Re: pessimist

Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Fri, 06 Feb 1998 14:01:47 -0800 

Scottie Bowman wrote:

>         `...Yeah, really,' asks Malcolm. `What's so funny 'bout
>         peace, love and understanding?'
>
>         There's certainly nothing funny about them.  Their tragedy is,
>         all too often, their futility.

Well quite often love is its own reward. Which is probably the major reason why
a culture so spiritually wrapped up in the "But, what's in it for me?" mindset
still doesn't get it.

>         The Buddhist quietism that seems to underlie much of Salinger's
>         philosophy presents a difficulty for some of us who are still
>         haunted by the great lesson of the 1930s.  At that time, the horrors
>         of the first World War remained so vivid in the minds of ordinary
>         people & many politicians (who had themselves fought in it) that
>         almost any pacific compromise seemed preferable to a reptition of
>         them.  But while Britain & France crawled to Munich - & America
>         determinedly shut her eyes - much worse horrors were gathering.

Love is, can and should be an attainable ideal. But no matter how pacified one's
views are, that's no reason or excuse to remain passive or apathetic in the face
of evil, which is what evil depends upon nine times out of ten.

>         That's the sad thing.  Love, understanding, good intentions, prayer,
>         self-sacrifice & so on - in many situations, they're no bloody use.

Only in a practical sense which can not be well illustrated at the bottom of a
bank ledger. Yet if there weren't the attendant lower lights of love, i.e.
honor, nobility, allegiance, loyalty, trustworthiness, dignity, integrity, etc.
(those things which can only be measured over a period of time) we would all be
cold, intolerant, bigoted, self-serving, careless, unsympathetic, unempathetic,
greedy, materialistic (those things which can be measured immediately) cretins
with no reason to speak to each other. Our estrangement from the rest of
humanity would torture the soul so much that we'd all commit suicide.

You have to remember that (if we're going to root this in a discussion of
Christ) the political dynamics surrounding the time of Christ had as much to do
with the teachings of Christ as they did with his advanced concept of
spirituality. The best way for an oppressed people who are surrounded by a
political monopoly to defend themselves is NOT to become splintered. Christ knew
this. T.E. Lawrence knew this. Martin Luther King Jr. knew this.

To love one's enemies is not to obliviously turn your head and willingly let
evil be done to you, but is to remember that they aren't that different from
you. Therefore to hate them is to hate that part of yourself which you can't
accept which is spiritually poisonous territory. The effort needs to be in
trying to change their consciousness and usually this is only accomplished if
you approach the other person kindly and gently, because, after all, we ARE all
one. However when it escalates to war, to remain passive in the face of evil is
to be an accomplice. "Just following orders, sir."

The recent postulation of why it's much more chic to be a Buddhist than a
Christian if anything has to do with the ways the name of Christ has been abused
and exploited in the name of a world wide corporation whose raison detre is
similar to a cancerous cell. Or to quote John Giorno: "Anytime anyone asks you
to look up at the sky, you KNOW they have their hands in your pockets."

Those who have the gall to call themselves Christians usually don't know the
difference between a simile and a metaphor, let alone know how to interpret the
writings of the Bible (which, as we've already discussed and agreed was/is not a
COMPLETE document) metaphorically. I would never call myself a Christian because
that puts you in league with some pretty shady people who take his name in vain
in order to make you feel as if you're not as righteous as they as (spiritual
one-upmanship), HOWEVER I absolutely respect the teachings of Christ and would
rather get down in the streets and apply his teachings (which you can't do
unless you know how to love) than merely be content to go to a church that
doesn't allow dissent and merely mouth the words and feel as if you've done your
bit this week to make sure you get a seat in heaven in the next life. Those who
love are already aware that we are IN heaven.

Malcolm