[Peace-discuss] America is engulfed in a crisis of meaning—and it's killing us | Opinion

[C G Estabrook]

Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.

And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people, and declared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth many parables.

He sought profitable words, and wrote words most right, and full of truth.

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd.

More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh.

Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man:

And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for every error, whether it be good or evil.

--Ecclesiastes 12:12ff.


> On Dec 4, 2018, at 8:55 PM, E. Wayne Johnson via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> I am not much of a fan of Mr. Shapiro but I did see 
> a bit of wit attributed to him, a snappy
> comeback to some weird deranged chick about the Boy Scouts.
> 
> Ben Shapiro may understand the so-called Judaeo-Christian tradition as he wants to imagine it
> but the first thing that comes to mind to those seeking meaning in life is
> 
> Vanitas vanitatum, dixit Ecclesiastes ; vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.
> 
> It's kind of secret but it is a solution within itself.
> 
> Interesting choice of words there "suicide jumped..."
> I am not sure what the similar catchy phrase would be for ODing
> and maybe Ben didnt either.  
> Oh.  I got it.
> "...lives wasted in drug overdoses rushed upwards by ..."
> 
> Drug overdosing is really pretty dull, 
> it's sort of like being sick, I'd think.
> It aint much fun when ya think about it.
> 
> I was mystified by this business of atomization of individuals.
> My grandmother had these perfume bottles on her dresser
> that I never saw her use but I supposed that she atomized herself 
> some times in the past before I was a boy.
> 
> I had read something about atoms and was always a little 
> afraid of those atomizers, and my grandma indeed bade me
> to touch them not.
> 
> ...atomizing... classical liberals...
> I dont much feature a Thomas Paine or John Locke spraying himself with eau de 
> anything (although maybe Oscar Wilde or even Newton [Isaac, not John] might,
> but I am not sure if they were really classical liberals...)
> so I really dont know what Ben is going after.  I found some reference to it under
> Bill Moyers but he used so many other words that I didnt understand
> that I was like a grade school student looking up some enigmatic polysyllabic 
> sesquipedalianism and finding another inscrutable word as the definition.
> 
> I would guess that there is somewhat a loss of values in yer post-Modern America
> (ok, ok, I used a c not the standard k)
> but those values aren't exactly the express domain of the so-called JudaeoChristian
> domain.  Those are pretty much standard values and it is a good thing
> when the JudaeoChristians actually do embrace them.
> 
> Any one can figure those values out on their own if they
> sit and think about it.  Does anyone have to tell you
> what is good?  The Creator is revealed in his Creation.
> 
> The call for enlightenment is a very interesting one but I am suspicious 
> of Mr. Shapiro that what he is offering up is not exactly enlightenment, 
> or freedom, either.
> 
> It is hard to ignore that the USA is regressing and has been a has been in the 
> making for quite a little while.  
> 
> One possible future is muddling despair.  
> In some ways this is happening already.
> 
> Another is physical violence and physical fragmentation
> not just mild disagreement and rock throwing and funny hats.
> Actually that future is rather likely.
> 
> Yet another is spiritual revival.
> That is not impossible.
> 
> Finem loquendi pariter omnes audiamus. 
> Deum time, et mandata ejus observa : hoc est enim omnis homo, 
> et cuncta quæ fiunt adducet Deus in judicium pro omni errato, 
> sive bonum, sive malum illud sit.
> 
> ewj
> 
> Szoke, Ron via Peace-discuss wrote:
>> From: "Szoke, Ron" <r-szoke at illinois.edu>
>> Subject: Ben Shapiro: America is engulfed in a crisis of meaning—and it's killing us | Opinion
>> Date: December 4, 2018
>> 
>> http://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-america-engulfed-crisis-meaning-and-its-killing-us-opinion-1238555
>> 
>> 
>> 
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