Across the Curriculum (Courses
w/o Borders Series)
Great Falls
Religion
Critiquing Religion in the last
5 minutes of class.
[re-ligeo: to be bound back,
yoked (yoga) to the “source”]
Religion is literally a function
addressing the part-to-whole
(more than sum of parts)
relationship, an uncanny notion
that any PART might stand in
individual and unique and un-
generalize-able relationship to
the WHOLE or HOLY. .
This is not necessarily cultural-friendly
and in many cases it seems anti-cultural.
Some refer to IT descriptively and
appropriately as “absurd”
Abraham probably got no cultural
encouragement to take his son up
the mountain and put a knife to the
throat. That would make no common
sense. It would be absurd.
Nevertheless Abraham (“abba”) is
considered the Father of Faith
Absurd is a wonderful description.
If religion made “common sense”
(as we insist that it does) than what
we manufacture is a “belief-system”
sort of like Fred Flatland describing
a sphere. In his own flat-land terms
of desire, of course,
MARRIAGE is probably the key
religious metaphor. “What unlike
things must meet and marry,” says
Melville (“Art”). Marriage doesn’t
make common sense, and if it does,
it’s something ELSE—not marriage.
Convenience, call it. Or Convention
I like to image it as 2-cats-tales-
tied-in-a knot-&-tossed-over-a-
clothesline scratching each others
guts out.
Absurd? Of course. Marriage is a
crucifixion of the Ego so to speak,
in manners of speaking. Hurts like
hello if not hell. A good thing!.
Absurd? Of course. It it were surd
what good would it be? Everyday
use? Everyday abuse?
What stood out for me in the
"Great Falls " story is the dominance
of DESCRIPTION (aesthetic) and the
lack of judgmental JUDGMENT (ethic)
that characterized the narration. NO
oh-my-ain’t-it-awful. No scapegoating
going on.
Amazing. Absurd, really. Don’t you
expect some blame blaming?
Some judgment judging?
xxxooo, Sam
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