Step One
If your life or the life of someone you love depended on loving someone who hates you or you hate, could you love them?
The anger, fear and hatred so many Americans have for Trump is going to make us weak even sick. So in many ways, our life does depend on loving him but as an enemy of our conscience (suneidesis),1 for he says and does things that trouble even sear our conscience, especially when it hurts those we love.
This is not a religious discussion. Foremost, it is knowledge on how to do it without the need for faith. It is something we can all learn, even though it is based on part of Jesus’s teaching. We will refer to it as the principle, explained in the next article, Argument 1: The Democracy of our Conscience (Suneidesis).
Resistance to Change
It does not come natural for us to change and love someone we have been hating or feel like hating, but now is the time for knowledge on learning how to do so. With or without religion, it only takes a conscience (suneidesis)2 or the desire to feel it again, as hatred is the absence of a conscience or the lack of awareness of it.
As we know, many of Trump’s followers feel the same way about us for two well-known reasons, abortion and homosexuality. Despite their beliefs, which they have a right to have like us, they do not love us as enemies of their conscience (suneidesis) any more than we love them. We will examine these two issues, but we may never resolve our differences. Therefore, loving one another as enemies of conscience is our best hope of building a bridge over our national suneidesis. However, if we alone love them this way, we can still build it to reach them and resist their actions responsibly.
Our Predicament
To learn this teaching, read the articles below preferably in order. Most of them are relatively short but challenging for the present state of our suneidesis, and yet this is not a predicament we can just walk away from. Give yourself time to think them over. Give your country time, the U.S. or whichever one you call home. Underlying all of the articles is the truth that the very concept of democracy is rooted in the human suneidesis, caring for one another. So loving the enemies of suneidesis strengthens our suneidesis and saves our democracy or the hope for a better country.
The first hurdle is overcoming our yearning for simple solutions. Yes, there is a simple aspect to this teaching, however, we cannot put it into practice without understanding its depths, written in the common plain reasoning that we all possess. And although we need to look at the human conscience, there is zero judgment.
Another hurdle is our social taste for writing style over revelatory content. Many of us favor exquisite writing, myself included, without really searching for anything completely new. On the other hand, many of us do not have the formal education to completely break down the systematic writing of ideas, while being quite capable of understanding them. For this reason, everything is written in an attempt to break down ideas for all readers, so we can all be on the same page.
The final hurdle is how you may see my approach to writing about the teaching, appearing to some as though I believe that I have mastered all of the subject. We do not listen to a teacher of architecture unless they have mastered the subject. But when it comes to the heart, we face the contradiction of expecting a teacher of the heart to have mastered the subject on some level — without realizing that such mastery may appear as arrogance to the rest of us who have not mastered it.
An Architect
In our analogy of an architect, I, not I but on the shoulders of others, have mastered the subject of building a house of knowledge that is capable of two things. One, it empowers us to love the enemies of suneidesis, and two, by necessity, it frees us from addictive thinking found in prejudice on all levels, addictive patterns not every thought. It does not empower us to be perfect, and yet, such freedom and the power to love in this way gives my writing a level of confidence that may make it appear as though I think I am. Far from it.
While power often corrupts, love and the power of knowledge together humble a person. To teach these though, one must use the confidence derived from them even if it may be misinterpreted as a lack of humility, depending on the culture.
This is especially true when I must speak in spiritual absolutes. For even if they resonate as true in the minds of those of us who live by the relatives of science, they may take it offensively. Likewise, those of us of faith may see my approach as having a lack of faith and too philosophical.
So bear with me when I address the scientific, philosophical or religious community. I may appear to be an atheist, philosopher or later a Christian or follower of any other faith. To avoid confusion, I use the word Name to mean God or Life depending on how the reader chooses to hear it.
I do not share my beliefs to keep the focus off me and on the subject of loving the enemies of suneidesis, staying neutral, invisible, neither liked nor disliked, like a window. This is facilitated by my remaining anonymous.
Every builder knows that, when faced with real challenges, you must put all your focus on the house you are building. We probably differ on some interior and exterior designs, however, this teaching is only about how to build your own house of knowledge — according to true structure. I am talking about the truth of what it means to love the enemies of suneidesis. Only by loving them through such knowledge can we truly strengthen our suneidesis, giving us the best chance of saving our democracy or the hope for a better country.
The Teaching
The first five articles, called Arguments, introduce details about the principle to remove any doubts as to its role in our suneidesis, democracy and construction of our house of knowledge. The next five are called Discussions, the first reviewing the arguments and presenting The Spiritual Story of Democracy, the central article of the teaching. The other four discussions cover the importance of the story to the structure of our house and saving of the spiritual story of our democracy.
The next seven articles are called Contributions, covering key issues of our society that need to be resolved or at least better understood if we are to at least meet on the bridge over our national suneidesis with some measure of peace. Only the first two contributions have been finalized. The other five contributions along with eight Concluding Articles give an expected completion date at the beginning of each one. However, if you understand the first ten and first two contributions, their meaning will be easily taken in and you can complete the teaching.
All together, the 25 articles make up an average size book, for a large and critically important nation in a dire state of disunity. However, we are the people of the United States, who have always successfully depended on each other to do our part at critical moments, to take journeys that hold out the reasonable expectation of meaningful success.
We should not be hindered by anyone who rejects this teaching without laying out their reasons publicly. So I invite you to read the comments after each article to see how such reasons are answered, starting with the comments on this article and particularly those on The Spiritual Story of Democracy. Comments that shift from reasons to personal attacks are deleted, with the hope that the commenters know that I still have unconditional love for them.
Index of Articles on the Teaching
Argument 1: The Democracy of our Suneidesis
Argument 2: Establishing the Principle of the Democratic Suneidesis
Argument 3: The Principle and Moral/Ethical Standards
Argument 4: Democracy and the Duality Name
Argument 5: Visual Preparation for The Spiritual Story of Democracy
***Discussion 1: The Spiritual Story of Democracy
Discussion 2: When Reading The Spiritual Story of Democracy
Discussion 3: Saving the Spiritual Story of Our Democracy
Discussion 4: The Spiritual Drama of Democracy
Discussion 5: Names in The Spiritual Story of Democracy
Contribution 1: Restoring Good Boundaries to the Greater Wealth of Democracy
Contribution 2: Prejudice and Addiction in the Diamond Light Blinded
Contribution 3: Abortion and the Second Stage of Democracy
Contribution 4: Information in the Democracy of our World Suneidesis
Contribution 5: The Processes of Binding and Loosing
Contribution 6: The Mature Mind of Democracy
Contribution 7: Capitalism in the Democracy of our Suneidesis
Concluding Articles————
Spirituality and Democracy The Practical Guide
Spirituality and Democracy Plus One Two Levels of Polarization
Spirituality and Democracy 2 Learning How to See Spiritually Begins with Envisioning Word
Spirituality and Democracy 3 The Voices of Hatred will be Silenced when the Voices of Unconditional Love are Respected
Spirituality and Democracy 4 Wrestling Name and Word Unknowingly or Not
The Mind of the Heart Remove the Hate Poison with Knowledge
Spiritual Faith and Prayer Neither Exists without Spirit, the Essence of Life
What is Your El-Elohe-Name? The Conclusion on How to Love the Enemies of Suneidesis
Suneidesis, pronounced soo-NAY-day-sis, is a Greek word that joins our natural awareness with our sense of conscience. Click on the link for a detailed explanation. It is central to this teaching. Using this foreign word regularly in discussions helps us get accustomed to experiencing something new and positive working in our awareness itself. When the word conscience is used, it will refer to the aspect of suneidesis that involves right and wrong, but this aspect cannot be separated from our co-conscientious awareness of all things.
If I understand that my awareness of something as simple as a cup includes co-conscientiousness, I do not allow myself to get blinded by the cup alone but know it as part of all creation at the hands of the Creator or the universe, depending on one’s beliefs. Spiritual maturity does this naturally.
The repetition of suneidesis is meant to challenge you to consider this dimension in your awareness. Apologies, but it will only be a necessary annoyance until it becomes natural.
For everything is interconnected We belong in everything
This is great, George. I appreciate your way with words to speak to a broad spectrum of people while respecting everyone’s beliefs and personal ideologies. Thank you 🙏