Dear
Cousin
 |
| Karkun Ukko |
I
am pleased that the quote [*] from the book of Lin Yutang, “The
Importance of Living” has you found your interest.
Admittedly, it may contain some "strong stuff", for some
fundamentalists at least.
As you might know, the German translation of his book had
moved with me since the time when I, still a teenager, had 'rescued'
it from the library of my parents.
The
sections about growing up that appealed most to me then and now [#]:
"...
but there comes a moment where the pagan looks at the perhaps warmer
and cheerful Christian world with a feeling that it is also childish,
as I want almost say, is less mature. You may have a more colourful
and beautiful look, but it is precisely for this reason not so true
and therefore in a sense of lesser value. The truth has to have a
certain price to be worth, and you must not hesitate to take its
consequences on yourselves ... ".
You
refer to thoughts in the last sections of the quotation in which Lin
Yutang "ousted" himself as a religious person:
"…the Chinese pagan [is] ... honest enough to let the creator
of things in an orbit of mystery, wherein his sense of awe and shy
reverence is expressed. With this feeling, he is content. The beauty
of the universe, the incredible artwork of countless things of
creation, the mystery of the starry world, the grandeur of the
heavens, the dignity of the human heart - that is all the Chinese
heathen quite present. But again, he is content. He takes the death
back and also the pain and suffering, and he weighs up against the
gift of life, the fresh farmwind and the clear mountain moon - and
he finds nothing to complain. To bow to the will of heaven, he
appears as a truly religious, awesome attitude ... that is all what
he requires. ...
".
 |
| Drawing by Escher |
Lin
Yutang reflects transcendentally; thus he reflects in a religious
manner. He refers to what in turn you call cautiously as "something"
(as "something" that helps us humans to survive). However,
you theist cannot do different, a few lines further in your essay,
but to deify that "something" by letting "it"
live somewhere. You're a theist!
Regarding
your excursus into the wickedness of the world, I let you do that
today without entering into debating that misanthropic view. The
issues of "cui bono" (who benefits from this?) can be
tackled elsewhere. This particular worldly finesse of religious
(Christian) ideas, e.g. about God's justification and consolidation
of earthly powers, had been dealt with at a different time already [1] and "political" consequences were discussed also.
Back
to Lin Yutang; a non-theistic Lin Yutang would write something like
the following when ousting him: "...
the Chinese pagan ... he is content ... [with the] mystery of the
world of stars, ... , [the] dignity of the human heart - that all is
quite present to the Chinese pagan. But again, he is content. He
takes the death and also the pain and suffering, and he weighs up
against the gift of life, the fresh farmwind
and
the clear mountain moon - and he finds nothing to complain ... that
is all what he requires. ...
".
It
remains for now to touch the question why we humans are so easily to
be fascinated by something "supernatural"? Why is it
difficult for many to find a non-theistic world-view satisfying.
Research, cognitive science of religion into the development (evolution)
of religious impulses, ideas and behaviours provides a first insight;
in a "nutshell":
 |
| Images illustrating early, "primitive" religious concepts |
The
modular architecture of the human mind and especially the human
capacity to understand other "agents" to whom beliefs and
desires are attributed, is the basis of the notions of "supernatural
agents". Likewise, social insights (cultures) emerge in which
supernatural agents as interested part of social life are postulated.
These beliefs are products of biological and cultural evolution.
Evolution favoured the "supernatural actors" to a degree
that people across cultures use such concepts in an intuitive and
automatic way. The mental reaction is automated and thus is similar
to the mechanism "that two points and a straight line
automatically trigger the idea of a face".
The
human mind is composed of a plurality of such modular mechanisms, so
certain "types of spiritual convictions" have a selective
advantage over others. These "types of spiritual convictions"
are accepted with more ease because they were reflecting a kind of
"natural" ("primitive") thinking. Abstract theological
concepts are elaborate versions of initially simple but contagious
"spiritual" people's ideas, which have developed to costly
constructs. And in turn, atheistic concepts are recent and costly
de-constructions of both, of these simple "spiritual"
people's ideas and their elaborate further developments in the world
religions.
Ukko El'Hob
see German version of the quote at
http://oding.org/index.php/was-lief-verkehrt/785-ein-chinese-warum-ich-heide-bin;
[#] My translation back into English; [1]
http://ukkoelhob.blogspot.de/2012/06/letter-to-my-cousin-no-thanks-no-horror.html
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