Friday, March 25, 2011

The Great Secret

"Das Grundgeheimniß und die Urlist aller Pfaffen, auf der ganzen Erde und zu allen Zeiten, mögen sie brahmanische, oder mohammedanische, buddhaistische, oder christliche seyn, ist Folgendes. Sie haben die große Stärke und Unvertilgbarkeit des metaphysischen Bedürfnisses des Menschen richtig erkannt und wohl gefaßt : nun geben sie vor, die Befriedigung desselben zu besitzen, indem das Wort des großen Räthsels ihnen, auf außerordentlichem Wege, direkt zugekommen wäre. Dies nun den Menschen einmal eingeredet, können sie solche leiten und beherrschen, nach Herzenslust. Von den Regenten gehn daher die klügeren eine Allianz mit ihnen ein : die andern werden selbst von ihnen beherrscht."

("The central secret, the main treachery of all preachers, all over the Earth, in all ages, whether they are Hindu, Muslem, Buddhist or Christian, is the following: they have recognized and understood the great strength and indestructibility of mankind's metaphysical longings, and now they claim to be in possession of the means of satisfying these longings, because the solution of the great riddle has come directly to them in an extraordinary way. Once people believe this, the preachers can lead and rule them to their hearts' content. Therefore, the cleverer among the rulers make alliances with the preachers, and the others are themselves ruled by them.")
-- Schopenhauer,Paralipomena, § 176: Offenbarung (Revelation)

Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Druid, Wicca, Kabbalist, Gnostic, (from "gnosis," the secret knowledge, uh-huh) Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss/Heydy Hidy Hody/Aha aha aha. Wonder if Google will ever figure out that I'm writing for atheists here, not believers. (Check out the ads.) Seems to me there's almost always something to point and laugh at, if nothing else.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Steven ... maybe atheists have NOTHING to advertise!

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  2. You could be right, Jay. After all, it's not as if any atheists had ever written any bestselling books frankly espousing their points of view, or made any popular documentaries pointing out how ridiculous religion can sometimes be, or anything like that.

    No, wait...

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  3. It's likely that monks originated jeu de paume as a pasttime during the 12th century. The walls and courtyards of a monastery would be ideal for playing handball, or maybe a kind of volleyball. When racquets were introduced, the game became more like the tennis played today.

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  4. "they have recognized and understood the great strength and indestructibility of mankind's metaphysical longings, and now they claim to be in possession of the means of satisfying these longings, because the solution of the great riddle has come directly to them in an extraordinary way."

    doesn't it make us feel powerful and in control to think we've figured something out?...kind of like...the earth is flat...the moon is cheese and santa ALWAYS fits down the chimney....as a collective the side with the most believers wins...don't they? *tilts head*

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