“When a man stops believing in God, he doesn't believe in nothing, he believes in anything.” (G.K. Chesterton)
Dawkins has all but taken back his quote on being a cultural-Christian. Nevertheless, man is strongly predisposed to conforming to his tribe of men and accepting their moral law.
“We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, “to be free from freedom.”” (Eric Hoffer)
The American founders came the closest to filling the void left by the weakening of Christianity with the Declaration of Independence and the morality of individualism.
But this philosophy was poorly defended because it was poorly understood. Ultimately what could be called “Americanism” gave way to FDR’s New Deal: America’s brand of collectivism and altruism. We know it today as the welfare state.
Yep! That's a lot to take in! I get you on so many levels, but when I see the beauty of nature (unpolluted by worldly interest and greed), I cannot help but believe the words of Paul, "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath the heart of man imagined all that God has in store for those who love him."
Just to enter the spiritual world without our fleshly corrupt nature and see and experience beauty and purity impossible to know on this Earth would have to be something to behold. Unspeakable!
I live in the mountains and they were beautiful until harp (intentional) got hold of them! And, as I was driving around and seeing the beauty that was left I had to imagine that if God would put this on Earth how much more awesome heaven would be!
And, as we know, man pollutes/distorts those things which he either does not want to understand, or, distorts for his own gain.
After reading many such articles and opinions, I came to this conclusion; even if the Bible is a fairytale, my life has been better because of it.
That final sentence is on the money. And this is exactly what I want to convey in this article. It doesn’t matter if Christianity is for real or not. The values matter. Only the values. Isn’t that what Christianity is about anyway?
Thank you for this (fwiw). This was very good for me to read as it articulates nicely plenty of what I have been thinking over the past 15 years or so. Like you, I was a vocal and avowed atheist -- life-long, in fact -- but today I recognize that I am also “areligious” although in some ways “christian-adjacent”. I usually simply say I am no longer an atheist. As soon as you say that, though, the listener (reader) assumes or infers something about you and that inference is ‘whatever it is that *they* think you mean’ not necessarily what *you* mean when you say ‘not an atheist’. Does that make sense? (It’s like when you say the word “god” the listener only thinks of what he or she thinks that word means. Unfortunately, we don’t have a word that can possibly encapsulate everything that is supposed to be meant by the concept of “god”, so it’s really a default term. And then you must go on to explain yourself, if allowed.)
I started changing my views when I began studying something closer to what we today think of as metaphysics, at least as presented by, we are told, greek philosophy. Eventually, I came to understand why Ken Wheeler says that “religion is secularized metaphysics”. Anyway, that is a whole ‘nuther discussion.
Have you encountered the work of Walter Russell? His revelations and writings offer a unique picture of “reality” and present a rather complete understanding of the (proper) union of metaphysics and physics. Basically, we’ve got it all wrong. Lol. (Which will come as no surprise, I am sure). Russell’s genius is best elucidated (for me so far, at least) in “The Secret of Light”, which is his final work; a kind of encapsulation of all that he wrote in the previous 70 years. (His drawings of, well, only the geometry of light/reality are mind-blowing and worthy of contemplation, too.) The point of bringing up Russell into this conversation is that his approach offers what I see as a ‘way out’ of the endless cycle of religious, statist, and especially, satanist (you forgot that one) systems of slavery under whose yokes we have been labouring for the past who knows how long.
Anyway, I shall be reading much more of your missives, for sure.
Thank you for your comment. Indeed, it's a trap of false dichotomy to say "you're not an atheist" as it is misconstrued as "I'm religious." It doesn't have to. I'll check your recommendations (Ken Wheeler and Walter Russel). Thank you.
Appreciate your reply. I can offer a kind of précis on Ken Wheeler if you become interested. He is a youTuber and has written a number of books and papers available on archive.org. The main things to watch are his videos on the geometry of magnetism (i.e., reality) as seen through a ferro-cell. (He has done literally thousands of videos over the years; I’ve watched hundreds).
There, I just saved you many hours, but I can ‘splain a bit more about Ken Wheeler if you like. With Russell, on the other hand, I would definitely start with “The Secret of Light”. Ken speaks of him often. In a nutshell, if we want to begin to figure out what is what, we have to eschew everything from the early 20th century nut-jobs who threw out the aether with the bathwater (Einstein, Heisenberg, et al.) and invented Quantum™ physics. Everything got stupider from then on to the apogee of said stupidity seen today just by, for example, looking out our window and seeing giant windmills and solar panels in the landscape. Anyway.... excelsior!
I identify with some of your evolution. I had a period of militant atheism as well when I was young. Going as far as wanting “in god we trust” removed from money. The irony this was before I knew it was fiat currency and not money but I digress. Raised in a progressive liberal household it took years to shed that programming. I agree that the progressives religion is that of government/statism
Thank you for reading. It was quite a read. I don't wish to push despair nor false hope. I just wish people believe what they believe for the right reasons.
People have been taught for at least 5 centuries, up to 17 centuries, that they are worthless if they don't kneel before a conqueror and accept his arbitrarily dictated dogmas about literally everything in the major branches of philosophy: Metaphysics (what is reality, what is there), Epistemology (what is knowledge and truth, and how can we know it), and Axiology (what are values, how should we be and do).
Cultures are the accumulation of people's collective decision about that. That's how they got to where they were, pre-Judianity, to being with. That's the only way that they will get there again.
Culture is downstream of race. Race is bound to soil. Therefore, blood and soil MUST be the founding principles of the recovery of culture. The truth of this is in the blood, and can be reawakened by various triggers. Mine were varied and some were gruesome or very unwelcome. Some where beautiful and transcendent. None of them were from outside, but were responses of my essence to mere triggers from the outside.
There is a way, but people have to find it in themselves to walk it. Best if they can also help one another. Communities of people founded on the principles I just mentioned are, therefore, *absolutely essential* to doing this.
I handle many aspects of the architecture of this process, being a philosopher (among other things), and having run up against this monolithic tyrant (Codex Theodosianus and its offshoots), and going through an entire panorama of transformations that are really hard to describe and would be vain to attempt at this point. But I can say that to comprehend the enemy is possible only if you comprehend yourself, and to comprehend yourself you must comprehend your world, and these three are never separable, because this is a world of war.
By the way, I am on several platforms in other modes or formats and guises. But here I have decided to go after various aspects of the mind prison the effects off which you have articulated well in this article. Please give my first two installments of Codex Theodosianus a read and see what you think? I am going to the "root of it".
Thank you for the added context. In essence, the West must regain its values from Christianity that has appropriated them. But it cannot reject Christianity before it separates it from the values that the West already had before Christianity.
I’ll save your post to read it later with the focus it deserves
Yes, and showing how the parasite entered the Western anatomy and how it fundamentally confused it at the beginning gives a groundwork for disentangling the "inner Jew" from the Western mind. People only *think* that they need Christianity, but they never did need it, at all. They needed to stand with those who stood against it in the face of death instead of capitulating to it out of cowardice or vain hope. The only reason that Germany was able to get off of its knees was due to a long reshuffling of genetics within its own racial stock that enabled a once in a 1000 years return of the Sonnenmench (the true and charismatic king of the people). So that is what IS worth fight for NOW. Of course, "positive Christianity" can go only so far. Really that is just Christianity that is *muted enough* that the blood values (courage, honor, pride(!)) can break through the clouds of "Christianity" (Judianity). But as the best of the Reichmen knew, even this must be thrown aside or else the fight will not be won.
Excellent. Agnostic isn’t quite right either, because there is quite a bit observable about the nature of reality and consciousness, just not with any dogmatic certainty.
Christianity was trapped in the World Wide Web. It’s dying from information exposure. Superstition and myth can no longer carry it. It was a lie all along.
It suffers from the Santa Clause paradox. Once you LEARN it’s not true, there is no going back.
“Well, have you tried believing in Santa again? His reindeer know his voice.”
It was all so stupid, I can’t believe I ever believed in the first place. And belief is an inappropriate metric anyway. I was young and needed a compass. It was better than nothing, as you note in the article.
I know Santa is not real. No further proof required. I now know Jesus isn’t real either. No further proof required.
I have been working on an actionable, practical, coherent philosophy for myself as a replacement. I intend to begin writing about it.
But humans are conditioned by religion to seek consensus on the issue. Not merely consensus, but GRAND DIRECTION! I understand why, and will write about that too.
You make some really excellent and intelligent points here; too many for a brief or glib response. To start with:
1) the things you define as belonging to "the baby" actually grow out of "the bathwater." For ethics to survive unrooted in any faith, for centuries... can't think of anything other than Confucianism, the exception that proves the rule.
2) What about the 5 proofs of the existence of God (Aquinas, Knox, to begin with), what are your arguments against those?
1) I make the argument that the baby was already there before the bathwater. Inevitably, the bathwater became part of the baby. But we were too hasty to throw away the bathwater, and we threw the baby with it.
2) A proof of god is by no way a proof of a specific religion. I never claim there is no god. I claim there is no valid religion. All religions are false - they are just unfalsifiable hearsay. Yes, it is likely that there is a "god" or something beyond our reality. I've written about this: https://sotiris.substack.com/p/my-religion
I've got plenty of drafts in my top drawer about ethics/morality. I mention them sporadically in my essays. I don't believe they come from a deity that refuses to communicate with us, or to make morality clear and universal for us.
Excellent thanks for the historical deep dive, i concur,was raised in the chains of Catholicism as a youngster. Everyone i know is a weak kneed bible thumper except my kids who are solid. Guess thats why ive been a lone wolf my entire life. Thx again
Thanks for reading. I try not to bash on either religion or atheism, but rather, try to focus on what matters: identity, and the things that grant us identity.
TL:DR (Sorry) But I got what I think is the gist from what I skimmed. I would recommend reading some Ken Wilber books on consciousness and levels thereof. Within a number of Ken's books there is some overlap with one of your central points - that is, (The 'West') needing to retain the good and that which works ('Truth', partial as it maybe) and disposing of that which is 'Bad' and no longer works (Religion / Christianity - and apologies for the use of the tiresome 'Good / Bad' dualism). So 'Spectrum of Consciousness' and 'Integral Spirituality' - those would be a couple of good ones to start with.
Interesting connection between lack of christian values and the drug addictions, suicides and what not.
Also how without these values are vulnerable.
The CIA and the demonic gay gangsta rap is a real thing.
I think Jesus' teachings of compassion, humility, defiance, peace, etc are the baby. But I also think there is a mystical component to all this.
If you like the simulation theory look up Gnosticism and simulation theory, aalso look up chridtian mysticism and Jewish mysticism and how they relate to the CIA's remote viewing activities
Aaron Abke Donald Hoffman . Two people to help you process your Pauline delusion of Cristos and understand Yeshua’s red letters not Paul’s narcissistic ravings .He was insane and professed hus own Gnostic beliefs over James and the 12 Apostles.In short we have a religion built on the ravings of a psychopathic lunatic .
Nothing makes sense if you are holding a set of mental constructs that will not budge from your paradigms me included . I am sorry I haven’t fleshed out both these men’s principles and narratives . Just providing a pointer to those curious to follow this path of Hoffman’s and Abke’s
“When a man stops believing in God, he doesn't believe in nothing, he believes in anything.” (G.K. Chesterton)
Dawkins has all but taken back his quote on being a cultural-Christian. Nevertheless, man is strongly predisposed to conforming to his tribe of men and accepting their moral law.
“We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, “to be free from freedom.”” (Eric Hoffer)
The American founders came the closest to filling the void left by the weakening of Christianity with the Declaration of Independence and the morality of individualism.
But this philosophy was poorly defended because it was poorly understood. Ultimately what could be called “Americanism” gave way to FDR’s New Deal: America’s brand of collectivism and altruism. We know it today as the welfare state.
Yep! That's a lot to take in! I get you on so many levels, but when I see the beauty of nature (unpolluted by worldly interest and greed), I cannot help but believe the words of Paul, "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath the heart of man imagined all that God has in store for those who love him."
Just to enter the spiritual world without our fleshly corrupt nature and see and experience beauty and purity impossible to know on this Earth would have to be something to behold. Unspeakable!
I live in the mountains and they were beautiful until harp (intentional) got hold of them! And, as I was driving around and seeing the beauty that was left I had to imagine that if God would put this on Earth how much more awesome heaven would be!
And, as we know, man pollutes/distorts those things which he either does not want to understand, or, distorts for his own gain.
After reading many such articles and opinions, I came to this conclusion; even if the Bible is a fairytale, my life has been better because of it.
That final sentence is on the money. And this is exactly what I want to convey in this article. It doesn’t matter if Christianity is for real or not. The values matter. Only the values. Isn’t that what Christianity is about anyway?
Good article, a bit too long and repetitive at times, but you delivered the points.
Thank you. Repetition to stress points from different viewpoints.
Thank you for this (fwiw). This was very good for me to read as it articulates nicely plenty of what I have been thinking over the past 15 years or so. Like you, I was a vocal and avowed atheist -- life-long, in fact -- but today I recognize that I am also “areligious” although in some ways “christian-adjacent”. I usually simply say I am no longer an atheist. As soon as you say that, though, the listener (reader) assumes or infers something about you and that inference is ‘whatever it is that *they* think you mean’ not necessarily what *you* mean when you say ‘not an atheist’. Does that make sense? (It’s like when you say the word “god” the listener only thinks of what he or she thinks that word means. Unfortunately, we don’t have a word that can possibly encapsulate everything that is supposed to be meant by the concept of “god”, so it’s really a default term. And then you must go on to explain yourself, if allowed.)
I started changing my views when I began studying something closer to what we today think of as metaphysics, at least as presented by, we are told, greek philosophy. Eventually, I came to understand why Ken Wheeler says that “religion is secularized metaphysics”. Anyway, that is a whole ‘nuther discussion.
Have you encountered the work of Walter Russell? His revelations and writings offer a unique picture of “reality” and present a rather complete understanding of the (proper) union of metaphysics and physics. Basically, we’ve got it all wrong. Lol. (Which will come as no surprise, I am sure). Russell’s genius is best elucidated (for me so far, at least) in “The Secret of Light”, which is his final work; a kind of encapsulation of all that he wrote in the previous 70 years. (His drawings of, well, only the geometry of light/reality are mind-blowing and worthy of contemplation, too.) The point of bringing up Russell into this conversation is that his approach offers what I see as a ‘way out’ of the endless cycle of religious, statist, and especially, satanist (you forgot that one) systems of slavery under whose yokes we have been labouring for the past who knows how long.
Anyway, I shall be reading much more of your missives, for sure.
Thank you for your comment. Indeed, it's a trap of false dichotomy to say "you're not an atheist" as it is misconstrued as "I'm religious." It doesn't have to. I'll check your recommendations (Ken Wheeler and Walter Russel). Thank you.
Appreciate your reply. I can offer a kind of précis on Ken Wheeler if you become interested. He is a youTuber and has written a number of books and papers available on archive.org. The main things to watch are his videos on the geometry of magnetism (i.e., reality) as seen through a ferro-cell. (He has done literally thousands of videos over the years; I’ve watched hundreds).
There, I just saved you many hours, but I can ‘splain a bit more about Ken Wheeler if you like. With Russell, on the other hand, I would definitely start with “The Secret of Light”. Ken speaks of him often. In a nutshell, if we want to begin to figure out what is what, we have to eschew everything from the early 20th century nut-jobs who threw out the aether with the bathwater (Einstein, Heisenberg, et al.) and invented Quantum™ physics. Everything got stupider from then on to the apogee of said stupidity seen today just by, for example, looking out our window and seeing giant windmills and solar panels in the landscape. Anyway.... excelsior!
I identify with some of your evolution. I had a period of militant atheism as well when I was young. Going as far as wanting “in god we trust” removed from money. The irony this was before I knew it was fiat currency and not money but I digress. Raised in a progressive liberal household it took years to shed that programming. I agree that the progressives religion is that of government/statism
Unfortunately, it seems that people need to believe is some kind of superior deity, be it a god or a government.
An excellent, excellent article! The tragedy in my soul is that I wish to believe but for some reason I simply cannot!
Thank you for reading. It was quite a read. I don't wish to push despair nor false hope. I just wish people believe what they believe for the right reasons.
Edit required:
" ... ceased (not seized) to exist."
Thank you. You're the only one who spotted that. I need to use focus more or get Grammarly. Hence: I am not a good writer: https://sotiris.substack.com/p/i-am-not-a-good-writer
Well done.
People have been taught for at least 5 centuries, up to 17 centuries, that they are worthless if they don't kneel before a conqueror and accept his arbitrarily dictated dogmas about literally everything in the major branches of philosophy: Metaphysics (what is reality, what is there), Epistemology (what is knowledge and truth, and how can we know it), and Axiology (what are values, how should we be and do).
Cultures are the accumulation of people's collective decision about that. That's how they got to where they were, pre-Judianity, to being with. That's the only way that they will get there again.
Culture is downstream of race. Race is bound to soil. Therefore, blood and soil MUST be the founding principles of the recovery of culture. The truth of this is in the blood, and can be reawakened by various triggers. Mine were varied and some were gruesome or very unwelcome. Some where beautiful and transcendent. None of them were from outside, but were responses of my essence to mere triggers from the outside.
There is a way, but people have to find it in themselves to walk it. Best if they can also help one another. Communities of people founded on the principles I just mentioned are, therefore, *absolutely essential* to doing this.
I handle many aspects of the architecture of this process, being a philosopher (among other things), and having run up against this monolithic tyrant (Codex Theodosianus and its offshoots), and going through an entire panorama of transformations that are really hard to describe and would be vain to attempt at this point. But I can say that to comprehend the enemy is possible only if you comprehend yourself, and to comprehend yourself you must comprehend your world, and these three are never separable, because this is a world of war.
By the way, I am on several platforms in other modes or formats and guises. But here I have decided to go after various aspects of the mind prison the effects off which you have articulated well in this article. Please give my first two installments of Codex Theodosianus a read and see what you think? I am going to the "root of it".
https://nonfifth.substack.com/p/codex-theodosianus
Thank you for the added context. In essence, the West must regain its values from Christianity that has appropriated them. But it cannot reject Christianity before it separates it from the values that the West already had before Christianity.
I’ll save your post to read it later with the focus it deserves
Yes, and showing how the parasite entered the Western anatomy and how it fundamentally confused it at the beginning gives a groundwork for disentangling the "inner Jew" from the Western mind. People only *think* that they need Christianity, but they never did need it, at all. They needed to stand with those who stood against it in the face of death instead of capitulating to it out of cowardice or vain hope. The only reason that Germany was able to get off of its knees was due to a long reshuffling of genetics within its own racial stock that enabled a once in a 1000 years return of the Sonnenmench (the true and charismatic king of the people). So that is what IS worth fight for NOW. Of course, "positive Christianity" can go only so far. Really that is just Christianity that is *muted enough* that the blood values (courage, honor, pride(!)) can break through the clouds of "Christianity" (Judianity). But as the best of the Reichmen knew, even this must be thrown aside or else the fight will not be won.
Excellent. Agnostic isn’t quite right either, because there is quite a bit observable about the nature of reality and consciousness, just not with any dogmatic certainty.
Christianity was trapped in the World Wide Web. It’s dying from information exposure. Superstition and myth can no longer carry it. It was a lie all along.
It suffers from the Santa Clause paradox. Once you LEARN it’s not true, there is no going back.
“Well, have you tried believing in Santa again? His reindeer know his voice.”
It was all so stupid, I can’t believe I ever believed in the first place. And belief is an inappropriate metric anyway. I was young and needed a compass. It was better than nothing, as you note in the article.
I know Santa is not real. No further proof required. I now know Jesus isn’t real either. No further proof required.
I have been working on an actionable, practical, coherent philosophy for myself as a replacement. I intend to begin writing about it.
But humans are conditioned by religion to seek consensus on the issue. Not merely consensus, but GRAND DIRECTION! I understand why, and will write about that too.
Good article. I’m right there with you.
Thank you for your comment adding more context.
You make some really excellent and intelligent points here; too many for a brief or glib response. To start with:
1) the things you define as belonging to "the baby" actually grow out of "the bathwater." For ethics to survive unrooted in any faith, for centuries... can't think of anything other than Confucianism, the exception that proves the rule.
2) What about the 5 proofs of the existence of God (Aquinas, Knox, to begin with), what are your arguments against those?
Thanks. I'll try to a:ddress your comment:
1) I make the argument that the baby was already there before the bathwater. Inevitably, the bathwater became part of the baby. But we were too hasty to throw away the bathwater, and we threw the baby with it.
2) A proof of god is by no way a proof of a specific religion. I never claim there is no god. I claim there is no valid religion. All religions are false - they are just unfalsifiable hearsay. Yes, it is likely that there is a "god" or something beyond our reality. I've written about this: https://sotiris.substack.com/p/my-religion
https://sotiris.substack.com/p/the-case-for-the-simulation-theory
2) Ah ok, I will check out your essays before replying.
1) So the primacy of ethics? Let me take a look at your essays first in any case.
I've got plenty of drafts in my top drawer about ethics/morality. I mention them sporadically in my essays. I don't believe they come from a deity that refuses to communicate with us, or to make morality clear and universal for us.
Excellent thanks for the historical deep dive, i concur,was raised in the chains of Catholicism as a youngster. Everyone i know is a weak kneed bible thumper except my kids who are solid. Guess thats why ive been a lone wolf my entire life. Thx again
Thanks for reading. I try not to bash on either religion or atheism, but rather, try to focus on what matters: identity, and the things that grant us identity.
TL:DR (Sorry) But I got what I think is the gist from what I skimmed. I would recommend reading some Ken Wilber books on consciousness and levels thereof. Within a number of Ken's books there is some overlap with one of your central points - that is, (The 'West') needing to retain the good and that which works ('Truth', partial as it maybe) and disposing of that which is 'Bad' and no longer works (Religion / Christianity - and apologies for the use of the tiresome 'Good / Bad' dualism). So 'Spectrum of Consciousness' and 'Integral Spirituality' - those would be a couple of good ones to start with.
This sounds insightful and quite in sync with what I write here. Thank you for the recommendation
Interesting connection between lack of christian values and the drug addictions, suicides and what not.
Also how without these values are vulnerable.
The CIA and the demonic gay gangsta rap is a real thing.
I think Jesus' teachings of compassion, humility, defiance, peace, etc are the baby. But I also think there is a mystical component to all this.
If you like the simulation theory look up Gnosticism and simulation theory, aalso look up chridtian mysticism and Jewish mysticism and how they relate to the CIA's remote viewing activities
"The West was held down by Christianity. Christianity brought us the dark ages due to its Easter influences..."
Not true.
Who knows where Europe would have been without the needless religious infighting, the schism, and anti-masculinity of Eastern religiosity?
Aaron Abke Donald Hoffman . Two people to help you process your Pauline delusion of Cristos and understand Yeshua’s red letters not Paul’s narcissistic ravings .He was insane and professed hus own Gnostic beliefs over James and the 12 Apostles.In short we have a religion built on the ravings of a psychopathic lunatic .
This makes absolutely no sense.
Nothing makes sense if you are holding a set of mental constructs that will not budge from your paradigms me included . I am sorry I haven’t fleshed out both these men’s principles and narratives . Just providing a pointer to those curious to follow this path of Hoffman’s and Abke’s
Built upon a historical Jewish/Flavian fiction built upon plagiarized, archetypal stories, built upon ancient astrotheological superstitions.
Don’t stop at the schizophrenic Jewish Pharisee. It’s turtles all the way down.
I will stick to my Ag gnosis I call it . Seeing is believing hey . Turtles all the way down is it alright.
Interesting thoughts about totalitarian state worship and Marxism.
What exactly was the issue with the self-government of the early French Revolution?
Why should one concede that the living conditions of those in the mountains never differ from those of the plains?