Creating gods in our own image – some random thoughts
Somehow our fierce American independence has ironically resulted in our being the most conformist society on the planet. We've smashed our guitars, burned our flags, and even poured urine on the image of Christ. And now that we've done all that, what have we got left? Nothing. So we've settled into a life of complacency. We can't come up with music more abrasive or behavior more outlandish, so we've now taken to worshipping our own existence, eerily echoing the words of St. Paul who wrote...
“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”
This has resulted in a society where we are our own paradigm. We no longer have a God to look to for truth. There is no truth. It is all relative. Therefore, WE have become the truth. For, you see, we MUST have truth. We must have order and example. It's hardwired into us. So, in exchange for the gods of the past, we've determined our own truth -- our own system of deciding what is significant.
And what is it that we think is significant? Well, here we'll find nothing new. It's the same list that was kicked around in the fourth century: money and what it can buy, fame and adulation, sensory pleasure. There's absolutely nothing new here.
This is what we grope for ...the house, the car, the stock portfolio, the schools our kids go to, the clothes we wear ...winning all the little pissing contests in life to elevate our status: the meetings at work, political debates amongst friends and colleagues, boasting in our victories and those of our family ...having the optimum sex life: how do we stack up against the sex and the city girls and those desperate housewives? Are we able to get it up as often as we should or do we need a Viagra?
These paradigms have become our truth. There is no truth beyond them anymore.
I don't just mean this to be a soapbox for monotheism. Even in the pantheism and spiritual exploration of the 1960s there was something of a belief in truth and goodness. It was the idea of there being "better angels of our nature" that moved us. As Joni Mitchell wrote, “We've got to get ourselves back to the garden” But, in order to do that, there has to be the notion of a garden. And it seems that we no longer even believe in the concept.
“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”
This has resulted in a society where we are our own paradigm. We no longer have a God to look to for truth. There is no truth. It is all relative. Therefore, WE have become the truth. For, you see, we MUST have truth. We must have order and example. It's hardwired into us. So, in exchange for the gods of the past, we've determined our own truth -- our own system of deciding what is significant.
And what is it that we think is significant? Well, here we'll find nothing new. It's the same list that was kicked around in the fourth century: money and what it can buy, fame and adulation, sensory pleasure. There's absolutely nothing new here.
This is what we grope for ...the house, the car, the stock portfolio, the schools our kids go to, the clothes we wear ...winning all the little pissing contests in life to elevate our status: the meetings at work, political debates amongst friends and colleagues, boasting in our victories and those of our family ...having the optimum sex life: how do we stack up against the sex and the city girls and those desperate housewives? Are we able to get it up as often as we should or do we need a Viagra?
These paradigms have become our truth. There is no truth beyond them anymore.
I don't just mean this to be a soapbox for monotheism. Even in the pantheism and spiritual exploration of the 1960s there was something of a belief in truth and goodness. It was the idea of there being "better angels of our nature" that moved us. As Joni Mitchell wrote, “We've got to get ourselves back to the garden” But, in order to do that, there has to be the notion of a garden. And it seems that we no longer even believe in the concept.
posted by Q at 4:33 PM
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