In light of the preceding essays on this topic, let’s answer the following discussion questions taken from the Christian Marxist primer we are currently examining (p. 26, 27, Community: Your pathway to progress; North Point Ministries, 2008). We will answer them in full accordance with the principles of protestant “biblically sound” doctrine.
[NOTE: For a full appreciation of the answers I have given, I recommend you review the previous essays in this series. I know its been a while since I’ve posted.]
Discussion Questions
1. What do you want to be known for?
Devoting the entirety of my life and property to the church collective, as this is my God-ordained metaphysical and moral obligation. And by this axiom, I grant full ownership of all my property–material, physical, intellectual, or otherwise–to the ecclesiastical authority which God has sovereignly appointed to act in His complete capacity, while admitting that I cannot distinguish between the two (God and the ecclesiastical authority), and because I can have no access to God directly, as I am infinitely depraved and perfectly consumed with sin and madness as a direct function of my very existence.
[Note: One would think God-men wouldn’t be so grammatically indigent. “For what would you like to be known?” is the proper rendering of the question. But I suppose autocrats don’t really need to fuss about with fancy book-learning, what with the power to bind people in hell for eternity and all that.]
2. What are the ways in which you practice image management?
By pathologically lying to everyone and God; because I am wickedness personified–a senseless brute, habitually claiming that up is down and black is white and, naturally, that evil is good. And I further confess that any good in my life which I may claim, be it my family or education or occupation or profit or good health, was achieved entirely by manipulation and deception, theft and fraud, at the expense of God and my fellow man. I cannot be trusted with anything of value, which is why I confer all of my possessions, to the very bowels of my savings, as well as the very lives of my wife and children, to this church collective, for which God, in His sovereign mercy, has determined me…er, even though He wants nothing to do with me, and never did, because I’m an infinite affront to Him. Therefore it is logical to assume that it isn’t I that God cares about, but the God-men to whom He has (somehow) given a moral and epistemological dispensation (and to me as well, but only in the capacity of admitting my absolute moral failure and infinite need to be coerced and ruled). And this is why they are entitled, without objection or criticism, to all of me and mine.
3. Read James 5:16. Who in your life knows about your struggles?
No one of any relevance–which is to say, no one at all–until I met all of you fine people.
Why is it important to have people in our lives that know what is going on and can pray for us?
Ah…you almost got me with this trick question, you sneaky geniuses! It isn’t about getting prayer, its about being compelled by overseers who are forced to use rank coercion and manipulation in order that I may act rightly before God…which is to say, before my Pastors. Further, prayer and knowledge is fully irrelevant when the one known and being prayed for is totally depraved. Force is the only instrument with any efficacy when it comes to a perfect monster, such as I.
4. Read Romans 15:7. What does it mean to accept someone?
To recognize that they cannot help but be terribly, terribly evil, because they are not really themselves, but are rather a mere mask of infinite depravity; and therefore they need this group–this body collective–as much as do I and the rest of the world.
I must realize that everyone I meet is a liar, a murderer, a God-hater, and a thief, not to be trusted, but committed to the power of the depravity-exempt pastorate, who shall justly rack and pillory them until they comply with the full measure of the pastorate’s divine authority. And by this they shall have God’s salvation and peace, even though they shall be incapable of any frame of reference for such salvation and peace. But that’s besides the point, and beyond our tiny, evil minds, and so it shall not be pondered.
5. Read Hebrews 10:24-25. How can we balance accepting each other where we are with encouraging each other to be all that God wants us to be?
Well…I think you are trying to trick me again, you wizards of God’s omniscience! LOL But you’ve taught me too well. Clearly what God wants me to be is irrelevant, since I am totally depraved…which means absolutely; which means infinitely. Which means that I cannot change, by definition, since I am not really myself, but an extension of infinite, determinative evil. So “acceptance” refers to conceding my metaphysical definition, which is EVIL. Period. Full stop.
And “encouraging each other to be all God wants us to be” merely refers to encouraging the collective to accept the iron fist of violent coercion and virulent manipulation of the pastorate as it seeks to enhance its own power and wealth at the expense of those God has sold into slavery on its behalf.
However, if this is not a trick question (because…how would I know; my mind is the mind of raw selfish instinct) I would answer this way: By encouraging and insisting upon more and more and more group time, so that our hands are never idle but are always pursuing the ends of the group, except when we are working at our occupations, of course, for the sole purpose of procuring more material resources for the collective to dispose of as the leadership sees fit.
6. What would keep you from being transparent in this community group?
I cannot help but deceive, and rebel against the group because that is my nature. Therefore, FORCE–threats, violence, fraud and manipulation–is the only thing which can effect any transparency on my behalf. So…the dereliction of the leadership in its authoritarian duty is the only thing that would prevent transparency. And, convenient for them, the culpability for this dereliction must rest squarely upon the laity they rule, because the leadership is above reproach–above failure and insufficiency, above any lack of intellect or talent, because there is no distinction to be made between it and God.
Conclusion:
Thank you dear leaders. I hope I have been found worthy in your sight; I hope I have satisfied your divine egos, and have answered well. And if I have, it is thanks entirely to you. And if I haven’t, it is thanks entirely to me.
Amen.
unreformingtheology 
I hope these ?s & answers are food for thought…. get people to think. Glad to see your post.
It all (Marxism/fate/Calvinism/mysticism/etc) really does reduce human life (created in God’s image) to garbage. All are created with a moral compass for decision-making, Christian or not. That’s what I believe.
Hope you & family had a happy Thanksgiving holiday! And same to the readers here as well.
A Mom,
Agreed! And i hope you did as well.:-)
Not sure whether to be sad or to laugh my head off…you have a hilarious way with words, Argo.
Also, a lot of what you have been blogging against lately is nearly identical to the insanity that my sister, who’s fallen for the horrifying lies of the New Age movement, is forever and always trying to force on me. Her beliefs are nothing more than Calvinism on hallucinogens, and the constant harassment is very triggering. Reading here helps pick me right back up.
A Mom, so true.
Thank you, Oasis. Just stay strong!
Image management? Yep, that was the controlling theme of the megas. It is all about image.
In response to point one: 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12New International Version (NIV)
11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
I think minding one’s own business is a great commandment. The irony of the above excerpt from the manual is that instead of interdependence this kind of sin management fosters a spirituality that is codependent and in the worst cases alluded to the same old same old submission to authority and abuses.
2. What are the ways in which you practice image management? Well only the most crafty/spiritual mature know the secret to this one. Never slab downwards – always share upwards. I think much of the church is realizing how stupid this one is. That’s why church leaders end up bonking the secretary. The higher you get the less real accountability exists. True accountability can only exist in authentic relationships and not in an authoritarian climate.
3. Point 3 – anyone who does that is not a sneaky genius but a NAZI.Sharing and prayer is not meant to be a control mechanism or to be used as a means of extortion or blackmail as the leader of your previous collective deigned to so. Cell leaders who report personal issues or details to senior leaders without permission of those concerned are idiots.
4. To accept someone is to nod your head compassionately.
5. Ask the person to leave your small group if they become too difficult and pass them on. This is balancing their needs and freeing them to be all they can be or at least freeing you. You will feel much better knowing they are someone else’s problem and that they are 1 step closer to their destiny. Either way this is the Lord’s will.
Jason,
Excellent points one and all! Thanks for sharing!
“What are the ways in which you practice image management? Well only the most crafty/spiritual mature know the secret to this one. Never slab downwards – always share upwards. ”
this is so true. It was SOP in the megas. controlling the information flow is very important in image management. information is power.
“What are the ways in which you practice image management? Well only the most crafty/spiritua…”
this is so true. It was SOP in the megas. controlling the information flow is very important in image management. information is power.
When Jesus splabbed upwards to the pharisees it did not go down well. Dirty revelations scrawled in the sand and they fled!
Although good leadership is important in any social or business collective when it is tied to an unseen god with supposedly appointed God-ordained proxies you are going to get the evil people who think they can get away with murder. Like Moses and the sand dune the bodies are not easily hidden and pile up sooner than later. That is why most churches stink to high heaven. There are rotting corpses behind the bus shed, skeletons in the closet and necrophilia is is disgusting anyway, but rampant in a spiritual way
. Rant.
The ideology does not trump common sense.
Jason,
We love rants here.:-)
http://sbcvoices.com/the-bible-and-slavery/
You would have a field day with this one. A pastors blog. And people wonder why we are sliding right into collectivism.
How to put the Southern back into Baptistry.
At varsity 20 years ago my revisionist-marxist professors were saying the same thing: you get good slavery and bad slavery. Or as I call it: horseshit and manure.
Lydia,
Read through that blog post…the one you linked to. I am equal parts infuriated, terrified, bored/unsurprised. They are no longer hiding it; and if I am surprised at all it is how brazen they are being with their REAL believes. But of course, if you consider yourself God incarnate and the minds of the laity to be about as capable as that of a puppy, I suppose you won’t find any logical reason to be coy, will you?
These “leaders” are such fucking assholes…and really, there isn’t a better way to say it. Their arrogance; presumption, and lack of any kind of sense at all is heart wrenching as much as it is terrifying. And I’m not sure which is worse: that they preach this bullshit, or that there are millions who accept it and decide that self-immolation and mutilation is the point of living, and of being given life.
If they would stop and spend five minutes pondering the assumptions behind the libertarian ideas they scorn in this post, they’d be closer to Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven than they’ve ever been in the forty years they’ve spun the devil’s lies for him.
Finally, if your existential world view advocates human enslavement as a pinnacle of virtue, you might want to pause for five fucking minutes and scrape up whatever compassion you have left, put it on your feet, and do and about face before you walk straight into the fires of hell you are warning everyone ELSE about.
They are no longer hiding it; ”
Bingo. You know, once you know what to look for it is everywhere. Church, government, jobs, etc. They want people mired in this rot.
“If they would stop and spend five minutes pondering the assumptions behind the libertarian ideas they scorn in this post, they’d be closer to Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven than they’ve ever been in the forty years they’ve spun the devil’s lies for him. ”
This is my view, also. But then, you and I have not chosen to make our living off Jesus, either. We don’t need followers. We are free to think, discern and seek wisdom encouraging others to do the same.
“inally, if your existential world view advocates human enslavement as a pinnacle of virtue, you might want to pause for five fucking minutes and scrape up whatever compassion you have left, put it on your feet, and do and about face before you walk straight into the fires of hell you are warning everyone ELSE about.”
Now, I am going to get a little preachy here but here is something they might want to consider. The commandment about taking the Lord’s Name in Vain would have been understood in the ancient world as NOT putting words in God’s mouth. Or, NOT attributing things to God that are NOT from Him. Which is exactly what that post does. God does not say plainly: VERBOTTEN so we cannot either. What rot!!
They have totally ignored God’s intention for His creation. They ignore the trajectory of enlightenment (for Good or evil) that has occurred. They are claiming that because God does not have a law for outlawing any slavery then it must be ok. (I don’t see a law outlawing polygamy, either,so the Mormons are ok on that one, I guess)
I am telling you guys, church is not safe or healthy anymore unless you want to be a good little socialist.
Oh and I meant to add that they despise and try to present as sin any individualism/libertarianism. We are to be good little lemmings. They see individualism as selfishness and greed. They promote groupthink calling it the Body of Christ.
hmmm. Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.
I worry about people who don’t care for their families BEFORE they give the church their money. I find that reprehensible the “godly church leader” would expect it.
I see the collective as selfish and greed for the oligarchy.
“At varsity 20 years ago my revisionist-marxist professors were saying the same thing: you get good slavery and bad slavery. Or as I call it: horseshit and manure.”
Note how he equates employment with slavery. Well, I am free to find another job. I am free to start a business. I also live in a country that has labor laws that protect people from that sort of servitude.
Thinking is not happening in the pulpits.
Lydia,
Yes…claiming Jesus not denouncing slavery is His advocation of it is a glaring logical fallacy. And likewise is the idea that metaphorical usage of a thing equals the literal advocation of it.
Jesus spoke of unelected rulers in His parables, and of paying taxes to Roman dictators. Does this mean that monarchies and autocracies are the only righteous forms of government? He never denounced dictatorship, so I guess He must want and love it.
You know…I could see them teaching this.
You know…I could see them teaching this.”
in a way that is exactly what they are doing without coming out and saying so. I mean how many 4th of July sermons have you heard about obeying the governing authorities? I got so sick of this that I actually took on a pastor about it this this past summer.
I sent him an email and ask him if he was familiar with our form of government. We obey laws not people. and those laws are made by people we elect to represent us. we do not obey our president, mayor or elected servants. Sheesh. Church is as bad as public school anymore!
keep your ears open because you will hear this all over the place in evangelical circles….they are deadening us up for the collective kill. the church wants good little lemmings and the gov wants good little lemmings.
so I explained all this to the pastor in an email and guess what his response was? thank you for your feedback on my sermon. Hee hee. the guy had been begging for six monthss to give him feedback on his sermons. what he really meant was give me praise feedback. Sigh. one is never to be smarter than the pastor you know.
I just cannot do church anymore. It is not healthy for thinking people and they are no longer safe.
I haven’t been to church in seven months. This is living.
Feedback = Praise and sundry ass-kissing. Exactly.
It’s been 7 months since I left the institution. You can’t leave the Church, the Body, Christ’s Ekklesia.
Taking a bit step away from it makes you really see it all for what it is.
Same whore, brand new dress.
Behold,
Yes indeed. Great metaphor. “Same whore; different dress”.
I might have to steal that! 🙂
Behold,
Are you also a neo-Calvinist ex-pat? Or are you a refugee from some other Reformed re-education camp?