Francis Berger
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We Beat Them By Not Joining Them

1/9/2021

6 Comments

 
If you can't beat them, join them. 

I was six or seven years old the first time I encountered this expression. If memory serves me well, it appeared at the end of a Looney Tunes cartoon featuring Sylvester the Cat who despondently uttered the phrase after the last of his many dogged ploys to capture and eat Tweety Bird ends in abysmal, near-fatal failure. After suffering through four minutes of high-voltage electrical shocks, falling pianos, and dynamite explosions, Sylvester finally throws in the towel. He acknowledges Tweety's ultimate victory by burying the hatchet - yes, I believe there was a hatchet in the cartoon - and becoming Tweety's devoted helper and follower. 

In our modern world the phrase "if you can't beat them, join them" has morphed into somewhat of a doctrine embraced by nearly everyone including those who classify themselves as pragmatists and realists. Synonymous with expediency and opportunism, "if you can't beat them, join them" also shines a light on the modern obsession of ensuring one ends up the winning side, regardless of what this may actually entail. At its core, the "join them" philosophy sells itself as a positive doctrine because it promises to turn a potential win-lose into a win-win, which is great because there's nothing our modern world scorns more than a loser.

I got to thinking about all of this from the perspective of spiritual warfare, and I very quickly arrived at the conclusion that the "if you can't beat them, join them" precept marks the crux of the enemy's war aims. Unbeknownst to most, the enemy cannot really defeat us; it can only persuade us to defeat ourselves. And the most effective way it can ensure we defeat ourselves is to convince us to switch sides. 

Though its arsenal is packed with weapons to tempt, demoralize, degrade, corrupt, entice, invert, and mislead, the enemy possesses nothing which it can actually destroy us.

Sure, the enemy has innumerable means through which it can destroy us physically, but nothing it wields from within its vast array of firepower can destroy us spiritually.

The best the enemy can do is persuade us to spiritually destroy ourselves, and the most efficient means of achieving this is to have us abandon the side of Good and consciously join the side opposed to Good. 

The enemy very much wants us to believe that we cannot defeat it; that we are hypocritical, worthless sinners who don't deserve to be on the side of Good; and that joining its side represents the pinnacle of prudence and pragmatism. The enemy very much wants us to believe this because it knows it can do little else to prevent us from joining and remaining on the side of Good. 

With this in mind, the best way to beat the enemy is to remain committed to the right side of the battlefield.

We beat them by not joining them.   


Note added: Spiritual warfare is a confusing concept for many people, Christians included. In the brief excerpt below, Bruce Charlton lucidly and succinctly describes "the two sides" of the spiritual conflict and what it means to choose the side of Good. 

*Note. It is absolutely vital to recognise that the sides of Good and evil are Not composed of what are usually termed 'Good people' and 'Bad People'; nor even of better and worse people. The essence of the two sides concerns whether a person gives their allegiance to Good (i.e. to God and creation); or joins the 'evil' side which opposes The Good (God and creation). 

It is about there being only two sides, and a person's choice of which side he identifies-with. Matters of individual behaviour are a separate issue; so that some (or perhaps most) of the people on the side of evil will be better behaved, 'nicer' people than some (or perhaps most) of those on the side of Good. However, over time, those on the evil side will certainly become corrupted by their primary choice - as is currently very evident indeed. 
6 Comments
bruce charlton
1/10/2021 10:23:24

That's a very good insight - and useful! It makes sense of a great deal of life.

It is also a mythic lesson, which we ought to have learned - everyone knows that vampires that must be invited into the house, for example. And Lord of the Rings is full of such examples: e.g. Saruman, Denethor.


The way I see it is that They persuade people that they will 'inevitably' be defeated eventually, but if they switch sides Now, then they will gain some benefit.

So they switch sides, by choice, taking personal responsibility for their own treachery - and never discover whether they would, in fact, ever have been defeated.

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Francis Berger
1/10/2021 12:09:03

Thank you, Bruce. Your clarifying observations on the two sides, particularly in terms of what it mean to be on the side of Good, helped me to grasp the basic understanding I tried to communicate here.

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Michelle
1/10/2021 11:50:44

Posts like this one give me little hope for goodness in my lifetime.
I agree with every word you said, but I think most people, especially the people that must align and choose the side of the Good, still don't even realize they are standing on a battlefield.
Even the good people I know still recite the cures as being terms limits for politicians, voting reforms, and other things that at this point are meaningless. Like deciding which color to paint my house while the house is on fire.
I do believe there is a spiritual awakening happening that will ultimately be a force against the System. That gives me hope that maybe someday goodness will reign. But at that point those good people fighting the Good fight might be jumping into space cruisers to plot their next steps on a distant planet. I just think of my experience and how long it took me to recognize the divine and explore what that meant in my life and the world. I was just an everyday average person living for the material. So is just about other person that must choose to fight for the Good, but still believes that goodness is voting, giving a positive emoji to someone who needs it, and donating to a charity. Awakening and transformation will happen, I am certain of it. But I don't think i will see it happen.
For me right here and now, I'm very afraid of the very real harm that is coming to me and my young family. Selfish and short sighted? Yes. But when you're a new mother like I am, these feelings for the physical safety of right here and now are just as strong as the feelings for the spiritual world.

Reply
Francis Berger
1/10/2021 13:08:56

@ Michelle - Being concerned for the safety of one's family is anything but selfish and shortsighted - in fact, it may just be the way forward. I am inclined to believe Christianity's future development will depend heavily on the family and an authentic sense of loving one's neighbor (a real, concrete, proximal person rather than an abstract concept).

I don't worry too much about what "people" are doing or believing at this time. Of course I would like them to wake up and actively join the side of Good. Like you, I am convinced some have, and condition may be ripe for even more to do so. At the same time, I cannot fret and worry over people who remain spiritually blind. Christianity cannot be compelled. It remains a voluntary choice. Not all people want it - and that's their decision - a demonstration of their own freedom and agency.

I have a young child as well, but I find comfort in the fact that God loves my child just as much if not more than I do. This idea tends to fall flat when children experience suffering, but we must remember that suffering is a built in feature of our mortal lives and must never be taken as a sign of God's indifference. We must take steps to avoid unnecessary suffering. At the same time, we must understand that suffering is ultimately inescapable. Even Christ suffered.

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Samantha
12/13/2021 15:44:51

You missed a solid point here.
We ARE hypocritical, worthless sinners who don't deserve to be on the side of Good. But God has decided to be the judge of that. The purpose of Grace is that all that stuff doesn't matter.
Now I'm not big into spiritual warfare, though I definitely believe you have point here. When someone tries to bully you into this stuff, the most effective thing to do is uphold your boundaries.

Reply
Francis Berger
12/13/2021 19:41:34

@ Samantha - We are all sinners - true.

https://www.francisberger.com/bergers-blog/siders-rather-than-sinners-why-it-matters-after-things-have-come-to-a-point

Hypocritical. Yes.

Worthless? Undeserving of being of on the side of Good? Sorry, but I have to draw the line there.

https://www.francisberger.com/bergers-blog/a-brief-overview-of-why-god-needs-you

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