Praise for the Devil
The Morningstar has saved the universe, again. I've just steamrolled through books 1-10 of the Lucifer series, culminating with the Devil siding with Heaven and existance against the forces of chaos and destruction. Now there's only one book left, tantalizingly close (Jan. 24th release date). One of my favorite aspects of the series is that it takes religion seriously, but not too seriously. Like any other faith, this talk of God and the Devil is a framework and an organizing system that people can use to their own ends. The Devil quoting scripture, and all that.
Look around and you'll see more of it. In Somalia, the the Islamists are on the run, fleeing the work they've accomplished in Mogadishu. It'd be wrong to think of the Islamic Courts Union as an invading Al Qaeda that captured territory. These were local people, fending for themselves in the anarchy that descended when the government dissolved in 1991. These were microcosmic attempts at order -- trying crimes according to Sharia law; funding health care and education through litigants' fees. And it worked. Religion was their tool, used not for doctrinal purity (that was just a side-benefit) but for its authority and law in a time when that was scarce.
Religion can be a good thing, a bulwark against chaos. In the hands of unreasonable men, of course, it leads to shooting people for the "sin" of watching the World Cup. But most things -- a car, insulin, water -- can save a life or end a life, depending on how they're used.
People need belief. I think that's the biggest factor behind the "Buddha Boy" phenomenon. By definition he can't be the reincarnation Siddhartha "The Buddha" Gautama -- The Buddha pulled himself off the wheel of reincarnation -- but they're barrelling ahead with their faith anyway. It's not just the Nepalese; I think Americans too are hungry for a faith that's new and real. The Evangelical/Crazy movement has been feeding on this for some twenty years, but their politics have left the Left out in the agnostic cold. I think these long years of rationality will come to a close within the next decade; not with an abandonment of thought, but with a seizing of the tool of faith, for use in our lives. There'll just need to be a rallying point, something seemingly divine like that little Nepalese Buddha... only relevant for our context.
Maybe it's just phramok and I, progressing from our childhood faith to our teenage anti-theism to a new...something. We can't just ignore faith, or say that God is Dead and expect all those trappings to fade. These stories and traditions -- no more and no less powerful than the rest of our culture -- are implements that guide our trajectory. May they also be our armor and our sword.
Look around and you'll see more of it. In Somalia, the the Islamists are on the run, fleeing the work they've accomplished in Mogadishu. It'd be wrong to think of the Islamic Courts Union as an invading Al Qaeda that captured territory. These were local people, fending for themselves in the anarchy that descended when the government dissolved in 1991. These were microcosmic attempts at order -- trying crimes according to Sharia law; funding health care and education through litigants' fees. And it worked. Religion was their tool, used not for doctrinal purity (that was just a side-benefit) but for its authority and law in a time when that was scarce.
Religion can be a good thing, a bulwark against chaos. In the hands of unreasonable men, of course, it leads to shooting people for the "sin" of watching the World Cup. But most things -- a car, insulin, water -- can save a life or end a life, depending on how they're used.
People need belief. I think that's the biggest factor behind the "Buddha Boy" phenomenon. By definition he can't be the reincarnation Siddhartha "The Buddha" Gautama -- The Buddha pulled himself off the wheel of reincarnation -- but they're barrelling ahead with their faith anyway. It's not just the Nepalese; I think Americans too are hungry for a faith that's new and real. The Evangelical/Crazy movement has been feeding on this for some twenty years, but their politics have left the Left out in the agnostic cold. I think these long years of rationality will come to a close within the next decade; not with an abandonment of thought, but with a seizing of the tool of faith, for use in our lives. There'll just need to be a rallying point, something seemingly divine like that little Nepalese Buddha... only relevant for our context.
Maybe it's just phramok and I, progressing from our childhood faith to our teenage anti-theism to a new...something. We can't just ignore faith, or say that God is Dead and expect all those trappings to fade. These stories and traditions -- no more and no less powerful than the rest of our culture -- are implements that guide our trajectory. May they also be our armor and our sword.