Ship of Fools: On whose authority ?

Thread: On whose authority ? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by DOEPUBLIC (# 13042) on :

I write this as myself, as the author of my words, but at which point can I take it as accepted that authority can come from 'above'?
Where 'above' is open to definition and authority itself?

Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on :

When you decide.

Authority has two very different, even opposite, meanings. One is really about power. Someone else who can impose their will. You obey because if you don't they'll call on their armies to arrest you.

The other has to do with recognition from the bottom, recognition of an expert. Someone has devoted years to studying something, or has useful experience, you choose to seek guidance from them, they have no army to force you to agree with them. An authority in the poetry of Emily Dickenson, or in ecological farming techniques.

If you think God calls out the armies to punish anyone who disobeys, that's the imposed authority via political power model. Threats of hell are used to try to convince people of this model of God. Maybe those threats worked once, they don't seem to affect the behavior of many people today.

But if God is a teacher, a guide, someone with better understanding than we have of how to live and how it all fits together, a person may choose to turn to God as an authority, someone to learn from, there's no coercion to obey and no punishing someone who chooses to leave.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

quote:
Originally posted by DOEPUBLIC:
Where 'above' is open to definition and authority itself?

I think when someone else accepts the same definition.

Posted by quetzalcoatl (# 16740) on :

It's a very relevant question for me. I came to like the Zen quote, 'no guru, no church, no dependency'. But the last bit is probably impractical, since I am dependent on tons of people, and tons of ideas. And maybe I exaggerate non-dependency as a kind of defence.

Posted by DOEPUBLIC (# 13042) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:

quote:
Originally posted by DOEPUBLIC:
Where 'above' is open to definition and authority itself?
I think when someone else accepts the same definition.

That presumably arises when your words have met with an appropriate response.

Posted by DOEPUBLIC (# 13042) on :

quote:
Originally posted by DOEPUBLIC:

quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:

quote:
Originally posted by DOEPUBLIC:
Where 'above' is open to definition and authority itself?
I think when someone else accepts the same definition.
That presumably arises when your words have met with an appropriate response.

What if no response is received ? Do you question the authority ?

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