Thinking about religion

[andrewducker]

I'd been thinking about religion and its origins (something which occasionally springs to mind, and was pushed thataway this time by Douglas Adams in one of the essays in Salmon of Doubt). I was, as per usual, writing an LJ entry in my head as a background task.

And then I bumped into this, which obviated any need for me to write anything at all:

I finished reading VALIS by Phillip K. Dick last night (which I neither loved nor hated, despite predictions) and formulated my own theory of myth (which I’m sure has been formulated by others many times over). Western myths, it seems to me, assume the following:

1) Death is scary.

2) The world is horrible and imperfect.

3) Humans are special.

4) Since humans are special and the world is horrible and imperfect, something has clearly Gone Wrong.

5) Someone who isn’t us will fix this.

That’s the 200+ pages of revelation of VALIS, pretty much in a nutshell. Oh, it’s a pretty entertaining time getting there, but that’s the gist of it. In all its talk of pink lasers, rock star messiahs, living information, escape from time, and such, the driving theological/mythological idea is, “Something is Wrong and someone needs to fix it.”

You can find the rest here, if you're interested in VALIS, or the myths people create to make themselves feel better.

Comments

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

I am more inclined to think it's a bit more basic - that because we spend so many years basically helpless and dependent upon powerful other beings to supply our needs etc. that it can pervade our mindset into adulthood.

I find the kind of book you seem to be describing always a pointless waste of time - nothing new or interesting despite how it may seem to the author (hey we all think we have something great to say in a new way sometimes, but often we are wrong).

Hmm, I think I just fundamentally don't basically care very much what people believe these days - whereas it used to wind me up.

Suppose my take would be - "Just *feel* better here and now, and fuck the myths..."