An analysis of: “The Dark Enlightenment” by Nick Land Part One: Nick Land is a gifted and engaging writer who presents a compelling argument that is at once deeply insightful, unflinching, and provocative. While his work is often depressing, his complex analysis regarding the nature of what he terms the Cathedral, its origins, creed, and goals is (to borrow a terms), enlightening. His broad and comprehensive approach, offers an outline of the structure of the Cathedral and its purpose that highlights the religious nature of it in a way that I have never fully appreciated. Referring to it as the Cathedral also brings home the all-encompassing nature of the thing I have been examining for years better than anything else I have ever read. So what is, the Cathedral? Is it “the state?” Is it an ideology? Is it a “secret society?” The answer is that it is all of these things and more. The Cathedral is not an American problem; it is a Western problem. It is the predominate religion in the Western world, and the most powerful. It is a godless religion, masquerading as a purely secular and political ideology. As such, it has adherents from every religion, including the majority of those who believe themselves to belong to no religion, and who are among its most zealous disciples. Contrary to what the majority of libertarian thinkers believe, it is not exclusively the state. However, the state is the enforcement branch of the hierarchy within the Cathedral. Nevertheless, because the anti-theological foundation of thought that makes up its religious tenants has completely saturated the Western mindset through public and higher education, the media, and the church, even if every state in the Western world were toppled tomorrow, the Cathedral would still exist. In fact, the law of “tolerance” that makes up the core principles of the “faith” would be violently enforced by the majority of the people themselves even as it is culturally enforced by the people today. The focus of those who are engaged in modern political action, particularly through the democratic process of the vote, is misguided at best. Democracy could best be described as a form of social cannibalism. In “The Dark Enlightenment,” Land describes the democratic system saying, “Democracy and ‘progressive democracy’ are synonymous, and indistinguishable from the expansion of the state. Whilst ‘extreme right wing’ governments have, on rare occasions, momentarily arrested this process, its reversal lies beyond the bounds of democratic possibility. Since winning elections is overwhelmingly a matter of vote buying, and society’s informational organs (education and media) are no more resistant to bribery than the electorate, a thrifty politician is simply an incompetent politician, and the democratic variant of Darwinism quickly eliminates such misfits from the gene pool. This is the reality that the left applauds, the establishment right grumpily accepts, and the libertarian right has ineffectively railed against. To the reactionary, democracy is not merely doomed, it is doom itself. Fleeing it approaches an ultimate imperative… The reactionary perceives the politically awakened masses as a howling irrational mob, it conceives the dynamics of democratization as fundamentally degenerative: systematically consolidating and exacerbating private vices, resentments, and deficiencies until they reach the level of collective criminality and comprehensive social corruption…The democratic politician and the electorate are bound together by a circuit of reciprocal incitement, in which each side drives the other to ever more shameless extremities of hooting, prancing cannibalism, until the only alternative to participation is to be utterly devoured. Political agents invested with transient authority by multi-party democratic systems have an overwhelming incentive to plunder society with the greatest possible rapidity and comprehensiveness. Anything they neglect to steal – or ‘leave on the table’- is likely to be inherited by political successors who are not only unconnected, but actually opposed, and who can therefore be expected to utilize all available resources to the detriment of their foes. Whatever is left behind becomes a weapon in your enemies’ hand. Best, then, to destroy what cannot be stolen.” ~ Nick Land It is nearly humorous to envision asking men in power to limit their own power, and asking the powerful to do anything at all only strengthens democracy. Those in power will always bend their will to the highest bidder and the voting sheep only strengthen democracy, thereby, accelerating the pace of their own ultimate destruction. Nevertheless, democracy is, and must be, the foundation of the egalitarian society. When “rights” are said to be self-evident, and all are exactly and perfectly “equal,” then it goes without saying that all have a “right” to cast their vote so that their “voice may be heard.” The secret insidious and contradictory nature of this egalitarian doctrine is that it creates an illusion of equality while in reality being the perfect tool for the powerful to gain power and expand it. Enter, the “Cathedral.” _______________ The doctrine of the Cathedral is a bastardized variation of Christian doctrine that was secularized during the period of history we refer to as the Enlightenment. Over time it evolved until today it has become what the philosopher Jean Baudrillard would call a Simulacra; a “copy without an original.” And make no mistake, it is a religion. Nevertheless, while it is a godless religion, its adherents usually find no difficulty in redefining their various religions according the secular doctrine. It has become the preeminent ideology of our time and its message is preached from the church pulpit, the university lectern, the TV set, the movie theater, in music, books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Its influence is seen in architectural engineering, the arts, the sciences, the courtroom, and in every other arena of human life. By design, it has utterly saturated western society and it is completely impossible to defeat with argumentation. For example, according to Cathedral doctrine, you are at once obligated and forbidden to acknowledge that either race or gender exists. Therefore, if you acknowledge the existence of race or gender (unless it is within their established and approved perimeters) you lose, and if you do not acknowledge the existence of race or gender (unless it is within their established and approved perimeters and in support of their purposes) you lose. Moreover, this is just the gender and race issues. However, they now control and have a tenant for, every issue that you may wish to discuss. You cannot win, and the vast majority of people you will talk to today, have so deeply bought into the creed of this religion that you not only waste your time trying, you only strengthen the very democracy that gave rise to it. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (Matthew 24: 28 ESV). The only way to break through the fog created by Cathedral doctrine is for the individual to recognize the contradictions inherent in it and its ultimate destructive nature. It requires a willingness to recognize and acknowledge reality that the vast majority of people living in the modern world have been trained to deny. So, what are the options? As Land argues, the only option remaining is exit. _______________ Note: Part Two of my analysis of Lands work, are my conclusions from a Christian perspective. Nevertheless, for those of you who may not be Christian, perhaps it will offer food for thought that you may be able to translate into your way of thinking. ________________ Part Two: The idea that history follows regular cycles of growth and decay goes back to at least the time of the Roman Republic and the first Greek historian to make that observation, Polybius. But, even before his time the writer of the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes made this observation, “The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits, the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again… What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1: 5-9 ESV). All of us, regardless of our specific political leanings or religious beliefs, understand that we live in a historical period of decline. Indeed, it is what drove most of us into politics in the first place, even if we did not understand it at the time. Those of us who are paying attention also know the breadth and depth of modern cultural degeneration, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3: 1-7 ESV). Nevertheless, as all streams flow into the sea, I believe that a new age is coming. What remains in doubt is what the nature of the new era will be because the future is not certain. Lands theory (which I will not go into so as not to spoil the surprise for those of you who read his work), is rather humorous, but not new. As a Christian, I have a different vision. I am convinced that the next age will be marked by a return of Christ. Whether this is the physical return OF Christ or a mass return TO Christ, I do not know and will not speculate. Apart from His actual physical return, however, I believe that if the next era will be a healthy one, it will be Christ centered; which leads me back to exit. ______________ The Apostle Paul cautioned the first century church, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6: 14-18 ESV). Is it possible to “come out from among them” in the current world in which we live? Is “exit” a potential reality? There is no place in the Western world where one could escape the reach of the Cathedral. In fact, since theirs is a globalist agenda, there is no place in the world at all, where one could fully escape except, perhaps, Antarctica. But who wants to live there? So, what can you do if exit is the only option and there is no escape hatch? You could, provided that you are willing, follow the example of Christ. It is interesting and profoundly important to note that, when Christ walked the earth He did not seek to topple the Roman Empire. In fact, many of the Hebrews of his time were looking for a messiah that would overthrow Rome. But, he made it clear that was not his purpose and that his kingdom is not of this world, “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18: 36 ESV). While Rome was in its zenith, one man who was hated by the religious leaders of his own people, was busy establishing HIS kingdom, in their very midst. And how did He did he do it? He lived it. He died for it. He rose again for it. And he said, “Follow me.” Through him, spiritually apart from the world, and nevertheless physically living within it, we too can live as citizens of His kingdom. Why? Because at the end of this long long road that I have traveled I have come to finally and fully realize that worldly political action is for the worldly while, “The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17: 21 ESV). Samantha ______________ For an in-depth reading of “The Dark Enlightenment” thedarkenlightenment/the-dark-enlightenment-by-nick-land/ ______________
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 04:19:44 +0000
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