Big brother?

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Robert_Sock

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“They are playing a game. They are playing at not playing a game. If I show them I see they are, I shall break the rules and they will punish me. I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game.” –R. D. Laing
 
I think I know what you’re saying, and it’s quite true.

If WE don’t quit playing their game and stand up for Jesus and our beliefs, then we will be like the salt that has lost its flavour.
 
Mt 11:16-18

“To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
 
Robert_Sock said:
“They are playing a game. They are playing at not playing a game. If I show them I see they are, I shall break the rules and they will punish me. I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game.” –R. D. Laing
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Perhaps Laing is saying that we know we are being lied to. But to avoid the punishment that can come from objecting to the lies, we opt to go along with the lies.
  1. They are playing a game. We know this.
  2. They lie and tell us they are not playing a game on us.
  3. If I show them that they are playing a game on us, they will punish me.
  4. So to avoid punishment, I go along with them. I allow myself to be controlled.
For what it is worth, here is a bit more of R.D. Laing:

One strand of Laing’s thinking, traceable to Marx and Sartre, condemns society for shackling humankind against its will, taking away individual freedom. An idea typical of his work is the following quote in his book, The Politics of Experience,

“We are effectively destroying ourselves with violence masquerading as love”.

Reminds me of the saying, “All evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing in the face of evil.”

When we allow violence to masquerade as love, we have lost the true meaning of love. So what is the true meaning of love?
 
I like R.D. Laing although I may not agree with everything he wrote.

Another quote from The Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise:

Many people used to believe that angels moved the stars. It now appears that they do not. As a result of this and like revelations, many people do not now believe in angels.
Many people used to believe that the “seat” of the soul was somewhere in the brain. Since brains began to be opened up frequently, no one has seen “the soul”. As a result of this and like revelations, many people do not now believe in the soul.
Who could suppose that angels move the stars, or be so superstitious as to suppose that because one cannot see one"s soul at the end of a microscope it does not exist?
 
‘what more in the name of love’ Bono.
The Hunger Games - not a nice game. The Lord of the Flies - the blind leading the blind. Nasty generally. I guess everyone knows when someone is just playing a game & isnt genuine, especially in person. I guess the problem is when you dont know why the game is being played. But anything that demands participation, is against freewill and naturally a type of communism. Of course the game only exists because it has players. There have always been a lot of sheep.
 
The game has to do with ladders: Corporate and government ladders of hierarchy and the ladders in academia.
 
Any reason to exclude the church hierarchy?

As I see it, any who wish to ascend a ladder must be willing to abide by the directions of those above. That is fine as long as those above are leading in the right direction and in the right way. One such leader is Christ. But not all who speak for Christ do so in the right way.

The ‘grey beards’ are suppose to know better because they had time to study and experience life and its issues. But often a desire to exercise personal power, to be bold, to do something new and different, tempts some of them to go the wrong way. What little I have studied about the Reformation leaders tells me that many succumbed to the desire for personal power.

Subordinates have the tasks of being loyal and patient, yet also have the courage to speak truth to power when they have good reason to think power is going astray. Many acquiesced, many paid with their lives.

Governments, corporations, and academia are mostly secular. They establish civil law. IMO, good civil law MUST comport well with Moral Law. And the best Moral Law is that established by Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God. Those who speak for Christ must make extra effort to ensure that they indeed speak correctly for Christ and not succumb to personal power.

We subordinates must learn the teachings of Christ as well as we can and that too takes extra effort. With good teaching, learned well, we enter into that secular hierarchal world and ascend ladders and take our turn leading well. But never forgetting that some leaders, both secular and religious of all faiths, do succumb to that desire for personal power and take others the wrong way.

Just one man’s view.
 
I think government, corporations and academia has the most ‘ladders’ that lead to game playing, but the Church may also qualify. I believe that some of the more esoteric knowledge is transmitted through on-hand experience and through this type of game playing. People need to learn to say one thing and do another. Think of the career hierarchy as a new culture with new, unwritten norms and rules.
 
It seems to me that all life for all time has had to deal with the “unwritten norms and rules.” While we should be taught and learn, we simply cannot teach everything and learn everything. We also tend to guard what we say, we fear exposing our thinking too clearly, and rely on others to figure it out without actually telling them. Each of us is expected to observe and think for ourselves and conform WILLINGLY without always being told what to do when, and how, and why.

But there is limit to how much we should conform. We may see others, important people, doing wrong. We may not be able to stop them but we should not join them willingly or think it OK to do wrong because they do wrong.

I object to teaching that “people NEED to learn to say one thing and do another.” That many people do say one thing and do another is quite clear. Sometimes we ourselves are guilty of that charge. We are not perfect. While I would teach that some do, I think it more important to teach that it is better to ensure our actions back up our words. We might talk the talk, but it means nothing if we cannot walk the walk. Thus we should learn to be careful what we say. As sometimes taught, “Do not let your bulldog mouth overload your puppy dog bottom.”

In Texas there is a saying, “All hat. No cattle.” And “A man’s word is his bond.” Huge cattle deals were made on a handshake, not a 50 page contract with fine print. Say what you mean and mean what your say. Always choose your words carefully. Do your own homework; know what you are talking about or just listen and perhaps question.

To say one thing and do another is a lie. A lie is not the Truth. Without Truth, things do go wrong and people do get hurt. Sooner or later.

It is wrong to teach that people NEED to lie. Let’s not abandon HONOR and INTEGRITY in order to “play the game” and climb the ladder of our profession. Such dishonest game playing is not God’s Will.
 
I agree wholeheartedly with you GreatfulFred. A house cannot be built on lies, for it will be without solid foundation & then will fall. 🙂
 
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