New Age and "New" Television

NEW AGE AND “NEW” TELEVISION
by Ms. Daphne Varvitsiotis, historian-researcher

«Βουλεύεσθαι και λογίζεσθαι ταυτόν»^{1 –}
Aristotle:  “to will and to think are one and the same thing”

Today, the average citizen unknowingly finds himself in the middle of a phenomenon which has such a decisive effect on his life that it has the ability to influence his Present and determine his Future.

We are referring to the phenomenon of television, and more specifically, to 'new' television. Indeed, an overview of the way that television has been operating in our country during recent decades has shown that it has gradually betrayed its original purpose -. that is, it has ceased to be a tool for information, education, and for the support of values ​​and entertainment… With the help of special methods and special factors it has taken on a new form: It has mutated into a tool for reshaping the thought process of the unsuspecting television viewer.

Nowadays, 'new' television, with its barrage of messages, is mercilessly and relentlessly bombarding its victims - the unsuspecting television viewers.  Most of all, it has been bombarding them with heavy reproaches and accusations against everything that until now constituted the foundations of today’s average Greek citizen, i.e.:  Marriage and family (because they are supposedly based on the tyranny of a 'boss-father'); against the 'sexual and economic oppression' of women’s  'unpaid labour';  against the 'lack of understanding' towards the physical and psychological needs of children’; against motherhood (because it hinders a woman's 'freedom', the 'fulfilment of her personality' and her 'right to work and love'; against History, because it is a carrier of 'chauvinism', 'nationalism', 'prejudices' and 'hatred'; against patriotism, because it is 'racism' and 'fascism'; against Christianity, either because it is obsolete or because it is of Jewish origin, or because it is inspired by anti-feminism, or because its Ethics 'repress' the 'natural' sexual tendencies of mankind, and it turns against a person’s 'freedom' and against his 'right' to homosexuality or to 'liberating' pan-hedonism. the western mentality and way of life, because it 'destroys nature', 'pollutes the environment', 'destroys the planet', etc.

It is an actual war of ideas, which, even if it is unfolding in the space of thought - and in fact behind profound and sacred facades of the highest concepts and ideals - it does not cease to be a war. Its weapons?: 'humanism', 'human rights', 'love towards fellow-man', 'liberation' and 'dignity' of man, 'improvement of the living conditions of mankind', 'pluralism' and the 'free movement of ideas', 'freedom of speech', 'non-violence', the 'right to self-determination', 'tolerance', the 'restoration of actual History', 'respect for otherness', the 'right to diversity', the 'evolution, self-improvement and 'change in thinking', the 'change of mentality', its 'expansion of consciousness', its 'balance in man and nature', the 'salvation of the planet', the 'salvation of the Third World', the 'fair distribution of the Planet's energy sources', etc.

This 'invisible' war achieves - silently, bloodlessly and invisibly – that which - despite the massacres, atrocities and barbarities - no conventional war has managed to achieve in the history of mankind: It fundamentally changes the way of thinking of huge sections of the population, regardless of age, and at the same time converts them to a new perception of man and the world, and this, without encountering reactions, obstacles or resistances.

The 'New Enlightenment'

Despite the fact that it is literally raging in our country, this war is not a limited local phenomenon, nor is it conducted exclusively through television. It is a multifaceted phenomenon of a planetary scope, behind which is hidden a new perception of man and the world, the so-called 'New Enlightenment'. For its dominance, the 'New Enlightenment' has unilaterally declared war against the 'old' thought and the 'old' reality, with a vision of a New Age. The theorists of the 'New Enlightenment' euphemistically call this war 'deconstruction'. They also call it - more euphemistically - 'creative destruction', with the reasoning that, while the whole process contributes to the destruction of the 'old' thought and the 'old' world, it also contributes, at the same time, to the creation of a 'new' thought , which will contribute to the establishment of the New Age for the entire Planet. Indeed, as the great Edgar Moren, a New Age intellectual, confirms, the war of the 'New Enlightenment' against the 'old' thought is generalized. “The battle itself, though disintegrating in nature, is part of the anguished birth. The battle is being waged today everywhere, within every empire, nation, class, ethnicity, group, individuals, between the two ways of thinking, behaving, acting...”².

Self-proclaimed as anthropocentric, the 'New Enlightenment' calls on man to 'liberate himself from the shackles of the past' in order to accept whatever  ‘ideals’ are politically correct rationalistically (and  completely stripped of any moral or religious references), namely:  The 'equal rights of genders’, the 'single-parent' families, the pill for performing 'self-abortions', the 'renting' of a foreign womb, the experimentation on embryos, tissue harvesting and commercialization, homosexuals’ rights, 'dignified death', euthanasia, the legalization of suicide and the death penalty...” ³.

It becomes obvious that, when implemented, these 'ideals' fundamentally overturn all the givens of the Western way of life, and shape a new reality, a new culture, a New Age. Of concern, however, are the following paradoxes and contradictions: Despite its 'anthropocentrism', the 'New Enlightenment' did not hesitate to declare this war unilaterally and without the prior knowledge of man (and indeed, against his own way of thinking) , while at the same time, when analyzed, those same, big-mouthed, haughty and anthropomorphic 'ideals' are clearly directed against man’s very existence, inasmuch as they either preclude his birth or interrupt it, or trade his body tissues (destroying him before he is even born), or they strip him emotionally, or render him easy prey to his darkest passions, or fast-track his death, or, even worse, these ideals expend all their 'humanity', 'tolerance' and 'love' on mankind’s murderers!

'New Greece'

In our country, the 'New Enlightenment' has adapted its ideals to the Greek reality, by adding to all the aforementioned the separation of Church and State, the elimination of any mention of religion and nationality on Identity Documents, the abolition of the centuries-old Tradition of ‘no-entry to women’ on Mount Athos, the cremation of the dead, the establishment of English as the second official language, while there are ever increasing whispers that are opposed to infant baptism, and also notions about changing the Flag and replacement of the National Anthem for  'New Greece' etc… Among the New Enlightenment ranks are many idealists who, influenced by 'deconstruction' - and without realizing its ultimate aims - go along with it, by investing their personal beliefs in it, which, as a result, will in turn be influencing public opinion: “By fashioning a deconstructive framework in human relations that will be capable of supporting its historical choices, the new Age not only no longer needs Marriage - that age-old Contract-Invention of the Male Sex; it has already put it on course to be stored among the useless items of World History...”⁴.

In the 'deconstruction', in the 'historical choice of storing the 'old' reality among the 'useless items of World History', most mainstream media - both electronic and printed - but even entire movies, literary, publishing, philosophical and other 'industries', also participate, worldwide, according to all the indications – as well as most sects, newly appearing religions and the so-called 'destructive cults'. However, television is at the lead because its effectiveness in mass, coordinated manipulation of the thinking of entire populations of people of all ages is proving to be catalytic.

Contributing to this are:

1. Its audio-visual immediacy,
2. b) Its reach, that is, its influence on vast numbers of people of all ages,
3. c) Its unilateralism, that is, the creation of fait accompli by the exclusion of mediation⁵ (impossibility of direct intervention or reaction), and,
4. d) The unsuspecting viewer's ignorance of the manipulation they are undergoing.

The reasons it has not been perceived by the broader television audience - that most television channels (whether knowingly or unknowingly, due to pressures, or due to financial distress)  have now been overtaken by the 'New Enlightenment', and have been enlisted in the 'invisible' war against Western man - are the following:

1st Because it is a truly 'invisible' war, given that it is waged 'with spiritual weapons' and 'mainly in the realm of thought', just as it was 'prophesied', many decades ago, by Alice Bailey, the third President of the Theosophical Society, when she wrote that: “...the war that will follow this one... will not have a similar period of external slaughter and blood. it will be conducted mainly with spiritual weapons and in the area of ​​thought...'. Notably, Alice Bailey (1880-1949) believed that the world wars of the period 1914-1945 constituted a 'preparatory period and an intermission for adjustment to the new world and the new order that is beginning to appear^'6.

2nd Because the television viewer was gradually 'addicted', inasmuch as this war had unfolded in our country over a period of twenty-five years and at a slowly accelerating pace: Initially, 'spiritual weapons' were used by specific opinion-shapers, through seemingly logical but mild doubtings of the traditional way of thinking and awareness, with a frequency of only one broadcast per month, on only a single TV channel.  They were eventually used by various guides-representatives of 'progressive', 'radical' and 'sensitized' thought, in now intense skirmishes against traditional values, with a frequency of one broadcast per week, on every channel; then, in more intense conflicts, with a frequency of one broadcast per day per channel, which resulted in the current - albeit invisible, but nevertheless a relentless, pummeling war - where every channel - with very few exceptions - bombards the unsuspecting public, non-stop and on a 24hour basis.

3rd Because this war is being waged under unequal conditions, since the unsuspecting society does not know that it has been declared, or that it is being waged under the harshest of prerequisites, or that what is at stake is the spirit and the soul of man, his will , and -consequently- his very future. The only thing the average television viewer perceives nowadays is that he himself is sinking - without God and hope - into an ever-increasing turmoil, disorganization and an intense disharmony with reality, inasmuch as his society is dysfunctional, is being disorganized and decomposing; that is, his civilization is in crisis, and he himself is in mortal danger, especially with the advent of the new millennium.

The television channels’ methods

A careful analysis of the way these channels operate leads to the certainty that the main methods they resort to are the following:

1. A. When they are not straightforwardly 'fighting against' it, they exclude every traditional reference in talk shows and informative documentaries - even in music shows - television series, motion pictures, including children's cartoon series.
2. B. They exclusively project television series, movies, game shows, entertainment shows, even cartoon series for children, which disseminate the messages and 'ideals' of the 'New Enlightenment'.
3. C. They exclude - with rare exceptions – the views of every valid and “suspecting” supporter of the old worldview.
4. D. They single-handedly promote specific 'opinion shapers or 'thought guides.'

For the time being, of all the attacks that the 'invisible' war has unleashed on television, most adult television viewers have detected only the glaringly obvious elements of manipulation that exist, given that after years of trying - in vain - to react against the products of new-age subculture, senseless violence, perverse sexuality, drugs, witchcraft and Satanism, with which the channels bombard them and their children (notably, the problem of TV manipulation of children and adolescents remains tragically unsolved).

What remains now, is for these same viewers to realize the breadth, extent and depth of the influence of the opinion shapers or guides on their thinking. This presupposes a - possibly painful – conscious distancing from broadly admired persons, in spite of the prestige with which these persons envelop themselves and others; in spite of their displayed yet unchecked “knowledge”; in spite of the positions of power and recognition that they possess, and in spite of their massive composure and unshakeable self-confidence. Perhaps interested viewers will be helped by the thought that the opinion shapers - who monopolize the channels, recycle themselves and each other - are to such a degree necessary, useful and valuable for imposing the 'invisible' war,  that it is unthinkable that they would be randomly selecte. On the contrary, and according to all indications, these are people who have been carefully pre-selected, based on specific criteria. The basic criteria for their selection are their specific - expressed or hidden, well-intentioned or knowingly enlisted - 'deconstructive' beliefs; their 'communicative' abilities are also taken into account (persuasion, resourcefulness, eloquence, flexibility, as well as the ability to 'manage' any situation and disorientate the discussion or the 'opponent', capabilities that require 'abilities' such as, crookedness, sophistry , pretence, inconsistency, bullying, etc.).

Also, an important criterion is their intense, charismatic, magnetic, or 'hypnotic' personality. One thing cannot be dobted: Either unknowingly and well-intentioned, or fully aware of their mission, the opinion shapers have undertaken the 'deconstruction' of - according to them - the 'old' world and the formation of a 'new' thinking, suitable for the new man of the New Age. Frontliners in the 'invisible' war, the shapers or leaders of thought - each in their field – act as young, modern, instructors⁷,of  the thinking of the unsuspecting public.

A first comparison of the context and the actions of the olden and the modern instructors reveals interesting and very enlightening coincidences:

1. War: Before, with 'a period of external slaughter and bloodshed.' Now, with 'spiritual weapons' and in the 'space of thought'
2. Theory: Before, Marxism-Leninism. Now, 'New Enlightenment'
3. Education: Before and Now, Guiding, Handling, Manipulating the Thinking of the 'Many'
4. Vision: Before, the establishment on the planet of a 'Worker's Paradise'. Now, the establishment on Planet-Earth of the New Age Paradise.

At this point, however, the coincidences between the wars and their instructors cease, and their differences begin. These are catalytic differences, because they pertain to their ultimate pursuit. Unknown to many, the ultimate pursuit of the modern 'invisible' war waged by the 'New Enlightenment' against Western civilization, is the one that determines - but mainly explains (without justifying in any way) - the methods⁸ that its instructors resort to.

What, then, is the ultimate pursuit of the 'New Enlightenment', and what is the purpose of the 'invisible' war that it conducts - with the help of modern instructors - against Western man in the 'space of thought'?

To these questions the answer is one and the same: Given that, according to Aristotle, ”βουλεύεσθαι και λογίζεσθαι ταυτόν” - that is, “to will and to think are one and the same thing, a war waged in the 'space of thought' of the 'enemy', while on the one hand is turned against his reasoning, on the other hand, it is also turned against his will, with the aim of quashing it. This pursuit makes such an 'invisible' war far more dangerous than a 'conventional' one. And this is because conventional war gives birth to those who - albeit defeated - nevertheless have retained a complete clarity of spirit, which can make them aware of their defeat: They know that their external freedom has been defeated - because, indeed, only this has been defeated - their inner freedom - or freedom of will - remains intact. Consequently their subjugation is temporary.

The 'invisible' war, however, which aims to destroy the inner freedom of the 'enemy', misleads its victim: With the bait of 'freedom without borders and without restrictions', it exchanges the inner freedom of man with immunity – both psycho-spiritual and physical . Thus, it produces defeated victims who, not only lack the clarity of mind to be aware of their defeat, but who perceive their defeat as a triumph of 'liberation';  defeated victims, rendered proud of their defeat, who rejoice in the vanquishing of their own will. The 'New Enlightenment', however, knows that this makes their victims’ subjugation a total and irreversible one.

The total and irreversible removal - not just of modern man's free will, but - of his very will itself, is not a future pursuit, nor a personal assessment. Specifically on this subject, M. Bookchin clarifies that the 'New Enlightenment' offers the new coordinates of an 'actual, practical redefinition of freedom, which a Fourier, a Marx or a Bakunin had rarely approached in the realm of thought'⁹!

The practical effects of the 'New Enlightenment' on the personality of modern man and the quality of his 'redefined freedom' are visible also by others: 'I will begin - writes Marcel Gauchet - with an overall observation about the period we are going through; an observation that is condensed into one word, “pacification”, or if you prefer, the nuance of the synonym “appeasement”¹⁰.  Whereas, Denis Duclos, who agrees with these findings, describes 'appeasement' as 'an ideal of hypnotic harmony that prevails in our globalized society, a mechanization of the spirit, a lethargy of the subject, and all these considered as conditions of the universal order of things'¹¹.

As an actual undertaking, the elimination of man's will - although first 'prophesied' by Dostoyevsky in his work 'The Demonized' - is an unprecedented event in the History of Mankind.

 Referrals 

1. 'Making a decision is equivalent to judging by thought, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1113a12
2. Edgar Morin, 'Leaving the Twentieth Century,' transl. A. Filippatos,. Public., Touchstone ed., 1990, pp. 339-340
3. The Keys of This Blood, Μ. Malachi,. Touchstone publ., 1990, pp. 339-340
4. Marriage, Goodbye!', in the “VERTICAL” column, by Dim. Iatropoulos, of newspaper 'Ethnos' 16.12.1998
5. Visit the speech delivered by academic and university professor Mr. K. Despotopoulos upon assuming his duties as President of the Athens Academy
6. Occultism, Guruism, 'New Age', by reposed Fr A. Alevizopoulos, Edition of the Holy Metropolis of Nicopolis, Preveza 1990, p. 105 (The Externalization of the Hierarchy, p. 453-454, and The Reappearance of Christ) A. Bailey, p. 10
7. From the Latin noun instructio, meaning training
8. The description of the methods will be presented in the next issue of 'Parakatathiki', entitled 'The Instructors of the New Era'
9. 'Spontaneity and Organization' by Collin Ward, chapter one with the same title, signed by Murray Bookskin, 'Free Press' publisher, 2nd ed, p. 15
10. 'Essai de psychologic contemporaine, I. Un nouvel age de la personnalite' (Essay in contemporary psychology, A new age of personality), Le Debat, Marcel Gauchet, June 1998
11. The new order in IT. Hate for thought, Denis Duclos, sociologist and director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) Eph. 'Sunday Free Press' (Le Monde Diplomatique), 21.2.1999, p. 38 et seq.

Translation by  A.N.

 'PARAKATATHIKI' MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2002
ISSUE No. 26