04/08/15
Uneasy Conscience
The brutality of which a Pharisee of every age resist those whom puncture his pretentions proves the uneasiness of his conscience. The Fury of which oligarch, dictator and priest -kings, ancient and modern and ideological pretenders turn upon their critics, is clearly the fury of an uneasy conscience– though it must not be assumed that such a conscience is fully conscious of itself. An uneasy conscience which is not fully conscious of itself is the root of further sin.
The relation of injustice to pride and the vicious circle of injustice increasing as it does the insecurity which pride was suppose to overcome.
Self Love anodyne …the futility of worshipping the “creature rather than the creator”
Gratification of desires without limits, is on the one hand a form of self love sometimes its purpose is to display power and enhance prestige. But sometimes luxurious living is a frantic effort to escape from self. It betrays an uneasy of conscience. The self is seeking to escape from itself and throws itself into any pursuit which will allow to forget for a moment the inner tension of an uneasy conscience. The self finding itself to be inadequate as the center of its existence, seeks for another god.
Anxiety is the internal precondition of sin. (the psychological condition that precede sin… Kierkegaard) (Reinhold Niebuhr- The nature and destiny of man)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_realism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Orthodox
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/niebuhr_reinhold.html
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/books/niebuhr.pdf
