Fake News and propaganda

I am a Christian, but I don't turn the other cheek. This idea is ridiculous. If someone hits me, I will hit back. I have guns at home, just in case. Do not mess with me. And I do save up money to be used here in this world. I am pretty rich, actually. I have a small mansion. Poor and homeless people have themselves to blame. God helps only those who already have something and are willing to work hard.

I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus died for our sins and that he could walk on water. He could perform miracles. I will vote for Joe Biden; he's the only adult in the room. He will save the world from communism. Putin is trying to take over Ukraine; his next step is to take over the rest of Europe, and then he will come after us. We have to protect ourselves. We have to defend the world.

There are so much fake news and propaganda coming from Russia. Be on your guard. Don't trust the information you find on the internet. Use reliable sources: The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN.

America first

Trump is not the problem; the problem is all those people who vote for him. Likewise, Hitler was not the problem; he was just another crackpot; the problem was all those Germans who voted for him.

Ordinary, decent people can be extremely dangerous. 

Why do we outside The US have to be concerned about who the Americans vote for? It's their business, isn't it? Unfortunately, it's not only they who have to suffer the consequences of who they vote for.

Or, maybe it doesn't matter who the US president is; the consequences for us will be the same: war. 

Stop voting! It legitimizes only one or another warmonger.

Assumptions

Do you live your life according to the belief that it doesn't matter how you live it because you will die anyway, and that's the end of the story? Do you believe that it doesn't matter if you have been a selfish jerk all your life or a war criminal? This is a belief among many others.

IFS

One part of me is selfish and a lazy good-for-nothing. Another part is an average working-class man trying the best he can to make both ends meet, not talking too much crap. He sits mainly at the wheel, and the good-for-nothing sits in the passenger seat, quietly waiting. Sometimes, he takes over the driver's seat and the driving. This sometimes gets us into trouble.

An old monk and a couple of distant relatives sit in the back seat.

Will we split up and go in different directions at the end of our journey?

Multiple Personality Disorder

What happened to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Did Dr. Jekyll end up in heaven and Mr. Hyde in hell?

Reality sucks.

You don't have to read much history to understand where we are coming from. Endless wars, torture, exploitation and abuse of other people, animals and nature, slavery, starvation, cancer, and death... No wonder we have invented beliefs to comfort us. There must be a reason for all this horrendous suffering and pain.

Richard Dawkins has shown that all religious beliefs are delusions. He wants us to face the facts.

However, people who are suffering don't care about facts. They don't want to hear that their suffering is meaningless. Religious beliefs are helpful. They can make us survive. The problem is when the beliefs are unhelpful and cause more harm than good. This happens when the lucky elites are appropriating them to be used for their evil purposes: God wants you to go to war, God wants you to be a slave, and you'll get pie in the sky when you die–if you do as you are told.

Superstitions can be helpful. To hell with reality, facts, and the truth.

Convictions

You are living in a fantasy world. All people are living in fantasy worlds, even scientists and down-to-earth realists.

We all have our religious beliefs, political opinions, worldviews, and cultural values. We can question other people's fantasies but not our own. 

It took decades for the Germans after 1945 to begin questioning their Nazism; many never did. Many communists refused to question their Stalinism. Many neoliberals cannot challenge their view that governments shouldn't interfere with what corporations are doing. Corporations must be free to buy and sell what they want. The slave owners in the American South refused to give up their right to keep slaves. It took 200 years for the Catholic Church to agree that Galileo was right. Some people are clinging to beliefs that were formed 2500 years ago. This list of examples can be made very long.

We don't want to question ourselves. It is too unpleasant. So, therefore we must continue to live in our fantasy worlds, fighting each other in idiotic wars and trying to convince each other that our fantasies are the best.

Can you question your own beliefs? Do you still insist that you are right and that I am wrong? Can't you see that we both may be wrong? Or maybe I'm right. Maybe New York is the capital of the US. Maybe there is a God, after all, hiding behind the trees.

Do you think waking up from your fantasy without adopting a new one is possible?

I don't think it is possible to completely clear out one's beliefs and convictions, but it is possible to question them. It is possible not to be totally convinced.

Eternal injustice

Imagine a man who has been an ashole all his life, selfish, nasty, greedy, exploiting other people, lying through his teeth, smiling, playing mild and caring, but crazy for money and power, etcetera.

Then, think of an upright man who has always been kind and helpful.

Do you think these two men will meet the same fate when they die, that both will be admitted to the wonderful spiritual realm, the kingdom of heaven?

All people who have had a near-death experience, at least all the people I have heard of on YouTube, talk about how wonderful it is there on the other side. Will it be fantastic for all people? What do you think? How do you fantasize about these things?

Integration

The brain is divided into two halves; they are like Yin and Yang. Both sides are essential — intuition and thinking, poetry and logic, imagery and explanations, art and scientific theories, being and doing.

It is not about this way or that way, my way or your way, spirit or flesh. It is about the way — which includes both Yin and Yang.

Who are you?

Sometimes I'm an atheist, sometimes I'm a theist. Sometimes I'm a deist; sometimes I'm an agnostic. Sometimes I am a jerk; sometimes I am an idealist. Who am I really? I ask myself. 

Thoughts are not of much help if you want to find your true self. If you want to learn about who you are, you must observe your actions. Did you stay, or did you go? Was your career more important to you than your best friend? Did you follow the instructions? Did you toe the line?

God

There are many ideas about God, who he is, how to contact him, and what he wants from us. Some people believe he is jealous and vengeful; others believe he is merciful and forgiving. Some believe God is a female, a great mother; in India, they believe in many Gods, male and female.

Some believe that he is nothing but a fantasy; others believe that the world itself is God or that he is, in reality, an extraterrestrial civilization. They have created us in their high-tech computers. But who created that civilization? Did they create themselves?

Some pretend that they believe in God, others pretend that they don't.

Endless wars have been fought over which God is the right God.

I don't know what to think. Maybe he is a sad and miserable loser. Perhaps he lost the battle against the evil forces.