Truth Over Tyranny.2: Biblical wisdom for defeating the Technocrats.
These are my insights for defeating the Transhumanist Technocracy movement, based on the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (the Rav,) of blessed memory, on the weekly Bible portion.
There is a movement afoot that promotes the idea of “adult child estrangement.” With additional features called “conditional contact” and “go no contact,” it encourages adult children who believe they have been abused by their parents, to cut off ties with their mother and father.
Certainly, child abuse does occur — even in religious communities, where the “image of God” is supposed to be revered in every individual. Sexual exploitation, physical assault, and intentional psychological abuse do exist.
But, there is a trend within the field of psychology in which some “experts” have progressively redefined “harm” and “pathology” in order to expand the breadth and depth of those concepts — such that more and more of life’s ordinary experiences fall within the domain of psychological expertise.
This worrying trend has been thoroughly documented by Nick Haslam, Professor of Psychology. In plain language, he notes the result as follows:
“for most interpersonal frictions to be ascribed to abuse and bullying, for everyday stresses to be described as traumas and habits as addictions, for mental disorder to be more common than its absence, and for prejudice to be seen as a constant undercurrent in social life.”
~ Nick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, University of Melbourne. 2016. Concept Creep: Psychology’s Expanding Concepts of Harm and Pathology. Psychological Inquiry, Volume 27, Issue 1: 1-17. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1047840X.2016.1082418]
On the societal level, the negative outcomes are self-evident:
The public is educated into dividing people into two conflicting camps — oppressed and oppressor — creating a “tendency for more and more people to see themselves as victims who are defined by their suffering, vulnerability, and innocence, and who have diminished agency to overcome their plight. The flip-side of this expanding sense of victimhood would be a typecast assortment of moral villains: abusers, bullies, bigots, and traumatizers.”
(Haslam, Concept Creep) And that has led to constitutional freedoms being trampled, if not outright violated, by “a flood of unjustified accusations and litigation, as well as excessive and disproportionate enforcement regimes.” (Haslam, Concept Creep)
Because the focus of this movement is on estranging children from parents, there is a concomitant loss of family tradition. Uprooted from family and community, the young lose their place of treasured link in a larger chain of cultural wisdom, values, ethics, morality, and traditional religion.
Dr. Joshua Coleman, a specialist in helping estranged family members, calls this as an “identitarian moment,”
“where one’s identity has become much more in the foreground, where the moral framework that kind of animated families for millennia, honor thy mother and thy father, respect thy elders, families forever, really in the past century has given way to this much more personal growth, self-esteem, pursuit of happiness framework. … [And primary importance is placed on] whether or not the relationship is in line with my ideals for happiness and growth and the like. And if they’re not, then not only can I cut out a parent or family member, I should do it. In some ways, it’s an act of existential cowardice not to do that. And I think that that’s historically new.”
~ McKay, Brett (Host). (2024, November 18). Podcast #1,039: What’s Behind the Rise of Parent-Child Estrangement? [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.artofmanliness.com/people/family/podcast-1039-whats-behind-the-rise-of-parent-child-estrangement/
Persuading a generation of adult children to uproot their very identity — to voluntarily self-isolate from family and tradition — to be absorbed into a new identity that is fashioned by academics and cultural elites — makes this generation more susceptible to government over-reach and authoritarian control.
Unsurprisingly, this only serves the interests of Technocrats, the Progressive Far Left, and tyrannical authoritarians of every collectivist stripe.
Hitler himself recognized the political impact of “adult child estrangement.” And he publicly boasted that he used child estrangement to his own advantage:
“When an opponent declares, ‘I will not come over to your side,’ I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already… What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.”~ Adolf Hitler (in a speech given on November 6, 1933).
Cited in “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany,” by William L. Shirer.
For those interested in the preservation of freedom, this is no small thing, this loss of family tradition. No, indeed.
The good news is that our adult children still have time to wake up and realize they are being misguided. They still can change course, and formulate a more realistic and positive perspective of their relationship with their parents. They still can see — not only is estrangement unnecessary — but reconciliation is possible, emotionally healthy, and spiritually fulfilling.
So, the question becomes, what can we do, to help our children wake up? How can we help restore our children’s appreciation for our tradition — our Judeo-Christian world view — that has sustained and nourished humanity through the ages?
Toward that end, the Rav shares with us a valuable lesson that he himself received, in his own childhood. It certainly woke him up, to a new understanding of an ancient heritage.
The Rav begins by telling us about a cold, Winter day, on which he and his classmates were studying Parashat Vayigash. The beginning of this parsha tells the story of Joseph’s encounter with his brothers, when he was viceroy of Egypt. His brothers had come to seek food, to survive a famine. But they did not recognize Joseph as their brother, because they had not seen one another for years.
The Torah tells us that Joseph asked his brothers a question (Bereshit 44.18):
“Have you a father?”
And this is the Rav’s commentary:
“I recall an incident from my childhood. I was seven or eight years old in a small town in White Russia, and like all Jewish boys, I attended the little cheder school. I still remember the dreary Winter day in January; it was cloudy and overcast.
“The Torah portion of the week was Vayigash, and Chanukah had just ended, taking away with it the joyous holiday spirit from our small town. A long, dark winter lay ahead for us cheder boys. We had to rise when it was still dark, and return home holding a lantern, because nightfall was so early.
“That day, we cheder boys were in a depressed mood, lazy and listless. We chanted mechanically the first verses of Vayigash in a dull monotone. droning the words in Hebrew and translating them into Yiddish.
“One boy finished reciting Joseph’s question, ‘Do you have a father?,’ and the reply: ‘Yes, we have a father.’
“Then something unusual happened.
“Our teacher, a Chabadnik, suddenly jumped to his feet and with a gleam in his eyes motioned to the reader to stop. He turned to me and addressed me with the Russian word podrabin, meaning assistant to the rabbi. The teacher asked me:
“‘What kind of question did Joseph ask his brothers — Do you have a father? Of course they had a father, everybody has a father! The only person who had no father was Adam, created by God. But everyone else born into this world has a father. What kind of a question was that?’
“I tried to offer the answer, ‘Joseph simply wanted to find out whether the father was still alive. ‘Do you have a father?’ actually means, ‘Is he alive, or is he dead?’
“‘If so,’ our teacher thundered back at me, ‘Joseph should have phrased the question differently: ‘Is your father still alive?’
“It was useless to argue with our teacher. He was now no longer addressing only us little boys. He began to speak rhetorically as if some mysterious guest had just entered that cold room.
“‘Joseph,’ our teacher pronounced as if from a pulpit, ‘wanted to know whether his brothers were still attached to their roots and origins. ‘Are you,’ Joseph was asking, ‘rooted in your father? Do you look at him the way the branches or blossoms look on their roots? Do you see your father as the foundation of your existence? Do you see him as your provider and sustainer? Or are you just like rootless shepherds wandering from place to place, from pasture to pasture, who forget their origin?’
“Our teacher suddenly stopped addressing the invisible visitor and turned his focus directly to us. Raising his voice, he asked us:
“‘Are you truly humble? Do you look down condescendingly at your old father as representing an archaic tradition? Do you think that your old father is also capable of telling you something new and exciting? Something challenging? Something you didn’t know before? Or are you so arrogant and vain, that you deny dependence on your father, on your source?’
“Our teacher exclaimed, ‘Do you have a father?!’ pointing at my study-mate Isaac, who was considered the town’s prodigy.
“The teacher turned to him and said,
“‘Who do you think knows more? Do you know more because you are so well-versed in Talmud, or does your father, Jacob the blacksmith, know more even though he can barely read Hebrew? Are your proud of your father? When we recognize the supremacy of our father, then ipso facto, we accept the supremacy of our Universal Father in Heaven.’” ~ Chumash HaRav, Vol Bereshit, pp. 328, 329.
Yes. When our children lose their connection to their parents, they lose their connection to God. They become “existentially estranged.” That is the ultimate goal of the transhumanist technocrats — to make us spiritually lost and susceptible to their overlordship as pretend-gods.
In a vast sea of “existential estrangement,” our Biblical heritage is a life-preserver for our Souls — our connection to our parents, to our heritage, and ultimately to God Himself. We must reintroduce our children to their Heritage, and restore their innocence and excitement in that rediscovery.
I would add this:
Tragically, many of our children will stay lost. The forces of tyranny are indeed powerful. They will continue trying to subvert our efforts to heal ourselves and lead lives free of oppression. But, I also know that many more will come to their senses. And they will make their spiritual empowerment the family affair it should be.
(With special thanks to my assistant researcher, editor, and co-author. You seek anonymity. But you also have my deepest gratitude and appreciation.)