To create a society, give it a good origin story upon which to build.
Take Adam and Eve… A man and a woman created by one all knowing, all seeing being. Ribs. Light. Dominion over plants and the beasts of the field, etc etc. Skip to the good part: the serpent, forbidden fruit, knowledge of Good and Evil…Once the pair are expelled for eating the apple they must cleave together as one or surely perish, to tame the wilderness, surviving and thriving by the sweat and cunning of their collective brow. The two working together satisfied and actualized the Big Three: food, shelter and sex and from there, being fruitful and multiplying, many branches of a family did grow, leading human evolution down the road toward a civilized and prosperous society, with many starts and stops and bumps and lumps along the way.
Now, to destroy a society, de-story it. Take away the cogent narrative and replace it with one that breeds chaos and confusion.
Take Adam and Eve…A man and a woman created by one all knowing, all seeing being. Instead of giving them an imperative to leave the safety and security of their Eden to go out into the world and succeed by their combined strength and wiles, promise them safe spaces forever as long as they do what their self-appointed shepherds tell them. Deny God and take Him out of the equation altogether so the only higher powers are those godless gods known as “the experts” who are calling the shots. Delegitimize the man and the woman as counterparts who, when comingled, are the building blocks of society. Pervert the essence of human nature and make us doubt who and what we are.
The gay and lesbian movement of 20 years ago has morphed into the LGBTQ+ serpent that’s normalized the notion that feelings and not science are what define a woman. As Voltaire said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” The commie-fascist revolutions of the past have borne out the truth of this old expression through the industrialized genocides in Soviet gulags, Nazi concentration camps, Mao’s Great Leap Forward and the spectacle-hunting madness of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge.
History teaches that the godless leaders who, through blinding hubris, have made themselves into gods in quest of some future utopian heaven that is prima facie unattainable because it denies reality as it is, invariably can coerce and cajole their people into accepting hell on Earth.
No joke!
Pride Comes Before The Fall.
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That part "all seeing, all knowing" got me expelled from a religion class
(Rom-cath) at age of ten for asking the priest: how come God didn't see
it coming, being omniscient and all (I didn't use that big word though).
And I wasn't wicked child or anything, just trying to understand. Your piece just reminded me of it. Whether it explains my life time cynicism and scepticism I do not know. Thanks Ted I enjoyed it.