Washblog

Compared to my generation and those before me, our young at heart in America seem to have available a much smaller span of mythical images with which to relate to contemporary society. Yet there are some images which, almost by contemporary definition, must be inseparably linked to the medium through which they are best absorbed.

One sample of 20th-century myth-making - received via dark, popcorn-&-pepsi theater settings - comes to us as famed entertainment.

One ponders that perhaps entertainment is the only venue from which can come any holistic view of human spirituality. It's is a holistic need that goes beyond the scientific and logical literalism that seems to focus our attention and learning span.

This literalism permeates contemporary perception for all of us. Precisely through media propaganda weaponry, modern shallow moralists market their mental products and push us towared dependence on outside sources to tell us what to think, how to belong, how/why to conform and how not to bear any nuisance of personal independence and freedom.

"Trust the force, Luke!"

In the original Star Wars film the climactic scenes are defined only after that the spiritual prompting voice of Skywalker's mentor can be heard. Subsequent group salvation thru the hero's triumph is achieved only after the young prophet lets go of doing things by the Book.

I suspect that though perhaps not a conscious awareness, our youngest adult generation today has an internal grasp of that particular concept.

We need more of that and less spiritual literalism that looks mostly like the old Simian Prophet who asserts and flexes his authority based on long-term social programming in the film Planet of the Apes.

We have Old Fartis the senior scholar/priest  constantly quoting a historical lawgiver who no longer needs creditiliby established because  of long-term social programming. It is heretical to question the validity of the ancient lawgiver as told through contemporary old-fart-tales!

In knee-jerk fashion the lawgiver's contemporar minions demand submiission to the get-back-in-line social orthodoxy that authorizes those in charge to irrevocably remain in the driver's seat.

"Luke, don't you ever turn off your scripture machine, you can't trust the force!" is the suggestion of those who worship in idol of inerrant scripture that was never the intent of Christ.

Jesus was never the "lawgiving" autocratic authoritarian described by those who walk around dragging a leather-bound lawgiver's manual to justify the dumbest and most useless letter-of-the law notions that plague us today.

Such is not and was never Jesus' intended use of the Bible.

Why isn't that mythical image of letting go the biblical training wheels and trusting the spirit the integral part of raising children to become spiritual adults rather than future aged children afraid of deeper waters?

The Bible is not useful as a literalist construct of "shoulds, should'nts" or rewards-&-punishments that gets dragged around in a knuckle-scratching manner by strutting simian/human demagogues who are afraid of deep waters.

"Stay here in the shallow end of the pool kids, where we're in charge and you can have fun splashing without ever having to risk deeper waters. Sure the shallow end of the pool doesn't have much room to explore, but you don't need to explore since your pulpit pounders will tell you - by the Book - all the important stuff you need to know.

Luke, don't you ever turn off your scripture machine, you can't trust the force!"

Liars

Arthur
You sure you ain't staking too much on yer theories? Not enough common sense?

there is a bottle cap on my desk which I KNOW is the source of all intelligence and all life on the planet -

if this biblical whackjob can sell his snake oil fantasy, I want to sell my bottle cap reality!

Send me 10% of your earnings for the next 5 years, OR, 10% of your net worth if it is over $500,000.00, and I'll send you a jpg of my inspirational bottle cap.

rmm.

http://www.liemail.com/BambooGrassroots.html