[lbo-talk] Re: the gibson jesus

Carl Remick carlremick at hotmail.com
Fri Feb 27 09:24:23 PST 2004



>From: andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com>
>
>And while I'm a nontheist myself, I don't think that
>politics should depend on metaphysics, so apart from
>casual chitchat with friends, I don't talk about it in
>politics. Do you think it's a good idea to make a
>point of attacking people's deepest beliefs on
>relatively peripheral matters, rather than trying to
>make common cause with them on points where you can
>agree? As long as others have a real commitment to
>progressive change based on conviction, does it matter
>if their convictions differ from yours?

That's eminently sensible in terms of coaltion building. But forget about your allies, what about your enemies -- those who believe politics damn well *should* depend on metaphysics? It is folly to ignore that US politics have become more and more corrupted by religion over the past generation or so. How is one supposed to deal with this? Clearly, denouncing or ridiculing religious views accomplishes nothing and can typically be expected to intensify the fervor of the faithful.


>I agree with W that religion is not why this country
>is so backwards. That is a Voltairian prejudice. It is
>not materialist. Marx, also a nontheist, diagnosed the
>problem correctly, and having done so did not bother
>to make religion a target. If it really is the soul of
>soulless conditions, it may dissipate when conditions
>are better. That may account in part for the relative
>irreligiousity of the European social democracies.
>
>jks

Religion presents a very unstable variable in any materialist explanation of social conduct. Religious Man is quite a different creature from Economic Man; the latter seeks abundance and comfort, the former often seeks sacrifice and pain in the name of higher glory and salvation. The ecstatic reception that's been given to Mel Gibson's sacralized snuff film is disturbing to say the least. Is this just another meaningless media frenzy -- like the Titanic, Blair Witch Trial, Matrix, etc. -- or does this exceptionally sordid movie indicate that we have devolved to a distinctly lower level of society? I get the feeling more and more that rationality itself is in retreat, certainly in the US.

Carl

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