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%WHOM SHALL WE TRUST WHY REASON LOGIC SPEAK TRUTH+970710
%POWER RELIGIOUS SECULAR ACADEMIC POLITICS EVILS 970710
Whenever we are confronted with persistent conflict,
we need to ask and answer the question: "Whom shall we
trust and why?"
Some people seek to have us believe that their
"either/or" assumptions, questions, attitudes, logic and
reasoning are worthy of our trust --- for presumably they
somehow transcend the limitations of the human condition.
If we are open and honest with each other about how such
people behave --- we are likely to discern that they are
leading us into a trap which they have set for us in order
to catch and control us with their either/or assumptions,
questions, attitudes, logic and reasoning. Do we feel
comfortable, secure and at peace in their presence? If we
do not, why should we trust them? If they make us feel
uncomfortable, insecure, defensive and contentious --- we
can prudently expect them to make us feel more
uncomfortable, more insecure, more defensive and more
contentious --- the more we trust them!
Some people seek to have us believe that they have
properly identified the transcendent beliefs, rules, laws,
commandments, prohibitions, prescriptions, and formulas
for proper living --- for they point to where they believe
that they have found such things in holy/sacred
scriptures. We will do well and be well if we recognize,
name, describe and talk about how we and others feel in
the presence of such people. Are we and others
comfortable in their presence? Do we and others feel
secure and at peace in their presence? Can we be safely
vulnerable in open, honest and intimate dialogue in their
presence? If some of the answers are "no"; then on what
grounds should we trust such people?
Some people are preoccupied with issues of control
and conformity --- claiming that they have acquired the
sure knowledge of good and evil, and so can identify who
is good and who is evil. They seem to know who is on the
side of the devil, and who is on God's side. (They claim
to be on God's side.) Do such people work to truly
resolve conflicts in ways which promote both personal and
communal integrity? Do we feel that is safe for us to be
open and honest with them about our most personal
experiences, perceptions and beliefs? Do young children
and helpless women instinctively love to be with such
people --- because of the peace and tranquility which goes
with them wherever they go? If not, why should we ever
trust them?
We will be well and do well if we are cautious in the
presence of people who encourage us to trust in impersonal
things --- which can be used and abused as tools of
management, manipulation, coercion, control and violence -
-- especially if we sense that such people are prone to be
managerial, manipulative, coercive, and violent. At the
most obvious level such people invite us to trust weapons
of military destruction. At less obvious levels such
people invite us to trust tools of management,
manipulation, coercion and conformity. We will be fools
and our children will suffer for endless generations if we
trust such people.
(c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in
www.essayz.com Search for Integrity and Honesty
(On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)
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