A new read on fantasies...
Lately I have been lamenting that fact that I haven't taken much time to just sit an read. I have been constantly on the go and just seem to fill up my hours with actions rather than thoughts. So, in an effort to remedy the situation, I ordered a new book for myself - The Truce of God by Rowan Williams. The book is an older one, but was recently rewritten almost entirely last year by the author. It is his effort to help us understand what peace means in today's world, both as a society and as an individual.
In the first chapter, he suggests that the proliferation of fantastic novels and films over the last twenty years or so is indicative of a deep seeded problem. In all of these works, the catastrophes are things that happen to people, whether it be a natural disaster, alien attack, or the actions of a sociopathic killer. Since people in these works are made out to be victims, we associate ourselves with them. We always seem to identify ourselves with the innocents...and here lies the problem.
The problem with this is that Christian theology constantly keeps two contradictory truths in the front of our minds - that we are somewhat dependent, not fully in control of our circumstances and that we are also free and responsible for the different environments in which we live.
This constant disavowing of our responsibility in the present state of affairs is an indication that we try to keep the pain, sickness, horrors and destruction of the world apart from our true selves. The tragedy is that by trying to protect ourselves from these atrocities in life, it actually prevents us from using the spiritual resources we have to confront the pain and guilt that we cannot bare alone and try to avoid. Williams sees a tendency in our culture that allows ourselves to be overcome with all of the troubles and injustice, to fall into hopelessness - but to mistake this for a false sense of peace.
This is only the first part of the first chapter...I'm a little concerned that I bit off more than I could chew with this "little" book. He calls so many assumptions into question - opinions on violence in the media, belief in my efficacy in society, the nature of a common humanity...you get the idea. Any thoughts?
In the first chapter, he suggests that the proliferation of fantastic novels and films over the last twenty years or so is indicative of a deep seeded problem. In all of these works, the catastrophes are things that happen to people, whether it be a natural disaster, alien attack, or the actions of a sociopathic killer. Since people in these works are made out to be victims, we associate ourselves with them. We always seem to identify ourselves with the innocents...and here lies the problem.
We are intensely aware of danger, of the real and potential violence in our environment; and we are deeply determined to imagine violence as something whose origins lie outside ourselves so that we can maintain some belief in our innocence.
The problem with this is that Christian theology constantly keeps two contradictory truths in the front of our minds - that we are somewhat dependent, not fully in control of our circumstances and that we are also free and responsible for the different environments in which we live.
In the face of denials of guilt and fantasies of innocence, the gospel tells us that we have to repent, to take responsibility for what we have made of our world and beg for the vision and strength to do better.
This constant disavowing of our responsibility in the present state of affairs is an indication that we try to keep the pain, sickness, horrors and destruction of the world apart from our true selves. The tragedy is that by trying to protect ourselves from these atrocities in life, it actually prevents us from using the spiritual resources we have to confront the pain and guilt that we cannot bare alone and try to avoid. Williams sees a tendency in our culture that allows ourselves to be overcome with all of the troubles and injustice, to fall into hopelessness - but to mistake this for a false sense of peace.
It [hopelessness] absolves us from facing the humiliating picture of ourselves as idle, self-indulgent and culpably ignorant - when we take our freedom seriously. We do not have to think about guilt. Yet this means that repentance is not a possibility: and if repentance is impossible, so is grace, reconciliation, hope. So this is a 'peace' which must be unmasked for the lie it is - peace bought at the cost of reality, at the cost of human dignity. Our evasive fantasies must be brought to judgment before we can be brought to grace.
This is only the first part of the first chapter...I'm a little concerned that I bit off more than I could chew with this "little" book. He calls so many assumptions into question - opinions on violence in the media, belief in my efficacy in society, the nature of a common humanity...you get the idea. Any thoughts?
posted by Tim at
4:34 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Sounds interesting. Looking forward to hearing more about it!
interesting Tim . . . very interesting
I will shoot, but I might not be seeing the target. I find our culture's lack of action depressing. I often wonder why we are existing at all. Is it to pump gas into our cars and go to jobs that give us a sense of importance? Two months ago I was speaking with a young man about how he had to kill two young boys while serving his county in Iraq. When he came back to the US he struggled to find his previous level of comfort. He felt awake and that everyone else was a sleep. Going to the movies and out eat and shopping and all the other materialistic day to day routine just did not seem to matter any more. He told me that he would turn on the TV and watch shows like Survivor and American Idol and would become very angry, feeling that these shows are meaningless and are nothing more than deterrents. He found that he could not sleep at night and had a loss of appetite. He family and friends told him he would be back to normal soon and that he should seek professional counseling. He was diagnosed with PTSD and given and strong anti-psychotic medication. When he tried to explain to people about what he did and what he had seen in Iraq they just pitied him. He eventually divorced his wife and moved away. The most frustrating thing he shared with me was how people will pity others sorrow and suffering, but will do nothing about it. He went back to Iraq as a civilian working for the Peace Corp. My discussions with this individual reminded me of what you are presenting here. I personally find Pop Culture to be a sexy sedative that lulls the population into apathy, which allows the governing body to control the yoke.
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