Loving Thy Neighbor and Ebenezer Scrooge

NeighborIt should not surprise me that my neighbor reads Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and takes the position that Scrooge was better off before his conversion. He feels the problem in the story truly lies with Scrooge’s liberal neighbors who judge him negatively for his conservative values. My neighbor feels that they are hypocritically disobeying the Second Commandment to love thy neighbor when they judge Scrooge in this manner. I cannot entirely dismiss my neighbor’s point of view. Often times “judgment” does not come from a place of love and compassion. Frequently judgment of others results from the ego trying to mitigate the pain of its own shame. In this sense judgment is the ego telling itself, “Look! I am better than him.” Accordingly, to the extent Scrooge’s liberal neighbors did judge him in this way they certainly were not acting in accordance with the Second Commandment.

However, not all of Scrooge’s neighbors judged him in this manner. Certainly, Scrooge’s nephew did not judge him this way. Fred made a special point of inviting Scrooge to dinner despite his uncle’s abusive behavior. Fred did judge Scrooge in the sense that he made clear that he disagreed with Scrooge’s perspective on Christmas. But in my reading of the story this judgment came from a place of compassion. Fred truly wanted to connect with his uncle and not to put himself above uncle for the purpose of gratifying his ego.

It could be argued that Dickens himself is judging Scrooge in the egocentric sense. Certainly the following paragraph exudes this type of energy:


Now, if I know my neighbor (and I think I have had enough experience with him to know him well enough although he does possess the ability to surprise me often enough) I can anticipate how he would react to that description. I suspect he would say that this is Dickens’ description and Dickens is the same type of judgmental, hypocritical liberal as are Scrooge’s neighbors. Assuming this actually reflects my neighbor’s potential reaction, it is interesting how he can project such a consistently schizophrenic view of the world into every situation. To him, even the author of a story (the creator of a universe in a sense) is unaware of his own warped, destructive and self-annihilating view of the world. It is as if there is a real story about Scrooge that exists elsewhere and Dickens’ version is a contrived piece of propaganda serving some nefarious purpose. If I am correct, my neighbor sees the story “A Christmas Carol” itself as a humbug in the fullest sense of the word.

I would argue, however, that the story is not written from an egocentric, judgmental perspective but from a compassionate one. True, in the opening scenes we see him acting abusively towards his clerk, his nephew, the two solicitors and the young caroler. When the first of the three spirits displays scenes from his past we see that he seemingly valued money more than the love of his fiancé. All these exhibits display the negative aspects of Scrooge’s value system. But then we also see the reasons why this behavior came about. We hear of Scrooge’s neglectful upbringing by an abusive father who blamed him for Scrooge’s mother’s death. We also see glimpses of Scrooge’s good nature; his gratitude for Fessiwig’s kindness and his compassion for Tiny Tim. We see his remorse for pushing away his fiancé and his fear of dying an unredeemed man. All these examples are to show that Dickens wrote this story from a place of compassion for Scrooge. As readers we pick up on this energy and root for Scrooge despite his negative behavior.

Therefore, I cannot agree with my neighbor’s assessment that Scrooge was better off as a bitter, lonely, old man. Nor can I agree with my neighbor that all of Scrooge’s neighbors were hypocritical, judgmental liberals who hated Scrooge for his conservative values. Nor can I agree with my neighbor’s shame-based, egocentric judgment of the “liberals” he seems to despise. His judgment does not come from a place of compassion and in my assessment is in violation of the Second Commandment. I now must examine my conscience to determine where my judgment of my neighbor comes from.



Filed under A Christmas Carol

52 responses to “Loving Thy Neighbor and Ebenezer Scrooge

  1. thordaddy


    I think we are going way off topic… I’ve never read “A Christmas Carol” nor have I viewed any movie renditions of the book. I know “Scrooge” as a perpetuating liberal meme utilized by an array of radical autonomists… Corporate, leftist and “Christian” alike.


    The point of debate was deconstructing this meme and this deconstruction all hinges on identifying the true nature of Scrooge in relation to his “neighbors” so as to determine who is a better model for moving forward (the proverbial moral to the story).

    The dilemma for modern liberals is that Scrooge was anti-Christian AND THUS a self-evident ally of the modern liberal. Yet, the modern liberal IS ALSO anti-Scrooge.

    How to square this circle?

    Scrooge is a “racist Christian,” ie., white Supremacist…

    Therefore, as you erroneously asserted, there is not hypocrisy, but the clear-cut “principle” of the modern liberal… Anti-white Christian… Anti-white Supremacist…

    Forget Dickens’ intent… It’s been assimilated and co-opted into a radical liberal meme perpetuating anti-white Supremacy in the character of Ebenezer Scrooge.

    When your neighbor is white Supremacy then a liberal “Christian” MUST SUBORDINATE his faith to his ideology or be exiled.

    • If you have never read the story or even seen a movie version of the story you are hardly qualified to deconstruct it.

      • thordaddy


        The novel has ALREADY been deconstructed… “We” are merely in the position to deconstruct the liberal deconstruction…

        You are UNABLE TO CONFRONT this AS a liberal “Christian.”

      • What is it you feel I am unable to deconstruct?

      • thordaddy


        ….where you stand as a “white” liberal “Christian” in relation to the genuine white Supremacist? You are INEVITABLY conflicted DUE liberal ideology and NOT Christian doctrine, but you attribute to Christ’s teachings what is actually a liberal “principle” of deracination.

      • My interpretation of Christianity is based on the scriptural teachings of Christ. Your interpretation of Christianity is based on your racism.

      • thordaddy


        You are now reveling in radical autonomy… You are maintaining a frame that “acts” as though you cannot even comprehend the argument being made.

        WHAT IF…

        Your neighbor is a genuine white Supremacist?

        What WILL winstonScrooge do?

        BE liberal…

        Or be a Christian?

        The former DOES NOT ALLOW the latter and to be the latter is to self-exile from polite liberal society…

        Quit avoiding the consequences of a “Scrooge” meme fully implicated and dispersed throughout.

      • If my neighbor doesn’t bother me then I will not bother him. I’m not sure what your point is.

      • thordaddy


        Didn’t Scrooge leave his “neighbors” alone and that IS EXACTLY why modern liberals despise him?

      • You are wrong when you say modern liberals despise him. If you read the book you will see that it is written from a compassionate perspective. His redemption is the main theme of the story.

      • thordaddy


        Dickens wrote this over 150 years ago…

        HIS INTENT is a separate issue from its LIBERAL DECONSTRUCTION turned perpetuating meme…

        Do you simply not acknowledge this “Scrooge” meme where the cultural imposition is anti-Scrooge? And this anti-Scrooge meme contains multiple instructions mediated to various liberated collectives all coalescing around a unified vision of the nature of “Scrooge” as anti-liberal?

        DO YOU SIMPLY not recognize this reality at play? You’ve not only never been called “Scrooge,” but you are not even aware of the phenomenon and the various general motivations for its accusation?

      • I am talking about the character of Scrooge in the book. Not your hatred for your neighbor that you project onto non racists.

      • thordaddy

        wS… Absolutely fascinating how fervently you maintain frame.

      • thordaddy

        But I am glad to hear that as a white Christian that you would absolutely tolerate a genuine white Supremacist as your neighbor… Whether you could love him as yourself… It is that very question that speaks to the essence of your nature. Most liberals will have assumed you self-exiled from polite society for such an admission. If this is not within your current awareness then you are not amongst very much ideological diversity.

      • The mindset you describe constitutes a small but vocal minority of politically liberal people.

      • thordaddy


        No… The feeling is not mutual… I do not get that you believe that I am unable to get the crux of your argument when this is very much what I feel… You are, in my mind, PRETENDING not to understand what I am saying because it shows you the NECESSITY of choosing between Christ and liberal ideology WHERE you think you can unify it. I have no such dilemma as I am very much of the opposite mind.

        The failure of Scrooge and then his redemption was in rejecting and then embracing genuine white Supremacy. You cannot come to grips with interpretation BECAUSE of liberal ideology and not Christianity.

        So again, will you pretend to not understand the argument I am making above so as to not address it?

      • If I don’t understand your argument it is because you have not explained it clearly. For the record, please state concisely and clearly what your argument is.

      • thordaddy


        No… You are TOO INTELLIGENT not to understand my argument and so you feigned lack of understanding is the manner in which you maintain maximum autonomy… Radical autonomy.

        The corporate autonomist barks, “Scrooge!!!” and the overworked mother reluctantly consumes a new toy for her child’s junk box…

        The radical liberal autonomist screams, “Scrooge!!!” and the shocked and humiliated white male pulls the lever for Obama…

        The liberal “Christian” bumbles, “Scrooge” under his breath and so you put a few dollars in the tray…

        Are YOU UNAWARE of “Scrooge” as the radical liberal meme???

        Are you ATTESTING to the notion that “we” are to become like Scrooge? Not according to Dickens, but according to popular consensus… Er, the democracy of the people?

        Or, are the masses taught not to be Scrooge and thus, by your analysis, would be being taught not to seek redemption per Dickens’ intent?

        Either way, IT LOOKS BAD FOR LIBERALISM!!!

      • Again, I am talking about the character Scrooge in Dickens’ story. My posts make that abundantly clear. I know you want to change the topic to fit your racist agenda but I am simply not interested.

      • thordaddy


        So am I… And Scrooge’s “evolution” according to you is anti-Christian to Christian is thus a model of chosen redemption…


        This has almost nothing to do with the “Scrooge” meme and how it is unscrupulously utilized as both a story to maximize individual autonomy AND lead individuals OFF the path of redemption…

        What in the world are you talking about when you claim a “racist agenda?”

        Are MODERNS to model Scrooge or not? So when one is ACCUSED of being a “Scrooge,” what is being DEMANDED? Are you cognizant of any of this or cognizant of “A Christmas Carol” being a story of redemption AND THUS MARKED for liberal deconstruction? Are you really just totally unaware of this collective phenomenon? Do you aim to be Scrooge? Do the masses aim to be Scrooges? If not, why not? Should they not seek redemption? You can’t see this mind war AT ALL?

        Then again, you are in a true state of radical autonomy… Truly cut off from collective realities.

      • I am not aware of any widespread liberal conspiracy to call people Scrooge in order to shame them into buying things they cannot afford. I have never witnessed this in my life ever. But this has nothing to do with my last three posts just like racism has nothing to do with Christianity.

      • I am beginning to think you want me to despise you so that it fits in with this worldview you have constructed for yourself. The fact that I am essentially indifferent to your creed seems to get under your skin.

      • thordaddy


        Indifference is not a Christian charateristic… And again, what worldview do you think I’m trying to impress upon you? You are literally going back and forth on what means what and what is even real. You obviously have VERY LITTLE experience with blacks or minos in particular. I say this is the real nature of your “indifference.”

      • It depends on what one is indifferent towards. Racism, however, certainly is not a Christian characteristic.

      • thordaddy


        AGAIN… Your notion of “racism” IS LEARNED Liberal ideology and has nothing to do with Christianity.

      • Incorrect. My notion of racism is informed by the Second Commandment and the definition of neighbor as defined by the perfect man in the parable of the Good Samaritan. It has everything to do with Christianity.

        Your assertions by contrast are based upon your ego and its various prejudices.

      • thordaddy


        AGAIN… There is nothing in Scripture that informs you of “racism” or “racists.” You KNOW these “things” through liberal ideology AND NOT Christianity.

      • Scripture teaches you to love your neighbor even if he is your enemy as were the Jews and Samaritans. So you are correct when you say scripture does not address race. You might say that scripture is indifferent to race as you should be if you are a Christian as you claim to be.

      • thordaddy


        I am not sufficiently divided to be in difference… And I do not believe that Christ taught one to be indifferent to any reality let alone the lineage of his fathers… His race. What you are adhering to is a radical autonomy inherent to YOUR LIBERAL “Christianity.” You TRULY BELIEVE in a “universal equality” as a higher reality than the existence of The Perfect Man. I, on the other hand, believe in The Perfect Man as the revelation of the HIGHEST reality THUS NULLIFYING and FALSIFYING a “universal equality.”

      • I’m not sure what bible you are reading but Christ actually specifically taught indifference to one’s “line of fathers” as you put it.

        “If any man comes to me, and hate not his father … he cannot be my disciple.” (LK 14:26)

      • thordaddy


        Interpreted in the light of the commandment to honor one’s father, it should be said that the “disciple” over which you speak is PRE-CONVERSION…

        In other words, you are ready to become a CONVERTED disciple THAT NOW honors his father through time. First and foremost by rejecting a self-annihilating deracinated “Christianity.”

      • This passage does not make the distinction you want it to have in order to fit with your radical racist agenda. It is yet another example of the plain written meaning of scripture undermine your personal beliefs and you coming up with a convoluted explanation to attempt to square a circle. The simpler explanation works better as I am sure you know but will never admit (perhaps not even to yourself).

      • thordaddy


        Are you claiming that Christ teaches his adherents to literally hate their fathers and to become a disciple of Christ one must teach a hatred of one’s father? This is how you interpret that passage? Even in light of the commandment to honor one’s father?

      • This and other statements by the perfect man show the way to perfection is not to cling to the earthly and the egocentric. This includes family. Meaningful bonds between people are formed in other ways than mere chance like the family or skin color we happen to be born into. Meaningful bonds are formed by the way we treat one another (Good Samaritan) and by discipleship. Consider when Jesus rejected his mother and brothers in MT 12:48. He said his disciples were his mother and brothers.

        In other words appearances or surface level distinctions are not important. What is of ultimate importance is in the heart. This theme is repeated over and over in the gospels.

      • thordaddy

        “Meaningful bonds between people are formed in other ways than mere chance like the family or skin color we happen to be born into.” — wS

        Radical autonomy 101… You conceive Creation AS “mere chance?” This makes you a radical autonomist.

        Your “god” created you in order to self-annihilate on his behalf?

        That sounds like Islam…

        That sounds like atheism… But you WILL NOT finally liberate?

        It is no mere chance that you hate your race… YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT such a thing your entire life from your secular immersion to your particular “Christian” “teachings.”

        IT SIMPLY MAKES NO SENSE to self-annihilate for salvation… Such nonsense RENDERS Christ’s annihilation for the salvation of mankind absurd. It was in Christ’s very accepted Crucifixion that Man no longer had to degrade himself to gain salvation. Man COULD… Once AGAIN… Ascend to Perfection.

        And not ALL RACE OF MEN will embrace this notion equally… That’s liberal fantasy that simply has no relevance to Christianity. So you actually seem intent like so many other “white” liberal “Christians” to make it understood that you will not be a part of that race of white men seeking to Ascend… You are in fact part of that “white” liberal contingent that believes in self-annihilating for salvation and your pending collective extinction is unmistakable validation of your fundamental belief.

        But you are still at your own pace in all this degradation.

      • Putting aside the fact that scripture directly conflicts with these ideas of yours on race, why do you feel race is more important in terms of salvation than the contents of a person’s heart?

      • thordaddy


        You are again maintaining the liberal frame… What in Scripture shall conflict with the facts of race? The false dichotomy of race meaning everything or meaning nothing at all is not a dichotomy mandated by Christianity… We are to do right and to say our race is an illegitimate and meaningless motivation… A mere happenstance of chance within Creation is not validated by Scripture. If the Father is not the guide and one’s fathers are not the tangible link to that guide then again, are you claiming Christian doctrine mandates a hatred of one’s father? How does that make any sense whatsoever? Such “belief” READS like radical liberation.

      • You are so awash in your own bullshit that you cannot see the reality beyond all these labels you want to assign to everyone. Your notion of radical autonomy is meaningless to me. What do you think I am trying to become autonomous from? Is it God? I have no desire to separate myself from God. Quite the opposite.

        It seems you presume to know the mind of God better than everyone else? Where does this special knowledge you possess come from?

      • thordaddy


        Please provide even one single statement of mine that you contend contradicts reality…

        I am telling you right now that whatever strand of “Christianity” mandates that one must hate his father and his race of fathers in order to gain salvation has to be one of the most diabolically nonsensical denigration of Christ’s teachings that I’ve ever read. But such interpretation does very much speak to the alt-rite/NS critique of modern “Christianity” as the dominant force in the extinction of the white man.

      • Your fantasies regarding my supposed desire for radical autonomy and self annihilation both have no basis in reality. Your fantasy that Christianity somehow encourages racism is directly contradicted by the teachings of Christ in scripture.

        But what I find more interesting is why are you avoiding the question I asked you. Why do you feel race is more important than the contents of a person’s heart in terms of salvation?

      • thordaddy


        You are actually avoiding reasserting that Christ teaches hatred of one’s father and his race of fathers… It is this very belief to which the alt-rite/NS movements points to to discredit modern “Christianity” and thus why I have over time decided to delineate myself from this noxious idea by self-identifying as a white Supremacist…


        Again, there IS NO BETTER OR WORSE… We KNOW our race to be a fact of life and we know through experience AND Scripture that Man’s heart was forever corrupted at the Fall. Neither understandings are absolute guides towards Perfection, but the belief that hating one’s father, hating one’s race or inexplicably making the whole subject meaningless is thus evidence of a purer Christian heart, defies credulity.

    • thordaddy


      So you do not believe that your “belief” in contraception and your mandate to hate your father and race of fathers evidences desire for a salvation by self-annihilation? What does it actually indicate then? A desire for full, uncorrupted existence?

      • My ego identity is not tied to my race the way yours is. As such the so called annihilation of my race if that happens is not the same as my own annihilation. But eventually all materiality will be annihilated so ultimately race (being a material concern) is not an ultimate or even important concern.

      • thordaddy


        Repeating over and over again that “race” is not the most important thing in order to obscure the fact that you hate your race or make your race meaningless DOES NOT THEN stand in as a strawman argument that claims that I am saying race is my top concern…


        Making race meaningless is pathological EQUAL TO making race into meaning “everything.”

        THIS FALSE PARADIGM that you vehemently cling to is not a paradigm THAT ANY white Christian MUST ABIDE ESPECIALLY not by the mandates of Christ’s teachings.

        You are INCARNATE as “winstonScrooge” for a very SPECIFIC AND PARTICULAR reason… There is no chance involved WHATSOEVER…

        You hate your father and your father’s race… Are you NOW teaching as a disciple?

      • Your logic consistently fails because you make faulty assumptions and proceed with them as if they are fact. I never once said that I hate my race.

      • thordaddy


        You specifically cited a passage that you interpreted as Christ teaching one to hate his father… We had already implicitly agreed that your race is fundamentally your line of fathers… So in all fairness, there is an assumption that hating your father is along the same line as hating your race… They operate in a sort of degreed continuum with no specific direction or orientation so that hatred for father morphs into hatred for race and hatred for race morphs into hatred of father and then even a hatred that “centers” itself and hates both father and race with equal degree…

        NONE of this is validated or legitimated by Scripture as a means to salvation. NONE.OF.IT.

      • You are talking gibberish. The standard interpretation of this passage is that Jesus is teaching that family (and race by extension) are not the keys to salvation.

      • thordaddy


        But who is making that argument?


        There is no salvation through self-annihilation. ie., ideologically-induced deracination.

        There is no salvation through hating one’s race or rendering race meaningless… That would be an absurd criteria to gain salvation or allow one to step closest to The Perfect Man… It makes no sense. It’s nonsensical to claim Jesus Christ taught these things. Your interpretations are liberally infected.

      • Your version of self annihilation is tied to race and therefore tied to materiality. All materiality will pass. It is the content of a person’s heart that must not be annihilated; not the material shell it briefly inhabits.

      • thordaddy


        No… Your path to “salvation” and the path that you presumably teach is the path of pathological deracination… A REAL annihilation of the Self. Christ teaches his disciples no such thing.

      • Merry Christmas to you. I encourage you to take the day off and spend time with your family.

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