This is exactly why I pay for a subscription, this was perhaps one of your best pieces of writing Paul, and laid out a lot of the problems facing modern society in a general abstract way. It reminded me a lot of Scott Alexander's essay on Moloch, which also turned me onto his substack as well.
This is exactly why I pay for a subscription, this was perhaps one of your best pieces of writing Paul, and laid out a lot of the problems facing modern society in a general abstract way. It reminded me a lot of Scott Alexander's essay on Moloch, which also turned me onto his substack as well.
Transcendence is, of course, the problem and that we now are told from a very early age that transcendence is stupid and it cannot occur. Either by our parents, by our teachers, or what I see most of all, by our friends. The problem that faces us and that both Moloch and the Anti-Christ represent is the issue of unabashed materialism. A few months ago, I was sitting in church and the Gospel reading was from Mark, Jesus and the Rich Young Man. That reading resonated with me a great deal that day, because it gets to the very core of what is wrong with our society, both back in the ancient world and especially now. We have to give up our possessions, but we have built a society around acquiring 'thing' after 'thing.' David Bentley Hart argued that this is what made Christ so radical, because when he says to give up your possessions and follow, He means it. He doesn't mean, give up some of your possessions, or give up a few things and volunteer more, all those things are good, but it truly means to give up your life and follow.
I think this is why so many people despise monks. We either exoticize them in the Buddhist tradition, or laugh at them in the Christian tradition, because we could never even dream of doing what they have done. Dedicate their life to poverty.
There have been, of course, other paths throughout time. I think about Punk Rock in the 70s and 80s, that had band members eating out of garbage cans, and truly throwing away the materialist side of society. But today, much like Guy Debord would write in his work on the Society of Spectacle, this is just a shadow image now. A symbol without meaning. Of people going to concerts to get their badges and showing off their credentials instead of living a distinct lifestyle. Monks, you could say, have not abandoned that tradition.
It is a slow process for me and every day I struggle greatly with faith. Trying to find more strength in the church, and to give more back to my community, with the hope that one day, that similar to Galahad or Percival, that I will tread on a path that leads to greater understanding, transcendence, and love. But materialism, I fully believe, is the greatest road block to that path.
Something further is that we need to rediscover how to die. So much of materialism and then transhumanism postulates this silly idea that we will live forever, that we will enjoy the fruits of our vast wealth forever, but we won't. We no longer die in the home, instead perishing hooked up to massive machinery, trying to squeeze more rotten life out of us. Learning how to die nobly again I think would be a big step in the confrontation with Moloch.
I agree about dying. Without transcendence death is abhorrent... so they long for this silly story about living forever, but for people of faith it should be different.
This is exactly why I pay for a subscription, this was perhaps one of your best pieces of writing Paul, and laid out a lot of the problems facing modern society in a general abstract way. It reminded me a lot of Scott Alexander's essay on Moloch, which also turned me onto his substack as well.
Transcendence is, of course, the problem and that we now are told from a very early age that transcendence is stupid and it cannot occur. Either by our parents, by our teachers, or what I see most of all, by our friends. The problem that faces us and that both Moloch and the Anti-Christ represent is the issue of unabashed materialism. A few months ago, I was sitting in church and the Gospel reading was from Mark, Jesus and the Rich Young Man. That reading resonated with me a great deal that day, because it gets to the very core of what is wrong with our society, both back in the ancient world and especially now. We have to give up our possessions, but we have built a society around acquiring 'thing' after 'thing.' David Bentley Hart argued that this is what made Christ so radical, because when he says to give up your possessions and follow, He means it. He doesn't mean, give up some of your possessions, or give up a few things and volunteer more, all those things are good, but it truly means to give up your life and follow.
I think this is why so many people despise monks. We either exoticize them in the Buddhist tradition, or laugh at them in the Christian tradition, because we could never even dream of doing what they have done. Dedicate their life to poverty.
There have been, of course, other paths throughout time. I think about Punk Rock in the 70s and 80s, that had band members eating out of garbage cans, and truly throwing away the materialist side of society. But today, much like Guy Debord would write in his work on the Society of Spectacle, this is just a shadow image now. A symbol without meaning. Of people going to concerts to get their badges and showing off their credentials instead of living a distinct lifestyle. Monks, you could say, have not abandoned that tradition.
It is a slow process for me and every day I struggle greatly with faith. Trying to find more strength in the church, and to give more back to my community, with the hope that one day, that similar to Galahad or Percival, that I will tread on a path that leads to greater understanding, transcendence, and love. But materialism, I fully believe, is the greatest road block to that path.
Something further is that we need to rediscover how to die. So much of materialism and then transhumanism postulates this silly idea that we will live forever, that we will enjoy the fruits of our vast wealth forever, but we won't. We no longer die in the home, instead perishing hooked up to massive machinery, trying to squeeze more rotten life out of us. Learning how to die nobly again I think would be a big step in the confrontation with Moloch.
I too thought of that Scott Alexander essay. It was the first time I'd read that Ginsberg poem.
https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/
I agree about dying. Without transcendence death is abhorrent... so they long for this silly story about living forever, but for people of faith it should be different.