from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Can we mould society?

Dear friends,

This Sunday we are discussing: Can we mould society?

The idea of a social contract suggests that society ought to be moulded
into something to benefit all; maybe, even moulded into a moral rational
organisation. This would be very desirable since it would solve the
problem of the lawlessness and chaos that is supposed to be found in the
jungle. So far, so good.

But then we have to ask, who is doing the moulding? And what's the mould
like? Those who are brought up in western Christian culture are taught
that we are made in the image of God (whatever that may mean). However,
we immediately notice that those who do this teaching do not want that
become like them, but rather we are like something or someone else who
maybe or may not exist and who we may or may not know what that "other
person" (in this case God) is like. But what is important is this
historical context is that those who are doing the moulding although one
of us they are somehow different from us and made so by some higher
authority. We are left in no doubt that those who are doing the
moulding, and can do the moulding, are somehow in a different category
from us.

This state of affairs has not been lost on those who inherited power and
authority today, even though all sense of spiritual morality has been
stripped clean of any exercise of power. Today we don't even see any
pretence to exercise power with a semblance of moral virtue. Today
morality seems to be what those in power say it is.

Thus, those who pretend to be the rightful practitioners of power do not
want to mould society in their image but rather in the image of their
dogma. In other words, we are supposed to be moulded into what we are
told to be and not in the image of those who exercise power. No moulding
by example here.

But even if we can proceed beyond these two questions we have to explain
how a collection of individuals can be moulded into a conforming unit?
Fear has always been a motive to conformity and as we know fear can be
either physical or psychological, or both. This strategy and method has
also survived the test of time and the rigours of dogma. Fear is cheap
and effective.

Fear can mould our behaviour but can it also mould our individuality? If
our individuality can survive the rigours of dogma and fear then most
probably society cannot be moulded. Not forgetting that acquiescing out
of fear is itself a strategy, but this should not be mistaken to being
moulded. Behaving out of fear is not the same as being afraid. And those
who are blinded by power can easily miss this subtle distinction; and in
many cases to their unhappy demise.

Best Lawrence

tel: 606081813
philomadrid@gmail.com <mailto:philomadrid@gmail.com>
Blog: http://philomadrid.blogspot.com.es/
<http://philomadrid.blogspot.com.es/>
PhiloMadrid Meeting
Meet 6:30pm
Centro Segoviano
Alburquerque, 14
28010 Madrid
914457935
Metro: Bilbao
-----------Ignacio------------
Open Tertulia in English every
Thursdays at Triskel in c/San Vicente Ferrer 3.
Time: from 19:30 to 21h
http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/
<http://sites.google.com/site/tertuliainenglishmadrid/>
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from Lawrence, SUNDAY PhiloMadrid meeting at 6:30pm: Can we mould society?