Tyrant as Messiah?

[serious_fun]

…fundamentalist messianisms - if we allow it to be called messianism -, a mask for power politics (the imperial vision for the elites, fear for the masses and fundamentalism for the morons) – that these really existing messianisms are a dangerous tendency in the contemporary political landscape.

A very interesting essay by Prof. Dr. Lieven De Cauter!

http://www.brusselstribunal.org/Messianism.htm

Piety, fear and permanent war are a way to turn the decadence of modernity into heroism and self sacrifice. To avoid decadence, and solve the crisis of modernity, one needs patriotism and religion as believe in the sacredness of morals, of the country and its laws. But the laws are also “pious lies”. In fact, tyranny, the rule in absence of law, can be far better than rule by law. To create this strength and unity in the polis one needs an enemy, if there is none one has to create one. One needs subjects that are united by fear, fear of God and fear of the enemy.

a perfect description of Neo-Jacobin (disciples of Strauss) tactics!

And it is also clear that the fraudulent elections, the secrecy, the lies, the politics of fear, the suspending and breaking of law, and the politics of permanent war as politics to create unity and patriotism by targeting and even creating an enemy - it all seems to be text book straussianism. Besides the use of religion and its messianic version of fundamentalism, the main feature of straussian neocon thought is its deep antinomianism. Indeed, the contempt for the rule of law is deeply embedded in neoconservative thinking and realized in Bushite politics.

:bravo:

[quote]
The disrespect for international law, human rights, international institutions and even the American constitution itself, is clearly embodied, not only in concentration camps like Guantanamo, or in the Patriot act, but also in the executive orders and the 750 “presidential signing statements” that president Bush, according to a recent article in the International Herald tribune, issued since taking power. These “presidential signing statements”, invented by Samuel Alito jr. (now member of the supreme court) under Ronald Regan, can sideline laws voted in congress without the use of a presidential veto. A famous example is the signing statement saying that the president would not feel tied by the recent law passed in congress against torture and inhuman treatment. Or more recently, the sidelining of the Supreme Court’s ruling that Guantanamo is unconstitutional.

This contempt for law, we could call the “really existing antinomianism” as opposed to the philosophical antinomianism that for instance Agamben exposes in his work. The “tyrannical teachings” and practices of this antinomianism has a strong link to religious fundamentalism, as a “really existing messianism”. One could say that Christian fundamentalism is an important part of the “political philosophy” of contemporary neoconservative politics, that is: the exoteric side of the doctrine, the pious lies and noble myths that help the elites, who know, to rule. This strange and sinister alliance itself, is therefore textbook straussianism. [/quote]

In America there will be “mid-term” elections in less than 65 days…the Cheney admin. will not allow themselves to be out-played in the American senate and congress; that will almost definitely allow the American people to start impeachment proceedings and/or investigations into the crimes of Cheney et al…watch for the October Surprise!

[Jack_Burton]

Your avatar wigs me out.

[serious_fun]

@Jack Burton

Your avatar wigs me out.

I found it on the Suicide Girlz website…perhaps it is time to find another avatar (sigh)…