I find religion to be about as useful as an umbrella in a monsoon, but I do understand the quest for ultimate meaning, especially when you can find none in your own life. The whole burning of witches in Salem, the burning of non-Christians during the Inquisition, and so forth are ridiculous events, horrific in their happening yet made laughable by the course of time and the (general) acceptance that such episodes were the result of unenlightened zealots. Nowadays (if we can speak of the last forty years as nowadays), we in the West tend to limit ourselves to destroying objects in the name of religion: the burning of Beatles record in the U.S. of A., picketing films like The Last Temptation of Christ, etc.
However, just how seriously in the grip of mass delusion some people are was brought home to me this week by the recent bestowing of Knighthood upon author, yes, author, Salman Rushdie. Rushdie is probably one of the more important writers in English in the late-twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and I would imagine that in centuries hence, if anyone indeed continues to study literature, his books will be central to an understanding of the after-effects of colonialism, the effects of globalized societies, and the disjointedness of postmodern life (that is, if life in the future doesn't become even more disjointed).
Unfortunately, also included in any studies of the author's work will have to be consideration of the extraordinary conditions under which he has lived since the publication of The Satanic Verses way back in 1988 and the ensuing fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 that called for the death not only of Rushdie, but also of anyone involved in the publication of the book, if that person was aware of its contents (as a result, one translator has been killed and others attacked). Really medieval bullshit, but that was almost twenty years ago, and Rushdie continues to publish and you'd think the leaders of Islam would have more weighty matters to attend to, what with Palestinians going at one another and that whole Sunni-Shiite split and all, but apparently passing death sentences on authors, upholding death sentences on authors, and getting all stirred up about books (in a bad way) is really central to the religion (I'd chalk it up just to the power-lust of Khomeini, except the fatwa has only been reinforced by succeeding generations every time it comes up...).
Well, screw that. Christianity has some rabid nutcases (see that freak from Topeka, Fred Phelps), but they're generally ostracized outside their small splinter groups; they certainly don't have the mass support to run countries or even get near running countries (and let's be honest: as stupid as Bush is, even he distanced himself from cuckoo Pat Robertson's call to assassinate Venezuela's Hugo Chavez).
All I have to say is that any religion that can't stomach competing explorations of its most hallowed figures (see for instance The Last Temptation of Christ) bases itself more on ignorance than enlightenment, and I don't really have time for that.
Knickers in a twist over someone's work of fiction? Get over yourself.
3 comments:
I always thought the answer in these cases was simply to ignore the book. There are so many things out there to read.
So many, many things.
Actually it wasn't the religion that got upset about The Temptation of Christ, it was a group of humans who reacted. Religions are ideologies, unable to express emotion.
Cuff, you and I just have to go sit down and have a cup of coffee sometime. I would love to talk to you about the potency of religious expression, how it makes people go crazy, no matter what religion, no matter where in the world or at what time in history. It's strong stuff, meant to be taken in moderate doses. Any more than a teaspoonful and people go off the deep end. I can tell you my own tale of madness and recovery if you like.
Now, do you want to know what I think is ridiculous? Knighthood! How completely bizarre is knighthood? Please!
Reya: It's the opiate of the masses. Knighthood, of course, is nothing more than an honorary degree these days. I think it's funny that rock stars, once seen as utter degenerates, are now among the ranks of England's knights...
MA: I'm fairly certain less than .005% of any of the people arguing for Rushdie's death have read any of his books. But you're right...there's so much else out there to read.
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