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Title: Butchering Leviathan: Author: Dr. Dialectic Date: july 29th 2021 Language: en Topics: Leviathan, fascism, trump, activism, leftism, anarchism, anarchy, christanity, theology
I wrote this book after partaking in Activism during the time the State
was crushing down on Black Lives Matter protests. I marched and
practiced disobedience with Anarchists as well as African Americans to
resist police brutality and Trumpism. I hope to draw attention to the
fact that Trump’s coup attempt and Hitler’s rise to power have several
parallels. As well as to draw attention to how history repeats and the
collapse of the Weimar republic can easily happen again this time in
America in this current epoch, as such resistance is imperative.
→ who the intended audience is.
The Intended Audience is Anarchists, Critical Theorists, and Left
wing-Christians who are viewing current events, such as the Trump
Insurrection, Police Brutality, and attacks by lone wolves be they Trump
Supporters creating stochastic terror attacks. The audience is activists
who are well versed in Critical theory that they use to guide their
resistance to the State through understanding and grasping the
implications of the event unfolding in America.
→ a brief synopsis of the book in one to three paragraphs.
I also posit the history of the debate between Spinoza and Hobbes and
how such a debate had a spillover effect on Political freedom as well as
attempts at political repression that has risen and fallen in terms of
the historical rise and fall of both just and unjust current regimes
that refuse to cease (Trumps).
Concerns over history repeating in terms of the rise of potential unjust
power relations in the 21^(st) century is a central theme of this book.
As well as a left-wing counter-example of Political Theologies that
posits itself in opposition to Right Wing political Theology of Carl
Schmitt.
I hope that this article will give an overview of ways one can resist
unjust power dynamics drawing upon the rich histories of Philosophers as
well as Theologians.
-
A table of contents with a synopsis of each chapter:
Chapter 1: The overlap of Hitler’s coup in the 21^(st) century with that
of Trump’s attempted coup in the 21^(st), and how this presents a danger
of a new dictatorship grabbing hold.
Chapter 2: The history of fascism, Carl Schmitt’s contribution to the
rise of Nazism, and drawing upon Biblical Texts to compare the events of
the 20^(th) century to the Book of Revelation.
Chapter 3: Spinoza vs Hobbes, Rationalism against Reactionary
Mythmaking.
Chapter 4: Philosophers and Theorists: Drawing upon Benjamin, Spinoza,
and others for a guide to understanding and resisting.
Chapter 5: Benjamin, Bonhoeffer, Spinozists perspectives to thrive and
resist.
Chapter 6: Fascism, Resisting and a defense of the Jewish People as “a
light among nations’ ‘ against supersessionism.
Chapter 7: Trumpian Terror and echoes of the anti-Christ(s).
Chapter 8: Zeno, Spinoza, a history of resisting unjust
power-authority-hierarchy.
Chapter9: Theology and Critical (Philosophy) Theory, a synthesis for
resistance.
Chapter 10: Adorno, Damaskinos, Benjamin’s Angel and butchering-feasting
upon the Leviathan
-
Chapter 1
“The multitude so united in one person is called a Common-wealth, in
Latin Civitas. This is the generation of that great Leviathan, or rather
(to speak more reverently) of that Mortal God, to which we owe under the
Immortal God, our peace and defense.” — Hobbes, Leviathan chapter 17)
‘’The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has
been smashed. But a storm is blowing in from Paradise; it has got caught
in his wings with such a violence that the angel can no longer close
them. ‘’-. ((Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History).
The Capitol Insurrection led by Trump’s tweets and spreading conspiracy
theories led to, hundreds of reactionaries stormed the Capital intending
to overthrow, in hopes of establishing a Dictatorship, explosives, were
found (which we defused) and acts of force with a massive lack of a
response to the insurrection, the few officers that were left to defend
the Capital were beaten and some killed, the Police will not save any
democracies if anything historically the Gestapo ( as well as other
police groups during this epoch) were merely police who served the
“legal” orders of the Third Reich.
I would argue that this is not an example of an exceptional historical
example, what it is however is a repeat of an earlier historical event,
this is a mere repetition of when Hitler led a coup which failed, years
later he was elected Chancellor of Germany, this sort of a historical
loop, was birthed during the epoch of the Second World War.
“In most instances, in the course of the variations states undergo they
mostly move from order to chaos and then back from chaos to order” —
Machiavelli Niccolò, Bondanella, P., & Musa, M. (2005). The portable
Machiavelli. Penguin. ).
Many foresaw the rise of Trump, but the media considered it all to be a
joke, this also reflects the general mood in the Weimar Republic before
Hitler gained power.
The Pandora’s Box was opened, I would argue, during the collapse of the
Weimar Republic, and the Conservative (counter) revolution which led to
the existence of the unlimited powers of Hitler and the birth of
Hitler’s Germany(Vinx, Lars, “Carl Schmitt”, The Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy (Fall 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).
Despite the fact Hitler is dead, his Ideology still seduces people and
is a danger of spreading through the entire world, as can be seen with
the arrival of Neo-Nazis as Trump supporters, and the spread of Populist
movements simultaneously across the globe.
Benjamin understood the key to understanding fascism as an
aestheticization of politics,
“Fascism attempts to organize the newly proletarianized masses without
affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate.
Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but
instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to
change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression
while preserving property. The logical result of Fascism is the
introduction of aesthetics into political life. “- (Benjamin, W. (n.d.).
The Works of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.).
Ultimately nothing changes, for the impoverished instead they are given
a chance to express their hatred and rage, fascism changes nothing, and
masks itself as targeting a false target by scapegoating, instead of
targeting those in power who hold the wealth and means of production,
there is a tie between Capitalism and Fascism, both also exist on
contradiction a house of cards that is precariously towered so close to
collapse at any given moment.
This is also seen in Trump’s supporters today it gives the man outlets
to express their base instincts of rage, at enemies that do not exist
outside of their own misconceived reception of the proper source of
their rage.
Chapter 2
The fact that Fascism is formulated around myth, and the need to enact
violence ad infinitum or else its authority would collapse, they need to
keep people in fear to prevent their illegitimate rule from being torn
down by revolutionary-liberatory forces.
Fascism serves as a genocidal threat to the vast majority of humanity,
for this very reason it must be treated as an existential threat, and
resisted-fought at all costs;
There are many ways to do this, housing those with nowhere else to go,
providing medical treatment and food, as well as housing in places of
worship are all ways to assist those who are being hunted by the
Leviathan.
There needs to be a mixed bag of tactics, everyone can play a part,
unlike the relentless hierarchy of Leviathan, what will save humanity
from such tyranny is a series of non-hierarchical organizations as well
as formulations.
Likewise marching, spreading awareness, and being politically active are
also important.
Lastly, resistance via force is the final tier of resistance.
“One may be a prophet, but remember to be a prophet armed as all unarmed
prophets died or were slaughtered” ((Machiavelli Niccolò, Bondanella,
P., & Musa, M. (2005). The portable Machiavelli. Penguin.).
To practice self-defense, and to come to the defense of those who are
being oppressed, it is imperative if we are to survive the reign of the
Leviathan.
The collection of Texts known as the Bible is a political as
theological, that was written in a time of extreme persecution, and
genocide by Empire, as such people an be inspired by the prophets and
faithful or on the other hand the powers that oppress and serve as
enemies of Gods chosen people. Leaders with genocidal aspirations have
also drawn inspiration from figures in the Old and New Testament, I
would argue that the Nazi Jurist, Carl Schmitt;
who was a key architect who gave Hitler the Key to the castle, Schmitt
saw himself as a figure of which held a central part in the unfolding of
the apocalyptic biblical texts, this can be seen in the title he gave
himself,
Schmitt dubbed himself blasphemous as the “estachon”, a term used by
Paul in his foretelling of the apocalypse, as in the one who held back
the arrival of the anti-Christ ((Ullrich, Carl Schmitt: Katechon 2021).
Fascism is the worship of death, and serves as an adversary of most of
humanity, as such
If Schmitt were to fit any archetype from biblical texts I argue that
Schmitt better fits that of the role of the Dragon from the Book of
Revelation;
the one who gives the anti-Christ its power, after all the logic, holds
that if one can hold back the anti-Christ one can also release the
anti-Christ which is precisely what happened when The Beast (Hitler) was
given full power as Dictator (Vinx, Lars, “Carl Schmitt”, The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
“
People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast,
and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who
can wage war against it?” “The one who gives the Antichrist his power.’’
(Bible Gateway passage: Revelation 13:4 — New International Version).
Chapter 3
There are however two figures which represent two ideological
oppositions from the 17^(th) century. This debate would have a profound
impact on the soul of the world and whether or not its destiny would lay
in freedom for the people of tyranny. Thomas Hobbes, and the
Outcast-heretic Spinoza.
It is no coincidence that Schmitt set himself up not just as the one who
holds back the anti-Christ but he also set himself up as the new Hobbes
of the 20^(th) century, the consequences of Hobbes influence on Schmitt
has been a release of a destructive deluge on humankind in terms of the
misery it brought about.
Said Hobbesian Social contract is built on top of a myth, the myth that
humans would destroy each other and live like animals in a constant
state of civil war,”( Hobbes Leviathan, i. xiii. 9).
This is all trappings of false idols or baseless ideology, one must be
an iconoclast in the literal meaning of the word, to smash the false
idol.
We are not dumb animals fumbling into the dark, we are endowed with a
spark, of reason, and compassion, Spinoza would agree with this as an
Arch-Rationalist, as would the ancient religious traditions of the
linage of the Jewish faith as well as the offshoot of Ancient
Christianity.
Heraclitus was the one to cite the word logos, word reason account (
Heraclitus Fragments)
Which overlaps with the Book of John in Christianity In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. — (John
1:1).
Within theology and Philosophy is the spark of the logos, the word,
reason,
rationalism,
This is an example of how belief in a first cause that presents
faculties and human nature in all of us is a means of joy and I would
argue a way to fight against the irrationalism of leviathans that aim to
oppress.
However humans would not have survived to this day in age if it were not
for our faculty of cooperation and mutual aid, there is a spark of
reason inherent in humans, which the myth of Hobbes fails to understand,
and through Hobbes, Schmitt as well.
Spinoza was set in opposition to Hobbes in the realm of where the power
should lie in society, Hobbes propped to set up a mortal god, giving
unlimited power to a Sovereign, Hobbes advocated for an absolute
monarchy, he felt that only the threat of force would prevent people
from consuming one-another ( Hobbes Leviathan) which ironically enough
led to chaos and death in the name of order, which is exactly what
reactionaries are when you strip it apart to its barebones.
Reactionarism is built on a foundation of contradiction, a house of
cards which is bound to collapse; Schmitt ended up giving unlimited
power to a mortal god, in this case, Hitler, who tried to establish
himself as God, in the name of worship of irrationalism and death. Not
all hope is lost; In opposition to Hobbes is the arch-Rationalist as
well as Jewish heretic, Spinoza, who argued for democracy, reason and
the affirmation of life, not death, this ended up being a thorn in the
side of reactionary regimes that wish to establish power.
To summarize the relation as well as an antagonism between Spinoza and
Hobbes, Negri put it nicely, “In any case here the models of
appropriative society are differentiated in ontological terms: in Hobbes
freedom yields to Power (potestas); in Spinoza Power yields to freedom.”
Negri Page 20 The savage anomaly)
Chapter 4
Fascism teetering on the edge of collapse constantly, the fascist
government is at wars with its citizens as any moment the noose can
widen to slaughter anyone, except the head of the leviathan (cite)
The people should not feat Tyrants the Tyrants should fear the people,
Bonhoeffer argues that there are three ways the church can resist, by
questioning the legitimacy of the tyranny in question, 2 serving the
victimized people who are suffering due to the state, and lastly is to
grab ahold of the wheel itself (Book by Michael P. DeJonge, Bonhoeffer
on Resistance: The Word Against the Wheel).
The above citation about breaking the wheel overlaps with Benjamins
comment that revolution is an emergency brake on a train that is that
human race activates in times of emergency;
“Marx said that revolutions are the locomotive of world history. But
perhaps things are very different. It may be that revolutions are the
act by which the human race traveling in the train applies the emergency
brake.” -( Walter Benjamin paralipomena).
This demands the strength of Spinozistic resistance, Cavaliess a duel
Ph.D. in Mathematics and Philosophy was also a french resistance
fighter, a “Philosopher terrorist packed with explosives, “ I’m a
Spinozist, we must resist fight and confront death, truth, and reason
demand it” ( Spinoza contract phenomenology )
In both cases Spinozists fought, in the name of liberation, life and
reason, Antonio Negri and Cavillies were drawn into the revolutionary
struggle against fascistic paradigms that tried to grab hold over their
respective democracies; I would argue that Spinoza is a great antidote
to when the virus of fascism spreads in society.
The joyful epistemology-ontology of Spinoza shines a light, not unlike a
single lit wick that cuts into the darkness, all it takes is just a
single candle to keep the darkness at bay.
To live and protect those singled out by the Leviathan, we must have
hope, through a love of protecting and assisting the hungry and the
weak, we must resist and fight against those reactionaries who wish to
collapse the state into the worship of a genocidal false idol. in his
works on politics, Spinoza set himself up in opposition to Hobbes as can
be seen in one of his letters:
“I always preserve natural right unimpaired, and I maintain that in each
State the Supreme Magistrate has no more right over his subjects than it
has greater power over them.”
(Spinoza, [5] Letter 50, in Edwin Curley ).
This is in direct opposition to Hobbes with his divine right of kings,
and his grotesque myth-making, laying the groundwork for a reality where
the Sovereign has unlimited power and the subjects have none, resulting
in a dictatorship.
This demands the strength of Spinozistic resistance, Cavaliess a duel
Ph.D. in Mathematics and Philosophy was also a french resistance
fighter, a “Philosopher terrorist packed with explosives, “ I’m a
Spinozist, we must resist fight and confront death, truth, and reason
demand it” ( Spinoza contract phenomenology )
The arch-Rationalism of Spinoza serves as a defense against the power of
mythmaking in terms of the Hobbesian-Schmittian creation of a mortal
God, this serves to safeguard an approach that could result in
reactionaries supporting dictatorship- dictators who set themselves up
in the clothing as a Mortal god.
Chapter 5
Since the death of Hitler, Fascism has never gone away, it is a
persistent threat, and with it, Anti-Semitism travels in waves, it dies
down and it rises, throughout history, today I would argue that Trump
and his regime represent a resurrection of Hitlerism in the 21^(st)
century, this can be seen in the violence of his supporters, the
separating of women and their children into camps, and the white
supremacists placed in his cabinet; as well as the worship of Trump as a
pseudo-messianic figure by the Q-anon followers.
I would argue the fact that the Jewish people are a Light Among Nations,
who gifted the world with Monotheism and the morality of the 10
Commandments of which serves as the bedrock of ethics- a great deal of
modern ethics worldwide and norms-mores rely on as a foundation. Also
through Spinoza, we were given the greatest argument for a democracy
that has emerged pre-modernity, it can be argued that Spinoza has given
us Modernity and with it, science and reason and the separation of
church and state, the separation of church and state prevents the
worship and deification of the government or would-be dictators (cite)
as well as the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory.
I would argue that divine violence, as written by another Jewish
Philosopher Walter Benjamin serves as a balance for when the LEviathan
attempts to crush, the antithesis of myth-making law in lue of Hobbes
and the Fascists is canceled out (benjamin violence critique )
I would argue that intuitively the Jewish people are living proof of the
providence of a Just Creator. For someone wishing to establish
themselves as a Mortal God-Dictator-False Idol from their point of view
the destruction of this Light among Nations would be their sole
priority; ((Isaiah 51:3-5/ 3) The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will
look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like
Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will
be found in her, thanksgiving, and the sound of singing.4 “Listen to me,
my people; hear me, my nation: Instruction will go out from me; my
justice will become a light to the nations ((Isaiah 51:3-5/ 3).
Benjamin lived during a time when it seemed as if the apocalypse was
unfolding, it was before Benjamin’s suicide that he wrote “history is
“nothing one chain of the catastrophe unfolding, wreckage upon wreckage”
(Benjamin, On the Concept of History /Theses on the Philosophy of
History).
This is precisely what has happened throughout the history of the Light
of Nations they have been oppressed, and continue to be oppressed,
Chapter 6
An example of this can be seen early on in Trumps Presidency the murder
of counter-protestors at the Nazi march in Charlottesville with
anti-Semitic chants” that resulted in the murder of Heather Danielle
Heyer( as well as the countless copycat attacking of social activists by
other Trump supporters, I have witnessed two cars hitting and -attacking
protesters when I was marching with Black lives Matters activists, the
police did nothing to go after the perpetrators who were ramming cars as
a weapon into protestors, these being copy cat attacks of the murder of
the counter-protestor in Charlottivle during the Neo-Nazi march.
This bears eerie similarities to when the Brownshirts would attack
dissidents-civilians in Germany before Hitler’s rise to power.
White Supremacists violence serves as the largest threat even greater
than Radical jihadi terror, this is issue, when Trump was president he
had a legalized lawlessness occurring through encouraging and causing
Stochastic terrorist attacks largely from lone Accelerationists and
Neo-Nazi lone wolves, this is continuing today with more attempts to
attack the capital that has been foiled now that Biden has a position as
POTUS.
The Devil in the New Testament is known as the “Prince of this World” (
cite)
which is exactly what Hitler aspired to become, he almost succeeded in
this goal.
It does not matter if one takes this literally, as leaders already place
themselves in the shoes of and draw inspiration from apocalyptic texts,
the Bible has saturated western culture, these potential Leaders setting
themselves as Theocratic dictators and under this becoming a false idol,
this is what Trump is to his followers, be it he Christain who see him
as fulfilling the role of God, Q-Anons who see him as a sort of Messiah
who will destroy a cabal (Which is rooted in anti-Semitic conspiracy
theories that led to the rise of Hitler in the first place)
Afterall Satan has a hatred of the Light of Nations as do those who act
as his proxy; from the Davidic line of which the “Messiah will arrive
who will serve not only as of the redeemer but as the subduer of the
Antichrist”, this is what they dread (Benjamin, On the Concept of
History /Theses on the Philosophy of History)).
The anti-Christ if I am to use this term for genocidal Autocrats who
rise and destabilizes democracies, I would argue Anti-Christs travel in
waves, once one perishes another takes its place, they spread like a
virus, Anti-Semitism, hate crimes, Accelerationist spree shootings, all
acts of terror, all which aligned as well as carried out by Neo-Fascists
who aline themselves with Trump, after the Capital Insurrection, walls
were put up to protect the Capital during Biden’s first days in office,
there were still threats of future attacks and intelligence agencies are
on edge as future attacks are immediate, this is the new form of
terrorism that has swept the nation as a rehashing of Fascism in today’s
epoch.
Chapter 7
God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants the Jewish people,
a covenant that will last forever; “I will establish my covenant as an
everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you
for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your
descendants after you. (Genesis 17:7).
The everlasting covenant and love of the Jews as God’s chosen people is
also brought up again by Paul in the book of Romans 11, this is
everlasting and unbreakable, (But as regards election, they are beloved
for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God
are irrevocable. ( Romans 11). this conflicts with the wretched
anti-Semitism of the Catholics who set up The chosen people as an enemy,
which paved the way for Schmitt in the first place, and through Schmitt,
came to Hitler and now Trump.
“a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is
written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness
from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away
their sins.”; Paul was not an enemy of the Jewish people, as falsely
proclaimed by Right-wing Theologians, Paul he proclaimed the hope that
“all of Israel will be saved.” ( (Romans 25–27).
A tool kit, I would argue, lay in the twin disciplines of Philosophy and
Theology. These two overlapping concepts Theology-Philosophy: Theology
and Philosophy are twins both arose during the same epoch and the line
between the two is thin.
Theology overlaps with the Prophets who cried out for justice and a love
of God whereas Critical Philosophy- Critical Theory, to understand and
grasp unjust power relations; as well as according to Horkheimer, a love
of wisdom “ serves as a way to release humans from the bondages that
ensnare them, (Horkheimer 1972b [1992, 246]).
Both share a love of justice, I feel synthesizing them together provides
a toolkit used to better resist fascistic paradigms should it (and when
it does ) rise.
I would argue one must aspire to be a Critical Theorist as well fill in
the role of social justice as the Judaic Prophets, this combination is
crucial to resist reactionary dictatorships, one’s Praxis must be guided
by a love of Justice, as well as calculated understanding to guide one’s
actions which are brought upon through Critical Theory.
Chapter 8
The history of philosophers resisting Tyrants has been a tradition as
long as the love of wisdom existed long before Frankfurt School Critical
theory. For one Zeno of Elea can be seen as a synthesis of someone who
seeks wisdom while resisting Tyrannical power.
“Zeno was captured and tortured in hopes of giving up the names of his
comrades, who were part of the conspiracy, the Tyrant had him tortured
Zeno had a plan and spoke that if the tyrant would come closer he would
reveal the names of his co-conspirator, when the tyrant came closer Zeno
then proceeded to sink his teeth into the tyrant’s ear before he was
stabbed to death by the Tyrants guards to make him release the Tyrants
ear;
Zeno died without giving up the name of his co-conspirator-Comrades”
(Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English
Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4–8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.
pp. 225–226.)
Is it not curious how Authority is revoked from a figure in authority
when one does not submit,
Or rather when one unveils the myth behind the Hobbesian social
contract,
Moral Gods are still mortal and Mortal Gods as such will die.
No matter the transference of sovereignty from the head of the Leviathan
from one King to another
With the rise of the social media -technology,
This has allowed for the quick networking and building of the Black
Lives Matters movement which serves as the current incarnation of the
civil rights movement.
With the networking there is no excuse for agents of Leviathan to break
or beat those that they wish to feast upon.
However with the same technology being utilized by Leviathan, there will
be a tug of war of the tactics and manipulation of ways to divert facial
recognition, and to remove footprints digitally speaking.
Chapter 9
In modern-day Italy, Neo-Fascists gained hold of power in Italy, a group
known as the red brigades kidnapped and assassinated a Nazi politician,
Antonio Negri was accused of being the ringleader of the Red Brigades, a
revolutionary group that fought against the Italian state that was
infested with Fascistic politicians.
Negri if he was hypothetically the leader was practicing his defense
against a state with genocidal leaders within, On the off chance that
Negri was not a leader who had a hand in the death of fascist politician
Aldo Moro. ( Mark Neocleous
<em>
https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/news/negri-in-prison)
.</em>
my intuition tells me that Negri did have some have a role-hand in the
assassination, however on the off chance that he had no hand in the act
itself, he is still a revolutionary against fascism due to his teaching
of Politics-Political theory as a university professor, Negri was also
responsible for introducing sociology as a tool of praxis into the
Italian university after it was liquidated by the Italian Fascists year
ago( Hans Ulrich Obrist, Antonio Negri,
https://www.e-flux.com/journal/18/67464/in-conversation-with-antonio-negri/).
There are a multitude of ways to fight back against the fascist
Leviathan,
Christain theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
founded a church to resist the hegemony of the Nazis recruiting of the
protestant church to its cause, Bonhoeffer was murdered by the regime
for smuggling Jewish individuals out of Germany as well as when his
activism intensified for joining in the plot to assassinate Hitler
Bonhoeffer argued that to be a student of Christ one must be willing to
make the sacrifice, even if it means death against tyranny(Bonhoeffer,
The Cost of Discipleship).
Bonhoeffer went against the weakness and hate of the vast majorities of
Protestant churches that sided with Hitler, the anti-Semitism was so
strong that the churches welcomed fascism with open arms, but not
Bonhoeffer and his confessing Church which fought against the Nazi
hegemony and saved many Jewish people from death, by a genocidal regime
(cite)
A synthesis of Judaic Prophets and Critical Theorists would be: the only
proper reaction to living in what I would argue is immediate collapse,
is to resist, fight, and to heal the wounded and oppressed, to fight
back against the false idols and anti-Christs.
To be a Critical-theorist- as well as to stand in the shoes of a Prophet
is to be willing to put oneself in harm’s way, to resist whatever regime
props itself into power and whatever aligns itself with that power, be
it Reactionaries, or Accelerationist lone wolves, the deterioration of a
state into a genocidal machine is the goals of those who placed him into
power, which resulted as Trump as President, and I fear he may
eventually solidify himself as dictator shortly.
We must live as if we are paving the road for the arrival of the Messiah
while paradoxically proceeding tactically, demolishing false idols the
term of which is synonymous anti-Christs be it Hitler worshipers or
Trumpism who aspire to fill in the “throne” that Hitler’s rotting corpse
has left behind, we must live as if God will not save us until we have
redeemed ourselves from injustice, by accomplishing this we must be able
to subdue the Anti-Christs that follow-rise up,
an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet
lived ( (Book of Revelation 13:14).
Hitler waged genocide upon God’s chosen people, destroyed most of Europe
and set himself up as a false idol”, and spoke blasphemies and by
attacking God people, set himself up to wound God by harming his chosen
people of the covenant, sought to erase the God of Abraham Issac and
Jacob.
(The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to
exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to
blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those
who live in heaven. 7 It was given the power to wage war against God’s
holy people and to conquer them” (Book of Revelation 13).
chapter 10
The Philosopher Adorno, upon recognizing the lackluster Kantian
Categorical Imperative had holes, Adorno created a new categorical
imperative,” that one must not allow the enemy (Hitler) any posthumous
victories”;
This must be central to the Praxis of the Critical Theorist-Prophet,
Adorno’s New Imperative as well as a promise of the words.
“Never again”, the Neo-Fascists must be stopped no matter the cost (
(Ostrove, G. (2013, January 1).
The core of Nazism is a genocidal threat, that ingrains its self
tactically into democracies in hopes of overthrowing it by using free
speech marches to speak in codes and buzzwords that fly under the radar
of most people until they have amassed a majority of followers and elect
or install via a coup a dictator to carry out their plans of genocide.
Benjamin’s text the Critique of Violence shows that violence can be
divided into myth-making violence that builds and enforces laws, and
divine violence which is law destroying to reset what has been set wrong
by the mythmaking law such as police and regimes that oppress,
“ Just as God is opposed to myth in all spheres, so divine violence runs
counter to mythic violence, indeed, divine violence designates in all
respects an antithesis to mythic violence, if mythic violence is
law-positing, divine violence is law-annihilating; if mythic violence
inculpates and expiates at the same time, divine violence, de-expiates
if the former threatens, the latter strikes”- ( Walter Benjamin, Edited
by Julia Ng, Peter Fenves, Toward the Critique of Violence, a critical
edition page 57).
In Greece during the Nazi occupation, archbishop Damaskinos led a
resistance of smuggling and creating passports for the Greek Jewish
populace.
There is neither Greek nor Jew is what we need to carry with us and use
to guide owns own praxis
He received a revelation while praying that he must save as many of the
individuals of the Greece-Jewish populace as possible,
“I have taken up my cross,” the Archbishop declared. “I spoke to the
Lord, and made up my mind to save as many Jewish souls as possible.”
“Our Holy Religion does not recognize superior or inferior qualities
based on race or religion, as it is stated: ”There is neither Jew nor
Greek” (Galatians 3:28) and thus condemns any attempt to discriminate or
create division based on ethnic or religious differences.” (Michael
Iakovidis,https://fee.org/articles/archbishop-damaskinos-the-greek-clergyman-who-stared-down-the-nazis/).
Archbishop Damaskions was awarded the title of Righteous among nations,
for his role in mobilizing the Greek church to save as many Jewish
people as possible,
Archbishop Damaskions is an example of a Theologian like Bounhouffer who
saved many Jewish souls and is held up as a hero and I would argue he
filled the role of a Critical Theorist-Prophet whose role is to fill the
shoes of a Judaic Prophets of old to protect and shelter the oppressed.
A sect of Trump’s followers follow Trump as a pseudo-Messianic figure,
be it the Neo-Nazis or the Q-Anon followers. To speak in metaphor until
the Messiah arrives, until Benjamin Angel can put right what has once
been smashed (Benjamin, On the Concept of History /Theses on the
Philosophy of History).
Until then, we must fight for the good, to protect those hunted by the
idolatry of the State, We must fight against the Leviathan whenever and
wherever it rises next, against Idolatry which is the worship of the
State which be it Trumpism, Hitlerism, or Neo-Reactionaries it is all
the same at the core.
The Angel arrives to awake the dead and repair what has once been
shattered not unlike what Benjamin’s angel has been trying to do before
the gust of wind, after all, have hope;
“For every second of time was the strait gate through which the Messiah
might enter.” (Benjamin, On the Concept of History /Theses on the
Philosophy of History). This is a reason enough for hope, but until he
arrives, keep fighting, heal the wounded, counsel the orphans and the
widows, as the Judaic Prophets advised, and protect those who are
persecuted by illegal genocidal regimes.
The antibodies to this rely on the theories of Spinoza, the Hebrew
Prophets or the Prophetic works of the New Testament as well as the
works of the Frankfurt School and affiliates such as Benjamin, and
Adorno.
As well as Spinozists such as Negri and other philosophers from
antiquity as well as Theologians who practiced what they preached.
The seekers of wisdom alongside the seekers of the love of God overlap.
We must carve out spaces of peace and mutual aid while simultaneously
defending those oppressed living in the shadows of Leviathan, until the
messianic rupture in history, when we the downtrodden, hungry and
oppressed, the beaten orphaned widowed as well as wounded by the
Leviathan, we shall butcher the Leviathan distributes its flesh to the
multitude and feast upon its still warm carcass.