Re: Lolita, but more about GOD
Paul Kennedy (kennedyp@toronto.cbc.ca)
Sat, 13 Mar 1999 14:19:03 -0500 (EST)
Rick:
You asked,
> What's going on with the return to Puritanism everywhere?
I'll be betraying my age (not to mention totally out-of-fashion political
instincts) to quote a now almost totally un-read political thinker, but what
the heck,
"Religion is the opiate of the masses......"
Of course, you and I (and Seymour Glass) know that religion is potentially
much richer and deeper than mere opium--but not in the hollow form practised
by a growing number of fundamentalists from all over the world. And I
guess, given the way the world seems to be going (Indian sub-continent,
etc., etc.) many of the masses see opium as an attractive option. Heck, on
my bad days, I sometimes think I wouldn't mind giving it a try myself.
(Single malt still does the trick in a pinch, though.)
And now--not really about Lolita, but about culture in OZ--let me send
Camille and all her compatriots my almost jealous praise, and that of many
other people who live in the big pink piece of geography on the other side
of the world. I used to think Canadian culture (Alice Munro, Margaret
Atwood, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Donald Sutherland, Alanis Morisette, the
barenaked ladies, etc., etc...) was infinitely superior to Australian
culture--more mature, more civilized. But it feels like you guys have more
than caught up in recent years. Congratulations! And keep up the good work
(which might mean turfing out your "Liberal" --huh?-- government. It sounds
like your Liberals are almost as screwed up as our "Progressive
Conservatives"...)
Cheers,
Paul