charity0227 blog post

Amen, amen!

"Darkness within darkness; the gateway to all understanding." ~Tao te Ching

Darkness is part of being human. We all have darkness inside of us. I embraced mine a long time ago and now I control it. It no longer controls me and I know it inside out. I am the master of my darkness. It serves me. I no longer serve it. Ignoring the inner darkness means to not know oneself. We are all capable of terrible things. Being "nice" or "harmless" is not a virtue. Knowing what your darkness is capable of and CHOOSING not to do those things is power. Pretending the darkness isn't there is dangerous. Thinking you're incapable of such things means one doesn't keep such a close eye on oneself and one's actions. I would much rather know I am dangerous and horrible while choosing not to be that way than to think I am harmless and be doing those things without even thinking about it because "I'm harmless, I wouldn't do anything like that!" Humans are destructive, violent life forms. Everyone is capable of those things. Knowledge truly is power in these matters. :)

Gohan: In my opinion you're reading a lot into a simple statement that Charity has made here. I would take her words for what they say and not read into them things that were not stated. Our opinions differ greatly, but that's not the issue here. Her words stand by themselves. Again just my opinion. :)

.. but it's fun to read into things. That's what blogs are for. :P .. Light cannot exist without darkness. Darkness is necessary. Thinking it can be driven out is futility. The afterlife is another thing altogether, but the current state of the world is pretty good evidence for humans being violent, destructive and dangerous animals in this world. Some just choose not to be that way, many choose the antithesis because it's easier. As a result, the world is predominantly full of injustice, war, violence, intolerance, selfishness and lies. Good people are getting harder and harder to find. Darkness rules this world, but there is always light to be found somewhere in something or someone. :)

Hate isn't even necessarily bad. The God of the bible hates many things. It's how people use hate that matters. Hating people isn't good. Hating what people do is different. Hating evil, hating people being mistreated, hating selfishness, hating liars; there's nothing wrong with hating things like that because you can do it without hating the person. Hating people ends up in violence and war. Cain hated Abel. Hate can be good or bad. It depends on how the person utilizes it. Hate was created by God because he saw value in it. Free will is how we choose to USE that emotion or how we allow it to use us. Hate can motivate people to change things. It can also be destructive and insidious. Unfortunately, the latter is predominant today, but don't forget that God created hate and therefore, it can never be completely driven out of anywhere or anyone. It has value. Anyone who thinks they are void of hatred does not know themselves IMO. The hatred of unjust discrimination (hate) can drive out unjust discrimination. The hatred of lies (hate) can drive out lies IN YOURSELF. I do not incorporate things into my being that I hate. I do not embody things I hate precisely because I hate them and I hate what things like that do to people. Hating liars drives out the desire to lie in myself. Anyway, I know you may think I am "reading a lot" into something, but I like diving into things and examining them. It's fun. It's thought provoking. People don't think enough anymore and I enjoy it personally just like I enjoyed charity's comment for making me think about this stuff.

Also, darkness was created by God. Half of our 24 hour day is darkness. We are floating in outer space which is mostly endless darkness. Half of planetary bodies are always in darkness at any given moment. Many animals are nocturnal and would not exist without darkness. Many plants need a dark cycle in order to flower. Even human beings need darkness as darkness is what stimulates the production of melatonin in the brain which regulates human sleep cycles. That's not even including darkness on a more personal or psychological level which is also beneficial. Darkness is to be confronted and tamed, not suppressed and buried. There is darkness in everything and everyone. There always will be. Darkness is a vital part of existence. It was created by God because he saw value in it.. and there is value. It is a Yin-Yang relationship just as it is with love and hate. Up and down. In and out. Without one, the other is meaningless. Thanks again charity for your short, but thought provoking post. :)

Question for Gohan: when you say "...created by God...", what does that mean to you? Also, what is this "free will" of which you spake? Simple freedom of choice (volition) in space-time? Something more Schopenhauerian? And finally, value as the reason for something existing is obviously epistemologically ungroundable; where is that idea coming from? (PS. I enjoyed every word of your mind here brotherman, or I would not have inquired thusly.)

Well, I am trying to approach this from the perspective of someone who believes in the traditional "God" even if I don't entirely share that viewpoint since I gather that is the viewpoint of the people talking here. I can argue from it, though. Even from that perspective, darkness and hatred have value. So, when I say "created by God", I am arguing from the traditional Judeo-Christian POV. I do believe in intelligent creation in some way, but my ideas about "God" differ from that POV. "Free will" is tricky because I think to some extent, free will doesn't even exist. Am I to believe that people who have mental disabilities are exercising their free will to do so? Who would choose to have those limitations? There is no free will involved in that nor can it correct those things in many cases. While I do think that we are significantly shaped by our experiences in life, I also don't think we are mindless automatons that cannot make choices or improve ourselves to some degree. The question of whether or not to kill someone, lie to someone, deceive someone, put a cinderblock through someone's windshield or stab someone in the back are, IMO, exercises in free will. You can choose to do those things or not do them. We are all individuals after all and we have these big brains and whatever "consciousness" is (we have no idea) for something. Value is not a reason for something existing, you are right. I think we can agree that hatred and darkness both exist, though. It seems that the original message here was that darkness and hatred need to be driven out as if they are without value while declaring love and light to have the value. I was arguing that both not only have value, but are essential to the experience of life as are love and light. Hatred can in fact drive out hatred if it's directed properly. Darkness can drive out darkness as well. Even if you view darkness and hatred as enemies, it is still important to know both of them well and recognize those things in yourself so they can be harnessed. They are powerful tools which can go horribly wrong if abused, but can also do a lot of good if used responsibly. I don't think that is possible unless you KNOW those things and know how they affect you and, by extension, how they can affect other people.

I should clarify that with the mental disabilities thing, the "free will" is making a choice to try to improve it. People do so all the time through therapy, medication, meditation or even psychedelic experience which is older than civilization. The choice there is to try, but you can't just "will" yourself out of those kinds of things. They take work and dedication. So, free will only goes so far there. I am sure there's many other situations where that would apply in a similar way.

I have certain, shall we say, ontological reservations that, methinks, amount to more than the semantic issues, but it would be difficult (at best) to discuss without risking looking like I'm just shitting all over your thoughts, which I would NOT wish to do, so...

Who knows, maybe you have a better idea than I do. Name one.

I dub this idea, "Sir Loin of Beef-Minster."