2 posts tagged “misc”
I am trying out a new iPod/iPhone app called LifeCasting. I will review it at a later time.
Posted with LifeCast
For this post, I am moving, temporally to a more philosophical stance. I will return to the Technical/social shortly.
30 years ago this week, I was only 10 years old, but I remember hearing the awful news report of the Jonestown mass suicide lead by the charismatic, and enigmatic, Jim Jones. Over the years, I have watch documentaries and special “Made-for-TV” movies about the leader and the events which culminated in the “revolutionary suicide” committed in the SouthAmerican jungle. A site I read with regularity, BoingBoing.net, (warning, some of their posts I consider nsfw or children, but they do a good job of warning you up front) has been doing a series of posts about the events which happened 30 years ago. One post caught my eye, not primarily because of its topic, but one of the comments left at the end.
A poster going by the name of FoetusNail, posted a comment which, at first, I dismissed as just another person decrying how all religion is bad and anyone who believes in God, or any other religion of belief system should be dismissed as delusional, you know, the normal knee jerk-anti-religion stuff. But after re-reading the posts by this person again, several statements stood out to me as being, first, thought provoking, and second, ringing withat least a bit of truth. the first quote which caught my eye was
The problem is not that Jim Jones went crazy; no one learns the lesson, few get to the root of the problem. So, they asked what would that be, FoetusNail. Religion, all religions that rely on beliefs instead of logic are destructive. All paths lead to Guyana. (emphasis added)
This quote, right from the top of his comment, strikes me as both ringing with some truth, and at the same time being broad to condemn all beliefs. I agree we do not, as humans, ever seem to truly learn from our past. Because our collective memory seems to fade with time, tragic events such as Jonestown fade from our memories. I will be the first to admit that while I was fascinated in the short years after the tragedy, I would not have known this week was the 30th anniversary of the mass suicide unless I had read it on another blog. I think this is the case with all tragedy. Even more recent events, such as 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina have faded from the view of those who were/are not directly impacted. Because we do not remember, are we then doomed to repeat these tragedies over and over again?
Getting back to the poster’s original intent, is it then true to accept the general assumption that all belief systems eventually lead down the path of destruction of self or others? History does seem to support that thought process. From the Crusades, to the mass killings in Darfur. or from the gas chambers of Nazi Germany, to the “work camps” of Stalin’s Soviet Union, it appears humans seem to fail and see dogmatism, whether religious or political in nature, almost always leads to death and destruction. Does it then follow that all beliefs lead down this path? It is almost certain that some truly believe this, but I do not and cannot begin to accept this as a logical progression. Belief does not always lead to destruction, but it can, and may times does lead to restoration and hope.
It is to thus Hope that I personally hold on to for all it is worth. I do not overly stress when things go poorly because I have this Hope. I try not to worry in times of trouble because I have this Hope. If having this Hope marks me as delusional in some people’s minds, I would rather hold my Hope, because it is better than anything else I have been shown or offered in my life.
In all of this I am reminded of a selection from The Silver Chair by CS Lewis which I think sums up my view nicely.
Context: Our heroes are held captive in a horrid underground world where everything is darkness and despair. A witch has cast a spell on them and has tried (and nearly succeeded) to convince them that there is no other world but her underworld, and that all their memories of sun and sky and flowers are but dreams and nothing. Just as it looks as if all is lost…
Puddleglum, a marshwiggle known for always looking on the not so bright side of life, marshals his courage, stamps on the fire helping the witch cast a spell, knowing it will injure his foot, and responds in this way:
One word, Ma’am” he said coming back from the fire; limping because of the pain. “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we haveonly dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom isthe only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia…. [W]e’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland.
