The lesson was that facts can and do expire. Truth relies on facts. Ergo, a past truth expires when its replacement fact is revealed.
The past is not true
301–310 of 362 posts
Re: The past is not true
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
> One of the profound contributions of Christianity, corroborated in other wisdom traditions, is the assertion that every single one of us ignorantly does irreparable harm to others in the course of our lifetimes. The problem, though, with Christianity's take on it (or at least what some Christians take from it), is that they push the idea that all you need to do to achieve salvation is to believe in Jesus as savior,…
> or at least what some Christians take from it > Doesn't matter what I do, Jesus will take care of me Well yes let's be clear that only a very selective reading of the New Testament allows you to conclude Jesus doesn't think it matters what you do. It's the same kind of logic that leads one to preach the "prosperity gospel". It's very clear that loving Jesus goes hand in hand with loving others and living his comman…
Yeah, thats true. There are several verses that back you up here I think. James 2:17-26 and Matthew 7:21-23 come to mind.
Also of course Matthew 22:36-40.
Re: The past is not true
#303> History is not true. You can change history. The actual factual events are such a small part of the story. Everything else is interpretation.
> It’s never too late to change a story.
I'm not sure I draw the same conclusion. It seemed to me like the facts did matter as much as ever in that case, it's just that none of the two principals had the facts at first. By learning new information, they changed their interpretation of the events. The facts change the story, never the other way around.
Re: The past is not true
#304Earlier quoted context omitted.
The American justice system seems to be based upon profit, and keeping people reoffending in order to continue keeping the justice system in place. There is no incentive to reform as the system currently stands. It is a major failure of society that recidivism is an expected consequence of being "in the system."
I used to think that it was biased towards profit, but after the last 5 or so years, I think that's just a side effect. American society believes strict and long punishment for wrongdoing is the solution to crime. We had a wave of progressive AD's elected into office and they barely lasted 3 years, they're all getting booted.
The profit part of it really came down to "well, just punishing them is leaving money on the table!"
Now, it might be the case that the people profiting from the string and long punishments are so cynical and greedy that they started campaigning for longer, harsher sentences specifically for their own enrichment, but the people are buying it as purification and penance through pain. The prison industrial complex only works as a business because the people already want what's being sold to them.
Re: The past is not true
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
This type of mentality is readily observed amongst abusive parents. "That was a long time ago, why can't you move on?" "You were a sensitive child." I will never understand people who seem to lack the ability to see that their actions may have a rippling effect throughout someone's life. One can meaningfully and negatively alter the trajectory of someone's life with one action. I'm not advocating that we live in neur…
I think this gap in understanding is more of an underlying psychological phenomenon, that those people struggle to grasp the concept you're describing because they just don't get it. Like how people learn, say, math differently. If they had the capacity to understand then they might've already and this wouldn't apply. How to deal with this in a society is a complicated matter.
"The axe forgets, but the tree remembers"
Re: The past is not true
#306.. and then there is faux forgiveness that covers up for something else.
In the movie Hired Gun, Liberty DeVitto, former drummer for Billy Joel, tells in gruesome detail how Billy screwed him over, along with his two bandmates.
Then he tells us how he bears no ill will for Billy, and shows a letter to him saying that he'll always be there for him.
I think a lot of people like to say they've forgiven because it sounds good.
https://albertcory50.substack.com/p/management-lessons-from-...
Re: The past is not true
#307Earlier quoted context omitted.
> One of the profound contributions of Christianity, corroborated in other wisdom traditions, is the assertion that every single one of us ignorantly does irreparable harm to others in the course of our lifetimes. The problem, though, with Christianity's take on it (or at least what some Christians take from it), is that they push the idea that all you need to do to achieve salvation is to believe in Jesus as savior,…
> or at least what some Christians take from it > Doesn't matter what I do, Jesus will take care of me Well yes let's be clear that only a very selective reading of the New Testament allows you to conclude Jesus doesn't think it matters what you do. It's the same kind of logic that leads one to preach the "prosperity gospel". It's very clear that loving Jesus goes hand in hand with loving others and living his comman…
I genuinely don't get the prosperity gospel. Can someone please explain how it could at all be a legitimate interpretation of Christianity? Or is it just a flat out scam the entire way down?
Re: The past is not true
#308.. and then there is faux forgiveness that covers up for something else. In the movie Hired Gun , Liberty DeVitto, former drummer for Billy Joel, tells in gruesome detail how Billy screwed him over, along with his two bandmates. Then he tells us how he bears no ill will for Billy, and shows a letter to him saying that he'll always be there for him. I think a lot of people like to say they've forgiven because it sound…
That was a damned entertaining read, friend. Thanks for putting it together.
Re: The past is not true
#309I typically get salty about big picture feel good garbage getting posted on here, but this one kinda warmed my heart.
The past as we understand it is indeed a lie. And while we should strive to reconcile ourselves with our past, apologizing, forgiving, remembering, and regretting as appropriate, ... it's important to work to leave the past where it belongs, behind us.
Re: The past is not true
#310I'm not a native speaker of English and I think I found out that the meaning of "past" in English contains the memory of someone, as well as - this might not be correct, though - factual events.
Anyway, this is a warm story, I have more belief in human being, especially as a being who has lived in Asian culture, who have learned 人間, the human, which in fact has more than mere human being, but also the one in the community of human beings.
Rhetorical, I know, but we need more love of each other, I think. :-)