The Spiritual Civil War between the Principle and Moral Standards
Development or Better Understanding of Standards
Updated from its original posting on Nov 11, 2024, this article is listed as Argument 3 in the Index of Articles of this series.
So far we have knowledge of how spiritual blindness works through the three types of appearances and how that forces us into democratic tolerance rather than allowing democratic agapé to flourish. Now we need knowledge to contrast the principle of agapé with moral standards used in blindness. For different moral standards cannot coexist in tolerance of each other when one or more of them, knowingly or not, divide our national conscience (suneidesis)1 through appearances.
The Current Reality - 2025 Midsummer
As to the ongoing starvation in Gaza, without judging either side, our battle works on two fronts — the political one, where we must express our outrage, and the one in our hearts, where unconditional love never gives an inch. The two fronts are both a struggle between the principle and moral standards working on the personal and national levels.
To those who say that they will destroy anyone who comes against their loved ones, you are witnessing that on the national level in Gaza. According to the moral standards of inner appearances, the second type, it may seem justified on a personal level, but how does it look when a nation follows through on it? Israel is determined to destroy Hamas at any cost for coming against its citizens. There appears to be no capacity or will to reason outside this decision.
Those who say that they will do whatever it takes to defend their loved ones against anyone who comes against them, who use agapé to deal with dangerous people, know that an individual should never lose their will or capacity to reason. When a nation loses either, it means the majority or controlling minority in it uses its moral standard of inner appearances to create the loss personally.
As citizens or simply inhabitants of the United States, we should at least agree to learn how this works, whichever moral standard or lack thereof we use to form inner appearances—that we blind ourselves with or permeate to give Name all our agapé through each other. Among other things, Republicans use their moral standard to fight against abortion and gay rights and Democrats use theirs to fight for them, with neither side using the principle to govern their suneidesis.2 Independents mostly fit into one or the other pattern.
Hopefully, we can also agree to learn how to give Name all our agapé at least through our chosen neighbors—if we are not ready to do so through the least among us individually as names of light and collectively through all of us as political names of light. One day, may we also use our collective agapé name of light in the singularity of Word, American, to give Name all our agapé through other nation-names, like Russian, Chinese and Korean, and see them doing the same through us. Blindness is ultimately the only enemy.
Development or Better Understanding of Moral Standards
Using the principle in the democracy of our suneidesis enables us to recognize all side’s misuse of the word “evil” in the inner appearances of their moral standards. We recognize spiritual blindness at work, allowing for the misuse of one moral standard to judge another as evil instead of blind, giving evil images the illusion of substance in our inner appearances. What we consider evil actions according to our moral standard should not be allowed to form in our inner appearances and blind us. For this we will learn how to envision Word’s agapé light simply with the distinction of vision and blindness. The righteous judgment that Word taught shows us how to get around such judgment. It empowers each group to see the others as blind and not knowing what they are doing, rather than judging them for knowingly being against our own standard and thereby giving evil images force in our suneidesis.
Using righteous judgment makes it possible to work together to better understand each other’s moral standards, but more to the point, to develop our own or interpret it better to work within the democratic system. After all, it was Word who established democracy under agapé (see the next section). We strengthen social order by keeping focus on laws protecting only the most agreed upon morals/ethics between us—while bringing the singularity of our political names of light to the forefront.
Whether we are right or not about others being blind to what we believe is true about our own moral standard, we are still empowered by the principle to see everyone’s true value as members of our nation-name of light in Word. It places everyone’s value beyond all standards by permeating their appearances to give Name all our agapé through each other in Word, especially appearances corrupted with the word evil. This happens when we can see the value in making all others more important in our suneidesis without being against ourselves.
We are not making what we see as other’s blindness or their moral standards more important. We are only accepting the relationship of everyone’s beliefs, religious or not, to the principle and moral standards to form a bridge for peace .
Word Established Democracy with the Principle
When two of Jesus’s followers asked him if they should bring harm upon those who would not follow him, he answered no. This was a profound change for the people of Israel, for Moses taught that anyone not willing to obey their leaders should be punished. Jesus was obviously not a governing leader, but the symbolism supports the point that Name’s plan has always been for us to govern ourselves with the free will He gave us, with Himself our King of Enlightenment in Word. Jesus was not against the teachings of Moses; he was simply establishing democracy for the world through the principle. Israel the nation was birthed as a religious nation, a theocracy, disallowing multiple moral standards, but it was still set up for a kind of democracy. Consider this knowledge of Word written about Israel, referring to us as elohim.
"[Observe] elohim [us] positioned in the Congregation of El [a singular form for God]. In the midst of elohim, He [El] judges, [saying], ‘How long will you [elohim] judge unjustly and show the faces of the wicked partiality.'" Psalm 82:1-2
Democracy, however, thrives on multiple moral standards but cannot exist over time without the principle. This is why Word introduced the principle of loving the enemies of suneidesis before paving the way for democracy. The Gospel provides a choice, which is offered best through the choices democracy makes possible. But abuse of these choices threatens its very existence.
Spiritual Civil War
Consider the U.S. Civil War a spiritual war still ongoing. Presently, we are experiencing what may be the final battle of this era for our national suneidesis. Whichever side adopts the principle will ultimately win, unless all do and then the spiritual war ceases to exist. The side that adopts it will come out of their spiritual blindness and clearly see what needs to be done, starting with forgiveness and blessing the blind for who they really are with the symbolic forms of agapé light in Name. Blessing them this way more and more brings us out of “seeing” them blindly in any way (see The Practical Guide).
All political parties think that the fight is over different beliefs and moral standards or the lack thereof. Each party seeks dominance through their own in the general conflict over slavery verses a natural order. But no, it is all about the principle. Without it, all sides are fighting the illusion of evil in the inner appearances of their own blindness, some even choosing evil without knowing it is a self-destructive state of mind. All of this is symbolized in seeing Sodom and Gomorrah as ancient physical cities only and not as spiritual cities as well. Imagining them as places of evil physical substance in the outer appearances our senses form forces us to see them in our memory as physical places only that were destroyed by Name thousands of years ago. Thus, spiritual blindness sees such places and people today as also needing to be destroyed.
In our spiritual civil war, Sodom and Gomorrah are symbols that work against the symbol of democracy. They work through physical appearances but are clearly symbols; otherwise, why does Revelation state that Jesus was crucified in a place, for one, spiritually called Sodom? In the face of ancient Jerusalem’s own spiritual civil war, Word did not preach about moral standards, so why would he have done so in Sodom? He taught about the principle there as everywhere. Therefore, being spiritually crucified there means the spiritual battle was lost there due to rejection of the principle—by those alive then on earth. And it will be lost today if not enough of us choose the principle. If chosen, social morals will improve inwardly and outwardly through unconditional love, not just in outward appearances known as hypocrisy.
Without the eyes of the principle, spiritual civil war comes down to this: looking at each other, we see what we believe is the others’ immoral behavior and believe it is all willful. We cannot discern whether or not they may consider it wrong also and want to stop but are enslaved. Even if they are willfully behaving immorally, we do not see them wrestling Name and on which level. Blindness to the three types of appearances prevents such discernment and keeps us from loving and forgiving them for not knowing what they are doing.
In our blindness, we condemn each other while practicing the worst behavior of not loving each other—at least as perceived enemies of suneidesis. We do this by using our own moral standard as if it were the only one of importance working in an imaginary world, one centered around a corrupt symbol of democracy. Corrupting the symbol of democracy in our world and national suneidesis creates the corrupt word-symbols Sodom and Gomorrah. This should be a sign that unconditional love needs to be restored at the forefront of our hearts and minds.
The Fulfillment of Times
Just as we do not have to believe in Jesus to learn the principle, we do not have to believe in his predictions as prophecies to understand their meaning. Consider the fulfillment of the times of the nations, a prediction he made about the time needed for all nations of the world to learn the principle. We are the fulfillment. Israel may well be the last nation to adopt it since it was founded as a theocracy and part of present day Israel still hangs on to that.
All other nations are likewise subject to this timeframe, fighting a spiritual civil war to adopt the principle and become mature democracies—or at least a people governed by the principle in their national suneidesis—against those choosing to destroy the principle in their minds. May the United States be the first to adopt it, restoring awareness of the singularity of its political names of light without believing they have to defeat each other or worse destroy each other as evil.
Judgment in the National and World Suneidesis
While teaching about the fulfillment of times, Word symbolized the suffering that accompanies it, spiritual suffering in our suneidesis but carried out physically in part unless we do our part and at least forgive and bless one another. Then, Word explained precisely how the nations of the world will be judged. Nonbelievers can interpret this as Life’s way of restoring balance.
Rather than using a moral standard, Word uses the principle, saying that if we do good to “the least among us”, we will be rewarded—that is, if we love the enemies of our suneidesis. Although pointing to each of us individually, Word applied it to our nation as a whole, as discussed in the current crisis in Gaza. How we treat the least among us is how we treat Word in each of us and in every nation, for the Word of Life is in every individual and nation-name of light, the mature understanding of democracy.
The Principle over Moral Standards
When using morals as our absolute standard, we use them to judge others without seeing beyond the moral appearances we form of them. We reward ourselves for keeping our own standard until it becomes an addiction that blinds us to the Word of Life in us and in those we judge. The house of knowledge cannot be built on a moral standard, and we each need this house to weather the storm bringing the fulfillment.
Moral standards are essential guidelines when the principle is the only absolute standard in the democracy of our suneidesis. That is what Word meant when saying that he did not come to do away with the law, the moral standard of Israel, but to fulfill it—so that it could be used as a guideline under the principle. However, it is only one guideline in the democracy of agapé in our house of knowledge, all meant to be permeated to give Name all our agapé through each other.
Suggested articles:
The Eyes of Democracy (Introduction and Index of Articles)
Suneidesis, pronounced soon-eye-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.
George, love your point that real change comes when we move beyond moral standards and embrace agapé. That stuck with me today. Thanks for sharing. 🙏✨
in quiet strength and sound,
Afterforever ✨🎵
I love this George. It brings up for me when I finally learned all the aspects of a full and sincere apology. How helpful it could be if stopping war, and war reparations, could include what might have been done differently; how each side and the blind hatred has affected all others; calling in and naming the steps to different outcomes...