"'My house will be called the House of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers." Matt 21:13
"Is not impotent truth just as despicable as power that gives no heed to truth?" Arendt, Truth & Politics
To be or not to be
In the most basic sense, truth simply "is" ... being ... existence ... "what is". Thus Pontius Pilate unknowingly answered his own question when he asked, "What is truth?" which is, perhaps, why Jesus [the great "I am"] did not respond. This truth is both unmoved and unmovable as described in Aristotle's metaphysics:
“[T]here is something which moves while itself unmoved. ... Th[is] first mover, then, exists of necessity; and in so far as it exists by necessity, its mode of being is good, and it is in this sense a first principle. ... On such a principle, then, depend the heavens and the world of nature. ... We say therefore that God is a living being, eternal, most good, so that life and duration continuous and eternal belong to God; for this is God."
To do or not to do
But the ancient sentiment goes on to further describe existence as movement making it personal ... "handsome is that handsome does" ... extending being to becoming ... one to many ... static to dynamic ... potential to actual ... eternal to changeable ... timeless to temporal ... stasis to agency.
- stasis - Latin stare = "to stand, make or be firm, condition, position, state, manner, attitude"
- agency - Latin agere = "to set in motion, drive forward, to do, exert power, produce effect"
"We must consider also in which of two ways the nature of the universe contains the good, and the highest good, whether as something separate and by itself, or as the order of the parts. Probably in both ways, as an army does; for its good is found both in its order and in its leader, and more in the latter; for he does not depend on the order but it depends on him. And all things are ordered together somehow, but not all alike,-both fishes and fowls and plants; and the world is not such that one thing has nothing to do with another, but they are connected. For all are ordered together to one end, but it is as in a house, where the freemen are least at liberty to act at random, but all things or most things are already ordained for them …”And so the age old question arises, "What happens when the irresistible force meets the immovable object?" ... when power diverges from the truth which quickens it?
Money is power ... but "What is money?"
Paraphrasing Pilot, does the question "What is money?" contain its own answer? Yes and No. "Yes" to the extent that money reflects "what is" ... existence. "No" when money is detached from "what is" ... in which case the power of money diverges from the truth of money ... setting the stage for a cosmic collision.
It is increasingly clear that the global, financial detachment of money from "what is" by a small group of unchallenged elites who have hijacked the people's power [demos-kratos] by using that delusion of fiat money and credit is now cascading the destruction of not only the atmosphere and environment but of humanity itself in what can reasonably be described as unjustifiable robbery of cosmic proportions:
“Another characteristic of a living society is that it requires food. In a museum the crystals are kept under glass cases; in zoological gardens the animals are fed. Having regard to the universality of reactions with environment, the distinction is not quite absolute. It cannot, however, be ignored. The crystals are not agencies requiring the destruction of elaborate societies derived from the environment; a living society is such an agency. The societies which it destroys are its food. This food is destroyed by dissolving it into somewhat simpler social elements. It has been robbed of something. Thus, all societies require interplay with their environment; and in the case of living societies this interplay takes the form of robbery. The living society may, or may not, be a higher type of organism than the food which it disintegrates. But whether or no it be for the general good, LIFE IS ROBBERY. It is at this point that with life morals become acute. The robber requires justification.” - AN Whitehead, Process and Reality, Chap III - The Order of Nature, Section X - Life and Food, 1929
If YOU have doubts about the prospects for a cosmic reckoning ... or should we say wrecking ... I encourage you to listen to this exchange [pretty much one way] between a Swedish godling of finance [let's call him Molech] and an American shepherd and grower of figs [let's call him Amos]. Like Molech, you will be speechless ... which is what ALWAYS happens when power meets truth.
Perjured by omission ?
"They hate the poor at the gate, and he who speaks correct things they despise. ... Because of this, he who understands in that time will be quiet for it, because that time is of evil." Amos
[Please read the whole book of Amos and remember ... either GOD is not a respecter of persons or nations ... or else HE is a liar ... and, either way, YOU should be frightened.]
We have only one account in the New Testament of Jesus using physical violence [arguably twice]: driving the money changers out of the temple with a whip. After all, he pardoned a dishonest tax collector over lunch and was crucified between thieves to whom he showed only mercy. Why was this offense so abhorent to him? Why such zeal for God among a group of socially accepted [even necessary] business persons?
Perhaps, it was because these offenders had unknowingly crossed the invisible line from their corrupt nomos into the timeless logos ... using money to rip power from truth ... defacing the image of God in His creation ... and then, TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, claiming "IN GOD WE TRUST" as the justification for their robbery and thereby blaspheming his name with oaths and making it appear that God condoned and ordered their robbery of the people who came to the temple for His help.
It is dangerous to remain silent in the face of robbery ... because robbery must be justified. But it is damnable, when the robber falsely swears trust in God.
WE MUST SPEAK OUT ... WE MUST DO SOMETHING. WWJD?