A Psychological Assessment of the Right (A Series)

[Y]

These will be a series of articles encompassing a probe into the psychology behind what is commonly termed the Right.

I will be addressing these subjects (others may be added) as time allows and how they form the basis for Right Wing action, philosophy, and thought:

Authoritarianism

Fear

Misanthropy

Religion

[Y]

Authoritarianism

I'm not plowing new ground here, and I doubt I'll have the time to do this topic real justice, but the subject matter is extremely important to grasp in order to understand the mindset of the masses behind the current Right Wing Movement in America that began last century.

So begins my first entry on the subject.

Authoritarianism

I

Merriam Webster defines Authoritarian as:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/authoritarian

1: of, relating to, or favoring blind submissions to authority

The first deduction that becomes obvious from the definition is that these are people who need an outside source – an ideology, a superstition, or a charismatic leader – to lay the ground rules so the world makes sense to, and is a safe place for, them.

To ask the question 'Why?' leads to the deductions that 1) fear is a primary motivating factor and that requiring an outside 'authority' is a paternalistic comfort for them; 2) no sufficient inner structure exists within them strong enough to overcome both that fear and need for 'authoritarian' figures/structures.

In essence, one could state that 'authoritarians' were never weaned and are, in a sense, incomplete personalities – children who never grew into fully self-sufficient adults.

[Rider]

   When people don't submit to authority, we end up with chaos. But what happened to "fear," "misanthropy," and "religion"?

[Palehorse]

   When people don't submit to authority, we end up with chaos. But what happened to "fear," "misanthropy," and "religion"?

People fear what they do not understand or know anything about.

Religion is just humankind's means of controlling the masses, with it's roots in ancient times reaching out to today.

[Rider]

   I'm not religious, but I believe the Bible is God's Word.

[Palehorse]

   I'm not religious, but I believe the Bible is God's Word.

The Tool

Since the beginning of time religion has struggled for control of the people with those who would lead them; from the healers of prehistoric times to tribal leaders, kings, queens, and presidents, the leaders of every religion have wrestled with them for control. During the times before the emergence of Christ and Christianity, the oracles and fortune tellers / astronomers would utilize naturally occurring and predictable astronomical events as signs to the leaders that something they personally wanted done needed to happen. This same methodology was utilized as a means with which to turn the kings and queens of the world into mere puppets of those with the "secret knowledge" they disguised as the ability to hold counsel with the creator. And they took advantage of it to amass personal wealth and power as a means to increase their station in life.

However, it didn't take too long before some of the leadership back then began to figure things out for themselves, by holding counsel with those who possessed new ideas and theories and educating themselves surrounding these things. The old tricks were not what they used to be and these individuals began to lose their grip on the reins of power; and a new way needed to be identified as a means to save themselves.

Along came Jesus Christ and this new idea of Christianity. Now just suppose for a moment, (and I hope you can free up your mind/thought process for long enough to give this some thought) Jesus was nothing more than a man. A man divinely inspired by the creator even works for me. His thoughts and actions, his words, were so revolutionary for the times in which he lived, (Remember, humanity burned "witches" many centuries later and this was after "civilization" had supposedly took hold of the worlds populations), that he was perceived as a threat, an aberration even, by the people of his time. (Some of them anyway. Remember, he did end up on the cross and died at the hands of the "justice" of the times). Yet, amongst the population he struck a chord with many. Some were inspired to follow him, and humanity being humanity, and writers being writers and taking literary license as they usually do, began writing down some of his actions and recording them in the methods of the times.

No doubt some believed so strongly in the things that this man was doing, that they felt compelled to try to bring the point across within the words they placed to "paper", much like the great novelists of the American Wild West days, exaggerating some points to retain the attention of their readers, and hopefully drive home their intended message; that Jesus was onto something here and his teachings were worth passing onto the generations to come. 

Eventually the powers that were in control deemed this man enough of a threat to trump up some charges against him that would enable them to sentence him to his death, and so it was that it came to pass. Only problem was that by the time they had got around to executing him he had developed quite the following, and to make matters worse those within his inner circle had written letters outlining some of his deeds, and lot of his messages. They found themselves unable to quell the movement, much less control those with the information. (Certainly no one back then could even fathom that later generations would take their tales so literally, certainly to the extreme that some do today. And they certainly never could have imagined that science would one day have the ability to identify remains 2,000 years old and even millions of years old.)

As the years passed on the humanity within them came to the forefront, as those within the movement jousted for control of it; greed. That hunger for wealth and power rose to the top and with it began the scheming against each other. Of course after some time those with allegiances to the leaders of the people had infiltrated the movement and someone decided that all this documentation had to be assembled in one place, in order for everyone to better understand the message this man had for humanity.

Thus came about the effort to assemble the books of the "bible" through the editing of the writings of humanity from the times. What a power play this would have been for them. Determine what goes in, what stays out, and make the messages so subjective as to be able to make them say whatever you wish, thus control the people, the power, the wealth for themselves. The "gospels" are only "gospels" because they were deemed as such by the very individuals who edited and assembled them way back in the day. Do I believe there is some truth / value to be had within them, sure I do. But I do not agree with the subjective interpretations and incomplete record that this whole process of editing has left them to be. It gives me reason to doubt, to question, and that is enough.

From my days spent in a Christian University, it is clear that the bible was assembled from a collection of "letters" written by followers of the Christian faith. Parables, they were written by human beings, assembled by other human beings much later on, and magically these same human beings doing the assembly felt they had the authority to exclude anything they felt wasn't in keeping with their personal ideas of what the Christian faith is supposed to mean.

Each of these "letters were written by key figures within the circle of trust that was maintained by Jesus; including a key woman that history has shown was unfairly ostracized within later society and made out to be a whore. The reason for this is clearly obvious if one reads her letters, for they document a relationship with this man Jesus, painting a portrait of him that opposed the path the religion needed to take in order to render to those who assembled these works the personal wealth and power they desired. Moreover, even portions of those letters authored by those included within the completed text contained large portions of such information, and if they were included it would undermine the whole purpose behind this activity! So in their infinite "wisdom" these men that lived centuries after these authors had died, took it upon themselves to edit out everything that went against what they personally felt was the path this religion and its followers were to follow.

What provided them this right to undertake such a ludicrous action? How could they know or understand the true meaning and intention of the writers so many years later, much less know something more than they did surrounding the subject of said writings? They took it upon themselves to decide for humanity the path of the religion moving forward, because the true purpose of this whole activity was to create the new tool required to seize back the control lost when the leadership of the time became enlightened.

The book was assembled to purposely be vague and subjective in interpretation, to allow those who obtain positions of power within the church to wield power over the flock, to bend them to their will, and to allow them to accumulate personal wealth and power over the masses. As it has been utilized throughout history and continues to be. So certainly when empirical evidence is discovered there will be no limit to what can and will be done to obscure it; for it threatens their livelihood!

Throughout the subsequent centuries the leadership of Christianity has waffled upon interpretation of passages, providing explanations that best served their purpose at each time the questions arose; in each instance taking the stance that they are only passing along that which God has provided only to them, by speaking only to them. Placing themselves above all others amongst them and in the position to control and decide what is right and what is wrong.  After all, does not the book clearly document the divine power provided to a man by God, and since it is God he can provide this same power to those chosen by him for eternity!

It is no wonder then that all these centuries later humankind struggles to understand why it is so contradictory, and just how it is that a man can sit down and write a set of letters on the very same subject matter, but have the continuity broken up by the fact that others much later adjudicate certain portions of that writing as incorrect.  How can a man be divinely inspired one moment but not so in the next? Human greed is the answer. To exclude "letters" that document the fact that this same man married, that he had children, and when he was crucified his body was secreted away by those who loved him most, to be later laid to rest within a family tomb, only serve to further cast doubt upon the whole business.

Is it any more of a wonder that centuries after the completion of this book, when physical evidence providing empirical proof that a key foundational element of this book is wrong, is categorically denied and dismissed after a decade of it being hidden away from the world?

[Rider]

   Palehorse, from your view of the Bible, I don't see how it is possible you have ever read the book from cover to cover. It's obvious you have no understanding of it, but that's not unusual. What I'm really curious about is this statement you made:

"To exclude 'letters' that document the fact that this same man married, that he had children, and when he was crucified his body was secreted away by those who loved him most, to be later laid to rest within a family tomb, only serve to further cast doubt upon the whole business."

What is your source? I could not find it in an internet search. To the contrary on Wikipedia, I found the following statement about the hypothesis that Jesus married and had children:

"According to an overwhelming majority of professional historians and scholars from related fields, there is no historical,biblical, apocryphal, archaeological, genealogical or genetic evidence which supports this hypothesis."

Of course, it is absurd to say the Bible was an attempt to control anybody. It comprises writings of various Hebrew authors over a period of thousands of years. What we have today was assembled in the fourth century. At that time the Catholic Church was in control; there was no Protestant movement. Yet we know that their decisions of what was and was not included were not an attempt to control because the Catholic Church does not do what the Bible commands.

They call priests "Father." But God's Word says, "And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9). They make statues. But the Bible says, "so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female" (Deuteronomy 4:16). Surely if they had been editing, they would have cut out these and many similar passages. The Catholic hierarchy doesn't worry about this because they know nobody actually reads God's Word.
Because some men use some biblical passages to control other men, should you be angry at the Bible? You should read it from cover to cover to find out what it really says.

[Palehorse]

   Palehorse, from your view of the Bible, I don't see how it is possible you have ever read the book from cover to cover. It's obvious you have no understanding of it, but that's not unusual. What I'm really curious about is this statement you made:

Part of my degree work included bible study within the christian university from which I obtained said degree; specifically surveys of both the old and new Testaments and their origins. So your "assumptions" are dead wrong. In fact, I dare say I've not only read it cover to cover, which is more than most, but also participated in more in depth analysis of it than most as well.

"To exclude 'letters' that document the fact that this same man married, that he had children, and when he was crucified his body was secreted away by those who loved him most, to be later laid to rest within a family tomb, only serve to further cast doubt upon the whole business."

What is your source? I could not find it in an internet search. To the contrary on Wikipedia, I found the following statement about the hypothesis that Jesus married and had children:

"According to an overwhelming majority of professional historians and scholars from related fields, there is no historical,biblical, apocryphal, archaeological, genealogical or genetic evidence which supports this hypothesis."

My sources are my sources, and should you actually be interested in the subject enough to do some real investigation you would easily find a lot of evidence that supports my positions. In fact, parts of what you read previously were whole heartedly endorsed by individuals within accredited institutions of higher learning that hold doctorates in Theology.
Now granted, your current position is skewed in part by the fact that you do not enjoy the full context of my thesis from which to form a more learned opinion. . .

Of course, it is absurd to say the Bible was an attempt to control anybody. It comprises writings of various Hebrew authors over a period of thousands of years. What we have today was assembled in the fourth century. At that time the Catholic Church was in control; there was no Protestant movement. Yet we know that their decisions of what was and was not included were not an attempt to control because the Catholic Church does not do what the Bible commands.

They call priests "Father." But God's Word says, "And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9). They make statues. But the Bible says, "so that you do not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female" (Deuteronomy 4:16). Surely if they had been editing, they would have cut out these and many similar passages. The Catholic hierarchy doesn't worry about this because they know nobody actually reads God's Word.
Because some men use some biblical passages to control other men, should you be angry at the Bible? You should read it from cover to cover to find out what it really says.
[/color][/font]

Your key mistake here is quoting the "word of God according to mankind" as a means to defend your position.

The Eternal Struggle

Religion has been (and always will be by all appearances) the best known method for building and wielding personal power and wealth known to humankind. This fact was at the very foundation of the canonization process utilized during the "editing" of the Bible, and has always been the basis for the scare tactics utilized by supposed religious leaders throughout history.  From the power hungry High-Priests of the dark/middle-ages, to the Falwells, Bakers, and zealots of today; money and power have always been the objectives. (Book-ended by the voice of God and the Holy Spirit).

Keep in mind that I consider myself somewhat of a Christian; just not a main-stream version that is so common today. (I became such via attrition. Read on). I've always maintained a level of doubt surrounding the resources and methods utilized in assembling the Holy Bible, and my Christian university education added to this doubt. (Imagine that!) I was brought up a southern Baptist by a fire and brimstone mother. Each Sunday she'd literally have to drag me and my siblings down several city blocks on the south side of Chicago, to the local church for our weekly scare tactic/brain washing session. I spent many a night sleepless and worrying myself sick as a lad, utterly convinced I was doomed to the eternal fire pits of hell just because I was looking at the bra section of the Sears catalog.

I was "saved", as they call it, at a very young age; mostly because I felt it was my only chance for avoiding the fire and brimstone lake of fire that the minister assured us every week awaited us if we did not come forward. I made my way to the pulpit when the call was made, crying, babbling, and pleading to avoid the fires of hell and eternal damnation. (As the oldest my siblings followed with me with their own versions of hysteria. We had talked about it many times and they were just as scared as I was). And a few weeks later I was baptized as additional insurance against this terrible fate. But as soon as I was old enough to have a paper route, (I got 3 of them), I made sure it was for the paper that printed a Sunday edition and lollygagged around in bed just long enough each Sunday morning to ensure I'd have to miss church in order to make my deliveries.

I also consider myself a man of science, and when scientific evidence is presented that contradicts the accepted version(s) of information contained within the scripture, I get real interested, real fast, and for my own selfish and personal reasons. I always did very well within the science courses throughout my schooling and into my higher education as well. It's just a subject I happen to love and have rarely, if ever, found boring or tedious.  To tell the truth a lot of it just seemed to come naturally to me, and a lot of the time I took pride in the fact that I grasped a particular theory or methodology so much quicker than my classmates. I've always felt comfortable in science.

During high school the new minister of my mother's church was a pilot and a musician, and since mom knew I had a higher than average interest in both of these things she took it upon herself to create situations wherein I would have to spend time with this minister. It worked for awhile and actually ended up with my receiving a lot of unofficial flying lessons, and engaging in one on one talks with this minister about things concerning music. It also provided me with a discreet window into this minister and his "true" life outside of the church, and to put it politely he talked the talk, but he was way off in the weeds when it came to walking!

If so called believers were to be required to live as Jesus is to have said they should, most of them would be victimized by the zealots amongst them. Fraternization with thieves, whores, drunks, and addicts; how dare they! Yet these are the very things Jesus is supposed to have done.  These are the "lost" souls among humankind, the wayward sheep the Shepard's are to bring back into the fold . . . but there is no money in that, no power to be gained. Most of the ministers I have been around make it a point to engage in activities that do these things; increase the flock, scare the kool aid out of them, and guilt them into tithing until it hurts, and then tithe some more.

They typically live in homes far and above those the average church member are able to provide for themselves; driving a new Cadillac or Town Car and dressing in some of the best suits available to them at deep discount from those members amongst the flock that were purveyors of such things. And the church was and is always in need of major repairs that are going to cost tens of thousands, or a new one is strongly desired by the "Lord". It usually ends up being a mansion of astounding proportions that requires even more tithing to heat and cool once it is built. 

And while my topic here primarily surrounds Christianity and its myopic view of itself and its self serving purpose, I don't want anyone to think it is just Christianity I am having these problems with. Look at the Middle East; killing each other since before the time of Jesus, since before the book was ever conceived of, and still killing each other today; and all over religious differences when you get right down to it. Some sects feeling religious entitlement to certain portions of land, other sects feeling the same way, and in still other sects you will find that killing itself has become a religious right of sorts, with bastardized versions claiming it as the only means of achieving eternal rewards of various types. The whole situation can be summarized with this short phrase: Humankind- killing each other in the name of religion for centuries.  Organized religion was created and exists for one purpose and one purpose only; to allow a select few to accumulate personal wealth and power. In the eternal struggle for control of the masses, there has never been another tool created to achieve such a high measure of success and longevity in this endeavor. It is one of the reasons why it has been so successful.

Can anybody tell me what God would ever endorse such behavior, such action, such destruction from its own creation as a means with which to obtain favor? And if there were such a God, who in their right mind would ever want to worship such an entity? What would be the purpose of life in such an obscured reality? Kill or be killed? To what end?

Perhaps my comments are far too dramatic for such a controversial subject I admit; however from my perspective organized religion is an entity manufactured by humanity that has been utilized throughout the ages as a means with which to exercise control of the masses, and provide a platform from which to build personal wealth and power.  Jesus himself, (if the words within the bible are to be believed on some level, and I do hold this much to be true for if humankind cared enough to put the words down there had to have been some kind of purpose to it!), cautioned against this and is alleged to have taken several to task for these very actions; yet look around today and it is worse now than it has ever been. And the perpetrators are the leadership amongst them!

Jesus (and I am repeating myself here I am sorry) consorted with the throw away sector of society, provided them hope, lifted them up, showed them the way of life. How is this being done today? How many homeless persons do you see welcomed within your congregations? How many of the addicted, the down-trodden, the helpless are welcomed within the congregations of organized religion and lifted up by its leadership? Few if any you have to admit. Those rare exceptions of individuals that come to the congregation seeking the way, are patronized and most often serve as fodder for the cannons of gossip and judgment exercised by the leadership and congregations nation-wide. This is the reality of organized religion today; a cliquish group of supposed followers of Jesus that regularly lord it over the have not's, and those who question their methods and ways.

The very nature of humankind is greed, and so often throughout history we have seen the conquered adopt the ways of the conquering. (Native Americans and Christianity for example). Now the religions and leaders of the times back then certainly saw how quickly this man was able to amass a strong following. So why not use this to construct a better means of controlling the peoples and bending them to the will of those who hold the power? Use his teachings and mold them in a way that leads them down the desired path? (Don't think the religious leaders of the times were capable of such acts or thoughts. Think of the high priests of the middles ages and the way in which they controlled the Kings by claiming to receive messages from God telling them the King should blah, blah blah).

I have more admiration for the addicted Johnny come lately to religion that stands in rags on the street corners reciting the scriptures, than I do for the seminary graduating pastors who are in the business of fleecing the congregation of their money for the sole purpose of building their material possessions and power. (I met one of these seminary types at a wedding once at a local church. There were several instances wherein I would have liked to pimp slapped his holier than thou insolent face, and taken him down a few notches. But this would have broken the laws of humankind, and served as an insult toward the house of God; thus I held my opinions and intentions to myself). And I would further speculate that the creator does as well. I can feel it in my soul. And you can hear it in Johnny come lately's voice if you will but listen.

Just look at the "power" the COG wields; you have to ask yourself, is this what the creator intended for his followers to do? I don't think so, not by a long shot. Where is the love? Where is the lifting up? Where is the supposed imitation of the path of Jesus in all of that? I don't see it, and they cannot see the path for being blinded by the desire for power and wealth! You don't buy that Christian leaders can stop anything? Take a look around in your town. Read the news. Do you not see what the COG is doing within your community, the influence it exerts in city politics and planning decisions? The fact is Christian leadership exerts influence and wields its power every day.

The zealots have been conditioned by society and organized religion to accept these things unquestioningly. (And I do not mean that in a bad way either). I too was amongst you, and believed without question. Education, formal and informal, combined with life experiences have served to open my eyes and create the questions that I and many more have to ask. When presented with a situation such as the "Lost Tomb of Jesus", (more on this later), answers must be demanded and arrived at, and the status quo of unconditional acceptance is unacceptable to me personally.

Humankind has proven throughout history that we cannot be trusted, and I am not about to start changing my line of thinking on this right now. The Bible was authored, edited, and produced by humankind. How are we to accept it as unquestionable truth when it is incomplete and assembled at the hand and will of humankind? A humankind that has proven, and continues to prove each and every day, that it is solely motivated by greed; greed for power and wealth.

So let me ask you a question: Have ever wondered what "books/works/letters" were excluded from the bible during the assembly (editing) of it? Have you ever wondered what they said? (They are still available none-the-less, however it takes a little effort to find them).


Science is an effort to understand the world around us, not explain it. Religion likely started out as a means to feed the spiritual needs of humanity, and this morphed into it being (abused) utilized as a tool to control humanity.

A human being is comprised of two parts, physical and spiritual. Our physical bodies are the window of what each of us basically considers "life" here on earth. Our bodies and their various systems work in conjunction to allow us to accomplish things, set goals, achieve them; to basically "experience this thing we call life. However our spirit, or soul if you will, is that part of our makeup that exists eternally; beyond the physical limitations of "life" as we know it here on earth.

Our spirits have always existed and always will, and it is this component of the experience here on earth that I believe to be the other half of the driver behind why religion has become so powerful, so all encompassing, and so vital to such a major portion of humanity around the world. It is my belief that human life does not truly begin until the physical merging of the two entities, our spirit and our physical bodies, that takes place upon the drawing of the first breath. It is at this precise moment that our spirits enter into the physical body that has been awaiting our arrival, and it is at this precise moment that our "life" here on earth begins.

Now while the above statement may hold serious ramifications for a portion of society and in fact elicit a strong opposition to the notions set forth herein, I submit that the lion's share of said opposition can be attributed solely to the collateral damage inflicted upon humanity by the centuries of religious rancor, oppression, and brainwashing; so before you go off on a religious crusade I would appreciate the opportunity to speak my piece here as best I can, so please, take a breath and read on for awhile.

Our spirits do not maintain overall control of our physical being, indeed, it is the experiences and the mentality these experiences create within our minds as we develop physically, that eventually assumes this role within our being while we are here. We are each born with gifts that are equal and far above and beyond that which you may imagine, but due to societal pressure to conform to that which society deems "normal and acceptable", we learn to suppress these gifts; and as we all have learned, that which you do not use you eventually lose.

As we develop physically and mentally, we learn to "forget" or repress our spiritual side; to purposely lose touch with it because unless we do we quickly learn we will be ostracized by society. For the religious among you reading this, think back to the prophets of the bible. The fortune tellers, the folks able to see the future, speak to the dead, and perform other great wonders. Have you ever asked yourself just why it is that these people existed back then and furthermore why it is that if they did indeed exist back then why they are not here now? The answer is that there are many among us who can indeed do these things today, and in fact each of us can still do these things if we would but drop the weight we provide to society in forcing us to repress these skills.

The people today have learned to hide these skills from society in general, and the fact that fakes and charlatans abound only serves to further assist them in obscuring their abilities from anyone they choose. Moreover, you will not find the people with these abilities amongst the fleeced flocks milling about within the organized religions of the world today, because religion serves as the panacea to the spirit, required to quell our spirits crying and need for acknowledgment in a world of physical being.

As with anything "living" nourishment is required in order to sustain life and obtain well being, happiness, and contentment. Despite the daily barrage placed upon our lives by the environment we call earth and our day-to-day "life", our spirits can be felt even today. That unsatisfied feeling of unrest, as if we are missing something, that which drives us to question the purpose of "life", that which drives us to understand life and our surroundings, that which completes us. It is our spirit and it demands attention of us. But since we have repressed this aspect of our lives here, we seek out ways to placate this need as we have done since the beginning of time. Religion plays to this need and for many it has now progressed to the point where it is the only acceptable means of acknowledging our spirits; we have become spiritual sheep to a panacea constructed of lies.

It is this very spiritual need that drives humanity to submit to that for which there can be no explanation within the physical world, to abdicate its own ability to that which is preposterous and clearly unreasonable to those who would but take some time to clearly review.  Society has served to further the cause of religion by deeming anyone displaying any kind of "ability" at first a witch, and eventually ostracizing them when various religions began to frown upon actions like burning at the stake.

The crusades and inquisitions undertaken by early society endorsed torture, maiming, and killing as acceptable means with which to obtain confessions from those who would not accept the basic religious tenants of the time, exasperating the need for humanity to repress the spiritual side of our being, to hide it away never to see the light of day again. And all in the name of Christianity and religion, untold numbers of human beings are put to the fire, steel, and grave; and the purveyors of such deeds proudly display the sign of the cross upon their armor, flags, and crests while doing so, claiming the support of God for their actions.

Put yourselves in the place of the people who endured such acts of insanity; imagine if you will that all of sciences contributions to the world as we know it today are no longer in existence. Imagine your neighbors, your relatives, and your people being slaughtered in the name of some religion and man who you had never heard of before. Imagine being forced to accept this religion or die. There is no government but your King or leader, and there is no other way of life but that which has been provided since the day of your birth. Then these people arrive. If you cannot imagine back that far, then try imagining yourself a Native American; can what they endured be anything different, any less horrifying, any less wrong?