I very much enjoyed this essay by Michael Knox Beran. There is much to ponder, study and divide in Mr. Beran's piece. Though it seems ridiculous to highlight any one point Mr. Beran makes, I did find his remarks about how some people view suffering particularly salient; that some among us see "suffering not as an unavoidable element of life but as an aberration to be corrected by up-to-date political, economic, and hygienic arrangements," and that today's more liberal citizen "continually contrives panaceas that will enable us to transcend it ... rather than acknowledge the limitations of our condition."
I wonder: Is the drive to sanitize all of the earth, to purge it of all suffering, actually a denial of reality? And when someone talks about alleviating suffering, or of making the world a "better place," is that person actually talking about sucking the very life out of life, of removing those things that make life adventurous, interesting, exciting; does it make the world a better place? To create a world that is a pain-free, worry-free zone: isn't that the creation of a nightmare?
Never mind my musings. They bear no necessary connection to Mr. Beran's work. His is a trenchant essay, substantive; of great heft.
Peace.
©Bill Gnade 2008/Contratimes.
(Mr. Beran's essay, "Barack Obama, Shaman," appeared online at the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal, July 30, 2008)
3 comments:
This desire to rid ourselves of the symptoms of the Human Condition, is merely an attempt to "get back to the Garden" to have another crack at the snake. Alas, there are those who refuse to acknowledge the effects of Original Sin on the Universe. Simply put, Eden is beyond our puny creative efforts.
Cheers.
Wow! The author beautifully articulated what I could only acknowledge as a gut feeling. Thanks for this.
Dear Ms. Luttrell,
I am glad you enjoyed the article.
Blessings!
BG
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