Purificationist Apocalyptica: Part I

I was struck by a bolt of lightning last week while reading an article! The summary it gave constructed a series of bridges in my mind between what I had thought were hopelessly isolated pockets of radicalism in our body politic. Before this bit of prose broadened my understanding, I had thought that all of the one-issue hyper-partisans out there like the greens, the labor unions, the feminists, the anarchists, the liberation theologists, etc. were only able to maintain individual footholds onto our public consciousness because the sheer number of groups out there and the issues they champion were too numerous for the non-radicals to keep up with. I believed that since there was no apparent coherency in their message, they would be individually marginalized in perpetuity. Apparently there are several among us who find that there is indeed a thread of coherency tying together the disparate groups of the fringe Left. Though they are satisfied to this point of merely identifying the thread, I would like to (finding myself in agreement with their assessment of the thread) follow it back to the spool and gaze upon what I think the resulting garment may look like: a bit of projectionist fiction if you will. Shall we play a game?

Andrew Thomas at “The American Thinker” published an article entitled, “The Leftist Purification Movement” on June 25th, 2010. This article and his conclusions essentially summarize a much longer article entitled, ”Purifying the World” by Ernest Sternberg for the Winter 2010 issue of “Orbis Magazine”; a publication of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Further distilling this article into one sentence, it asserts that the common thread that unites the radical Left is its indefatigable opposition to “Empire”; its institutions, its transactions, its traditions, and its people. It is a political philosophy that superficially appears only to fervently advocate a particular position within the bounds of the established legal framework but substantially flaunts that legal framework in all actions related to the promotion of its cause. They see as impediments not only those opposed to their viewpoint but also the very system within which this opposition is allowed to manifest. Empire to the far Left, and at this time I shall interject the far Right of Radical Islam, represents all of the political, military, financial, social, and religious aspects of the world that stand in opposition to the means by which they desire to implement their policies. The means; not necessarily the ends. To justify their viewpoint and bestow upon themselves a level of moral superiority, these groups have created a worldview that borders on mythological in some cases wherein the institutions of Empire are responsible for every injustice in the world. These groups have almost universally proclaimed that the United States and Israel are most fit to wear the mantel of Empire and have used these two nations as a focus for their ire. As such these they have become the front and first line to be subjected to the Left's/Islam's efforts to rid the world of this injustice; to purify it. Hence Mr. Sternberg’s moniker, purificationists.

So what would the world look like if the Purificationists were to prevail?

My Campus Athleticus

Being that I have not yet entered a phase of life in which physical exertion is an impossibility, I enjoy engaging in athletic activities regularly. Appropriately Aedificium Meum Vitum will require a place where any insights or novel experiences gained through engaging in these activities shall too be appropriately recorded. Here is that place: Mea Campa Athletica. The training in which I engage is for the sole purpose of self satisfaction which, beyond any salient insights gained into particular activities and their performance, is most likely the broader and more interesting topic which you find discussed in this place. Lace up and enjoy!

Credo

I believe in God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth,
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, or Lord:
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary,
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead, on the third day he rose again;
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit
the holy catholic Church
the communion of saints
the forgiveness of sins
the resurrection of the body
and the life everlasting.

AMEN

The Euthyphro Dilemma and Holiness: Part 1

“Is holiness an intrinsic quality of certain actions, or are certain actions made holy by virtue of their being pleasing to God?”

What constitutes an action as being holy? The definition of holy then is:

holy adj. 1 Dedicated to religious use; belonging to or coming from God; consecrated; sacred 2 spiritually perfect or pure; untainted by evil or sin; sinless; saintly 3 regarded with or deserving deep respect, awe, reverence, or adoration 4 [slang] very much of a: a generalized intensive. Often used in interjectional compounds to express astonishment, emphasis, etc.

We must necessarily restrict our understanding of the premise to refer only to actions rather than to include objects. I am compelled to make this distinction because every object in the universe is composed of matter. Matter being an intrinsic property of all things, if one thing were to be also intrinsically holy, then any other thing could likewise be considered holy and thus the entirety of the physical universe be holy. To say otherwise, that one thing being of matter and intrinsically holy and another thing being of matter and intrinsically not necessarily introduces an external qualification for holiness; the object’s arrangement, the date of its creation, its status in the eyes of God, something. Can objects engage in an action then that could be considered holy? A rock of its own accord cannot do anything. Matter without thought cannot decide to do anything. Any apparent behavior displayed by any object is merely the observed effect of the physical laws of the universe acting upon it.

It would seem then that the second definition of holiness is the one from which we may most readily explore the holiness of Man’s actions either with or without an external standard. The first definition, being in terms of an action’s status of having come from or belonging to God, can only apply to one half of the premise, and therefore cannot be of use in making a distinction. The third definition is subjective to Man’s perception of an action. The status of an action’s holiness being different from person to person necessarily disqualifies its intrinsic holiness lest such holiness exist apart from Man’s base perception and only be acknowledged more or less clearly by each person; an interesting distinction to the premise. The fourth definition is wholly irrelevant.

Under the second definition, “…spiritually perfect…” implies a standard against which an action may be deemed imperfect as does “sinless”. Sin is that which is an offense against God. That an action be “pure” does not necessitate the use of a standard. A thing can be said to be pure by observing that it is wholly unto itself; untainted or unmixed. But can an action be pure?

purity n. the quality or condition of being pure; specif. a) freedom from adulterating matter b) cleanness or clearness c) freedom from evil or sin; innocence; chastity d) freedom from corrupting elements e) freedom from mixture with white; color saturation

A pure action then could be said to mean any action that is free from adulterating matter, evil or sin, or corrupting elements. Again imbedded in parts of this deeper meaning are implications of a standard which is external to the action itself. The word adulterate means, in part, to make inferior. Since nothing can be said to be either inferior or superior with regard to only itself, to be free from adulterating matter requires that the action be judged against something else. To be free from evil or sin requires that a standard exist by which a distinction may be made between good and evil, sin and obedience to God.

From this preceding discussion, the only independent understanding of holy actions are those which are pure by virtue of their freedom from corrupting elements. Further parsing this meaning around the meaning of corruptness:

corrupt adj. 1 changed from a sound condition to an unsound one; spoiled; contaminated; rotten

we find then that holiness is an intrinsic property of those actions which are pure by virtue of their being composed of no parts which would change its soundness to unsoundness. Here I have to wonder if this line of reasoning doesn’t end with, “that which is holy is holy because it is not unholy.” However it does seem to introduce the idea of the holiness of the uncorrupted action; breathing for instance. Uncorrupted by speech or toxic inhalants, could breathing be a holy act?

My Library

Here is the place within the Aedificium Mea Vita where I will chronicle those thoughts which strike me as novel within the context of my continuing academic education. In short, The Library is where discussions pertaining to the subjects which I am exploring and which I am imparting to my children will be chronicled. Be sure to have done your homework before entering The Library!

My Forum

As every conscientious locality ought to have a place wherein the politics of the day are discussed, so too shall the Aedificium Mea Vita have such a place. Appropriately I will refer to it as The Forum. The discussion of politics being generally composed of advancing ideas in the belief of their beneficent outcome, reason and faith, I shall place the Forum squarely between The Minster of spiritual inquiry and The Cloister of philosophical speculation; outside of the walls of the Aedificium proper where those outside may oblige themselves of the discussion.

My Minster

This place represents the sanctuary of my spiritual building; the place where my public conversations with God are held. Here is the place where I will delve into the meanings and significance of those things which I hold sacred; reflect upon the events of my life with an eye toward eternity. Here also is the place where I will examine my discoveries regarding what others hold sacred in the Light of my understanding

If you find yourself here, sit beside me under the towering vault so that we may together, from this small place for a brief time peer together into infinity!

My Cloister

This is my first post in my latest attempt to create some type of narrative record of my thoughts and what I think is important. For those who may find yourself here, Welcome! This place represents the cloister of my spiritual building; that place protected inside the abbey walls, exposed to the sun where my mind may lie upon the grass and ruminate on all subjects.

As of this date there are a great many things on my mind that I hope to find the time to hash out in this place. There are also studies that I wish to chronicle. If it please you to return and follow my thoughts, consider adding your insight as well. Conversations held in solitude, I've found, generally don't lead to answers.