The medieval church forbade usury and claimed that usurers went to hell. However, as the feudal system of the Middle Ages declined and merchants emerged as an emerging power, usury businesses amassed enormous wealth. Usurers donated their corrupt wealth to monasteries, and when they died, they could be buried there. It was a bonus that the donor usurer could receive the sacrament of confession shortly before death. Fear of the afterlife caused poor churches to accumulate wealth, used to decorate walls or build larger, more elaborate structures, leading to the Renaissance era. The unjust usury business sparked a literary and artistic revival. Let go of the illusion that only good things can change the world for the better or the right. The innocence of ignorance about how the world works makes it easier to accept sin and corrupts the world into evil. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
In law, a “fact” is not referred to simply as a “fact,” but rather as a “ contextual fact.” The legal system addresses the relationships between people, positing that all facts are generated and understood within these relationships. Even the question of existence—whether to be or not to be—is grasped through the lens of relationships. There is no fact without a relationship, and the fact itself is neither true nor false; instead, the relationship determines its truthfulness or falsity. In other words, if you view truth and falsehood as absolute, you will navigate the world with a rigid mindset. Conversely, if you accept them as relative and contextual, you will perceive them with a broader sense of liberty. Ultimately, which perspective leads to greater happiness is a matter of individual disposition and taste. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”