[asa] Re: "Hidden" Theological Issues with Theistic Evolution (was Re: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More")

At 11:45 PM 12/3/2007, mlucid@aol.com wrote:

>Envy, huh? -Mike (Friend of ASA)

@ Yeah. Envy.

In literature, none have treated envy more powerfully than Dante (see
Canto XIV, Purgatorio). In theology, see Aquinas. Like wrath and
pride, envy is love perverted. People often confuse jealousy and
envy. The latter is not the desire to have something someone else
has. It is the desire to deprive someone of something they
have. 5/01/2006 05:55:00 AM

"....if we could somehow eliminate envy from the human genome, there
would be almost no reason for the left to exist. They would
instantly lose that which animates them, for example, envy
masquerading as justice or economic theory.

In order to be happy, we must all keep our envy in check, because
envy is the opposite of gratitude. Envy does not appreciate what one
has, only what one doesn't have. And our capacity to imagine what we
do not have--and that someone else is enjoying it--is literally
infinite, as is envy. .." Friday, April 28,
2006 <http://tinyurl.com/jhwlp>http://tinyurl.com/jhwlp
By far the best general study of envy is Helmut Schoeck's classic,
Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior (in sidebar). The only other source
I know of that discusses the critical importance of envy is in the
psychoanalytic literature, which unfortunately is too technical and
specialized for the layperson.

I haven't read Envy in a while, but it contains many arresting ideas
that have always stayed with me. One important one is that envy is
ubiquitous in primitive groups, and in fact, is the very thing that
keeps them primitive and undeveloped.

In order to advance into c ap italism, human beings had to get past
the "envy barrier" and tolerate the idea that some people will have
more than others.

In primitive groups, envy is so pervasive that no one is allowed to
have more than anyone else--they are trapped in a "zero sum" theory
of economics, just as are many li ber als today.

To naive leftists, a primitive culture may look like an egalitarian
paradise, but it is actually a paranoid and envious hell, with
everyone fearful of the "evil eye" of his envious neighbor should he
acquire more than him. For this reason, primitive groups mindlessly
destroy surpluses or engage in sacrifices to their "envious" gods.
Since envy is ubiquitous, we must have a cultural means of expressing
and channeling it. This is how I regard the left on a psychological
level, as the institutional means through which envy may express itself.
For example, this is the role of trial lawyers, who are naturally the
greatest contributors to the D*emoc ratic party. Most--obviously not
all--trial lawyers are free-floating agents of envy, on the prowl for
deep pockets that they might empty on behalf of their envious client.

The socialist countries of Western Europe are driven by the attempt
to placate envy, which only ends up creating more of it. Once you
inculcate a sense of entitlement in your people, you have opened the
floodgates of envy.

<http://tinyurl.com/jhwlp>If you have an "ear" for envy, you will
detect it everywhere in the l ib eral world. In psychoanalytic
parlance, it is also called "spoiling," or devaluing.
Again, because the envious person cannot tolerate the good, he
attacks the good and makes it bad.
I'll be right back. I'm going to go over to Huffingtonp*ssed right
now and prove to you what I mean......

Okay, I'm back. Here are some comments, plucked at random. This first
one is not actually about United 93, but it so perfectly demonstrates
how envy operates, that I'm including it: [snip] Friday, April 28,
2006 United 93: No Heroic Deed Goes Unspoiled by the
Left http://tinyurl.com/jhwlp

~ Janice

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Janice Matchett <janmatch@earthlink.net>
>To: mlucid@aol.com
>Cc: asa@calvin.edu
>Sent: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 10:38 am
>Subject: Re: "Hidden" Theological Issues with Theistic Evolution
>(was Re: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More")
>
>At 11:22 AM 12/3/2007, <mailto:mlucid@aol.com>mlucid@aol.com wrote:
>>Perhaps I should say the average Christian lefty. But your r ight
>>w ing stereotyping of all lefties as even worse than I could
>>imagine takes the whole thing down a notch making it just that much
>>more unlikely that you will be able to rectify the problems you
>>perceive. The love thine enemy thing is real, real tough row to
>>hoe, I realize, but it's an enormously powerful message of Christ.
>>-Mike (Friend of ASA)
>
>@ Of course I would never presume to think I could "rectify" the
>envy and ingratitude that drives leftist behavior.
>
>The only way the spiritual pathology of leftism can be cured is by
>consciously cultivating a spirit of gratitude. In order to do this,
>one "will have to stop comparing himself to others, but for the
>envious person this is difficult to do, since their envy is a sort
>of addiction. At the very least, it is a central organizing
>principle in the leftist psyche, so that abandoning it will lead to
>feelings of guilt and self-reproach. For example, a leftist who
>attempts to overcome his envious mind parasite might hear the voice
>if an internal propagandist telling him that he is bad and greedy,
>just like those evil c apit alists! [r ight-w ingers]"
>
><http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2007/04/eighth-commandment-of-nihilism-whats.html>http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2007/04/eighth-commandment-of-nihilism-whats.html
>
>~ Janice
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Janice Matchett <<mailto:janmatch@earthlink.net>janmatch@earthlink.net>
>>To: <mailto:asa@calvin.edu>asa@calvin.edu
>>Cc: <mailto:mlucid@aol.com>mlucid@aol.com
>>Sent: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 10:05 am
>>Subject: Re: "Hidden" Theological Issues with Theistic Evolution
>>(was Re: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More")
>>
>>At 10:49 AM 12/3/2007, Janice Matchett wrote:
>>
>>>On Nov 29, 2007 11:26 AM, Mike wrote: I don't see you average
>>>lefty (like me, traditionally) backing the destruction of human
>>>embryos if there is any alternative whatsoever .."
>>
>>>At 10:41 AM 12/3/2007, Mike wrote: "...what is right and wrong,
>>>and what is good for a human to do and what is bad, ..."

@ This is how todays "average lefty" defines right and wrong:
<http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933850/posts?page=9#9>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933850/posts?page=9#9

How is a "traditional" lefty different in his definitions?

~ Janice

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Received on Tue Dec 4 12:44:12 2007