If You Don’t Do What I Want…

…I will kill you. I’ve puzzled over what constitutes power and authority among us humans, and I think I’ve finally arrived at an answer. As I study the history of civilization and apply it our contemporary world, I end up with a fundamental proposition of kill or be killed. We’ve piled prettiness and fanciness on top of this ugly truth in order to disguise it, but I am now convinced that it holds true in either the literal or figurative sense. While war violently practices the literal interpretation, the figurative is, of course, far more subtle and abstract. If you are not doing what I want you to do, and “civilized” behavior won’t allow me to physically end your life, that does not mean that I can’t resort to emotional and psychological tactics like saying, “You are dead to me.” The utter irony of Christianity is that it has adopted and practiced this tactic despite that fact that it’s utterly antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. So, learn what Jesus taught or be damned to hell!