Socrates, Jesus, & MLK

Social Martyrs of History – Socrates, Jesus, & MLK 

Remembering Leaders Who Risked Their Lives for Civil Rights

 

For all the famous leaders there are countless common martyrs who sacrificed their health and well being for the sake of others and the pursuit of virtuous truth. In remembering the lives of great figures we know about, we can also reflect on their human flaws or imperfect traits.

The main three figures I want to talk about are Socrates Jesus and Martin Luther King Junior. The stories of Socrates, Jesus, and MLK (Martin Luther King Jr.) will always be relevant so long as there is an ambitious and hungry military, supported by plutocrats and a population that mocks peace and philosophy. Their stories are very similar, except that MLK wanted to actually have political change. They were despised by those in power for raising too many questions, and they were put to death for their influence. I will also mention Simon Bolivar and Martin Luther of the Protestant Reformation in reference to the topics, although they were not put to death by authorities. These are figures which were influential obviously in the annals of history, but more importantly they were people who questioned civilization. They bothered society as social gadflies. Simon Bolivar was more of a political-military leader and I don’t really know his biography so I’m not going to talk much about him; but he is largely unknown in North America although a local town is named for him.

Socrates (circa 400 BC) was a veteran and a retired stone-mason, who taught young men of Athens philosophy for free (unlike the Sophists who charged to teach legal rhetoric). Socrates was such a public nuisance about asking questions, that he was written into theater comedy plays as a ‘clownish fool’. Religion, plays, and politics were all wrapped up in each other as democracy allows; although with the growth of population these extensions became more specialized fields over time. Cultural systems were blended as they are now actually; but we tend to want to try to keep social functions separate. We might say “I don’t want to talk about politics”, but meanwhile our money is spent to kill people; and issues in politics, religion, and entertainment cross-over. However even back in ancient Athens people would say “Why are you asking me these stupid questions? I’ve got business to do, excuse me, but get away.” Socrates would insist on asking people what they knew about their business, life in general, and whether that applied to politics.

Socrates was getting people thinking, and the plutocratic military establishment did not appreciate it. Their industrial complex may not have been like factories with our modern mechanized technology; but there were workshops making weapons and leaders of armies who wanted to boss soldiers around, conquer other people, and get rich as an official leader. Athens had been at war with its neighbors, and had seen massive defeats. Ironically during a period that had despotism and imperialism, it was their democracy that put Socrates to death (see Plato’s writings).

One of the perennial problems of democracy is that it gets tricked by the oligarchy into voting against worker interests, to favor conservative benefits for the few. There will always be some people that want to hurt and bully others to extract resources and wealth from them, and selfishly take it as their personal property. War culture is part of male patriarchy for sure, and the ethics of that ‘might is right’ domination is now being questioned more than ever before by progressives. It took a long time for women to have civil rights in civilization. It took thousands of years for large countries to grant women the same power and influence that men were legally allowed. I am not sure why it took so long to recognize women as adults officially in public, they say it has to do with babies, muscles, and testosterone but this is not an essay on gender issues. My point is that many of us hope that democratic society is slowly becoming more compassionate every century, with a few massive steps back in some ways, some decades.

The problems of society were addressed by Socrates, Jesus, and MLK; and they were punished as enemies of the state. Socrates, Jesus, and MLK may have been peaceful, but they also threatened the establishment by wanting individuals to ask questions within the society. Philosophical questions threaten authoritarian control. Socrates bothering people in the market was stirring up the pot and getting people wondering “What is best? What do I know? What can I know?” We want to usually have will-power and self-esteem and confidence. We want to know that we have answers to problems. It was frightening for Greeks to think that they might not actually know how best to vote. They did not want to be blamed when they invaded somebody else; even when they got their asses handed to them and their soldiers maimed, crippled, and killed. Their most important leaders had told them that war was justified, so it must have been right; right? Who was this old foolish man to harass them with questions? So they put him on trial and sentenced him to death. 

Later Jesus came along from Galilee, Israel. So Jesus was Jewish, but he was questioning the laws defended by conservative Pharisees, Sadducees, King Herod, and of course the Imperial Roman overlords. These popular stories of Jesus are perhaps the most common myths in society today, although no remaining period records noticed him while he was alive. We certainly have Jesus around us almost every day, with churches on every road. We are constantly reminded of Jesus probably more than the other figures, but yet if we go into a church and ask Christians what it means to be Christian, it is really hard for them to answer.

Most Christians do not give up their wealth and follow the holy spirit. Jesus never said we should go to Church and worship him, instead his example was to live communally with friends and practice religious compassion. Modern Christians want their property and their capitalist profit; that’s how most of us live our lives. Most Christians would not ‘turn over tables’ even in metaphoric churches, because Fox News and other corporate media conditions them in their homes as consumers. Commercial propaganda keeps people silent about politicians who keep spending our money on weapons and taking us to war. What would Jesus do? Would Jesus spend more on the military than all other countries? I don’t think conservatives have asked that question enough; if they want to spend so liberally on authoritarian budgets, they are not progressive on social issues like Jesus was. My New Testament understanding of Jesus is that he was profoundly anti-establishment in mostly passive ways. Now yes he did proclaim (according to the Bible) that he was the ‘son of God’, but he also said that we are all the ‘children of God’. Jesus also didn’t put much stock into earthly class systems or elite nobility. Our ability to love each-other was most important to him, which meant loving our enemies as well as our neighbors, as well as our family, as well as ourselves.

The Emperor of Rome (coincidentally also son of a god) would have considered accounts of early christians much like how Nixon reacted to hippies, but with less interest or subtlety. The Kent State shooting and the MK-Ultra project were sensitive compared to the more formal crucifixions and arena events; although I expect there were many undocumented tactics used unofficially in the streets by Roman soldiers too. Sharing wealth of property and goods was crucial for Jesus and gang, in between healing the poor and not chasing profit. Authorities mocked that hippy rebel and his proclamations of peace and love as the king of the Jews, with the crown of thorns on his head and the procession of pain carrying the cross.

His lessons were about helping those less fortunate, rather than giving wealth to the rich who ‘earned it’. Ask the Jesus in your heart “who deserves help the most; those greedy hoarding wealth already, or those who could use some and will spend it?” Collective compassion flies in the face of corporate assholes like Trump and those who want to be selfishly ignorant because “god damn it we don’t give a f@ck.” Everyone knows that making martyrs who people later worship defeats the purpose of killing them; but cultural ignorance is perennial even among elites. Reflecting on past mistakes is weird while still doing them. We might feel it was stupid and cruel that those people in the past killed Socrates, Jesus, and MLK; and we’ve come such a long way like when the FBI says MLK was such a great guy historically, although we know their boss wrote that death threat to MLK and probably had him assassinated (if it wasn’t some other covert militant agency that most don’t hear about because they redact most of their official public documents when they actually do release information).

• to be continued…

 

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Seven Ancient Greek Sages

SCOD Philosophy is based on many thinkers,

but we begin with Seven Ancient Greek Philosopher Sages:

Thales, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus

The ‘Classical’ philosophies of ancient Greeks are the first on historic record to start asking the most basic yet profound questions of Life, the Universe, and everything. Modern philosophies tend to ask more complex questions about our experiences in Existence, and many of the basic questions are redefined by scientific theories. It is wise to know past examples of thought, although we are capable of coming to many of the same conclusions without having read them, or may have already formulated some similar theories independently.

(The original Seven Sages of Greece were: Thales, Pittacus, Periander, Cleobulus, Solon, Bias, Chilon)

The SCOD list of 7 Sages is:  Thales, Pythagoras, Empedocles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus

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Thales

Thales is considered the father of Philosophy. He lived in Miletus in Eastern Greece across the Aegean Sea, in Ionia (now Western Turkey). Together with his contemporary philosophers, Anaximander and Anaximenes, around 600 BC he founded the first school of philosophy. Before them all things were explained only through the Religion of Greek Gods, which were anthropomorphic spirits of nature and ancestors. Religions survived of course, but so did other ways of thought and reasoning, now called Philosophies.

Thales believed the essence of the World was Water, and combined astronomy, logic and mathematics to find answers. Anaximander thought that all things came from apeiron, which were unlimited invisible atomic elements, which then made the four basic elements of nature (air, fire, water, and earth). Anaximenes then believed that the ultimate expression of apeiron was Air. Heraclitus believed that Fire was the prime element. This was not just the birth of Philosophy, but also Science and Psychology.

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Pythagoras

Pythagoras was from Samos, Ionia circa 500 BC. He was a spiritual mathematician and philosopher (lover of wisdom). He made mystical world travels, and used music and math together as a language to understand the Universe. The Tetractys Triangle was his sacred symbol. He believed in reincarnation and inter-connected transmigration.

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Empedocles

Empedocles of Sicily circa 450 BC is considered a pluralist because he believed that all things were inter-connected, even seemingly opposing philosophies. His open-minded theories embraced the Four Elements (Roots), Reincarnation, Magnetism, and Mixture and Separation (Love and Strife). He wrote in hexameter verse, based on Parmenides and the ancient oral tradition of Homeric Bards. He was from a family of democratic social leaders, but humbly refused political power himself. He had mystical powers over nature, and public powers of oration.

His beliefs were eclectic ranging from mystical traditions of Orphism, to progressive observations that influenced Aristotle and led to modern science. Love and Strife, or attraction and repulsion, was very similar to Asian Yen / Yang. The Genesis Sphere was what the 2 powers and 4 roots came from, and what they would eventually reform into. Knowledge is known because of Love (attraction). Elements within us recognize like elements in the outside world.

We may feel we know things when viewing them from one perspective, but senses alone do not give truth without thought and reasoning. He compromised between the 2 opposing philosophies of Parmenides and Heraclitus. Static monism vs changing flux led Empedocles to develop a theory of constant dynamic plurality using Philia and Neikos (Love and Strife / She and He). Everything changes by re-mingling, but all the basic elements are ‘gods’ that never change.

Empedocles believed our immortal souls fell from paradise, to perpetually be reincarnated into various animal bodies, until eventually returning to bliss. Birth and Death were mixing and separating the four roots, plus a human soul. All things were a re-mingling of what was already mingled and separated before. There is nothing new in reality, only changes in mixtures between basic elements. All living things contain spirits, but being a vegetarian is better than eating meat because animal souls are so similar. Empedocles committed suicide by jumping into the volcano of Mt. Etna. Thus he immortally changed to his next form of existence.

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The next 3 philosophers (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) are as famous as their 3 Renaissance counter-parts (DaVince, Michelangelo, and Raphael). It was the last artist, Raphael that painted all of them eventually in his master-piece “The School of Athens”.

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Socrates

Socrates was from Athens, Greece circa 400 BC. He was a philosopher, stone mason, soldier, and mentor. He was considered a public gadfly because he would stand around the stoa and engage random people in his pedagogy by a ‘method of dialogue’ (elenchus) which involved asking questions to arrive at truths. Socratic dialogue uses deductive reasoning to advance epistemology. Although the Delphi Oracle said that “None was wiser than Socrates”, Socrates believed this was only because he was more aware of his own ignorance. He annoyed prominent Athenians so greatly that they put him on trial and sentenced him to death, which he accepted despite his suggestion that they pay him for his public services instead.

His ‘dialectic method of inquiry’ supported his assertions that knowledge equals virtue, questions lead to excellence, and knowledge of self, friendships, and community was more important than pursuit of material wealth. He refused to be a career political leader because he did not feel comfortable telling others how to live, when he himself was not sure. He called his intuition on matters of courage and honesty his ‘inner daemon’.

“I only know that I know nothing.”

“As the Delphi Oracle says: Know thyself.”

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Golden Rules

“Do not do to others, what angers you if done to you by others.”

“Be kind to everyone, as though they are fighting a hard battle.”

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Plato

Plato was a student and biographer of Socrates, circa 380 BC. He developed his own theories of reality (metaphysics), mathematics, logic, ethics, and epistemology. The material world is an illusion based on the real world of archetypal forms. He describes the State like a human: appetite = workers, heart = warriors, head = government. Plato believed that Philosopher Kings who love Truth should govern republics, not ignorant democratic masses. Plato seems to be what we consider now to be a conservative right-winger politically, as he advocated republican rule by an aristocracy above all, and preferred tyranny to democracy. Plato also held contempt for astronomers, artisans, and art in general.

The allegory of the Cave

“We are chained inside, and think that reality is a shadow on the wall.”

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Aristotle

Aristotle circa 340 BC was a student of Plato, and a mentor to Alexander the Great. Aristotle studied all subjects and advocated learning from analyzing experiences and observations in existence. His empirical theories was unparalleled for over 2,000 years, and laid the basis for Existentialism. He believed in the four basic elements, and a fifth Aether (heavenly spirit). He determined 4 Causalities, 2 Modes of Causation, Substance is unified matter and form, and Universal ideas are not more real than physical objects, because the idea of an object comes from particular objects. Ethics were practical and follow Logic (Organon).

He also collected Aesop fables, riddles, proverbs, and folklore (which accounts for some of his hypocritical errors in sciences). Hypocrisy is found in some of his incorrect observations such as: “men have more teeth than women”, “heavier objects fall faster than light weight objects”…

“Friend to all is friend to none”

“All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind”

“Virtue is justice”

“Happiness is the meaning of life”

“Common danger unites enemies”

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Plato may have been more popular in Ancient Rome, but Aristotelian philosophy was dominant among scholars from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, and was only later replaced by Newtonian Theories and the Transcendentalism of Kant.

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Epicurus

Epicurus of Samos circa 300 BC, believed in happiness, tranquility, peace, comfort, and communal and individual contentment. He believed we have only one life to live, and therefore we should strive to be happy now. He formulated the Ethic of Reciprocity, Religious Free Will, Atomic Chaos (from Democritus), and his communal home school of friends that he called “The Garden”, which invited strangers to share in their ‘pleasure’. The Roman Epicureans may have indulged the pleasure aspect of his philosophy to the point of gluttony, rather than the original Greek ‘moderation’.

“Eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we may die.”

“The highest good is pleasure”

“Freedom has few possessions, for property makes us subject to mobs and monarchs”

“Do not fear death, it is not here now, but when it comes it will not matter anymore”

“Happiness has no desires”

“It is not what we have, but what we enjoy that constitutes abundance”

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little”

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