How might we surrender persecutions and transcend the character flaws of our divisive, uncivil identities?
How might our sense-making differences in how we language the meaning of surrender divide us?
Why Ask Big Hairy Audacious Questions (#BHAQs)
Take time for slow thinking to contemplate the Big Hairy Audacious Questions (#BHAQs) about what “surrender persecutions” means, in terms of reversing the systemic unfairness of isms and inequities.
BHAQs cultivate inquiring minds
BHAQs disrupt habitual ways of thinking and prevent unthinking reflex reactions.
BHAQs make you stop, explore and understand what the question means before you respond to it.
BHAQs evoke curiosity, creativity, collaboration and transformational learning to launch Equity Moonshot: co-design and build an equitable, regenerative and sustainable future for the benefit of all
Why explore antonyms and synonyms?
The synonyms and antonyms of surrender and persecution have associated connotations and contrasting meanings. These semantic comparisons spark creativity in composing BHAQs.
The synonyms of surrender include: letting go, releasing, appeasing, submitting, succumbing, yielding, acquiescing, conceding, renouncing, relenting, abnegating and abdicating.
The antonyms of surrender include: persisting, taking a stand, standing firm, holding ground, holding the line against, enduring, overcoming, opposing, resisting, subjugating, fighting and triumphing.
The synonyms of persecution include: scapegoating, victimizing, bullying, abusing, oppressing, harassing, fear-mongering, inciting paranoia, tyrannizing, annihilating and killing.
The antonyms of persecution include: protecting, being kind and fair, empathizing, appreciating, assuring, respecting, encouraging, enabling, helping, empowering, honoring and exalting.
How might we ask BHAQs that deeply matter?
Equity muses are catalytic change agents who ask the Big Hairy Audacious Questions (see headlined BHAQs above and bolded ones below) that are not being asked.
Equity muses break political and religious taboos that disrupt the public non-substantive discourses about redressing the unfairness endemic: the global plague of inequities.
How might equity muses unite together to co-create the generative dialogues that we need to solve our complex web of mostly self-inflicted, wicked problems in the 21st-century?
The mass psychosis of paranoia and the persecutions of scapegoating are as long as human history. Paranoia is a hyper-vigilant, malfunctioning defense mechanism to protect oneself and blame others for unsubstantiated and exaggerated threats.
How might we, as equity muse trainers, leaders, change agents, champions and learning designers cultivate and scale-up the agile, adaptive and dynamic lifelong intergenerational exponential platforms, collaborative systems, transformational processes to:
Unravel the mass psychosis of paranoia that perpetrates and perpetuates the persecutions of scapegoating?
Co-elevate virtues to mollify the fear, distrust and destructive dark sides of paranoia?
The character flaws of pathological megalomania, malignant narcissism, incessant sociopathy and authoritarian autocracy describe the asocial leadership personality disorder (#APLD): a political diagnosis based on observing public behaviors. Psychiatrist are not needed to make up this diagnosis. Voters can decide for themselves.
These aberrant character flaws set up the asymmetrical cultural wars of uncivil identity politics between the regressive unwoke and the progressive woke.
Why do we let the tail wag the dog?
The propaganda machines of these dysfunctional systems are the driving forces for neoterrorism. Neoterrorism is the war of weaponized words with immoral disregard to integrity, truth-seeking and transparent accountability.
How might we reverse the reptilian downward spirals into the immoral abyss of unethical degeneration?
Alt-right paranoid persecutions are now running amok, spearheaded by the mass psychoses of MAGA Trumpism and Ron DeFascism, enabled by the neo-terrorism of propaganda machines, with Foxes News as the leader of the pack.
How might we build global networks of launching pads for Equity Moonshot?
Surrender as a practice for redemption and salvation
I asked Chat-GPT-3.5 a question about the role of surrender as a force for good.
What are the different religious and spiritual meanings about the beliefs, processes and practices of surrender?
I edited the response (italicized), posed an additional question (below) for self-reflection, and added a secular version that does not evoke the surrender of letting go. Chat-GPT 3.5 highlighted five religions traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Taoism.
Which aspects of the following definitions of surrender do you feel drawn to, or distanced from, and why?
The methods, practices, and purposes of surrender provide pathways to spiritual growth and enlightenment. Surrender exists across many spiritual and religious traditions: letting go of one's ego and submitting to a higher power or divine will.
In Hinduism, surrender is prapatti: letting go of one's ego and placing complete trust in God. The purpose of surrender is to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
In Buddhism, surrender is letting go or non-attachment. The practice of surrender involves letting go of attachment to desires and outcomes, and accepting things as they are. The purpose of surrender is to attain enlightenment and end the cycle of suffering.
In Christianity, surrender to God's will involves letting go of one's own will and submitting to God's plan. The purpose of surrender is to deepen one's faith and trust in God.
In Islam, surrender imeans submission to God. The practice of surrender involves following the teachings of the Quran and submitting to God's will. The purpose of surrender is to attain paradise in the afterlife.
In Taoism, surrender is wu wei: meaning non-action or effortless action. The practice of surrender involves letting go of the need to control and allowing things to happen naturally. The purpose of surrender is to live in harmony with the Tao, or the natural flow of life.
The omission of Judaism poses a question about implicit religious bias and possible anti-semitism. This is an edited summary of a Chat GPT-4’s response to this question:
What is Judaism’s take on surrender?
In Judaism, surrender has contextual differences in meaning. Spiritual surrender involves giving up one's own will and subjecting thoughts, ideas and deeds to the will and teachings of a higher power
In Judaism, the transcendent God revealed Himself to Abraham, Moses and the Hebrew prophets. The siege of Masada represents historical surrender. Jewish rebels committed mass suicide rather than surrender to the Romans. These historical figures were venerated for their bravery and self-sacrifice.
Edited summary of a Chat GPT-4’s response to this question.
Which religion has been most persecuted?
Jews have been persecuted throughout history, including expulsions and pogroms (organized mass massacres). The Holocaust resulted in the systematic murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II.
Early Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire for refusing to worship the emperor as a god. Subsequent Christian denominations were persecuted from other Christians for their beliefs, such as during the Spanish Inquisition and the Protestant Reformation.
Muslims have also faced persecution, particularly minority sects like the Shi'a, who have been targeted by Sunni-majority governments in some countries. In more recent times, Muslims have experienced discrimination, violence, and persecution in various regions.
The Baha'i faith, a relatively newer religion, has faced significant persecution, particularly in Iran, where Baha'is have been subjected to executions, imprisonment, and denial of civil rights since the faith's inception in the 19th century.
Hinduism, Buddhism and other faiths have also encountered religious persecutions..
Edited summary of a Chat GPT-4’s response to this question:
Which religion has not been persecuted?
The persecutions of different religions arises on account of differences in beliefs, practices, and cultural or political tensions. No religion has been immune to persecution, including within religions and against other religions.
Jews have been persecuted throughout history particularly during the Holocaust, the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades. Christians encountered persecution during the Roman Empire, the Protestant Reformation and the Armenian Genocide. Muslims experienced persecution during the Crusades and now currently with a new wave of Islamophobia. Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs, have also faced persecution throughout history.
How might we surrender persecutions?
A non-religious version to surrender surrender
How might we go beyond letting go, to letting in what was already there?
Be One with open mind, heart, body and soul. Align the universal spirit with the great flow and serendipity of life. Enable virtues to flourish and serve humanity, nature and the health of planet.
In the radical pragmatism of secularism, the transcendence of equanimity, being in awe with the universe and boundless joy emerge when we suspend the toxicities of our self-centered egos that divides us into warring political and religious factions.
Our egos contain the good, the bad and the ugly. Allow the universal sovereignty of Self to reign supreme over the flawed egocentricities of self: our shadows and our dark sides.
The Universal Self of non-divine Being is always present but overlooked, ignored, suspended or denied. The equanimity of our neocortical brains enables us to mollify toxic persecutions and self-regulate emotional reactivities of our amygdala and reptilian brains.
A Self without self is spiritual abandonment. A self without Self is a spiritual void without authentic purpose and meaning. Self and self are related states of being, living as one in the same universe.
A BHAQ for further reflection
How might we co-create generative dialogues to regenerate our humanity for equity and the health of our planet?
__________________________________
Edited summary of a Chat GPT-4’s response to this question.
How is Chat GPT-4 implicitly biased against Judaism in reporting on similarities and differences in religious concepts, processes, beliefs and practices?
There is no direct information or evidence suggesting that ChatGPT-4 is implicitly biased against Judaism in reporting on similarities and differences in religious concepts, processes, beliefs, and practices.
__________________________________
Edited summary of a Chat GPT-4’s response to this question
Is Chat GPT-4 capable of detecting its own implicit biases against Judaism?
Chat GPT-4 has social biases and biased algorithms. Chat GPT-4 may have implicit biases against Judaism or other groups, but it's unclear whether the model is capable of detecting these biases on its own.
GPT-4 still has many known limitations
OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, admitted that ChatGPT has shortcomings around bias.