Thought for the Week
“It will never be known what acts of cowardice have been motivated by the fear of not looking sufficiently progressive.” ~Charles Péguy
I don’t know of any nation or society that’s ever been universally improved by a massive single-agenda fix. Not only because cultures are complex, constantly-changing organisms (and not single-purpose machines), but because what ails them is never a single thing, let alone a single scapegoat or group of people.
Within the course of five minutes, I recently encountered three massive single-agenda “fixes” on the Q&A site Quora, each with thousands of upvotes, in response to the question, “Where did America go wrong, and what’s the fix?”
- Republicans are, by definition, evil. They’re all racist, sexist bigots and child-abusers. The fix: Silence them, make their agenda illegal, and install a new, permanent Democrat agenda.
- Democrats are, by definition, evil. They’re all communist, devil-worshipping pedophiles. The fix: Silence them, make their agenda illegal, and install a new, permanent Republican agenda.
- Puritans are, by definition, evil (this one caught me off-guard). They, the early settlers of New England, with their “insane religious beliefs,” laid the groundwork for an insane nation with an “insane, racist Constitution;” they also introduced slavery. (Despite this person’s spectacularly inaccurate recap of U.S. history, not one person disagreed). The fix: Silence religious people, make their agenda illegal, and install a new, permanent Marxist-atheist government.
May I rather ironically suggest that there is, in fact, one simple single answer to the question, “What’s wrong with this country/world/society, and what’s the fix?”
“We are.”
Mitch Teemley 
Well summarized!
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Thanks, Abe!
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It’s incredibly difficult to look into a mirror with any motivation other than vanity.
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Well said, my friend.
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Agreed. An open, honest, and dispassionate self-evaluation is about the most difficult thing any human can accomplish apart from God’s work in their lives.
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So True!!
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In the words of a woman I worked with decades ago, “Society would be perfect if there weren’t any people in it.” Seems clear to me, remove all of humanity from human society and all our social ills will be cured…oh, wait…uh…
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I agree with your concluding remark that we humans are the problem and the solution. What is wrong with our species? Why is it taking so long for us to evolve, to rise above our destructive nature? It would appear that our superior intelligence as a species makes us more malleable in the hands of a master potter.
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We’re victims of our own success. I’ve heard it expressed this way. Hard times create hard men. Hard men create good times. Good times create soft men. Soft men create hard times.
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I’d so wish you were wrong about this, if it weren’t for that ray of hope there.
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And yet we’ll never figure it out. Because it’s been broken for a very long time.
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Your conclusion is only partially correct, Mitch. I am actually in really good shape. The problem is the REST of you humans. (Winky face emoji inserted here…)
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;>)
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Who are you including when you say “we are”. Certainly not me I hope. Your sample posts included such people. Only humble people with our meekness shaped by God have a chance to restore civility. But unfortunately many church attenders presume they’ve arrived and are part of the Republican “certainly not me” camp. I admit my bias as a conservative Christian and Republican RINO who finds value in many of the complaints people share about “my camp”.
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Well-said, Mitch. The complacency, coupled with convenience, creates a cozy corner where thinking, problem-solving, and communicating with respect is too much effort. Tag a team and jump in. Which one is closest aligned to your values? That’ll work! I’m so thankful I have a relationship with the one true authority. And I pray. For this country and the world. And as far from perfect as I am, I’ll never partner with hate and evil.
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Rock on, Karla.
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😊 I’ll give it my best!
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Oh. Yeah. Thank you Mitch!
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That last one about the Puritans is a little unnerving. Time to show the world that Christianity is a relationship with Jesus, not a religion of hate.
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To quote a phrase, we have met the enemy, and he is us.
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Thoughtful piece. Sometimes my poetic side gets out of hand.
Best,
Len Freeman
=====================
5.14.2021 [barbarians at the door]
The barbarians are at the door again
we’ve become Rome with Kim
Kardashian circuses and
no center.
Sense of community died when
we walked away from faith
leaving only vague “spiritual”
hollows
With no demand, no command,
no authority to bind or bend
or form lives into paying
attention
To other than the slimmest of
our feelings, desires and
angers at a soul-emptied
world.
The barbarians are at the door again
because we called them.
============
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I like it, Ken!
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Puritan hatred sure is a weird one, isn’t it? That goes back a good 50-60 years when we began teaching all this weird stuff through cartoons, books, and movies. So allegedly the Puritans burned witches at the stake, invited Indians to dinner so they could slaughter them all, and then enslaved black folks. Everything wrong with our country can now be blamed on the Puritans.
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And, this will continue. I think, your idea is a part of truth. No doubt, we are!
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You have absolutely nailed what is wrong with out country: our desire to find a group of scapegoats and get rid of them, so that “we” can install our superior values as the only ones this country follows. It’s scary how many people are buying into it. I used to wonder how the Nazis managed to take over Germany. Now I know.
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Well… people are problematic. I guess deep down we want everything and everyone to be uniform, to be aligned with our agenda and mindset. But, not everyone has the same thing in mind
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Great post. Reminds of of the Chesterton anecdote in which he responds to an editorial asking what’s wrong with the world.
His reply?
I am.
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G.K. nailed it in two words. I’m not surprised.
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I concur!
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https://myfaithdigital.art/2021/05/18/encouragement/
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“Until I become the problem, there is no solution”. That’s what my friend Jim always told me (over and over and over – I’m kind of a knucklehead). He also reminded me (over and over – well, you get the picture) that, “Self-exanimation coupled with prayer and meditation produces favorable results.” It seems to work for me anyway…
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What’s wrong? Sin. What’s the fix? Jesus Christ.
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Mitch,
We know sinful man is a mess, but God’s grace is the fix. Thank the Lord He knows the problem all to well so has the solution all too ready.
In Christ,
Gary
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Amen. To quote Pogo ” I have met the enemy and he is us.”
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That’s quite the interesting take on problems in the world. You managed to convey the answer in a powerful way at the end too.
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Thank you, Thaaer, and good to meet you.
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Nice to meet you as well, how long have you been blogging ?
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Going on seven years.
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so what do you usually write about then ? I’ve only started a year ago so I’m curious to see other bloggers
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Well, for starters you can check out my About page, Thaaer. I list some of the themes I regularly write about there.
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Alright, it was nice meeting you then. I’ll see you around if we cross paths blogging.
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Hey ! So appropriately expressed. Your last two concluding words are the real true fact mate.
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interesting analysis. these quora Q&A’s just further reinforces my idea that neoliberal capitalist society no longer knows what’s going on.
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I love this post. I think that relative to Facebook, Quora is a better place for having conversations with people who have different opinions (it could also be that my Facebook friends are uniquely bad at this), but still, you see a lot more finger-pointing than introspection, a lot more talking than listening or working towards collaborative solutions, etc.
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I heartily agree!
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Nicely put description of the world today.
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Powerful! Great message.
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Thank you, Deborah.
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Even the so called “Philanthropist” could be called as narcissist’s. I am no Christian, but I do get your point. World has become so gray, it’s no longer black and white.
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