Wednesday 1 April 2020

The evil morality of monomania

The monomaniac used to be a type of person who had but one thing he regarded as important, who related every other matter to that one thing, who subordinated every matter to that one thing.

Such an attitude is intrinsically sinful and such a person is necessarily evil - as was always understood by traditional morality that included such virtues as Prudence; which were intended to balance priorities.

But since the middle 1960s and the advent of the New Left (later political correctness, SJWs, Woke-ness etc) - monomania has become the dominant and official public morality of The West; rotating - often with extreme rapidity - from one monomania (class, or race) to another (feminism, or trans-lib). Indeed, the New Left implicitly defines itself as the party of monomanias (aka. the 'rainbow' party).

Well, Western civilization sowed the wind and is reaping the whirlwind. The world is now gripped by a monomania - and without any balance, moderation, or overall persepctive. There is no line which will not be crossed in pursuit of this monomania - no taboo which cannot be broken, no principle of basic humanity that will not be violated, no essential of life that will not be discarded - when any-thing comes into conflict with our global monomania.

As part of this same process; Traditional and Orthodox religion has committed sudden mass suicide - and publicly, eagerly, subordinated itself to the monomaniacal authorities.

What remains is the discernment of the heart; which we all and each possess. We each have that which is divine within us (being children of God) and we each have the possibility of direct knowledge from the Holy Ghost.

None are ever left without divine guidance to navigate through the complexities of life and to achieve the correct (prudent, balanced, principled - as it were) decision in any situation - if (but only if) we discern, acknowledge and follow that guidance.

Such as discernment of the heart will tell each of us that the mass monomania is intrinsically evil - both in principle and in detail; and will inform us what ought-to-be.

Of course, it is unlikely that we will personally be able to do exactly what will be the best course of action; but by knowing-it, we can (and should) repent our failure to do-it.

And the discernment of the heart cannot persuade any other people that we are personally correct; but that isn't going to happen anyway; since monomaniacs do not acknowledge any reasonsing or evidence except what fuels their mania.

The point is that we are not all-of-us dragged down into the mire of damnation willingly-inhabited by the monomaniacs - even when there are millions, or billions, of them.

3 comments:

Lucinda said...

This is good to know. Very freeing in a way. Because it helps explain some things that I couldn’t understand before.

Jared said...

Wow. Monomania is a good comparison for what is going on. Good point about the leftist monomaniacs leading up to this too.
I am agreeing with other LDS people I have talked to, who think that while the end may be near, it may be a long ways off. But, in connection with this concern of a Monomania gripping mankind, one end times scripture does come to mind. I'll paraphrase: 'But except those days should be shortened, there should none of [all] flesh be saved.'
Implying, of course, that God is going to shorten the end times or else no one would be left living, and He apparently wants some people to survive the end times.
Your blog is consistently insightful. Thank you, Bruce.

Lucinda said...

I’ve been through some monomanias in my life, and usually it’s very instructive when I’m able to come to my senses. I also watch my kids go through monomanias, and it’s so nice when their perspective grows. As with so many things, it’s the not repenting which is so damning and hellish.

On the other side of things, I think part of the problem is that church can easily become, and often does become, a monomaniacal obsession. I think that was the situation Jesus dealt with in his native faith. For him, the synagogue was a part, a supplement to his work. When I read about it, it seems he was somewhat exasperated by the nit-picky fixations of those who tried to trap him.

For me, I think it’s part of growing up. Monomania is normal in kids and adolescents, but when adults fail to balance, it’s much more of a problem. And we live in a world where it’s normal to just not grow up. I’ve been pretty surprised though because another immature behavior is to be very distractable. The tenacity of the mania has been impressive, but not in a good way.