Did God Shed a Tear? Reverence of the Oppressor: Slaughter of the Innocent

Presented by Dr. Michael Conforti,
Jungian Analyst and Founder/Director of The Assisi Institute

Saturday, September 28, 2024 live via Zoom

All registered participants will receive a recording of the lecture afterwards

12:00 – 1:30 pm US Eastern Time

Fee: $35.00

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And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: 
Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering…”
Genesis 22:1-2

Did God Shed a Tear? Reverence for the Oppressor: Slaughter of the Innocent

Elie Wiesel taught us that silence only serves the aggressor and never the victim, and as we linger in our muted silence regarding, “Crimes Against Humanity”, our own hands will forevermore carry the stain and blood of the victims. Not only have we become accomplices, but sin-eaters for the heartless dictators responsible for wars and legislations against human decency.

Who could have ever imagined that in 2024, we would be witnessing such ongoing Crimes against Humanity? Legislation controlling women’s reproductive rights, an escalation of war worldwide, a rise in dictatorship, and unimaginable hatred of others, all spreading like a cancer throughout the world. Each speaks to the emergence of contents from the dark unconscious, terrorizing humanity, and taking hostage all who cross its path. The uncomfortable truth is that these acts have been repeated throughout history confirming their origins within the domain of the archetypal.

This inquiry into the nature of violence has been addressed by many, including the collaboration of Einstein and Freud chronicled in their book Why War.
Jung also commented about the proliferation of unimaginable violence in his patients’ dreams, prior to the outbreak of WW II. In the United States, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s, and Rosa Parks’ acts of resistance awakened our collective awareness to the atrocities of slavery and racial prejudice and abuse. These pioneers sought to know something about the nature of these dark, irruptive forces within the Psyche in the hopes of stemming the tide of ongoing slaughter.

It is too easy to gloss over the power of these archetypal forces at play. Researchers have looked to humanity’s hunger for power and supremacy as the unconscious motivation for these atrocities. However these will never fully capture the longevity and enormity of these forces. A Jungian understanding of pre-figured, innate, archetypal dynamics and the emergence of contents from the collective unconscious may more fully address some of these perennial questions such as the contagious nature of violence and hatred.

This presentation addresses the emergence of violence and its justification and denial. It presents the findings that throughout history transgressors are not only rewarded but revered, while their victims are rarely, if ever, given a second thought. “Basta cosi!” Enough! -this has gone on far too long and far too many of our loved ones will never return home to our tables to share a meal. It is imperative that we learn about the archetypal nature of these events if we are to have any hope

Please join us for this presentation, offered by Dr Michael Conforti, whose work has touched the lives of individuals from more than 35 countries worldwide.

About this Lecture

In a time where the personal and collective psyche is experiencing a profound archetypal shift in perspective, it is our hope that these Foundation lectures will support our community to face, understand and respond to these turbulent times in more conscious and soulful way.

The purpose of this series is to:

• Reach a broad global audience about the very real collective issues we are facing in the world today;
• Raise awareness and funding to advance the global reach of The Assisi Foundation’s work on archetypes and the objective psyche;
• Offer an understanding of the meaning and purpose of the archetypal patterns that lie beneath the headlines.

About the presenter:

Dr. Michael Conforti, Founder and Director of the Assisi Institute
He is a faculty member at the C.G. Jung Institute of Boston, the C.G. Jung Institute of New York, and for many years served as a Senior Associate faculty member in the Doctoral and Master’s Programs in Clinical Psychology at Antioch New England. A pioneer in the field of matter-psyche studies, he is actively investigating the workings of archetypal fields and the relationship between Jungian psychology and the New Sciences.

He has presented his work at; The C.G. Jung Institute – Zurich, and Jungian organizations in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Israel, Italy, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, the Ukraine and Venezuela. He is the author of Threshold Experiences: The Archetype of Beginnings (2007) and Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature and Psyche (2002). His books have been translated into Italian, Russian, and Spanish.