(no subject)
As of late, my educational mind has been preoccupied by two books: Faust by Marlowe/Goethe and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. It has only recently dawned on me that both might be indicative of a greater psychological shift in my way of thinking...
I posed a question to myself just now, asking, "Do I believe in the devil?" And my instinct was to reply "Yes." And yet, if asked "Do I believe in God?" my first reaction is "No." (And by both of these questions, I mean to simply refer to their existence, not whether they are personal/interacting with humanity). Quite the paradox, but not surprising given the literature.
I *want* the devil to exist, because I feel he would be a fun person. God, on the other hand, seems like a barrier to any sense of genuine personal happiness. Frankly, I don't trust the guy. At least I have art which teaches me not to trust the devil. But unconditional love? It doesn't exist in my mind. And I sincerely don't think any act to be truly selfless. (This has been a big arguing point with several of my friends here in Edinburgh. Feel free to fight me on it, but I acknowledge that any charitable action, even if seemingly without benefiting either oneself or an organisation, does add an amount of positive public recognition. And if not, then the private sensation of embetterment is equally a selfish gesture. Helping those who are worse off than you essentially makes you feel good at their expense. I have yet to find anyone who helps those below him or herself to climb so far up the proverbial ladder as to surpass the initial charitable supplier. And if they do, then certainly they have been rewarded by the aforementioned public recognition.) (Yes, I am aware that my argument essentially creates an impossible catch-22 to disprove. That is one reason why I still feel confident about it.)
But you know the crazy part about my way of thinking? And what I think a lot of people don't "get" about it? It comforts me.
I don't worry about the world as a battle of good vs. evil; black vs. white; monotheism vs. polytheism. I equally distrust everyone! And with that out of the way, I can get on to enjoying myself with the options that are available. Instead of worrying about a grand scheme of morality, I can make decisions on my own that suit my circumstances. I cannot argue which style of thought provokes more or less decision-making in terms of numbers, perhaps, but in terms of strife I feel that mine is certainly the easier route. Whatever problem arises, I can trust my own judgement to handle. And the best part? I allow other people to do this as well.
Yes, I am even including crazy stupid religous people in this statement. At this juncture, I think of religiousism as no more than a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. As long as it does not hurt me, feel free to wash your hands as many times as you feel necessary. (And yes, I am revealing - or perhaps reveling - in my ignorance of OCD with that statement.)
But as I grow into a more news-conscience person (yay for podcasts), I cannot help but imagine all of the global problems that would have been avoided with the un-invention of religion (this is different than, say, the extermination of all religions that currently exist. That, I feel, would only create a vaccum of people-with-nothing-to-believe and would probably allow an even worse deity to step forward). Other problems may arise, but at least we could remove a few layers of "excusable" bullshit. The allowance of "special circumstances" for religious beliefs is one of the biggest motivators in strengthening my philosophy, and perhaps can be argued that, in a way, religion does "hurt me," if only in the wasted money of tax dollars. The next step for me, inevitably, is to simply form my own personal religion so that *I* too can get away with all sorts of illegal (and immoral) (and illogical) bullshit, thus levelling the playing field.
Heh. I could talk in circles about this for a while, but it would take too long to sort out my ideas, and whatever opinions I have now will certainly change before they become organised in my mind, anyway. So, I must get back to dissertating. But this has been a fun chat. By the way, 3,947/14,000 words... but most of it is still a very rough and shapeless draft. 'til later!
I posed a question to myself just now, asking, "Do I believe in the devil?" And my instinct was to reply "Yes." And yet, if asked "Do I believe in God?" my first reaction is "No." (And by both of these questions, I mean to simply refer to their existence, not whether they are personal/interacting with humanity). Quite the paradox, but not surprising given the literature.
I *want* the devil to exist, because I feel he would be a fun person. God, on the other hand, seems like a barrier to any sense of genuine personal happiness. Frankly, I don't trust the guy. At least I have art which teaches me not to trust the devil. But unconditional love? It doesn't exist in my mind. And I sincerely don't think any act to be truly selfless. (This has been a big arguing point with several of my friends here in Edinburgh. Feel free to fight me on it, but I acknowledge that any charitable action, even if seemingly without benefiting either oneself or an organisation, does add an amount of positive public recognition. And if not, then the private sensation of embetterment is equally a selfish gesture. Helping those who are worse off than you essentially makes you feel good at their expense. I have yet to find anyone who helps those below him or herself to climb so far up the proverbial ladder as to surpass the initial charitable supplier. And if they do, then certainly they have been rewarded by the aforementioned public recognition.) (Yes, I am aware that my argument essentially creates an impossible catch-22 to disprove. That is one reason why I still feel confident about it.)
But you know the crazy part about my way of thinking? And what I think a lot of people don't "get" about it? It comforts me.
I don't worry about the world as a battle of good vs. evil; black vs. white; monotheism vs. polytheism. I equally distrust everyone! And with that out of the way, I can get on to enjoying myself with the options that are available. Instead of worrying about a grand scheme of morality, I can make decisions on my own that suit my circumstances. I cannot argue which style of thought provokes more or less decision-making in terms of numbers, perhaps, but in terms of strife I feel that mine is certainly the easier route. Whatever problem arises, I can trust my own judgement to handle. And the best part? I allow other people to do this as well.
Yes, I am even including crazy stupid religous people in this statement. At this juncture, I think of religiousism as no more than a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. As long as it does not hurt me, feel free to wash your hands as many times as you feel necessary. (And yes, I am revealing - or perhaps reveling - in my ignorance of OCD with that statement.)
But as I grow into a more news-conscience person (yay for podcasts), I cannot help but imagine all of the global problems that would have been avoided with the un-invention of religion (this is different than, say, the extermination of all religions that currently exist. That, I feel, would only create a vaccum of people-with-nothing-to-believe and would probably allow an even worse deity to step forward). Other problems may arise, but at least we could remove a few layers of "excusable" bullshit. The allowance of "special circumstances" for religious beliefs is one of the biggest motivators in strengthening my philosophy, and perhaps can be argued that, in a way, religion does "hurt me," if only in the wasted money of tax dollars. The next step for me, inevitably, is to simply form my own personal religion so that *I* too can get away with all sorts of illegal (and immoral) (and illogical) bullshit, thus levelling the playing field.
Heh. I could talk in circles about this for a while, but it would take too long to sort out my ideas, and whatever opinions I have now will certainly change before they become organised in my mind, anyway. So, I must get back to dissertating. But this has been a fun chat. By the way, 3,947/14,000 words... but most of it is still a very rough and shapeless draft. 'til later!