OctopusGarden
09-29-2010, 03:27 PM
I'm pissed off. I just don't know what to do anymore. I work at the grocery store to support myself, even though it goes against everything I believe in. I'm a part of the problem just like everyone else, and I just don't know what to ****ing do. It's like, come on people! WHAT WE ARE DOING IS GOING TO DESTROY THE WORLD. We throw away billions of tons of crap all the time. All that stuff is coming from a spot in the Earth, and then ending up in some concentrated area. How long can we expect THAT to last? And, oil? It's like, there's only a little bit left. But, ****! I'm getting my car fixed tommorrow, so I can drive in it, and I'm going to spend my money, which I sold my life for, to insure it because of some stupid law. God, that pisses me off. Around every corner it's all buy, sell, buy, sell, church, buy, sell. I'm tired of selling my life to buy things. All right I'm almost to the bus stop. I'm so tired of walking. Ah. What's this? I picked up a piece of paper, and read it.
Industry, Christianity, and the Capital Sins
The exploratory question I want to raise is: Is the industrialized lifestyle compatible with Christianity?
Christianity has greatly diverged from the original teachings of Jesus and others in his day. "Jesus, once the kindly good shepherd, in the Byzantine style became the fearful pantocrator, the world judge" (Giotto and St. Francis). Jesus was an influential person, teaching people to break away from the society that was evolving into what we know today, and to live humble lifestyles in communities. The fact that Giotto was forced, in God's name, to paint for the church shows how much Jesus' original ideas have changed even in that era.
Modern Christianity is something of its own, but I am just going to focus on the Capital Sins. We know them well: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. How do these function in an industrialized society today?
Lust: excessive desire of a sexual nature. Everywhere we turn there are posters, billboards, commercials, and whatever else depicting sexual images and ideas. These images are there to invoke a sense of desire into the viewer. Either desire to look that way, or desire to be with someone that looks that way. It is definite that not everyone actively partakes in sexual thoughts when these images are around every corner, but it has become a great part in many industrialized countries.
Gluttony: the over-consumption of something to the point of waste. To eat, we must take the life from something else, unless consuming raw salt or something. The fact is, just about everything we eat was once alive. Christians and many other cultures pray thanks before meals. All life is equally valuable, yet in an industrialized culture, food is a product that can be bought and sold, for profit or consumption.
Greed: having or desiring excess. Food, water, clean air, and shelter are necessary for survival. Also, family, community, and warm clothing are essential for humans. Excess becomes good and important when a nation's goal is to be on top of the global economy. If people strive to gain more things in life, more of their life will be spent to working and getting those things. Industry has become extremely efficient in supplying products to consumers.
Sloth: laziness or not utilizing one’s abilities. In the past, communities relied on individual talents to keep each other alive and well off. For example, there would be the skilled hunters, the botanists and florists, the farmers, the metal-workers, etc. It is hard to imagine a society without capitalism, but there have been communities where people worked not for money, but to make sure their neighbor survived as well as themselves. Now, corporations have taken away the necessity for skill. One could work at a grocery store their entire life and never do anything skillful at all.
Envy: the extreme desire for something one lacks, also associated with the desire to be above others (like class). Capitalism thrives off of envy. Businesses and corporations want people to be envious of their products or ideas so that they can get their money. They play the bandwagon game, advertise their products massively, and put messages (obvious and subliminal) into society to make people desire material that they already do not have. Many people look up to movie actors, musicians, comedians, or athletes and dream of having lives like theirs.
Pride: the desire to be more important than others. Since the day Americans start going to school (sometimes sooner) the children are told: 1. to take pride in America, because there is freedom, capitalism, and "democracy." 2. America is a superior country; people from around the world desire to live in America, to live the American dream.
I... I just don't know what to do with this information right now. I'm going to leave this here.
Industry, Christianity, and the Capital Sins
The exploratory question I want to raise is: Is the industrialized lifestyle compatible with Christianity?
Christianity has greatly diverged from the original teachings of Jesus and others in his day. "Jesus, once the kindly good shepherd, in the Byzantine style became the fearful pantocrator, the world judge" (Giotto and St. Francis). Jesus was an influential person, teaching people to break away from the society that was evolving into what we know today, and to live humble lifestyles in communities. The fact that Giotto was forced, in God's name, to paint for the church shows how much Jesus' original ideas have changed even in that era.
Modern Christianity is something of its own, but I am just going to focus on the Capital Sins. We know them well: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. How do these function in an industrialized society today?
Lust: excessive desire of a sexual nature. Everywhere we turn there are posters, billboards, commercials, and whatever else depicting sexual images and ideas. These images are there to invoke a sense of desire into the viewer. Either desire to look that way, or desire to be with someone that looks that way. It is definite that not everyone actively partakes in sexual thoughts when these images are around every corner, but it has become a great part in many industrialized countries.
Gluttony: the over-consumption of something to the point of waste. To eat, we must take the life from something else, unless consuming raw salt or something. The fact is, just about everything we eat was once alive. Christians and many other cultures pray thanks before meals. All life is equally valuable, yet in an industrialized culture, food is a product that can be bought and sold, for profit or consumption.
Greed: having or desiring excess. Food, water, clean air, and shelter are necessary for survival. Also, family, community, and warm clothing are essential for humans. Excess becomes good and important when a nation's goal is to be on top of the global economy. If people strive to gain more things in life, more of their life will be spent to working and getting those things. Industry has become extremely efficient in supplying products to consumers.
Sloth: laziness or not utilizing one’s abilities. In the past, communities relied on individual talents to keep each other alive and well off. For example, there would be the skilled hunters, the botanists and florists, the farmers, the metal-workers, etc. It is hard to imagine a society without capitalism, but there have been communities where people worked not for money, but to make sure their neighbor survived as well as themselves. Now, corporations have taken away the necessity for skill. One could work at a grocery store their entire life and never do anything skillful at all.
Envy: the extreme desire for something one lacks, also associated with the desire to be above others (like class). Capitalism thrives off of envy. Businesses and corporations want people to be envious of their products or ideas so that they can get their money. They play the bandwagon game, advertise their products massively, and put messages (obvious and subliminal) into society to make people desire material that they already do not have. Many people look up to movie actors, musicians, comedians, or athletes and dream of having lives like theirs.
Pride: the desire to be more important than others. Since the day Americans start going to school (sometimes sooner) the children are told: 1. to take pride in America, because there is freedom, capitalism, and "democracy." 2. America is a superior country; people from around the world desire to live in America, to live the American dream.
I... I just don't know what to do with this information right now. I'm going to leave this here.