Posted on 11/10/2001 4:07:45 PM PST by nicmarlo
After reading threads about Clinton, and one of the posts, especially, "What is wrong with Clinton?" (which refers to his recent, disgraceful speech at Georgetown), it made me wonder, really, what is wrong with him, what created him and those like him, and why anyone admires him.
My input on "what's wrong with Clinton," those like him, and his "admirers," is for the purpose of enlightenment (myself included) and prevention (in ourselves and over those whom we have some control, i.e., our children).
I. Philosophically: In the Republic, Plato attributes Socrates as saying "in all of us, even in good men, there is a lawless wild-beast nature." But it is the tyrannical man who does not control this beast from within. Instead, he allows the beast to devour any remaining goodness, or "sense of shame," within him and, simultaneously, allows the basest part of himself to grow and control what and who he is. He progressively is taken over by this lawless nature and, ultimately, becomes enslaved to his vices. The tyrannical man's needs, according to Socrates, are "insatiable."
This type of person is the most "unjust and miserable" of all. They live in constant fear of betrayal, amongst others. He is superficial, "always . . . in a fury of passions and desires." It is worse with a tyrant in power, not only because those beneath him are subject to his whims, but also because he "is not master of himself." He has no temperance, patience, steadfastness, stability, or confidence, in himself or others. I would say this type of man has no kind of respectable characteristics nor anything good that would attract genuine loyalty.
His fear (loss of power, prestige, possessions) drives him to behave in ways dishonorable and despicable: he is "obliged to practice the greatest adulation and servility, and to be the flatterer of the vilest of mankind. He has desires which he is utterly unable to satisfy, and has more wants than anyone. . . ."
Because the tyrannical individual's desires and needs are neverending, the good originally within has become diminutive or non-existent. Greater power, therefore, makes him more corrupt and, consequently, he becomes "more jealous, more faithless, more unjust, more friendless, more impious, than he was at first." Socrates also said, according to Plato, that an unpunished tyrant is worse yet.
II. Psycho/Social: According to Elliot Aronson (The Social Animal), people are subject to "cognitive disonance: a state of tension that occurs whenever an individual simultaneously holds two cognitions (ideas, attitudes, beliefs, opinions) that are psychologically inconsistent." In other words, when you believe one thing but act in contradiction to your belief, you experience cognitive disonance. When this occurs, people seek to justify their "wrong" behaviors so that neither they nor others will think badly of them.
Aronson writes "people don't like to see or hear things that conflict with their deeply held beliefs or wishes." Deep-seated attitudes are hard to change because we distort what we hear/see to fit our beliefs. The stronger our beliefs, the greater the distortion. Truth is filtered through our biases. And it becomes our own form of truth, or what my professor called our own "fog." We do not question our strongly held beliefs, we seek to justify them. Examples of this type of filtering abound. Aronson cites one study performed on cigarette smokers. (Don't flame me, I smoke.) Smokers were told studies showed that cigarettes cause cancer. They didn't want to feel stupid for continuing to smoke, so smokers sought to justify their behavior by mentally discrediting the studies. By doing so, they justifyied their behavior but continued harming themselves.
This kind of justification process has been applied to other behavior, such as investments (i.e., emotional or financial). There is a direct correlation between the greater the investment, the greater the loyalty. Why? Because you want others to think you're smart. If you're smart, you would only invest in smart people. If you've made a "major investment" in a person, it's difficult to admit you made a "huge mistake" without feeling foolish (hence not smart). This would explain why some individuals stick by a "poor investment."
III. Spiritually: In the Bible, it says that when people repeatedly commits acts which they know in their hearts are wrong, they are given over by God to a depraved state of mind. (Therefore God gave them up to uncleaness through the lusts of their own hearts . . ., Rom. 1:24; God gave them up unto vile affections, Rom. 1:26; God gave them over to a reprobate mind, Rom. 1:28.)
I suppose you could say the more wrong you do, the more callous you become to doing wrong and the easier it becomes to continue in wrongdoing.
Based, generally, on the above, I have come to the conclusion that Clinton has been encouraged, from his youth, to allow his "wild-beast nature" to grow unchecked. He has not been held accountable for his actions. He proclaims himself a Christian and attends church, holding his Bible for the cameras, but not holding himself to the mirror of its truths. He has surrounded himself with people he could "buy," who, through their own cognitive dissonance, could not allow themselves to admit or perceive the truth of who or what he is (a shameful and base human being). His followers live in a fog, filtering out this truth, thereby, encouraging him and themselves to become more blinded to the truth and, he, more base. God is the judge of all. I do not proclaim to be God. But He also said, you shall know them by their fruits. We have the right to judge their behavior and actions to determine right from wrong. And wrong should be punished, not encouraged.
Indeed we do Mud. I would even take it a step further; it is our duty and responsibility as believers to judge especially our leaders' behavior. I have heard so many times the misinterpretation of the verse from the Bible that tells us, "Judge not lest ye be judged". You would likely agree that the verse admonishes us, to the best of our abilities, to have our own house in order before throwing rocks. I'll have the large rock thank you ; )
Good post nic; glad Mud resurrected it.
FGS
I couldn't agree more, my FRiend...
RE-IMPEACH. CONVICT. DETHRONE.
DISBAR. DE-PENSION. DE-LEGITIMIZE.
INDICT. CONVICT. IMPRISON. DISCARD KEY.
FReegards...MUD
I believe this, very much. Although we cannot blame all bad behavior/thoughts, etc., on demons, for we each have a free will, their influence is very real.
; )
FGS
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