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Personal Responsibility verses the Devil


Thomas Merton once characterized the moral theology of the devil like this:
“Another characteristic of the devil’s moral theology is the exaggeration of all distinctiveness between this and that, good and evil, wrong and right.  These distinctions become irreducible division.  No longer is there any sense that we might perhaps all be more or less at fault, and that we all might be expected to take upon our own shoulders the wrongs of others by forgiveness, acceptance, patient understanding and love, and thus help one another to find the truth.  On the contrary, in the devil’s theology, the important thing is to be absolutely right and to prove that everybody else is absolutely wrong.  This does not exactly make for peace and unity….because it means that everyone wants to are absolutely right….   And in order to prove their rightness they have to punish and eliminate those who are wrong.”
-From New Seeds of Contemplation, 1962

It’s all about personal responsibility.  That is why Judaism does not speak any power but your own, and God’s.

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“Between 1305 and the early 1800’s. the House of Taxis ran a form of pony express service all over Europe….   Its couriers clad in blue and silver uniforms, crisscrossed the continent carrying messages between princes and generals, merchants and money lenders.” –Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave We may think we are the first generation consumed by rapid communication but we are not.   Throughout our history it has been a priority. Of course, now in the 21 st century we must ask: are we better or worse for it?