Dr. Sanity

Excellent question SteveH. Does the Dr have any 'quidelines' for when 'turning the other cheek' may need to be abandoned for a more aggressive route?
Mark J | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 8:19 am | #

You made me think of a scene in the old childrens' movie "The Neverending Story" where the young hero in order to advance and grow needed to see and accept his true self.

I also notice that Islam is a religion that concentrates more on the sins of others rather than the sins of the believer. Yes Christianity does as well but at the heart of Christianity is an awareness that all (especially myself) are sinners and my biggest problem is my own sin.
Shoprat | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 9:05 am | #

A man's own vanity is a swindler that never lacks for a dupe.
james wilson | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 9:37 am | #

Mark J: I think you're expressing frustration with the inability of these people to see their own behavior. One constructive approach is to see them for what they do, and to point it out constantly.
snoring citizen | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 10:40 am | #

There seems to be a dillema. How does one combat the dark side without tapping into his own darkness? We see how the President has gone overboard with letting his opponents relentlessly attack, while he maintains civility and goes out of his way to not offend in return. "Meanwhile the dark side steadily seems to gain ground and momentum.

In a battle between two opposing forces it only takes one side to decide the rules of engagement. If one side decides biting and eye gouging is ok, then is the other just simply foolish for pretending he doesnt have to go there?"

SteveH | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 7:41 am |

You may not like this idea, but the answers to this eternal question are to be found in the study of Christianity and the acceptance of Christ.

Dr. Sanity describes for us today the very same things that Jesus taught.

While the bible uses many different names and descriptors for Satan, it is noteworthy that in the Hebrew, the devil is most often called, "The Deceiver".

Jesus, on the other hand, is often called, "The Great Physician".

At the beginning of the Judeo-Christian concept there is the acceptance that we are all "born in sin" -- and that it is only by the Grace of God that we can be saved. Nothing that WE can do will accomplish that, the "hollywood" version of Christianity, in which it is defined as an almost academic "report card" function, denies absolutely the real situation depicted in the bible. Still, many people prefer to think that their deeds alone will be the sole factor that God will use to judge them. "I've been a good person..." etc. -- always judged from the standpoint of self.

Just the fact that a group of people erect a building and put a cross on it does not represent a guarantee that they would and should be doing the right thing.

The Deceiver is once again having a field day with humanity.

.
The Machine | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 11:47 am | #

You made me think of a scene in the old childrens' movie "The Neverending Story" where the young hero in order to advance and grow needed to see and accept his true self. -- Shoprat

Shoprat, if you think the movie had scenes that come back to haunt you like that, I recommend you read Michael Ende's original book.

The first Neverending Story movie was a condensation of the first half of the book; subsequent movies have had nothing to do with the book's second half, a deceit-fueled descent into Hell for young Bastian and the long hard climb out.
Headless Unicorn Guy | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 1:33 pm | #

I often lament that while Jesus did tell us what to do when we are slapped in the face. However, he did not tell us what to do when the enemy is pushing women and children into the gas chambers....anyway...

2 years or so prior to 9/11 I took a ride with a Muslim Cab driver in NYC in the spring and I saw for the first time the violent reaction they have when confronted with scantily clad western women. He was flipping out yelling that "in his county they kill them."

I guess I was expected to be P.C. and accept his rant but being the abrasive SOB I am (that's insight), I told him franky that the problem was not with the ladies, but with him. I said been looking (and enjoying) for decades and never had the impulse to attack anyone. If I saw a little too much flesh or immodesty I'd simply look away.

It was obvious that he was not equipped to handle his own sexuality.
Wr_guy | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 1:36 pm | #

Let me get this straight: If the left is about convincing themselves that their behavior has some good intention or idealized fantasy behind it, then the right is about:

A. convincing others that their behavior has some good intention or idealized fantasy behind it.

B. convincing themselves that behavior does not have good intentions or idealized fantasy behind it.

C.?
americafirst | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 1:47 pm | #

Does the Dr have any 'quidelines' for when 'turning the other cheek' may need to be abandoned for a more aggressive route?
Assertiveness!

Islam is a religion that concentrates more on the sins of others rather than the sins of the believer.
Tribalistic!

One constructive approach is to see them for what they do, and to point it out constantly.
Rationally!
.
americafirst | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 2:01 pm | #

I think we have to a great extent mythologised the generation that won WW2. Those guys had to tap into their darksides to do what they had to accomplish.

I watched a History Channel show where some US sailors plucked a downed Japanese pilot out of the water. Almost as an aside the narrator mentioned that he was subsequently beaten to death with wrenches.

This fantasy we have of fighting off evil in a humane fashion is bordering on gross negligence at best and outright acceptance of that evil to flourish at the worst.
SteveH | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 6:01 pm | #

SteveH, My father never intended to join the U.S.Navy; WWII was an unwelcome distraction of his career goals. Yet after 12/07/41, what else was there to do? We are facing an enemy today that wants us dead with the same degree of fanaticism where diplomacy is looked at as weakness. We don't create these monsters, but we sure can enable them!
Tom TB | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 7:35 pm | #

AWESOME!
reliapundit | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 7:54 pm | #

"I often lament that while Jesus did tell us what to do when we are slapped in the face. However, he did not tell us what to do when the enemy is pushing women and children into the gas chambers....anyway..."

Wr_guy | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 1:36 pm |

Ah, the "feelgood gospel".

Jesus was actually referring to an actual real slap in the face, a custom that still exists in the middle east today, in which the end result would be two idiots trying to kill each other. Over a slap in the face.

As to what to do about evil in the form of individual or nation, or as you put it, "when the enemy is pushing women and children into the gas chambers," Jesus was explicit:

Luke 22:36
Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.

Now, why would My Lord tell me that it is more important to have my sword than the clothes on my back, do you think?

Do not be a mislead modern intellectual here, the short sword was the handgun of the day, the long or broad sword, the rifle. Older by centuries and in trained hands can be far more deadlier, too. I've never seen an article delineating the "knockdown power" or lack thereof about a sword.

Luke 11:21
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.

"Fully armed" in that era would likely have included sword, spear, longbow, quite possibly a few other implements of warfare, too.

Hmm, it seems that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms preceded the US Constitution by a few years...

Joel 3:9-10
Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”

He also said, "For as you treat the least of these is how you treated me."

Christians are told many times in the New Testament to be faithful.

Do you know what the Marine Corps motto is, what it means, and most importantly, where it came from?

Semper Fidelius.

.
The Machine | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 10:48 pm | #

"Let me get this straight: If the left is about convincing themselves that their behavior has some good intention or idealized fantasy behind it, then the right is about:

A. convincing others that their behavior has some good intention or idealized fantasy behind it.

B. convincing themselves that behavior does not have good intentions or idealized fantasy behind it.

C.?"
americafirst | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 1:47 pm |

I cannot speak for all conservatives and it would be absurd to do so.

But I can speak for myself:

My personal convictions are not about "convincing" anyone else at all.

Matter of fact I don't give a crap about what you do as long as it does not look like it could hurt me or others.

Cross that one line and we have a problem.

.
The Machine | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 10:53 pm | #

This essay made me think of a recent event in Washington, D.C. Jane Fonda had spoken at an anti-war rally, which was occasioned by some spirited displays of Bush Derangement Syndromeand and demands for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Afterwards, a Fox News reporter asked Fonda if she was concerned about what might happen if we abandoned Iraq at this critical time. He reminded her of the aftermath of abandoning South Vietnam to the communists, who then rounded up and slaughtered more than two million people. Fonda mumbled something to the effect that those mass murders were somehow our fault.

It was obvious she had not the slightest concern for the aftermath of our withdrawal from southeast Asia in 1975, and she has not the slightest concern for what may happen if we pull out of Iraq in 2007. In fact, I believe she would welcome a repeat of the 1975-79 genocide as some kind of vindication of her moral superiority. That is truly the Dark Side of human nature, and the scary thing is a large number of Democrats in Congress are just like Jane Fonda.
GnuCarSmell | Email | Homepage | 05.14.07 - 11:49 pm | #

The Machine,

Nice display of Christian toughness. I assume you liked “the left” a little better when they laid down their lives for Mother Russia?
-----
”The only way a Chavez, or a Castro, or a Ahmadinejad; or groups like Hamas and Al Qaeda can maintain their control over others is if they succeed in externalizing the blame for all their own pathology”

..or taking advantage of 'weaker' personality disorders than they themselves have? This is where I have problems with the “cool aid drinkers” of any persuasion.
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americafirst | Email | Homepage | 05.15.07 - 1:51 am | #

Mr Machine,

I must thank you for your theology lesson.

Must say, it makes complete sense to boot.

Regards,

Wr_guy
Wr_guy | Email | Homepage | 05.16.07 - 2:22 pm | #

By gosh, I think Dr. Sanity has nailed it again with this article. For those who are concerned merely about appearances over reality, I heard a motto that answers it quite well, the "LGAS" syndrome - "Looks Good, Ain't Shiite" (to modify it slightly).

And to americasfirst about left vs. right:
Left - subjugation of the individual to the collective (think the Borg from Star Trek).
Right - emphasizes individual liberty first.
Robert | Email | Homepage | 05.16.07 - 8:59 pm | #

It is part of the reason I became a psychiatrist--to try and understand that dark side of human nature (ok...also to try and understand my own dark side, if I'm completely honest).

This is proof-- PROOF I TELL YOU!!!!-- that Bush supporters aren't human! They hold their dark side is NOT HUMAN!!!1

;^)
Foxfier | Email | Homepage | 05.17.07 - 3:43 am | #

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