Gelatine
The character in the movie hissed and spat as he
spoke about 'being trapped in this... gelatine, this prison'. We are
circumscribed, delimited, set inside a labyrinthine set of Chinese dolls, set by
our circumstance, by our living in our time and place, by our genetic make-up
and our environment and culture, by our being human, by our being in this
particular corner of the universe at this point in time. We are also trapped
inside our skull, social animals who are essentially alone. We are the product
of a particular evolution (that is, unless god did create the world complete
with fossile traces, three thousand years ago...). and of our weaknesses, our
being prone to being prey to virus and mémes.. both of which can kill us or
make us better but inevitably change us -a little bit, within the margins of
what can be changed.
And of course at the end of it all we will die. And at the end of all the world itself will die, and the universe after that. How comforting it would be to believe in god and heaven, in eternal life. When we are subject to the horrors of a world that does not care at all about the miracle of existence, where each manifestation of that miracle is elbowing its way, trying to trip the others up, or eat them, or exploit them.... ti is easy to despair. Sometimes I do despair: what can possibly be the point of this life, with its illusion of free will, of meaning and purpose....
Someone gets killed in the most hideous way on camera, for the world to see, by people who have god on their side. For them, their cause is just and warrants all the atrocities, all the suffering and horror they can unleash because they are right, they have the right because it was given to them by god. They will get their reward in heaven, they can forsake their life and other people's because the reward is waiting for them. And their enemies are also driven by god, theirs too is a just cause in the pursuit of which all excesses are justified. And I wonder. Maybe the world is just a sort of automatic clockwork, devoid of purpose, empty of soul and meaning. But it seems to me that that possibility is not as bad, as evil and terrifying, as the alternative: that these people were right and the engine of creation was driven by such a vindictive, cruel, petty minded entity as the god they worship seems to be.
And of course at the end of it all we will die. And at the end of all the world itself will die, and the universe after that. How comforting it would be to believe in god and heaven, in eternal life. When we are subject to the horrors of a world that does not care at all about the miracle of existence, where each manifestation of that miracle is elbowing its way, trying to trip the others up, or eat them, or exploit them.... ti is easy to despair. Sometimes I do despair: what can possibly be the point of this life, with its illusion of free will, of meaning and purpose....
Someone gets killed in the most hideous way on camera, for the world to see, by people who have god on their side. For them, their cause is just and warrants all the atrocities, all the suffering and horror they can unleash because they are right, they have the right because it was given to them by god. They will get their reward in heaven, they can forsake their life and other people's because the reward is waiting for them. And their enemies are also driven by god, theirs too is a just cause in the pursuit of which all excesses are justified. And I wonder. Maybe the world is just a sort of automatic clockwork, devoid of purpose, empty of soul and meaning. But it seems to me that that possibility is not as bad, as evil and terrifying, as the alternative: that these people were right and the engine of creation was driven by such a vindictive, cruel, petty minded entity as the god they worship seems to be.
Posted: Wed - June 23, 2004 at 09:57 AM
Quick Links
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
Archives
XML/RSS Feed
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jul 08, 2005 02:13 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jul 08, 2005 02:13 PM