Category Archives: Defining Religion

07/8/22

Looking at Carlo Vigano’s Speech (2021) “How the Revolution of Vatican II Serves the New World Order” (Part 11 of 14)

0070 At this point, there are two arrangements, a two-level interscope and an intersection.  The interscope depicts an alchemic flow.  The intersection depicts an eclipse2, a single actuality involving two celestial bodies, where one body occludes the light of the other.

0071 From the modernist point of view, the two-level interscope operates.  Vatican II is triumphant.  Modernist experts are empowered to alchemically isolate the substance of the sacraments, dissolve it, and then coagulate it as an open religion, on par with all the other religions of the world.  The Catholic Church3a aligns with Vatican II3b, through the ministrations of experts.

Figure 19

0072 From the integralist point of view, the intersection operates.  According to Vigano, Vatican II3H is one normal context and the Catholic Church3V is another.  Typically, normal contexts exhibit the logics of exclusion, alignment and complement.  Here, the two nested forms cannot complete their logical destinies, because their actualities consolidate into a single actuality.  So, the two actualities cannot be the same, but they are stuck together.

Figure 20

0073 Is the integralist eclipse2 on its way to an alignment of two nested forms?

The modern experts want it so.

But, there is a problem.

Vatican II3H has not, and cannot, complete the task of reconciling the two actualities of intergralism2V and modernism2H, and bringing them into alignment.

But maybe, that is not the end game.

Perhaps, the end game is much more cruel.

0074 Why?

The charism of Christ1V is the potential that underlies the contiguity between the body of Christ2V and the kingdom of God2V. 

The potential of experts1H dissolves the credibility (tradition and authority) of the sacraments and alchemically coagulates an open religion, redefining the body of Christ2V as the human brotherhood2H and reformulating the kingdom of God2V as the open society2H.

0075 In the eclipse2, the horizontal potential1H exploits the substance generated by the vertical potential1V.

Figure 21

Why does the two-level interscope fail?

The moment that the sacraments cannot be dissolved and reformulated into the lingo of human brotherhood2b and open society2b, the substance of the open religion can no longer feed of its host.

Why is the interscope cruel?

The potential of the Third Person of the Trinity1a cannot be virtually situated by experts harvesting material precipitates1bof sacred sacraments2a and making the coagulate open for all to share2b.  But, it can be exploited.

0076 In section ten, Vigano suggests that maybe Catholics should just… let go… of this strange monstrosity.

Let go of the exploitation.

0077 Indeed, the eclipse2 is a strange configuration, since the historic Church stands with the Virgin Mary upon the moon and is clothed in the garments of righteousness and the open religion, which is what “we” want the church to be(according to Fratelli Tutti), stands in the umbra of the moon, along with the other “open” religions of the world.

I wonder whether there are alternate analogies.

07/7/22

Looking at Carlo Vigano’s Speech (2021) “How the Revolution of Vatican II Serves the New World Order” (Part 12 of 14)

0078 In section eleven, Vigano proposes that there is a way to win the battle between the integralists and the modernists.  Go back to what the Church has always done.  Stop doing what the anti-church asks for.

Then, almost as a correction, Vigano quotes 2 Maccabees 15:23, which says (more or less), “So now, O Sovereign of the Heavens, send a good angel to spread terror and trembling before us.  By the might of your arm may these blasphemers, who come against your holy people, be struck down.”

0079 Why would Vigano say, at first, “Simply return to the pre-Vatican II Church.”, and then immediately, “Lord, send your angel to destroy those exploiting your Church.”?

Here is a picture of the flows between substance (the contiguity in secondness) and potential, transferred from the modernist’s two-level interscope to the integralist’s eclipse2.

Figure 22

0080 Does this diagram picture the cruelty of the intersection of the eclipse2?

To some extent, the nightmare is portrayed by Vigano’s initial shifting metaphor.

The substance of the sacraments belongs to the Church, standing in solidarity with the Mother of Jesus, wrapped in the mantle of divine righteousness.  In artistic renderings, Mary stands on the moon.

The substance of the open religion belongs to the Church, located in solidarity with all the religions of the world(including Protestant religions), in the umbra cast by the eclipse2 of the sacraments.  Open religion stands in the umbra below the moon.

0081 The church, like some quantal object, is delocalised.  It is a waveform, presenting in two locations, above and below the moon.  It is not the particle that Bergoglio’s customers think that they are purchasing.  The world demands a particle.  God offers a wave.0082 I wonder, “Is there another analogy, one less physics-oriented, and one more attuned to the transactional character of Vatican II, where facilitators sell their positional authority to ‘someone else’?”

07/6/22

Looking at Carlo Vigano’s Speech (2021) “How the Revolution of Vatican II Serves the New World Order” (Part 13 of 14)

0083 Here is an alternate analogy, pertinent to the crisis of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the crisis of the 2010s and 2020s.  Vigano does not envision this analogy, even though he raises the topic of motivation.  The following analogy is latent in his argument.  It will take a few steps to set it forth.

0084 I start with the vertical axis.

Sacrament is the contiguity between two real elements.  Similarly, the term, “commodity”, is a contiguity between two real elements, which I will call, primal matter and human labor.

0085 Here is the first analogy.

Figure 23

0086 For the horizontal axis, the term, “money”, labels the contiguity between two real elements, products for sale and social arrangements that the products engender.

Here is the second analogy.

Figure 24

0087 The normal contexts of production3V and transaction3H mirror the distinction between the Catholic Church3V and Vatican II3H.

The potential1V that is analogous to the charism of Christ1V is utility1V, defined as the potential of ‘the charism of a product’1V.

The potential1H that is analogous to the alchemic transformation conducted by experts1H is price1H, defined as the potential to ‘transmute a commodity into money’1H.

The single actuality2 composed of construction2V and sales2H is the market2.

0088 Here is a picture.

Figure 25

0089 So, now I have an intersection that is analogous to Vigano’s eclipse2.

Figure 26

0090 The alchemic flows are also analogous.

Figure 27

0091 The exploitation is also analogous.

Figure 28
07/5/22

Looking at Carlo Vigano’s Speech (2021) “How the Revolution of Vatican II Serves the New World Order” (Part 14 of 14)

0092 The analogy in the previous blog brings me back, full circle, to the so-called spirit of Vatican II, as well as the title of Vigano’s speech.

Mercy is not the same as mercenary.  The Catholic elites of the time before Vatican II wanted to be accepted by their secular superiors, Big Government (il)Liberals. They wanted to be acknowledged by those-in-the-know so badly that they promulgated a new theology to mask a cruel exploitation.  That new theology alchemically dissolved and coagulated the sacraments into the open religion demanded by the wealthy and well-positioned purveyors of “the human brotherhood” and “the open society”.

This examination reveals that the Catholic elites, operating on the society tier, recapitulate the exploitation practiced by the financial elites in the organization tier.

0093 Students of political theology take note.

The alchemist says, “As above, so below.”

0094 Does the societal alchemic transmutation of the body of Christ2V into the human brotherhood2H and the kingdom of God2V into the open society2H have a parallel below, where well-funded organizations transmute our bodies as primal matter2V into products for sale2H and the labor of caring for human health2V into product-driven social arrangements2H?

0095 Intersections can be mysterious.

Intersections can also be cruel.

0096 Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano on the Church, America and the World is the subtitle for A Voice in The Wilderness,published by Angelico Press in 2021.  The presentation under examination appears on pages 251-274.  The speech is worth reading.

0097 How To Define the Word “Religion” is a masterwork by Razie Mah concerning political theology, one of the most disconcerting intellectual challenges of our current Lebenswelt.  This e-work is available at smashwords and other electronic book vendors.

0098 Plus, there is more.

Other electronic articles for sale may be found in the Intimations of Political Philosophy Series.

0099 In addition, recent blogs include the following.

Looking at Peter Redpath’s Essay (2000) “The Homeschool Renaissance”, raziemah blog, June 2022

Looking at Thomas Michaud’s Article (2021) “Anatomy of the Progressive Revolution”, raziemah blog, May 2022

Looking at Josh Hammer’s Opinion Piece (2021) “…Experts”, raziemah blog, July 2021

Comments on Philip Marey’s Post (2021) “Insurrection”, raziemah blog, Jan 2021

Comments on Yoram Hazony’s Post (2020) “Challenges of Marxism”, raziemah blog, September 2020

Theology of the Deep State, raziemah blog, May 2020

05/13/22

Looking at Thomas Michaud’s Essay (2021) “Anatomy of the Progressive Revolution” (Part 1 of 9)

0001 The article under consideration appears in a special issue of Studia Gilsoniana (volume 10(5), pages 1107-1120), covering economics and politics.

I downloaded the article from academia.edu.

The article addresses issues raised in How To Define the Word “Religion”, as well as in contributions to the Intimations of Political Philosophy series.

0002 The structure of Michaud’s argument follows Greek textual structure.  Greek textual structure seeks certainty by eliminating possibilities.  

Here, Michaud presents two options: (A) the traditional view of religion as the foundation of morality and culture and (B) the Progressive view, where politics transforms culture by imposing revolutionary ideological social justice through a collectivist economy.  Then, Michaud questions the Progressive stance (B) by considering one implication, the integrity of the individual as a person.  This leaves (A) as the only viable option.

0003 Of course, I oversimplify.

Why am I interested in this essay?

Features in Michaud’s argument may be re-conceptualized as category-based nested forms.

See A Primer on the Category-Based Nested Form and A Primer on Sensible and Social Construction, available at smashwords and other e-book vendors under the author, Razie Mah.

05/12/22

Looking at Thomas Michaud’s Article (2021) “Anatomy of the Progressive Revolution” (Part 2 of 9)

0004 In the twilight of the Age of Ideas, a traditionalist slogan captures the order of social things.  Politics is downstream of culture.  Culture is downstream of religion.  To that, Michaud adds two more.  Morality flows from religion.  Economics goes with politics.

Surely, America’s founders, living in the heyday of the Age of Ideas, would sympathize with this snapshot, which may be encapsulated in a hierarchical diagram.

Figure 01

0005 How does the following flow diagram associate to a category-based nested form?

Religion is the normal context3.  A normal context3 belongs Peirce’s category of thirdness.  Thirdness brings secondness into relation with firstness.

Morality and culture are both actual2.  Actuality2 belongs to the dyadic category of secondness.  Secondness consists in two contiguous real elements.  Here, the two real elements are morality and culture.  I can write the actuality2 as morality [contiguity] culture2.

0006 What label describes the contiguity?

This is a great question.  It is at the heart of a series titled, “Peirce’s Secondness and Aristotle’s Hylomorphism”.  I could label the contiguity, “substantiates”.  But, here, I will use a less technical term, “sustains”.

0007 Finally, the possibilities inherent in ‘politics and economics’ underlie culture.

0008 Thus, I arrive at the following category-based nested form.

Figure 02
05/11/22

Looking at Thomas Michaud’s Essay (2021) “Anatomy of the Progressive Revolution” (Part 3 of 9)

0009 Where does the individual fit into this category-based nested form?

The individual resides on a lower form.  Looking up, “he” sees a relational dynamic within the social paradigm.

Figure 03

0010 The hierarchical flow in the traditional slogan becomes a double dynamic, where the normal context3 flows into one dyadic actuality2 and the potential1 rises into the other dyadic actuality2.  The category-based nested form displays its own transcategorical flows.  Religion3 motivates morality2.  Politics and economics1 enlivens culture2.

What does this imply?

The traditional slogan depicts a flow down a hierarchy.  This flow conveys an aura of determinism.In contrast, the corresponding category-based nested form presents two transcategorical flows.  One flows “down” from normal context3 to actuality2.  The other flows “up” from potential1 to actuality2.  These flows convey a picture of dynamism.

05/10/22

Looking at Thomas Michaud’s Essay (2021) “Anatomy of the Progressive Revolution” (Part 4 of 9)

0011 The progressive agenda showcases a similar hierarchical flow diagram.

Figure 04

0012 Politics3 can change a culture and save it from itself.

How?

In the normal context of politics3, economic interventions2 transform the culture… or rather… its morality into one that conforms to the ideological ideals of an educated, judicious and articulate cadre of enlightened, “woke” and true believers1.

Here is a picture.

Figure 05

0013 Michaud elaborates nine points.

First and second, the Progressive’s devotion to political ideologies exhibits a type of religious zeal.  Yet, the progressiveself-identifies as “not religious”.  Progressive political movements3 are thus “not religious” religious enterprises3.

Third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth, economics is a tool for progressive revolutionary politics.  Economic interventionis a lever that transforms culture.  This requires the use of sovereign power.

Today’s progressives desire to identify and privilege groups who are victims of past and present exploitation, both real and imagined.  This fortifies allegiance of such groups (remember, this is democratic politics) and encourages individuals to identify as members of a victim group.  State education, the justice system and corporate media serve as ideological apparatuses that convey moral and cultural information to acolytes.

Fifth, the morality of social justice does not conform to traditional morality, because, in both theory and perception, people following traditional morals victimize(d) now-privileged groups.

Ninth, the progressive agenda is a permanent revolution.

0014 These nine points suggest that there are levels in the progressive agenda that are not envisioned in the traditional flow diagram.

Politics3 belongs to the situation level.

Social justice and permanent revolution are located above the situation level.

Progressive affiliation, victim group, individual, and identity reside below the situation level.

Figure 06
05/9/22

Looking at Thomas Michaud’s Essay (2021) “Anatomy of the Progressive Revolution” (Part 5 of 9)

0015 Now, I associate the elements above and below the situation level to nested form.  The result is an interscope, as described in A Primer on Sensible and Social Construction.

0016 The perspective levelc stands above the situation levelb.

On this level, an unnamed, “not religious” normal context3c brings the actuality of a permanent revolution2c into relation with the potential of ‘social justice’1c.

The potential of ‘social justice’1c contextualizes the entire situation levelb.

0017 The content levela stands below the situation levelb.

On this level, the normal context of affiliation3a brings the dyadic actuality of group [contiguity] individual2a into relation with the potential of ‘identity’1a.

How should I label the contiguity between the two real elements of group and individual?

I choose the word, “subsumes”.

The group [subsumes] the individual2a.

0018 These associations yield a three-level interscope for the progressive agenda.

Figure 07
05/6/22

Looking at Thomas Michaud’s Essay (2021) “Anatomy of the Progressive Revolution” (Part 6 of 9)

0019 At this juncture, I stand at the threshold of the section titled, “Progressive Depersonalization”.

Michaud claims that the progressive agenda depersonalizes the individual.  He starts with the ironic, progressive slogan: The personal is the political.

0020 In order to appreciate this slogan, I start with the virtual nested form in the realm of actuality.  A virtual nested form is a feature of a three-level interscope.  It consists of a column in one of the three elements.  

Here is a picture of the virtual nested form in the realm of actuality for the progressive interscope.

Figure 08

0021 This virtual nested form may be spoken as follows.

The normal context of permanent revolution2c virtually brings the dyadic actuality, economics [transforms] morals & culture2b, into the potential of group [subsumes] individual2a.

This nested form operates as a demiurge.  A demiurge is a gnostic divinity that is forever building its world.  It is typically opposed to another demiurge that is forever building an opposite world.  So, it is always one demiurge against another.

0022 Of course, I can easily guess the identity of the opposing demiurge.

The opposing demiurge is the one that victimizes individuals who do not conform to morality or culture, thereby inspiring them to identify with a victim group.

Here is a comparison of the actuality2 of the traditional slogan and the actuality2b of the situation-level of the progressive agenda.

Figure 09

0023 Clearly, economic intervention2b is a tool for the permanent revolution2c to use, in order to transform the ways that traditional morality sustains culture2b.

Also, of all the groups that subsume the individual2a, none can involve traditional morality and culture2.

0024 Why?

In Christian morality, the individual is called into mystical union with Jesus Christ, one of the three Persons of the Triune Godhead.  So, the “group2a” is actually the divine oikos, or the economy of God.  This is discussed in the second interlude in How To Define the Word “Religion”.

The individual2a does not adopt an identity1a.  The individual2a becomes an identity1a.

0025 What is identity1a?

Ah, in the Christian schema, identity1a is the person that I call “me”.  It1a is not a group2a affiliation3a.

In Jungian terminology, the assumption of the individual into the divine oikos is called, “individuation”.  It is not called, “subsumption”.

0026 So, Michaud is on target in claiming that the progressive agenda depersonalizes the individual.

It does so by re-defining the word, “identity”.

In the progressive ideation, identity1a is the potential underlying group affiliation3a and supports the subsumption of the individual into a political group2a.

The personal2a is subsumed into the political2a.