Life isn't fair. So what's wrong with a fatalistic approach to life?
I suppose religious texts exist, in part, to ground us in a "moral universe." But historically, these texts have only gone so far in serving this purpose.
In short, we have choices. And thus, there's a fine line between neurosis, cultural-influences, etc. and acting like a jerk.
It's one thing to be driven to crimes against the state or the individual by a particularly damaged childhood, psychosis or cultural influences. But to become victim-idenitified or complacent in one's injustice dismisses one's accountability, and therefore prevents psychic development.
Did Eve eat the apple because of an articulate snake or because she was hungry for a delicious apple? Or was she passively taking her anger out on God for making her out of a rib?
In any case, the moral of the story is that, although she blamed the devil for it, her mistake gave her (and all of us, apparently) mortal-consciousness. Thanks a lot, Eve.
One can presumably conclude that after the Lord's wrath comes down on one for eating an apple, one quickly assumes a no-fruit diet.
Perhaps ours is, indeed, a just universe. But it doesn't always seem that way.
I'm sure that's why Jesus-Thumpers believe in the rapture. So that all of us satanic, non-Jesus-Thumpers will be left here to roast, and potentially be forced to watch bad reality tv in eternal damnation.
As not to become victim-identified in relation to such Jesus-Thumpers for my opposing, non-thumping stance, I am consulting The Great Lords Of The Abyss in the design of my own rapture.
I guess I believe that, as Freud would phrase it, sometimes a jerk is just a jerk.
Which is why, when my rapture comes, the jerks will all disappear and I will happily be left here to burn in hell with the rest.
That is, if I'm not a jerk.
19 comments:
I really think the Jesus-Thumpers, and the Allah-Thumpers, and the Buddha-Thumpers, and any other Thumpers you can name (maybe even the Thumpers in the Dune novels) believe in the rapture for one purpose only:
As a consolation prize. To allow themselves not to be victim-identified with life.
The thought most of humanity can't handle is: (and mind you, I have issues wrapping my head around it as well) What if there is no end-game father-figure to give you that approving hug, or 'very disappointed in you' glare?
Morality, I think, tends to walk the middle-ground. It's the comfortable "Human" space between the religious no-no's on one side, and three million years of violent human instinct on the other. So very little thought or cultural training is given for it. Yet it's ingrained. I don't think many households in the U.S. have parents telling a child, "Please, dear, it's impolite to eat your sister." The culture dictates the morality, not the gods.
The Universe can go to hell as long as I can like who I see in the mirror when I brush my teeth. I'm the ultimate judge of my jerk-ness-en-dom-age-ivity.
Hi Alicia, I enjoyed your article. Unfortunately the growing crowd of people claiming to be "christians" have given those who believe in the Jesus I believe in a bad name. I confess that I love the Jesus that I have personally read about in the bible. At the same time I confess that I am sickened by the religious world we live in today. It appears that there are many different "Jesus" in the world today. I say there are many because the Jesus that for instance president bush and the "evangelical" community believe in, is certainly not the same Jesus that I believe in. They are different, radically different. With so many lies and so much deception running rampant throughout our world, the only hope a person has to find the "real" Jesus is to find Him ourselves. The view I hold regarding how false the entire world system of religion is, is not shared by many. Please don't shoot the messenger :-) cheers~Dave
The Thumpers in the Dune novels? Isn't that the Scientologists?
I agree with you on the father figure point. Good thing God isn't a woman: Who would associate heaven with one's mother!
Liking who I see in the mirror when I brush my teeth is another thing all together. I'll work on it.
I like Jesus, too. I bet he's a fun guy to smoke grass with.
Chicken or Egg??
Homage to the magnificence of the living thing, awe inspiring is the scope of the Cosmos, no atomic fusion or evolutionary luck can be responsible. Still, my finite mind will never be able to accept the theory of "Always was, Always will be".........help me
A lacto-ovo vegetarian, I have to go with "Egg."
Apparently you believe that when you die, the universe will end. Perhaps it will. But that has never happened before.
And while the mind, though physiologically finite, needs not accept an "Always was, Always will be" mentality, it is our nature to relate to a universal continuum by means of speculation or faith.
And, in my view, to "thump" a little, it is our task to make changes that accord to the demands of our "higher" selves, may those selves be finite or infinite.
If not, nature will respond to balance us, or, we will be forced into consciousness somehow.
Nonetheless, if you are indeed the Second Coming, and the universe shall perish with you, I am flattered that you've asked me for help.
But whether mortal or immortal, I wish for you the burden of an evolving consciousness.
you have taken me to task...so be it!
yet, my missive was not one of self-aggrandizement or elitism whatsoever....
it is one of confusion....i have studied many sides of the question and have heard no "sound" argument for any
raised Christian i often resort to such tenets embedded in my pshche, however, i allow, also, for other possibilities, including those unknown to us at present
i was lamenting my finite mind, not rejoicing in self
your candid response is both reflective and informative
as with an artists work, always subject to the interpretation of the admirer....i appreciate your openness
occassionally i put thoughts to paper, and this was one i had penned some years ago
i've never published, rarely share....yet, i know, you are a worthy caretaker of thought
stumbling upon your site, i found your tomes' invigorating and enigmatic....
here's hoping that i don't mislead or offend you......
Thank you for your comments.
Perhaps you may take solace in the science that we only utilize a fraction of our "finite" minds.
Thus, it is possible that there is, indeed, a part of your mind that can accept, if not relate to, the notion of a constant universe.
I wonder, however, why you may freely lament your finite mind, but when I do as much (See: "Happy Worst Day") you view my laments as joy, veiled in cynicism.
Perhaps it is the case for both of us. Or one of us. Or neither of us.
As far as your "offending" or "misleading" me is concerned, you have done neither thus far.
If and when you do, you'll be sure to hear about it.
Alicia...not joy veiled in cynicism.....what i see is a beautiful spirit overwhelmed by a cynical world....
a mechanism is in effect that protects the "vulnerable" magnificent part of you
a debate or protestation was never my intention, merely a sharing of thoughts and ideas
i shall never be your intellectual equal, i put pen to paper and often the ink refuses to flow, i struggle to weave my thoughts into words, you seem to only touch the keyboard and grand ruminations appear before us.....an untapped font of erudite verse
no challenge or issue taken with ANYTHING you write, as previously stated, i have enjoyed your compilations immensely.....
as for my views, i havn't eliminated any possibilities, constant universe, creator, unlimited mental capacity.....hey, here's a question for those who say we only use about 10 percent of our mind.....if they don't know what the limitations are, how can they arrive at 10%.....hmmmmmm??
i have been a tenant within the citadel that certain parts of you have taken refuge.......your eloquent, omniscient, sometimes acerbic wit are able weapons with which to fight off those with malevolent intention....
perhaps a place, or a someone where one may cast aside our armament and not feel threatened..
strong, willful ..those are remarkable characteristics
of your personality......they are the big sisters that watch out for your sensitivity and caring nature
one merely submits, that there are those among us who see thru to that part of you
your laments are not a veil
and any cynicism you may project
and we all do
merely did not disguise, what i perceived to be a great big bundle of compassion
i have not thrown down
i mean no ill will
oh, contrare....
forgive my lack of eloquence, if i have failed to express my affection for your verbal abilities, your rogue cogitations as well as what i perceive to be an august inner beauty
somehow i feel caught between Scylla and Charybidis
no matter, i am flattered that you have taken the time to respond
Thank you for your comment.
Throwing down's a good thing (And you're doing a lot of it).
I forgive your so-called "lack of eloquence"--a far second offense to your interesting use of the ellipsis.
That, too, is forgivable and sort of charming. It's kind of like morse code.
Are you a visual artist or poet?
As far as my "inner beauty" is concerned, at least August is not April, the cruelest month.
I looked up "August" on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia:
"Before Augustus renamed August, it was called Sextilis in Latin, since it was the sixth month of the Roman calendar which started in March."
With this knowledge, I prefer my inner beauty to be pegged within the pre-Augustan month of "Sextilis." It's far more tittilating...
hey you, what have we here? poems? poems is it? the lad fancies himself a poet!!!
(pink)Floydian slip
stunned i am, by your inquiry....
i have occasioned to put pen to paper, tho never would i utter the word poet in conjunction with my words....never could i blaspheme the likes of Bronte, Burns, Shelley, Dickinson.... ad infinitum.....
writings have i, but just a few, long, it has been, since my quill has tasted parchment......
admit it, though i must, that you have stirred old feelings within me......i do believe 'you are my MUSE'.....certain i am
a victory, i declare, yes, a victory it is, my verse has 'sort of charmed' you.....
(thank you very much...no, i sincerely mean that, i am flattered
beyond what you could imagine.....i read another of your pieces and i see you went to Vassar, now i understand....but, i'm not surprised....and i'm not anymore impressed....not anymore than i already was, because i am impressed to the max)
last week i was browsing Martin Luther King and it brought me to this site, my first comment was on that piece ......that's when i felt i had stumbled on someone special.......it says in your profile that your 31, which means you were'nt even born when he was taken.....your sensitivity to his work and your respect for his words was evident by your absolute perfect choice to not say a thing in your commentary.....for what could you say, that he did not.......I KNEW .....and then i went back to my search.....it was not long before i returned.....as i said in that first commeentary, i don't even know what blog is, and i still don't....is it just a website for people to talk?....anyway, i began to read another of your entries and i was overwhelmed by your elocution.....THEN, i looked at your picture.....then again, and again....there is a peace within you....your words don't necessarily suggest that, but your countenance does.....your eyes do.......i'm sorry if i took liberties with my initial observations.....i DO know with all my heart, what's inside of you.....you may think this foolish of me....that's OK.........perhaps, it was because i saw me in you......well, at least on some level....i'm not nearly as cute.....so, even though my words took a different form .....i meant EVERYTHING i said.....and YES your inner beauty is 'august'......the old Roman calendar actually only had 10 months....you are correct March was the first month....there was no January or February...they were added as time progressed and they saw the error of their ways.....that's why September (7) October (8) November (9) and December (10) seem out of place....they were the 7th thru 10th originally.....)
mite i be so bold, as to ask the correct pronunciation to your fine name...
my guess is A Lease ia
It's ah-LEE-sha.
And I'm not sure why September through December seems "out of place."
But the great Lords of the Abyss know you have you're own particular logic.
And I'm sorry that you think my words do not emanate peace.
It is not necessarily my bent, peace, yet something that I consider inevitable, ideologically.
But Bronte-as-poet? Please.
Read "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and get back to me.
to the unknowing, Sept thru Dec are 9 thru 12.....yet there root, speaks 7 thru 10.....when one is aware of March as first month it lends itself to why....
it dost seem, 'on occasion', that your pen is a release for some inner turmoil.....
yet, as said afore, also have you shown 'great' compassion...see(MLK)
it apperars, then, that i obfuscate.... having yet, not read, all of your entries, mea culpa for that faux paux.....
"when the student is ready, the teacher shall appear".......the page i fill with pristine thought, yet, mortal am i......and errors are sure to present.......owner to these, i am.........you are a stern master, try as i may to adulate....each misstep i take is highlighted by your "high"ness....
disrespect was no intention, with the failure to mention Keats,
.....you admonish my ignorance.....my intention cost me dearly.....for i originally had Keats among those manifested....yet removed him to present an equal tally of gentlemen and ladies, so as not to offend thee........
thou cannot fade, though thy hast not thy bliss, for ever wilt thy love, and thee be fair
perchance, may your grace exculpate this humble protege.....eager to learn am i....
Alicia is truth, truth Alicia, that's all thy knows on earth, and all thy need to know!!!!
My poetic judgement doth not discern according to sex. Though going along with thy suffragist's bent, why rate Bronte over Browning, Millay or Bishop? At least thou choseth right in Dickinson.
I might expulcate thou were thy crimes petty and had they cursory effects.
Vindicate thou I shall not until seest thou to righting those actions which have resulted in injury.
Then noble be your judgement, true!
'Tis not my bent to rate at all. For, I am not a man of letters, my shallow mind I did search and struggle. To cull, but, these few nom de plumes from my barren memory was a task, indeed! Why must m'lady rebuke me, so....I stand in awe of one so learned!
Emulation, my intent, does be....One would not abscond with thy knowledge.....in thy wake, perchance, may i accrue some of thy scholarship.
"tis I coming to the sacrifice? To what green altar, O mysterious Priestess"
Justly, have I undertaken, thy first assignment....as with my ardor, this task shall not reach consummation, each perusal of the 'Urn' doth intitiate supposition....
Woe, Woe I say.....virtuous was my intent....I pray thee, acquit me of these charges
Not a man of letters? Why thou hast written me four-and-twenty!
Thou, silent form, dost tease me out of thought/ As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
Very well then. As thy crimes are driven by Virtue's wont, I acquit thee.
But stand not in awe of my scholarship: The misspelling of "exculpate" in my last letter is deplorable, and due to the duplicitous law of comment-entry, I cannot redeem myself.
Thus like Oprah Winfrey and James Frey alike, I have been shown my error: Forgive my active words, which have resulted in your injury.
Lecy,
You guys are awesome, this is better than an old movie, like Errol Flynn and Maureen O'Hara. Much better than the soaps. I have to look up half your words in the dictionary. I looked up 'letters' in my Webster's and under the 8th def. it says
a. leterature in general b. the profession of literature c. learning, knowledge...esp of literature
thqats prob what he means here....what am i saying, you already know that...ooops sorry
Ill tune in tomorrow....luv ya!!
jesus would be a badass person to toke with lol
Love it. Word.
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