let us continue to think about this…
We have the enlightenment which wanted to free us from
our myths, habits, prejudices and superstitions… but why?
because of the understanding that those myths and habits and prejudices,
superstitions are chains upon one’s soul…they bound one to certain
actions and beliefs… for example, if I accept the myth of Christianity,
then I am bound to act as a Christian… accept those precepts that make
one a Christian…I am not free in my actions for Jesus clearly says, that
the way, the only way to the father is through him, through Jesus…
so I become limited in my beliefs and actions if I truly understand and
accept Christianity…that belief becomes a chain upon my soul and body…
the path to god for a Christian is a narrow and slim path…
it doesn’t allow for freedom of choice…it doesn’t allow for deviation from
that path… any deviation means one may not be able to enter the kingdom of god…
and that is clearly the end game of any Christian… to reach heaven…
any other goal besides that goal is not Christian… simple as that…
following ism’s and ideologies means that one is not free to act freely…
for example, if I call myself a capitalist and I call for socialize medicine,
am I a capitalist or am I as socialist? most people would, correctly, call
me a socialist…it doesn’t matter what we call ourselves if we act
on certain principles that denies or works against what we call ourselves…
in other words, ism’s and ideologies and myths and habits and prejudices
and superstitions act as something that narrows and defines one’s path…
to have a ism’s or a prejudice is to have one’s path narrowed…
you must follow or have the prejudice or ism as your guide…
this is nothing more then when vacation and you have a map and you see your destination
on that map but your journey is clearly drawn on the map… you have no choice
but to go to that destination but by that guide… so,
you have a map of Christianity and you know your goal/destination of
getting to heaven… but your journey must follow one path and one path only…
for you to reach heaven…you have no choice on which path to follow if you
are a Christian…that is what ism’s and ideologies and habits and prejudices
and superstitions force you to do… they clearly mark out the path you must follow…
to have a superstition or prejudice or an ism is to have your path marked out by
others…
to become human, fully human… our path must not be so marked out…
for the road to becoming human is ill-defined and often unmarked…
with the removal of every myth or prejudice and superstition and ism comes
a freedom to act… and it is in that freedom to act, that frightens people…
a myth acts like a straightjacket on a person…it limits mobility and action…
this is true of myths, habits and prejudices and ism’s and ideologies… they are
straightjackets that confine our path and our actions and our destinations…
so to be transactional in our actions is to follow the myths and habits and
prejudices of that time, organization, country, lifestyle…
remember transactional actions are focused on the use of rewards and punishments
in order to achieve compliance from followers… transactional behavior is about
the efficiency of established routines and procedures and are more concerned
with following existing rules then with making changes in the structure of the
organization…so to be transactional is to be with myths and habits and
prejudices and superstitions… to be with ism’s, is to be with transactional actions
and transactional behavior embraces and promote
to have myths and superstitions and habits and ism’s is to engage in
transactional actions and behavior…that is to engage in the lower level
of human needs…in transactional actions/behavior is to remain with the
lower level of human engagement…to remain with the food and hate and
anger and lust… the base level of human actions and affairs…
to become transformational… is to engage with the higher level of
level of human possibilities… to engage with love and peace and hope
and charity… to engage with the higher possibilities of being human…
not the lower level…to engage with transactional behavior and actions is
to engage with the lower level part of being human, the instinctual level…
to engage with transformational level is to engage with the higher level of
being human…
this lower level is the path of habits and prejudices and superstitions
and ism’s and ideologies and myths…to engage with myths is to engage
with transactional actions or behavior…
and thus those who engage with the higher level of human possibilities
engage with the higher values of being human… that is why Gandhi
was a transformational figure because he was engaged with the higher
level of human possibilities and the higher values of being human…
he didn’t engage with the current ism’s and ideologies and he didn’t engage with
transactional actions or behavior… thus he wasn’t concerned with increasing
the efficiency of established routines and procedures and he wasn’t concerned with
following the existing rules…and he wasn’t concerned with other transactional
actions or behavior like emphasizing goals and efficiency of operation and he
didn’t concern himself with any increase of productivity in people…
he was concerned with freeing India but also concerned with freeing
people from their myths and habits and prejudices and superstitions and ism’s
and ideologies that tied their souls down to certain actions or beliefs or certain
goals…to become free of a myth is to become free of action and possibility…
to remove the chains that bind us to myths and ism’s and prejudices superstitions…
is to free us to greater possibilities and actions… it is transformational to become
free of habits and myths and ism’s and ideologies… because those myths tied us
down to already set starting points, journey’s and destinations/goals…
remove the chains of ism’s and myths to is to free us to new possibilities
and actions… with new starting points, new possible journeys and new
goals and destinations…
to say, I am a Cristian is to say, I am bound, tied down to a certain set of
principles and actions with only one course of action and only one goal/destination…
become free of ism’s and ideologies and myths and habits to become free to act
as one see’s fit and as one needs to act in a given environment… which is of course
how evolution happens… the person/animal that can best survive and pass on their
genome in a given environment is the winner in the game of evolution and life…
so being tied down to a given ism’s or habits hurts people from being able to
freely change and adapt in a given environment… by being tied down
by any given ism or ideology or myth or prejudice means having one’s
chances to adapt to or change reduced…the ism creates a
straightjacket that prevents one from being able to adapt and change
in a changing environment…it is as if the Dinosaurs went extinct because
of their ism’s and habits and prejudices and superstitions prevented them
from changing and adapting to changing conditions in their environment…
that lead to them becoming extinct… they were unable to adapt or change
because they were so tied down, chained down to ism’s and ideologies
and habits and prejudices that they weren’t able to adapt…and they died out…
think about that when you proclaim yourself a Christian or a capitalist or even
a socialist…what are you committing yourself to? and can you change and adapt
to the ever changing conditions we find ourselves in…to hold on to a myth
or habit even in the face of new evidence or changing conditions makes you,
a Dinosaur… nothing more…
Kropotkin