Yahweh's Window

The 'Overton Window' is an earthly term used to describe the range of opinions and ideas that are publicly acceptable in a particular society. Ideas and opinions outside this window are considered dangerous or radical,while those inside are acceptable or popular. The window shifts through time as societies change. The abolition of slavery and voting rights for women were once considered dangerous and radical ideas, for example. 

Those who control media can manipulate the window through coordinated propaganda narratives. In the United Kingdom, for example, the current Conservative government is underfunding the National Health Service - the country's publicly funded health system - in order to privatize it. The NHS is very popular with the British public; privatizing it is not. Luckily for them, the government's objective is supported by a large number of Media Moguls, who own newspapers and TV stations which can (a) pretend that the government have not cut NHS funding, (b) repeatedly infer that the NHS is inherently bad, and (c) blame immigrants, not governments, for NHS failings. Perhaps they will manage to shift the window enough to make the privatization agenda acceptable? 

Another example from the United Kingdom (this being the country where Michael lives). Earthly governments collect taxes from their people, which make up the government budget. This is spent maintaining roads, training an army, providing healthcare, stockpiling nuclear weapons, building grand palaces, etc. Taxes are normally 'progressive': proportional to an individuals circumstances: a person with a small income will pay a small amount of income tax, while a person with a larger income will pay a larger amount of income tax. Flat-rate taxes are 'regressive' in that they put a greater burden on the poor: if a poor person with £100 a richer person with £1000 each pay £10 tax, the poor person has 10% of their money, while the rich have lost only 1%.

Every so often a politician tries to float the idea of increasing tax on the richer people in the country. This idea seems to have been pushed out of the Overton Window: the political commentators explain that taxes the rich more would make them leave the country, taking all of their money with them; that the rich spend more money and so fund businesses and jobs, making more people better off, etc.

I keep digressing. I know more about Earth now than ever before. I've been reading books and magazines and websites. I have been learning. Earth is fascinating. It is strange to think that when I was in my old earthly human body that I knew nothing about the world. Even by the standards of my time I knew little, and that was centuries ago. Nowadays humans can access a huge World Wide Web of knowledge.

And memes.

And porn.

There is something like an Overton Window in Heaven. I'll call it Yahweh's Window. I've mentioned before that Yahweh is not keen on free speech: blasphemy is something that, by some accounts, he is either unable or unwilling to forgive. Yahweh's Window is an extremely narrow range of opinions that are acceptable in Heaven. God is great. God is good. God is just. Etc, etc. Anything outside of this window: dangerous and radical.