Home to an eclectic band of pseudo-journalistic couch potatoes & team Search Truth Quest: paranormal researchers determined to search for the truth in quest form.
A Review Of Zano’s Review Of Wilber’s “Trump And A Post-Truth World”
Someone needs to put Zano back in his place and that someone is me! He’s starting to get a little too smug in his old age and sometimes he needs reminded he’s not a Jedi yet. This is a rebuttal of sorts to his feature: A Review Of Ken Wilber’s ‘Trump And A Post-Truth World’: Or, How I Stopped Evolving And Learned To Love The Trump. First off, Wilber is correct in his assessment of the problem. Post-modernism has promoted an individualistic pluralism that assumes that all values are self-constructed and relative; therefore the only true value is tolerance. But there is no way to come to a consensus on any given disputed moral issue. Every individual is free to do whatever they want so long as they stay clear of the legal restraints. The problem? A nation without virtue, rots from within. Also, a blog without merit sews only Discord. Snap. For a crash course in virtue-rot I refer to Exhibit A: Mick Zano’s undergraduate studies. Kidding, Zano (sort of).
Wilber is incorrect in addressing the cause of the problem. He assumes that a post-modern pluralistic consciousness is an evolutionary stage with an accompanying shadow-side of relativistic nihilism. Wilber claims that the consciousness of Theism is marked by a magical thinking level of consciousness which envisions God as being transcendent and separate from the created universe. He, along with his transpersonal minions, believe that evolution involves an increasing recognition of God as equal to creation.
The ultimate realization thus becomes:
We all equal the one consciousness that is God.
This is where New Age goes off the rails. I believe God is truly transcendent and beyond creation. God is a different kind of being, wholly separate from creation (God’s Being is self-sufficient, while creation’s being is dependent). We, being mere creatures, cannot fathom God’s Being, but we can come to know that God exists through natural reason (philosophy) and God can reveal Himself to us (theology).
When we humans domesticate God by reducing him to our own rational framework, we begin to debate about the true nature of God. This is very simplified, but the Protestant Reformation rejected the authorized theological traditions and sought to establish a framework for faith and truth based on scripture alone.
The Problem:
Everybody interpreted scripture differently, and there was no agreed upon authority to settle disputes. After many years of theological bickering—not to mention a few crucifixions—the Enlightenment claimed that it could know the truth and establish a moral framework by reason alone.
The Other Problem:
This failed miserably. After nearly 300-years western philosophy has reached no consensus on any moral issue through reason alone.
“I drink therefore …I go get a beer.”
—René Deschutes
Wilber now thinks he can do it via Enlightenment alone. Once understanding is achieved, these enlightened beings will then treat other individuals with this Godly dignity. According the Wilberites, through a meditative and integral practice, every individual can essentially come to realize how they are equal to the one Mind-God-Matrix (MGM). He’s lion! Sorry, Zano keeps insisting this is a comedy site, despite all evidence.
The Other Other Problem:
We are not each equal to the one mind God-consciousness which is equal to the entire Cosmos. This is more bad math. Actually, none of us are equal to the one mind God Consciousness—that is the delusion of sin (pride). For example see Zano’s graduate studies. Kidding again, Zano (sort of).
Prior to the Reformation there was a united institutionalized understanding of a transcendent God, who sacramentally infuses creation with His grace. People as they were (in sin) saw that they were called to be people as they could be (sanctified), and the practice of the virtues was the means for transitioning from point A to point B. Or:
7 holy virtues and 7 deadly sins.
(or Zano’s solution: Seagram’s 7 and 7-Up)
In the post-modern world of pluralism, there is only the person’s moral compass to guide him through the universe. We are naturally coupled with the desires we naturally possess and the means for actually fulfilling our desires. Everything is tolerated, even Zano features.
[Winslow here: you should see him after several 7 and 7s. Oh, you have.]
And that’s the world we are all forced to live in; a world full of free autonomous individuals who pursue whatever they choose without respect for any divine authority. Now meet Ken Wilber’s theories and his transhumanists, whose aims are nothing short of the genetic engineering of the Superman. Sound familiar?
“Nietzsche is peachy, but Sartre was smarte?”
—I danno know. Zano said it once after some 7 & 7s.
Or:
“Don’t be schtupid, be a schmarty; come and join our transpersonal party.”
