reply to post by Biliverdin
What you said about needing, actually not even needing. But requiring a common enemy is to true, I really don't think there is one instance no matter
the place or the time were that was not true. Or now a days its the "scapegoat" more so then the evil common enemy, though we even had a few of
those, and there never seems to be no end to that constant stream of supply of boogieman. You ever wonder what happened to that whole Obama Bin Laden
thing, I bet you most do not and never will. Or how about any of the new boogieman or evil doers out there.
And you can go back and see
that the whole thing is steeped in ritual and practice even back into the stone age no doubt were they were probably sacrificing rabbits and chickens
to some god for tribal purpose.
And what has all the new boogieman and scapegoats accomplished but, if not the same things that it has then, only now more on a more global scale.
In some ways we did not abandon our practices and rituals, most especially scapegoating, and its been ingrained into our life's in pretty much
anything. Just look at religion, even in the old testament god required sacrifice, mostly the "sheep" kind. And even other gods like Moloch and
others required human sacrifice, and in a way if you think about it. What was Jesus but a continuation of that practice and ritual, Jesus was a
scapegoat for the sins of all who believe in him or a born again, which again in many ways its another form of scapegoating, so what does that make
organized religion?
To me absolution of sins, sounds much like absolution of responsibilities, and that is what that whole needing a common enemy or someone to look down
on is about, a way to forge chains on the minds and the ingrained habits and instincts of peoples, and absolve them of responsibility and installing
in its place orders. And I am sure your familiar with the most common quote of the German soldiers of WW2. That is "we just followed orders" which
is again nothing new and more absolution or sacrificing common sense for group indoctrination, for the safety of the group, to make them feel whole
within the fold or the hive.
Trading individuality for safety in numbers, the very first instinct of all animals insects and anything that walks, swims, and flies this earth. A
common trait of all living things, other then flight or flee. You have fight, flee, or take refuge in the fold of the herd. Again playing on the most
old of instincts, so ingrained into our life's that its just natural.
But the whole scapegoating or needing someone to look down on, In the end it is a form of old blood magic, every civilization has had a bit of this
although with different rules and different requirements, and you can see it today. Even it is a sort of muscular bonding by way of rituals and
also a hive trigger as it even to this day gets people to move in certain pasterns and ways without even thinking about it like a herd, like a hive,
of one mind, sometimes it literally is witch trials and nobody wants to question the status Que, because as soon as you question or challenge the
status Que, you steep outside one of the boundaries of the herd/hive.
A scary thought for some it seems, but its a pretty reasonable fear I suppose.
And like I said before on this thread, what for? and why? And more importantly why should I care? The whole left, right, left, right muscular
bonding like E23 said is nothing new, nor is it something special, nor some mystical magical power. Its as natural as breathing, and people forget
that. The funny thing is that things have more oft then then not ended up worse for those who sought the safety of the herd, then for those who
didn't since for some strange reasons
things seem to escalate or end at end cliffs were they proceed to jump of off.
Whats that saying.
"Yours is not to wonder why, yours is but to do and die"
Or here the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
ChargeoftheLightBrigadeedit on 27-5-2012 by galadofwarthethird because:
(no reason given)