Organized Religion and Fascism
I love god and I am loved back. Between me and him (mind the small h), we have an array of relationships. He ranges from my master to my servant, and everything in between. I use names; he calls them dirt. Perhaps, Spinoza would agree with my idea of a personal God, and St. Augustin would call me a minion of Mammon. I don’t care. Man is no smaller than Saint. I am better placed to see myself in relation to god than either of them. I am lucid. Lucidity is knowledge. And knowledge is carnal in nature, something both of them have little idea about.
Anyways, I digress from what I intend to say. This is about freedom in general and freedom of speech in particular. And how organised religion is, was and has been the enemy of freedom since, perhaps, times immemorial. I say organised religion, and by that I mean the ugly sum of socio-political forces that flow in the undercurrents of innocent ecstasies, and raise their hoods when it is ensured that the clients are under the sway of ideology. Perhaps the Jews invented religion, or the Maghas of Persia. Whoever did it, was the first imperial power of the world. And, they were the ones who propheted the most out of it. Profited, I mean.
Here’s an analysis of the 10 commandments, and what they would mean today for a modern fascist military-industrial state, say, like America, or Israel:
1. Take no gods before the true god.
The state defines what is right and true. Public shall not invest their hopes in parallel schemes. Pluralism is outlawed. Bhaad mein gayi heterodoxy.
2. Do not make images in likeness of god and bow down to them.
No caricature, criticism or critique of the state policy will be tolerated. Those who lend currency to such opinions are likely to be persecuted with legitimacy. Why? Because statesmen are jealous people. The identity of the state is vulnerable to truth. Speaking truth to power is therefore an act against god. How beautifully it fits in… I used to love this line: I am a jealous god.
3. You will not take the name of God in vain.
Freedom of speech ki maa ki aankh. Alternate views and counter-culture will be thrown out of the window. The path to the mind lies in the babble of poetry and the gibberish of myth. Poetry and storytelling will, naturally, be outlawed. Censorship is the state’s prerogative.
4. Preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath.
Deny the needy of services intermittently to unjustly raise the prices for the service rendered. Call it strategy and justify it.
5. Honor your parents.
We have already brainwashed the generation that lived before you with our effective propaganda. Believe their regurgitations and save us repeated efforts to do the same to you. People, you know how tedious it is to manufacture consent? Let’s save everyone the trouble and money. These days we need to cut costs, and be more efficient while being as effective.
6. Don’t kill.
Become cabbages. Forget heroism.
7. Don’t commit adultery.
Crimes of passion are outlawed; only crimes of logic are allowed.
8. Don’t steal.
9. Don’t bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Don’t covet neighbor’s wife, servant, house etc.
Property rights and protection of private property. This makes it imperative that selfishness and greed conquer free enterprise and collective inspiration. And what is state without property rights? People will be divided into Haves and have-nots, and one will have rights and they will be protected from the others. The others are hell.
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Will the Anti Christ go down with Obama, or will we see one of the greater con men in history re-elected to power? When cornered, the rat too will show courage. Let’s hope Americans have some mind left. The body is only the vehicle for the mind. But if the body is sick, the mind cannot travel far. However, if they do something, maybe the scared and cornered Indians will also imitate their newfound colonizers (I just miss England and the good old days; atleast the British really cared about Christ). Occupy Harvard and Occupy Princeton give me hope.
All the commandments must have been noble once. Time corrupts everything. No other faith (mind the disuse of the word religion) says this, except Islam. Hazrat Ali, the true successor of Prophet Mohammad, speaks profoundly in Nahj-al-Balaghah that for every concept there is appointed a time till angels tend to it and then it’s taken over by the satan, and then the phoenix cycle resumes. Sartre calls it practical hope. All forms perish corrupted with time, only the formless content is perennial, and that is Allah, tells Hazrat Ali. King in anarchy and the wisest of all men, he proclaimed that the prophet fought for the revelation, and that He (mind the capital H), shall fight for its interpretation.
The fight hasn’t changed, has it? Our collective jihad is becoming more and more united everyday. These days are special. The best of times and the worst of times. I see a little light at the end of the tunnel. With the onset of pre-screenings and establishment protocols, every day we must strengthen our resolve to fight for the interpretation of truth, goodness and beauty.
Satyam. Shivam. Sundaram.
I think this does not really address, or emerge out of the possible changes your wordview. This is creative writing, mostly. That organized religion does not accommodate modern liberal notion of freedom(s) and plurality is well known and your articulation only adheres to it, it does not even invite any real disagreement or discomfort. Look within and turn yourself inside out so we see an intercourse between you and the world – the indifference, the ruthlessness, the bare minimums, the purposive – the skeletal of your negotiations, the template of your transactions. We could say something then, perhaps..
Hmm. I don’t have enough strength to turn myself inside out yet. I still must be shrewd, and negotiate peace with my hypocrisy. But let me assure you, things are working underneath faster and stronger than ever. I have been feeling empowered once again after yet another downturn. While I have acknowledged the importance of polemic in communicating with the indifferent other, I am not the master that you are with rhetoric. But now I am more aligned towards accepting, and learning it.
When I get older, I will be stronger; they’ll call me freedom, just like a waving flag
Ah, wish you were here.