As with all human run institutions. Unfortunately, ~5% of people in a healthy normal society are narcissistic enough to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and another ~1% are so far gone they can be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
Those people love and want power over other people. They infiltrate institutions over time and promote people they like (i.e. people who think like them) and corrupt any institution given enough time.
The men of circumstance who are pushed into position of leadership are the greats.
The men who seek out positions of leadership and believe that they are the best one suited to be "leader" are the psychopaths.
Any one who thinks that they are the best candidate to lead is automatically a narcissistic at minimum.
Any man who self professes their greatness over others in an effort to have a form of control is dangerous.
A pithy essay on bureaucracies for your consideration. (The writer is a philosophy professor friend of mine) That whole site (Friesian dot com, is a treasure trove for history, philosophy, political economy, etc.
He’s an unrepentant Neo-Platonist, but he’s a pretty cool guy.).
Totally agree with narcissistic and psychopathic assessment.
Of course GEOTUS fits the profile, but at least he’s “our” psychopath….
Ever heard of Dr. Michael Heiser? He’s an academic in the field of ancient languages. He’s a Christian, but he tries to show how to think as the contemporaries of both OT and NT would have interpreted the language. He’s got a lot of good videos. He goes into Gnosticism a bit. I learned a good deal from him. His take on Elohim actually being plural is compelling. He essentially says the “divine council” aka Elohim is a Heavenly bureaucracy. At least he says that’s what the books say. I haven’t heard him say anything that contradicts the dogma I got in catechism. He’s not big on “tradition” though.
I agree with that too.
I also did some inquiring into why the OT was translated into Greek in the 3rd century BC. It’s because after Alexander that whole domain spoke Greek as “lingua Franca” and many Judeans didn’t read or speak Hebrew!
They call it Septuagint (or LXX) because 72 translators were hired for the task, and their versions were compared for accuracy. There’s still some minor divergences from the Masoretic text, but nothing sufficient to falsify.
Really enjoying this interchange, btw. I’ve been inspired to delve, which is one of my few pleasures. So, thank you. You’re a prince.
I've never heard of him, but I bookmarked your link to read later.
Honestly, it's all over the Bible that there is a divine council of plural Elohim.
My favorite example is Psalm 82:
82 God takes His position in His assembly;
He judges in the midst of the gods.
2 How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and needy;
Save them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk around in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless you will die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”
8 Arise, God, judge the earth!
For You possess all the nations.
Fun chatting with you too, nice to get some well thought out responses. I'm looking forward to checking out your link later.
Have you heard of or read "the spaceships of Ezekiel"?
Cool book, NASA engineer was trying to prove Erich Von Daniken wrong about spaceships in the Bible and Daniken got him to read Ezekiel.
The engineer was blown away by Ezekiel, wrote a book about it and patented the omnidirectional wheel from copying Ezekiels descriptions.
I do know that book on Ezekiel’s spaceship.
I was a huge fan of Sitchin too. He was a fraud though. Couldn’t actually read cuneiform. I’m among those who regard the Ark of Covenant as a technological device. I also think our Govt relentlessly gaslights us regarding UFOs as cover for their own horrific activities.
Psalm 82 was the trigger for Dr. Heiser as a Bible studies student (working on his doctorate iirc) to begin investigating the divine council hints scattered throughout the OT. You’ll find him interesting. He actually goes to UFO conventions to engage. He wrote a couple of novels as well. They’re great too. Like Tom Clancy, he can tell more truth if it’s disguised as fiction.
The link is just to a pithy (but long) essay on surviving inside bureaucracies. I found it extremely valuable in my career. He might have called it “manipulating psychopaths to keep your phony baloney job”.
As with all human run institutions. Unfortunately, ~5% of people in a healthy normal society are narcissistic enough to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder and another ~1% are so far gone they can be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
Those people love and want power over other people. They infiltrate institutions over time and promote people they like (i.e. people who think like them) and corrupt any institution given enough time.
The men of circumstance who are pushed into position of leadership are the greats.
The men who seek out positions of leadership and believe that they are the best one suited to be "leader" are the psychopaths.
Any one who thinks that they are the best candidate to lead is automatically a narcissistic at minimum.
Any man who self professes their greatness over others in an effort to have a form of control is dangerous.
https://www.friesian.com/bureau.htm
A pithy essay on bureaucracies for your consideration. (The writer is a philosophy professor friend of mine) That whole site (Friesian dot com, is a treasure trove for history, philosophy, political economy, etc. He’s an unrepentant Neo-Platonist, but he’s a pretty cool guy.).
Totally agree with narcissistic and psychopathic assessment.
Of course GEOTUS fits the profile, but at least he’s “our” psychopath….
Ever heard of Dr. Michael Heiser? He’s an academic in the field of ancient languages. He’s a Christian, but he tries to show how to think as the contemporaries of both OT and NT would have interpreted the language. He’s got a lot of good videos. He goes into Gnosticism a bit. I learned a good deal from him. His take on Elohim actually being plural is compelling. He essentially says the “divine council” aka Elohim is a Heavenly bureaucracy. At least he says that’s what the books say. I haven’t heard him say anything that contradicts the dogma I got in catechism. He’s not big on “tradition” though. I agree with that too.
I also did some inquiring into why the OT was translated into Greek in the 3rd century BC. It’s because after Alexander that whole domain spoke Greek as “lingua Franca” and many Judeans didn’t read or speak Hebrew!
They call it Septuagint (or LXX) because 72 translators were hired for the task, and their versions were compared for accuracy. There’s still some minor divergences from the Masoretic text, but nothing sufficient to falsify.
Really enjoying this interchange, btw. I’ve been inspired to delve, which is one of my few pleasures. So, thank you. You’re a prince.
I've never heard of him, but I bookmarked your link to read later.
Honestly, it's all over the Bible that there is a divine council of plural Elohim.
My favorite example is Psalm 82: 82 God takes His position in His assembly; He judges in the midst of the gods. 2 How long will you judge unjustly And show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and needy; Save them from the hand of the wicked. 5 They do not know nor do they understand; They walk around in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you will die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” 8 Arise, God, judge the earth! For You possess all the nations.
Fun chatting with you too, nice to get some well thought out responses. I'm looking forward to checking out your link later.
Have you heard of or read "the spaceships of Ezekiel"?
Cool book, NASA engineer was trying to prove Erich Von Daniken wrong about spaceships in the Bible and Daniken got him to read Ezekiel.
The engineer was blown away by Ezekiel, wrote a book about it and patented the omnidirectional wheel from copying Ezekiels descriptions.
I do know that book on Ezekiel’s spaceship. I was a huge fan of Sitchin too. He was a fraud though. Couldn’t actually read cuneiform. I’m among those who regard the Ark of Covenant as a technological device. I also think our Govt relentlessly gaslights us regarding UFOs as cover for their own horrific activities.
Psalm 82 was the trigger for Dr. Heiser as a Bible studies student (working on his doctorate iirc) to begin investigating the divine council hints scattered throughout the OT. You’ll find him interesting. He actually goes to UFO conventions to engage. He wrote a couple of novels as well. They’re great too. Like Tom Clancy, he can tell more truth if it’s disguised as fiction.
The link is just to a pithy (but long) essay on surviving inside bureaucracies. I found it extremely valuable in my career. He might have called it “manipulating psychopaths to keep your phony baloney job”.