Pardon the alliteration in the title. I do that sometimes. Today seems to be a time of contemplation. I am working on something that I can more or less do on auto-pilot (html formatting), so my overactive brain has decided to wander down some odd paths. I read an article at lunch about the differences between polytheism, pantheism and something called panentheism. Fascinating stuff. For those unfamiliar with the words, polytheism is the belief in many Gods. This is a literal belief that such entities exist as separate beings with disparate personalities and control over different aspects of reality. Not really my thing, to be honest. I tend to see god figures as Man's attempt to personify the forces of nature in a way that our feeble intellects can comprehend. Pantheism is the belief that Deity exists in all things, that the Universe and everything in it are part of a Divine whole. Panentheism is the belief that Deity both permeates all aspects of reality and also extends into an unfathomable "otherness" that exists separate from and independent of our Universe. Interesting, huh? Personally, I don't think that we humans have even come close to grasping the truth behind why we exist and the underlying nature of that existence. I also think that while discovering such truths is a noble pursuit, we'd all be better off if we stopped getting our panties in a wad about who's supposition about such things is more "true" and started worrying about dragging our misbegotten race into a more enlightened and benevolent future. But I seem to be in the minority with that attitude.
In other parts of my mental landscape, I can't help but ponder what it all means. The whole "existence" thing. I'd be fairly disappointed to find out that it was all for nothing. You know, dying off and realizing that we just go "poof" and vanish. I'd rather some afterlife tour guide pop up and tell me that, yes, my life was a trial run for bigger and better things, or that it was a voluntary adventure designed to break the monotony of an eternally blissful (and kind of boring) spiritual paradise. Maybe we are all embryonic little Deities in our own right that have to go through several stages of development before taking over the family business with Universes of our own, thus ensuring new and interesting realities will continue to spawn ad infinitum. It amuses me to speculate about such things. Of course, I'm probably way off base. Even at the level of our fairly droll and predictable reality, nothing is ever so straightforward as it seems. Whatever the answer is, it will probably be something so novel and unexpected that we'll all just kind of gasp in shock at the preposterousness of it and then laugh ourselves silly until our sides hurt and we are all red-faced, teary-eyed and breathless. I mean, the Universe seems to laugh at us on a daily basis. Serves it right if we point and laugh back once we see it for what it really is.
In other news, the fight continues in California over the whole "gay marriage" thing. You have one side arguing for the right to marry who the hell ever they want, regardless of their respective genital configuration and the other side screaming about "unnatural and ungodly perversion" and our "hedonistic society". Well, as far as I can tell, Nature doesn't give a rat's hairy ass about the subject and since when does the State get to dictate who we love and how we express it, anyway? Besides, nobody is saying that they are going to institute gay marriage and outlaw heterosexual ones. Just giving gays the same options is not going to negate what's special and meaningful about my marriage. If Joe Bob and his gay lover, George*, want to sign a paper saying they are legally co-habitating and have an overdressed representative of their respective God figure give them a blessing, how does that do a damn thing to hurt anyone else? Hell, it might even help to bring a few more loving, caring relationships into the world. And we could certainly use more, not less, of those in this screwed up, violence-obsessed, hate-mongering world of ours. What it boils down to is the majority seeking to impose their (mostly religious) viewpoint on everyone else through governmental decree. Sound good to you? I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure mob rule is a "bad thing". So are theocracies, if the Middle East is any example. Something to think about.
*Disclaimer: Joe Bob and George are fictional gay men in a fictional gay marriage, which is sure to offend the fictional fundamentalist Christians living three houses down from them. It probably doesn't help that their fictional yard is much better landscaped then everyone else's on the block and since they don't have any fictional children, they have a lot more disposable income than the fictional Christian family with their five fictional kids to support. The author claims no responsibility for a fictional mob beating the crap out of the fictional gay couple in a fit of fictional homophobic violence. Additionally, the management wishes to apologize for the gratuitous overuse of the word "fictional" and assures the reader that the neurons in the author's brain responsible for it have been permanently reassigned to the Basic Motor Functions Department. Ths msasage is brouhgt to yoo by teh leter "D".
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3 comments:
That was random...
Yeah, the real question is always "what will the state do next." In Canada, you can be taken to the human rights commission and sued for saying something offensive to a minority group.
Frankly, it always comes down to Male Sexual Predators. How do we keep them away from children, male or female. Traditionally we worry more about male/female and have good safeguards. Male/male exploitation just hasn't been explored well in any country. The relatively quick jump (by society standards) from the closet to the protected list, has left a lot of loopholes in the laws and in the norms of society that just haven't been examined.
Prime Subject: Afterlife. Why the heck is it so hidden, anyway? Huh? I mean, if we have some connection to it while we are alive, it seems like we should be able to see it better...somehow. Just pondering
A little randomness is good for the soul. Plus, it keeps people wondering whether or not your smile is benign or psychotic.
I just happened on an article about the Gay Marriage subject a little before I wrote that post, so it was fresh on my mind. I have issues with the State playing moral authority when it comes to things that nobody can reasonably prove harmful. Pointing to the writings of 2,000+ year old homophobes is not proof enough to persecute people through legal discrimination. Sorry. Child molestation is a different animal, since there are provable harmful effects resulting from it, but gay marriage is simply nobodies business but the couples involved.
As for the afterlife, I've often thought that our dreams may be that connection you were talking about. It's interesting that sleep has been called the "little death".
Good though, sleep. I wish I could figure out how that worked though. I never get USEFUL information across.
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