One of the very biggest blind-spots caused by the stunted materialism of modern thinking relates to death and the dead. So narrow and circumscribed are the thought processes of modern Man that it has become almost impossible even to think about these subjects.
Modern Man is obsessed and terrified by the process of dying - so much so that he wants to be killed humanely as soon as his quality of life dips below a certain thresholed; but what happens after death and the nature of our relationship with those who are dead is a matter given no more than a few seconds of facile thought (if that).
Yet most cultures in human history, and indeed many in the world today, have a great focus on death and the dead. Presumably modern Man regards this as no more than a total delusion (probably one that was, somehow, inclucated universally via 'priests' for reasons of social control).
If we are wrong, however - as I am sure we are wrong - then a massive and vital area of life has simply been deleted from human consciousness.
And that can't be a good thing, can it?
Death is very often portrayed as the ultimate horror in popular culture. Which is odd because if it is indeed utter oblivion then there is literally nothing to fear. But people, I think, know deep inside that the death of the mortal body is not the end and that life in some sense goes on. And because they have no instruction as to what to expect or have dismissed what teaching exists about this as mere superstition or fable they face a great unknown and are terrified as to what they might face. The lack of preparation for passing on coupled with the terror this seems to evoke must have consequences certainly for the individual but also for the society and culture. Animals sometimes simply crawl off and die alone but sometimes they lash out at any others near them before they go.
ReplyDeleteModern people are fond of arguing that constantly dwelling on one's state after death is a fanciful distraction from the pressing concerns of the living world.
ReplyDeleteOf course, modern people do not do much of anything with this extra time of theirs, much less anything 'better' than what a person engaged in preparing for the afterlife does.
- Carter Craft
You are quite right. It's one of those obvious evidences that we live in a damaged society. Like having got to the Moon and then done nothing.
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