Private Convictions are Exposed and Then Sacrificed (for the sake of approval/affirmation) in the Consensus Meeting.
by
Dean Gotcher
The consensus meeting has not come to us without much thought and practice. It exists and draws us into (and under) its control because it lies within us, in our desires and dissatisfactions. It originates in our natural desire for the carnal pleasures of the 'moment' which the world stimulates, including our desire for approval from others (affirming our carnal nature), and our natural dissatisfaction with, i.e., resentment or hatred toward restraint—something which we tend to keep to our "self," dialoguing only with our "self" about out of fear of being judged and punished (chastened) or condemned (cast out) by those in authority, i.e., by those who restrain. "The individual may have 'secret' thoughts which he will under no circumstances reveal to anyone else if he can help it [read: a person dialogues or imagines within himself what he wants to do or would do if he could, i.e., if he were given the opportunity but would "feel" embarrassed, ashamed, humiliated, as well as be found guilty, rejected, and condemned if anyone else knew or found out, i.e., got caught (found out) by those in authority]." "To gain access is particularly important, for precisely here may lie the individual's potential for democratic or antidemocratic thought and action in crucial situations [read: blackmail—the fear is: what you share, affirm, and do in "private," i.e., in the "safe zone," i.e., in the consensus process WILL be used against you later on if you 'change' your mind, i.e., if you return to your "old" ways; that is, if your thoughts and actions are turned to the consensus group against those of the "old" way, those of the "old" way will reject (and hate) you when they "discover" that you have rejected and betrayed them, i.e., brought harm to them, if you repent, i.e., turn against the consensus group (who, knowing your "secret thoughts" will expose them, i.e., "throw you under the bus"), then all you have is both sides rejecting and harming you, leaving you with no one to turn to for support, in this way the fear of alienation, i.e., the fear of standing alone—strengthened by the consensus process (affirmation is intoxicating, addictive, and possessive)—will keep you loyal to the consensus process, i.e., to the consensus group]." "What is the degree of relationship between ideology and action [read: belief-action dichotomy, where a person does not behave according to his belief, being carnal instead of being righteous, i.e., not doing the father's/Father's will in the 'moment' or situation—according to "humanists" being "human"—revealing his true "self" or "nature," 'justifying' his "self"]?" "Personality evolves under the impact of the social environment and can never be isolated form the social totality within which it occurs [read: a person is willing to compromise or reject (abdicate) his belief in favor of his natural desire for the carnal pleasures of the 'moment' which the world stimulates if he can receive approval, i.e., affirmation, i.e., 'justification,' i.e., consent (support) from others in doing so and is willing to tolerate others carnal behavior, which he would not do, in order for them to affirm his carnal behavior as being "OK," affirming "human nature" as being the fountainhead from which to determine right from wrong—right being affirming "human nature," i.e., approving doing wrong, disobeying, sinning if and when they thought it was "necessary," wrong being judging and condemning anyone for doing wrong, disobeying, sinning when they thought it was "necessary," i.e., would making them feel bad or guilty for being "human"]." (Theodor Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality)
"[We] must develop persons who see non-influencability of private convictions [those holding onto their belief despite their desire to do wrong, disobey, sin, privately judging their thoughts in order to keep their behavior "under wraps," i.e., in order to not do wrong, disobey, sin, holding others accountable to doing the same] in joint deliberations [in the consensus process] as a vice [as being mentally ill, as being negative, hateful, and hurtful] rather than a virtue [as being healthy in mind, as being principled, approved, admired, and used as an example (for everyone to be like)]." (Kenneth D. Benne, Human Relations in Curriculum Change)
"Authoritarian submission was conceived of as a very general attitude that would be evoked in relation to a variety of authority figures—parents, older people, leaders, supernatural power, and so forth." "God is conceived more directly after a parental image and thus as a source of support and as a guiding and sometimes punishing authority." "Submission to authority, desire for a strong leader, subservience of the individual to the state [parental authority, local control, Nationalism], and so forth, have so frequently and, as it seems to us, correctly, been set forth as important aspects of the Nazi creed that a search for correlates of prejudice had naturally to take these attitudes into account." "The power-relationship between the parents, the domination of the subject's family by the father or by the mother, and their relative dominance in specific areas of life also seemed of importance for our problem." (Theodor Adorno, The Authoritarian Personality)
According to Karl Marx "It is not individualism [the child subject to the father's authority, humbling, denying, dying to his "self" in order to do the father's will as man is subject to God the Father's authority, humbling, denying, dying to his "self" in order to do the Father's will] that fulfills the individual, on the contrary it destroys him. Society ["human relationship based upon self interest," i.e., "human nature"] is the necessary framework through which freedom [from the father's/Father's authority] and individuality [to be "of and for self," i.e., carnal, i.e., "of and for the world" only] are made realities." (Karl Marx, in John Lewis, The Life and Teachings of Karl Marx) "The life [authority] which he [the child] has given to the object [to the parent, to the teacher, to the boss, to the ruler, or to God—when the child humbles, denies, dies to, disciplines, controls his "self" in order to do their will, thus "empowering" them] sets itself against him ["human nature"] as an alien and hostile force." (Karl Marx, MEGA I/3)
It is the child's natural desire for the carnal pleasures of the 'moment' which the world stimulates and his natural hatred toward restraint from which social 'change' is initiated. It is therefore imperative, according to the Marxist-psychologist, i.e., the "group psychotherapist" that the child's nature be 'liberated' in the consensus meeting for 'change' to be sustained. "The child, contrary to appearance, is the absolute, the rationality of the relationship; he is what is enduring and everlasting, the totality which produces itself once again as such [once he is 'liberated' from the father's/Father's authority so that he can be his "self," i.e., as he was before the father's/Father's first command, rule, fact, or truth came into his life, i.e., carnal, i.e., of the world only]." (Georg Hegel, System of Ethical Life)
"The guilty conscience is formed in childhood by the incorporation of the parents and the wish to be father of oneself." "What we call 'conscience' perpetuates inside of us our bondage to past objects [commands, rules, facts, and truth] now part of ourselves: the superego 'unites in itself the influences of the present [our current "feelings'] and of the past [affirming only those facts and truth which do not "hurt" our "feelings," i.e., which do not inhibit or block us from enjoying or hoping to enjoy the carnal pleasures of the 'moment' which we desire, which the world stimulates, thus negating the guilty conscience for doing wrong, disobeying, sinning, making doing wrong, disobeying, sinning seems right in our own eyes and the in the eyes of others, affirming our thoughts and actions when they are done for the sake of "the people," i.e., advancing "human nature"].'" (Norman O. Brown, Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytical Meaning of History) "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 16:25 "The heart is deceitful above all things [thinking pleasure is the standard for "good" instead of doing the father's/Father's will], and desperately wicked [hating whoever prevents, i.e., inhibits or blocks it from enjoying the carnal pleasures of the 'moment' it desires, which the world stimulates]: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9
The guilty conscience for doing wrong, disobeying, sinning is sacrificed in the dialoguing of opinions to a consensus meeting, where all must bow to the god of "human nature," i.e., the "group psychotherapist," i.e., the facilitator of 'change,' 'justifying' (tolerating) those doing wrong, disobeying, sinning so that all can do wrong, disobey, sin with impunity—as long as it is done for the sake of "the group," i.e., "the people," 'justifying' "self," i.e., "human nature" over and therefore against the father's/Father's authority. "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." Luke 16:15 "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil." Proverbs 16:5-6
"And through covetousness [your desire for the carnal pleasures of the 'moment' which the world stimulates, which the father/Father says are wrong] shall they with feigned words [words which make you "feel safe," 'justifying' your carnal desires of the 'moment'] make merchandise of you [buy and sell your soul like "natural resource" for their own pleasure and gain]: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." 2 Peter 2:3
"Bypassing the traditional channels of top-down decision making, our objective centers upon transform public opinion into an effective instrument of global politics." "Individual values must be measured by their contribution to common interests and ultimately to world interests transforming public consensus into one favorable to the emergence of a stable and humanistic world order." "Consensus is both a personal and a political step. It is a precondition of all future steps." (Ervin Laszlo, A Strategy for the Future: The Systems Approach to World Order)
"I have found whenever I ran across authoritarian students that the best thing for me to do was to break their backs immediately." "The correct thing to do with authoritarians is to take them realistically for the bastards they are and then behave toward them as if they were bastards." (Abraham Maslow, The Journals of Abraham Maslow) Welcome to your child's classroom.
"O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called [the consensus process]: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen." 1 Timothy 6:20, 21
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverb. 3: 5-6
© Institution for Authority Research, Dean Gotcher 2017, 2018