beauty, helped each other, and exercised their creativity in
exploring the environment. As they physically matured, they were able to give
love to each other at increasing depths, and so were growing
spiritually/emotionally as well. The girl, intuitively preparing for
motherhood, was more protective of foundations they had developed. The boy,
intuitively preparing for developing the foundations, was more adventuresome.
On a fateful
day in their adolescence, the girl, alone, thought of an activity that seemed
as if it would be pleasurable. She considered it positively and soon began
engaging in it. Soon her innate intelligence, manifesting in her conscience,
impelled her to pause and examine it in relation to the project, the interest
of the whole. There were two reasons for this: according to the creation
principle, it was one of the kind of activities that were meant to be shared;
it was meant to be performed when she had become more mature emotionally and
able to imagine the thoughts and feelings of her twin. This caused her to
reflect; however, at that age of growth, her intellect was not sufficiently
developed to be sure if this self-interest activity was appropriate for the
project. Then the girl, immature in intellect and not yet stable emotionally, and already beginning to feel love for the activity, abandoned her faith in the
internal guidance and its warning, and greedily continued in the activity.
Eventually, her love for the activity overrode the power of her innate
intelligence, and she became unable to stop until exhausted.
Now alone
emotionally as well as physically, the girl felt dread. Having abandoned the
project she shared with her twin, feeling pain from her conscience and, being
alone and separated from any interest of the whole, she also felt fear.
As the girl
now had come to know clearly what she had only dimly sensed – the outcome
of the activity – , she proposed to the boy sharing the activity in
an attempt to reenter their project, but what would be, in fact, a new project,
in which she would stand as the subject partner. He, seeing her in a confused
state and having abandoned their project, was weakened and, after not so much
hesitation that was prompted by his principled force and conscience, readily
entered into a reciprocal relationship and then formed a common base with
her . The ensuing giving and receiving action then propelled them into sexual
intercourse.
Their new project was not the maturation of each, but the satisfaction of each
centered on each one’s selfish desire.
The boy and
girl, each refusing to accept responsibility for their selfish actions, could
not relate in full harmony. When they finally did beget children, their
internal confusion and their disharmony affected even their reproductive
process as well as the nature of their parenting.
Human beings,
conceived and growing up in such circumstances, descendants of the couple whose
choice to follow the selfish will overrode the force inherent in the creation principle,
having inherited dread, guilt, and fear, have been continuingly tempted to act
in violation of the principle of dual interests, even though
many display altruistic behavior as early as the second year of life.
RESPONSIBILITY
10. in
our painful reality, the innately urged responsibility of each of us to grow to
emotional and physical maturity is difficult, if not impossible to fulfill, for
the following reasons.
10.1 In early childhood, each of us acquires from our caretaker(s)
the inclination to overvalue the purpose of the self, and so shy from acting
towards the whole interest: this inclination exists along with the natural
inclination for altruistic behavior.
10.2 Each of us exists as an object partner in one or
more projects. We entered a project at the invitation of the would-be subject
partner, who assured us that developmental action would also benefit us, either
immediately or in due time, in accordance with the principle of dual
interests. Each of us also exists with unnatural fearfulness, also
acquired from a caretaker. This is not a natural fear appropriate to our
being a human, such as the fear of a newborn upon feeling the strength of the
force of gravity and sensing distance from a solid, nor instructed or
experienced fear such of touching something too hot. Accordingly, we experience
fear when developmental action is about to be undertaken, fear that we will be
depleted without due compensation. In the normal development of a
project, this fear is overcome by our well-grounded faith in the subject
partner. However,
when, impelled by our fundamental impulse to give love more greatly, action is
contemplated to give love to another person, stimulating the receiver to pass
on the love, fear is heightened. Love offered to another is an investment
entailing risk. If our offer is received, we and the receiver unite as an
expanded project more able also to benefit ourselves. However, we know that the
receiver may (for reasons that I will soon mention) refuse to, in turn, love
more greatly, so that unity will not occur, and we are left with depletion of
our resources. Overcoming our fearfulness is faith in the project's plan,
ultimately in the subject partner, and belief that the subject partner
participates in projects ultimately stemming from person{s} of solid
goodness. This means that we require courage to have faith in our subject
partner, and, if the fear is too great, we are strongly tempted to act instead
for our own benefit, either to hoard resources or to aggressively seek
acquisition, in both cases fearing future insufficiency, exercising our freedom
to leave the project and embark on our own. It is because we know our own
temptability that we know that the intended receiver of our offer of love will
be tempted to refuse it and may succumb.
10.3. Further, if our offer of love is rejected, our will to
love is strengthened, but there has been no return of beauty encouraging giving
to a greater scope. Instead, of feeling joy, we, deprived of the object of
love, will feel sorrow, the intensity depending upon the depth of our
lovingness.
10.3.1.2.
Given the above possibility, it might be best simply to practice self-denial –
refraining from calculating possible results of our subject’s proposed
initiatives – within an implicit affirmation of our subject’s goodwill and
caring. (In the Hebrew Scriptures, Abram’s response to his god exemplifies
this.)
10.4 An additional cause of not acting upon a desire to further the
interests of the whole is uncontrolled addiction. Common addictions
include addiction to the effect of alcoholic beverages, of narcotics, and of
satisfaction of sexual desire. In general, while any pleasurable activity may
be intrinsically good, one should avoid overindulging in any, lest strong attachment
to the expected pleasure make it difficult to act for the purpose of the whole.
We may consider fearful attachment to a food source, to the well-being of one’s
family excluding activity for the sake of the community, of one’s community
excluding the sake of the nation, and one’s nation excluding the sake of the
world also to be forms of addiction.
10.4,1 Ritual sacrifice is a method for harnessing addiction.
Symbolically or actually the next object or action to which we are attached is
placed where we cannot access it. Then, when contemplating any such object or
action, we remember that we had sacrificed the next one, putting it away, and
so are extremely reluctant to indulge. The more valuable the object or
activity, the more the sacrifice is effective. The purpose of
harnessing addiction is that individual-interest attachment to the object or
action is hindering action for the whole interest The sufficiently
costly sacrifice, therefore, is offered to the whole interest, the
project. While the addiction remains, it is now as if it had never been.
Thus, the obstruction which we, as the object partner with uncontrolled
addiction, had presented to our subject partner has been removed, and our
subject partner may welcome us, as the object partner with controlled
addiction, back into the project. In Alcoholics Anonymous, the
“higher power” to which desirable alcoholic beverages are sacrificed actuaily
is the interest of the whole, namely, to get on with life.
10.4.2 Internally, if we are addicted to some thought, such
as a fantasy, or to some desire (e.g., for greater social power), putting it
aside may require attaching a painful action to it.
10.4.3 Any powerful selfish desire may become
addictive. This is notably, even universally, true of selfish sexual
desire. Sexual desire always arises from the impulse to give love to the
greatest scope imagined. We may imagine a future, transformed reality with love
and happiness. We may even imagine that there is something greater,
transcending what we can imagine, beckoning us on. Then, how can sexual love
best contribute to the coming of such a reality? This would be in the
production of an heir as a step in the scenario leading to an ideal global
civilization, which is the greatest interest of the whole. Therefore, a sexual
desire not accompanied by the intention of such production is inherently
selfish and being powerful, becomes addictive.
10. 4.3.1 There is a two-fold reason why appropriate, unselfish sexual desire is so difficult to maintain. Unlike primates, such as the chimpanzees
who can become pregnant only several years apart, human beings can become
pregnant every 10 or 11 months; upon becoming pregnant and delivering a baby, a
human female must devote several years to rearing the child, and for this she
will not only optimally have the support of her mate but also have attained
emotional maturity. Thus, there is a multi-year gap between the age of
acquiring the physiological ability to reproduce, along with its appropriately
developing hormones, and the age for optimal reproduction. To deny for such a
long period the natural urge to reproduce, which would lead to a certain
happiness, the interest of the self, requires faith in a greater benefit in a
far future, the interest of the whole. To sustain such faith requires the
utmost courage.
10.5 Suppose we give in to the temptation just to not seek
to love more greatly, fearing possible or even probable pain, but stay in
our comfort zone? To do so would be to imprison within our mind the impulse to
give true love. All our actions would be alienated from our deepest nature.
Rather, to continue seeking opportunity to give greater love will give us a new
sense of freedom.
10.5.1 Even this heroic determination, however, would not itself
establish the internal freedom that we seek. The love that we give must be
pure.
For
the impulse to love to become loving, it must stimulate an emotion. The
emotion, guided by the operation of the intellect, becomes the will to act in a
specific way; then active love will occur if a person has sufficient power. All
too readily, however the impulse picks up not just the emotion of loving, but
one or more other emotions seeking expression. It may pick up the desire to
hurt someone in order to release stored up feelings of resentment and revenge;
in such a case, a kiss may be a bite in disguise. The impulse to love may pick
up the desire to be hurt as punishment for actions considered guilty. It may
take up sexual desire inappropriate to the intended object of love. It may be
affected or diverted by an irrational desire-- a desire intellectually known to
be impossible of satisfaction--, which may result from extreme dissatisfaction
or may be imbibed from a parent. To be internally free,
we must forgive any who have caused us pain and forgive ourselves. In the case
of irrational desire we will need to find a cure in a therapy.
SOCIETY
1.1.
A project of any societal scope (e.g., marriage, a plan to share enjoyable
activity, a plan to benefit the neighborhood) purports that – as in every
project –actions for the whole interest will result in benefits for the actor
to some extent, and is an investment, with risk.
1.1.1. The family has been the basic unit of every society. Societal
relationships at any level may be seen as family relationships writ large.
1.1.1.2. It is in the family that
one learns loving, disrespecting, hating, and standards for behavior.
1.1.2 The expansion of a society, even one that was not yet
civilized, but definitely a civilized society that is able to continue to
thrive, has usually been dependent upon the example of a person
demonstrating the viability of a greater societal investment, a greater
sacrifice involving a new technology – often a series of such persons. If the
example is remembered and societally practiced, and it becomes a tradition,
then, sooner or later, it is likely that a political entity based upon the
tradition will be established. The exemplary person has had greater
faith; and the greater his or her nobleness, the sooner the
societal practice will occur. (In an interpretation of Genesis 4, the roles of
the brothers – presumably, each with their families and living with their
parents – are seen as elder and younger, and this is a true typology in a
patriarchal culture in which the elder participates comfortably in the father’s
possessions, while the younger, with nothing to lose, is more likely to
innovate. Nevertheless, what the younger is doing in the story is to sacrifice
the availability of the animals as food before their maturity, while the elder
sacrifices the availability only of immature plants. Attachment is stronger to
that which is more valuable.)
[
A history of such expansion may be found implicit in the Hebrew Scriptures
culminating in the story of Solomon’s kingdom, a cautionary tale, written by
persons well after the destruction of the kingdom, it shows the perils of
deviating from the tradition. Accepted history shows attempts to revive
the tradition and move forward with it. The Gospels of the Christian tradition
may be seen to trace ultimately unsuccessful attempts to establish a political
entity enshrining an example and the tradition that ensues from it.]
ACTION
FOR SOCIETY
12.
To act toward the development of a society, or toward a reformation/transformation
of a society, we may either be the innovative person or seek and find and
assist one.
13.
Societies, however, have needed not only development but also purification,
which should, or perhaps must, precede the development. The purification that a
society needs is the purging of injustice.
14.
Therefore, any of us who belong to an oppressor class have the additional
responsibility to seek to end the oppression in which we are complicit, not
only by repenting for it, not only in order to cleanse our feelings of guilt,
but also to facilitate opportunity for forgiveness among the oppressed.
The facilitating actions are called reparations.
REPARATION
15.
Any person can forgive another who hurt him or her, and this cleanses the
feelings of hurt and resentment, and also works towards harmony. However,
simple forgiveness is not benevolent: the offender is left with feelings of
guilt. Towards the removal of these, actions by the offender to repair historic
and current pain are called for. Yet, historic and current pain will likely be
too great to be fully repaired by the offender’s actions. If this is the case,
what may move the heart of the offended is for the offender to offer
reparations to the point of barely tolerable cost. This may also be accepted by
the offender’s conscience. Then, a fully harmonious relationship between the
two can be established.
Monday, March 1, 2021
THE MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES- BASIC VERSION
THE MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES-BASIC
VERSION
This is a purely humanistic version of a
post in my blog johnnysonneborn.blogspot.com, “The Most Important Principles.”
[For a full version for students of Unificationism, a stripped-down version of
that, or other posts, click “Archive” on the right panel, then select a year,
and a list of posts will appear.]
Now I am going to write about this text: You may, if you so wish, skip directly to the text by finding”1’,
[I will soon be posting several recently-written short pieces.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES
The text is written from a humanist
perspective so that it could be used in all cultures, with a presenter tweaking
according to the culture.
Part 1 begins with an assumption. On
the foundation of the assumption, general principles are given, putatively
elucidating how the human mind thinks.
Part ii wilil set forth principles relevant
to our common life riddled with pain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART 1
ASSUMPTION
1. Every
human being has the fundamental irrepressible impulse to give love to the
greatest scope imagined. (This may be called “heart”)
1.1. Unlike other
species’, a human being’s imagination becomes unlimited upon the person
reaching adolescence.
HUMAN MATURATION
2. Each human develops toward
spiritual and physical maturity by the force inherent in the creation
principle. This force has also been called “innate intelligence”. Within the
creation principle, there are sub-principles, as follows.
3. Development occurs through three stages: forming,
growing, and completing. Jesus teaches an explication of these in Mark
4:26b-29.
3,1.
Emotional growth occurs when love is given and received, enabling giving of
love to a greater social scope, longer duration, and/or depth (degree of
subjective evaluation).
3.1.1 Action, above, is intended to benefit its recipient.
Since the recipient’s fundamental impulse is to give love, it follows that the
loving action should enable the recipient to love more greatly.
RELATIONSHIPS AND NETWORK
4. The existence of any entity can be
described as one or more four position foundations, which are networks of
subject-object relationships.
5. A subject-object
relationship exists in a project and is established/formed as follows: a
would-be subject partner advertises as such in a new project; another entity
declares interest in becoming an object partner and gives self-information,
thus standing symbolically in the object position; the subject partner
expresses a desire for the other to be a substantial object partner and states
the processes and rules for the project; the other expresses the desire to join
the project as described. Subject-object projects exist between human beings
and within a human being, and we may describe such interrelationships in the
microworld
5.1. An object partner
is not passive. The partner offers information and may offer suggestions. As
offerer, the partner is in the subject position. Alternation of position is
continuous. Yet, the subject partner ultimately determines action,
having` taken responsibility for the project and with a greater awareness of
the greater project within which the project is itself a sub-project.
5.2. There are types of subject-object partnerships. In one
type, the subject partner has delegated to the object partner responsibility
for part of the project (with the object partner thus poised to stand as the
subject in a smaller project). The subject partner is then bound to unite with
and support whatever the object partner says or does.
5.2.1 In another type, functioning according to
the principle of dual purposes, the subject-partner is designated to pursue
investment toward widening or deepening the project’s impact (purpose/interest of
the whole); the object-partner, being responsible for maintaining the project
and developing it (purpose/interest of the Individual), may warn the investing
partner that the risk involved in that investing appears intolerable, yet
cannot override it I think that the relationships in this horizontal form
are ultimately ones of increase and decrease, with
those in the other form ultimately ones of internal and external.
6. At least when a project
exists as a sub-project, it may be located in a diamond figure quadruple base,
as follows. At the diamond’s apex stands the greater project; the narrower
project’s subject partner and object partner stand at the diamond’s sides; the
fact of their union fills the remaining point. With this, the occupant of any
point may be seen in relation to that of any of the other three points.
6.1 When a
project is aiming for a specific effect, the purpose of the effect, which is
the project, stands at the apex of a temporary quadruple base, with the result
at the bottom: then the subject partner or object partner takes the project
into consideration when choosing actions. When projects, described as quadruple
bases, exist in a hierarchy of ever greater projects, activity exists in a
spiral.
7. In projects of persons
(having minds) a subject partner is always expressing love, and an object
partner returning beauty.
ETHICS
8. The fundamental ethical
principle guiding thinking beings is that of dual interests:
an action chosen toward fulfilling an interest of the self (object) should be
taken only if it is hoped that this will enable the person better to contribute
towards the interest of the whole project, represented by the subject,
who proposed it, while actions taken for the fulfillment of the interest
of the whole should respect the dignity of individuals affected by it and
facilitate the attainment of their self-interests. [This duality may be the
creation principle itself: building upon an existing foundation – developing
while maintaining a foundation.]
8.1. At the least in a
humanistic perspective, there is an exception to the second part of this
principle, which will be shown in Part II.
9. God’s three blessings to each human being, told in Judaism’s
creation myth, embody complexification and indicate that a perfectly mature
human being takes the subject position toward any entity in the natural world
or to any angel.
THE IDEAL
CONCLUSION. We can imagine a reality in
which all persons live/act according to these principles – a world of
lovingness and joyfulness. However, reality as we experience it is one of
sorrow as well as happiness and can be analyzed as featuring pain, impatience,
fear, anger, and conflict.
PART
I will begin with a suggested origination
of our common pain-filled reality. The reader interested only in the principles
derived from this reality can search for ”10” for the principles.
The origin of painful reality.
(Garden of Eden). During childhood
the boy and girl separated from the maternal species and formed a project whose
goal was the full maturation of each. They exchanged love and beauty, helped
each other, and exercised their creativity in exploring the environment. As
they physically matured, they were able to give love to each other at
increasing depths, and so were growing spiritually/emotionally as well. The
girl, intuitively preparing for motherhood, was more protective of foundations
they had developed. The boy, intuitively preparing for developing the
foundations, was more adventuresome.
On a fateful day in their adolescence, the
girl, alone, thought of an activity that seemed as if it would be pleasurable.
She considered it positively and soon began engaging in it. Soon her innate
intelligence, manifesting in her conscience, impelled her to pause and examine
it in relation to the project, the interest of the whole. There were two
reasons for this: according to the creation principle, it was one of the kind
of activities that were meant to be shared; it was meant to be performed when
she had become more mature emotionally and able to imagine the thoughts and
feelings of her twin. This caused her to reflect; however, at that age of
growth, her intellect was not sufficiently developed to be sure if this
self-interest activity was appropriate for the project. Then the girl, immature
in intellect and not get stable emotionally and already beginning to feel love
for the activity, abandoned her faith in the internal guidance and its warning,
and greedily continued in the activity. Eventually, her love for the activity
overrode the power of her innate intelligence, and she became unable to stop
until exhausted.
Now alone emotionally as well as
physically, the girl felt dread. Having abandoned the project she shared with
her twin, feeling pain from her conscience and, being alone and separated from
any interest of the whole, she also felt fear.
As the girl now had come to know clearly
what she had only dimly sensed – the outcome of the activity – ,
she proposed to the boy sharing the activity in an attempt to reenter
their project, but what would be, in fact, a new project, in which she would
stand as the subject partner. He, seeing her in the confused state and having
abandoned their project, was weakened and, after not so much hesitation that
was prompted by his principled force and conscience, readily entered into
a reciprocal relationship and then formed a common base with her . The ensuing
giving and receiving action then propelled them into sexual intercourse.
Their new project was not the maturation of each, but the satisfaction of each
centered on each one’s selfish desire.
The boy and girl, each refusing to accept
responsibility for their selfish actions, could not relate in full harmony.
When they finally did beget children, their internal confusion and their
disharmony affected even their reproductive process as well as the nature of
their parenting.
Human beings, conceived and growing up in
such circumstances, descendants of the couple whose choice to follow the
selfish will overrode the force inherent in the creation principle,
having inherited dread, guilt, and fear, have been continuingly tempted to act
in violation of the principle of dual interests, even though
many display altruistic behavior as early as the second year of life.
RESPONSIBILITY
10. in our painful reality, the
innately urged responsibility of each of us to grow to emotional and physical
maturity is difficult, if not impossible to fulfill, for the following reasons.
10.1 In early
childhood, each of us acquires from our caretaker(s) the inclination to
overvalue the purpose of the self, and so shy from acting towards the whole
interest: this inclination exists along with the natural inclination for
altruistic behavior.
10.2 Each of us exists as an object partner in one or
more projects. We entered a project at the invitation of the would-be subject
partner, who assured us that developmental action would also benefit us, either
immediately or in due time, in accordance with the principle of dual
interests. Each of us also exists with unnatural fearfulness, also
acquired from the caretaker. This is not a natural fear appropriate to our
being a human, such as the fear of a newborn upon feeling the strength of the
force of gravity and sensing distance from a solid, nor instructed or
experienced fear such of touching something too hot. Accordingly, we experience
fear when developmental action is about to be undertaken, fear that we will be
depleted without due compensation. In the normal development of a
project, this fear is overcome by our well-grounded faith in the subject
partner.However,
when, impelled by our fundamental impulse to give love more greatly, action is
contemplated to give love to another person, stimulating the receiver to pass
on the love, fear is heightened. Love offered to another is an investment
entailing risk. If our offer is received, we and the receiver unite as an
expanded project more able also to benefit ourselves. However, we know that the
receiver may (for reasons that I will soon mention) refuse to, in turn, love
more greatly, so that unity will not occur, and we are left with depletion of
our resources. Overcoming our fearfulness is faith in the project's plan,
ultimately in the subject partner, and belief that the subject partner
participates in projects ultimately stemming from person{s} of solid
goodness. This means that we require courage to have faith in our subject
partner, and, If the fear is too great, we are strongly tempted to act instead
for our own benefit, either to hoard resources or to aggressively seek
acquisition, in both cases fearing future insufficiency, exercising our freedom
to leave the project and embark on our own. It is because we know our own
temptability that we know that the intended receiver of our offer of love will
be tempted to refuse it and may succumb.
10.3. Further, if our offer of love is rejected, our will to
love is strengthened, but there has been no return of beauty encouraging giving
to a greater scope. Instead, of feeling joy, we, deprived of the object of
love, will feel sorrow, the intensity depending upon the depth of our
lovingness.
10.3.1. There seems to
be an exception to the second part of the principle of dual interests. The
subject may engage in an activity that cannot guarantee interests of the
object: for instance, enrolling in the Armed Forces, with the possibility of untimely
death.
10.3.1.2. Given the above
possibility, it might be best simply to practice self-denial – refraining from
calculating possible results of our subject’s proposed initiatives – within an
implicit affirmation of our subject’s goodwill and caring. (In the Hebrew
Scriptures, Abram’s response to his god exemplifies this.)
10.4 An additional
cause of not acting upon a desire to further the interests of the whole is
uncontrolled addiction. Common addictions include addiction to the effect
of alcoholic beverages, of narcotics, and of satisfaction of sexual desire. In
general, while any pleasurable activity may be intrinsically good, one should
avoid overindulging in any, lest strong attachment to the expected pleasure
make it difficult to act for the purpose of the whole. We may consider fearful
attachment to a food source, to the well-being of one’s family excluding
activity for the sake of the community, of one’s community excluding the sake
of the nation, and one’s nation excluding the sake of the world also to be
forms of addiction.
10.4,1 Ritual sacrifice is a method for harnessing addiction.
Symbolically or actually the next object or action to which we are attached is
placed where we cannot access it. Then, when contemplating any such object or
action, we remember that we had sacrificed the next one, putting it away, and
so are extremely reluctant to indulge. The more valuable the object or
activity, the more the sacrifice is effective. The purpose of
harnessing addiction is that individual-interest attachment to the object or
action is hindering action for the whole interest The sufficiently
costly sacrifice, therefore, is offered to the whole interest, the
project. While the addiction remains, it is now as if it had never been.
Thus, the obstruction which we, as the object partner with uncontrolled
addiction, had presented to our subject partner has been removed, and our
subject partner may welcome us, as the object partner with controlled
addiction, back into the project. In Alcoholics Anonymous, the
“higher power” to which desirable alcoholic beverages are sacrificed actuaily
is the interest of the whole, namely, to get on with life.
10.4.2 Internally, if we are addicted to some thought, such
as a fantasy, or to some desire (e.g., for greater social power), putting it
aside may require attaching a painful action to it.
10.4.3 Any
powerful selfish desire may become addictive. This is notably, even
universally, true of selfish sexual desire. Sexual desire always
arises from the impulse to give love to the greatest scope imagined. We may
imagine a future, transformed reality with love and happiness. We may even
imagine that there is something greater, transcending what we can imagine,
beckoning us on. Then, how can sexual love best contribute to the coming of
such a reality? This would be in the production of an heir as a step in the
scenario leading to an ideal global civilization, which is the greatest
interest of the whole. Therefore, a sexual desire not accompanied by the
intention of such production is inherently selfish and, being powerful, becomes
addictive.
10.
4.3.1 There is a two-fold reason why appropriate, unselfish desire
is so difficult to maintain. Unlike primates, such as the chimpanzees who can
become pregnant only several years apart, human beings can become pregnant
every 10 or 11 months; upon becoming pregnant and delivering a baby, a human
female must devote several years to rearing the child, and for this she will
not only optimally have the support of her mate, but also have attained
emotional maturity. Thus, there is a multi-year gap between the age of
acquiring the physiological ability to reproduce, along with its appropriately
developing hormones, and the age for optimal reproduction. To deny for such a
long period the natural urge to reproduce, which would lead to a certain
happiness, the interest of the self, requires faith in a greater benefit in a
far future, the interest of the whole. To sustain such faith requires the
utmost courage.
10.5 Suppose we give in to the temptation just to not seek
to love more greatly, fearing possible or even probable pain, but stay in
our comfort zone? To do so would be to imprison within our mind the impulse to
give true love. All our actions would be alienated from our deepest nature.
Rather, to continue seeking opportunity to give greater love will give us a new
sense of freedom.
10.5.1 Even this heroic determination, however, would not itself
establish the internal freedom that we seek. The love that we give must be
pure.
For the impulse to love to become loving,
it must stimulate an emotion. The emotion, guided by the operation of the
intellect, becomes the will to act in a specific way; then active love will
occur if a person has sufficient power. All too readily, however the impulse
picks up not just the emotion of loving, but one or more other emotions seeking
expression. It may pick up the desire to hurt someone in order to release
stored up feelings of resentment and revenge; in such a case, a kiss may be a
bite in disguise. The impulse to love may pick up the desire to be hurt as
punishment for actions considered guilty. It may take up sexual desire
inappropriate to the intended object of love. It may be affected or diverted by
an irrational desire-- a desire intellectually known to be impossible of
satisfaction--, which may result from extreme dissatisfaction or may be imbibed
from a parent. To be internally free, we must forgive
any who have caused us pain and forgive ourselves. In the case of irrational
desire we will need to find a cure in a therapy.
SOCIETY
1.1. A project of any societal scope
(e.g., marriage, a plan to share enjoyable activity, a plan to benefit the
neighborhood) purports that – as in every project –actions for the whole
interest will result in benefits for the actor to some extent, and is an
investment, with risk.
1.1.1. The family has
been the basic unit of every society. Societal relationships at any level
may be seen as family relationships writ large.
1.1.1.2.
It is in the family that one learns loving, disrespecting, hating, and
standards for behavior.
1.1.2 The expansion
of a society, even one that was not yet civilized, but definitely a civilized
society that is able to continue to thrive, has usually been dependent upon the
example of a person demonstrating the viability of a greater societal
investment, a greater sacrifice involving a new technology – often a series of
such persons. If the example is remembered and societally practiced, and it
becomes a tradition, then, sooner or later, it is likely that a political
entity based upon the tradition will be established. The exemplary
person has had greater faith; and the greater his or her nobleness,
the sooner the societal practice will occur. (In an interpretation of Genesis
4, the roles of the brothers – presumably, each with their families and living
with their parents – are seen as elder and younger, and this is a true typology
in a patriarchal culture in which the elder participates comfortably in the
father’s possessions, while the younger, with nothing to lose, is more likely
to innovate. Nevertheless, what the younger is doing in the story is to
sacrifice the availability of the animals as food before their maturity, while
the elder sacrifices the availability only of immature plants. Attachment is
stronger to that which is more valuable.)
[ A history of such expansion may be found
implicit in the Hebrew Scriptures culminating in the story of Solomon’s
kingdom, a cautionary tale, written by persons well after the destruction of
the kingdom, it shows the perils of deviating from the tradition.
Accepted history shows attempts to revive the tradition and move forward with
it. The Gospels of the Christian tradition may be seen to trace ultimately
unsuccessful attempts to establish a political entity enshrining an example and
the tradition that ensues from it.]
ACTION FOR SOCIETY
12. To act toward the
development of a society, or toward a reformation/transformation
of a society, we may either be the innovative person or seek and find and
assist one.
13. Societies, however, have needed
not only development but also purification, which should, or perhaps must,
precede the development. The purification that a society needs is the purging
of injustice.
14. Therefore, any of us who belong
to an oppressor class have the additional responsibility to seek to end the
oppression in which we are complicit, not only by repenting for it, not only in
order to cleanse our feelings of guilt, but also to facilitate opportunity for
forgiveness among the oppressed. The facilitating actions are called
reparations.
REPARATION
15. Any person can forgive another who
hurt him or her, and this cleanses the feelings of hurt and resentment, and
also works towards harmony. However, simple forgiveness is not benevolent: the
offender is left with feelings of guilt. Towards the removal of these, actions
by the offender to repair historic and current pain are called for. Yet,
historic and current pain will likely be too great to be fully repaired by the
offender’s actions. If this is the case, what may move the heart of the
offended is for the offender to offer reparations to the point of barely
tolerable cost. This may also be accepted by the offender’s conscience. Then, a
fully harmonious relationship between the two can be established.
[J1]THE MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES-BASIC
VERSION
This
is a purely humanistic version of a post in my blog
johnnysonneborn.blogspot.com, “The Most Important Principles.”
[For a full version for students of Unificationism, a stripped-down version of
that, or other posts, click “Archive” on the right panel, then select a year,
and a list of posts will appear.]
Now I
am going to write about this text: You may, if you so wish, skip directly to
the text by finding”1’
[I
will soon be posting several recently-written short pieces.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES
The
text is written from a humanist perspective so that it could be used in all
cultures, with a presenter tweaking according to the culture.
Part
1 begins with an assumption. On the foundation of the assumption, general
principles are given, putatively elucidating how the human mind thinks.
Part 11 will set forth principles relevant to our common life riddled with pain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART
1
ASSUMPTION
1. Every
human being has the fundamental irrepressible impulse to give love to the
greatest scope imagined. (This may be called “heart”.)
1.1. Unlike other
species’, a human being’s imagination becomes unlimited upon the person
reaching adolescence.
HUMAN MATURATION
2. Each human develops toward
spiritual and physical maturity by the force inherent in the creation
principle. This has also been called “innate intelligence”. Within the
creation principle, there are sub-principles, as follows.
3. Development occurs through three stages: forming,
growing, and completing. Jesus teaches an explication of these in Mark
4:26b-29.
3,1.
Emotional growth occurs when love is given and received, enabling giving of
love to a greater social scope, longer duration, and/or depth (degree of
subjective evaluation).
3.1.1 Action, above, is intended to benefit its recipient.
Since the recipient’s fundamental impulse is to give love, it follows that the
loving action should enable the recipient to love more greatly.
RELATIONSHIPS AND NETWORK
4. The existence of any entity can be
described as one or more four position foundations, which are networks of
subject-object relationships.
5. A subject-object
relationship exists in a project and is established/formed as follows: a
would-be subject partner advertises as such in a new project; another entity
declares interest in becoming an object partner and gives self-information,
thus standing symbolically in the object position; the subject partner
expresses a desire for the other to be a substantial object partner and states
the processes and rules for the project; the other expresses the desire to join
the project as described. Subject-object projects exist between human beings
and within a human being, and we may describe such interrelationships in the
microworld
5.1. An object partner
is not passive. The partner offers information and may offer suggestions. As
offerer, the partner is in the subject position. Alternation of position is
continuous. Yet, the subject partner ultimately determines action,
having` taken responsibility for the project and with a greater awareness of
the greater project within which the project is itself a sub-project.
5.2. There are types of subject-object partnerships. In one
type, the subject partner has delegated to the object partner responsibility
for part of the project (with the object partner thus poised to stand as the
subject in a smaller project). The subject partner is then bound to unite with
and support whatever the object partner says or does.
5.2.1 In another type, functioning according to
the principle of dual purposes, the subject-partner is designated to pursue
investment toward widening or deepening the project’s impact (purpose/interest of
the whole); the object-partner, being responsible for maintaining the project
and developing it (purpose/interest of the Individual), may warn the investing
partner that the risk involved in that investing appears intolerable, yet
cannot override it I think that the relationships in this horizontal form
are ultimately ones of increase and decrease, with
those in the other form ultimately ones of internal and external.
6. At least when a project
exists as a sub-project, it may be located in a diamond figure quadruple base,
as follows. At the diamond’s apex stands the greater project; the narrower
project’s subject partner and object partner stand at the diamond’s sides; the
fact of their union fills the remaining point. With this, the occupant of any
point may be seen in relation to that of any of the other three points.
6.1 When a
project is aiming for a specific effect, the purpose of the effect, which is
the project, stands at the apex of a temporary quadruple base, with the result
at the bottom: then the subject partner or object partner takes the project
into consideration when choosing actions. When projects, described as quadruple
bases, exist in a hierarchy of ever greater projects, activity exists in a
spiral.
7. In projects of persons
(having minds) a subject partner is always expressing love, and an object
partner returning beauty.
ETHICS
8. The fundamental ethical
principle guiding thinking beings is that of dual interests:
an action chosen toward fulfilling an interest of the self (object) should be
taken only if it is hoped that this will enable the person better to contribute
towards the interest of the whole project, represented by the subject,
who proposed it, while actions taken for the fulfillment of the interest
of the whole should respect the dignity of individuals affected by it and
facilitate the attainment of their self-interests. [This duality may be the
creation principle itself: building upon an existing foundation – developing
while maintaining a foundation.]
8.1. At the least in a
humanistic perspective, there is an exception to the second part of this
principle, which will be shown in Part II.
9. God’s three blessings to each human being, told in Judaism’s
creation myth, embody complexification and indicate that a perfectly mature
human being takes the subject position toward any entity in the natural world
or to any angel.
THE IDEAL
CONCLUSION. We can imagine a reality in
which all persons live/act according to these principles – a world of
lovingness and joyfulness. However, reality as we experience it is one of
sorrow as well as happiness and can be analyzed as featuring pain, Impatience,
fear, anger, and conflict.
PART 2
I will begin with a suggested origination
of our common pain-filled reality. The reader interested only in the principles
derived from this reality can search for ”10” for the principles.
The origin of painful reality.
(Garden of Eden). During childhood
the boy and girl separated from the maternal species and formed a project whose
goal was the full maturation of each. They exchanged love and beauty, helped
each other, and exercised their creativity in exploring the environment. As
they physically matured, they were able to give love to each other at
increasing depths, and so were growing spiritually/emotionally as well. The
girl, intuitively preparing for motherhood, was more protective of foundations
they had developed. The boy, intuitively preparing for developing the
foundations, was more adventuresome.
On a fateful day in their adolescence, the
girl, alone, thought of an activity that seemed as if it would be pleasurable.
She considered it positively and soon began engaging in it. Soon her innate
intelligence, manifesting in her conscience, impelled her to pause and examine
it in relation to the project, the interest of the whole. There were two
reasons for this: according to the creation principle, it was one of the kind
of activities that were meant to be shared; it was meant to be performed when
she had become more mature emotionally and able to imagine the thoughts and
feelings of her twin. This caused her to reflect; however, at that age of
growth, her intellect was not sufficiently developed to be sure if this
self-interest activity was appropriate for the project. Then the girl, immature
in intellect and not get stable emotionally and already beginning to feel love
for the activity, abandoned her faith in the internal guidance and its warning,
and greedily continued in the activity. Eventually, her love for the activity
overrode the power of her innate intelligence, and she became unable to stop
until exhausted.
Now alone emotionally as well as
physically, the girl felt dread. Having abandoned the project she shared with
her twin, feeling pain from her conscience and, being alone and separated from
any interest of the whole, she also felt fear.
As the girl now had come to know clearly
what she had only dimly sensed – the outcome of the activity – ,
she proposed to the boy sharing the activity in an attempt to reenter
their project, but what would be, in fact, a new project, in which she would
stand as the subject partner. He, seeing her in the confused state and having
abandoned their project, was weakened and, after not so much hesitation that
was prompted by his principled force and conscience, readily entered into
a reciprocal relationship and then formed a common base with her . The ensuing
giving and receiving action then propelled them into sexual intercourse.
Their new project was not the maturation of each, but the satisfaction of each
centered on each one’s selfish desire.
The boy and girl, each refusing to accept
responsibility for their selfish actions, could not relate in full harmony.
When they finally did beget children, their internal confusion and their
disharmony affected even their reproductive process as well as the nature of
their parenting.
Human beings, conceived and growing up in
such circumstances, descendants of the couple whose choice to follow the
selfish will overrode the force inherent in the creation principle,
having inherited dread, guilt, and fear, have been continuingly tempted to act
in violation of the principle of dual interests, even though
many display altruistic behavior as early as the second year of life.
RESPONSIBILITY
10. in our painful reality, the
innately urged responsibility of each of us to grow to emotional and physical
maturity is difficult, if not impossible to fulfill, for the following reasons.
10.1 In early
childhood, each of us acquires from our caretaker(s) the inclination to
overvalue the purpose of the self, and so shy from acting towards the whole
interest: this inclination exists along with the natural inclination for
altruistic behavior.
10.2 Each of us exists as an object partner in one or
more projects. We entered a project at the invitation of the would-be subject
partner, who assured us that developmental action would also benefit us, either
immediately or in due time, in accordance with the principle of dual
interests. Each of us also exists with unnatural fearfulness, also
acquired from the caretaker. This is not a natural fear appropriate to our
being a human, such as the fear of a newborn upon feeling the strength of the
force of gravity and sensing distance from a solid, nor instructed or
experienced fear such of touching something too hot. Accordingly, we experience
fear when developmental action is about to be undertaken, fear that we will be
depleted without due compensation. In the normal development of a
project, this fear is overcome by our well-grounded faith in the subject
partner. [J1] However,
when, impelled by our fundamental impulse to give love more greatly, action is
contemplated to give love to another person, stimulating the receiver to pass
on the love, fear is heightened. Love offered to another is an investment
entailing risk. If our offer is received, we and the receiver unite as an
expanded project more able also to benefit ourselves. However, we know that the
receiver may (for reasons that I will soon mention) refuse to, in turn, love
more greatly, so that unity will not occur, and we are left with depletion of
our resources. Overcoming our fearfulness is rhat faith in the project's plan,
ultimately in the subject partner, and belief that the subject partner
participates in projects ultimately stemming from person{s} of solid
goodness. This means that we require courage to have faith in our subject
partner, and, If the fear is too great, we are strongly tempted to act instead
for our own benefit, either to hoard resources or to aggressively seek
acquisition, in both cases fearing future insufficiency, exercising our freedom
to leave the project and embark on our own. It is because we know our own
temptability that we know that the intended receiver of our offer of love will
be tempted to refuse it and may succumb.
10.3. Further, if our offer of love is rejected, our will to
love is strengthened, but there has been no return of beauty encouraging giving
to a greater scope. Instead, of feeling joy, we, deprived of the object of
love, will feel sorrow, the intensity depending upon the depth of our
lovingness.
10.3.1.
There seems to be an exception to the second part of the principle of dual
interests. The subject may engage in an activity that cannot guarantee
interests of the object: for instance, enrolling in the Armed Forces, with the
possibility of untimely death.
10.3.1.2. Given the above possibility, it might be best
simply to practice self-denial – refraining from calculating possible results
of our subject’s proposed initiatives – within an implicit affirmation of our
subject’s goodwill and caring. (In the Hebrew Scriptures, Abram’s response to
his god exemplifies this.)
10.4 An additional cause of not acting upon
a desire to further the interests of the whole is uncontrolled addiction.
Common addictions include addiction to the effect of alcoholic beverages, of
narcotics, and of satisfaction of sexual desire. In general, while any
pleasurable activity may be intrinsically good, one should avoid overindulging
in any, lest strong attachment to the expected pleasure make it difficult to
act for the purpose of the whole. We may consider fearful attachment to a food
source, to the well-being of one’s family excluding activity for the sake of
the community, of one’s community excluding the sake of the nation, and one’s
nation excluding the sake of the world also to be forms of addiction.
10.4,1 Ritual sacrifice
is a method for harnessing addiction. Symbolically or actually the next object
or action to which we are attached is placed where we cannot access it. Then,
when contemplating any such object or action, we remember that we had
sacrificed the next one, putting it away, and so are extremely reluctant to
indulge. The more valuable the object or activity, the more the sacrifice
is effective. The purpose of harnessing addiction is that
individual-interest attachment to the object or action is hindering action for
the whole interest The sufficiently costly sacrifice, therefore, is
offered to the whole interest, the project. While the addiction remains,
it is now as if it had never been. Thus, the obstruction which we, as the
object partner with uncontrolled addiction, had presented to our subject
partner has been removed, and our subject partner may welcome us, as the object
partner with controlled addiction, back into the project. In
Alcoholics Anonymous, the “higher power” to which desirable alcoholic beverages
are sacrificed actuaily is the interest of the whole, namely, to get on with
life.
10.4.2
Internally, if we are addicted to some thought, such as a fantasy, or
to some desire (e.g., for greater social power), putting it aside may require
attaching a painful action to it.
10.4.3 Any powerful
selfish desire may become addictive. This is notably, even universally,
true of selfish sexual desire. Sexual desire always arises from the
impulse to give love to the greatest scope imagined. We may imagine a future,
transformed reality with love and happiness. We may even imagine that there is
something greater, transcending what we can imagine, beckoning us on. Then, how
can sexual love best contribute to the coming of such a reality? This would be
in the production of an heir as a step in the scenario leading to an ideal
global civilization, which is the greatest interest of the whole. Therefore, a
sexual desire not accompanied by the intention of such production is inherently
selfish and, being powerful, becomes addictive.
10. 4.3.1 There is a
two-fold reason why appropriate, unselfish desire is so difficult to
maintain. Unlike primates, such as the chimpanzees who can become pregnant only
several years apart, human beings can become pregnant every 10 or 11 months;
upon becoming pregnant and delivering a baby, a human female must devote
several years to rearing the child, and for this she will not only optimally
have the support of her mate, but also have attained emotional maturity. Thus,
there is a multi-year gap between the age of acquiring the physiological
ability to reproduce, along with its appropriately developing hormones, and the
age for optimal reproduction. To deny for such a long period the natural urge
to reproduce, which would lead to a certain happiness, the interest of the
self, requires faith in a greater benefit in a far future, the interest of the
whole. To sustain such faith requires the utmost courage.
10.5 Suppose we give in to the temptation just to not seek
to love more greatly, fearing possible or even probable pain, but stay in
our comfort zone? To do so would be to imprison within our mind the impulse to
give true love. All our actions would be alienated from our deepest nature.
Rather, to continue seeking opportunity to give greater love will give us a new
sense of freedom.
10.5.1 Even this heroic
determination, however, would not itself establish the internal freedom that we
seek. The love that we give must be pure.
For the impulse to love to become loving, it must stimulate an
emotion. The emotion, guided by the operation of the intellect, becomes the
will to act in a specific way; then active love will occur if a person has
sufficient power. All too readily, however the impulse picks up not just the
emotion of loving, but one or more other emotions seeking expression. It may
pick up the desire to hurt someone in order to release stored up feelings of
resentment and revenge; in such a case, a kiss may be a bite in disguise. The
impulse to love may pick up the desire to be hurt as punishment for actions
considered guilty. It may take up sexual desire inappropriate to the intended
object of love. It may be affected or diverted by an irrational desire-- a
desire intellectually known to be impossible of satisfaction--, which may
result from extreme dissatisfaction or may be imbibed from a
parent. To be internally free, we must forgive any who
have caused us pain and forgive ourselves. In the case of irrational desire we
will need to find a cure in a therapy.
SOCIETY
1.1. A project of any societal scope (e.g., marriage, a
plan to share enjoyable activity, a plan to benefit the neighborhood) purports
that – as in every project –actions for the whole interest will result in
benefits for the actor to some extent, and is an investment, with risk.
1.1.1. The family has been the basic unit
of any society. Societal relationships at any level may be seen as family
relationships writ large.
1.1.1.2. It is
in the family that one learns loving, disrespecting, hating, and standards for
behavior.
1.1.2 The expansion of a society, even
one that was not yet civilized, but definitely a civilized society that is able
to continue to thrive, has usually been dependent upon the example of a
person demonstrating the viability of a greater societal investment, a greater
sacrifice involving a new technology – often a series of such persons. If the
example is remembered and societally practiced, and it becomes a tradition,
then, sooner or later, it is likely that a political entity based upon the
tradition will be established. The exemplary person has had greater
faith; and the greater his or her nobleness, the sooner the
societal practice will occur. (In an interpretation of Genesis 4, the roles of
the brothers – presumably, each with their families and living with their
parents – are seen as elder and younger, and this is a true typology in a
patriarchal culture in which the elder participates comfortably in the father’s
possessions, while the younger, with nothing to lose, is more likely to
innovate. Nevertheless, what the younger is doing in the story is to sacrifice
the availability of the animals as food before their maturity, while the elder
sacrifices the availability only of immature plants. Attachment is stronger to
that which is more valuable.)
[ A history of such expansion may be found implicit in the
Hebrew Scriptures culminating in the story of Solomon’s kingdom, a cautionary
tale, written by persons well after the destruction of the kingdom, it shows
the perils of deviating from the tradition. Accepted history shows
attempts to revive the tradition and move forward with it. The Gospels of the
Christian tradition may be seen to trace ultimately unsuccessful attempts to
establish a political entity enshrining an example and the tradition that ensues
from it.]
ACTION FOR SOCIETY
12. To act toward the development of a society, or
toward a reformation/transformation of a society, we may either be
the innovative person or seek and find and assist one.
13. Societies, however, have needed not only development
but also purification, which should, or perhaps must, precede the development.
The purification that a society needs is the purging of injustice.
14. Therefore, any of us who belong to an oppressor
class have the additional responsibility to seek to end the oppression in which
we are complicit, not only by repenting for it, not only in order to cleanse
our feelings of guilt, but also to facilitate opportunity for forgiveness among
the oppressed. The facilitating actions are called reparations.
REPARATION
15. Any person
can forgive another who hurt him or her, and this cleanses the feelings of hurt
and resentment, and also works towards harmony. However, simple forgiveness is
not benevolent: the offender is left with feelings of guilt. Towards the
removal of these, actions by the offender to repair historic and current pain
are called for. Yet, historic and current pain will likely be too great to be
fully repaired by the offender’s actions. If this is the case, what may move
the heart of the offended is for the offender to offer reparations to the point
of barely tolerable cost. This may also be accepted by the offender’s
conscience. Then, a fully harmonious relationship between the two can be
established.
###########END#################
10.5.1 Even
this heroic determination, however, would not itself establish the internal
freedom that we seek. The love that we give must be pure. […]///
10.5.2 For
the impulse to result in giving love, it must become an emotion for loving. The
emotion, guided by the operation of the intellect, becomes the will to act in a
specific way; then active love will occur if a person has sufficient power. All
too readily, however, the impulse picks up not just the emotion of loving, but
one or more other emotions seeking expression. It may pick up the desire to
hurt someone in order to release stored up feelings of resentment and revenge;
in such a case, a kiss may be a bite in disguise. The impulse to love may pick
up the desire to be hurt as punishment for actions considered guilty. It may
take up sexual desire inappropriate to the intended object of love. It may be
affected or diverted by an irrational desire-- a desire intellectually known to
be impossible of satisfaction--, which may result from extreme dissatisfaction
or may be imbibed from a parent.
The irrrational desire to flap one's wings and fly
would likely bring few negative consequences in one’s ongoing life. However,
the irrational desire to become one of the other gender can. A person with such
a strong desire may become obsessed with one of the other gender to experience
vicariously through that person being a woman/man (impossible of being in
reality). Alternatively, a person may become homosexual. One crucial negative
consequence of that will very likely be missing the experience of heterosexual
intercourse with a committed partner which,,as explained above, would be the
greatest expression of love and bring the greatest emotional intimacy. Another
likely negative consequence is the person missing experiencing parental love in
his or her own family, or, if by some means raising a child, have the painful
experience of seeing the child bullied by one or more cruel children or their
parents upon saving that in his or her family there are two mommies or two
daddies.
SOCIETY
11. A project of any societal scope (e.g.,
marriage, a plan to share enjoyable activity, a plan to benefit the
neighborhood) purports that – as in every project –actions for the whole
interest will result in benefits for the actor to some extent, and is an investment,
with risk.
11.1 The family has been
the basic unit of any society. Societal relationships at any level
may be seen as family relationships writ large.
11.2 The expansion of a
society, even one that was not yet civilized, but definitely a civilized
society that is able to continue to thrive, has usually been dependent upon the
example of a person demonstrating the viability of a greater
societal investment, a greater sacrifice involving a new technology – often a
series of such persons. If the example is remembered and societally practiced,
and it becomes a tradition, then, sooner or later, it is likely that a
political entity based upon the tradition will be
established. The exemplary person has had greater faith; and
the greater his or her nobleness, the sooner the societal practice
will occur. (In an interpretation of Genesis 4, the roles of the brothers –
presumably, each with their families and living with their parents – are seen
as elder and younger, and this is a true typology in a patriarchal culture in
which the elder participates comfortably in the father’s possessions, while the
younger, with nothing to lose, is more likely to innovate. Nevertheless, what
the younger is doing in the story is to sacrifice the availability of the
animals as food before their maturity, while the elder sacrifices the
availability only of immature plants. Attachment is stronger to that which is
more
valuable.)
[ A history of such expansion may be found implicit in
the Hebrew Scriptures culminating in the story of Solomon’s kingdom, a
cautionary tale, written by persons well after the destruction of the kingdom,
it shows the perils of deviating from the tradition. Accepted
history shows attempts to revive the tradition and move forward with it. The
Gospels of the Christian tradition may be seen to trace ultimately unsuccessful
attempts to establish a political entity enshrining an example and the tradition
that ensues from it.]
ACTION FOR SOCIETY
12. To act toward the development
of a society, or toward a reformation/transformation of a
society, we may either be the innovative person or seek and find and assist
one.
13. Societies, however, have needed not
only development but also purification, which should, or perhaps must, precede
the development. The purification that a society needs is the purging of
injustice.
14. Therefore, any of us who belong to an
oppressor class have the additional responsibility to seek to end the
oppression in which we are complicit, not only by repenting for it, not only in
order to cleanse our feelings of guilt, but also to facilitate opportunity for
forgiveness among the oppressed. The facilitating actions are called
reparations.
REPARATION
15. Any person can forgive another who hurt him or
her, and this cleanses the feelings of hurt and resentment, and also works
towards harmony. However, simple forgiveness is not benevolent: the offender is
left with feelings of guilt. Towards the removal of these, actions by the
offender to repair historic and current pain are called for. Yet, historic and
current pain will likely be too great to be fully repaired by the offender’s
actions. If this is the case, what may move the heart of the offended is for
the offender to offer reparations to the point of barely tolerable cost. This
may also be accepted by the offender’s conscience. Then, a fully harmonious
relationship between the two can be established.
16. Forgiveness with recognition of painful
reparations may establish emotional harmony – reconciliation if the parties had
been in harmony before the offense –; however, the social
situation may be one in which the offender can continue to impose
upon the offended. Therefore, the offending person or class--acting towards the
purpose of the whole, the full cooperation in a project for the facilitation of
greater loving, should set reparations and/or other means towards the offended’s
full external freedom and for equality, for only then can the internal freedom
of each – the freedom to give pure love in the realistic expectation that it
will be received-- be attained. Only then will there be peace, substantial
harmony, and full happiness.
To be internally free, we must forgive any who have
caused us pain and forgive ourselves. In the case of irrational desire we will
need to find a cure in a therapy.
***
SOCIETY
11. A project of any societal scope (e.g., marriage, a
plan to share enjoyable activity, a plan to benefit the neighborhood) purports
that – as in every project –actions for the whole interest will result in
benefits for the actor to some extent, and is an investment, with risk.
11.1 The family has been
the basic unit of any society […]. Societal relationships at any level may be
seen as family relationships writ large.
11.2 The expansion of a
society, even one that was not yet civilized, but definitely a civilized
society that is able to continue to thrive, has usually been dependent upon the
example of a person demonstrating the viability of a greater
societal investment, a greater sacrifice involving a new technology – often a
series of such persons. If the example is remembered and societally practiced,
and it becomes a tradition, then, sooner or later, it is likely that a
political entity based upon the tradition will be established. [2.1.2]The
exemplary person has had greater faith; and the greater his or her nobleness,
the sooner the societal practice will occur. (In Unificationism’s
interpretation of Genesis 4, the roles of the brothers – presumably, each with
their families and living with their parents – are seen as elder and younger,
and this is a true typology in a patriarchal culture in which the elder
participates comfortably in the father’s possessions, while the younger, with
nothing to lose, is more likely to innovate. Nevertheless, what the younger is
doing in the story is to sacrifice the availability of the animals as food
before their maturity, while the elder sacrifices the availability only of
immature plants. Attachment is stronger to that which is more
valuable.)
[ A history of such expansion may be found implicit in
the Hebrew Scriptures culminating in the story of Solomon’s kingdom, a
cautionary tale, written by persons well after the destruction of the kingdom,
it shows the perils of deviating from the tradition. Accepted
history shows attempts to revive the tradition and move forward with it. The
Gospels of the Christian tradition may be seen to trace ultimately unsuccessful
attempts to establish a political entity enshrining an example and the tradition
that ensues from it.]
ACTION FOR SOCIETY
12. To act toward the development
of a society, or toward a reformation/transformation of a
society, we may either be the innovative person or seek and find and assist
one.
13. Societies, however, have needed not
only development but also purification, which should, or perhaps must, precede
the development. The purification that a society needs is the purging of
injustice.
14. Therefore, any of us who belong to an
oppressor class have the additional responsibility to seek to
end the oppression in which we are complicit,///// not only by
repenting for it, not only in order to cleanse our feelings of guilt, but also
to facilitate opportunity for forgiveness among the oppressed. The
facilitating actions are called reparations.
REPARATION
15. Any person can forgive another who hurt him or
her, and this cleanses the feelings of hurt and resentment, and also works
towards harmony. However, simple forgiveness is not benevolent: the offender is
left with feelings of guilt. Towards the removal of these, actions by the
offender to repair historic and current pain are called for. Yet, historic and
current pain will likely be too great to be fully repaired by the offender’s
actions. If this is the case, what may move the heart of the offended is for
the offender to offer reparations to the point of barely tolerable cost. This
may also be accepted by the offender’s conscience. Then, a fully harmonious
relationship between the two can be established.
/////
16. Forgiveness with recognition of painful
reparations may establish emotional harmony – reconciliation if the parties had
been in harmony before the offense –; however, the social
situation may be one in which the offender can continue to impose
upon the offended. Therefore, the offending person or class--acting towards the
purpose of the whole, the full cooperation in a project for the facilitation of
greater loving, should set reparations and/or other means towards the
offended’s full external freedom and for equality, for only then can the
internal freedom of each – the freedom to give pure love in the realistic
expectation that it will be received-- be attained [1.2.5.1]. Only then will
there be peace, substantial harmony, and full happiness. (In
Unificationism, the first offenders were Adam and Eve, and the offended, God,
who requested, for the sake of the offenders, painfully costly reparations to
expunge their guilty feelings.)
Posted by John Andrew Sonneborn at 10:39 PM No
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