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Mr. Spock 🖖 (Commentary)

@SpockResists

Mar 11

The tyranny of the Catholic Church in Vietnam is so nicely addressed by the Catholic Thomas Merton if the preface to this book. It was written in the 1960’s but is still very interesting today:
“The outspoken and shrewdly critical pages Thich Nhat Hanh devotes to the past

history of Catholicism in Vietnam are, let us admit it, very important. Catholic conservatives are probably not going to like these pages. They will perhaps attempt to dismiss them as mere anti-Catholicism and hostile prejudice. l am perfectly prepared to sympathize with the

sincere grief of these people, but I regret that I cannot agree with them. Thich Nhat Hanh is not hostile to Catholicism or to the church. Certainly, these pages make a Catholic squirm with embarrassment. They should do so. The Second Vatican Council has clearly admitted that

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Mr. Spock 🖖 (Commentary)

@SpockResists

Mar 11

One of the most powerful images is that of the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức. This was not only a protest of war.
It was also the forcing of Buddhists to convert to Christianity (Catholicism). Some Buddhist villages converted en masse to receive aid or avoid being

forcibly resettled by Diệm's regime. Aid from the United States was given out to only Catholic villages. The Catholic Church was the biggest land owner in Vietnam, a country that was 70% Buddhist. President Diem was a member of the Catholic minority. enjoyed special exemptions

in property acquisition, and land owned by the Catholic Church was exempt from land reform. Diem flew the Vatican flag and had dedicated the country to the Virgin Mary. Catholics were made a priority regarding work and food. However, peaceful Buddhists grew tired and discontent

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Mr. Spock 🖖 (Commentary)

@SpockResists

Mar 11

Whilst there is lots of discussion about Christian Nationslism, ardent Christian Nationalists only make up ~10% of Americans. However it is the 19% of the population that are sympathetic to it that the Republicans are appealing to. Christian Nationalism is the biggest talking

point for Republicans going into 2024. 2024 is the year the Christian Nationalists want to take over the country and there is a lot of money being pumped into it from immoral billionaire foundations. The question here, which is very similar to Germany in the 1930’s is will those

who call themselves real Christians side with the Nationalists or take a stand against them. There are 54,000,000 Americans that state they do not believe in God which is never talked about, we only talk about the 10 million that identity as atheist.

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Mr. Spock 🖖 (Commentary)

@SpockResists

Mar 10

Powerful people are very knowing. They have been very knowing for a long, long time. They can pay for endless research that will benefit them. One area they are very knowing is psychologically and human nature. The realist ontological view of human nature is fear. Read some

Thomas Hobbes and the book Leviathan. Fear of the other. It is primal. However, there is also a fundamental aspect of fear. People are told what to fear. Years and years of deep psychological mind games. Fear of the other, that the other will affect your way of life. What this

actually does is cause irrational fears, anxiety and can have a real impact on every aspect of your life. The root of this feeding of fear are those in very powerful positions. “Your life is going to be in threat with all these homosexuals, Black communities etc. in actual

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Mr. Spock 🖖 (Commentary)

@SpockResists

Mar 10

The life as you know it is under threat. Real threat. The way you live your life. How you go about your business minding your own business. What you believe. Because there is an actual army of Faux Christians who live in fear of the other. They claim it’s Christianity, but it’s

neither Christianity and it’s neither American. Christianity in this country has become almost synonymous with right-wing fanaticism, conservative politics, a brutally sadistic version of religious experience. Christian nationalism, Christfascism, a label of political darkness,

a brand of the Devil. The Jesus of the Gospels had no possessions, ministered to the poor and the sick, befriended society's outcasts, blessed "the peacemakers.” If like me you have actually studied authoritarianism and totalitarianism, a feature is the co-optation of

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Mr. Spock 🖖 (Commentary)

@SpockResists

Mar 10

Can you think of a time when your life changed because of someone else? When I was growing up, I was always an A class student. I did my homework, I did extra work and I always went that extra mile. This was something that was in me. Such as arriving at school before anyone

else so that I could play the piano. This carried on into my university life where I got the highest grade possible. I didn’t enjoy summer vacations, I offered to do research projects through the summer. However, after I finished university, it seemed that none of this mattered.

The reason none of it mattered was because of people. People nowadays have no foresight. None. Zero. Everyone, everywhere wants a ready made person with experience. Nothing that I had achieved mattered to no one in the real world. For example, the three summer projects that I did

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