Epic

If you’re not convinced of the Flying Spaghetti God’s existence, this may convince you not to believe in the Invisible Pink Unicorn either. If so, I’ve done a service by posting it.

Discovered this gem over at Atheist Mind.

Marx famously said, “Religion is the opiate of the people.” I disagree. Religion, in my view, is the delivery system for what we deeply crave, similar to a needle delivering heroin. The drug is powerfully deadly because it satisfies a deep craving, but at a huge cost to our real world awareness. Unfortunately, the needle can be at least as dangerous. An ideal religion is one that is both sterile and sharp, delivering its message with a minimum of disruption and little chance of subsequent infection.

Meditation anyone?

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Living a storied life

A really thoughtful blog over on Ferrett’s livejournal. It’s particularly relevant to us writer types, who are constantly looking for “story” in the everyday.

I agree with his analysis and would even go one step further to suggest that this need for story, this seed of psychodrama, is one way we are manipulated. Politicians, priests, advertisers and even newscasters are well aware that narrative compels the majority to (varying degrees of) action. He or she who controls the narrative controls the issue… unless the masses are aware of this lever and can effectively disengage it from their impulse to act. And no, this is not a call to arms against the machine (that would be ironic, wouldn’t it?), but a simple observation. Writers, in particular, need to be aware of motivational drives in people.

The difference, of course, is that we writers only use that power for good. (Is my face straight?)

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Faith

I was flipping through channels today and heard a preacher man explaining to the devoted that faith “is certainty in what you cannot see” or something to that effect. I don’t argue with that literal statement, but do worry that we have come to revere this idea of faith too greatly. The person who believes in something against all odds and who turns out to be right is  glorified. The person who believes in something unseen, but turns out to be wrong is vilified. Of course what is “right” today might be “wrong” tomorrow, meaning that our faith is something of a crap shoot at best.

Wouldn’t it be easier to worry less about being right about what we cannot perceive and focus instead on achieving a consensus around the world we can? Does it really matter whether my god can beat yours? (She can, but that’s beside the point). In this era of nukes and climate change, I think we’d do better to direct our efforts elsewhere.

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