Pynchon and Catholicism

[David Morris]

Projection has so clearly become seen as Trump's main reflex.  It doesn't
seem controversial now.

On Sun, Sep 27, 2020 at 4:16 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey, I'm no trained psychoanalytic reader of history. Projection, is that
> what trained depth psychologists in the Freudian tradition do? I dunno,
> mate.
>
> I think Eric says Catholic 'hate' is not pan, was mixed with some
> self-love---love is strange---and therefore had more grace in the everyday.
>
> I can't see Trumpism quite anywhere here but elaborate? I did see Trump in
> Eric's words when he wrote of how when we lost our communal sense of
> identity, and grew up feeling alienated, weak and helpless like Mickey, we
> could not stand that psychic pain so we filled ourselves with endless scorn
> for
> weak others--projection fer sure-- and endless greed. Our things and money
>  were our psychic good drives by analogy.
>
> One can see how, if TRP was influenced by this work, it led to discovering
> Norman O Brown's work. (This book is 1941!)
>
> On Sun, Sep 27, 2020 at 5:01 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> So, to condense, Eric argues that Catholic pan-hate resulted in less
>> self-hate?  Isn't that what is called "projection" these days?
>>
>> Doesn't that define Trumpism?
>>
>> David Morris
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 27, 2020 at 3:36 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Eric Fromm in *Escape From Freedom* says that the feeling of
>>> 'predestination" ala Luther and Calvin although present in
>>> Acquinas' Catholicism because of the understanding of God's omniscience is
>>> very different, producing avery different
>>> character structure overall.
>>>
>>> He quotes Acquinas cutely: Aquinas saying doing extra good things
>>> sort speeds up predestination of oneself. (my paraphrase).
>>>
>>> Anyway, unlike the self-hating Protestants---they had to in order to
>>> hate so many others so totally, Eric says--Catholics hated themselves less
>>> (in general).
>>
>>
>>