Finding Comfort in The Banal
As humans we need a reason as to why we exist, who we are and why we are here. We all try to find reassurance to our lives in the things that we do and believe in.
We need to find a place where we are accepted by our fellow man. Some find it in the jobs that they work. They define themselves by the work that they do. A doctor is not merely a person who helps heal the sick and wounded he is a Doctor , no longer a Mr. Smith or Ms. Smith but Dr. Smith. Others find it in the material possessions that they own or seek to acquire. I own a Harley therefore I am a biker. Our fashion, our bodies, the places that we live and of course our sexual partners and the relationships with them. We all want to belong, to be accepted by others. It comforts us to quantify ourselves. It makes us tangible.
We find comfort in the causes we choose to endorse. Greenpeace goes to great lengths to save the ecosystem. Red Cross travels the world dispersing aid and food. Both are good causes, but do we join these causes purely because it is the right thing to do, because we wish to leave the world a better place? Or is it so we can lay on our death beds and truly believe , I made a positive impact in this world , I left my mark here, I shall be remembered.
But when we try to leave our positive mark in the world we sometimes do so in a negative fashion without realizing it. A group may save a swampland from being bulldozed over because a certain bird makes a nest there but the same land was being used for housing. Who has the greater need? A bird or a family who needs to live in the area to work and support their family. An aid group might make a supply drop to a wartorn area of Africa but the aid is distributed unknowingly amongst guerrilla soldiers giving them the nourishment and medical supply to allow them to keep killing. Because something may look positive on the surface there can be negative consequences.
Religion is the ultimate blanket of comfort to most of the world. If there is no God my life is pointless and devoid of any meaning. My religion is the only right way, the only true one. If yours was true, I am false and so is my existence. I will fight you with words and actions to defend my viewpoint. Even with no direct action you are comforted in your divine right to a happy afterlife. Who needs action when you just know. The truth is no one knows and if they claim to have a knowledge of any life after death it is false. But to acknowledge this is detrimental to who you are as a living being. The basis of all religions is the same, live by our rules and teaching and you are guaranteed a happy afterlife. Is this not the ultimate in comfort and control?
All the great leaders know that Religion is control. Ask president Bush, what better way to gain some votes then to mention God. God Speaks Through Me, George W. Bush. http://www.irregulartimes.com/godspeaksthroughme.html . Or shall we move further away from our own door step. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran knows this simple fact. In fact throughout all of history the ruling Monarch could not make any drastic move without first consenting the church. To question God or the leaders of the world is to question ourselves and our own fallibility.
Without all of this we are nothing more then animals with the ability of complex thought and perception. We are no longer special, we are nothing but dust and ash after we are gone. Our lives now are more comfortable then any other generation of man to come before us. We live longer , we have fat bellies and a roof above our heads. Yet we still seek more, we cannot lay back and simply be. We must find meaning in the meaningless, a definition of ourselves and humanity, why we are here. We destroy ourselves and each other to find the answer. But tell me who is more content in life, the sea turtle drifting through the currents of the oceans living life for the moment or man.
As humans we need a reason as to why we exist, who we are and why we are here. We all try to find reassurance to our lives in the things that we do and believe in.
We need to find a place where we are accepted by our fellow man. Some find it in the jobs that they work. They define themselves by the work that they do. A doctor is not merely a person who helps heal the sick and wounded he is a Doctor , no longer a Mr. Smith or Ms. Smith but Dr. Smith. Others find it in the material possessions that they own or seek to acquire. I own a Harley therefore I am a biker. Our fashion, our bodies, the places that we live and of course our sexual partners and the relationships with them. We all want to belong, to be accepted by others. It comforts us to quantify ourselves. It makes us tangible.
We find comfort in the causes we choose to endorse. Greenpeace goes to great lengths to save the ecosystem. Red Cross travels the world dispersing aid and food. Both are good causes, but do we join these causes purely because it is the right thing to do, because we wish to leave the world a better place? Or is it so we can lay on our death beds and truly believe , I made a positive impact in this world , I left my mark here, I shall be remembered.
But when we try to leave our positive mark in the world we sometimes do so in a negative fashion without realizing it. A group may save a swampland from being bulldozed over because a certain bird makes a nest there but the same land was being used for housing. Who has the greater need? A bird or a family who needs to live in the area to work and support their family. An aid group might make a supply drop to a wartorn area of Africa but the aid is distributed unknowingly amongst guerrilla soldiers giving them the nourishment and medical supply to allow them to keep killing. Because something may look positive on the surface there can be negative consequences.
Religion is the ultimate blanket of comfort to most of the world. If there is no God my life is pointless and devoid of any meaning. My religion is the only right way, the only true one. If yours was true, I am false and so is my existence. I will fight you with words and actions to defend my viewpoint. Even with no direct action you are comforted in your divine right to a happy afterlife. Who needs action when you just know. The truth is no one knows and if they claim to have a knowledge of any life after death it is false. But to acknowledge this is detrimental to who you are as a living being. The basis of all religions is the same, live by our rules and teaching and you are guaranteed a happy afterlife. Is this not the ultimate in comfort and control?
All the great leaders know that Religion is control. Ask president Bush, what better way to gain some votes then to mention God. God Speaks Through Me, George W. Bush. http://www.irregulartimes.com/godspeaksthroughme.html . Or shall we move further away from our own door step. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran knows this simple fact. In fact throughout all of history the ruling Monarch could not make any drastic move without first consenting the church. To question God or the leaders of the world is to question ourselves and our own fallibility.
Without all of this we are nothing more then animals with the ability of complex thought and perception. We are no longer special, we are nothing but dust and ash after we are gone. Our lives now are more comfortable then any other generation of man to come before us. We live longer , we have fat bellies and a roof above our heads. Yet we still seek more, we cannot lay back and simply be. We must find meaning in the meaningless, a definition of ourselves and humanity, why we are here. We destroy ourselves and each other to find the answer. But tell me who is more content in life, the sea turtle drifting through the currents of the oceans living life for the moment or man.
jenya:
did you write that? cuz i very much agree
raygunnx9:
afraid so