“Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it” (Deuteronomy 34:4).

What complicates things, perhaps, and may make “Thou shall not lie” not so simple is the character of our narcissism and its frailty as suggested by the statistically limited presence but nonetheless disruptive propensity for self-delusion. In psychology proper, both bipolar and narcissistic personality disorder include as symptomatic grandiose delusion; in the social psychology of politics and in relation to “malignant narcissism” the hallucinatory aspect takes on robes. Muammar Qaddafi may stand signal to the strain in leadership but many dictators may be a little more subtle about their system of self-aggrandizement, control, and narcissistic supply. Entertain the frightening possibility that the dictator believes in his special relationship with God and whatever lies may attend the support of that illustrious delusion.

Do I really have to read the Torah?

On Facebook, we may be trading Bible and Qur’an passages about the same things for a while.

I suggested yesterday that all Jews know the experience of leaving Pharaoh, that most perfect emblem of malignant narcissism, and all the men die having reached the banks of their own Jordan River.

We do read differently, an observation that on this blog leads back to the human language experience as it begins with hearing in the womb and our essential life force, moves rapidly into receiving-organizing program development and later script reception or reception of the specific cultural surround.

Reference

Deuteronomy 34 NIV – The Death of Moses – Then Moses climbed – Bible Gateway