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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 11:26 |
| David Forbes
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Wisdom has to consist of more than simply flipping a traditional belief on its head.
Sadly, since coming to Asheville, I have met countless souls who seem to think it means exactly that.
This is nothing exclusive to this fair city, of course. Before coming here, I attended Appalachian State
University, where the following came up in a Taoism and Confucianism class:
In a discussion on the merits of the Chinese philosophical classic ?®The Tao Te Ching?∆ as compared to Western thought, one of the more arrogant people in the class piped up with, ?®Well, it??s a lot more wise than a cult based around the ravings of a Jewish carpenter.?∆
The remark drew positive chuckles from the audience.
Now, I??m a fan of the Tao and pretty skeptical about much of Christianity, but the obvious response was: ?®So why is a disgruntled, bitter Chinese librarian a better source for wisdom??∆
Most of the class mistook the point, as I wasn??t trying to slam the
Tao. The simple fact of the matter is, you can look at any religious,
philosophical or spiritual tradition through a derogatory light, if you
peer hard enough.
Buddha? A spoiled, rich brat whose beliefs were based around an over
reaction to the shocking fact that suffering is, you know, part of life.
Nietzsche? Well, the guy went crazy, possibly from syphilis, and was found hugging a horse. You be the judge.
Hinduism? Two words: bride burning. Two more: caste system.
All of the above are gross over-simplifications or distortions, of course, just as the original statement about Jesus was.
This sloppy prejudice is fairly widespread. I can??t count the number of
times I??ve heard would-be intellectuals around me decry Christianity,
for example, for its belief in miracles. Yet, two seconds later, they
talk enthusiastically about reincarnation and magic as entirely
plausible if it relates to a pre-Christian or Eastern tradition.
You can??t use reason as a club with which to thrash something, then
discard it when it comes to your own beliefs. The sword has to cut all
ways. If reincarnation and magic wash, then so does water into wine.
The same adulation applies with anything even vaguely Eastern. I cannot
count the number of times I??ve heard anything remotely Eastern alluded
to as infinitely wiser and deeper than anything ?®Western.?∆
Most of the people who make this idolization balk when someone brings
up the fact that Eastern history, just like that of any other part of
the world, has plenty of greed, violence and hypocrisy in it as well.
They exalt Taoism, while forgetting that Legalism, which endorsed book
burning, absolute dictatorship and rampant executions, was also part of
Chinese philosophy.
At the same time, if one asks most of these would-be innovators what
they mean by the ?®Western?∆ beliefs they??re insulting, they have a hard
time coming up with coherent answers. This is pretty understandable
when you??re trying to cram several thousand years of intellectual
debate and wildly different schools of thought into a
false and exaggerated stereotype.
All this brings me back to my original point: This isn??t wisdom. Any
idiot can turn an idea on its head and reverse traditional notions of
good and evil. That does not mean it is right, it does not mean it is
wise, and it certainly shows no original thought.
I??ve got an idea. How about doing some reading?
Go and actually read some of those Western philosophers. See if you agree with what they have to say or not.
Go read up on Eastern history to see how those ideas played out in the human world.
Try to weigh all that against your own experience in life, against your
own sense of logic. Add your own observations and feelings into the
mix. This way is not as easy or popular as the brainless adulation of
the East, but I think it is a lot more likely to actually be of some
use in the long run.
We are in a decadent time, I think, when a lot of the old structures
simply do not seem to work anymore. Perhaps it is a natural reaction to
run to ideas that seem to be the opposite. That does not make it any
better.
Every time culture and society start to slide down, to grow stagnant,
to embrace apathy, it is real and original ideas that revive it, that
kick start a new Renaissance.
Such ideas and innovations, I believe, require tenacity, originality
and a will to question any idea that comes along, no matter its origin.
Blindly staggering around for another school of thought to latch onto is a coward??s way out.
After all; why not a Jewish carpenter? Why not a disgruntled librarian?
Why not the spoiled, rich prince or the mad German, weeping with his
horse?
Maybe you can answer some of those questions. But please, for all our
sakes, make sure those answers are your own and not the fruit of
laziness.
?ÿ
David Forbes is a reporter for the Daily Planet.
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