Francis Berger
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Yes, Good Can Come Out of This, But That Doesn't Make This Good

3/18/2020

12 Comments

 
Picture a morbidly obese person who can't stop overeating. Now imagine this obese person suddenly finds himself stuck in famine conditions where his access to food has been severely curtailed.

After three or four months of barely eating anything, he inevitably sheds the excess pounds and begins to approach what could be considered his ideal weight. In this individual's case, would it be correct and accurate to say that something good came out of the famine?

Some would argue that a case for something good could be made. The famine conditions severely curtailed the man's compulsion to overeat. This in turn forced him to lose weight. Though the famine itself was bad, some would invariably argue that it led to good results. 

But are these results really good? Well, I suppose that depends on the man's attitude to famine and the results it achieved.

If the famine inspired the man to re-evaluate his overeating and his unhealthy weight and make a conscious decision to permanently change his habits and overcome his compulsions, particularly when conditions improve and food becomes accessible again, then yes, the results could be viewed as good because they involve learning and repentance. In other words, the man was able to draw something good out of conditions that were inherently bad.  

On the other hand, what if the man merely suffers through the famine only to return to his old ways once the famine ends?

Or worse, vows to change during the famine, but immediately returns to his gluttony when food is plentiful again. Whatever good was forced upon our fat friend disappears. Nothing good was taken out of the bad.

Of course the worst case would be the following: after several months of hunger and agony, deprived of everything he once held sacred and dear, the fat man loses all hope of ever having the opportunity to gorge himself on food again and, thus, falls into despair and kills himself. 

Having said all of that, the highest good the morbidly obese man could achieve would involve re-evaluating his overeating and unhealthy weight and taking the necessary steps to curb his hunger and bring down his weight during normal circumstances when food is plentiful. These actions would demonstrate resolve and strength - the fortitude to choose something good despite the presence of ubiquitous temptation. He would also likely suffer less if a famine ever hit. 

Whatever the scenario, it would be a mistake to argue that the famine itself was good, even in the case where it ultimately led to repentance, right choices, and good results.

The analogy above hold true in our current circumstances as well. I have spent a great deal of time railing against the evil System. I have described it as anti-beauty, anti-truth, anti-goodness, anti-virtue, anti-spiritual, and anti-God. It is no secret that I would welcome the System's demise. Nevertheless, I do not view the current deliberate sabotaging of the System by the Establishment as something intrinsically good.

The Establishment is collapsing its evil System to generate more, not less, evil. And it is doing this primarily for spiritual reasons. This vital point needs to be understood by those who rub their hands together in glee at the apparent demise of the evil System and the 'goods' emerging from the cracking infrastructure the Establishment has lorded over until now.

The Establishment's purposive and deliberate destruction of its own System is very much like the famine mentioned in the example above. The System's primary motivation here is to inflict material hardship and suffering on everyone. They are convinced this material hardship and suffering will inspire fear, despair, and ultimately, self-chosen spiritual annihilation in the majority of the population. Physical death is of secondary importance and is only useful after an individual has committed themselves to damnation.

Admittedly, the hardship and suffering the Establishment are unleashing may act as a negative motivator for some. It may inspire some individuals to see the errors of their ways and, ultimately, spiritually reject the System.

Those who are on the side of Good are working and will work to make this happen. Like the morbid man mentioned earlier, this is an example of drawing good out of a bad situation, but this is not what the Establishment is aiming for and they play no active role in this process. In fact, they are doing and will do everything within their power to ensure it doesn't happen.

As I mentioned earlier, I believe the System is evil, but I also believe that a good collapse could only be brought about by a shift in consciousness much like the shift in consciousness that eventually resulted in the collapse of communism in Europe in the twentieth century.

In other words, a good collapse of the System would have to begin with a positive rather than a negative motivator.

In circumstances like that, people would freely and consciously choose to abandon the System for something better and would freely and consciously choose to endure any hardship and suffering accompanying this choice. Simply put, they would gladly put up with discomfort for the reality of something better. 

That is not what is happening now.

People have not freely and consciously chosen to endure hardship and suffering. The Establishment is forcing it upon them, and it is forcing it upon them for the most pernicious and malevolent of reasons.

The best we can hope for under these circumstances is that people respond to the suffering the Establishment inflicts as a negative motivator - that after a certain period of agony, they might see the light and work to draw good out of circumstances that are intrinsically bad. 

It goes without saying that this is good, but that in itself does not make the current deliberate collapse of the System good; much the same way the morbidly obese man's weight loss and changed eating habits do not make the famine he suffered through innately good.
12 Comments
islanti
3/19/2020 01:03:59

Well I certainly hope some good comes out of this.

Reply
Francis Berger
3/19/2020 18:06:14

@ Islanti - Some good will happen. Maybe even a lot of good will happen. But it would be better if this potential good came about in different circumstances.

Reply
Ingemar
3/19/2020 16:56:29

Excellent post, Francis. I get what you're saying, even if in parts I disagree.

My first disagreement is that the Establishment is crashing the System to increase spiritual evil. The one part I quibble with is that they're crashing the System. In my opinion, they are restructuring the System (the casualties are incidental). Look at who is benefiting, or at least, not suffering--large chain supermarkets, logistics, Web-based companies and streaming services. Sure, some nonessential employees will be on furlough or have their hours cut, but the economy is rapidly evolving to meet the needs of a population suddenly converted into laboratory mice. The biggest losers here will be small businesses who depend on patronage from the local community--who in "charity" are being restricted from ordinary human contact.

My second disagreement is not with any of the content in your article, but with your views regarding the Catholic Church. Now, it cannot be denied that the supposed vicar and the vast majority of bishops are cowards at best and formal cooperators with evil at worst. But the thing is, and what all the defenders of the Church from time immemorial have held, is that while wicked behavior of the clergy is an occasion for scandal, it does not impugn the truths of the Church.

The sex abuse scandal has caused many, especially the victims, to hate God and disbelieve in the Truth. Yet no one listens to those who, despite being abused for decades, maintained or reverted to the faith (example: James Grein, victim of ex-Cardinal McCarrick). Despite the horror and suffering they managed to see the Church is not a cabal of elderly homosexual men, but is the Mystical Body of Christ and the Ark of Salvation. We are taught, from both the East and the West, that God's grace is working through the veil of the Sacraments.

Many Catholics, even hard core "trads" are rapidly losing their faith even now. But some are seeing that God rights straight with crooked lines, remembering that the greatest crime in history (the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ) was for our benefit. I know for myself that I'm using this crisis to seek God more readily and invite Him into the deepest parts of my soul where I wouldn't allow Him.

Reply
Francis Berger
3/19/2020 18:20:17

@ Ingemar - Good points. Restructuring sounds euphemistic to me, but I understand where you are coming from. Bruce Charlton and I have discussed this a bit. He feels the Establishment is crashing the economy deliberately. I agree with him, but it's difficult to define what crash or collapse actually means in this case (for me, at least).

I completely agree with your take on small business. Most small/family businesses got by 2008/09. Now they're being purposefully being taken out right at the beginning of the downturn. It's malevolent to the core and will have a devastating effect on society.

Ingemar, I was raised Catholic. I think in mostly Catholic terms when it comes to religion. I respect what the Church has done, and what some segments of the Church still do. I attend Mass here in my village every Sunday. I don't expect the Church to be perfect, but I cannot limit my Christianity to the Church anymore. I can't just bow my head and mindlessly obey. It just isn't in me to do so any longer.

Regardless, that doesn't mean I disparage trad Catholics or think lesser of those who completely adhere to church doctrine.

Reply
Gunner
3/19/2020 17:17:19

Francis, I’d like to use your metaphor.

When a person realizes that those in authority are mostly there by nepotism, favoritism, and chance, it changes a man. That is what government is. Very different than a skilled job where the person shows the skill, like an author or an athlete, etc. That is why people hate Politicians, Human Resources, and the majority of Teachers. They demand respect, but deserve none since they fail to produce.

It is this idea of incapability of authority that makes me open to the thought that the System is self-collapsing. A disorganized world run by disorganized people.

However, there must be very intelligent people within that system. This leads to thoughts of conspiracy or a Deep State. Unelected influencers who moves the puppets and takes everyone along for the show no matter who is in authority. A crisis such as this is never wasted, but exploited to move the game along further.

The fat man is fat because he has been stuffed with physical and mental fat to overwhelm the muscle of purpose. Men whose ancestors were once farmers are now cubicle workers. Women whose ancestors were once mothers now want to be men. The modern economy has separated us from physical reality and therefore spiritual reality. Humans are very weak and removable from the truth of what we are, so we must rely on God instead of our pride. Otherwise we get the current year. The government is trying to become God. It has made us fat and made us consume for the sake of consuming. The only bastion left is the person who remembers that authority on Earth is by its essence a shadow and lie compared to the omnipotence of God. That is how the fat man becomes healthy, the fat is the path of least resistance and the promise of ease and utopia of government.

This will not happen until the System collapses. But this crisis is being handled, like you said, to further that control. Some may awaken, but I fear more will consume. But that is the hope of the good from the evil.

Francis, thank you for your blog. You won a reader.

Reply
Francis Berger
3/19/2020 18:22:33

@ Gunner - Great comment. And thanks. I rarely win anything, especially readers!

Reply
William James Tychonievich link
3/19/2020 18:11:21

Okay, that was weirdly appropriate.

I have a couple of bad habits (one of which even involves overindulgence in food) which I've "quit" dozens of times over the years but always ended up returning to. About a month ago I had a quasi-miraculous experience which I won't describe here, but the upshot was that it was very clearly communicated to me that I need to quit those habits, for real, *right now* -- because if I backslide one more time I won't get another chance ever again.

I heeded the warning even though I didn't really understand how it could be possible to "run out of chances" -- but now I think I get it. If, as seems likely, things are about to hit the fan in a big way, I may be in a similar position to your morbidly obese man shortly before the famine strikes. *Now* he still has the option of truly repenting, of changing his life through sincere desire and strength of will -- but once the famine hits, and behavioral changes are forced on him will he nill he, *real* change -- self-chosen change, the only kind that is spiritually significant -- will no longer be an option. You have to quit the devil's employ *before* he fires you, or it doesn't count.

Reply
Francis Berger
3/19/2020 20:11:32

@ Wm - Yeah, I get your point. I agree self-chosen change is the most or perhaps only spiritually significant sort of change.

I'm not the best at determining these sorts of things, but in my estimation it would depend on the motivation behind the sin before the famine strikes.

Was he just succumbing to weakness? Or was his overeating a willful act of defiance against God - a purposeful working against God? I think in the first case, the man still has a chance because he wasn't consciously in the devil's employ. Whereas in the second instance it would be difficult for him to really 'sell' his repentance.

Reply
TJ
3/19/2020 21:36:03

Your blog is growing on me too Francis. I'm now a daily reader.

Reply
Francis Berger
3/20/2020 07:53:09

Thanks, TJ. Much appreciated.

Reply
NLR
3/19/2020 22:43:02

This is an insightful post.

I want to add a more to Ingemar’s comment about the Catholic Church and make a general comment about current events and the Church.

I must say I am quite disappointed in the lack of faith shown by the hierarchy of the Church in suspending masses. That being said, the Catholic Church is not the Church of the pope, the cardinals, the bishops, the parish priests, or even the laity. It is the Church of the Saints. That is the real reason to follow the Church – because tradition puts us in touch with that which would we not be able to respond to on our own.

Why read a book or a blog post, for that matter? Because they provide knowledge or insight that one would not have relying on only the resources of one’s own mind.

I have recently finished reading the Penguin Classics “Early Christian Lives” containing ancient accounts of Antony, Hilarion, Martin of Tours, and others and also Donald Attwater’s “Dictionary of the Saints.” Incredible stories and shows that one of and perhaps the major reason the reason the Church has continued as long as it has is its saints.

From the latter book, the entry about Pothinus: “bishop and martyr. D. at Lyons, 177 …

St. Pothinus, their bishop, was the leader of the martyrs of Lyons. He was ninety years old, infirm and ill, when he was taken into court through a jeering mob. He stood firm, answering the accusations brought against him, and when the governor asked who the Christian God was he replied, ‘If you are worthy, you shall know.’ At that Pothinus was repeatedly struck and kicked, and was taken off to prison nearly insensible. He never recovered from the ordeal, dying two days later.”

And

“Procopius, martyr D. 303 .. The church historian Eusebius was bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, where Procopius suffered, at the time of his martyrdom. He tells us that Procopius … lived at Scythopolis (Bethshan), where he was a church reader, exorcist, and interpreter of Syriac. He was a man of virtuous and abstemious life, kind, humble, and respected. At the beginning of Diocleatian’s persecution he was sent with other Christians to Caesarea, where he was brought before the magistrate, Flavian, and ordered to sacrifice to the gods. Procopius refused. Flavian tried to persuade him at least to sacrifice to the emperors. He again refused, quoting Homer: ‘It is not good to have several masters: let there be one chief, one king.’ This was taken as disrespectful to the emperors, and Procopius was at once put to death by beheading.”

If the Church was good enough for them, it is good enough for me. To quote the commenter Moonsphere from a post on Bruce Charlton’s blog February 9th, “We cannot choose our beliefs - that way lies madness. And so we simply believe the highest truth that we are capable of comprehending.”

I would very much like to see a change in consciousness for the good, a new breath of life into Christianity which would dissipate the miasma currently covering the world and I would like to help it however I can. However, something like that would require people whose abilities are as great as anyone who has every lived and maybe even an entirely new cast of mind, as Thales and Pythagoras to those who came before them or Descartes and Galileo to those who came before them. I can have no part in initiating something of that kind and until I see it happen, the best I can do is (to paraphrase Moonsphere), stay loyal to the best I know.

Reply
Francis Berger
3/20/2020 19:14:54

@ NLR - Thanks for the comment. Before I respond in a few points please allow me to stress the following - and I extend this Ingemar and all other Catholics or other Christians who abide by churches for reasons of tradition or whatever other reasons.

I have no desire to alienate or distance any serious Christian, Catholic or otherwise. In many ways this blog has become a way for me to form alliances and relationships with serious Christians of all denominations, and I want to continue building those alliances and relationships to whatever extent I can.

By serious Christians I mean those who truly believe in Jesus Christ and wish to follow Him with the entirety of their minds, hearts, and souls. I do not wish to bicker over theological fine points or haggle over who is right and who is wrong concerning history, church dogma, doctrine, traditions, or anything else.

We all have our own unique spiritual destinies, one that is guided by a loving God, and I have no qualms with any Christian who believes he is doing the right thing by adhering to a church.

Having said all of that, we are experiencing something that is unprecedented in the history of the world. I am not referring here only to the closure of churches over a virus scare, but everything that is happening now. What matters now is the primacy of the spiritual. Whatever helps you find and maintain the primacy of the spiritual is fine with me, as long as it aligns with God's reality and loving Creation.

" the Catholic Church is not the Church of the pope, the cardinals, the bishops, the parish priests, or even the laity. It is the Church of the Saints."

I'll go a step further. The Church is you. You should strive to be that Saint. Don't underestimate the power of your spirit. The time for waiting to see what will happen has passed. God is waiting for us to take a step toward Him through an act of Creativity. God is waiting for us to become co-Creators.

I say that not out of heresy or spiritual pride, but out of necessity and sobriety.

Gentlemen, like it or not we have been un-Churched. As I said earlier, you are now the Church. You need to draw on direct knowledge from God. You are the immanent that needs to meet the transcendent.

We can and should draw on tradition, but we shouldn't be regressive. Nor should we be passive. We need to move beyond our spiritual adolescence and become spiritual adults. That is our task.

Here and now.

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