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agkrakow · 1 year

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METRUM

This constitutes the environment for 1000+ people talking. It is a stage for talking and a method of hearing. The unforgettable body of the city. The mechanics to distinguish between noice and sound.

1.1.1. THE MARKET is not about trade but about the celebration of men’s achievements, showing collective through the individual.

1.1.2. It puts words and sentences into proportion.

1.1.3. It is the exclamation point. A shouting of a number, the yelling of a product is related to the experience as a cry is to pain. [24]

1.2.

1.2.1. Merchants name things and then we can talk about them: can refer to them in talk.

1.2.2. "Money talks" because money is a metaphor, a transfer, and a bridge. Like words and language, money is a storehouse of communally achieved work, skill, and experience. [23]

2.1.1. THE TEMPLE thinks of mistakes.

2.1.2. Sin is a gravitation. [25] It has great potentiality. The more the better. Errors attract mistakes, attract silent faulty words attract curse attract sin.

2.1.3. The poison contains the antidote and the foolish would think “Now I may have to eat my words.” [28]

2.1.4. But The fault is in the appetite, not the food itself. [29] And Appetite with an opinion of attaining, is called hope. And with a faulty appetite Eve liberated us from a formatted paradise. [31]

2.1.5. The faithful pile up offerings representing the mistakes.

2.1.6. Namely shards of glass. Reminiscent of communism.

2.2.

2.2.1. Man has the power to reverberate the Divine thunder. [27]

2.2.2. It sounds like confessions, whispering and melodic incantation. They don't talk, but they do reveal. [26]

3.1.1. THE PARLIAMENT thinks of the discursive "rules and customs" of rhetoric, fiction, and dialectic, […] they are all a part of the continuum of linguistic material that constitutes it, just as tune and rhythm are the means of representation for flute playing. [32]

3.1.2. It is the body of language.

3.1.3. An agreement, in the same sense about formal relations and structural relations. [33]

3.1.4. It doesn´t exist anymore. But it is inside these forms – even if they too have now passed into oblivion – that the real work of the advancement [34] of forgetting is done.

3.2.

3.2.1. The deputies dispute.

3.2.2. THE MINISTERS are the big mouths. The type of the master […] is defined in terms of the faculty of forgetting and the power of acting reactions. [35]

3.2.3. Instead of carrying the name of their position, they carry the names of the most prominent figures before them. Krakus II, Bona Sforza II, Sigismund V, Wojtyla II, Majchrowski II, …

3.2.4. and eventually forget their faculty of forgetting.

4.1.1. THE CASTLE is an echo. It can´t speak it´s own words, but instead only reflects the last words spoken: Wawel.

4.1.2. Forced to remain motionless and always the same, in order to be more easily remembered, the castle itself has long been forgotten.

4.1.3. Here offices (Titles) of Honor, by occasion of trouble, and for reasons of good and peacable government, were turned into mere Titles; serving for the most part, to distinguish the precedence, place, and order of subjects […]

4.1.4. and men were made Dukes, Counts, Marquises, and Barons of Places, wherein they had neither possession, nor command. [36]

4.2.

4.2.1. To save Wawel from this generic activity by which reactive forces are trained and tamed, [37] all the wasted breath is to be condensed on the castle´s mirrors, the windows, the handrails and doorknobs. A cooling system will be installed.

4.2.2. The castle sounds reverberant. A hollow sound body, uniting architectural languages: spanning from the Medieval, Renaissance, Barock to Oblivion.

5.1.1. THE BATH drowns one thought with the next. As we learn, we must be daily unlearning something which it has cost us no small labour and anxiety to acquire [38]

5.1.2. The dressed swimmer can’t get to the bottom of his memory, down to the total and first oblivion. But when he surged naked from the bath in which he discovered the force that makes us float, he inverts Harlequin, overdressed, the way invention is opposed to memory. [39]

5.1.3. The bath hosts the liquified, naked act of forgetting. A bodily act. The sounds are the rhythmic splashes of water, hushes in the sweat room, gossip in the dressing.

6.1.1. And then there are THE HOMES. Here, Eros and language mesh at every point. Intercourse and discourse, copula and copulation, are sub classes of the dominant fact of communication.

6.1.2. They arise from the life need of the ego to reach out and comprehend, in the two vital senses of ‘understanding’ and ‘containment,’ another human being.

6.1.3. Sex is a profoundly semantic act. [40]

6.1.4. In a dark room, words suddenly acquire new meanings and different textures. They become richer. [41]

6.1.5. The sound of the home is moaning and soliloquy.

6.2.

6.2.1. Talking to oneself is a recognized form of play that is indispensable to any growth of self-confidence [41] Identities have their material shape in the home and all the homes of Krakow in their resonating togetherness, give rise to a zone of intensity of mutually prehended, unbound creativity. [42]

6.2.2. At home people are not an echo, not at the center of everything like a sonorous echo, but on the edges of messages, at the birth of noises. [43]

X.1.1. People are talking. Talking is fighting, negotiating, contracting, cursing, breathing, forgetting. The city is tuning the individuals and the individuals rythming the city.

X.1.2. The city is the noise and the sound. Oscillations between the code of utility and the code of beauty. [44] The urban and the cityness.

X.1.3. It is all the colors of all the words.

X.1.4. It acknowledges that reflection, luster, refraction, luminosity, darkness, color, softness, absorption, liquidity [45] are all physical properties of talking.

X.1.5. The talking city is volatile and solid.

X.1.6. Meaningless and utterly significant.

X.1.7. It and you in it, work like data and information, like capital and coins, You dematerialize, then rematerialize. [46]

X.X.X. The city emits a rhytmic sound.

[23] McLuhan, Understanding Media

[24] Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations

[25] Hugo, Les Miserables

[26] Wollstonecraft, Complete Works

[27] McLuhan, Understanding Media

[28] Zimring, Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste

[29] Abelard, The Letters to Heloise and other Writings

[30] Hobbes, Leviathan

[31] Serres, Branches

[32] Snyder, Writing the Scene of Speaking

[33] Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus

[34] Foucault, History of Madness

[35] Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy

[36] Hobbes, Leviathan

[37] Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy

[38] Homer, Iliad

[39] Serres, Variations on the Body

[40] Steiner, After Babel Aspects of Language and Translation

[41] McLuhan, Understanding Media

[42] Braidotti Dolphijn, Philosophy After Nature

[43] Serres, The Parasite

[44] Schumacher, The Autopoiesis of Architecture Vol 2

[45] Evans, The Projective Cast Architecture and Its Three Geometries

[46] Mitchell, Me The Cyborg Self and the Networked City

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spiritualdirections · 3 years

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Can Pope Francis create a paradigm shift?

“Among the clergy, Francis receives his greatest support from older priests, who are dying off, rather than younger ones who are the future of the church... Finding young candidates for the priesthood, meanwhile, who support Francis and want to be celibate is like looking for Catholic unicorns.”

Fr. Thomas Reese, SJ, makes this blunt assessment in his column for Religious News Service. It’s a pretty good line. The main point of the article is that the Pope has waited too long to start the #LeftCatholicRevolution, to start suppressing and marginalizing conservative and traditionalist members of the hierarchy, and the Pope’s recent stint in the hospital has Fr. Reese worried that the Revolution won’t come at all before he dies.

Now I am not on Reese’s team, nor am I rooting for it. But I think that his article misses exactly how the Revolution he wants could ever take place. The problem with Francis’ papacy has been that it has been too much about episcopal appointments and legislation changes and rules and exercises of authority on the one hand, and broad PR gestures on the other. What we don’t see, however, are ideas and arguments. While his previous two predecessors were very much about ideas and arguments, at a high level.

There’s a media narrative that Pope Francis just wants to recreate the Church of the 1970s, from when his generation in the Jesuits came of age and liberals ran the Church (into the ground, some would say), and all the stuffiness of the Church from before Vatican II gave way to a less doctrinal, more cheerful spirit, complete with welcoming banners in the sanctuary. Less worrying about truth, more compassion, openness, and love--especially for the poor.

I think that’s how many Catholic Boomers remember the 1970s. But in reality, the power behind all those felt banners wasn’t the greeters at the door who smiled intensely in a welcoming way. The power behind the movements in the Church that Fr. Reese liked came from a bunch of theologians who argued for a different way of being Catholic, with new ideas and a lot of scholarship behind those ideas. The reason why the more committed younger people in the Church today no longer hold to those ideas is...because of better ideas that came later to replace those 1970s ideas.

Thomas Kuhn explains that a paradigm shift happens when a conceptual framework (what he calls a paradigm) starts to have problems explaining reality. People come up with questions and puzzles that the predominant ways of thinking cannot handle, and these unsolved puzzles pile up. Then a new theory comes along which 1) can offer an explanation of everything that the old framework could explain, and 2) can answer the new puzzles that the old framework couldn’t, and 3) proposes new directions for studying reality that turn out to be promising. When that happens, people adopt the new paradigm, and stop thinking in the old.

Post-Vatican II theologians such as Hans Kung and Edward Schillebeeckx and Leonardo Boff helped to create a paradigm shift in theology, one which asked new questions and proposed radical answers, and which on various fronts took over the Church. Spirituality became more Freudian, more therapeutic and sentimental (in accord with the spirit of 1970s culture), and less interested in disciplining the passions. The universal call to holiness was interpreted to mean that everyone pretty much goes to heaven, especially the laity, and so the theological concept of holiness needed to be redefined until it wasn’t just for a small group of elite saints. In the new paradigm, traditional practices such as missionary work, going to confession, and embracing celibacy, just stopped making sense (if we’re all going to heaven anyway...). This was the new paradigm that became ascendant in the Church, and thoroughly dominant in the Jesuits, at the time Pope Francis came of age.

It turned out that the paradigm was a disaster for the Church by every traditional metric. The faithful and the priests influenced by it largely stopped coming to Mass or left the priesthood. But the intellectual paradigm built by the theologians was still predominant, still being passed on in pontifical universities and seminaries and Catholic graduate schools, well into the 1990s.

It was replaced by a new paradigm, a creative traditionalism in which the leading lights were also in a position to make institutional changes. But the paradugn shift wasn’t simply because John Paul II was pope and he appointed Josef Ratzinger to head the doctrinal office; rather, their successor paradigm answered the puzzles of the previous paradigm. Laborem Exercens and Sollicitudo Rei Socialis were answers to the questions raised by Boff’s liberation theology. The Theology of the Body was an answer to the arguments of theologians who embraced the sexual revolution. On issues of priestly celibacy, or how to interpret the bible, or sacramental theology and praxis, or the role of reason in the faith, or whether to continue missionary work, or the vocation to religious life, or the nature of confession--and much more--St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI made arguments that took the issues raised by the 1970s theologians and brought them to a new level. They made arguments that paid attention to the traditions of the Church, and deployed them in new and creative ways to solve new problems or to approach old problems with new tools. And they created a paradigm that seemed to work, that seemed to set the Church on the path to recovery and perhaps even strength. Under the new paradigm, the Church was attracting large numbers of converts, including Protestant pastors and theologians. It was intellectually and spiritually convincing. It helped to make sense of the world.

In order to change the Church from the Wojtylan paradigm, it’s not enough to appoint some 1970s retreads to high ecclesiastical office who impose their old paradigm by fiat. Because, as Fr. Reese points out, old people die sooner, and their power dissipates soon after they die. But neither is the answer to appoint lots of retreads, as he seems to want. If people are convinced by the Wojtylan paradigm--especially if all the priests and younger bishops are convinced by it--they won’t stop being convinced by it because of a motu proprio. The goal of the #LeftCatholicRevolution should be to provoke a paradigm shift, to come up with even better arguments than those of the two previous popes, to convince people to think in their new way because the new way solves the puzzles, and makes sense of reality, in ways that the Wojtylan paradigm does not. Because right now, the Wojtylan paradigm still seems to work, especially for those who embrace it thoroughly. And the 1970s paradigm still has no convincing answers to the problems that caused it to collapse in the first place.

I think there’s no better evidence of the superiority of the Wojtylan paradigm than Fr. Reese’s observation that today’s version of his preferred 1970s paradigm is no better than the original at convincing young men to offer their lives to Christ in the priesthood. You can’t say that clericalism is the largest problem in the Church, and then believably invite people to be clerics. John Paul II called young people to be heroes; #LeftCatholicRevolution calls them to be part of the problem. That’s not just a flaw in the messaging, it’s a flaw in the thinking. A flaw in the paradigm.

I don’t want to predict that when Pope Francis does die, his successor will automatically be John Paul III. But I do believe that #LeftCatholicRevolution can only be achieved if it gets a lot smarter, if it develops a more convincing account of reality than the Wojtylan paradigm, so as to create a paradigm shift. If not, then Fr. Reese will have to wait for a cavalry of unicorns to take over the Church.

#pope francis #john paul II #pope benedict xvi #Thomas Kuhn #Catholic theology #how to change a paradigm

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vajranam · 3 years

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A Brief Presentation Of The Nine Vehicles

A Brief Presentation of the Nine Vehicles

by Alak Zenkar Rinpoche Thubten Nyima

Our teacher, the fourth guide of this fortunate aeon, the incomparable lord of sages, Śākyamuni, gave infinite teachings as means to enter the Dharma of the causal and resultant vehicles, in accordance with the particular temperaments, spiritual faculties and attitudes of disciples. Nevertheless, they may all be included within the three vehicles, which, in turn, may be further subdivided into nine successive stages.

As The General Sūtra says:[1]

The ultimate definitive vehicle

Certainly appears as three in number:

The vehicles of leading from the origin, Vedic-like asceticism,

And powerful transformative methods.

And The Immaculate Confession Tantra says:

The samayas of the nine successive vehicles—

Three vehicles related to the three piṭakas of characteristics,

The outer three of kriyā yoga and so on, related to tantras of asceticism,

And the inner three yogas related to tantras of skilful methods.

Thus the classification of ‘nine successive vehicles,’ which is found in the Nyingma Early Translation tradition, is made up of:

three outer vehicles of leading from the origin [of suffering] or those related to the three piṭakas of characteristics,

three inner vehicles of Vedic-like asceticism[2] or those of the three outer classes of tantra, and

three secret vehicles of powerful transformative methods or those of the three inner classes of tantra.

Let us elaborate a little on the meaning of these, first of all by considering what is meant by the term ‘vehicle’ or yāna. It is said in The Condensed Sūtra:[3]

This vehicle is the supreme of vehicles for reaching

The vast sky-like palace of happiness and bliss.

Riding in this all beings will reach nirvāṇa.

This refers to the literal meaning of the Sanskrit term yāna, a vehicle or means of conveyance, since it is that which carries us along the paths and bhūmis, bringing us ever greater enlightened qualities.

I. The Three Outer Vehicles Leading from the Origin

The three causal vehicles of characteristics are: the śrāvaka vehicle, pratyekabuddha vehicle and bodhisattva vehicle.

Why are these three called ‘vehicles leading from the origin’? It is because they lead us along the path to the result of liberation from samsara by abandoning all the actions and kleśas which are the cause or ‘origin’ [of suffering].

1. The Śrāvaka Vehicle

Generally speaking, the Sanskrit word ‘śrāvaka’ has both the meaning of listening and of hearing, so [the Tibetan translation nyenthö literally means] ‘listener-hearer.’ Alternatively, the term can be understood to mean ‘listening and proclaiming,’ in the sense that the śrāvakas rely on masters and then proclaim to others all the words their teachers have spoken.

The initial entry point, the view, the meditation, the conduct and the results of the śrāvaka vehicle will now be explained below.

i. Entry Point

The śrāvakas are motivated by a feeling of renunciation, the wish to escape from all the realms of samsara by themselves alone. With this motivation, they receive one of the seven sets of pratimokṣa vows, those of a male or female lay practitioner, novice monk or nun, probationary nun, or fully ordained monk or nun, and having received these vows, they practise moral restraint, keeping their vows unimpaired, repairing any impairments that do occur, and so on.

ii. View

As the basis of their path, they determine their view by focusing upon all phenomena included within the five aggregates and realizing that they are devoid of any personal self. They do not understand that all material and conscious phenomena are devoid of true reality, and, asserting a truly real partless particle in perceived objects and an indivisible moment of consciousness, they fail to realize the absence of phenomenal identity.

iii. Meditation

In terms of the path, they practise both śamatha and vipaśyanā meditation. They realize the state of śamatha by abandoning obstacles and cultivating factors conducive to samādhi, according to the nine stages of resting the mind and so on, and generate the wisdom of vipaśyanā by meditating on the sixteen aspects of the four truths.

iv. Conduct

They keep to the twelve ascetic practices[4] that avoid the two extreme forms of lifestyle, over-indulgence in sense pleasures[5] and excessive self-punishment.

v. Results

They attain any one of eight levels of fruition, corresponding to the degree to which they have abandoned the kleshas of the three realms. There are eight levels because the four results of stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner and arhat are each divided into the two stages known as the emerging and the established.

2. The Pratyekabuddha Vehicle

Pratyekabuddhas, or ‘self-awakened’ are so-called because, having a more profound depth of wisdom than the śrāvakas, they manifest their own awakening through the power of their own wisdom, without needing to rely on other masters.

Let us elaborate slightly by presenting the initial entry point, view, meditation, conduct and results of the pratyekabuddha vehicle:

i. Entry Point

As with the entry point to the śrāvaka vehicle, the pratyekabuddhas take up any one of the seven sets of pratimokṣa vows and then keep them unimpaired.

ii. View

When it comes to the basis of their path, how they determine the view, they realize the absence of a personal self completely, but only realize half the absence of phenomenal identity, because although they realize that the partless particles of perceived objects are not real, they still believe in the true existence of indivisible moments of consciousness.

iii. Meditation

When it comes to their path, and their practice of meditation, the uncommon approach of the pratyekabuddhas is to meditate on how the twelve links of interdependent origination arise in their progressive sequence and how they cease in the reverse order.

iv. Conduct

Like the śrāvakas, they keep to the twelve rules of ascetic practice.

v. Results

As their fruition, those with sharper faculties attain the level of a rhinoceros-like pratyekabuddha arhat and those with duller faculties become parrot-like[6] pratyekabuddha arhats.

Moreover, they reach their final existence as a result of three specific aspiration prayers. They pray that their last existence may be in a world without buddhas and śrāvakas, that they may attain awakening by themselves, without relying on any teacher, and that they may teach the Dharma silently through physical gestures.

3. The Bodhisattva Vehicle

The bodhisattva vehicle is the part of the mahāyāna that belongs to the vehicle of characteristics. It is called the vehicle of bodhisattvas because once it has been entered it has the power to lead someone to great enlightenment, because its domain of experience is vast, in terms of its extensive skilful methods and its profound wisdom, because it brings about benefit and happiness, in the higher realms in the short term, and ultimately at the stage of definitive good, and because it carries one to greater and greater qualities as one progresses along the paths and stages. It is called a vehicle of characteristics because it has all the characteristics of a path that is a direct cause for bringing about the ultimate fruition, the level of buddhahood.

I will now a give a brief outline of its initial entry point, view, meditation, conduct and results.

i. Entry Point

The bodhisattvas practise on the basis of their wish to benefit others. They are motivated by bodhicitta, which has as its focus all sentient beings and is characterized by the wish to establish them all at the level of perfect buddhahood, free from the causes and effects of suffering and endowed with all the causes and effects of happiness. With this motivation, they take the bodhisattva vows of aspiration and application in the proper way, through the ritual of either the tradition of Profound View or Vast Conduct. They then observe the points of discipline concerning what should be adopted and abandoned, and heal and purify any impairments.

ii. View

Concerning the basis of their path, how they determine the view, if we speak in terms of philosophical tenets, the approach of Mind Only is to assert that outer objects are not real and all phenomena are but the inner mind, and to claim that the self-aware, self-knowing consciousness devoid of dualistic perception is truly real. The approach of the Middle Way is to realize that all phenomena appear in the manner of dependent origination, but are in reality emptiness, beyond the eight extremes of conceptual elaboration.[7] Through these approaches, on the basis of the explanation of the two levels of reality, they realize completely the absence of any personal self or phenomenal identity.

iii. Meditation

Concerning their path and how they practise meditation, the bodhisattvas realize and train in developing their familiarity with the indivisibility of the two levels of reality, and, on the basis of the yogic meditation that unites śamatha and vipaśyanā, meditate sequentially on the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment while on the path of training.

iv. Conduct

They practise the six transcendent perfections for their own benefit and the four means of attraction for the sake of others.

v. Results

They attain the level of buddhahood, which is the ultimate attainment in terms of both abandonment and realization since it means abandoning all that has to be eliminated, the two obscurations including habitual traces, and realizing everything that must be realized, included within the knowledge of all that there is and the knowledge of its nature. They accomplish the two types of dharmakāya for their own benefit and the two types of rūpakāya for the benefit of others.

II. The Three Inner Vehicles of Vedic-like Asceticism

These are the three outer classes of tantra: the vehicle of kriyā tantra, the vehicle of caryā tantra and the vehicle of yoga tantra.

You might wonder why are these called ‘vehicles of Vedic-like asceticism.’ It is because the three outer classes of tantra stress aspects of ascetic conduct, such as ritual purification and cleanliness, and in this respect they are similar to the Vedic tradition of the brahmins.

4. The Vehicle of Kriyā Tantra

The kriyā tantras, or ‘action’ tantras, are so-called because they are concerned mainly with external conduct, the practices of ritual purification and cleanliness and so on.

The entry point, view, meditation, conduct and results of this vehicle are as follows:

i. Entry Point

The initial point of entry to the path of secret mantra vajrayana is ripening empowerment, so here one receives the water empowerment, which establishes the potential for ripening into the dharmakaya, and the crown empowerment, which establishes the potential for ripening into the rūpakāya. Then one keeps the general samayas of the kriyā yoga as they are explained in the particular texts themselves.

ii. View

In terms of determining the view, the basis of the path, one realizes that the ground of purification, the nature of mind itself, is the wisdom of empty clarity, and is ultimately beyond all extremes of elaboration, such as existing, not existing, appearing or being empty. Then one views the aspects of relative appearance, which are what must be purified, as the characteristics of the completely pure deity.

iii. Meditation

As for the path and the way of practising meditation, it centres around the four realities: 1) the reality of oneself, and 2) the reality of the deity, which is practised by means of the six aspects of the deity,[8] by visualizing oneself as the samaya form and then invoking the wisdom being into the space in front, considering oneself as a servant and the deity as one’s master. One then focuses upon 3) the reality of the mantra recitation which is the sound, and on the mind and the ground, and meditates upon 4) the reality of concentration, which consists of remaining in the ‘flame,’ continuation of sound and culmination of sound.

iv. Conduct

One performs the three kinds of ritual purification,[9] changes the three types of clothing,[10] adopts a diet of the three white foods[11] and practices ritual fasting and mantra recitation.

v. Results

In the short term, one becomes a desire realm vidyādhara, and ultimately one attains awakening as Vajradhara of one of the three buddha families: of the family of enlightened body, Vairocana, of the family of enlightened speech, Amitābha, or of the family of enlightened mind, Akṣobhya.

5. The Vehicle of Caryā Tantra

The vehicle of caryā or ‘conduct’ tantra is so-called because it places an equal emphasis on the outer actions of body and speech and the inner cultivation of samādhi. It is also called the ‘tantra of both’ (ubhaya tantra) because its view conforms with that of yoga tantra, while its conduct is similar to that of kriyā.

I will now say a little about its entry point, view, meditation, conduct and results.

i. Entry Point

One is matured by means of the five empowerments, which include the empowerments of the vajra, bell and name in addition to the water and crown empowerments, and then maintains the samayas of caryā tantra, as described in the particular texts themselves.

ii. View

The view is determined in the same way as in the yoga tantra, so it will be explained below.

iii. Meditation

One visualizes oneself as the samaya being and visualizes the wisdom deity, who is regarded as a friend, in front of oneself, and then practises the conceptual meditations on the syllable, mudrā and form of the deity, and the non-conceptual meditation on absolute bodhicitta by means of entering, remaining and arising.[12]

iv. Conduct

The conduct here is the same as in kriyā tantra.

v. Results

In the short term, one attains the common accomplishments and ultimately one reaches the level of a vajradhara of the four buddha families, i.e., the three mentioned earlier plus the ratna family.

6. The Vehicle of Yoga Tantra

The vehicle of yoga tantra is so-called because it emphasizes the inner yogic meditation upon reality, combining skilful means and wisdom.

Its entry point, view, meditation, conduct and results are as follows:

i. Entry Point

Having been matured through the eleven empowerments—the five empowerments of the disciples (water, crown, vajra, bell and name) as well as the six empowerments of the master (the empowerment of irreversibility, empowerment of seeing secret reality, authorization, prophecy, confirmation and praising encouragement)—one keeps the samayas as described in the particular texts.

ii. View

The ground, the way in which the view is established, is as follows. Ultimately, all phenomena are realised to be clear light, beyond conceptual elaboration. Through the blessing of this, the relative is seen as the deities of the vajradhātu.

iii. Meditation

One meditates on the yoga of skilful means, visualizing oneself as the deity by means of the five aspects of awakening and the four miraculous things,[13] and summons the wisdom being, who then dissolves into oneself, and is sealed by means of the four mudrās, and so on. There is also the yoga of wisdom, in which one rests in a state in which ultimate non-conceptual wisdom is inseparable from the relative appearance of the deity of the vajradhātu.

iv. Conduct

One practises ritual purification and cleanliness simply as a support.

v. Results

As a worldly attainment, one becomes a celestial vidyādhara, and as the supermundane accomplishment, one attains enlightenment in Ghanavyūha, as one of the five buddha families (in addition to the four families previously mentioned, there is also Amoghasiddhi’s buddha family of enlightened activity).

III. The Three Secret Vehicles of Powerful Transformative Methods

These are the three inner classes of tantra: the vehicle of mahāyoga, the vehicle of anuyoga and the vehicle of atiyoga.

You might wonder why are these are called ‘vehicles of powerful transformative methods.’ It is because they include powerful methods for transforming all phenomena into great purity and equalness.

7. The Vehicle of Tantra Mahāyoga

The vehicle of mahāyoga, or ‘great yoga,’ is so-called because it is superior to ordinary yoga tantra since all phenomena are realized to be a magical display in which appearance and emptiness are indivisible.

Once again, I will briefly describe its point of entry, view, meditation, action and results.

i. Entry Point

Once one’s mind has been matured through receiving the ten outer benefiting empowerments, the five inner enabling empowerments and the three secret profound empowerments, one keeps the samayas as they are described in the texts.

ii. View

By means of extraordinary lines of reasoning, one establishes and then realizes the indivisibility of the [two] higher levels of reality, according to which the cause for the appearance of the essential nature, the seven riches of the absolute,[14] is spontaneously present within the pure awareness that is beyond conceptual elaboration, and all relative phenomena naturally appear as the mandala of deities of the three seats.[15]

iii. Meditation

When it comes to the path and the practice of meditation, the main emphasis is on the generation stage. In the practice of generation stage yoga, one sets up the practice through the three samādhis, ensures that the three of purifying, perfecting and ripening are complete within the visualization, and, once the visualization is complete, seals it with the instruction on the four nails securing the life-force. In the practice of the completion stage yoga, one activates the vital points of the vajra body, its subtle energies, essences, luminosity and so on.

iv. Conduct

One maintains elaborate, unelaborate and extremely unelaborate conduct.

v. Results

In the short term one reaches the four vidyādhara levels, which are the results belonging to the path, and finally one gains the ultimate fruition, and reaches the level of the Vajradhara of unity.[16]

8. The Vehicle of Scriptural Transmission Anuyoga

The vehicle of anuyoga, or ‘following yoga’, is so-called because it mainly teaches the path of passionately pursuing (or ‘following’) wisdom, in the realization that all phenomena are the creative expression of the indivisible unity of absolute space and primordial wisdom.

Once again, let us say a little about its point of entry, view, meditation, conduct and results:

i. Entry Point

One’s mind is matured through the thirty-six empowerments in which the four rivers—outer, inner, accomplishing and secret—are complete, and one keeps the samayas as described in the texts.

ii. View

Through logical reasoning one determines that which is to be known, the fact that all phenomena are characterized as being the three mandalas in their fundamental nature, and realizes that this is so.

iii. Meditation

Meditation practice here consists of two paths. On the path of liberation one practises the non-conceptual samādhi of simply resting in a state that accords with the essence of reality itself, and the conceptual samādhi of deity practice, in which one visualizes the mandala of supporting palace and supported deities simply by reciting the mantra of generation. On the path of skilful means one generates the wisdom of bliss and emptiness through the practices of the upper and lower gateways.

iv. Conduct

One practises the conduct that is beyond adopting or abandoning in the recognition that all perceptions are but the display of the wisdom of great bliss.

v. Results

At the culmination of Anuyoga’s own uncommon five yogas, which are essentially its five paths,[17] and the ten stages[18] that are included within these five, one attains the level of Samantabhadra.

9. The Vehicle of Pith Instruction Atiyoga

The vehicle of Atiyoga, or ‘utmost yoga,’ is so-called because it is the highest of all vehicles. It involves the realization that all phenomena are nothing other than the appearances of the naturally arising primordial wisdom which has always been beyond arising and ceasing.

The following is a brief explanation of the entry point, view, meditation, conduct and results of this vehicle.

i. Entry Point

One’s mind is matured through the four ‘expressive power of awareness’ empowerments (rigpé tsal wang), and one keeps the samayas as explained in the texts.

ii. View

The view is definitively established by looking directly into the naturally arising wisdom in which the three kāyas are inseparable: the empty essence of naked awareness beyond the ordinary mind is the dharmakāya, its cognizant nature is the sambhogakāya, and its all-pervasive compassionate energy is the nirmāṇakāya.

iii. Meditation

The meditation consists of the approach of cutting through resistance to primordial purity (kadak trekchö), through which the lazy can reach liberation without effort, and the approach of the direct realization of spontaneous presence (lhundrup tögal), through which the diligent can reach liberation with exertion.

iv. Conduct

The conduct is free from hope and fear and adopting and abandoning, because all that appears manifests as the display of reality itself.

v. Results

Perfecting the four visions of the path, one gains the supreme kāya, the rainbow body of great transference, and attains the level of glorious Samantabhadra, the thirteenth bhūmi known as ‘Unexcelled Wisdom’ (yeshe lama).

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2005, revised 2016 (with thanks to Han Kop).

An earlier version of this translation was published in Kyabje Zenkar Rinpoche & Pema Lungtok Gyatso Rinpoche, The Nine Gradual Vehicles: Two Complementary Presentations. Brussels: Wisdom Treasury, 2015.

The General Sūtra of the Gathering of All Intentions ('dus pa mdo), the central scripture of Anuyoga. ↩

An alternative translation sometimes given is ‘the inner vehicle of gaining awareness through austerities’ but that would not accord with Zenkar Rinpoche’s explanation given later in this text. ↩

i.e., The Condensed Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra. ↩

According to The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, vol. 2, p. 169: 1) Wearing clothes found in a dust heap, 2) owning only three robes, 3) wearing felt or woollen clothes, 4) begging for food, 5) eating one’s meal at a single sitting, 6) restricting the quantity of food, 7) staying in isolation, 8) sitting under trees, 9) sitting in exposed places, 10) sitting in charnel grounds, 11) sitting even during sleep, and 12) staying wherever one happens to be. ↩

This is rather a free translation of 'dod pa bsod nyams kyi mtha' ↩

They are called ‘parrot-like’ because they remain together in groups, unlike the ‘rhinoceros-like’ pratyekabuddha arhats who stay by themselves. ↩

The eight extremes of conceptual elaboration are: ceasing, arising, being non-existent, being permanent, coming, going, being multiple and being single. ↩

The aspects of emptiness, syllable, sound, form, mudrā and characteristics. ↩

Purification of the body by washing, purification of downfalls and purification of thoughts. ↩

Changes one’s outer clothing means to put on clean clothes, changing one’s inner clothing means to guard one’s vows, and changing one’s secret clothing means to visualize the deity. ↩

Curd, milk and butter. ↩

‘Entering’ refers to the realization that all phenomena are beyond arising, ‘remaining’ means to abide once the non-conceptual nature has manifest and ‘arising’ means developing intense compassion for all beings who do not realize this. ↩

i.e., samādhi, blessings, empowerment and offering. ↩

Enlightened body, speech, mind, qualities and activity, plus absolute space and primordial wisdom. ↩

The aggregates (skandha) and elements (dhātu) are the seats of the male and female buddhas, the sense faculties and their objects are the seats of the male and female bodhisattvas, and the limbs are seats of the male and female wrathful ones. ↩

‘Unity’ here means the unity of dharmakāya and rūpakāya. ↩

1) The yoga of the aspiring spiritual warrior on the path of accumulation, 2) the yoga revealing the great enlightened family on the path of joining, 3) the yoga of great assurance on the path of seeing, 4) the yoga of receiving great prophecy on the path of meditation, and 5) the yoga of perfecting the great creative power on the ultimate path. ↩

1) The stage of uncertain transformation, 2) the stage of stable foundation, 3) the stage of significant purification, 4) the stage of continuous training, 5) the stage of supportive merit, 6) the stage of special progress through stability, 7) the stage bringing focus on the result once the path of seeing has arisen through clear light, 8) the stage of steadfast remaining, 9) the stage of expanding reality, and 10) the stage of riding on perfection.

#spirituality #mindfulness #wisdom #meditation #religion #buddhism #self care #visualization #tibet #zen

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pamphletstoinspire · 4 years

Photo

Easter Wednesday Liturgical Year: Easter Wednesday by Dom Gueranger, 1908

And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it returned at the first break of day to the former place: and as the Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and the Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves.–Exodus 14: 27

This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein. The Hebrew word Pasch signifies passage, and we explained yesterday how this great day first became sacred by reason of the Lord's Passover. But there is another meaning which attaches to the word, as we learn from the early Fathers, and the Jewish rabbins. The Pasch is, moreover, the passage of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. These three great facts really happened on one and the same night:–the banquet of the lamb, the death of the first-born of the Egyptians, and the departure from Egypt. Let us, today, consider how this third figure is a further development of our Easter mystery.

The day of Israel's setting forth from Egypt for his predestined country of the Promised Land, is the most important in his whole history; but, both the departure itself, and the circumstances that attended it, were types of future realities to be fulfilled in the Christian Pasch. The people of God was delivered from an idolatrous and tyrannical country: in our Pasch, they who are now our neophytes have courageously emancipated themselves from the slavish sway of satan, and have solemnly renounced the pomps and works of this haughty Pharaoh.

On their road to the Promised Land, the Israelites had to pass through a sea of water; their doing so was a necessity, both for their protection against Pharaoh's army, which was pursuing them, and for their entrance into the land of milk and honey. Our neophytes too, after renouncing the tyrant who had enslaved them, had to go through that same saving element of water, in order to escape their fierce enemies; it carried them safe into the land of their hopes, and stood as a rampart to defend them against invasion.

By the goodness of God, that water, which is an obstacle to man's pursuing his way, was turned into an ally for Israel's march; the laws it had from nature were suspended, and it became the savior of God's people. In like manner, the sacred font,–which, as the Church told us on the Feast of the Epiphany, is made an instrument of divine grace,–has become the refuge and fortress of our happy neophytes; their passing through its waters has put them out of reach of the tyrant's grasp. Having reached the opposite shore, the Israelites see Pharaoh and his army, their shields and their chariots, buried in the sea. When our neophytes looked at the holy font, from which they had risen to the life of grace, they rejoiced to see the tomb where their sins, enemies worse than Pharaoh and his minions, lay buried for ever.

Then did the Israelites march cheerfully on towards the land that God had promised to give them. During the journey, they will have God as their teacher and lawgiver; they will have their thirst quenched by fountains springing up from a rock in the desert; they will be fed on manna sent each day from heaven. Our neophytes, too, will run on unfettered to the heavenly country, their Promised Land. They will go through the desert of this world, uninjured by its miseries and dangers, for the divine lawgiver will teach them, not amidst thunder and lightning, as He did when He gave His law to the Israelites, but with persuasive words of gentlest love, spoken with that sweet manner which set on fire the hearts of the two disciples of Emmaus. Springs of water shall refresh them at every turn, yea of that living water which Jesus, a few weeks back, told the Samaritan woman should be given to them that adore Him in spirit and in truth. And lastly, a heavenly Manna shall be their food, strengthening and delighting them–a Manna far better than that of old, for it will give them immortality.

So that our Pasch means all this: it is a passing through water to the Land of Promise, but with a reality and truth which the Israelites had only under the veil of types, sublime indeed and divine, but mere types. Let then our Passover from the death of original sin to the life of grace, by holy Baptism, be a great feast-day with us. This may not be the anniversary of our Baptism: it matters not; let us fervently celebrate our exodus from the Egypt of the world into the Christian Church; let us, with glad and grateful hearts, renew our baptismal vows, which made our God so liberal in His gifts to us: let us renounce satan, and all his works, and all his pomps.

The Apostle of the Gentiles tells us of another mystery of the waters of Baptism; it gives completion to all we have been saying, and equally forms part of our Pasch. He teaches us, that we were hidden beneath this water, as was Christ in His tomb; and that we then died, and were buried, together with Him (1 Rom. vi. 4). It was the death of our life of sin: that we might live to God, we had to die to sin. When we think of the holy font where we were regenerated, let us call it the tomb, wherein we buried the Old Man, who was to have no resurrection. Baptism by immersion,–which was the ancient mode of administering the Sacrament, and is still used in some countries,–was expressive of this spiritual. burial: the neophyte was made to disappear beneath the water: he was dead to his former life, as our buried Jesus was to His mortal life. But, as our Redeemer did not remain in the tomb, but rose again to a new life, so likewise, says the Apostle (Coloss. ii. 12), they who are baptized, rise again with Him when they come from the font; they bear on them the pledges of immortality and glory, and are the true and living members of that Head, who dieth now no more. Here, again, is our Pasch, our passage from death to life.

At Rome, the Station is in the basilica of Saint Laurence outside the Walls. It is looked upon as the most important of the many churches built by Rome in honor of her favorite Martyr, whose body lies under the high altar. Hither were the neophytes led today, that they might learn, from the example of so brave and generous a soldier of Christ, how courageous they should be in confessing their faith, and how faithful in living up to their baptismal vows. For several centuries, the reception of Baptism was a preparation for martyrdom; but, at all times, it is an enlisting in the service of Christ, which we cannot leave without incurring the guilt and penalty of traitors.

#easter wednesday

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edthedeadandburied · 4 years

Text

Comrades, in the report of the Central Committee of the party at the 20th Congress, in a number of

speeches by delegates to the Congress, as also formerly during the plenary CC/CPSU sessions,

quite a lot has been said about the cult of the individual and about its harmful consequences...

Allow me first of all to remind you how severely the classics of Marxism-Leninism denounced every

manifestation of the cult of the individual. In a letter to the German political worker, Wilhelm Bloss,

Marx stated: "From my antipathy to any cult of the individual, I never made public during the

existence of the International the numerous addresses from various countries which recognized my

merits and which annoyed me. I did not even reply to them, except sometimes to rebuke their

authors. Engels and I first joined the secret society of Communists on the condition that everything

making for superstitious worship of authority would be deleted from its statute...

The great modesty of the genius of the revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, is known. Lenin had always

stressed the role of the people as the creator of history, the directing and organizational role of the

party as a living and creative organism, and also the role of the central committee.

Marxism does not negate the role of the leaders of the workers' class in directing the revolutionary

liberation movement.

While ascribing great importance to the role of the leaders and organizers of the masses, Lenin at

the same time mercilessly stigmatized every manifestation of the cult of the individual, inexorably

combated the foreign-to-Marxism views about a "hero" and a "crowd" and countered all efforts to

oppose a "hero" to the masses and to the people.

Lenin taught that the party's strength depends on its indissoluble unity with the masses, on the fact

that behind the party follow the people - workers, peasants and intelligentsia. "Only lie will win and

retain the power," said Lenin, "who believes in the people, who submerges himself in the fountain

of the living creativeness of the people.". . .

During Lenin's life the central committee of the party- was a real expression of collective leadership

of the party and of the Nation. Being a militant Marxist-revolutionist, always unyielding in matters of

principle, Lenin never imposed by force his views upon his coworkers. He tried to convince; he

patiently explained his opinions to others. Lenin always diligently observed that the norms of party

life were realized, that the party statute was enforced, that the party congresses and the plenary

sessions of the central committee took place at the proper intervals.

In addition to the great accomplishments of V. I. Lenin for the victory of the working class and of the

working peasants, for the victory of our party and for the application of the ideas of scientific

communism to life, his acute mind expressed itself also in this that lie detected in Stalin in time

those negative characteristics which resulted later in grave consequences. Fearing the future fate

of the party and of the Soviet nation, V.I. Lenin made a completely correct characterization of

Stalin, pointing out that it was necessary to consider the question of transferring Stalin from the

position of Secretary General because of the fact that Stalin is excessively rude, that he does not

have a proper attitude toward his comrades, that lie is capricious, and abuses his power...

Vladimir Ilyich said: "Stalin is excessively rude, and this defect, which can be freely tolerated in our

midst and in contacts among us Communists, becomes a defect which cannot be tolerated in one

holding the position of the Secretary General. Because of this, I propose that the comrades

consider the method by which Stalin would be removed from this position and by which another

man would be selected for it, a man, who above all, would differ from Stalin in only one quality,

namely, greater tolerance, greater loyalty, greater kindness, and more considerate attitude toward the comrades, a less capricious temper, etc.".

As later events have proven, Lenin's anxiety was justified; in the first period after Lenin's death

Stalin still paid attention to his (i.e., Lenin's) advice, but, later he began to disregard the serious

admonitions of Vladimir Ilyich.

When we analyze the practice of Stalin in regard to the direction of the party and of the country,

when we pause to consider everything which Stalin perpetrated, we must be convinced that Lenin's

fears were justified. The negative characteristics of Stalin, which, in Lenin's time, were on1v

incipient, transformed themselves during the last years into a grave abuse o f power by Stalin,

which caused untold harm to our party...

Stalin acted not through persuasion, explanation, and patient cooperation with people, but by

imposing his concepts and demanding absolute submission to his opinion. Whoever opposed this

concept or tried to prove his viewpoint, and the correctness of his position was doomed to removal

from the leading collective and to subsequent moral and physical annihilation. This was especially

true during the period following the 17th party congress, when many prominent party leaders and

rank-and-file party workers, honest and dedicated to the cause of communism, fell victim to Stalin's

despotism...

Stalin originated the concept enemy of the people. This term automatically rendered it unnecessary

that the ideological errors of a man or men engaged in a controversy be proven; this term made

possible the usage of the most cruel repression, violating all norms of revolutionary legality, against

anyone who in any way disagreed with Stalin, against those who were only suspected of hostile

intent, against those who had bad reputations. This concept, enemy of the people, actually

eliminated the possibility of any kind of ideological fight or the making of one's views known on this

or that issue, even those of a practical character. In the main, and in actuality, the only proof of guilt

used, against all norms of current legal science, was the confession of the accused himself, and,

as subsequent probing proved, confessions were acquired through physical pressures against the

accused...

Lenin used severe methods only in the most necessary cases, when the exploiting classes were

still in existence and were vigorously opposing the revolution, when the struggle for survival was

decidedly assuming the sharpest forms, even including a civil war.

Stalin, on the other hand, used extreme methods and mass repressions at a time when the

revolution was already victorious, when the Soviet state was strengthened, when the exploiting

classes were already liquidated, and Socialist relations were rooted solidly in all phases of national

economy, when our party was politically consolidated and had strengthened itself both numerically

and ideologically. It is clear that here Stalin showed in a whole series of cases his intolerance, his

brutality, and his abuse of power. Instead of proving his political correctness and mobilizing the

masses, he often chose the path of repression and physical annihilation, not only against actual

enemies, but also against individuals who had not committed any crimes against the party and the

Soviet Government. Here we see no wisdom but only a demonstration of the brutal force which had

once so alarmed V.I Lenin...

Considering the question of the cult of an individual we must first of all show everyone what harm

this caused to the interests of our party...

In practice Stalin ignored the norms of party life and trampled on the Leninist principle of collective

party leadership.

Stalin's willfulness vis-a-vis the party and its central committee became fully evident after the 17th

party congress, which took place in 1934...

It was determined that of the 139 members and candidates of the party's Central Committee who were elected at the 17th congress, 98 persons, that is, 70 percent, were arrested and shot (mostly

in 1937-38). [Indignation in the hall.] . . .

The same fate met not only the central committee members but also the majority of the delegates

to the 17th party congress. Of 1,966 delegates with either voting or advisory rights, 1,108 persons

were arrested on charges of anti-revolutionary crimes, i.e., decidedly more than a majority. This

very fact shows how absurd, wild, and contrary to commonsense were the charges of counter-

revolutionary crimes made out, as we now see, against a majority of participants at the 17th party

congress. [Indignation in the hall.] . . .

What is the reason that mass repressions against activists increased more and more after the 17th

party congress? It was because at that time Stalin had so elevated himself above the party and

above the nation that he ceased to consider either the central committee or the party. While he still

reckoned with the opinion of the collective before the 17th congress, after the complete political

liquidation of the Trotskyites, Zinovievites and Bukharinites, when as a result of that fight and

Socialist victories the party achieved unity, Stalin ceased to an ever greater degree to consider the

members of the party's central committee and even the members of the Political Bureau. Stalin

thought that now lie could decide all things alone and all he needed were statisticians; he treated

all others in such a way that they could only listen to and praise him.

After the criminal murder of S. M. Kirov, mass repressions and brutal acts of violation of Socialist

legality began. On the evening of December 1, 1934, on Stalin's initiative (without the approval of

the Political Bureau - which was passed 2 days later, casually) the Secretary of the Presidium of

the Central Executive Committee, Yenukidze, signed the following directive:

I. Investigative agencies are directed to speed up the cases of those accused of the preparation or

execution of acts of terror.

II. Judicial organs are directed not to hold up the execution of death sentences pertaining to crimes

of this category in order to consider the possibility of pardon, because the Presidium of the Central

Executive Committee, U.S.S.R, does not consider as possible the receiving of petitions of this sort.

III. The organs of the Commissariat of Internal Affairs are directed to execute the death sentences

against criminals of the above-mentioned category immediately after the passage of sentences.

This directive became the basis for mass acts of abuse against Socialist legality. During many of

the fabricated court cases the accused were charged with "the preparation" of terroristic acts; this

deprived them of any, possibility that their cases might be reexamined, even when they stated

before the court that their confessions were secured by force, and when, in a convincing manner,

they disproved the accusations against them...

Mass repressions grew tremendously from the end of 1936 after a telegram from Stalin and

Zhdanov, dated from Sochi on September 25, 1936, was addressed to Kaganovich, Molotov, and

other members of the Political Bureau. The content of the telegram was as follows: "We deem it

absolutely necessary and urgent that Comrade Yezhov be nominated to the post of People's

Commissar for Internal Affairs. Yagoda has definitely proved himself to be incapable of unmasking

the Trotskyite-Zinovievite bloc. The OGPU is 4 years behind in this matter. This is noted by all party

workers and by the majority of the representatives of the NKVD." Strictly speaking we should stress

that Stalin did not meet with and therefore could not know the opinion of party workers...

The mass repressions at this time were made under the slogan of a fight against the Trotskyites.

Did the Trotskyites at this time actually constitute such a danger to our party and to the Soviet

state? We should recall that in 1927, on the eve of the 15th party congress, only some 4,000 votes

were cast for the Trotskyite-Zinovievite opposition, while there were 724,000 for the party line.

During the 10 years which passed between the 15th party congress and the February-March

central committee plenum, Trotskyism was completely disarmed; many former Trotskyites had changed their former views and worked in the various sectors building socialism. It is clear that in

the situation of Socialist victory there was no basis for mass terror in the country ...

The majority of the Central Committee members and candidates elected at the 17th congress and

arrested in 1937-38 were expelled from the party illegally through the brutal abuse of the party

statute, because the question of their expulsion was never studied at the Central Committee

plenum.

Now when the cases of some of these so-called spies and saboteurs were examined it was found

that all their cases were fabricated. Confessions of guilt of many- arrested and charged with enemy

activity were gained with the help of cruel and inhuman tortures...

An example of vile provocation of odious falsification and of criminal violation of revolutionary

legality is the case of the former candidate for the central committee political bureau, one of the

most eminent workers of the party and of the Soviet Government, Comrade Eikhe, who was a party

member since 1905. [Commotion in the hall.]

Comrade Eikhe was arrested on April 29, 1938, on the basis of slanderous materials, without the

sanction of the prosecutor of the USSR, which was finally received 15 months after the arrest.

Investigation of Eikhe's case was made in a manner which most brutally violated Soviet legality and

was accompanied by willfulness and falsification.

Eikhe was forced under torture to sign ahead of time a protocol of his confession prepared by the

investigative judges, in which he and several other eminent party workers were accused of anti-

Soviet activity.

On October 1, 1939, Eikhe sent his declaration to Stalin in which he categorically denied his guilt

and asked for an examination of his case. In the declaration he wrote:

"There is no more bitter misery than to sit In the jail of a government for which I have always

fought.". . .

On February 2, 1940, Eikhe was brought before the court. Here he did not confess any guilt and

said as follows:

"In all the so-called confessions of mine there is not one letter written by me with the exception of

my signatures under the protocols which were forced from me. I have made my confession under

pressure from the investigative judge who from the time of my arrest tormented me. After that I

began to write all this nonsense. The most important thing for me is to tell the court, the party and

Stalin that I am not guilty. I have never been guilty of any conspiracy. I will die believing in the truth

of party policy as I have believed in it during my whole life."

On February 4 Eikhe was shot. [Indignation in the hall.] It has been definitely established now that

Eikhe's case was fabricated; he has been posthumously rehabilitated...

The way in which the former NKVD workers manufactured various fictitious "anti- Soviet centers"

and "blocs" with the help of provocatory methods is seen from the confession of Comrade

Rozenblum, party member since 1906, who was arrested in 1937 by the Leningrad NKVD.

During the examination in 1955 of the Kornarov case Rozenblum revealed the following fact: when

Rozenblum was arrested in 1937 he was subjected to terrible torture during which he was ordered

to confess false information concerning himself and other persons. He was then brought to the

office of Zakovsky, who offered him freedom on condition that he make before the court a false

confession fabricated in 1937 by the NKVD concerning "sabotage, espionage and diversion in a

terroristic center in Leningrad." [Movement in the hall.] . . . "You, yourself," said Zakovskv, "will not need to invent anything. The NKVD will prepare for you a

ready outline for every branch of the center; you will have to study it carefully and to remember well

all questions and answers which the court might ask. Pus case will be ready in 4-5 months, or

perhaps a half year. During all this time you will be preparing yourself so that you will not

compromise the investigation and yourself. Your future will depend on how the trial goes and on its

results. If you begin to lie and to testify falsely, blame yourself. If you manage to endure it, you will

save your head and we will feed and clothe you at the government's cost until your death."

This is the kind of vile things which were then practiced. [Movement in the hall.] . .

When we look at many of our novels, films, and historical scientific studies, the role of Stalin in the

patriotic war appears to be entirely improbable. Stalin had foreseen everything. The Soviet Army,

on the basis of a strategic plan prepared by Stalin long before, used the tactics of so-called active

defense, i.e., tactics which, as we know, allowed the Germans to come up to Moscow and

Stalingrad. Using such tactics, the Soviet Army, supposedly, thanks only to Stalin's genius, turned

to the offensive and subdued the enemy. The epic victory gained through the armed might of the

land of the Soviets, through our heroic people, is ascribed in this type of novel, film, and scientific

study as being completely due to the strategic genius of Stalin.

We have to analyze this matter carefully because it has a tremendous significance, not only from

the historical but especially from the political, educational, and practical point of view...

During the war and after the war, Stalin put forward the thesis that the tragedy which our nation

experienced in the first part of the war was the result of the unexpected attack of the Germans

against the Soviet Union. But, comrades, this is completely untrue. As soon as Hitler came to

power in Germany he assigned to himself the task of liquidating communism. The Fascists were

saying this openly; they did not hide their plans. In order to attain this aggressive end, all sorts of

pacts and blocs were created, such as the famous Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis. Many facts from the

prewar period clearly showed that Hitler was going all out to begin a war against the Soviet state

and that lie had concentrated large armed units, together with armored units, near the Soviet

borders...

We must assert that information of this sort concerning the threat of German armed invasion of

Soviet territory was coming in also from our own military and diplomatic sources; however, because

the leadership was conditioned against such information, such data was dispatched with fear and

assessed with reservation...

Despite these particularly grave warnings, the necessary steps were not taken to prepare the

country properly for defense and to prevent it from being caught unaware.

Did we have time and the capabilities for such preparations? Yes; we had the time and capabilities.

Our industry was already so developed that it was capable of supplying fully the Soviet Army with

everything that it needed...

Had our industry been mobilized properly and in time to supply the army with the necessary

materiel, our wartime losses would have been decidedly smaller. Such mobilization had not been,

however, started in time. And already in the first days of the war it became evident that our Army

was badly armed, that we did not have enough artillery, tanks, and planes to throw the enemy

back...

Very grievous consequences, especially in reference to the beginning of the war, followed Stalin's

annihilation of many military commanders and political workers during 1937-41 because of his

suspiciousness and through slanderous accusations. During these years repressions were

instituted against certain parts of military cadres beginning literally at the company and battalion

commander level and extending to the higher military centers; during this time the cadre of leaders

who had gained military experience in Spain and In the Far East was almost completely liquidated...

After the conclusion of the patriotic war the Soviet nation stressed with pride the magnificent

victories gained through great sacrifices and tremendous efforts. The country experienced a period

of political enthusiasm. The party came out of the war even more united; in the fire of the war party

cadres were tempered and hardened. Under such conditions nobody could have even thought of

the possibility of some plot in the party.

And it was precisely at this time that the so-called Leningrad affair was born. As we have now

proven, this case was fabricated. Those who innocently lost their lives included Comrades

Voznesensky, Kuznetsov, Rodionov, Popkov, and others...

Facts prove that the Leningrad affair is also the result of willfulness which Stalin exercised against

party cadres...

We must state that after the war the situation became even more complicated. Stalin became even

more capricious, irritable, and brutal; in particular his suspicion grew. His persecution mania

reached unbelievable dimensions. Many workers were becoming enemies before his very eyes.

After the war Stalin separated himself from the collective even more. Everything was decided by

him alone without any consideration for anyone or anything.

This unbelievable suspicion was cleverly taken advantage of by the abject provocateur and vile

enemy, Beriya, who had murdered thousands of Communists and loyal Soviet people. The

elevation of Voznesensky and Kuznetsov alarmed Beriya. As we have now proven, it had been

precisely Beriya who had suggested to Stalin the fabrication by him and by his confidants of

materials in the form of declarations and anonymous letters, and in the form of various rumors and

talks... The question arises: Why is it that we see the truth of this affair only now, and why did we

not do something earlier, during Stalin's life, in order to prevent the loss of innocent lives? It was

because Stalin personally supervised the Leningrad affair, and the majority of the Political Bureau

members did not, at that time, know all of the circumstances in these matters, and could not

therefore intervene...

The willfulness of Stalin showed itself not only in decisions concerning the internal life of the

country but also in the international relations of the Soviet Union.

The July plenum of the Central Committee studied in detail the reasons for the development of

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anthonychiozza · 5 years

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The Genocide Of The Innocent: Reprint From 12/19/15

Written by: Anthony Chiozza

Hearing about babies dissected alive could lead one to despair easily. Those that are still in touch with their own soul feel an anger, and deep pain that can not be adequately communicated with the pen. Children of God for Life’s facebook page states the following: “Dr. Ian Donald explained what he witnessed at Karolinska Institute to Fr Paul Marx at HLI several years ago: Experiments were being performed on near-term alive aborted babies who were not even afforded the mercy of anesthetic as they writhed and cried in agony, and when their usefulness had expired, they were executed and discarded as garbage.” Difficult words to read for those with a soul. (1) For the record, the Karolinska Institute is located in Sweden. (2) However, the United States, Planned Parenthood, and the citizens of this country have enough blood on their hands as well, as revealed by the recent Planned Parenthood “scandal.” The only scandal that I am aware of is that millions of babies have been exterminated for years.

There are not enough human tears to be wept that can make up for the atrocities committed against the weakest of the human species. Perhaps you have considered that I sound more like a humanist than a Catholic, but let me assure you that I fully expect God’s wrath to pour out upon this disgusting, “modern” society sooner rather than later. Some people hear, “God’s Wrath,” and they assume that this is some kind of evil God that enjoys punishing people. My theology might be off on this, but in any case, this is how my perception of this concept works itself out in my mind. God loves us so much that He weeps while having to destroy us, because we have rejected His love. If we think back to Scripture Jesus sheds tears on Jerusalem. His own people did not accept His Love, and Rome would decimate the city precisely as Jesus prophesized. Further, God’s Chastisements can also lead many to repent before death, and spare them an eternal death in hell.

For the record, I used to vote for politicians that murder babies. I was once a full functioning member of the “Culture of Death,” in almost every regard. I have, through God’s mercy, had the good fortune to be slapped awake by Him, and I confessed those sins. These are just some of my sins, but how many pretend there is some subtle discussion to have about voting for millions of babies being slaughtered, while weighing the economic pros and cons? This cannot be considered clear reasoning. Considering if one should vote liberal to stop war is a more valid line of reasoning to follow, but also a line of reasoning that ultimately fails. Surely, liberals would continue to vote democrat if we were murdering Jews at home, but wanted to avoid killing others in wars abroad? I can hear the discussion now. “Well it is true that ‘Feel the Burn’ Sanders and Hillary want to keep murdering Jews in our country, but at least people won’t die in war abroad.” There is no subtle discussion to be had here.

War is upon us, and it has been upon us for a long time, and many lives will be lost in war. Even under supposedly liberal leadership the slaughter of war continues, and whose fault is that? Those that have held the reigns of power in the past are guilty. Specifically, the Bush administration, which was fully stocked with a gaggle of neoconservatives. We cannot leave out Hillary Clinton, as she voted for the unjust war as well. The neocons didn’t listen to Saint John Paul II when he said they could not go to war in the middle east! “John Paul has insisted that war is a "defeat for humanity" and that a preventive strike against Iraq is neither legally nor morally justified.” (3)

News flash for the Liberals out there laughing at the Neocons’ clouded reason, and disobedience to the Holy Father. Democrats have supported genocide much longer than any Republican Neocon, that didn’t listen to the Pope concerning the wars in the Middle East. This is not an excuse for the Bush administration’s disobedience to the Pope, but an important theological point! War is a punishment for the very crimes Liberals continue to support, by voting for leadership that is willing to sacrifice babies at Lucifer’s alter. When Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three shepherd children she confirmed Scripture, that war is indeed a punishment for sin. (4) (5)

Again, why do Liberals continue to vote this way even though many of them are Catholic? This vote is in trade for some false perception of economic advantage, or a misguided line of reasoning thinking we will spare lives by preventing war. I hear the emotional counter arguments now: “But if the economy is better, women will kill less babies.” Studying the statistics it does seem that the majority of abortions are happening for a lack of affordability. However, upon further investigation of the reasoning behind these decisions, and breaking down the data into subcategories, one must admit that affordability is highly subjective in the mind of the individual. The following statistics began being collected in 1986 and were published in 2005.

“Nearly three-quarters said they could not afford to have a baby.

Of those women who gave two or more answers, the most common response -- inability to afford a baby -- was most frequently followed by one of three other reasons:

Pregnancy/birth/baby would interfere with school or employment.

Reluctant to be a single mother or experiencing relationship problems. Done with childbearing or already have other children/dependents.

Below is

a breakdown of women's responses that

specified reasons that led to their abortion

decision

(percentage total will not add up to 100% as multiple answers were permissible):

74% felt "having a baby would dramatically change my life" (which includes interrupting education, interfering with job and career, and/or concern over other children or dependents)

73% felt they "can't afford a baby now" (due to various reasons such as being unmarried, being a student, inability to afford childcare or basic needs of life, etc.)

48% "don't want to be a single mother or [were] having relationship problem[s]" (6) (8)

Only one reason listed seems to actually correlate with, “inability to afford a baby.” That reason is, “inability to afford basic needs of life.” The rest seem to be highly westernized ideas about “affordability.” There are women in dire poverty all around the world having babies, including the United States. For the sake of argument I will admit it is possible that these other categories might include some legitimate economic reasons, but that, of course, does not excuse the sin. When the statistics are broken down further we begin to get a clearer picture that these reasons are westernized reasons. Only twenty-three percent of abortions are because of affordability. Sixty-six percent of these abortions are happening for reasons other than affordability and that is without the health of the mother, or rape included! (7) In fairness two categories, or more, could be chosen by the woman filling out the form. Sixty-six percent is the best estimate that can made. The percentage could be less.

Why Women Have Abortions:

The reasons they gave in 2004

25% Not ready for a(nother) child/timing is wrong

23% Can't afford a baby now

19% Have completed my childbearing/have other people depending on me/children are grown

8% Don't want to be a single mother/am having relationship problems

7% Don't feel mature enough to raise a(nother) child/feel too young

4% Would interfere with education or career plans

4% Physical problem with my health

3% Possible problems affecting the health of the fetus

<0.5% Was a victim of rape

<0.5% Husband or partner wants me to have an abortion

<0.5% Parents want me to have an abortion

<0.5% Don't want people to know I had sex or got pregnant

6% Other (7)

Did voting Democrat ever stop 23% of these babies from being murdered? It would be interesting to break the statistics down further and see if the number of abortions in that category rose during the years of Democratic presidents. We obviously know that babies were murdered for that reason, in those years despite the numbers, so voting Democrat will never stop this from happening. We always hear from Liberal Left about how much the government cares for everyone. Why don’t they care enough to use tax money to save babies instead of funding their genocide? Catholic Democrats hold up a magic economic key and argue they can stop allowing genocide, or at least most of it, if you will just vote for their party. I can hear the conversation with them continue, “We can save some of the Jews, even though we are the ones throwing them in the ovens, if you just vote for our party.”

Turning back to the Republican side of the isle, can any Catholic clearly give me Donald Trump’s position on abortion? He seems to be all over the place.(9) Right now, apparently, it is not ok to kill babies in the Don’s mind, except for certain situations. This flies in the face of his previous position of being pro-abortion. He wouldn’t consider defunding Planned Parenthood, but maybe he will now? Who really knows? (Update: Thank God for President Trump. Could he still be critiqued? Yes, but he has done more than any other sitting POTUS that I can recall.)

Meanwhile we have candidates like Rand Paul, willing to stand on the Senate floor for hours filibustering, in order to defund Planned Parenthood! How can Conservative Catholics even seriously consider Trump when there are candidates that are more experienced, in regards to defending the country, and trying to save the unborn? Not only are they experienced, but they have proven they will fight the good fight! If Rubio shows up he might fight, I don’t know, probably not...I digress...The story recently broke that Planned Parenthood will be fully funded. Go back and read Dr. Donald’s witness testimony about babies screaming in pain as they are torn apart.

What should Catholics be doing other than praying the rosary, to end this nightmare? I have personally heard at least two Priests, and read on EWTN that it is a mortal sin to vote for someone that supports abortion. The voters guide on EWTN by Father Taraco, Ph.D. states, “Except in the case in which a voter is faced with all pro-abortion candidates (in which case, as explained in question 8 above, he or she strives to determine which of them would cause the let damage in this regard), a candidate that is pro-abortion disqualifies himself from receiving a Catholic’s vote. This is because being pro-abortion cannot simply be placed alongside the candidate's other positions on Medicare and unemployment, for example; and this is because abortion is intrinsically evil and cannot be morally justified for any reason or set of circumstances. To vote for such a candidate even with the knowledge that the candidate is pro-abortion is to become an accomplice in the moral evil of abortion. If the voter also knows this, then the voter sins mortally.” (8)I would respectfully recommend that Trump supporters click the link in the source list below to the Catholic Answers article and consider if they are making the right moral decision weighing all the other candidates positions.

It would follow that a good Catholic would make a prudent decision, even if they were still unsure, and follow what these good sources of Catholic teaching are saying. Unfortunately, Catholics in the United States continue to march us backwards into darkness. It would be impossible for politicians that condone the genocide of babies to be elected in this country if Catholics would actually be Catholic. For some inexplicable reason they choose not to follow the Church, but their own wills, desires, and political leanings. If only they were obedient like the Queen Mother Mary, to her Son, they might not only find that abortions end, but that the economy would also improve. Perhaps we might get more worthy candidates to vote for on both sides of the narrow political spectrum in this country as well! How many Catholics will continue to do their will and not the Father’s Will? For now, “we the Catholic people,” seem to want more bread and circus in exchange for the blood of the innocent. Update 1: Ladies and Gentleman, I have a serious question, and thought experiment. Apparently the five non negotiables are not Catholic teaching when it comes to voting. Pope Benedict said, in a letter, that one could vote for a pro-abortion candidate, but NOT because they are pro-abortion. I can find nothing that carries the weight of encyclical that says otherwise. However, I still feel in my heart, very strongly, that it is wrong to vote for a pro-abortion candidate. My thinking relies on a statement from Pope John Paul II: "That is the dignity of America, the reason she exists, the condition of her

survival, yes, the ultimate test of her greatness: to respect every human person,

especially the weak and most defenseless ones, those as yet unborn."

-Pope John Paul II

I feel Saint Pope John Paul II's desire for America will never be accomplished here if Catholics are free to vote for pro-abortion candidates because they like other parts of that candidates platform. The analogy I think of to explain this to people follows as: Do you think everyone would be trying to make the best choice while people are being marched off to the ovens and just kind of toss their hands and their air, and say, "Well, I don't agree with them burning those Jews, but they have a great economic policy, so I'll vote for them." Anyway, these are just my thoughts on why I think it should not be allowed for Catholics to ever vote for a pro-abortion candidate, but I accept that I am probably wrong. My heart tells me never to vote that way personally. Thanks for the thoughtful consideration. I offer my sincere apologies to those Catholics that choose to vote for pro-abortion candidates. God bless.

Update II: A good friend of mine sent me another article today from a Priest on the issue of abortion. I feel it is important for everyone to form their conscience appropriately on this issue. I would respectfully ask that everyone read this, whether conservative, or liberal. When Pope Benedict said it would not be a grave evil to vote for a pro-abortion candidate, it was in the context of a letter. This is far from an encyclical, or words spoken from the Chair of Peter. This was his opinion. While I respect his opinion, and believe he was a great Pope, my heart tells me he is very wrong. A Pope is a man as well, and can be mistaken in matters of the Faith. Even a great Pope like Benedict. It is important that we all SERIOUSLY consider our position on this issue before casting a vote that could possibly send us to hell. I am so concerned about this, specifically because of the salvation of my soul, and other souls, I am considering writing a second piece on abortion and voting. Please pray for my soul. LINK: https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2016/03/03/can-catholics-support-a-pro-abortion-candidate/

Citations:

Debi Vinnedge, President and Executive Director, “Children of God For Life,” Nov. 9, 2015, accessed Dec. 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=905776096177162&id=223315007756611&fref=nf&pnref=story

(2) Dr Cecilia Götherström, Associate Professor, “Unique stem cell brittle-bone study starts,” Oct. 12, 2015 0 2:00 EST, accessed Dec. 17, 2015,

http://news.cision.com/karolinska-institutet/r/unique-stem-cell-brittle-bone-study-starts,c9844692

(3) Associated Press, “ Vatican Strongly Opposes Iraq War,” March 12, 2003, accessed Dec. 17, 2015, http://www.foxnews.com/story/2003/03/12/vatican-strongly-opposes-iraq-war.html

(4) Father Nicholas Gruner, “ Part I – The Urgency of the Fatima Message,” unkown, acessed, Dec. 19, 2015,

http://www.fatima.org/books/divimp/dichap1.asp

(5) Catholic Answers Staff, “ Does God Send War As Punishment For Sin,” unknown, accessed Dec. 19, 2015,

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/does-god-send-wars-as-a-punishment-for-sin

(6) Lawrence B. Finer, Lori F. Frohwirth, Lindsay A. Dauphinee, Susheela Singh and Ann M. Moore “Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions : Quantiative and Qualitative Perspectives,” September 2005, accessed Nov. 17, 2015,

https://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3711005.pdf

(7) Gudrun Shultz, “The Real Reason Women Choose Abortion,” unkown, accessed, Dec. 19, 2015,

http://www.actionlife.org/index.php/life-issues/abortion/item/124-the-real-reason-women-choose-abortion

(8) Linda Lowen, “Why Women Choose Abortion - Statistical Breakdown of Reasons For Abortion,” Dec. 16, 2014, accessed Dec. 17, 2015, http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionReasons_2.htm

(10) Fr. Stephen F. Torraco, PhD, “A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters,” 2002, accessed Dec. 17, 2015,

https://www.ewtn.com/vote/brief_catechism.htm

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(Statue)_Stop_Abortion._University_of_Ilorin.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

Women’s Rights Photo: Kenneth John Gill

(9) Bethany Blankley, “Donald Trump’s Abortion Muddle,” Dec. 5, 2015, accessed Dec. 18, 2015,

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#prolife #Catholic #Marchforlife #Abby Johnson #AbbyJohnson

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calebyap · 5 years

Text

Romans: The Gospel of God

Gospel Shorthand

The “gospel of God” (i) promised beforehand, (ii) about His Son, David and God’s heir, declared by the Spirit through His resurrection, (iii) of Paul’s apostleship (iv) for the obedience of faith among all the nations including you. (Rom 1:1-6)

Gospel Rationale

As the faith is spreading worldwide, Paul desires to come to Rome for ministry, but has been hindered thus far. But because of his calling to Greeks and barbarians, he wants to come to Rome. Paul’s drive is “not being ashamed of the gospel” (1:16) because it shows God’s righteousness by faith, and for faith. Why? Because God’s wrath is being revealed against all our sin: the exchange of God’s glory for created things (1:21-23). God’s response was to “give them up” to their choices (1:24-28), and His decree is that such sin deserves death (1:29-32). No one is exempt from this, not the one who judges and those who are judged, not Jew or Gentile (2:1-11). This is what it “under the law” means (2:12-16) — let’s be clear, this certainly applies to the Jews who have God’s law (2:17-29) but have not kept it in the heart. Thus the Jews have been unfaithful with the oracles of God entrusted to them, which in turn, does not nullify God’s faithfulness and righteousness (3:1-8). All have sinned, Jew and Gentile (3:9-20).

Gospel Revealed

A non-law righteousness is now available through faith in Jesus Christ (3:21-25). This justifies us, and shows forth God’s righteousness (3:26). Thus, no one can boast (3:27) because the law of faith apart from law achieves this.

Gospel According to Abraham

Abraham’s justification was also by faith (4:1-10) since he received his justification before circumcision (4:11-12). This enabled him to be “heir of the world” so that he could be father of all those in faith (4:16-17), and this is shown despite the barrenness of Sarah’s womb (5:18-23), and so that we would also have hte same faith-righteousness that he did.

Gospel Explained

Our justification by faith means we have peace with God (5:1) and through Him we have access into grace, and we can rejoice in hope, and through sufferings, since God’s love is poured into us by Spirit given to us, who uses our sufferings to produce hope (5:2-5). The love of God for sinners, weak and bad (5;8), also means we’ll be saved from His wrath (5:9) since we are reconciled to God (5:10-11). Death came through Adam to Moses in one tresspass, but life comes through Jesus Christ (5:12-18) for many trespasses a free gift of life. Where the law increased the tresspass so that sin reigns in death, grace abounds in righteousness for life through Christ (5:20).

Gospel Questions and Answers Part One

One, can we sin as much as we like then? Grace abounding does not mean that we can sin liberally (6:1-2) because Jesus died for sin, and we are united in that same death so we live a new life and we can’t relish our sin (6:4). His resurrection is also ours, and we have a new life where death and sin no longer have control so we can’t use Jesus like a tool (6:5-14), this is what it means to be under grace. We’re slaves to rightoeuensss, not sin (6:15-23). We are free from the law (7:1) since you died to the law (7:5-6)

Two, so is the law evil since it makes us sin and leads to death then? (7:7) No, we learn that the law is holy and it shows our sinful nature (7:12). No, my nature is sinful, not the law, and there is a paradox in my desires. So the law itself can’t save me. So who is going to save me from the law and this miserable life (7:24)?

Gospel Hope

Through faith in Jesus, no one can condemn us (8:1). God’s Spirit did what the law could not (8:2-3). Jesus was condemned so that the law is condemned for me in Him (8:3-4). So if you are in the flesh, you’re condemned, but if you’re in the Spirit, you have life, and He will resurrect us just like Jesus was (8:9-11). So don’t live by the flesh, but by the spirit. Put to death the deeds of the body (8:13), because you’re His sons now, and you have the Spirit of Sonship (8:16-17). This will involve our suffering which is nothing compared to what will one day be revealed - glory (8:18). Our glory, and the glory of all creation when God makes all things new (8:21-23). This is hope in His promises (8:24). When are weak, the Spirit will help us (8:26-27) and make all things work together for our good (8:28), so that we become more like Jesus (8:29-30). So then, He isn’t holding anything good back from us (8:31-32), and no one can be accused, condemned or separated from God’s love! (8:33-39).

Gospel Questions and Answers Part Two

I feel such sorrow when I think about hte unbelief of the Jews (9:1-5). So three, does their unbelief mean that God’s promises to Israel failed? No, because not all of Abraham’s children are Israel, and even in their story, God made a sovereign choice between Isaac and Ishmael, between Jacob and Esau, between Moses and Pharaoh. So no human will or exertion can make this happen, only God (9:16).

Four, then is it unfair for God to “find fault” with sinners? No it’s not unfair, because who can question God? Who can know what He knows? (9:19-29).

So whereas Gentiles obtained the faith-righteousness, Israel who pursued law-righteousness failed (9:31-32). I wish it were not so and I pray for them to be saved by submitting to God’s righteousness instead of establishing their own (10:1-3). Moses’ law righteousness seeks to work to heaven, but the gospel is near you by faith (10:5-8) so that if we confess the Lordship of Jesus and believe in is resurrection, we will be saved (9:9-10). This is why we must send, preach, so they can hear and believe (10:14-17).

Fifth, so did Israel not hear and understand? (10:16-21) No, they heard. But they were made jealous by what God did for the Gentiles instead.

Sixth, so did God reject His people? (11:1) No, God has preserved a remnant (11:5) but not on the basis of works, but on grace (11:6). Israel’s stumbling was so that the salvation would come to Gentiles and provoke Israel to jealousy (11:11-12). So my ministry to the Gentiles will hopefully provoke my countrymenn (11:14). Remember that Gentiles are grafted in and don’t be arrogant towards Israel. God can graft them in again, too (11:23-24). After a partial hardening, and the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, all Israel will be saved (11:25-27). This is all to the praise of God and His wisdom (11:33-36).

Gospel Application For the Christian and the Church

As a result of all the “mercies of God” shown in the last 12 chapters, we are told to be “living sacrifices” to God (12:1). We are body parts of the head, Christ Jesus (12:5) with differing gifts to be used rightly (12:6), and motivated by love (12:9-10). These are fleshed out in practical ways (12:11-21, 13:8-14). Within the body, whether strong or weak, we are do live as to the Lord as the main principle (14:1-23) not stumbling one another in the family and seeking not to please ourselves (15:1-6) and to the praise of God. At the close of the letter, Paul reveals that he intends to come to Rome en route to Spain (15:24). His prayer in the meantime, is that ongoing ministry be successful and fruitful, and that his trips be unhindered.

Gospel Friends and Commendation

Paul refers to 18 other believers, 10 of which are women, commending them to the church in Rome. According to thegospel, Paul utters a final benediction of blessing.

#romans #bible reading #faith meets life

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opedguy · 3 years

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DNI Says Virus Origin Inconclusive

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Aug. 25, 2021.--Director of Intelligence Avril Haines, 52, finally got back to 78-year-old President Joe Biden on his question about the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus. Haines concluded the jury is still out with her findings “inconclusive.” But what’s not ambiguous is that Biden’s chief medial director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health [NIH], indirectly funded gain-of-function research at Shi Zhengli’s lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology [WIV]. Fauci denied the charge leveled by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) under oath at two senate hearings. Fauci told Paul July 20, “you don’t know what you’re talking about,” referencing his funding of Zhengli’s WIV bioweapons lab. Fauci funded EcoHealth Alliance CEO Peter Daszak $13.2 million, $3.4 million went to coornavirus research and $600,000 went directrly to Zhengli’s bioweapons lab.

When it comes to the Haines using the nation’s intel community to ascertain the origin of the deadly coronavirus, it’s beyond her pay grade. No government bureaucrat can make a determination that should be left to disinterested scientists. Fauci has been anything but disinterested, together with Daszak who led the World Health Organization [WHO] origin study that concluded March 29 that the virus most likely emerged from zoonotic or animal sources in Wuhan, China. Daszak, together 26 other scientists, refuted in the British Medical Journal Lancet Feb. 19, 2020 that the virus leaked from a Wuhan lab. Daszak has been the leading voice pushing Chinese Communist Party propaganda at the WHO. WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom once agreed with Daszak but has now changed his mind about the origin of the virus. Tedros now thinks there’s credible evidence pointing to a lab leak.

Daszak and Fauci have done everything to cover-up Chinese lies about the origin of the deadly coronaviurs. Chinese Communist officials can’t keep their story straight, one day saying the virus occurred naturally and another day saying that the virus was made in America and exported to China. Meanwhile scientists like Alina Chan recently confessed that she disputed the lab-leak theory when former President Donald Trump was in office, fearing she’d be branded a “racist” for validating Trump’s view that the virus leaked from a WIV lab. Chan recently admitted she deliberately withheld the truth about the origin of the virus until Trump was out of office. Now that he’s gone, Chan believes the deadly novel coronavirus leaked from a WIV lab. China has reacted harshly, accusing the West of smearing the Peoples Republic of China for suggesting the virus leaked from a WIV lab.

Dazak and Fauci once had credibility until China discredited the natural occurrence theory, insisting that the deadly novel coronavirus was made in a Fort Detrick, Maryland bioweapons lab, then planted by the U.S. military in Wuhan. Neither Fauci nor Daszak have commented on Chinese Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian who said March 13, 2020, only two days after WHO declared a global pandemic, that the deadly virus was made in America and planted by the U.S. military in Wuhan, China. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said today that the U.S. had “ignored and abandoned” WHO’s March 29 report, concluding that the lab-leak theory was the least probable of all the theories, the most likely being it started in a wet or seafood market. Yi doesn’t recall his Spokesman Lijian said May 26 that the deadly virus was made at Fort Detrick and planted by the U.S. military in China.

Fauci, who leads Biden’s coronavirus task force, mentions nothing about Lijian’s remarks about the origin of the virus being a bioweapons lab a Fort Detrick, Maryland. Fauci ignores the remarks because he’s too busy promoting his zoonotic, animal origin, theory, without providing a shred of evidence. When SARS CoV-1 broke out in 2002, it infected 8,000 worldwide, killing 700. Because SARS CoV-1 and SARS CoV-2 share 96% of the same DNA, it’s inconceivable that SARS CoV-2 could infect 214,628,548 worldwide with 4,474,3012 deaths, simply with a natural genetic mutation. Fauci knows, because he funded gain-of-function research through Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance, that WIV Chief Virology Shi Zhengli was injecting harmless bat coronaviruses with Angiotensin II [ACE2], a power blood pressure medication to change the virus’ spike protein to easily infect humans.

DNI Haines may say the intel community remains inconclusive about the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus but China has given every indication that it’s lying about the origin of the virus. When the Chinese Foreign Minister Yi says that the U.S. deviated from the March 29 WHO report, he doesn’t admit that Tedros changed his mind, now thinks the lab-leak theory has real credibility. Haines needs to reconcile the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying the virus came from a Fort Detrick, Maryland biowepons lab, while, simultaneously insisting it came from animals in Wuhan, China. Fauci and Daszak like the zoonotic theory for no good reason, other than Trump saying April 30, 2020 that the virus leaked from a WIV lab. Shi Zhengli collaborated with Peoples Liberation Army [PLA] virologist Maj. Gen. Chen Wei, trying to contain the deadly epidemic in Wuhan in Nov. and Dec. 2020.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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killingthebuddha · 6 years

Link

During my sophomore year of high school, I underwent a brief yet sudden transfiguration from an awkward and demurring nerd into an absurdist rodent deity. Initially an episode of youthful silliness, my stumble into pseudo-religion was unknowingly my crash into a permanent state of religious crisis, becoming painfully cognizant of the stark tensions between the Human and the Divine. Only now, over two decades later, do I dare tell the strange tale of how I became the god of the lemmings and embarked upon my path of Christianity and existentialism.

My abrupt incarnation and haphazard revelation was neither a moment of blasphemy nor a plea for help. What my peers saw as silly or merely eccentric was for me a major shift in my self-understanding and my relationship with greater things, with what Paul Tillich calls “ultimate concern.” Here was a mechanism of catharsis that sustained me through some of the most pivotal moments of my adolescence. Becoming the Lemming God provided both a persona through which I learned how to push back against my world’s evangelical Christianity, and also a persona behind which I could begin to work out my own salvation in fear and trembling. Ultimately, my Christianity took on an absurdist edge, and this absurd Christianity would become the only Christianity that I could ever be a part of. But as a young teenager in a small high school who felt scant control over my life, briefly disturbing the waters of my social scene was insurgency enough.

In North Central Texas, high school football, barbecue, and cowboys complement the myriad Baptist, Pentecostal, and “non-denominational” storefronts and steeples manifesting Christendom’s reign. Radiating beyond the capillaried organism of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, suburbia scatters into cow country, full of provincial towns with oversized pickups and fierce independence. In that world, the message is clear and simple: God is in control; everything happens for a reason; everyone needs Jesus. Liberal–even moderate–churches resemble rare and distant foxholes, their congregants maintaining low profiles and their neighbors judging silently their orthodoxy and authenticity. Life in Texas is about where you go to church, not if. The Son of God is so all-encompassing that one breathes the spirit of evangelicalism just by living there.

I happened to just be living there, growing up west of Fort Worth in a three-Dairy-Queen town with an annual international rodeo. The high school mascot was and remains an enraged blue kangaroo. Imagine Friday Night Lights in miniature, without the decent football team and compelling characters. The year was 1989, during the AIDS epidemic and the nation’s Satanic Panic. An anxious time to be a budding sophomore, to be sure. I was afraid most of the time: afraid of my parents, of getting bad grades, of sex, of everything, basically. My only security was in books. Learning functioned as a kind of narcotic against the ravages of high school life.

Living detached and nervous in this rural Texas world did something to me, I admit that. I have never considered myself a Texan, having moved from New England when I was nine. Speaking at a Northeasterner’s clip, I absorbed neither the drawl nor patois. Perhaps, the initial shock of moving to a landscape of heavy summer air and toxic sun, that endless horizon of rolling plains with only occasional scattered trees instilled a deep attitude of resistance. Regardless, I assumed the defensive stance of a trapped interloper, ever-adapting to the foreign way of life, memorizing the necessary codes to pass accordingly.

In Texas, some codes are for the religious panopticon: 1) Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain; 2) Remark how God awesomely shapes history and science; 3) Casually suggest prayer for life events, and especially before meals. Even though religion was not firmly pressed upon me at home, it surrounded me almost everywhere else. As if the prying eyes of parents weren’t enough, Jesus was an omnipresent, omniscient, and salvific judge. Each thought and action was recorded and suspect, waiting to be rewound and played back before everyone on The Day of Judgment. I was mortified every time I thought of it. Even as an outsider, I was still shame-adjacent to this well-structured world. All these procedures and proscriptions were self-policing for a species at constant risk, a people not to be trusted. People who were, in a word, fallen. Only immersive baptism, that hallowed, expected rite into adulthood, could increase your odds.

Immersed in that world, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t talk to anyone about religion, because I didn’t know how to talk about religion. Religious knowledge didn’t come from within my family, where it served a nominally ethical purpose. It didn’t come from my immediate circle of friends, which seemed to coalesce possibly, in part, to escape it. And yet, Jesus permeated even the conventional treacheries of adolescence, contributing to the stressful morass of hormones, internal shame, and pop quizzes. It was all so overwhelming.

My inability to process and understand the role of evangelicalism in this world set it in bas-relief. Increasingly, I grew concerned about the looming cultural expectation that God was central in my life–a God who was painfully ever-present, who just wouldn’t go away. Jesus was boldly proclaimed through the posters in our school hallways announcing various Bible studies as well as the “GOD’S GYM” T-shirts shouting “HIS PAIN, YOUR GAIN.” Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and Steven Curtis Chapman filled the headphones of so many Walkmen.

My panic attacks would come later, gasping in that toxic Evangelical air. Until then, my psyche sought to not just resist, but outsmart that religious world, something tectonic and rippling. Satire is, by its nature, a language of resistance. In ninth grade, my English teacher had introduced to us the weapons of Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. I understood A Modest Proposal and The Rape of the Lock to be works of caustic genius, cool and exciting. There remained, however, for me a fundamental disconnection. The English remained archaic, the British context distant and historical. Yet I brandished the literary firearm of a genre as only a tenth-grader can, lashing out against my surroundings, critiquing and mocking whatever sacred cows I could find.

In Monty Python, I found comic relief, if not salvation. Here was a release valve for the deadly-serious matters of Jesus Christ As Lord And Savior Of The World. The anarchic British troupe provided not only a vocabulary, but a grammar of transgressive language and performance. Sketches like “The Bishop” and “The Spanish Inquisition,” ever-unexpected, provided a space and vehicle for considering and attacking God and the Church from a vantage point previously unoccupied. In their madcap world, the legacies of the literary satirists became tangible and vicious. I could experiment with cultural taboos, explore absurdism, and challenge my status quo, and yet maintain an air of conformity in the midst of it all. Nothing was off limits.

I learned all the lines to Monty Python and the Holy Grail–especially Brother Maynard’s Scriptural recitation for the appropriate and effective employment of the Holy Hand Grenade. It was only a matter of time until something exploded. The grenade would eventually detonate in Algebra II.

I was exhausted. It was still so early in the fall semester and I had studied all night for this math test that I was now bombing. My body felt surreal, punchy and disoriented. Anxiety struck. The broader concerns of life and family and school and existence began to cascade upon me. Decorum and taboo evaporated in the dizzy swirl of youthful panic. And there in that room and in myself was something unimaginable growing inside me, snapping open its eyes and shaking itself awake. Numbers and symbols, an unbreakable code, stared nonsensically up at me. I rose from my seat and wobbled up to place the exam face down upon my teacher’s desk. Turning, my eyes absorbed everything before me, the classroom’s bland carpet and walls, my shoulder-hunched classmates, my glazed-eyed teacher. Through the windows, the afternoon light shone ochre, the color of mathematics. I felt my soft palate burn sick. I stumbled back to my seat. I was dizzy and nauseated at myself, and at the sunlight, and at solving for ‘x’.

And in that moment, I did something previously unimaginable, something very unlike me that had become very, very like me. Like a Dead Poets Society schoolboy, I stepped boldly, firmly up onto my desk, planted both sneakers upon my chair, outstretched my arms in a crucified pose, head cocked and defiant toward the room’s scribbling masses, and proclaimed in a bold and clarion voice, “I am the lemming! I died for your sins!” Those unchecked words flowed up through my throat and into the heavy air of the classroom. This got attention. I wasn’t sure I wanted attention now. But there I was, standing above my classmates, all of them. Silence and startled stares shot back at me. Then, I heard my teacher’s commanding voice. “Burke. Sit down.” I sat down. Slouching deeper into my chair, a strange and new-found energy quivered through me. I blinked and gripped my desk. Something had happened.

My brain buzzed. I felt like I had blown a hole in my foundation. But what was pouring into the crater? I sensed that unobtrusive and anxious me had broken through myself into that which I feared: the failing of so many expectations. It wasn’t about this math class, but something greater. Sophomorically, I had lashed out at logic and order with rhetoric and absurdity. I had done something audacious, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what. The adrenaline of panic began to dissipate. For the rest of class, nothing more was said. I simply didn’t matter enough, and I enjoyed that safety of indifference. I’d never been a disruption before, so I got a pass. I was good at passing, even if I was only barely passing Algebra II.

When the period’s dismissal bell finally rang, we all shuffled out, relieved of our collective ordeal. That ochre room souring behind me, I felt I’d crossed a threshold. I had failed expectations in that class. Incomprehensibly, I had broadly paired my failure at math with failure and religion. But why? Furthermore, I had discovered a new kind of freedom for myself in speaking aloud, in saying aloud something very strange and abrupt. Something unimaginable had been imagined. In an awkward teenage way, my existential battle with religion was made manifest. And it would never again be silent. I had never been the class clown. But now, if only to myself, I was the class heretic.

The lemming is a small, inoffensive creature resembling a squat hamster, its coat a furry black, brown, and tan. It has a soft, round body, fat cheeks, and beady, black eyes. They are social animals that live in arctic burrows, serving as low-rung fodder, primarily for snowy owls and foxes. They have an affable Disney or tortured Watership Down quality, whichever you prefer. When I stood on my chair, I cared little about any of this. I primarily understood lemmings, like most people, as tiny mammals seemingly seasonally-driven to mass suicide. I hadn’t been looking for attention, but there I was on my chair mimicking an apex of divine suffering, making it my own for my sin of not having properly prepared for my exam. I hadn’t proclaimed myself a martyred revolutionary, but a sacrificial vehicle of atonement. Upon my desk, I had put on the mantle of a god–and not just any god, either! I was now the divinity of an mostly-unobtrusive rodent. And I was strangely compelled to share that. Who does that?

High school hallways are natural conduits of self-reflection and dread. They are brutal, revelatory, and downright embarrassing. I could have chalked up what happened to exhaustion and left it at that. But I couldn’t let it go. Making my way through the throngs of students, I began to parse the moment. Why the fuck did I say I was a lemming, of all things?

And that was how satire had come to save the day. From bloodthirsty rabbits to Twentieth Century Vole, Monty Python routinely elevated ordinary fauna from their humble status to something frightfully transgressive. Human virtues often employ traditional animals as archetypes. The fox is clever. The dove is peaceful. The dog is loyal. The lemming is… suicidal? At least, that’s the conventional wisdom. I was the deity of these seemingly nihilistic creatures, and for what? To be the embodiment of this creaturely absurdity? To metaphorically turn my lemming-like classmates from their mindless dash toward the sea of conformity? Even that was a muddle.

I had, perhaps, gotten slightly ahead of myself. By abruptly and absurdly proclaiming myself the Lemming God, what I had unknowingly done was deftly manifest my own existential crisis. A playful act to handle high school stress had unwittingly initiated a kind of dire self-reflection. I had proclaimed a persona, but I soon understood that mask to be ultimately meaningless. This somehow led me to consider the meaning of my actual self. Who was I in this little town and what was I doing here? Was I just going through life, serving someone else’s purpose? The silence was stark. In truth, I had acted before I was. And in acting, I became. C’est l’existentialisme.

Before me among the lockers gathered my friends, my fellow eccentric academics. In those hurried minutes after my math class, something beyond the veneer of the episode’s silliness had begun to take shape. I discerned a truth underneath it all. If anything, I knew I could entrust my revelation to my circle and I would not be mocked. We were not just nerds, but weird nerds, that subspecies of nerds, abhorred then, but who now create the geek culture voraciously consumed around the globe. As my friends turned to greet me, I outstretched my hands, like newfound paws, and grinned. “Lo! I am the Lemming God!” I announced. “I died for your sins!” They paused and stared quizzically. I had touched the third rail of religion. I had gone there. I had broken taboo.There was a kind of disclosure, a quality of “coming out” to it. This was now my thing. And then they laughed. They laughed welcomingly, even if they didn’t know how to accept it. Among the many rows of blue lockers, this was my moment, my transfiguration. It was good to be there.

With a wry smile, I did next what seemed almost natural. I turned to my friend beside me, looked deeply into her wide eyes with newfound Dionysian zeal, and asked her in a lofty accent, “Wouldst thou like to become a lemming?” “Yes!” she beamed, shrugging her shoulders. I grew solemn, dead-panning a missionary’s tempered sobriety. Standing tall and lifting my chin, I concentrated on her face. “Close your eyes,” I commanded. She did. I cupped my left hand upon her cheek with the gentleness of a loving savior and proclaimed, “I baptize you…”. I touched her other cheek with the back of my hand and continued, “…as a…,” and in Pentecostal fashion lightly tapped her forehead with the meat of palm: “Lemming!” I shouted. Her eyes fluttered open and she tipped back, her mouth slightly open in shock.

“And there was much rejoicing!” I cheered, stealing a line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Everyone marveled, perhaps a bit nervously. “Eek! Eek!” I squeaked, clenching my raised left hand into a paw. “Eek! Eek! Eek!” responded my friends, paws raised with enthusiasm. And that was it. No water. No spirit. Four people were saved that day. From what, though, I am still not sure. But our church had been birthed and the gospel, whatever it was, had to be proclaimed.

News spread poorly. In actuality, evangelism was merely a side effect of our group just stating we were lemmings. In fact, I was probably the only one saying anything. Among our immediate classmates, the reaction was tepid: “Oh, you’re a lemming? Then you’re one of Burke’s friends. Weirdo.” And as this mock religion slowly became known among my peers, I continued to wrestle with what the whole thing was actually all about. even if it meant nothing to anyone else but me. This semi-alter ego was clearly my catharsis. Something inside me was hurting deeply and I was doing some heavy lifting. I understood that much, at least.

In retrospect, my antics probably could have qualified as a kind of performance art. But performance art was something far away in New York City; we small-town kids would see only sanitized and neatly-packaged versions of it through MTV, if at all. If I had known about performance art then, I probably would have played my role more fiercely, caring less about what painful ramifications I could experience: I was weird and said weird things. I was a rural Diogenes ranting to his own barrel’s echo. High school weirdness, as any weird kid knows, creates a particular kind of reactive threshold. Either people decide to dismiss it entirely or to punish it. The most common reaction to what I said and did was confusion. And this bafflement led to swift disinterest, which probably saved me from getting my ass kicked.

Some of the evangelicals, however, felt otherwise. I had created my own Life of Brian situation, where there was outrage simply because I was playing with faith and sacred cows. I was a messiah in a town where there clearly was only room for one. I hadn’t attacked or openly derided Christianity. Instead, I had created something juxtaposed to it, if only as a kind of mirror, and this was enough to freak my classmates the fuck out.

This is how raw Texas religion can be. The very existence of Another God is tantamount to an existential threat. I knew students whose Jesus was so strong and so powerful that he could not endure anything that smacked of mockery. One well-established Christian stared at me hard after I had recounted a list of maxims uneasily similar to the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the stoats,” I suggested. “For they will frolic in green pastures.” Her tone was sharp and unforgiving. “Burke, you can’t do that. You can’t say that!” As The First Commandment clearly states, monotheism abhors competition. And here I was, threatening this girl’s orthodoxy simply by claiming turf. All I could do was to grin and shrug.

There is something so high school about the whole thing, about the powerlessness and seeming futility during that formative period of American life. A teenager has only so many ways to express anxiety. And I seemed to have manifested that adolescent suppression into an icon of absurdity and meaninglessness. Indeed, what is more meaningless in north central Texas than a god of lemmings? In that math class, I had located myself in one of those high school critical moments and had shuddered to my core. I had no power, no authority, not within my family, not within my life. I was desperate for liberation, but had not yet encountered Kierkegaard’s observation that “anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.” I had only recently discovered Albert Camus, and was still terrified to read The Stranger, but not too scared to listen to The Cure’s “Killing an Arab” on the sly. “Whichever I chose, it amounts to the same: absolutely nothing.” I was painfully ripe.

My persona was not God, but a god–and a very small and ineffectual god at that. A mortal god if there ever was one. A god revolting, if only for himself, against the mob-boss God who owned this dirt town, who ran and still runs this state. I was no messiah. I had no miracles, no Scripture, no nothing. Merely giving religion the finger wasn’t interesting or seemed to take much effort. Instead, I was running my hands across a long wall, feeling my way across it. Texas religion has a shape, a structure, a texture. And here was its wall. Shaking up my world was my exploration to understand it better. It was pure teenager.

My pseudo-religion, founded upon the silliness of the innocuous and suicidal lemming, betrayed deeper and unsettling matters of identity and purpose. I found myself outlining internally so many structures, so many forces pushing against me and so much for me to push against. I was shining a light on what I understood as religion’s absurdity and the danger of its cultural codes, and I found a strange confidence in doing so. It was a confidence for understanding that mortality is real, life is absurd, and that existence is troubling. Only in college would I really understand that the only way I could tackle Christianity for myself would be to comprehend it as ultimately absurd, and to understand its societal trappings as a lethal Kierkegaardian Christendom.

By the spring, the Church of the Lemming had mostly run its course, and our collective attentions chased after new, 1990 interests like Twin Peaks, Depeche Mode’s Violator, and making stupid movies with my parents’ VHS camera. For me, the catharsis of becoming the Lemming God helped ease something within me, if only the entry point of turning sixteen. Rebellion requires consistent energy, and I just didn’t possess the internal resources to sustain either the internal angst and rage or the external performance art against the machine of Texas Evangelicalism. I had classes to pass. I was still the Lemming God, but a tired one. The problem with punk is that its strenuous, frenetic exertion of self leaves you exhausted and vulnerable to what you were resisting in the first place.

“I met a girl” are the famous last words of many boys catching their breaths in the agonizing throes of rebellion. And, indeed, in the fall of that new school year I suddenly noticed a girl in my class. I don’t know why I fell for her, because she wasn’t the kind of girl I wasn’t brave enough to ask out. She wasn’t an artist, or alternateen, or even part of my inner cadre of eccentric friends. But she had an intensity about her that kept my interest and that proved my undoing. I didn’t realize until it was too late that that intensity was for her Lord And Savior Jesus Christ. Still, I remained smitten.

One night in my parents’ Subaru, when I thought we were about to make out, she stared hard at me and asked me about my relationship with Jesus, catching me entirely off guard. Flush with hormones and derailed expectations, I had no good, immediate answer. I knew she was a Christian, but that hadn’t really been a significant aspect of our relationship up to that point. I left the date dazed, pondering the truth that though I had parodied some of its basic tenets, I still did not really know much about Christianity. The Lemming God absconded, easily felled. For the next four years, I tried to be present in that Christianity that I had worked so hard to resist. It wasn’t that I liked it or believed it, though I gave it a shot. It was more that I just stayed there, because my world’s ecclesiological wasteland was so expansive that I didn’t know of any other option.

Attending the University of Texas at Austin during George W. Bush’s gubernatorial tenure, I witnessed the galvanization of the Religious Right’s student wing. Improbably, as a sophomore, I was offered the student presidency of the Baptist Student Union, and I did not have the courage to decline. In my passing, I remained tacitly complicit in the gathering storm that is now part of history. I winced at the religious right’s homophobia, complementarian sexism, and overarching patriarchal suburban whiteness. I saw the ascendance of Intelligent Design, Christian apologetics, and the idolatry of the Bible. Progressive Christianity seemed wholly marginalized on campus.

For those four years, I was pummeled by the orthodoxy of evangelicalism’s overzealous joy–not happiness, but joy. That indescribable sense of security and reassurance, that well-grounded faith in God. And the more I became aware of that joy, the more I discerned I did not have it. It was not part of my experience as a human being. This “joy of the Lord” all seemed like so much methadone. I tried and failed to “pass” during my bout of Evangelicalism. But ultimately, I flamed out and flamed out hard, for so many reasons.

In the rushing return of my existential angst and frustration, that crater within me reeopened. But in the place of the Lemming God appeared something daunting and apophatic. I discovered an improbable kinship with the writings of Søren Kierkegaard, especially Fear and Trembling. It affirmed Angst, the Absurd, the Absolute, and the Leap of Faith. I turned and embraced fully the anxiety and melancholia of the Gospel that tells of the God-man cast into the Wilderness to later suffer abandonment by both God and Man. To prepare myself for formal academic theology, I changed my major from psychology to classical civilization to translate Greek and Latin, learning the New Testament and its socio-historical context for myself, not what had been preached to me. I found solace among the Episcopalians, who deftly bridge ancient and contemporary worlds.

In all of this, a blunt, reactive atheism never came. Instead, I ventured forth into the world of deconstruction and the death of God. After UT, I studied philosophical theology at Yale Divinity School, learning and honing my theological utensils, delving ever deeper into existentialism and postmodernism, tracing God’s shadow as I hoped to find it. What developed was a bleak theology that discerns and preaches lamentation toward action, anxiety of freedom, and, indeed, a post-punk counterweight to joy. It is a stark theology of Lent and the Triduum. It is where I find relief, solace, and strength–and it is mine.

Origin stories are often dubious and spectacular, my lemming-god story being no exception. For a long time afterward, I considered my sophomore years of high school and college to be the worst of my life. I was dreadfully unhappy and stuck in so many ways. But I remember that Kierkegaard wrote that “life must be lived forward, but understood backward,” and I understand that they were two of my most formative years. It was in those years that I began to understand the value of my anxiety, that it had a force–in the guise of an absurd rodent deity and a nascent theologian.

I also eventually learned the truth about lemmings. The entire idea in the American consciousness about their mass suicide is a lie. In Disney’s vivdly told, Oscar-winning 1958 documentary “White Wilderness,” lemmings are filmed plummeting off rocky cliffs into far-below waters, where they ultimate drown. In fact, they were shoved. Disney’s film crew force-marched the creatures to their deaths to support their constructed narrative. This myth of suicide, which persists to this day, was debunked in a 1983 Canadian TV exposé on Hollywood’s cruelty to animals. Such are origin stories.

As humans, stress and sorrow shape who we become and color how we perceive ourselves, our pasts, and our futures. Too often, we treat these pressures, these gravities, as illnesses to be avoided or cured. We fashion narratives and theodicies to explain their origin, direction, and impact. The Lemming God was birthed in stress. My Christianity was formed in a crucible of unhappiness. I would not be the person I am today without the circumstances that taught me the importance of existential anxiety, cultural critique, and theological inquiry. I would like to think that, as I live my life, I have better questions now than before, about God and myself and the tensions between. Perhaps, in some way, there is that to rejoice about. Eek! Eek!

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9.3. Intangible assets with Japanese influences

Question 9: Korea's situation after Japan's withdrawal › 3. Intangible assets with Japanese influences

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9.3. Intangible assets with Japanese influences

During the 69-year period from the commencement of commerce between Japan and Korea in 1876 until the Japanese withdrawal from Korea in 1945, Japan had left intangible and invisible assets behind in Korea. In the following, I will provide a list of some such examples.

(1) During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the Yangban (traditional ruling class or gentry) used to regard it is a shame to be involved in labor. There was a change in that attitude and frame of mind after the abolishment of Gwageo or the national civil service examinations in 1892 and the disestablishment of class systems by the Kim Hong-jip administration in 1894, as well as by the policy of the Government-General of Chosen, which disallowed any class discrimination. The people no longer felt ashamed of engaging in labor, thus generating a new work culture in Korea. In the present-day Korea, there have been a lot of achievements made possible by the work of excellent human resources.

(2) It had been a form of self-defense for the people engaged in farming and fishing to be lazy and pretend to be poor in the era of the Joseon Dynasty. But since they were no longer plundered by the Yangban or government bureaucrats even if they became affluent under Japanese rule, a new social consciousness and work culture emerged to encourage people to work proactively. This turned to be a driving force for new development in Korea.

(3) Since the slaves that used to be traded as merchandise with no human rights or surnames were freed from class discrimination, they became entitled to obtain their favorite surname. Under Japanese rule, every Korean person was an equal member of society, in principle.

(4) uring the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the regional administrators had authority in all areas including administrative, police, judiciary, taxation, and military affairs. They had absolute power in that region, allowing them to plunder the farming and fishing people as well as slaves, and to receive bribes from them as they pleased, conducting repetitive misappropriation. However, due to the separation of powers between administrative, police, judicial, and taxation under Japanese rule, the sources of all evil and corruption were eliminated.

(5) During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the king and government officials used to appoint regional administrators in exchange for heavy bribes, selling a wide variety of job titles. Under Japanese rule, however, it was prohibited to sell those official posts and titles. Therefore, the regional administrators no longer needed to engage in huge bribery. The government bureaucrats, dispatched to rural areas, no longer needed to collect money from the commoners as well in order to raise money for such bribery. As a result, plundering from commoners was eliminated.

(6) The financial situation of the Korean Empire had been tight until the Korean government requested the dispatch of a financial advisor from Japan. Moreover, the imperial court was indulging in a luxurious lifestyle by depriving the nation of its finances. Since the financial advisor ordered separate control of the imperial and national finances, the king was no longer able to waste the money meant for national expenditures with his audacious and endless pleasure-seeking lifestyle.

(7) While the population of the Korean Peninsula was supposed to be about 5 million since long ago, the actual number was revealed to be 13.12 million as of 1910 in the census. This brought about another revelation that 62% of the tax amount previously collected had been misappropriated by regional bureaucrats. After the Government-General figured out the population accurately, the regional bureaucrats were no longer able to conduct misappropriation. The full amount of the tax collected turned into the revenue of the national government, and thus the problem of the national finance shortage was improved.

(8) The courtroom in the era of the Joseon Dynasty used to be a place where any alleged criminals were tortured until they made a confession. The tortures given to the alleged criminals were so cruel that we cannot describe the details here. It had been reported by Westerners that tortures and interrogations were performed simultaneously in court as a norm in Korea at that time. The judicial system was revised to a modern version as soon as the Japanese took control, and the court became a place that could offer anyone a fair trial. Whipping was finally abolished by the decree banning whipping in Korea (April 1, 1920).

(9) There is a written record about prisons during the era of the Joseon Dynasty which says that many inmates, irrespective of gender, were pushed into a small cage where the space per person was only 0.47㎡. Under Japanese rule, the space per person and the treatment of inmates were improved to levels that were equal to their American or Japanese counterparts. The juvenile and female inmates were separated from others. Education was offered to the juveniles to help them adapt after release from prison. Even for adult inmates, vocational training was provided in order to focus on preventing subsequent offenses. The jail administration was transformed from a full commitment to the principle of punishment in the era of the Joseon Dynasty to the principle of prevention of repeat offense.

(10) Gyeongguk Daejeon, which was supposed to be a basis for the Joseon Dynasty, was disregarded, but instead, the state was mostly governed by the king and the bureaucrats in an arbitrary manner before the system of law was introduced and consolidated by the Japanese. It is recorded in Section 2 (Establishment and review of regulations) of Chapter 1 (Review) in the “Year Book 1941 of Government-General of Chosen” that laws and regulations regarding the postal service, telegraph, industrial property rights, copyrights, and accounting were executed by the imperial decree since it was required to have legislative integration with the Japanese laws in these areas. On the other hand, laws and regulations in relation to civil law, the code of civil procedure, criminal law, commercial law, trials, prisons, education, local government systems, land expropriation, fee farms, rivers, ports, irrigation associations, forests, fishery, mining, companies, banks, loan societies, chambers of commerce, markets, railroads, roads, Buddhist temples, graveyards, taxation, national tax collection, customs, medical practice, medicine, dangerous substances, epidemic control, administrative institutions, maritime and water rescue, and businesses regulations, were introduced in line with then-Korean circumstances, and gradually revised. The government exercised its authority based on such laws and regulations. It was a transformation from the rule of men to the rule of law. This pushed forward Korea’s morphing into a modern state. Apparently, much of the system of law left its mark on Korea’s legal structure after the Japanese withdrawal.

(11) During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, primary education for children was provided only through private teaching called “seodang”, to which female children had not been entitled. Under Japanese rule, on the other hand, elementary schools started admitting girls as well as boys. Also, by establishing 57 women’s high schools, girls were entitled to receive higher education. This gave an opportunity for girls that accounted for roughly half of the population, to study, creating an environment where girls can learn on an equal basis with boys. This opened up opportunities for women to emerge as a female president, ministers, and directors-general of South Korea as we have seen in recent cases. The women, who used to lock themselves in their houses, thus invisible outdoors during the day, started going out in the daytime in the era of Japanese rule, and around the same time, women’s liberation started to press forward.

(12) A lot of Korean talent had grown during the era of Japanese rule. The first group of human resources developed during this period was those who ran factories and corporations. The following statement may be found on page 188, “Human resources” of “9: Legacy that Japan left behind on this land” of Chapter II: Grand transformation in the history of civilization in the book A Story of the Republic of Korea.

［As for human resources, which is worth more than anything, after the 1920s, the “pobusang” or chapman in the old regime had been replaced by merchants who owned stores and factories on fixed locations. The number of the merchants increased rapidly, and as of 1938, the increasing number of stores at fixed locations reached as many as 396,000. As of 1939, the number of Korean business/factory operators having more than five employees reached as many as 4,000. Lee Byung-chul of Samsung, Koo In-Hwoi of LG, and Chung Ju-yung of Hyundai, who are founders of enterprise groups representing today’s South Korea, were part of this most talented group of people.］

The second group of talented human resources was of new graduates who were hired by the Government-General or schools. They did well as bureaucrats or schoolteachers. The number of these graduates reached as many as 170,000 according to A Story of the Republic of Korea. The third group of talented personnel consists of bankers, medical doctors, and lawyers. The fourth group included those who went to Japan to join a company or the military and learned the Japanese way of thinking and doing business. A lot of talented human resources in a variety of fields, such as those described above, were developed; they then remained in Korea. Many of them are engaged in a type of occupation that had not existed in the era of the Joseon Dynasty. These talented Korean people cultivated themselves based on the education provided under Japanese rule, during the course of working together with the Japanese, by going to Japan to study, or in the course of nurturing a path independently. There must have been some people who joined the Japanese military to develop themselves through strict discipline and to toughen their minds. One could argue that the existence of these human resources has led South Korea’s development after the withdrawal of the Japanese. This is also part of the intangible assets that Japan left behind in Korea.

(13) An advisor, sent from Japan in accordance with the Japan-Korea Protocol signed on August 22, 1904, enacted tax laws in relation to the financial readjustment and compilation of budget in an attempt to secure an increase in annual revenue. The advisor also rectified any harmful effects due to the rigorous collection of taxes by traditional tax collection agencies as well as transferred the tax service and monopoly enterprises, previously performed under Gungnaebu’s control, to the government. Meanwhile, there was a budget shortfall of 2.07 million yen in 1905 (equivalent to approx. 41.4 billion yen in present value). In relation to that, a shortfall of approx. 207 billion yen in the period of five years (1905 – 1909) was made up for by the national budget of Japan (paid by Japanese taxpayers).

(14) Moreover, at the beginning of the era of Japanese rule, the Government-General of Chosen was established, which started various activities as the government of Korea. However, there was a shortage of funding necessary for these activities. Therefore, a huge amount of funding in the name of “replenishment” or “public bonds” was poured in every year between 1910 and 1943 to cover the budget shortage and used for the reformation of Korea. According to the Government-General of Chosen Statistical Annual Report, a total of 466,107,052 yen for “replenishment” and a total of 1,593,638,633 yen for “public bonds”, both of which make for a grand total of 2,059,745,635 yen, were invested in Korea as subvention. Since the present value of the then 2 billion yen is almost 20,000 times more, the converted amount would be about 40 trillion yen.

A colony is generally regarded as subject to exploitation, but in the case of Korea, on the contrary, a huge amount of money, which was made up of Japanese taxpayers’ money and funds collected from the Japanese, equivalent to approx. 40 trillion yen in present value, was poured in from the government of mainland Japan in order to implement various measures and policies for the improvement of Korea’s rough situation. This was also a part of the intangible assets that the Japanese left behind in Korea.

(15) During the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the only academic discipline acknowledged was neo-Confucianism as part of the teaching of Confucianism. In response to that, Buddhism was oppressed, temples were pushed out deep into the mountains, and Buddha statues were destroyed or buried underground. Under Japanese rule, Japanese archeologists, along with the Government-General, excavated and displayed them in the museums they established. A founder of a museum in Korea was Duke Hirobumi Ito, who was later assassinated by a Korean national. At this point, the total number of showpieces displayed in the museum was 13,375, and they represented ancient Korean institutions, manners, religion, fine art, craftwork, as well as other historical references.

On August 8, 1933, the Government-General enacted “Preservation ordinance for Korean treasures, historic remains, scenic spots, and natural monuments” to protect Korean cultural assets and natural monuments by strictly prohibiting them from being sold off overseas. At that time, in Korea, there was no concept of excavating relics previously disposed of or buried, and of cherishing and preserving them as cultural assets. There was no archaeology, nor any archaeological experts. The act of excavating and preserving cultural assets that nobody had even thought about during the era of the Joseon Dynasty or Korean Empire was an intangible asset that the Japanese left behind in Korea. There was no interest in this field among the Korean people at that time. The existence of the showpieces that were as many as 13, 375 was a sign that the excavated cultural assets of Korea had been treasured.

(16) Teaching of Confucianism was all about knowledge from the era of the Joseon Dynasty to the beginning of the era of the Korean Empire. Since Korea opened the door and sent delegates to Japan, an effort to provide a Japan-like educational system started. However, for the Japan-level educational system to be put into place, they had to wait for the Governor-General’s heightening of enthusiasm for education and readiness for a large investment exceeding 14 trillion yen in present value. At the time of the Japanese withdrawal from Korea, anyone, both male and female, was able to go to school. There were no restrictions on learning due to one’s social status or gender, unlike in the era of the Joseon Dynasty. The Government-General reached out to remote areas of the Korean Peninsula to educate people in an effort to eliminate illiteracy. The importance of education was increasingly recognized by the Koreans, thus improving their educational and intellectual level. Formal education served as a “nursery bed” to cultivate Korean human resources.

(17) The absence of a decent monetary system during the era of the Joseon Dynasty constituted a limiting factor for the development of commerce and economy. The monetary and financial system, which became the foundation for Korea’s development, was established under the instruction of a Japanese advisor invited by the Korean Empire. Korea became a modern state with the monetary/financial system put in place during the era of Japanese rule. Because of the orderly financial system, a market-based economy started to function. The market-based economy was an experience that the Korean people had for the very first time under Japanese rule, and something that was passed down to the present Korean regime.

(18) Ever since the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 was executed and both countries began exchanges, up until the Japanese annexation of Korea, the Eisei Sekija movement (which is to focus on the Cheng-Zhu school and reject modern Western civilization) gained steam in Korea. There were presumptuous ideas prevailing that Korea was the country with the most sophisticated civilization in the world. During this period, the Yangban and righteous armies were playing an active role in attempts to reject the Westerners and the Japanese as well as to deter Korea’s opening up to the world and modernization. After Japan took control of the Peninsula, there were no more major anti-foreigner movements, and Korea started looking outward. This became the basis for Korea to further develop as a country.

(19) Up until the early era of Japanese rule, gangs of bandits had been rampant everywhere in Korea, making the people tremble with fear of being attacked in their home. Therefore, the Government-General deployed military police squad stations, consisting of both Japanese and Korean forces, at 499 locations to cover every nook and cranny throughout the state in order to suppress the bandits. As a result, the gangs of bandits were eliminated from the Korean Peninsula. This brought about peace of mind to the lives of the Korean people.

(20) Kakugoro Inoue, one of Yukichi Fukuzawa’s disciples, advocated the need for newspapers. He became an advisor to the Korean government, and lobbied to establish the Office of Culture and Information. Inoue’s leadership and effort resulted in the publishment of the Hanseong sunbo (the Seasonal Journal Hanseong), Korea’s first newspaper. Pak Yung-hio and Yu Kil-chun were present at the scene in the beginning of this movement, but Pak was later exiled while Yu left Korea to study in the United States. The movable type printing presses (“movable type”) for Classical Chinese used at that time were brought into Korea by press operators such as Kozo Miwa.

However, the printing machines were burned in an arson attack on the Office of Culture and Information during the Gapsin Coup led by Kim Ok-Gyun. The 39thHanseong sunbo became the final issue before the newspaper went out of existence in December 1884.

At the time, all documents and books in Korea were written in Classical Chinese because Korean intellectuals of that era despised Hangeul as a non-authentic writing system. Thus, they continued to use only Chinese characters (Classical Chinese) in official documents that signified a sense of privilege of the literary elites.

Yukichi Fukuzawa thought that in order to make Korea a civilized country, the people in Korea needed to know what was happening around the world and to learn the significance of civilization and enlightenment. So, he invented a movable type for Hangeul for the first time in the world, used his own money to make a Hangeul movable type, and promoted the publication of newspapers printed in both Chinese characters and Hangeul. In June 1885, Kim Yunsik who was appointed as president of the Office of Culture and Information requested Inoue to purchase a new printing machine and movable type for Hangeul for the republication of the newspaper. Fukuzawa’s disciple Inoue went back to Japan to buy a printing machine and movable type for Hangeul produced by Fukuzawa and brought them back to Korea. The 1st issue of Hanseong Jubo, the first newspaper in Korean history that was printed in Chinese characters in combination with Hangeul, was published in January 1886 through the collaborative effort of Kim Yunsik and Kakugoro Inoue.

We might say that Hangeul that had been unused for about 440 years, was revived by Yukichi Fukuzawa and Kakugoro Inoue. However, the newspaper unfortunately went out of existence when the Office of Culture and Information was closed on July 7, 1888 due to deficit finance.

Eight years later, Tongnip Sinmun (The Independent) printed in Hangeul was published in 1896 by the Independence Association. This newspaper, having the same purpose as Yukichi Fukuzawa advocated, was issued in Hangeul in order to invoke public awareness.

Moreover, Chinese characters and Hangeul were combined in textbooks that were used in schools in the era of Japanese rule. Prior to the era of Japanese rule, education had been offered in the seodang solely in Classical Chinese. It was only after the Japanese took control that 6 years of school education in Hangeul became accessible to 1.9 million elementary school children, significantly improving the Korean literacy rate to form a foundation for cultural and industrial development, which would then be accelerated later on.

However, for some reason, these important facts as described above are not taught to young people, but instead, they are completely excluded in the textbooks used in present-day South Korea.

(21) Up until the end of the era of the Joseon Dynasty, the people apparently depended on priestesses and shamans when they became ill as there were no doctors, hospitals, or knowledge about illnesses. The healthcare system was put into place for the first time in the era of Japanese rule. According to South Korea that falsifies history, in a period of 15 years between 1929 and 1943, there were 237 graduates from Keijo Imperial University Medical School, equipped with cutting-edge knowledge and skills. With that outcome along with efforts made by the Government-General, the healthcare environment was put into place, and people started visiting doctors and nearby hospitals. That was when the people became no longer dependent on priestesses and shamans.

(22) Korea was a nation of Confucianism up until and throughout the era of the Joseon Dynasty. The hierarchy is one of the fundamental ideas of Confucianism. In that hierarchy, China, motherland of Confucianism, and Korea were regarded as Great China and Little China, respectively, while Japan with no knowledge of Confucianism was despised as barbarian.

It was once considered that the prevailing idea of Sojunghwa in Korea had completely disappeared through the era of Japanese rule, however, it still remains on the basic level. For example, the Japanese emperor is notated in Korea as “Nichiou” with an implication of being a lower rank than “Ten-nou”. The continuing use of the term “Nichiou” even in the present day is apparently driven by the anti-Japanese sentiment of the people in Korea who cannot accept the emperor of Japan, which they disdained, being referred to as “imperial”.

This use of the term is extremely discourteous to Japan. It is not certain whether they are unconsciously using the term or intentionally using the term because it is degrading to Japan.

(23) Based on the Confucianism teaching of it being “a disgrace to do any sort of damage to your body, considering it is a gift from your parents”, the people used to practice the custom of not having a haircut throughout one’s life. When King Gojong issued an ordinance prohibiting topknots, the Japanese and the Kim Hong-jip administration at the time became the focus of criticism. So, the king withdrew the order and had the public kill the prime minister Kim who was pushing for modernizing reforms. Despite the fierce backlash over the ordinance prohibiting topknots, more and more people were naturally having a haircut and most people had their topknots cut and removed by the end of the era of Japanese rule. It may not be fair to say this was also one of the legacies left by the Japanese, but it surely had some Japanese influence.

(24) Sunjong issued imperial instructions 3 years after his inauguration as Emperor and took a bold step toward annexation with Japan. The emperor of the Korean Empire officially announced imperial instructions upon proclamation of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. A Japanese translation of the imperial instructions, included in Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty/Veritable Records of Sunjong, written in Korean is cited from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as follows.

[The emperor said, “It is with profound regret that the government decree for restoration has not been embodied by now, but instead, our nation has become extremely exhausted from never ending hardships. I am deeply concerned day and night having no hope for finding a course of action for recovery.

It is extremely deplorable that there is no way to get the situation under control. I cannot find any option other than to entrust this important duty to a third party to achieve the goals of the reformation. Therefore, I searched my soul and decided, without feeling any distress, that we entrust the sovereignty of our nation to the emperor of Japan, our reliable neighbor, so as to strengthen peace in Asia and to protect the Korean people’s livelihood.

I hope my subjects would understand the current state of our Empire, focus on their jobs without attempting to stage civil disturbances, be compliant with the civilized governance of the Japanese Empire, and enjoy their wellbeing. I made this decision not because I put my people behind me, but because I want to spare and revive their lives. I hope my people would heed my intent.”

August 29, 1910 <Official seal>]

The imperial instructions, which were proclaimed by the emperor of the Korean Empire, depicted a sentiment similar to the heartbreaking grief that the last king of Silla felt when he submitted to Goryeo over the opposition of his princes and ministers. The depiction in the underlined paragraph expresses Sunjong’s lament that is exactly the same as the King of Silla’s when he submitted to Goryeo several centuries ago. Just as Goryeo was present in the neighborhood for Gyeongsun of Silla, Japan was present in the neighborhood for Sunjong of the Korean Empire. This is also believed to be invisible influence that Japan left behind in Korea.

The photo shown is the letter of plenipotentiary appointment from the Emperor Sunjong to the prime minister Ye Wanyong with regard to consultations and execution of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. The letter included the name and the official seal of the emperor.

(25) The Japanese returners were allowed to bring only 1,000 yen with them when they left Korea so that all the monetary assets, including personal as well as corporate bank deposits, would become the properties of Korean individuals although they were unspecified. Despite the Japanese withdrawal from Korea, the Japanese currency had been widely used in Korea up until then, and all the assets of individuals and corporations were Japanese yen-denominated. Therefore, it was impossible that the value of the Japanese yen immediately became zero. Even after the Japanese withdrawal from Korea, the Japanese yen must have maintained its value in Korea until some sort of measures were taken. Even after some measures were taken, the value of the money should have still been retained, and they only needed to convert the Japanese yen to another currency. The enormous cash assets were obtained by some Korean citizens.

(26) The Japanese left behind in Korea a capitalist economic system where anybody can freely engage in economic activities. This is demonstrated in the number of households per occupation in Korea as of 1939. The following statistics are included in Section 3: Household, Chapter 1: Review of the Year Book 1941 of Government-General of Chosen.

[

Total number of households: Korean: 4,123,646, Japanese: 161,400 Agriculture:: Korean: 2,925,988, Japanese: 7,047 Fisheries:: Korean: 64,355, Japanese: 2,233 Mining:: Korean: 71,532, Japanese: 5,966 Industrial:: Korean: 122,341, Japanese: 26,478 Commerce:: Korean: 302,704, Japanese: 30,725 Transportation:: Korean: 46,696, Japanese: 9,146 Public servants/Freelance:: Korean: 141,572, Japanese: 66,007 Other businesses:: Korean: 346,148, Japanese: 6,731 Unemployed:: Korean: 102,249, Japanese: 7,068

]

In addition, there were 11,478 foreign households, the details of which are omitted here. It may be said that all these occupations, except for agriculture, fisheries, and merchant which is a part of commerce, newly emerged during the era of Japanese rule. The small chores carried out in farmhouses as a sideline during the winter could not be considered as independent occupation, apparently. Going through the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, a new economic system had already been established by 1939. This is manifest in the following figures representing the Korean economy in 1939. The multiplying factor is a comparison with 1910.

Paid-in capital: 60.9 times as much as in 1910, 1,211,870,000 yen (24 trillion yen in present value)

Total trade: 40.1 times as much as in 1910, 2,395,240,000 yen (48 trillion yen in present value)

Bank loans: 36.8 times as much as in 1910, 1,506,440,000 yen (30 trillion yen in present value)

Since no Korean citizen was forced to go into any specific occupation, one could argue that this was a capitalist economic system, in which anybody can freely participate in according to one’s ability. As the Korean population that participated in this capitalist economic system was many times bigger than that of the Japanese, it seems unlikely that this economic system would have suddenly disappeared after the Japanese withdrawal.

Since the present South Korea has not turned into a socialist or communist country, it is assumed that this capitalist economic system has basically been taken over. Needless to say, there were company managers, administrators, engineers, technicians, office clerks, and workers included in the Korean households listed above per occupation.

The affairs mentioned above are intangible assets that were left behind in Korea with significant Japanese influence during the 69-year period between 1876 when Japan started exchanges with Korea and 1945 when the Japanese withdrew from Korea.

Thus, seeing the tangible assets (1) through (21), etc., that Japan has left behind in Korea, as well as the intangible influences (1) through (26), where did the “enslaved condition of the Korean people” as mentioned in the Cairo Declaration exist? All the Korean people were free and active. This was not a state of slavery. To put it another way, the recognition of the three leaders of the United States, Britain and China who issued the Cairo Declaration was based on a false perception of Korea.

Here is an off-topic digression. Duke Hirobumi Ito built a museum in South Korea and was later assassinated by a Korean citizen. The assassin is acclaimed as a hero in South Korea, but let me introduce the assassinated Duke’s view of Korea.

As the first episode, according to Ijin gunzo, written by Inazo Nitobe, Duke Ito once said to Nitobe, “You know, the Korean people are superior. Looking at their national history, the advancements made by this country during a certain period in the past were much greater than that of Japan. There is no reason why these superior people cannot manage such a trifle nation by themselves. We (the Japanese and the Korean) are comparable to each other in our abilities.” As just described, Duke Ito highly appreciated the Korean people. He was opposed to the annexation, and advocated solidarity between Japan, China, and Korea. The assassination of Ito, who was opposed to annexation, ironically accelerated the path to the Japanese annexation of Korea at the initiative of Aritomo Yamagata.

As the second episode, in Duke Ito’s memo dated November 1905 which was recently discovered, there was a note saying “until Korea gains national strength”. In relation to this, Yukio Ito, Professor of Kyoto University, commented, “This is evidence to support the argument that Hirobumi Ito had negative thoughts about the Japanese annexation of Korea, and advocated that Korea should remain a protectorate only until it gains national strength.” In reality, Duke Ito was assassinated, unfortunately.

#joseon era #korean history #Korea #about south korea #korea-japan

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carolap53 · 3 years

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Powerful Spiritual Warfare Prayer/Salvation And Repentance Prayer

GOD’S ARSENAL OF PROTECTION

START YOUR DAY WITH THESE PRAYERS AND YOUR LIFE WILL CHANGE FOREVER!

Scripture: Read and meditate on EPHESIANS 6:10-18

Prayer:

Father, in Jesus name, by prayer & faith, I put on Your whole armor that I may stand against the wiles of the devil. I put on Your Helmet of Salvation…let the same mind be in me that is in Christ Jesus. I put on Your Breastplate of Righteousness…the Righteousness of Christ. I put on the Girdle of Truth…Jesus is the Way, the Truth & the Life (John 14:6), the Truth, Integrity & the Holiness of God. I put on Your Sandals of the Gospel of Peace…Help us to stand on the solid ground of Jesus. Above all, I put on your Shield of Faith to quench every fiery dart, arrow, spear & missile the enemy shoots our way…& Lord, I put on Your precious Sword of the Spirit, Your Holy Word that’s alive & powerful, sharper than any two edged sword (Heb. 4:12)…our offensive & defensive weapon.

Scripture: Job 1:10 “Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, & around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, & his possessions have increased in the land.” (NKJ)

Prayer: Father, In the name of Jesus, I ask you to keep the same hedge of protection around me, my family, my mind, my heart & emotions, as it is written in Job 1:10.

Scripture: Psalm 34:7 “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear HIM, & delivereth them.” Psalms 91:11, 12 “For HE shall give HIS angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”

Prayer: Father, in Jesus name, I ask You to keep an encampment of Your powerful angels around me 24 hours a day.

Scripture: Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (NKJ)

Prayer: Father, in Jesus name, I ask you to send a host of ministering angels (in addition to the one each believer has), to minister to our hurts, needs, pain and infirmities, strengthening us in every way.

Scripture: Zechariah 2:5 “For I”, says the Lord, “will be a wall of fire all around her, & I will be the glory in her midst.” (NKJ)

Prayer: Father, I just praise You & thank You that Your glory is my rear guard (Isaiah 52:12 & 58:8). In Jesus name, I ask You to surround me with Your supernatural wall of fire, to insulate me from any assaults of the devil.

Scripture: Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” (NKJ) (Also Ps. 3:3)

Prayer: Father, in Jesus name, by faith, I claim Your promise to be my shield & protector.

Scripture: (The mind is satan's playground. The battle to WIN your mind is in Vs. 5) 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments & every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Prayer: In the Mighty name of Jesus, I command my thoughts to come under the obedience & captivity to Jesus Christ as it is written in 2 Corinthians 10:5.

Scripture: Matthew 16:19) “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, & whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, & whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (NKJ) (See also Matthew 18:18)

Prayer: In the name of Jesus, the Name that is above every Name & ALL things (Phil. 2:9,10 & Eph. 1:20-23), I bind up every unclean spirit & assignment coming against me, (my children, family) from, by or through anyone or anything, named or unnamed, known or unknown, 7 generations back. In the name of Jesus, I bind up the principalities, powers, rulers’ of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness & hosts in high places, & the prince of power of the air. In Jesus name, I bind up the strongman, the old man, every prince & stronghold, the spirit of antichrist, every evil spirit & plague, the spirit of confusion, illusion & delusion. In Jesus name, I bind up the spirit of infirmity, sickness, disease, pain, addiction, affliction, calamity, the devourer, the destroyer, the accuser, the deceiver, the corrupter & every spirit of poverty. In the name of Jesus, I bind up the spirit of strife & division, back biting & gossip, critical & judgmental spirits, spirits of resistance & hindrance, every spirit of retribution, revenge & retaliation, & the lying, seducing, deceiving spirit of deception. (I TIM. 4:1,2) In the name of Jesus, I bind up every root of fear, doubt, unbelief, discouragement & every deadly D from despair to depression, the spirit of pride, rebellion, disobedience, self, ego, independence, unforgiveness, bitterness, lust & the flesh.

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST REBUKE YOU YOU EVIL, UNCLEAN SPIRITS. (Jude 9, Zec. 3:2) I loose, in the name of Jesus Christ, deliverance, freedom & liberation, peace, joy, hope, gladness of heart, love, healing & wholeness, mercy & grace, blessings & favor, restoration of the years that the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25), the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, a mighty harvest, & a boldness to witness for Christ. Amen and Amen!!

ALWAYS REMEMBER, God hears ALL our cries and prayers (Ps. 34:4,6,15,17. His thoughts about us number more than the sands of the sea (Ps. 139:17,18), He loves us with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3 & John 3:16). His promises are Yes & Amen (II Cor. 1:20). We know that satan’s a liar but God has never lied nor broken a promise or covenant (Heb. 6:18, Num. 23:19, Titus 1:2). He is the God of the second chance to infinity. Nothing is too hard (Jer. 32:17, Gen. 18:14), nor impossible for Him (Luke 1:37). With man it is impossible, but with God, ALL things are possible (Matt. 19:26, Mark 10:27). He is faithful (Ps. 89, Heb. 10:23), His Word does not return void (Is. 55:11,12), He magnifies His Word above His name (Ps. 138:2) & His Word is settled in Heaven forever (Ps. 119:89). We need to trust Him & His Word, no matter what trials or tribulations we are facing, whatever mountain, valley, desert, storm or goliath that is in our life. TRUST HIM! Naham 1:7 tells us, “God is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble & He knows those who trust Him.” He tells us we have worth & value in His eyes (Jer. 29:11-13), He is our helper (Heb. 13:6) who has compassion, mercy & grace for each of us. Gods’ forgiveness is bigger than my sin. If I confess my sins, God is faithful & just to forgive me of my sins & cleanse me of ALL unrighteousness (I John 1:9). Once I confess & repent, God remembers them no more (Ps. 103:12). They are put in the sea of forgetfulness (Micah 7:19). They are under the BLOOD of JESUS, and we are set FREE, with no condemnation (Rom. 8:1), especially from ourselves. We must learn to forgive ourselves. Praise and Worship must be included in our prayers. We have the VICTORY!

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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The Church's Year - Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

At the Introit of the Mass the Church prays for the peace which God has promised by His prophets:

INTROIT Give peace, O Lord, to them that patiently wait for thee, that thy prophets may be found faithful: hear the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel. (Ecclus. XXXVI. 18.) I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord. (Ps. CXXI. 1.) Glory etc.

COLLECT O Lord, inasmuch as without Thee we are not able to please Thee, let Thy merciful pity rule and direct our hearts, we beseech Thee. Thro'.

EPISTLE (I Cor. I. 4-8.) Brethren, I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in Christ Jesus, that in all things you are made rich in him, in all utterance and in all knowledge: as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ who also will confirm you into the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

EXPLANATION St. Paul shows in this epistle that he possesses true love for his neighbor, because he rejoices and thanks God that he enriched the Corinthians with different graces and gifts, thus confirming the testimony of Christ in them, so that they could without fear expect His arrival for judgment. - Do thou also rejoice, with St. Paul, for the graces given to thy neighbor, for this is a mark of true charity.

GOSPEL (Matt. IX. 1-8.) At that time, Jesus entering into a boat, passed over the water, and came into his own city. And behold, they brought to him one sick of the palsy lying in a bed. And Jesus seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son; thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold, some of the Scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? whether it is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then said he to the man sick of the palsy): Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it feared, and glorified God who had given such power to men.

EXPLANATIONS

I. Those who brought this sick man to Christ, give us a touching example of how we should take care of the sick and help them according to our ability. Christ was so well pleased with their faith and charity, that He cured the man sick of the palsy, and forgave him his sins. Hence we learn how we might assist many who are diseased in their soul, if we would lead them to God by confiding prayer, by urgent admonitions, or by good example.

II. Christ did not heal the man sick of the palsy until He had forgiven him his sins, by this He wished to teach us, that sins are often the cause of sicknesses and other evils, by which we are visited, and which God would remove from us if we were truly repentant. This doctrine Jesus confirmed, when He said to the man, who had been sick for thirty-eight years: Sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. (John V. 14.) Would that this were considered by those who so often impetuously demand of God to be freed from their evils, but do not intend to free themselves from their sins, which are the cause of these evils, by a sincere repentance.

III. "He blasphemeth." Thus thought the Jews, in their perverted hearts, of Christ, because they believed that He in remitting the sins of the sick man, usurped the rights of God and thus did Him a great injury; for it is blasphemy to think, say, or do any thing insulting to God or His saints. But these Jews did not consider that they by their rash judgment calumniated God, since they blasphemed Christ who by healing the sick man, and by numerous other works had clearly proved His God-head. If Christ so severely reprimanded the Jews, who would not recognize Him as God, for a blasphemous thought against Him, what will He do with those Christians who, though they wish to be adorers of God and His Son, nevertheless, utter blasphemies, curses, and profanations of the holy Sacraments?

IV. When Jesus saw their thoughts, He said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? This may be taken to heart by those who think that thoughts are free from scrutiny, and who never think to confess their evil and shameful thoughts. God; the most Holy and most just, will, nevertheless, not leave a voluntary unchaste, proud, angry, revengeful, envious thought unpunished, any more than an idle word. (Matt, XII. 36.) The best remedy against evil thoughts would be the recollection that God who searches the heart sees them, and will punish them.

PRAYER How great, O Jesus! is Thy love and mercy towards poor sinners, since Thou not only forgavest the sins of the man sick of palsy, but calling him son, didst console and heal him! This Thy love encourages me to beg of Thee the grace, that we may rise from our bed of sins by true penance, amend our life, and through the ways of Thy commandments enter the house of eternal happiness.

INSTRUCTION ON INDULGENCES

Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. (Matt. IX. 2.)

The same that Christ says to the man sick of the palsy, the priest says to every contrite sinner in the confessional, and thus remits the crime or the guilt of his sins, and the eternal punishment, by virtue of the authority given him by God. But since sins not only bring with them guilt and eternal punishment, but also temporal1 and indeed spiritual or supernatural punishment, such as, painful conditions of the soul, as well in this world as in purgatory, and natural ones, as: poverty, disease, all sorts of adversities and accidents, we should endeavor to liberate ourselves from them by means of indulgences.

What is an indulgence?

It is a total or partial remission of the temporal punishment which man would have to suffer either in this or the next life, after the sins have been remitted.

How do we know that after the remission of the sins there still remains temporal punishment?

From holy Scripture; for our first parents after the forgiveness of their sin, were still afflicted with temporal punishment. (Gen. III.) God likewise forgave the sins of the children of Israel, who murmured so often against Him in the desert, but not their punishment, for He excluded them from the Promised Land, and caused them to die in the desert. (Num. XIV.) Moses and Aaron experienced the same, on account of a slight want of confidence in God. (Num. XX. 12., Deut. XXXII. 51. 52.) David, indeed, received pardon from God through the Prophet Nathan for adultery and murder, (II Kings XII.) still he had to endure heavy temporal punishment. Finally, faith teaches us, that we are tortured in purgatory for our sins, until we have paid the last farthing. (Matt. V. 26.)

Did the Church always agree with this doctrine of Scripture?

Yes; for she always taught, that by the Sacrament of Penance the guilt and eternal punishment, due to sin, are indeed forgiven for the sake of the infinite merits of Jesus, but that temporal punishment still remains, for which the sinner must do penance. Even in the earliest ages she imposed great penances upon sinners for their sins which were already forgiven. For instance, murder or adultery was punished by a penance of twenty years; perjury, eleven; fornication, denial of faith or fortune-telling, by seven years of severe penance with fasting, etc. During this time it was not allowed to travel, except on foot, to be present at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or to receive the holy Eucharist. If the penitents showed a great zeal for penance and sincere amendment, or if distinguished members of the Church, particularly martyrs, interceded for them, the bishops granted them an indulgence, that is, they remitted the remaining punishment either totally or partially. In our days, on account of the weakness of the faithful, the Church is lenient. Besides the ecclesiastical, the spiritual punishments which would have to be suffered either here or in purgatory for the taking away of sins, are shortened and mitigated by indulgences through he treasure of the communion of saints.

Has the Church the power to remit temporal punishments, or to grant indulgences?

The Council of Trent expressly states, that the Church has power to grant indulgences, (Sess. 25.) and this statement it supports by the words of Christ. For as Christ protests: Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; so He also promised, that whatever the Church looses upon earth, is ratified and loosed in heaven. Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. (Matt. XVIII. 18.) Even an apostle granted an indulgence. In the person and by the power of Christ, that his spirit might be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, (II Cor. II. 10.; I Cor. V. 4. 5.) St. Paul forgave the incestuous Corinthian, upon whom he had imposed a heavy punishment.

What is meant by saying, indulgences are granted out of the treasury of the saints or of the Church?

By this is meant that God, by the Church, remits the temporal punishment due to sin for the sake of the merits of Christ and the saints, and supplies, as it were, by these merits what is still wanting in our satisfaction.

What kinds of indulgences are there?

Two; plenary and partial indulgences. A plenary indulgence, if rightly gained, remits all ecclesiastical and temporal punishment, which we would otherwise have to expiate by penance. A partial indulgence, however, remits only so many days or years of the temporal punishment, as, according to the penitential code of the primitive ages of the Church; the sinner would have been obliged to spend in severe penance. Hence the name forty day's indulgence, etc.

What is a Jubilee?2

It is a plenary indulgence, which the pope grants to the faithful of the entire world, whereby all the temporal punishments of sin, even in cases reserved to the pope or the bishops, are remitted, and forgiven in the name of God, if the sinner confesses contritely and receives the holy Eucharist and has a firm purpose of doing penance.

What is required to gain an indulgence?

First, that we should be in the state of grace, and have already obtained, by true repentance, forgiveness of those sins, the temporal punishment of which is to be remitted by the indulgence; and secondly, that we should exactly perform the good works prescribed for the gaining of the indulgence.

Do indulgences free us from performing works of penance?

By no means: for there are few in the proper state to receive a plenary indulgence in its fulness, since not only purity of soul is necessary but also the inclination to sin must be rooted out, it therefore cannot be the intention of the Church to free us from all works of penance by granting us indulgences. She cannot act contrary to the word of Jesus: Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish. Luke XIII. 3.) She rather wishes to assist our weakness, to supply our inability to do the required penance, and to contribute what is wanting in our penance, by applying the satisfaction of Christ and the saints to us by indulgences. If we, therefore, do not wish to do penance for our own sins, we shall have no part in the merits of others by indulgences.

Can indulgences be gained for the souls of the faithful departed?

Yes, by way of suffrage, so far as we comply with the required conditions, and thus beg of God, for the merits of His Son and the saints, to release the souls in purgatory. Whether God receive this petition or not, remains with Him, He will act only according to the condition of the deceased. We must, therefore, not depend upon the indulgences and good works which may be performed for us after death, but rather endeavor, during our life-time, to secure our salvation by leading a pious life; by our own good works and by the gaining of indulgences.

What follows from the doctrine of the Church concerning indulgences?

That an indulgence is no grant or license to commit sin, as the enemies of the Church falsely assert; that an indulgence grants no forgiveness of sins past or future, much less is permission given to commit sin; that no Catholic can believe that by gaming indulgences he is released from penance, or other good works, free from the fight with his evil inclinations, passions and habits, from compensating for injuries, repairing scandals, from retrieving neglected good, and glorifying God by works and sufferings; but that indulgences give nothing else than partial or total remission of temporal punishment; that they remind us of our weakness and lukewarmness which is great when compared with the zeal and fervor of the early Christians; that they impel us to satisfy the justice of God according to our ability. Finally, they remind us to thank God continually that He gave the Church a means in the inexhaustible treasure of the merits of Christ and His saints, to help our weakness and to supply what is wanting in our penance.

1. See Instruction on Satisfaction on the fourth Sunday in Advent.

[V. ON SATISFACTION AFTER CONFESSION

Satisfaction is the diligent performance of all the works of penance imposed upon us by the confessor. With this, however, a true penitent will not be satisfied; for in our times, on account of the weakness and little zeal of Christians, a light penance is imposed that they may not be deterred from the reception of the holy Sacraments. To avoid relapsing into sin, one must do penance, and bring forth worthy fruits (Lk. 13:3), for God will only then give the grace to persevere. We satisfy God by fasting, prayer, almsdeeds, avoidance of the snares of the world, diffidence in ourselves, and especially by patient endurance of the afflictions and sufferings which He imposes upon us. Those who have committed sin must do penance in this life or submit to everlasting penance in the next.

Is the heretic right in asserting that man does not need to render satisfaction since Christ has rendered it complete on the cross?

He is entirely wrong. Christ on the cross did indeed render satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, and man is not capable to atone for one single sin but it does not follow from this that man is not required to do something. To render satisfaction means to perform a duty which has been neglected. Instead of obeying God, the sinner by his sins disobeys Him. Satisfaction for disobedience requires perfect obedience from the sinner: but this, because of his weakness and corruption, no man is able to render therefore Christ rendered it for us by His perfect obedience even unto the death of the cross. But because Christ has been thus obedient for us, must we not be somewhat obedient also? or which is the same, because Christ for love of us has atoned for our sins by perfect obedience to His Heavenly Father, are we to do no penance for ourselves? It is precisely by this atonement made by Christ that we receive the power of rendering satisfaction. But for this we must, first of all, ask the grace, i.e., pray, to restrain our earthly desires, i.e., fast, and by means of active love (charity) make ourselves susceptible to this grace. St. Paul the Apostle, who calls himself the greatest of sinners, writes of himself: I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh for his body, which is the Church (Col. 1:24); and to the Corinthians he writes: But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps: when I have preached to others (meaning penance and conversion), I myself should become cast away (I Cor. 9:27). Christ Himself did not censure the Ninivites for their fasting and their penance in sackcloth and ashes, but gave them as an example (Mt. 12:41). In the Old Testament we find that even after remitting the sin, God imposed a punishment for it. Thus He let the child of king David die, as punishment for his adultery, even though He had forgiven the sin (II Kings 12:13, 14); thus Moses and Aaron, because they once distrusted God, were not permitted to enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:24; Deut. 34:4). According to this doctrine of the Bible, the Catholic Church teaches that there remains a temporal punishment which the sinner must expiate either in this world, or in the next, though on account of the infinite merits of Christ the guilt and eternal punishment of sin are taken away by absolution. In the earliest times of the Church certain works of penance were imposed, which were then very severe, and in the course of time, owing to the indolence of the faithful, were much moderated.].

2. The word jubilee signifies deliverance, remittance. With the Jews every fiftieth year was so called, and all the prisoners and slaves were to be set free in this year, according to the command of God, the inheritances which had been sold, restored to their masters, the debts cancelled, and the earth left untilled. This was a year of grace and rest for the Jews. This Jubilee of the Jews is a figure of the Catholic jubilee, in which the captives of sin and Satan are liberated, the debt of sin remitted, and the inheritance of heaven, which the sinner had sold to Satan, is restored to him.

#eighteenth sunday after pentecost

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terranoctis · 3 years

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epic ii

As usual, there are spoilers for stories I’ve read below. You’ve been warned. Seemed fitting to finally finish up my writeup on the stories I read after the long day January 6th has been, and honestly rather fitting that the first novel I read this year was one about tolerance and diversity in an urban fantasy.

1. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

I confess to being somewhat limited in my awareness of Russian folklore, but from what I do know from having read other books, I would say this novel is perhaps one of the best I’ve read in that vein. Arden writes fantastically in the way she weaves fairytale and folklore together to present a medieval Russian society that has magic and spirits. It’s a novel that reads much like an old folklore story while still having intriguing characters that drive the novel. Vasya is a strong and determined protagonist, and the way her interactions are written with the various spirits around her home, as well as the human characters are complex in ways that continued to surprise me throughout the book. It’s not an overly complex plot, but the charm of the novel lies in how it reads as a fairytale and is told beautifully in that same kind of folklore vein. I’m also struggling now to think if I’ve ever read a fantasy novel that has depicted snow as wonderfully as this novel, because I can’t recall a different one. It’s a novel that made me love curling up in bed, under my blankets, while I was exploring the Russian woods with Vasya. It felt like a fitting novel in the wake of the holidays in December (which is when I read it). I do think the ending could’ve been stronger, in terms of how the main conflict was resolved, but I also believe that it set up future stories. I’m excited to see how the rest of the trilogy plays out because I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I ended up staying up to finish this one because I wanted to keep reading.

2. Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

I love the general concept of The Wayward Children as a series, and I find that the concept of different worlds these children get lost in cements its foothold further with the twins Jack and Jill, moreso than in the previous novel. It’s not the longest read, but one that casts the magical aspects of world-traveling in a more somber light. The thing that surprised me more was that I felt this was less a tale of the horrors of the world Jack and Jill walked into than how it was a commentary about the monsters we become because of our upbringings. We learned from the first book in the series that Jill is a murderer, and this novel really cements how and why she becomes one, in all the confused nature of a child who wants affection. We see the way the neglect and the controlling nature of their parents drive the twins to act in certain ways that are out of the norm or are cruel. We see the way their natures are nurtured or twisted further based on the upbringings they receive in the moors; one receives mentoring and kindness, while the other receives twisted affections based only on loyalty. The story is presented as a gothic fairytale, and is wonderfully crafted, though it lends itself towards a type of cautionary tale. It feels somewhat incomplete, as we don’t get to see them returning to the world, but as a stand-alone tale of their loss of innocence... or rather, never being able to live through innocence because of their parents, it’s a strong read. I would dare say it’s a better read than the first because it allowed us to focus on a smaller cast of characters and the setting of the Moors with vampires and doctors who could bring people back to life was rather intriguing.

3. The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

Finally, the last novel to what has been one of my favorite series these last few years has been finished. It’s been rather rare for me to read fantasy novels written nowadays that write of the strains of militaristic war in both a brutal and tender manner, but R.F. Kuang has that down to a T. This may be because R.F. Kuang has done her research and study very much into the history of war in China and Japan (and in colonial warfare), but the trilogy and this novel are exceptionally well-written because of it. I recognize understanding of military campaigns and colonialism when I read it, and it’s well-conveyed in the novel. The story shines, however, because of the way the core characters are written. It’s anchored by the complex characterization of the main characters, which is the truly compelling part of the series.

I’ve written several pieces before about how Runin, or Rin, is an anti-hero that truly would be the villain in any other story of this world. We sympathize with her because she is the protagonist we follow, but we understand as well the horrors of who she is becoming, down to the very end of the novel when she becomes the mirror of the man who hurt her and haunts her. The novel (and perhaps this trilogy), in a way, is about this desperate struggle of young soldiers who went to extreme measures to keep their country safe and united, only to understand that they’ve inherited a history of warfare and a bucket of problems from their predecessors. It’s about youth who fought for their ideals only to understand that their ideals would not yet be achievable due to the complexity of the world--and the trilogy ends on that note, with that ringing, cold reality. And we understand why, even if it’s such a painful ending. Sometimes, even forces like gods have to fall to the world or go insane before they recognize that. Even though Rin has a god in her head that is driving her insane, I also took her selfishness and insanity at the end as a presentation of post-traumatic stress disorder.

I think R.F. Kuang succeeds at writing suffering in her stories in a sympathetic manner, because I feel so much even when I recognize that such actions certain characters take are twisted. It’s a fitting ending, even if it’s such a fucking cold one. I knew from the very beginning of this trilogy that there wouldn’t be a happy ending for Runin. I hoped there would be for Kitay, but the truth is, he also stayed with her and chose that route, so there would never have been a happy ending for him either. No one wins in war. And sometimes violence is truly a cyclical story in more ways than one.

This wasn’t a perfect novel and I don’t think it was my favorite of the series, but it’s one I deeply enjoyed immersing myself in. It was a strong, and in my opinion, a fitting end to what was a sprawling, wonderful trilogy about the monsters people can become for their ambition and ideals in war. Might have been kind of fitting that it was the last story I finished in 2020.

4. The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

I have heard numerous times that Jemisin is a brilliant writer, and though this is my first novel of hers, I can understand why such glowing praise has been given to her. This is an urban fantasy novel about cities being living beings, and the way it’s written is so utterly unique and charming that I can’t help but marvel at how she came up with it. I’ve read briefly that she might be inverting Lovecraftian themes, but as I’m less familiar with Lovecraft, I have no insight into my reading on that. Moreover, though I have an outsider’s view of New York City, I recognize this novel as one of the most elaborate love letters to New York City and its diversity I’ve ever read. I’m not a city girl, but if there is one city I love, it is New York--and this novel made me miss being in New York.

It’s also a novel that is acutely aware of diversity in various ways and the reactions people have to diversity. I feel like this novel is one that is good to read in light of all the issues we have in institutional racism and how conversations are being held on extreme opposites in the spectrum, because Jemisin doesn’t shy away from it. One of the boroughs of New York, in fact, is represented by that kind of human who leans right, with prejudiced views given to her by alt-right parents and upbringings. It’s easy to forget that in a liberal city like New York how different conversations and views of the world are being had, but New York is a world in itself, of both people who have lived there all their lives and people who flock there from different cities. I love that the people who represent New York as living entities of the city are so very different--and that New York requires six people to represent it. Whether it’s Padmini as a non-citizen, Manhattan as a stranger to New York, or Brooklyn who has lived there all her life--there are so many walks of life in this city that are so emblematic of New Yorkers. And if anything, this novel is a hopeful story about that kind of diversity and how it comes together in adversity against entities that hope to bring it down.

As my first novel of the year, I’m thrilled that it was such a brilliant read that weaves in matters that seem highly relevant to me and the society I live in. It was also one that seems to cast the conflict in shades of white supremacy and racism--or even just simple prejudices on various levels. Even the character that I’m prone to find a little more disdainful for being extremely conservative (Staten Island) I find a little sympathetic, because I’m witness to her upbringing and how people can twist those beliefs or hammer it in further (in this case, through the Woman in White and her desire to destroy the city). I’ve read numerous stories from fantasy and science fiction, but I don’t think I’ve read one that feels quite as modern or in the present as this one. There are many ways to interpret the whole concept of cities and the universes they kill for simply existing, but the complexity of it makes me fascinated. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this trilogy and her other books, because she’s absolutely fantastic at worldbuilding and weaving in themes that make you think. Is it the most perfect novel? Do I think the last part of the novel has the greatest resolution? Not exactly, but still what a damn good read.

It’s a novel where the main characters are all people of color and depicts a choice white character as a stereotype and an enemy. I suspect that may make some readers uncomfortable, but to those readers, I would ask them kindly to consider how many novels people of color have read over the years where they were marginalized, stereotyped characters. It’s the same kind of question those who denounced BLM movements entirely on the premise of All Lives Matter. Somehow this book feels like it mirrors our world and current events, even in a fantasy world. It feels more so, in the wake of BLM and the attempted coup that happened less than 24 hours ago.

As an aside, I love Veneza and Padmini.

#reading and ramblings #personal #.chrysalis.

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