I can’t think of a single instance where OBEDIENCE to “authority” or CONFORMITY with the herd has produced anything useful or admirable…
All our material and moral progress has been won by those who refused to “behave themselves”… who refused to be indoctrinated… and who refused to allow others to define good and evil, right and wrong, true and false, success and failure for them.
Socrates, Jesus, Galileo, Gandhi, and Doctor King come immediately to mind.
Alas, the world wasn’t ready for any of them then, and the world is still not ready for any of them now.
Their audacity, freedom, and courage were quite naturally met with all manner of resistance… not just from the preachers, politicians, and other charlatans who profited from the status quo, but also from the cowering masses content with the lifeless comforts of their ignorance, superstitions, and prejudices.
And here we are. Still.
Oh, the insanity of it all.
learn more… Finding My Religion
It’s a balance, yes?
Without a significant degree of obedience none of us would stop at stoplights, and your neighbors would feel free to shit on your lawn.
To receive my unconditional agreement to your words, however, you would just add the word “unquestionin” ~ We stop at the light, while checking inwardly that we’re actually on board for this particular social agreement (= authority).
If our inner evaluation causes us to feel it advisable, we then work to change that part of the agreement ~ far from all of it (or get out the human-size Pooper Scooper!)
Thanks for sharing. It depends on WHY you stop at a red light. I don’t stop on red because I’m being obedient or because I’m conforming. I stop on red because of the widely accepted green-yellow-red transportation safety system convention. I stop because I don’t want to be killed. I stop because I don’t want a wrecked car. I stop because I don’t want to get a ticket. BTW, I’ve gone through many red lights in my life on purpose… as when there’s zero traffic and the red light is painfully long. I also hesitate on purpose when the light turns green and look both ways, just in case. For all the same reasons. Again, not because I’m being obedient or conformist, but because of the safety convention that people sometimes violate. Alas, from what I’ve observed in a million miles of driving is that most drivers blindly go on green and blindly stop on red no matter what… with occasionally disastrous results. Yet another existence proof of the dangers of obedience and conformity.
You’ve restated my premise. I’m tired of your exclusionary reflexes. Go in peace, my friend. I won’t be continuing this discussion.
I agree, Frank. I do think, however, that people like Dr. King were present in the right moment, because he was wildly opposed, but made his mark. One might say the same thing about LBJ, who opposed King until he didn’t, and then championed new law, even as a man of the South. They moved the ball forward, even if it has yet to cross the goal line.
Thanks for sharing. Alas, we deviants still have lots more work to do.