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EGO vs PRIDE

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ego vs prideEGO:

  1. ego or egō (first person, nominative, plural nos)   I ; first person singular personal pronoun, nominative case

EGOISM:

  1. The tendency to think selfishly with exclusive self-interest in mind.
  2. (ethics) The belief that moral behavior should be directed toward one’s self-interest only.
  3. (nonstandard, by confusion of the similar words) egotism.

PRIDE:

  1. Pride is a high sense of the worth of one’s self and one’s own, or a pleasure taken in the contemplation of these things.

(NOTE:  In Christianity, the word “pride” is used negatively, as a “deadly sin”.  In other words, God is very jealous and vindictive and is the ONLY being that can exibit pride.  Therefore, all of the rest of you ignorant slaves must bow down and worship ME, and ONLY ME!!!  (If you do not, I (god) will strike you down with a bolt of lightning!!!) )

Aristotle identified pride (megalopsuchia, variously translated as proper pride, greatness of soul and magnanimity)as the crown of the virtues, distinguishing it from vanity, temperance, and humility, thus:

“Now the man is thought to be proud who thinks himself worthy of great things, being worthy of them; for he who does so beyond his deserts is a fool, but no virtuous man is foolish or silly. The proud man, then, is the man we have described. For he who is worthy of little and thinks himself worthy of little is temperate, but not proud; for pride implies greatness, as beauty implies a goodsized body, and little people may be neat and well-proportioned but cannot be beautiful.  Pride, then, seems to be a sort of crown of the virtues; for it makes them more powerful, and it is not found without them. Therefore it is hard to be truly proud; for it is impossible without nobility and goodness of character.”

ETHICAL EGOISM: 

Ethical egoism can be broadly divided into three categories: individual, personal, and universal. An individual ethical egoist would hold that all people should do whatever benefits “my” (the individual) self-interest; a personal ethical egoist would hold that he or she should act in his or her self-interest, but would make no claims about what anyone else ought to do; a universal ethical egoist would argue that everyone should act in ways that are in their self-interest.

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that egoistic or “life-affirming” behavior stimulates jealousy or “resentment” in others, and that this is the psychological motive for the altruism in Christianity. Sociologist Helmut Schoeck similarly considered envy the motive of collective efforts by society to reduce the disproportionate gains of successful individuals through moral or legal constraints, with altruism being primary among these. In addition, Nietzsche (in Beyond Good and Evil) and Alasdair MacIntyre (in After Virtue) have pointed out that the ancient Greeks did not associate morality with altruism in the way that post-Christian Western civilization has done. Aristotle‘s view is that we have duties to ourselves as well as to other people (e.g. friends) and to the polis as a whole. The same is true for Thomas Aquinas, Christian Wolff and Immanuel Kant, who claim that there are duties to ourselves as Aristotle did, although it has been argued that, for Aristotle, the duty to one’s self is primary.

Ethical egoism has been alleged as the basis for immorality. Egoism has also been alleged as being outside the scope of moral philosophy. Thomas Jefferson writes in an 1814 letter to Thomas Law:   “Self-interest, or rather self-love, or egoism, has been more plausibly substituted as the basis of morality. But I consider our relations with others as constituting the boundaries of morality. With ourselves, we stand on the ground of identity, not of relation, which last, requiring two subjects, excludes self-love confined to a single one. To ourselves, in strict language, we can owe no duties, obligation requiring also two parties. Self-love, therefore, is no part of morality. Indeed, it is exactly its counterpart.”

Definition Sources: Wikipedia.org

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THOMAS PAINE – THE AGE OF REASON

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At the beginning of Part I of the Age of Reason, Thomas Paine lays out his personal creed:

“I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.

“I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow-creatures happy.But, lest it should be supposed that I believe many other things in addition to these, I shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.”

Thomas Paine, 1794

READ “THE AGE OF REASON” free at this link:   http://www.deism.com/theageofreason.htm

 

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DOMINION OVER THE EARTH

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Genesis 1:26 ~ Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

“When money becomes the image of god bankers become the likeness of god and have dominion over the earth.”   – Lawrence R. Spencer

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WHERE DO “GODS” COME FROM?

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religious professional
Where do “the gods” come from?  Throughout the history of human civilization on Earth their have existed many thousands of gods.  It can be observed that there are as many “gods” as there are people to “believe” in them.  And, it can be observed that every sentient being is “a god” with the god-like ability of create and perceive their own “universe”.
But, who are the professional creators of “gods”?  Who earns a living by persuading other people to give them money to “intercede” between a “believer” and “the god, or gods” created by a “religious professional”?   Self-appointed and self-anointed priests, ministers, shaman, channelers, seers, sooth-sayers, prophets, druid, flamen, hoodoo, lama, magus, priest-doctor, votary, etc., each share a common “calling”:  to act as a “representative” of “god”.   There have been thousands of organized religious groups in history.  Each of these groups are formed and administered, and profit from the “business” of religion.
More wars have been fought, more lives have been destroyed and more ignorance and superstition have been created, taught and enforced in the name of a “god” than all other sources combined.  Factually, ever war in a religious war.  Every nation fighting in wars is “blessed” by priests, and “protected” by a “god”.  The combatants of many wars (World War 1 and World War II) are “blessed” by the same priests and the same “god”.  Apparently, war is “good business” of “religious professionals” and “gods”.
The traditional duties and practices of the “religious professional” is to CREATE mythology, lies, half-truths, superstition, fear and mystery in order to CONTROL the “believer”.  Without control they cannot pay their bills, feed themselves, buy expensive costumes, build enormously ornate monuments to inspire awe and fear of the “gods” they have created.  Of course all of these activities are smothered in AESTHETICS.  Beauty is the most effect enticement and trap for the “believer”.  Think about out it….  Beautiful music, ceremonies, buildings, symbols, costumes, mythology, illusions, angels, ascended masters, the beautiful “afterlife”, etc., etc….
In the so-called New Age, it is conceived that every individual is an immortal being or  the “a god”.  Therefor, you can form your own organization, be your own priest and “believe” in your self.  You can even start a war and kill other “gods” or “believers” if they don’t “believe” in you!
However, if you want to be a “god” on Earth you will need to write a “religious text” so other people can read it and be indoctrinated “believe” in you, and adopt you as their god.  There are hundreds of “religious texts” written by self-appointed “religious professionals”.  Usually these texts, like the Bible, were written a very long time ago by “anonymous” or unknown authors who the “religious professionals” insist are “the word of Our God, the ONLY god”.  In fact, all gods are the “Only God”, depending on which “religious professional” you consult.
Obviously, this must be very easy to do as so many billions of people want to “believe” in a “god”, but not in themselves as a “god”.  This is very sad.  However, it can be very profitable for self-appointed “religious professional” whose vocation is to convince you that YOU are NOT a “god”.  If you want to “believe” in a “god”, save yourself a lot of time, money and stupidity:  believe in YOURSELF!
— Lawrence R. Spencer. 2015