When the Universe Replaces God
by Yervand KocharI caught a live tribute to Ted Kennedy on TV the other day. Family, friends, and colleagues were praising him as a champion for universal social justice.
I started thinking about how much I’ve been hearing the word “universal” lately.
“Universal” is the “it” word, as in universal health care or “The Universe will guide me,” or “Leave it to the Universe.”
There was a different word for it back in the day, more imposing but less confusing: God. But God is not a trendy word anymore. God is not popular, just like the Republicans. You are guilty by association with both. Even C.G. Jung was annoyed by it (the not calling God a ‘God’ part, not the Republicans).
There was also that video tribute by Ken Burns to Ted Kennedy’s legacy.
Ken Burns, surely, is a gifted storyteller in love with Americana. I have heard him speak many times, and Ken Burns is no Michael Moore. Michael Moore is an indoctrinated “half intellectual” (as Jean- Luc Goddard called him once) who follows Karl Marx verbatim. On the contrary, Ken Burns is a voluntary propagandist who, just like most of America’s talented artists, made an inevitably subconscious left turn in order to succeed in a better-marketed liberal Democratic cultural establishment. Burns does try to maintain his independent artistic spirit somewhat, at least to the degree allowed by PBS.
In short, Ken Burns is PBS’s Sergei Eisenstein.
So, it was even more disappointing to see how lame of a video tribute it was. All I learned was that Ted Kennedy loved water and universal health care, and that the people whom he helped loved him. The video’s real purpose, though, was an apparent attempt to make Obama look like an heir to Kennedy’s long desired health care reform.
As everything in the age of Obama, the video turned out to be about Obama.
Sadly, Obama is gradually becoming the zero of any socio-political equation-any number multiplied or divided by him becomes a zero. Or, rather like a zero on a roulette table, once the ball stops on him, all the money goes to the bank (a government owned one, of course). It is a uniquely universal quality.
The Kennedys were instrumental in Obama’s ascension to power. In fact, Ted Kennedy, as his friends were emotionally emphasizing during the tribute, helped a lot of people…except for one whom he left dying in the water that he loved so much, for which he was never held accountable because of the universal love for the Kennedys. Except for people who do not drink and drive, no one is exempt from drunk-driving accidents, and the shock that follows could impede anyone’s swift judgment.
Ted Kennedy, as many mentioned, also sincerely cared for “simple folks.”
Documentary Filmmaker Ken Burns
Yet, what would have been enough to sink any other good man’s public career was forgiven to Ted Kennedy-a testimony to the major dysfunction of our consumer-driven democracy that is still unable to break the chains of seduction to its universally hailed icons and idols.
So, there is, after all, a difference between the concepts of “Universal” and God. God brings justice; the Universe forgives. God is personal; the Universe is not. You can’t even curse the Universe. Who would be offended by cursing the Rings of Saturn, anyway?
A half-junkie acquaintance of mine in Hollywood was telling me that she applied for many jobs and by doing so made a statement to the Universe that she needed a job. Now, the Universe must help her…
Do you see the pattern here? The Universe is entitled to help. The Universe is the substitute for the judgmental and (rapidly disappearing) God. God and his Republican guards leave people alone and uninsured, but the Universe helps them. And Unions help them too. And the Soviet Union helped people too, after it got rid of the people who did not ‘care’ about other people. The Universal end justifies individual means, even if by the “means” one implies vilifying half of the population who do not agree with the Universal Agent of Change.
Once in thousand years, the Universe sends savior figures that materialize people’s desires and protect them against social injustice. Sometimes, however, these agents of change commit locally individual acts of injustice; yet, ultimately, they bring on the kind of “universal social justice” so eloquently championed by Ted Kennedy throughout his distinguished career.
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91 Comments
Unfortunately for Teddy, the Universe is not sitting in Judgment over his vapid life…
Great Post Yervand!
If the universe is not personal then niether are we. You need to ask your stoner aquaintence and others if they are made in the image of the universe.
To be fair, C.G. Jung professed a deep and abiding belief in god. He said "I don't have to believe . . . I know." but he was ever careful to refer to God in his scientific papers as the God Image.
Can't wait until God healthcare gets passed…
Who would have thought that conservatives would be the rebels in this country. Yeah, liberalism is "cool", but so is drinking until you vomit in some circles. Don't worry, 2010 will be a hell of a hangover for the left.
Can't wait until God healthcare gets passed…
Who would have thought that conservatives would be the rebels in this country? Yeah, liberalism is "cool", but so is drinking until you vomit in some circles. Don't worry, 2010 will be a hell of a hangover for the left.
Yervand, you miss the universally held notion of the left, do not look at what I do, but look at what I say. It’s never results but intention. The Swimmer was our better because he was a traitorous, drunken, philandering, scumbag, and got away with it, with praise, and high accolades. Now to me that’s a good trick, but, of coarse we’re talking about fooling liberals that subsist on the crumbs tossed to them by the politburo. They adhere to the liberal parasitic mantra with dedication, “what’s in for me?” There was another Kennedy that once said to paraphrase, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” hmmm…
Edward Kennedy a Universal Disgrace.
Yervand, I was snooping around the democratic underground website (like poking at a sore) and found a newsweek lind to a group of 100 year old photos from Russia. http://www.newsweek.com/id/214585
These libs were all commenting about how beautiful they are and how the photos had them in tears.
Well, yeah, this was right before things got really ugly because of "progressives" like their dude, Obama. I couldn't get in to comment. I guess they have some kind of troll-proof system. Check out their site sometime. It's almost as stupid as the huffington post.
The "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude is plentiful with everyone in government.
The universe is expanding. It's expanding even faster than it should be. It looks like it is actually increasing in speed with respect to the rate of expansion. At some time, there may be a "big rip"- the finale, and the end of the universe.
But God will still be present. My faith tells me that God created the universe. He will be present when it ends. He may create a new one. Or maybe not.
The point is that to pray or exalt anything other than God is folly. Everything else begins and ends. Everything else can fail. Everything else is illusory, temporary and mundane.
Man's best hope is God, not the universe.
Oh boy Washington snobbery knows no bounds. This is something that “We the People,” need to address starting in 2010.
Whenever someone mentions Ken Burns I have to think of his masterpiece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xJzAYYrX8
Awesome article. "Do not love anything any the world…"
In the grand scheme of the universe, Teddy Kennedy is irrelevant. In the grand scheme of this earthlife, Teddy Kennedy is irrelevant. In fact, outside of the pseudo-elite, I'm hard pressed to find any framework where Teddy Kennedy is relevant.
"The Universe is the substitute for the judgmental and (rapidly disappearing) God."………This is the Left in a nutshell, no God, no consequences. This is why those on the right have been so reviled and savaged by the leftist press. On the right (and those who believe on the left) we at least try and live a fruitful and just life, keeping our eye on the prize…and Eternity with God. The left feels that we sit in judgement and they get absolute joy everytime a prominent Conservative actually proves that they are human and screws up. The left, on the otherhand, are free to wallow in their myriad indescretions knowing that a sympathetic press and "Universe" are there to help them until they "apologize" and screw up again.
You do know that Catholic literally means "Universal" ?
We're on it Brother. Big Time.
The only thing I can think of when it comes to all the Kennedys is 1 Samuel 8.
The people demanded a king, and the media gave them the Kennedys.
Can't we just call it "Shamalot"
You wrote:
Sadly, Obama is gradually becoming the zero of any socio-political equation-any number multiplied or divided by him becomes a zero.
Actually division by zero is undefined. But I understand what you were getting at. Your point is valid.
Dostoyevski said it best: "If God does not exist, everything is permissable." ("Brothers Karamazov", I think)
The universe is amoral so there is no need for Ted Kennedy to ask forgiveness. In the universe without God or in a universe where the created is worshipped as a god, then the only law is the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest. Ted Kennedy was a predator who preyed upon women – Mary Jo. and the waitress, are only a few examples. He was a man consumed by his own lust and eventually by his own evil.
You'll say "Sham" every time!
He's right!
SDE>w USA*obama
0
SDE>w USA/obama
<DIVIDE>prompt+37^%ZeW
Well there ya' go…that pretty much excludes Ted right there.
So what we really should be playing is "The Six Degrees of Barack Obama."
Yervand, my friend, but the Republicans ARE popular now, thanks to the Universal One.
Not to be a downer, but it was "we the people" that got us here in the first place. Ever wonder why people bitch about congress, talk about replacing the whole lot, and then are quick to say "but I love *my* congressman/senator?" That's why nothing really changes. It's always the fault of everyone else. The problems with this nation don't start at the top and filter down.
the sinner,
Patrick
There's a difference between God giving people a king and the press giving them a king.
the sinner,
Patrick
"Universal" as in the one true Chirch. That has nothing to do with their God concept, which is orthodox.
"Universal" as in the one true Chirch. That has nothing to do with their God concept, which is orthodox Trinitarian.
I've been a fan of Ken Burns for a long time. His "Civil War" documentary is one of the best there is. This is really disappointing.
This "replacement" has been happening for centuries – it's nothing new. We did it in our own nation, following Rousseau's desire to remove God from public life. Rousseau new that there are horizontal structures in government and vertical structures. The horizontal are the actual governmental bodies, the vertical are the things (or thing) that give(s) the government its authority. Wanting to get rid of God, Rousseau used the "voice of the people" as a semi-mythical "other," an undefined body that preyed upon human egocentrism in order to provide an authority to humanistic governments.
In other words, "I'M running the show!" became the bait to get people buy into the system – God was forgotten. Man became the centerpiece. Even now, when most talk about the "universe," they're really talking about an ultimate force that is little more than a reflection of their own ego. Even God, in most of the world, has become subject to human definition and revision (how often do you hear the phrase "*my* God," as in "*my* God isn't X or Y." The Faith is diluted and altered to fit whatever humanist trend is dominant. It was true at the time of the Founding Fathers, it's just as true today.
What the author is noticing is nothing new. It may be couched in different terminology, and it may be increasingly selfish (as he describes the universe materializing peoples' desires and such), but it is not new.
the sinner,
Patrick
I just finished watching the dvd set of "Battlestar Galactica" (the remake).
In the final scene, one of the characters refers to God and the reply is, "You know it doesn't like to be called that."
Pretty much sums up Hollywood theology.
DrPain….I believe you have nailed it. Our liberal friends know what is right and it galls them when they are confronted with it. It isn't the "right" that sets in judgment, it's their own conscience.
Mary Jo Kopeckne was unavailable for comment.
Dividing by zero is a sure way to kill off a computer. It's so deadly in fact, Intel microprocessors have special circuitry built into them to self detect when they're in that death spiral and interrupt the process.
A number divided by zero is undefined… kind of like Obama's health care plan.
Karl Marx got a lot of things wrong, but he got a few things right. One was his observation that the seeds of a movement's destruction are sown in its creation.
It's precisely because Obama and the democrats were successful that they are now failing. Sure communist/socialist plans sound great around the beer at the pub. But in action, its quite different.
This sounds a lot to me like the beliefs expressed by people who claim to be "spiritual but not religious". While not always the case, many times when I ask them to elaborate on their actual beliefs, they are little more than a mish-mash of vaguely religious notions cribbed from various faiths and watered down to suit their personal sensibilities. Does their spirituality require anything of them? Does it demand that they amend their personal behavior, or do things that they wouldn't normally elect to do? Does it direct them to do things they might find distasteful or uncomfortable, things that might make them unpopular? Does it promise justice? Does it even have a concept of right and wrong?
Or does it just cast a gauzy halo over anything they were going to do anyway?
I think you've nailed this interpretation of "The Universe" on the head. It's a big golden calf that people are hoping will give them lots of candy and look the other way when they decide to be selfish.
My great grandfather fought in the Civil War. Joined when he was 14. Had my grandfather when he was in his 70's, so my grandfather could be considered a Civil War buff.
But for some reason he could not stand watching Ken Burns documentary. Ask him why he'd just start shaking his head and muttering about how many things he got completely wrong. I did like it myself, though.
Precisely!!!!!
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Mnewman,
Right on. Timing is everything in these pictures. All that beauty and diveristy and lifestyle and religious diversity was wiped out by 1920 by Soicialist Bolsheviks. Most of those people depicted were probably torured and killed in communists camps and thousands of churches were leveled by the demons of communist party.
Thanks, Nate.
Romans 1:25
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator . . .
Stergeye,
I consider "Brothers Karamazov" the most important book written by man. It is pure gold. Long before the Russian, Revoltion Dostoevsky demonstrated that the source of socialism and universalism is deeply rooted in rebellion against God. He detailed the failure of that philosophy on the example of one family, which soon came to represent Russia in general.
It is very sad to see, how America follows this pattern.
When Obama addresses school children on Tuesday, it should be wise to follow the address with a short read from Dostoevsky's book.
Also check writings of Russian philospher Nikolas Berdiaev who claimed that any philosophy that denies God inevitably turns against humans.
Wow! This is very well written!
DrPain63,
Great point. Leftists are professional accusers and as professional accusers they tend to be selective accusers. Forget about Harry Reid's bridge to his private land, Jefferson's money in the freezer, Barney Frank's lies about Freddy and Fanny, Senator Dood getting back door deals, Pelosi's estate estimated from 5 -25 million dollars and we cango forever. It seems never to damage their brand of 'champions for justice".
I think it's overly sentimental in places, and while I don't necessarily agree with a few of the conclusions he comes to, it's a pretty solid effort. Of course, not having been there, I couldn't say for certain. I'll definitely take your grandfather's word for it. =)
Catholic indeed means "Universal" and the Catholic Church is the body of Christ, the Son of God..
I am not against universal, I am against universal without individual. Like for example, Santa Monica's Church in Santa Monica, CA. It got the universal part nailed but forgot about God. So they preach about every social injustice but barely mention God. Sitting through the Mass feels like filling out a union orientation form.
I always thought Obama was a 'closet Republican."
Great article, Yervand. (I will support conservative Armenians til I croak in my madzoon!). The Universe sounds so non-judgemental.. no written Word, no true messiah. Make it whatever you want. Except for marxism&communism, liberals very open minded and accepting of 'universe' gibberish. The Truth hasn't yet set them free, may never will.
Patrick,
I absolutely had no intention to sell it as something new. It is, actually, the oldest and most pondered upon question there is. I am not the first and definitely not the last ( you, in fact, wrote about it just after what I wrote).
I just don't see your point of mentioning it. It is like saying why Goethe wrote "Faust" when Marlowe wrote it before him and it was a medieval tale before Marlowe got to it.
But thanks anyway for letting all those who thought that I was the first person who talked about replacing God knowing that it was in the Bible before.
And thankfully, neither are you…
Regarding Ted Kennedy: "All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God" – Romans 3:23 May God have mercy on him and may he rest in peace.
Regarding the rest of us: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment that you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." – Matthew 7:1-5 May we see the world with clear vision and practice what we preach.
I agree, I'd almost suggest its one of the oldest, and first questions humans thought, once they figured out how to think.
Why am I here? Is it on purpose or an accident? If its on purpose, then I answer to a higher authority. If its an accident, then what can I get out of it?
"My dear brothers, never forget, when you hear the progress of enlightenment vaunted, that the devil's best trick is to persuade you that he doesn't exist!" — Charles Baudelaire
Thank you.
wah-wah,
"All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God" but only one remained a Senator for forty years.
Thanks Anita.
Madzoon is the real solution to all of our problems.
KToon,
Here is what C.G. Jung said:
"If he [ human being] possesses a grain of wisdom, he will lay down his arms and name the unknown by the moreunknown, ignotum per ignotis- that is , by the name of God. That is a confession of his subjection, his imperfection, and his dependence; but at the same time a testimony to his freedom to choose between truth and error." From "Memories, Drems, Refelcections"
Thanks msognen,
I never understood people who considered the idea of personal God, someone who we look like, as primitive.
They assume that we human beings are so simple and clear that God cannot be like us, yet, we are still a great mystery to ourselves. We don't know our beginning or end.
You tell him, Yervand.
Atta boy, you got it! Madzoon with a side of shish-kabob!
Great, now I'm hungry. Somewhere in Glendale, an Armenian's eating shish-kabob.. day or night.
I love my people!
Kipling,
In the jungle, there are predators and victims and also hunters who turn predators into victims. Long live hunters clinging to their guns.
KToon,
This is wht C.G. Jung said:
"If he [man] possesses a grain of wisdom, he will lay down his arms and name the unknown by the more unknown, ignotum per ignotius – that is, by the name of God. That is a confession of his subjecttion, his imperfection, and his dependence; but at the same time a testimony to his freedom to choose between truth and error."
EdSki,
As I said in the article , Ken Burns is a very talented and intellegent artist. His "Civil War" documentary is, indeed, one of the best out there. Yet, there is a problem when dealing with the issues of the Civil War. The wounds of the war have not healed yet. Many of the social and cultural problems we experience today are rooted in the Civil War. Many turths of the time are distorted and revised by all sides. Ken Burns chose the middle of the road approach to a very controversial subject and for some people like your grandfather who knows a lot about the war, it's not real enough.
I am a Civil War buff myself and I made a documentary about Lincoln in 1864. What was happening then is still highly explosive and controversial. The Civil war, just like slavery, is one of those 'family secrets' we don't want to talk about much.
Lest we forget Rangel's forgotten income, Geitner's tax issues, Sotomayor's bigoted comments, Obama's drug use, and so on……
Mnewman,
The timing is everything here. You're right on. All these idillic pictures of racial and religious diversity are sad to see, because they are all pre-1917. The Socialist Revolution wiped it all out within years. Most of those people were probably tortured and killed in communist camps, their lands usurped and churches and temples leveled.
Writer Tolstoy whose picture figures as well, was ignored and dismissed by the Bolsheviks.
Disclaimer: I posted this before, then my post disappeared. I am reposting this paraphrased, so if this repeats it's a technicall issue and not me trying to say the same thing twice.
We suffer out here with a supermarket that keeps advertising everything it doesw as "World Class" boasting of no less than "hand crafted -world class apple pies.
I fear that they will find this site and begin to daily advertise, "universal class apple pies"
Amen – "No God -no consequences" right now. As the old Pram oil filter used to say, "you can pay me now of pay me later." about that Judgment Day fellas, no lawyers, no friendly media, no mother's pleading "he's a good boy" no warnings, no commuted sentences, no suspended sentences, no parole, no pleading insanity, no victimization as an alibi – just capital punishment that lasts forever.
Good one Patrick – it's nothing new -that apple salesman that took in Eve and her husband Adam, bought the oldest lie on Earth. -"You too can be like a God!"
The universe is expanding. It's expanding even faster than it should be. It looks like it is actually increasing in speed with respect to the rate of expansion. At some time, there may be a "big rip"- the finale
Maybe Obama is running the Universe…..sounds just like the freakin' government.
As I interpret 1 Samuel 8, God didn't give them a king. They demanded a king in spite of God. Samuel tells God they want a king, and God says give them a king, and don't worry they are rejecting God not Samuel and the judges.
Then Samuel gives them one awesome warning about just what happens when people choose to be ruled by a man instead of God. And then tells them when they figure out what they've done to themselves, they will cry out for God, and God will not answer them.
Liberals are just like the ancient Hebrews, they haven't figured out yet just what they're demanding from government.
I am Catholic by the way. I was just pointing that out. I was pretty sure you knew what it meant.
Happens a lot in the West. As I've said, repeatedly, this goes back centuries. I'd recommend the chapter "From Theology to Philosophy in the Latin West" in *The Greek East and the Latin West* by Phillip Sherrard. You can find it online for free. The best summation of the West's entry into epistemological and ontological dualism, and the and the sad consequences. All in 16 pages.
the sinner,
Patrick
Don't misunderstand me! Man, I hate online discussions when you can't get inflection right. I didn't mean to say that you were trying to sell it as something new. It's just that we, as a group, in the West, in general (any more clauses to tack on to this sentence?), have a tendency to limit our vision regarding this trend. And many others, really.
The point is that unless we really step back and see the origins, there isn't a whole lot we as individuals, or as a group, can do about it. I also don't think you approach the full scope of what this trend, as old as it is, has even in what many today consider "real world" or "practical matters." This trend has profound effects that go to the very root of our perceptions of reality and our very epistemological foundations.
That is why it is important to not narrow our focus on such important issues. I wasn't trying to slam ya on anything. This wasn't really even directed at you, sir. Simply a general missive that, I would hope, will help people begin to search the actual root of the problem and not overlook the issue by shorthand appeals to the humanistic foundations of our own nation as some sort of halcyon standard by which we judge things today.
the sinner,
Patrick
What, you thought he could just buy his way in like Catholics of old used to do? Or like he conducted his former life on earth?
Not happening. There's a reason "Almighty" is in the Name.
And murder is a problem that is very tough to bounce back from…
I visualize Mary Jo waiting for Ted at the gate to Heaven and that seals his fate with St. Peter. No amount of Gold's Powder is going to take away that burning in you soul, Ted. I hope you enjoy the final roast. R.I.P. Oh, by the way, the P. stands for Pentanence.
I visualize Mary Jo waiting for Ted at the gate to Heaven and that seals his fate with St. Peter. No amount of Gold's Powder is going to take away that burning in your soul, Ted. I hope you enjoy the final roast. R.I.P. Oh, by the way, the P. stands for Pentanence.
GOD BLESS THE DEAD KENNEDYS………….THEY KINDA ROCKED
BUT…….TED DID SO SUCK……..
Long live the hunters, indeed! And long may they cling to their guns and their religion!
VERY GOOD PIECE!!! WE MUST NOT REPLACE GOD WITH THE "UNIVERSE". WELL DONE, AND AS THE FIRST COMMENTER SAID; I DON'T THINK THE UNIVERSE IS JUDGING TEDDY RIGHT NOW, BUT I THINK THAT OLD, ANTIQUATED [SP?] CONCEPT, GOD, IS…. SO HERE'S HOPING HE IS A MERCIFUL GOD, TEDDY.
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[...] Replacing God With The Universe – September 04, 2009 “Universal” is the “it” word, as in universal health care or “The Universe will guide me,” or “Leave it to the Universe.” There was a different word for it back in the day, more imposing but less confusing: God. But God is not a trendy word anymore. God is not popular, just like the Republicans. You are guilty by association with both… Big Hollywood These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
In the words of Dallas Willard; "Absurdity reigns and confusion makes it look good."
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