Practice Management

Organized Religion: Best crowd control on Earth.

By Dan Hull

Ah how shameless--the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond their proper share. --Homer quoting Zeus

Pretend you're not Catholic--or have any formal religion--when you read this blog. Catholicism, by the way, is Wonderful Done Right. It's my favorite religion: the first Christianity, and one I'd convert to if I wanted or needed one. Especially if I got hit on the head, went screaming showtunes mad, and just had to have Father Brad by nightfall. --WAC/P quoting Hull

Do you need religion to check hubris? Does it matter who or what you use to curb folly and excess? We think not. Anyway, that's Zeus speaking above--in a rare public appearance--in Homer's Odyssey. He's the last anthropomorphic god we ever let take liberties with us. But at least he says interesting stuff and gets correctly quoted by the ancient press.

Once again, we ask you to get up off your damned knees. Embrace life. Your religion is quite likely doing you and yours more harm than good. You're not lazy, right? You're not a peasant, correct? So how about coming up with a little spirituality on your own? It's all there inside you.

In short, please do your own work. Think your own thoughts. And have your own feelings. Have some self-respect. Start over. Invent your own spirituality. But work at it. Read, slow down, talk to people, travel, look at art, study the history of art--and do crawl, pounce, creep and run around in the woods like a wild animal or angry Druid warrior on speed.

Read the Gita and the 'Shads. Study Wordsworth. And Daniel Pinchbeck. Carl Jung. Some Blake. Talk to the crazy guy in Krogers. Experiment with some bad. Try to pick up Holden Oliver's wife. (Seriously, do do the Antler dance at least once like you mean it.) Martin Luther, one of our favorite madmen, and who was truly wild, would like you to do all of the above. Same with Ted Turner. Same with Kate Hepburn. And Ben Disraeli.

Get off your knees. Un-weenie yourself and your life. You were born a true original. Don't die "a copy".

However, should you view world religions as more than first-rate crowd control devices to keep you and yours in line, Zeus (also below) is seen either negotiating with you or practicing his aim with his lightning bolt.

In that case, you must love the peasant life: 1. Be "good". 2. Don't be "bad". 3. Always follow someone else's rules. 4. Listen to Huck Finn's demented Aunt Sally so she can "sivilize" you.

P.B. Persinger: "Semele and Zeus with Thunderbolt" (2007) 10" x 8" Oil

Full post as published by What About Clients? on August 02, 2010 (boomark / email).