The Holy Invisible Egg
Image: - Artistic Representation Only
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'Gulliver's Travels,' (1726, amended 1735), by Jonathan Swift, is a satirical novel on human nature. The story loosely is about a middle class englishman, Gulliver, who goes on a sea voyage and is shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput. In Lilliput, there are basically two groups of people - high-heeled Tramecksan and low-heeled Slamecksan. The animosities between these parties run so high, that they will neither eat nor drink, nor talk with each other.
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There exists a further rift between the ruling Little-Endians and the persecuted Big-Endians, who interpret in different ways the sacred text: "That all true believers shall break their eggs at the convenient end."
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So what does this story of Lilliput and its inhabitants have to do with current world events? As an atheist, who doesn’t have a religious dog in the fight, watching the confrontation between christianity and islam is like watching the Little-Endians and the Big-Endians (from 'Gulliver’s Travels'), arguing and going to war over from which end they should open an "invisible egg." The Little-Endians have non-negotiable faith that the only way that the "invisible egg" can be opened is by opening it at the pointy end and the Big-Endians have an equal amount of non-negotiable faith that the "invisible egg" can only be opened at the non-pointy end.
Each group's indominable and non-negotiable faith encourages their adherents to believe that no matter what happens, that their fight is a just and noble battle against evil. And that the other side must be inherently evil, or at the least, very rude and uncivilized for suggesting otherwise. This "faith mentality" is what allows each side to continue behaviours which are potentially damaging, harmful, or at least non-productive, to anyone else who doesn’t share their non-negotiable faith.
Meanwhile, the skeptics, atheists, agnostics and assorted other non-believers, are sitting around scratching their heads and saying - "Excuse me, but what makes you so convinced that there is an invisible egg in the first place.?"
The Beatles - "I Am The Walrus"
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing wax; Of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot; And whether pigs have wings." - Lewis Carroll
jonathan+swift , gulliver's+travels , satire , islam , christianity , atheist , agnostic , lilliput , egg , faith
This is a video of Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert arguing which religion is better Islam or Christianity.
posted by beepbeepitsme | 9:52 pm
16 Comments:
Good blog.
Do you think that the current war in Irak is (in some way) the religious reformation that Islam need?
I have always thought that Swift ought to be required reading in schools.
What rewards does anyone get from all this fighting?
I know more people who "don't" follow these religious doctrines, who actually live a better life and treat people of all kinds with more respect, than those who choose to follow in typical "sheeple" fashion.
Ugh ; (
Hey! That's no way to treat the largest CCD image of a spiral galaxy ever made! :-p
RE ian
I don't know. I see both christianity and islam becoming more and more extremist as they try to preserve their power bases.
I would think that a reformation, similar to that which happened in christianity, can only occur within the religion. I am not sure that an outside force will help the situation at all.
RE remy:
He used to be, when I went to scholl, but then, I am an old fart. lol
RE coffee
The rewards the individual gets, I can guess, are similar to the rewards someone gets when their team wins the football. They think it validates their choice of team.
RE wolvie:
Yes, I know, I am "blasphemous" and a "heretic". But you know you like it. ;)
Of course, the inevitable question:
Which came 1st, the chicken or the invisible egg?
RE KA: If the chicken came first, does that mean god is a chicken? ;)
BBIM:
If the chicken came first, does that mean god is a chicken?
Only if the tree in the forest went unheard. ;)
RE ka
The tree in the forest philosophical question has always been an interesting one to me.
As a very young adult, I remember a much older person asking me the question. After thinking for a little while, I decided that the tree still fell, and hence my fate was sealed. ;)
The rooster.
Really great posts. I always thought that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were representative too, but I could never decide if the rattle represented Constantinople or Palestine.
BBIM:
The tree in the forest philosophical question has always been an interesting one to me.
Hey, if it falls, & there ISN'T a TV crew to record, does it still make a sound?
That one's always tickled me, go figure.
RE breaker:
"Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle!
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle."
"Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel!
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel."
http://www.sabian.org/Alice/alice16mj.htm
RE ka
Nothing happens unless the media films it. Just ask them ..
I didn't think this post had happened because I was a slacker and hadn't read it.
Well, there it is then.
There you have it.
Carry on.
{-;
RE michael:
It isn't mandatory to read any of my posts, it is just mandatory to leave a comment. lol
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