Thursday
Most of us in Western Civilization revere the fact that we are, each and every one of us, individuals with individual rights. But this concept does not have a long history.
Back in the Middle Ages, the concept of ‘I’ was very vague. The idea that we lived our life making individual decisions and choices, based upon individual opinions was almost unknown.
Descartes ‘I think, therefore I am’ (cogito ergo sum), seems rather blandly obvious now. But it was a revelation at the time and caused his books to be banned by the Pope. The idea that individuals were composed of both body and mind, and that they had the ability and responsibility to think for themselves was truly revolutionary.
Prior to this time, ideas and concepts were believed to have an exogenous source. Every aspect of a life was dictated by the King, Queen or Church (much like Islam today). Even happiness was believed to exist outside the person. One could achieve that state only by going somewhere happiness could be ‘consumed’ – like a fairground.
The prevailing assumption was that everything came from the outside and travelled in to the body.
In the 21st century, many are returning to that dismal state. Google executives justify their censorship with the belief that if people see YouTubes that show ‘bad’ content, then this will infect them in some way. It is Middle Age thinking of which Pope Alexander VII would have approved.
Another area that this peculiar notion is re-manifesting is in the area of sanity. I note in the gutter media that another blogger has suicided. He put up a post beforehand blaming ‘mental health issues’.
Mental health is not something that lurks around life’s corners before randomly leaping out and striking. Neither is it like the flu that can be cured by a few days in bed and taking the right medication.
A healthy mind is inherent to the life that you live. It is inseparable from the state of your integrity. One cannot violate one’s integrity and expect to feel good. Neither can you pop a psych drug and expect to be improved.
You are an individual with rights and responsibilities. What they are is entirely determined by you in accordance with your own integrity. Violate them and you will pay a self-inflicted price.
Violations of one’s integrity are acts of self-harm on the spiritual level. They are described, colloquially and vaguely, as ‘mental health issues’. Life becomes a lot clearer if we ascribe these ‘issues’ to the correct cause.