Shhh … don’t talk while I’m feeding!
“What would Jesus do?”
I’ve heard it a gazillion times – the real meaning being, “reconsider your own behaviors and beliefs and do as I want you to do” or “Do as you’ve been told by your [Christian Church] authorities.”
There are many such sayings that appear on the outside to mean what they say but instead carry hidden messages or meanings intended to coerce or to reinforce prior conditioning or to take advantage of common thinking errors (see http://powerstates.com/10-cognitive-thinking-errors).
Any time a sentence begins with “you should…”, or you’re supposed to…”, or includes a call to some authority (“main-stream scientists say”), the real meaning of the sentence is obscured by preconception and conditioning.
Why can’t we simply say what we mean?
Ah, and there’s the rub. We all too often don’t KNOW what we really mean! Or we are too frightened, too embarrassed, too ashamed, or too emotionally charged to say what we mean. Sometimes saying what we mean will hurt someone we don’t wish to hurt (called “ecology” – meaning we will resist behaviors we think will harm someone we care about including ourselves) so we either don’t say it or we disguise it.
Regardless of the why’s we THINK apply to our disguised utterances, the result is generally the same: an emotional feed!
What would YOU do?
The explanations are part of the feed. Wherever there’s a need, there’s a feed, so searching for (needing) agreeable evidence puts gravy on what you’re serving up, which coincidentally happens to be yourself.
There is of course, no guarantee others will find you have good taste, even while you are savoring the moment. If you continue to follow where a feed may take you, your need to be right will always lead back to you being on the menu.
When relying on symbols of authority to back defenses, it’s a good idea to become knowledgeable on those subjects or concepts, that way the gravy gets spread thicker and the feed may become more justifiable. Bon Appe’tit.
Thanks. I always wondered just what exactly Jesus would do. Probably pile on more [shame] gravy!
re: your good taste
There’s no guarantee others will find you tasty, either.
re: Symbols of authority to back defense
This is only one of many thinking errors we become accomplished at with years of practice. Some folks have university degrees as proof they’ve learned this lesson well. Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD).
LOL, knowing what the right thing to do is just guess work with conviction. I think my PhD got tangled up with my TLC and turned my OCD into OMG… me!
I’m ROFL because YCMU, you’re SFF. OTOH WTH/WTF?!!!