Hard Nobel Truths

Pulverizing a Hard Truth

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 13, Masa'il 02, 166 BE

"We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflicts in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified." (President Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. The day after the speech it was the quote of the day for the New York Times.)

This truth, if it be such, is hard indeed. The ice caps are melting and sea levels rising, but this truth remains immovable and unquestioned by those with real power. Yet there lies behind it an even harder truth: as long as the lion's share of the world's wealth is squandered on weaponry to defend nations from one another and, failing that excuse, from terrorists, there will never be enough money to retool, de-carbonize and defend our planet from the hydra's heads that threaten it from all sides. As long as this hard truth is unbroken, the Nobel Peace Prize, or any talk of peace at all, will be an empty sham. Until we break down such stumbling blocks to world government in our minds, there will be no hope for Kyoto, for Copenhagen, or ultimately for any of us.

Somehow we must soften and break the world's hard, ugly truths before we break our heads on them.

A week before Obama's speech, a well-known historian, James Bradley, wrote an insightful editorial in the NY Times describing what was going on behind the scenes when the first U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace, Teddy Roosevelt, earned the prize (Diplomacy That Will Live in Infamy, James Bradley, December 6, 2009; Theodore Roosevelt, not F.D.R., had a greater effect on Japans decision to attack Pearl Harbor. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/opinion/06bradley.html). To sum it up briefly, Bradley wondered why his father, a marine, had to fight his Second World War in the Pacific, rather than Europe where one would have expected. As a historian it was not hard for Bradley to find out exactly why. Here is what happened.

A little over a century ago Theodore Roosevelt won his Nobel Peace Prize under false circumstances by taking credit for brokering the peace between Japan and Russia -- Baha'is are well familiar with this event, since the signing of the treaty took place at or nearby what is now Green Acre Baha'i Summer School. Roosevelt's acceptance of the prize was based on a lie, since it was Japan, not the U.S., which had secretly initiated the negotiations. If he had been honest he would have refused to accept the prize, but -- and here is another hard truth -- in an atmosphere of secrecy honest dealing is impossible. This historian traces the cause of Japan's attack on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor to Teddy Roosevelt's clear "You go, girl!" signal to Japan that her successful surprise attack on Russia, a clear violation of international law, was acceptable, even praiseworthy behaviour. Later, of course, the American role in the Second World War was shaped by Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

The second US president to win the Nobel Peace Prize was, ironically, the only one directly to take on the hard truth that Obama so frankly brought up in his Nobel acceptance speech. That was Woodrow Wilson. The hard truth almost literally broke his head, since he was impaired during the Paris peace talks, and eventually died of a brain aneurism. In ending World War One, Wilson valiantly set up the international organization that became known as the League of Nations but failed when his own senate refused to join the League. Wilson died a broken and disappointed man. Had he succeeded, there would have been no World War II, no Cold War, and we would have no problem averting pollution and the melting of the poles.

Clearly, Wilson was the only one of the first two presidents to deserve the Nobel. In fact, he was the only one to deserve the name "leader" or "statesman," since a leader by definition leads, he goes beyond past ways and presuppositions even in the face of disapproval. Roosevelt, like all heads of state under the hard rules of Realpolitik, was immune, out of reach of all law and morality. But imagine if he were not. Imagine what would happen to a beat cop if he witnessed a mugging, praised the mugger and helped him "make up" with his victim, and then went around pretending to be a peacemaker. He would be in jail, he would not be accepting prizes and commendations. But heads of state are beyond such restrictions.

Although Barak Obama is on record calling himself a world citizen, at least he is being clear about what that means for him. Is he taking Roosevelt's path over that of Wilson? Sometimes I think he is, sometimes not. I read that sentence over and over,

"There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified."

Sometimes this seems to state the obvious, that law and world order will have to be backed by force. But the next time I read it, it seems to be renouncing international law completely. Obama continued: "To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason." Hmm. When truth is that hard, it only makes sense that it should be caused by failings in our capacity to reason. Roosevelt was by this definition cynical, but at least he had the discretion to keep his contempt for international law a secret.

Just think, Germany in both wars, and Japan in the Second, and Russia in the Cold War, and Pol Pot, and just about any aggressor or villain you can name, all can just as candidly say that they "found the use of force not only necessary but morally justified." Osama Bin Laden, for heaven's sakes, finds force necessary and morally justified. Either you believe in law, a law that applies to all equally, or you do not. Otherwise we are all subject to "might makes right." This is the hard, indefeasible standard of naked self-interest that is openly being set on the table at Copenhagen.

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Photo of Robert Murray with portrait of the Master

From Drop Box

This photo was forwarded to me; I think it originally comes from Nancie Millington...


"Ali went to the National Art Gallery with Michael yesterday and told us that she saw a photo from a collection on display of a bass player and that there was a picture of someone we know on the wall in the background. So I searched around for awhile on the Art Gallery site to see who had an exhibition there now of photos and I found an artist/photographer whose name was Gibor Szilasi and the bassist' name in the photo was Robert Murray. I went to Gibor's web site and searched and found this photo. Check out the photo on the wall behind him! This photo was taken in 1969 in Montreal. Check out Gibor's web site on Google if you want to see some other great black and white photos!"

Remover of Difficulties for the Persecuted Baha'is

Is the Indian Barbie a Baha'i?

From Drop Box

Right to Advice

Wise Counsel; A Universal Human Right and Obligation

Three Magisterial Orders

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 11, Qawl 19, 166 BE

Précis: The 24th Chapter of Panorthosia is one of the most important documents in the history of political science, yet it is all but unknown. Here I point at only some of its lessons for lasting reform. Using the Roman model, Comenius proposed that corruption can by avoided if official administration is supervised by three kinds or "orders" of magistrate, each concerned with piety, peace and order, respectively. Source: Panorthosia, Ch. 24, para 1, pp. 110-111

Society thrives only when we can depend upon law and order. Traditionally in the West we pay more attention to law than order, and the order we maintain serves the status quo, not necessarily the true object of law and society summed up in the Roman saying: Salus popoli suprema lex, the safety of the people is the supreme law. Especially in English speaking lands, rather than laying everything out, we let the invisible hand of Laissez Faire rule our daily lives. We pay for a large, elaborate legal system to dole out punishments, but we neglect to reward planners and social benefactors. Honors and rewards go to business and the military, not to those who benefit officialdom. John Amos Comenius envisioned a corrective, a balanced "teaching, law and order system" run by magistrates in every center of power.

"The world will be more orderly if every political system, or state or city has magistrates who are devoted to piety, peace and order." (Panorthosia, Ch. 24, para 1, p. 110)

He envisioned three types or "orders" of magistrate, consuls, judges and ephors. The consul upholds piety and moral behaviour by offering advice to all comers. A second magisterial profession is concerned with peace, the judge, is trained not only in the law but also dispute resolution. The judge settles disputes and lawsuits that slip past the consuls. These, he said, should be pious and righteous themselves, yet be tolerant, unwilling to use force and compulsion. The third type are ephors or censors who are primarily concerned with order. They see that everything is done in proper order. To do that, they must "have a most observant eye" and be willing to assert authority over the first two orders of judge.

The Consul

The consul is a teaching magistrate, expert in the use of publicity for raising the general standard of moderation, ethics and piety. Consuls are not only teachers but also Ombudsmen and what are now called public relations experts, except that they are a regulated, scientific and autonomous profession. They take questions, explain rules and regulations, offer apologia for the law and give general counsel to everybody. They offer preventive medicine, flagging forensic diseases in early stages. They aim to solve public and private difficulties before lawbreaking enters anybody's mind. These magistrates would, in Comenius's words, "make themselves fully available to all men at stated times and give advice on all kinds of business for the purpose of smoothing out any public or private difficulties." This profession is affiliated with the College of Light, the science and education wing of government, and they are paid in the eduterra currency. The consul has a budget of grants to distribute at his or her discretion.

As for the qualifications of consuls, Comenius held that they must be "very wise men and know how to inform the ignorant." As good teachers they can explain the law in clear terms and convince both officials and the general public alike of its fairness. Where real unfairness exists in spite of the law, or because of it, they know how to take the problem to the proper authority for resolution.

Judges and Ephors

The second order of magistrate are judges, whose main concern is peace. These guardians or justices of the peace adjudicate disagreements and resolve disputes. They should be "very righteous and reluctant to use compulsion." They are employed by the political wing of government, the Dicastery of Peace, whose budgetary currency is the paxterra.

The Third order of magistrate is the ephor, senior to the first two orders of magistrate, who "sees to it that everything is done in proper order." Similar to the ancient Roman post of censor, the ephor sees to it that rules and initiatives promote the social good and further the goals and plans of the community. The ephor is an officer of the Ecumenical Consistory, and is paid and budgeted in its currency, the ecuterra. As such, he or she is especially concerned that religions devote themselves exclusively to spiritual needs and that inter-faith relations remain harmonious.

Purpose of Magistracy

The similarities among these three orders of magistrate, the PR specialist, the guardian and the planner who rules them, are greater than their differences. "Their main qualification is that they should all have the knowledge, the will and the ability to do good works." Comenius seems to have the magistrates in mind as the solution to problem of corruption in high places, the problem that some would have us solve with constant video surveillance.

Instead of surveillance by hidden cameras, magistrates would investigate the slightest abuse of power. They act as Big Brother not to the people but to their leaders. Their role is to see to it that leaders not only refrain from exploitation but show before all else the highest example of piety and rectitude.

"It is essential that those who are appointed to rule over others should themselves be honest, wise, pious, brave, and vigilant, since nothing can rule unless it is right, nor enlighten unless it is full of light. It is absurd for kings to be ruled, or for leaders to be led by other men. The real sun does not need oil poured into it."

Without magistrates, living supervisors of the reality the law rules over, the law really is blind, in a bad way as well as in the sense of being impartial. Rules and regulations do not care or nurture. Legality is a blunt instrument that, applied automatically, can be easily abused. It uses negative punishments for violations of the law but does not reward upright behaviour. In contrast to this, the triad of magistrates are pro-active and positive, and make the law into a more precise and elegant tool for social improvement.

Right to Comprehensive Counsel

Most of all, the magistrates dole out the most effective reward of all for citizens as autonomous agents. Not money, but advice. Today people have come to realize the value of wise counsel and enlightening guidance. An entire self-help publishing industry has grown up devoted to encouraging and counselling people as to what to do and how to think and act. The three magistrates would supervise a system where everybody has ready access to a roomful of aids and advisors. These advisors would be called in automatically as soon as metric on an individual's dashboard data display indicates a need. This will allow even the lowest person on the totem pole to wield a very complex set of variables without folly or blundering.

"Nevertheless great magnates (who have many heavy responsibilities) are allowed to have assistants who co-operate with them in drawing up their policies and putting them into action, as a safeguard against error and its ill-effects, just as our mind, which rules its own body like a queen, is provided with a guard of senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Therefore every king, prince, consul, and even the individual citizen should have (1) his own preacher, as a guardian of his conscience, and a counsellor in the things which concern God, (2) his own lawyer as a supervisor in the things which concern man, (3) his own philosopher or sage to guide him in the business of life, and (4) his own doctor as guardian and director of his physical health." (pp. 110-111)

Traditionally only heads of state and the super-rich could afford a board of select advisors. Comenius contends that this need not be the case. It is the duty of the state to see that even ordinary people can benefit from not only the best information -- this we take for granted now that we have the Internet -- but also the wisest advice from high-level experts. We have no excuse not to make this a fundamental human right. Once we have this right, we must set magistrates over them to see that, in the words of the Gospel, our light never becomes darkness.

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Soul as Mystery

The Unfathomable Quality of the Soul

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 11, Qawl 19, 166 BE

A friend requested that I share a selection from my collection of quotations about the soul as an unfathomable mystery. Rather than burden any soul with quotes about the soul, I have selected some brief citations from "Ancient Sources" and the section devoted to the Writings of Baha'u'llah.

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The Soul as Eternal Mystery: Ancient Sources

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The word 'mystery' (mysterion) comes from the Greek verb muo, to shut or close the lips or eyes.

"For you formed my inmost being." (Ps 139:13)

And in the earth there are signs for those who are sure, And in your own souls (too); will you not then see? (Qur'an 51:20-1, Shakir tr)

"Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

"You could not in your going find the ends of the soul, though you traveled the whole way; so deep is its Logos." (Heraclitus, fr. 45)

"I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled [poets] to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean." (Socrates, In "Apology," sct. 21, by Plato)

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The Soul as Eternal Mystery: Baha'u'llah

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"Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality, this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God, thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human understanding, and marketh the culmination of man's development." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, 165-166) [for details about the original Tablet from which this comes, see The Revelation of Baha'u'llah, vol. 2, pp. 144-5]

PHW 72. O MY SERVANT!

Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer's knowledge. Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world.

PHW 72. O MY SERVANT!

Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer's knowledge. Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world.

PHW 10. O SON OF DESIRE!

Give ear unto this: Never shall mortal eye recognize the everlasting Beauty, nor the lifeless heart delight in aught but in the withered bloom. For like seeketh like, and taketh pleasure in the company of its kind.

"Thou hast asked Me concerning the nature of the soul. Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before Him. If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually, return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim to self and passion, and will, in the end, sink in their depths." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, LXXXII, 158)

"Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty... Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality, this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God, thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human understanding, and marketh the culmination of man's development. (Gleanings, pp. 164, 164-5)

"Imperishable dominion hath exclusively apertained unto the One true God and His loved ones and will continue to pertain unto them everlastingly. The glory that hath shone forth from the horizon of eternity rest upon thee and upon such as have taken fast hold of the Cord of God that no man can sever." (Tablets, 259)

"How often hath a sinner, at the hour of death, attained to the essence of faith, and, quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken his flight unto the celestial Concourse. And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul's ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire." (Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, 194)

"This servant appealeth to every diligent and enterprising soul to exert his utmost endeavour and arise to rehabilitate the conditions in all regions and to quicken the dead with the living waters of wisdom and utterance, by virtue of the love he cherisheth for God, the One, the Peerless, the Almighty, the Beneficent." (Baha'u'llah, Tablets, 172)

"I swear by Thy glory, O Beloved of my soul! I am bewildered when I contemplate the tokens of Thy handiwork, and the evidences of Thy might, and find myself completely unable to unravel the mystery of the least of Thy signs, how much more to apprehend Thine own Self." (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations, 303)

"Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, 46-47)

"Who is it that can claim to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence, and what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery?" (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, 60)

"Verily I say, the human soul is, in its essence, one of the signs of God, a mystery among His mysteries. It is one of the mighty signs of the Almighty, the harbinger that proclaimeth the reality of all the worlds of God. Within it lieth concealed that which the world is now utterly incapable of apprehending. Ponder in thine heart the revelation of the Soul of God that pervadeth all His Laws, and contrast it with that base and appetitive nature that hath rebelled against Him, that forbiddeth men to turn unto the Lord of Names, and impelleth them to walk after their lusts and wickedness. Such a soul hath, in truth, wandered far in the path of error..." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, 160-161)

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An easier way to learn a language

Lingq method of learning a language promo video. For more go to lingq.com

Taylor Family in the 1950's

 

Copenhagen secret betrayal detailed

Democracy Now! Wednesday, December 9, 2009

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/9/headlines



See Naomi Klein's comments about the reverse Robin Hood rich nations.

Cosmopolitan Dialectics

Series on Dialectics in a Cosmopolitan Condition


The Plugged-In Meeting

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 09, Qawl 17, 166 BE

Dialectics is the cure for the partisanship, the "isms" and ideologies that afflict the body politic today. Its prime purpose is to dissipate the spirit of contention, protest and opposition by pointing the spotlight at universal truths that everybody, or almost everybody, can agree upon. It is a praxiology, a study that is clinical, that informs decision-making. With the parable of the light under a bushel in mind, John Amos Comenius articulated this goal with his usual eloquence.

"Each of these should not only have truth, but also the appearance of truth, so that it is not like light from a basin but as lightning from heaven, a veritable thunderbolt of God which terrifies all things and drives them forth. I mean that such brightness should attend the new Universal Philosophy, Religion and Politics that they are not obliged to refute any opposition, and there should be no need of pseudo-philosophies, pseudo-religions, and pseudo-politics, which must retreat like vanishing shadows and collapse altogether." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 10, para 42, p. 169)

Comenius had different terminology, like "pansophy" and "philosophy of saints," but since there are differences of emphasis I will stick with the Platonic term "dialectics," by which I mean a systematic application of the Socratic method designed to impress upon every human on earth the essentials of wisdom and all that should be common knowledge.

As a profession, the dialectician answers this daunting challenge first of all by running specially designed meetings in the region or neighbourhood under his or her purview. As mentioned, a dialectician will have already gained a great deal of experience in the early phase of her career before the age of fifty. Like Socrates did in ancient Athens, at this time she engages only in direct, face-to-face conversations with local residents of the hillside housing development.

The made-for-television movie "The Ron Clark Story" depicts the sort of self-imposed challenge that a dialectician would need to answer in order to qualify for the wider responsibilities of the second phase of her career. The story, based on real events, is of a fifth grade teacher who changed from a privileged primary school to one in Harlem, where he took on the worst class the worst school had to offer. He taught them a set of rules based on common courtesy and family values, and in a brief time had them performing better in tests than any other class in the city.

No matter what a dialectician's original trade in her early years, her progress would be from collecting a string of degrees but rather from following the principle of "go for the need" that Ron Clark exemplified. A cook, for example, would take on the tackiest greasy spoon and make it into a four-star restaurant. An architect or city planner might make a slum into a thriving, vibrant neighbourhood, and so forth.

As mentioned, the second, "platonic" phase of the dialectician's career begins at age fifty. Here the philosopher generalizes her ability to take initiative from her own circle to a wider one where she tutors, animates and supervises the initiatives of others. She also takes on more generalized responsibilities, including animating media events in the LBC (Local Broadcasting Cooperative), a locally-oriented media outlet that is owned collectively and run by local tradespersons, educators and other professionals.

These "plugged-in" meetings inform locals about the world plan and suggest where locals can "plug" their own initiatives into its goals and principles. The meetings take place in the neighbourhood’s war and peace room, a large common space designed to put every relevant chart and statistic about the local situation at the dialectician's fingertips. Here the dialectician engages a live audience of several dozen citizens in a composite Socratic dialogue.

Depending upon the situation, the participants may be volunteers, appointed, chosen by lot, or a combination of the three; they may come as individuals or as entire households. By a "composite" answer, I mean that in answer to a question calling for a "yes" or "no" answer, what the dialectician responds to is an average of all responses that audience members punch into their clickers. A large screen in the background shows the results of polls and other statistics to compare local ideas and responses with those in different contexts, including the opinions of all humankind and of comparable localities. These dialogues are broadcast live on the LBC and also are made available in summary form on the local network, so that every responsible citizen can forge a role in the overall plan of humanity.

Thus the dialectician's LBC dialog is more "platonic" than "Socratic" in the sense that it is not exclusively devoted to Socrates’ Elenchis (that is, stripping away prejudices in order to get at the truth) but like Plato's dialogs it also aspires to public, literary and tendentious purposes.

These meetings also serve as keynote for calibrating rewards on the virtual dashboard displays of residents in that locality.

The needs in every place are different, so I will use where I live, Haldimand County, as an example. Studies by epidemiologists determined a decade ago that Haldimand has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the nation. Only last year I lost a friend and neighbour, Anne Nichols, to a fatal coronary infarction. The experts claim ignorance as to why a rural area should have such high mortality, though it seems pretty clear to me that our coal-fired Nanticoke power generating station is a prime suspect. The doctors suggested that Haldimand make recreational and fitness facilities, such as pools and gymnasia, more available to residents. Beyond that, there seems nothing more they can do about it.

In the UCS, dialecticians would devote their careers to pinpointing the causes of such problems in their locale. For simplicity, let us assume that they only uncover the two causes of heart disease that I have already mentioned, the miasma of coal smog emanating from the towering Nanticoke smokestack, and our lack of exercise and active recreation.

Driving through the countryside, I have noticed that under windless conditions a thin layer of white coal smog sinks into low-lying areas. It actually looks quite beautiful from afar; to the uninitiated, it resembles low lying mist in the valley. Only when you enter the smoke do your eyes start to squint, your head to ache and the air becomes unbreathable.

In the first place Haldimand was chosen as a location for this power generation facility, one of the two largest polluters in North America, because it has a small population that is conservative and politically quiescent. In a UCS there would be no need for partisanship or protest, statistics alone would be enough to set off the alarm bells. With dialecticians leading local media, awareness of the problem would be raised automatically. Plugged-in meetings would call for local initiatives to respond to the dagger of pollution aiming straight at our hearts. Homes in low lying places would be alerted and evacuated when the smog sets in too thick.
I should note that Nanticoke was set to be shut down five years ago as a solemn election promise of the new provincial government. This means that we still have only three more years of "Real Soon Now" mode, patiently waiting for the next delay the time it is slated to be mothballed.

Although we already have political mechanisms for responding to gross threats like pollution, lifestyle adjustments generally fall below our present public policy radar. The UCS, on the other hand, is specially designed to make such subtle adjustments to our way of life. If the redesign of neighbourhoods for health that hillside housing involves somehow were not enough to eliminate heart problems, plugged-in meetings could raise awareness. Dialecticians would adjust the economy and reward system to make it profitable for residents to get off their car seats and sofas and exercise their bodies. The meetings would also dredge up ideas for improvements from individuals and households, and see to it that these initiatives are carried out reliably.

Dialecticians would not be the only profession involved in such social problem solving. Next time we will discuss a complementary trade, Comenius's three orders of magistrate.

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Applied Cosmopolitan Dialectics

Series on Dialectics in a Cosmopolitan Condition

The Plugged-In Meeting

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 09, Qawl 17, 166 BE

Dialectics is the cure for the partisanship, the "isms" and ideologies that afflict the body politic today. Its prime purpose is to dissipate the spirit of contention, protest and opposition by pointing the spotlight at universal truths that everybody, or almost everybody, can agree upon. It is a praxiology, a study that is clinical, that informs decision-making. With the parable of the light under a bushel in mind, John Amos Comenius articulated this goal with his usual eloquence.

"Each of these should not only have truth, but also the appearance of truth, so that it is not like light from a basin but as lightning from heaven, a veritable thunderbolt of God which terrifies all things and drives them forth. I mean that such brightness should attend the new Universal Philosophy, Religion and Politics that they are not obliged to refute any opposition, and there should be no need of pseudo-philosophies, pseudo-religions, and pseudo-politics, which must retreat like vanishing shadows and collapse altogether." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 10, para 42, p. 169)

Comenius had different terminology, like "pansophy" and "philosophy of saints," but since there are differences of emphasis I will stick with the Platonic term "dialectics," by which I mean a systematic application of the Socratic method designed to impress upon every human on earth the essentials of wisdom and all that should be common knowledge.

As a profession, the dialectician answers this daunting challenge first of all by running specially designed meetings in the region or neighbourhood under his or her purview. As mentioned, a dialectician will have already gained a great deal of experience in the early phase of her career before the age of fifty. Like Socrates did in ancient Athens, at this time she engages only in direct, face-to-face conversations with local residents of the hillside housing development.

The made-for-television movie "The Ron Clark Story" depicts the sort of self-imposed challenge that a dialectician would need to answer in order to qualify for the wider responsibilities of the second phase of her career. The story, based on real events, is of a fifth grade teacher who changed from a privileged primary school to one in Harlem, where he took on the worst class the worst school had to offer. He taught them a set of rules based on common courtesy and family values, and in a brief time had them performing better in tests than any other class in the city.

No matter what a dialectician's original trade in her early years, her progress would be from collecting a string of degrees but rather from following the principle of "go for the need" that Ron Clark exemplified. A cook, for example, would take on the tackiest greasy spoon and make it into a four-star restaurant. An architect or city planner might make a slum into a thriving, vibrant neighbourhood, and so forth.

As mentioned, the second, "platonic" phase of the dialectician's career begins at age fifty. Here the philosopher generalizes her ability to take initiative from her own circle to a wider one where she tutors, animates and supervises the initiatives of others. She also takes on more generalized responsibilities, including animating media events in the LBC (Local Broadcasting Cooperative), a locally-oriented media outlet that is owned collectively and run by local tradespeople, educators and other professionals.

These "plugged-in" meetings inform locals about the world plan and suggest where locals can "plug" their own initiatives into its goals and principles. The meetings take place in the neighbourhood's war and peace room, a large common space designed to put every relevant chart and statistic about the local situation at the dialectician's fingertips. Here the dialectician engages a live audience of several dozen citizens in a composite Socratic dialogue.

Depending upon the situation, the participants may be volunteers, appointed, chosen by lot, or a combination of the three; they may come as individuals or as entire households. By a "composite" answer, I mean that in answer to a question calling for a "yes" or "no" answer, what the dialectician responds to is an average of all responses that audience members punch into their clickers. A large screen in the background shows the results of polls and other statistics to compare local ideas and responses with those in different contexts, including the opinions of all humankind and of comparable localities. These dialogues are broadcast live on the LBC and also are made available in summary form on the local network, so that every responsible citizen can forge a role in the overall plan of humanity.

Thus the dialectician's LBC dialog is more "platonic" than "Socratic" in the sense that it is not exclusively devoted to Socrates' Elenchis (that is, stripping away prejudices in order to get at the truth) but like Plato's dialogs it also aspires to public, literary and tendentious purposes.

These meetings also serve as keynote for calibrating rewards on the virtual dashboard displays of residents in that locality.

The needs in every place are different, so I will use where I live, Haldimand County, as an example. Studies by epidemiologists determined a decade ago that Haldimand has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the nation. Only last year I lost a friend and neighbour, Anne Nichols, to a fatal coronary infarction. The experts claim ignorance as to why a rural area should have such high mortality, though it seems pretty clear to me that our coal-fired Nanticoke power generating station is a prime suspect. The doctors suggested that Haldimand make recreational and fitness facilities, such as pools and gymnasia, more available to residents. Beyond that, there seems nothing more they can do about it.

In the UCS, dialecticians would devote their careers to pinpointing the causes of such problems in their locale. For simplicity, let us assume that they only uncover the two causes of heart disease that I have already mentioned, the miasma of coal smog emanating from the towering Nanticoke smokestack, and our lack of exercise and active recreation.

Driving through the countryside, I have noticed that under windless conditions a thin layer of white coal smog sinks into low-lying areas. It actually looks quite beautiful from afar; to the uninitiated, it resembles low lying mist in the valley. Only when you enter the smoke do your eyes start to squint, your head to ache and the air becomes unbreathable.

In the first place Haldimand was chosen as a location for this power generation facility, one of the two largest polluters in North America, because it has a small population that is conservative and politically quiescent. In a UCS there would be no need for partisanship or protest, statistics alone would be enough to set off the alarm bells. With dialecticians leading local media, awareness of the problem would be raised automatically. Plugged-in meetings would call for local initiatives to respond to the dagger of pollution aiming straight at our hearts. Homes in low lying places would be alerted and evacuated when the smog sets in too thick.

I should note that Nanticoke was set to be shut down five years ago as a solemn election promise of the new provincial government. This means that we still have only three more years of "Real Soon Now" mode, patiently waiting for the next delay the time it is slated to be mothballed.

Although we already have political mechanisms for responding to gross threats like pollution, lifestyle adjustments generally fall below our present public policy radar. The UCS, on the other hand, is specially designed to make such subtle adjustments to our way of life. If the redesign of neighbourhoods for health that hillside housing involves somehow were not enough to eliminate heart problems, plugged-in meetings could raise awareness. Dialecticians would adjust the economy and reward system to make it profitable for residents to get off their car seats and sofas and exercise their bodies. The meetings would also dredge up ideas for improvements from individuals and households, and see to it that these initiatives are carried out reliably.

Dialecticians would not be the only profession involved in such social problem solving. Next time we will discuss a complementary trade, Comenius's three orders of magistrate.

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Compassion Charter

Compassion before being right or wrong: the essence of religion...

http://charterforcompassion.org/

A New Infrastructure

Full Service House (prelude to volunteer corvee)

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 07, Qawl 15, 166 BE

Precis: The egalitarian tradition of Scandinavia led to the invention of the Kollektivhus, a partly-communal, semi-private arrangement of apartments relying partly on volunteer labor to accomplish a full complement of services. Hillside housing will be an attempt, after the formation of a world government, to improve upon this model and make it universal. Designed correctly, the collective, full service house can be an environmentally benign way of life, as well as a superior alternative for both poor and wealthy. 

During the Renaissance slavery was still so engrained in social mores that its abolition was unthinkable. Even in Thomas More's ideal society slavery persisted. In his novel, Utopia, he imagined lawbreakers in this island society punished by being reduced to bondslaves, and any slave who refused to work was executed.

Centuries later, chattel slavery had been abolished in the Victorian age. However, cheap labour persisted. It was still expected that members of the privileged classes would employ as many as a dozen servants to run their large households. Young men were helpless without their valet and young women their handmaids to dress them and wait on their every whim. Keeping servants was universal among the privileged elite. It was common even for members of the middle classes to employ at least one servant to handle mundane chores. Victorians would have found it difficult to believe that our middle classes do not hire personal servants.

Here in North America it is expected that everyone will be a savvy consumer; all but a tiny elite spend a large percentage of their day shopping. Studies have found that while labour-saving devices make housework tasks lighter work, they still do not substantially reduce the amount of time they demand. In spite of this, the ideologies of commercialism and consumerism pervade the electronic media. Their propaganda persuades us not to feel deprived in comparison with our Victorian forebears.

The only exception to this complacency was the youth movement of the 1960's and 1970's. At this time idealistic young people rebelled against their elders' bourgeous ways by retreating back to nature. They longed for change in thought, dress and food. Later, disillusioned by the drugs and violence that came out of the movement, many "opted out" and fled into the wilderness to live as hermits, or to experiment with communal living on cooperative farms. This was when organic farming started as an alternative to the chemical kind, which had become the norm; in modified form organics have become a billion dollar industry, the fastest growing branch of mainstream agriculture.

For the "flower children" the ideal was an egalitarian, leaderless community run by common consent, a truer democracy than the one that had been implicated in Vietnam and the Cold War. Unfortunately, few communes lasted longer than a decade. Those that endured were run by strong leaders often more autocratic than the old-style leaders in society at large. After a brief burst of popularity, the commune movement all but died out in North America.

In Europe, where old ways are perhaps a more vivid memory, the luxury of having servants was still fresh. The best aspects of this tradition were rather inconguously combined with the commune movement in what are called full-service, or "Kollektivhus" housing developments designed by certain Danish and other Scandinavian architects and planners. These designers erected entire housing blocks using some of the best principles of an idealistic generation. Clever design and cooperative contracts permitted many of the benefits of living in a large Victorian household run by a bevy of cooks, maids and butlers, without having to hire or fire anybody.

In fact, a few communal Kollektivhus dwellings even predated the youth revolution, starting in the early 1950's. In his history of housing, Norbert Schoenauer writes,

"One of the first postwar Danish collective houses, Hoje Soborg (1951) designed by architects P. E. Hoff and B. Windinge, was built in a Copenhagen suburb, Gladaxe. The 120 dwellings of this five-story elevator serviced building ranged in size from one to four rooms. Apart from a doorman, collective services included a common dining room with central kitchen catering, housekeeping services, a children's center serving all age groups, two guest rooms for tenant's visitors, and, at the roof level, common party and meeting rooms with access to a terrace garden." (6000 years of housing, by Norbert Schoenauer, WW Norton & Co., New York, 2000, p. 460)

The evolution of collective or communal housing continued. By the late 1970's an improved version was now called a "service house." One in development in Stockholm was so popular that it had a waiting list of 13,000 names. Schoenauer writes,

"Collective habitation is an attractive proposition to many families and households. A young working couple would find it very convenient to move into an apartment building where food catering and housecleaning is available on request. Similarly, a new family, transferred from their hometown to an unfamiliar city, would find security in a collective house. Working single parents with preschool children would benefit greatly from using the in-house day-care and kindergarten. Elderly couples and retired people too can benefit from collective services offered in these buildings. In particular, single people: whether young, middle-aged, or elderly, divorced, or widowed: are all potential collective house residents who want to live in comfort without sacrificing their privacy." (Id.)

As a result of the high demand, many of these Scandinavian projects were built too large and tall. They were also criticized for being overly institutionalized. It proved difficult to maintain a homey, informal atmosphere in a high-rise. Meanwhile, in North America there has been no effort to see that these in-home services reached more than a tiny elite.

The most frequently raised bone of contention between the sexes is the fact that family members must do household chores, and this inevitably ends up being the women. The availability of servants, or cooperative services, would remove this problem once and for all, and would raise the lot of female homemakers more than anything else. The same historian continues,

"If Otto Fick were alive today, and he visited an American family living in a luxury apartment complex like Chicago's River city, a building with 24 hour doorman service and amenities such as swimming pool, sauna, exercise room, rooftop party room, and roof gardens as well as food delivery from an in-house restaurant, he would insist the River city is a Kollektivhus, although in reality it is a mixed-use development. In fact, most American luxury apartment buildings offer services to the residents that are similar to those of collective habitation. But Fick's original intention of making similar services accessible to moderate or lower income groups remains just a dream." (Ib., 460-462)

This dream I share with Fick. I think that something resembling collective, full service houses will become the norm after the foundation of a world government. I call the improved version "hillside housing," because the side exposed to the sun in these developments will be legally required to be devoted to agriculture and solar panels, while the shady side is devoted to human residence. As cooperative, full service houses, they will be attractive to both rich and poor, and could replace other forms of housing within a generation.

One of the most attractive features of these communal housing projects in Scandinavia is the fact that future residents often have a say in their design long before they are built. This adds on a whole new level of democracy. If the entire design -- not just superficial modifications -- are decided by actual users and residents, this enables a continuity between past and future that is unheard of in other forms of architecture.

"Since most of these communities were planned and designed with the participation of their future residents, tenure, size, an organization of the community varies in a project approach.  However, the complement of private homes and communal facilities are shared by all. Most early communal dwelling clusters were privately owned developments: later nonprofit cooperatives and cooperatives with index linked mortgages as well as rental units were introduced but the most frequent tenure type is still based on private ownership." (Schoenauer, 460)

The big wrench in the works of communal housing is politics. It has proven very difficult for people with widely varying backgrounds, opinions and outlooks to arrive at democratic decisions. The few communal projects that endure tend to do so by ejecting dissenters. This sacrifices variety and diversity among members. Schoenauer points out:

"Communal housing groups seem to function best, and with less friction, if their members share similar values and have similar backgrounds. This is one of the reasons they are so successful in Denmark, a country with a culturally homogeneous population. It is tempting to compare the members of communal housing to a large extended family or a clan, but there are two basic distinctions: (1) membership is voluntary, and (2) there is no patriarch or leader and all important decisions are made democratically." (Ibid., 466)

While everybody likes full participatory democracy as an ideal, in practice consulting about mundane issues is slow drudgery. It consumes time and energy and -- let us face it -- it is extremely tedious for most people most of the time. Participants who try to reduce their boredom by spicing up the deliberations only stir up more contention, which tears at the roots of the tree. Yet the potential benefits of communal living are too great to ignore. Schoenauer, in summing up the educational advantages of one experiment in communal housing called Bofaellesskaber, points out that such contacts can be edifying too, forcing upon residence the discipline that democracy demands. Here,

"First, individuals have the option at all times either to enjoy the privacy of their own homes or to engage in social activities the community's common areas. Second, these residential communities foster voluntary social interaction as well as social and environmental responsibility; most communities practice composting and recycling. Last, but not least, they foster first-hand experience in harmonious communal living: not unlike members of band-type food gathering societies, they learn to compromise after realizing that what is good for the individual may not always be in the best interests of the community." (Ib., 466)

Other problems that have turned up in service house developments are less edifying. The drawbacks tend to be the same as in a commune: how do you maintain both unity of thought and economic viability? How to reconcile volunteer services with commercial, for-profit enterprises? How do you maintain informal, consensual management among large numbers of tenants? Schoenauer writes,

"Experience shows that a moderate sized collective house, with 60 to 100 dwellings and collective services limited exclusively to residents, may be desirable from a social point of view but unrealistic economically. Moderate sized collective habitation is only viable if the residents are willing to operate it communally, as is the case in low-rise communal houses such as Bofaellesskaber, in Denmark, or in a mixed-use apartment building where collective services are provided by in-house commercial outlets." (Ib., 460)

Next time we will discuss corvee labour, the one modification that will enable collective houses to cross over from an obscure alternative lifestyle to a necessity wherever human beings reside.

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Plato's Virtua Program

Platonic Teen Idol

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 05, Qawl 13, 166 BE


A recent New York Times editorial gloatingly noted the spread of American culture through variations of "Britain Has Talent" and "American Teen Idol" television contests to cultures around the world. It featured two women who won "Idol" contests, one a poetry competition in an Arabian Gulf nation and a singing show in Afghanistan. Anybody familiar with the world of antiquity would smile at this hubris on the part of the two great English speaking nations of our age. Open competitions in sports and the arts were routinely held throughout Hellas, if not the rest of the ancient world. Athens' playwriting contests and the Olympic Games were only two of many periodic events where artistic skill and physical prowess were tested. In every case, the event was sponsored in honour of the local gods. Indeed some might argue that this has not changed, since today's Idol contestants openly seek the favour of the gods of our time, Fame and Fortune.

Such contests had practical ends, such as training youth in skills of warfare and encouraging writers to inspire the public in the name of religion. In his own utopian plan, Plato suggested that such contests be planned by the state. That is, they should be consciously used in a scientific way, not just for spiritual and militaristic ends. In the Laws, Plato says that rulers,

"should always provide that there should be games and sacrificial feasts, and they should have tournaments, imitating in as lively a manner as they can real battles. And they should distribute prizes of victory and valour to the competitors, passing censures and encomiums on one another according to the characters which they bear in the contests and their whole life, honouring him who seems to be the best, and blaming him who is the opposite. And let poets celebrate the victors -- not however every poet, but only one who in the first place is not less than fifty years of age; nor should he be one who, although he may have musical and poetical gifts, has never in his life done any noble or illustrious action; but those who are themselves good and also honourable in the state, creators of noble actions -- let their poems be sung, even though they be not very musical." (Plato, Laws, Book VIII)

Celebrity should not, then, be handed out automatically just because a contestant happens to be the winner. Fame should be earned not only by accomplishment in any one activity, but by living a balanced, temperate life overall. The goal of every such exercise is to further moral and social progress. Fame need not be fickle; she should come only to those who display qualities that benefit everybody. Plato saw these and all such occasions as part of the selection process of the next generation of wise leaders. Plato anticipated Darwinism when he suggested that rulers be chosen for a nature that has proven its mettle,

"the preference again given to the surest and the bravest, and, if possible, to the fairest; and, having noble and generous tempers, they should also have the natural gifts which will facilitate their education." (Republic, Book VII)

According to evolutionary theory, sexual reproduction selects for fitness among different organisms. All the virtues that Plato mentions here, sureness, beauty, nobility, virtue, are good indicators of fitness, that is, health and effective adaptation to the environment. Each quality helps an organism succeed in reproduction. I think that Plato would have been shocked at the narrowness of our modern selection processes. A species would hardly make it past a single generation if it selected for fitness in the same way that modern democracy chooses leaders. We break up into arbitrary parties, and let only partisans choose potential leaders, and only the winning party gets power. Not only elections but everything we do, art, sports, work and recreation should all "facilitate education," and be a part of selecting our future, and our future leaders. We need a more comprehensive approach to selecting virtues, and having virtues in turn select our leaders. In other words, we need to plan. If we put our heads together we should be able not only to catch up to but actually surpass nature's brutal methods, which are notoriously "red in tooth and claw".
 


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Why not cap and trade?

RMB

Religion is a Mighty Bulwark


By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 04, Qawl 13, 166 BE


Today let us talk about what John Amos Comenius's Panorthosia has to say about the Baha'i principle that religion is a mighty bulwark. First, let us be clear about what the Baha'i principle itself says. `Abdu'l-Baha articulated it for perhaps the first time in his 1874 work, Secret of Divine Civilization. Here he wrote that,


"Religion is the light of the world, and the progress, achievement and happiness of man result from obedience to the laws set down in the holy Books. Briefly, it is demonstrable that in this life, both outwardly and inwardly the mightiest of structures, the most solidly established, the most enduring, standing guard over the world, assuring both the spiritual and material perfections of mankind, and protecting the happiness and the civilisation of society -- is religion." (SDC p. 71-2)


There are doubtless many ways to demonstrate that religion is the main protector of human happiness and civilization. Here I just want to point to some of the many demonstrations to be found in the Panorthosia.

In the very first chapter, Comenius points out one important way in which religion is indispensible. Religion, of course, promotes belief in an all-powerful, all-knowing God. This, in turn, prepares the mind to deal in social universals.


"In our present plight we have lost our sense of dependence upon God and Jesus. The individual is inwardly perplexed because mankind as a whole no longer relies on the foundation of universal peace..." (Comenius, Panorthosia, Ch. 1, para 12, p. 50)


In this way, faith frees us from the chains of particularity and enables us to think of the universe as a unity, as a single, synchronized entity. Today we usually think of that machine as a giant computer, but like most thinkers in his time and for centuries later, Comenius compared it to the most elaborate machine then known, the clock. In the same paragraph, Comenius continues,


"Then the light and peace would return to the world, which would work like an elaborate clock with all its components well-connected, well-balanced and functioning together for a common purpose. Every man in creation would return to the image of God within him. And similarly every family group, every state and church and finally the entire world." (Id.)


Religion, then, trains us to seek out the image of God, in the individual, the family, and every other group, not only in religious organizations. Seeking this image prepares the mind for peace, harmony and unity with others.

Another clear benefit of having a religion is that it prepares the mind to imitate the humility of Socrates, whose understanding of wisdom obligated him to doubt his own knowledge and mental abilities. In spite of that humble realization, a person of faith is not discouraged by the limitations of finite, mortal existence.


"Also the sole intention of the laws of Moses and the Prophets, of Christ and the Apostles (if we weigh the question correctly in the balance) is that men should make a habit of viewing their own reasoning-powers with suspicion and listening only to God, the supreme Teacher, and Christ whom He appointed to teach us." (Comenius, Panorthosia, Ch. 22, para 26, pp. 50-51)


Believers ever seek to improve themselves and the world, to refine their powers of logic and reasoning by always holding that image of God in their sights. This makes them serious and concerned about eternal things. One who neglects religious observance, on the other hand, tends to be frivolous about what most matters in life.

"It is true that there are very many people whom you would not desire to pay extraordinary attention to things, but they should at least have the necessary knowledge. For they only know how to attend to things that are amusing, vain, and unimportant, but in serious matters they are apathetic." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 9, para 4, pp. 144-145)


Comenius goes on to cite Cicero's criticism of theatre-goers, who hiss and boo off the stage performers who make the slightest misstep or slip of the tongue. "You see how critical the common people are towards the subtleties of even the most trivial things!" (inParadoxa, 111, 2, 26) This has worsened today, of course, now that an entire sports, gossip, news and entertainment industry has grown exploiting the foibles of celebrities. It is doubtful that interest in such things could be maintained if religious observance were universal. Comenius continues,


"And the same attention is paid to rhythmic dance-movement accompanied by music as to spicy foodstuff and the sensual, earthly, and transitory things. But confront a man with serious, intellectual, and religious matters and you will soon see that he is apathetic. Therefore human effort has its shortcomings, mostly where we can least afford them." (Id.)


It would be a mistake to dismiss this frivolity as innocuous or harmless fun. Apathy is dangerous because it distracts the majority from justice. This permits the ruthless to thrive, to exert their will through force and violence. Religion trains us, Comenius points out, to pay attention to the "One Thing Needful," the image and example of a God Who stands against all forms of prejudice and injustice.


"If it were possible to prevail upon all men to share and copy this example, we would in effect release the human race (1) from particular prisons into the open freedom of Heaven, (2) from labyrinths of multiplicity into level pathways, (3) from the thorns of violence into the fragrance of lilies. The result would be that all men would escape from the distractions of endless preoccupations and concentrate on the true necessities of Life; they would also know how to rely only on certain knowledge instead of endless obscurities, and to lead a pleasant life instead of engaging in a welter of compulsion and conflict, and this would be a boon to all mankind." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 10, para 47, p. 171)

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Dialectic; A Platonic Interlude

More theory on what Dialectic is and where the Dialectician would take us

By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 02, Qawl 11, 166 BE


In the seventh book of the Republic, Plato held that future rulers "should not be like posts, having no reason in them and yet ... set in authority over the highest matters." In other words, society should not be led by a dumb structure, formula, machine or ideology but by highly trained individuals ready to adapt to circumstances by seizing the spirit of the age. Furthermore, Plato stipulated, the training of these experts must be ordained in the constitution. "There should be a law that they shall have such an education as will enable them to attain the greatest skill in asking and answering questions." This transcendent skill, so ably demonstrated by Plato's great teacher, Socrates, he called dialectic, the "coping-stone" of the sciences.

By means of dialectic the individual seeks truth and groups come to serve the highest order. As a coping-stone, dialectic is by definition the highest level that knowledge can attain. All other trades support it and, like the capstone in a stone arch or building, it in turn gives the entire structure compressive strength. When society stagnates, the dialectician acts as a gadfly to a lazy horse, goading it to act when it is disinclined to move.

But the dialectician also has a conservative role. When society slips out of balance, the dialectician rediscovers its moral center and subtly guides it back into sync. Generally speaking, the closer one comes to the center, the easier it is to mess everything up and do more harm than good. This principle of not fooling with a good thing seems to be forgotten now that we have cracked the genetic code and have learned to fool with nano-structures. The need for prudence and restraint with the highest goods Plato emphasized in his latter work, the Laws, which I regard as his true masterpiece, far greater than the Republic.

"The argument affirms that any change whatever except from evil is the most dangerous of all things; this is true in the case of the seasons and of the winds, in the management of our bodies and the habits of our minds - true of all things except, as I said before, of the bad. He who looks at the constitution of individuals accustomed to eat any sort of meat, or drink any drink, or to do any work which they can get, may see that they are at first disordered by them, but afterwards, as time goes on, their bodies grow adapted to them, and they learn to know and like variety, and have good health and enjoyment of life; and if ever afterwards they are confined again to a superior diet, at first they are troubled with disorders, and with difficulty become habituated to their new food." (Plato, Laws, Book VII)

Today we are literally in just this situation. Poison seems normal, and medicine tastes like poison to our tongues. Science has discovered ways of supplying more meat than ever before. As a result North Americans have become accustomed to eating cheap meat several times a day, at tremendous cost to the environment. Although I am a vegetarian, I myself was caught in this bind last spring. I bought a gas-sipping Toyota Echo last spring, but was also talked into getting my son a puppy. Then I read in New Scientist that getting a carnivorous pet like Amber is more costly in terms of total greenhouse gas emissions than if I had bought a gas guzzling SUV or minivan. Anyway, Plato continues:

"A similar principle we may imagine to hold good about the minds of men and the natures of their souls. For when they have been brought up in certain laws, which by some Divine Providence have remained unchanged during long ages, so that no one has any memory or tradition of their ever having been otherwise than they are, then every one is afraid and ashamed to change that which is established.

"The legislator must somehow find a way of implanting this reverence for antiquity, and I would propose the following way:-People are apt to fancy, as I was saying before, that when the plays of children are altered they are merely plays, not seeing that the most serious and detrimental consequences arise out of the change; and they readily comply with the child's wishes instead of deterring him, not considering that these children who make innovations in their games, when they grow up to be men, will be different from the last generation of children, and, being different, will desire a different sort of life, and under the influence of this desire will want other institutions and laws; and no one of them reflects that there will follow what I just now called the greatest of evils to states. Changes in bodily fashions are no such serious evils, but frequent changes in the praise and censure of manners are the greatest of evils, and require the utmost prevision." (Id.)

Now Plato knew that his beloved teacher Socrates had in his early years been mocked by a playwright. It is often understood that Plato as a result had it in for the poets and artists who had -- and still have -- first dibs at the stories and tales that make up most of the education of early childhood. I do not think that this is necessarily the case, however. For one thing, Socrates himself had changed his teaching in response to the criticism of an artist he counted as a friend.

In the above passage at least, Plato is simply arguing for first things first, that we instill "reverence for antiquity" along with the search for novelty that the creative artist values. The important thing is to improve people by improving customary habit. Dialectic is a conversation, and conversation must do both, inspire change and muzzle needless meddling with the best of traditional ways. If it is directed by love of wisdom -- and Aristotle defined wisdom as "understanding why things are the way they are" -- then the dialectic method must lead to improvement, not the blind, headlong rush to progress that is prevalent today.


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life after life

An anecdote about life after life, by a Baha'i... We used a similar video by this woman for one of our more successful public meetings...


http://lightafterlife.com/

Digression on Teleology, Accountability and Value in Religion

Comenius and Fungible Religion, Part II


By John Taylor; 2009 Dec 01, Qawl 10, 166 BE



We have been discussing John Amos Comenius's ideas about religion in the light of the Baha'i religious principles. Today, let us start with a little digression on how three basic presuppositions about religion relate to one another. Not one of them can rightly be considered in isolation from the other two.

The first, as we have seen, is that religion has a clear reason for being, that is, to establish love and unity. Second is what we are discussing in this "fungible religion" series, that faith must be kept accountable to this purpose. Like anything else taken beyond the bounds of moderation, if religion becomes an end in itself it becomes toxic. It ceases to benefit. No matter how sublime it was in early stages, it becomes a form of idolatry and idols by definition are encumbrances that must be smashed in order to progress.

The third assumption, which we have not yet discussed, is that although religion is not an end in itself (only God is the "Be all and the End all"), it is nonetheless a highly valuable commodity. Humans were not created solely for material existence. We have a primal need for more, to love God and express ourselves in the light of eternity. Only a true, honest-to-God religion, a genuine encounter with truth in a group can fulfil our deep spiritual urges, and this bolsters society in general. A positive, moderate religion protects society from extremism by assuaging enthusiasm that would otherwise be expressed in less than healthy ways.

This third sub-principle Abdu'l-Baha called "religion is a mighty bulwark," or RMB. It is due recognition that religion alone can perform several unique services. It can reconcile us with ineluctable death. It reduces the suicide rate. It connects the individual with both past and future. At the very least, the great religions constitute an important part of the heritage of the human race that no educated person can ignore. In order to be a complete and balanced human being we need some form of direct contact with this force.

But, and here we return to the accountability principle again, we also must be aware that faith groups are a blessing only as long as their expression does more good than harm. Undoubtedly, tolerance is a virtue. We should respect other peoples' beliefs. And it is only fair to recognize that religion can be a tremendous blessing to all. However, this does not mean we can afford to offer a blank cheque to all religious opinion, no matter what.

It is useful to compare this to the regulation of food production. We all welcome variety in our diet, and appreciate creative expression in those who prepare our foods. However food safety laws dictate that if a factory puts out a product that poisons even a small percentage of those who eat it, it must be shut down immediately. It has no right to appeal to artistic license, tradition, ethnic roots, or any other excuse when lives are at stake. We should apply the same vigilance and severity to those who would serve up dishes at the buffet of religious convictions.

RMB, then, acts as a counterbalance to the accountability of religion. Yes, we have a duty to expunge toxic religious beliefs. However, at the same time we cannot afford to swing to the opposite extreme and set faith aside entirely. Nor is extreme liberalism helpful, a blithe tolerance of anything that affects the name of religion. To treat all faiths as untouchable and sacrosanct is not broadmindedness, it is a highly anti-social form of criminal negligence.


Panorthosia, Or Universal Reform


In Panorthosia, Comenius did not go so far as to maintain that we are better off without a religion that ceases to cure the world. However, he surely would have agreed with Abdu'l-Baha that much of what passes for religion goes against the basic purpose of faith. He was acutely aware that we need to reform religious life, and his ideas on how to do this are still of interest today. For one thing, he refused to treat science, faith and politics as separate solitudes, as almost every intellectual does today. The saying "a man with a hammer sees everything as a nail" would not have the sad irony it has today if we were educated in the well-rounded way that Comenius advocated. Similarly, Comenius understood that progress of any of the three depends upon balance among all three, philosophy, faith and practical politics. In order to reform one of these fundamentals, you must involve all three at once.

"But it will be necessary to acquire new forms of philosophy, politics, and religion if they are to produce such effects, since those which we still profess have become useless (if one may judge by results), and to make matters worse, have changed into their opposites. For the accepted philosophy mainly increases the mind's uncertainty about things. The accepted religions are in many ways more likely to offend the Deity than to win His favour. Politics of the kind generally accepted are more likely to disturb human affairs than to preserve peace. Therefore all things need to be reformed, or rather rebuilt on new foundations in such a way that every order seeks and attains its own particular goal as directly as possible, philosophy maintaining the light, religion the love and fear of God, and politics peace for all men in all ways." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 10, para 42, p. 169)

In this respect, like myself, Comenius was deeply influenced by Frances Bacon. Although Bacon is remembered today mostly as a founder of modern science, he was profoundly steeped in the wisdom of the Bible, more so in fact than most religious writers today. Bacon urged reformers never to despair of human maleability, and not to draw artificial barriers among science, religion and politics. No effort at reform can succeed unless it is directed at all three at once.

Comenius agreed that it would be useless to purify any of these three fundamental aspects of the human condition -- roughly corresponding to body, mind and soul -- in isolation from the others, since God is one, and we must be one image of Him. This means a balance among all sides of our nature is needed in order for good to predominate.

"The first condition means that the Good which is desired should be purely good, and immune from all evil, so that no matter from what point of view it is tested, it is appreciated as good. Experience tells us that the popular philosophy, religion, and politics do not comply with this, since in every case they are so compounded with ignorance, and errors, hypocrisy and superstitions, confusions and acts of violence. In olden times God said of the Church and Politics of the Israelites 'Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water' (Isaiah I, 22), and the truth compels me to admit that exactly the same applies to ourselves at the present time. Therefore the task which confronts us now is to make our philosophy, religion and politics into pure wine, without dregs, and purest gold and silver (digging it from the gold-mines of God, sifting it seven times and purifying it of all dross in the new fire of universal harmony). (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 10, para 6, p. 154)


Non-proprietary Religion


With an insight that today seems almost incredible, Comenius saw that the root of resistence to reform lies in a tendency of groups to isolate themselves from other groups. Not only do scientists cut themselves off from religion and politics, and religion from science and politics, but even groups within these three main branches of human endeavor tend to resist contact with all but those who think in exactly the same way. This leads to parochialism, an "us" versus "them" mentality, and ultimately to fundamentalism, fanaticism and extremism. In the following passage he compares this tendency to the monopoly that a tyrant or a large business enterprise tends to assert on all who threaten their dominance.


"For just as we must not tolerate the confusing system under which a number of people force their way into everything by an order which determines who should undertake each enterprise, so it is equally intolerable that any work which more people could do better through the interplay of honest effort and mutual competition should fall into the clutches of a single individual, certainly a catch for him, but just as certainly a costly trick at the expense of the state.

"The early Christians condemned Monotheletes for heresy; today no-one should play the part of a Monopolist. Everything should be common property except insofar as is necessary to preserve order and avoid confusion between parties. The same rule should be observed in the church and in schools. In Mark IX, 38, the disciples say 'We saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us, and we forbade him.' This should be a living example for modern disciples of Christ, not only under the Papacy but in all sections of the church, who do not allow the teaching and practice of their doctrines except by their own members and their own colleagues, regarding them as workmen of the same tribe. But although this seems a wise order of things (in politics, religion, and also education), yet it has turned into tyranny, and therefore the tribes in Belgium wisely rejected it. (i.e. during the religious conflict in the Netherlands between 1581 and 1609) It should also be abolished in the church and all over the world. Every kind of work within reason should be open to all, and the state should profit, no matter who undertakes it. The works should testify whether anything is reasonably and profitably undertaken." (Panorthosia, Ch. 24, para 1, pp. 106-107)

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