My religion is not goal-oriented. The whole thing depends entirely on a sense of peace with God, something utterly nebulous and ineffable to the human mind. It simply is not possible for me to describe to you a structure for estimating in advance how I might feel led to respond in any context.
Without the slightest hint of embarrassment I’ll tell you this puts me right next to the folks who adhere to Thelema. I insist that there is a difference in the substance but I am unable to put that difference easily into words. It is impossible to avoid using some of the same language in terms of how it all works on a human level. A primary difference in expression is that my side of this parallel line is dominated by imagery of the Person of the Hebrew God, whose English name is Jehovah. It stands to reason the imagery will associate with His revelation in the Bible, which is essentially a Hebrew document. Then again, sometimes I try to express myself in clinical terminology, as well, referring to the wider question as quantum moral imperatives.
Thus, my reference point is outside of time and space, outside of the universe. I treat this realm of existence as untrustworthy. What makes perfect obvious sense here in terms of how it seems to work out may have no bearing whatsoever on what I consider important. I regard my human frame as part of this world and insist that there is a part of me far above that frame of reference. So I put little trust in what my mind can discern from my senses, deferring to that inner voice that connects to the eternal.
It is impossible to understate how completely that puts me at odds with the entire range of Western Civilization. You might find Western Christians using that same kind of language, but I assure you when you press things a bit, you’ll quickly discover a wholly different meaning behind those words. My reflexive expectations for dealing with daily phenomena and with other people are completely different. For those of you who still belong to Western Civilization, the differences show only when you move across certain boundaries. I can outline in general terms where they are, but I deny it is even possible to describe them in concrete terms.
All human government — the very definition of justice itself — remains subject to God’s revelation in the Law Covenants. You cannot possibly understand those covenants from outside the Hebrew intellectual traditions. American government officials who wave Romans 13 at us are blaspheming before they even open their mouths. We owe them no reverence on those grounds. American government officials aren’t just ignorant of God’s viewpoint, but are openly hostile to it. Their abuse of Scripture is wholly cynical and manipulative.
The entire foundation of Western government, both in theory and practice, is moral sand at best. If you refer to the theory in resisting the practice, you are just as evil as those you resist. Nor is it merely a question of “might makes right.” We can’t even boil it down to strategy and tactics, though those things do have their place. Resistance to evil must include the widest context of divine justice as defined by God, including the entire range of Hebrew (non-Western) intellectual understanding of things. Resistance must be built on that personal reference point outside this universe, seeking peace with God. Peace with your fellow man on any other terms is inherently evil.
God never expressed His Laws in terms of rights. The concept of rights is little more than human arrogance demanding something from God. He expressed Himself in terms of divine mandate. I have a mandate from God to seek peace with Him first and foremost in all contexts. The results are not even a consideration until much farther along in the story. Whether it succeeds by any human measure is not the point, because suffering and dying in this world are little more than background noise, not a significant measure of any importance. About the only useful thing we can discuss is whether God will deliver the situation into your hands.
You are obliged to seek His face and stand in peace with Him first. Once you know what He requires, the entire universe be damned, but you obey the requirement. If you tell me you are at peace, but I discern that you approach the whole thing from a Western intellectual frame of reference, I won’t stand with you. That may not prevent me joining you on a tactical level, but don’t assume I agree with you on much else.
