List of agnostics

[Keith Davis]

He goes to great, even exhaustive lengths to show us that no one has any
ultimate answers. I think this is what Slothrop comes to at the end of GR,
and is the reason it had such a huge impact on me. No one has any answers,
and that is the "Great Liberation".

On Sat, Jun 30, 2012 at 10:01 PM, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:

> As a "recovering Southern Baptist", I can "testify" to the difficulty
> involved in turning loose of this addiction. I've taken some of those
> alternative paths, and finally arrived at something that works for me. It
> has taken a long time. Even though one may realize rationally that the
> fictions or myths are just that, the emotional effects are so deep that I'm
> not sure that can ever be totally changed or removed. Looking back and
> forward, it has been a fun and interesting ride.
>
> In regards to this, I think that TRP's approach to religion/spirituality
> does nothing to indicate any kind of belief system of his own, but rather
> exposes our weaknesses and gullibility. He handles it with humor and
> sensitivity at the same time.
>
> On Sat, Jun 30, 2012 at 11:33 AM, Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Religion will persist because of human psychology. We all go through the
>> phase of believing, in some degree, that if we say our magic formulae just
>> right we will get what we ask for. Some people stay with that, many more
>> move along to finding solace in a group that reinforces magic thinking and
>> belief in myth as truth. Others continue along to faith in reason, science,
>> whatever. The move beyond god and devil is often terribly traumatic. "Let
>> me tell you about heartache and the loss of God. Wandering, wandering in
>> endless night," says Mr. Morrison. Of course, he was stoned, immaculate.
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 30, 2012 at 8:15 AM, <bandwraith at aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>> But if they knew they were immortal, they wouldn't work to preserve the
>>> past. Unless, they were convinced that their immortality was the result
>>> of a particular past, or pathway. That is, a specific series of choices
>>> made, or, in the case of "The Elect," predetermined, which will result
>>> in, or signify, their immortality. Religion is the sanctification of a
>>> particular history over a field of passed over, or "profane" histories.
>>> Only the sanctified path leads to immortality. The entrenched, the
>>> status quo, the crew of The Preserved, all of the social, political and
>>> economically empowered- soon to become the past with the sweep of each
>>> new generation- seek to pass along their privilege to those most
>>> willing to preserve their legacy. Religion persists because it
>>> persists. What better evidence of its truth?
>>>
>>> Of course, it helps to make "acid" and other heresies illegal, else why
>>> worry about the manicured lawns and the yachts, or the painted
>>> ceilings? Sorry, Doc, when the fogs burns away, The Angels will still
>>> be in control.
>>>
>>>  ‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with
>>> me, to repay according to everyone’s work.
>>> I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and
>>> the last, the beginning and the end."
>>>
>>> There's a fog upon L.A.
>>> And my friends have lost their way
>>> We'll be over soon they said
>>> Now they've lost themselves instead.
>>> Please don't be long, please don't you be
>>> very long. Please don't be long or I may be asleep......
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
>> creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the trust
>> in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments of darkness
>> groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates than the simplest
>> urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant
>>
>
>
>
> --
> www.innergroovemusic.com
>



-- 
www.innergroovemusic.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20120630/7bd77a80/attachment.html>