tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post3831404637274899848..comments2023-10-30T07:45:43.656-04:00Comments on Thoughts and Ideas: Stabbing Art to DeathA Wiser Man Than Ihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02405864709965908573noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-90237804761806012032007-10-30T00:22:00.000-04:002007-10-30T00:22:00.000-04:00I was "googling" the Thoreau quote you used when I...I was "googling" the Thoreau quote you used when I came across this blog. I find it ironic that you utilize a Thoreau quote from a work like Walden, which encourages self-actualization and a dependency on intuition rather than faith in dogma, to bolster your theory of the necessity of religion with regards to art. <BR/><BR/>I like what Tina said about having a feeling about a book "by our own mind." Why can't we write by our own mind also? How long do we need to allow the ancient and dusty religions to influence our thoughts and creativity? Their dying influence is testament to the fact that they no longer define the experience of all humans or direct their actions. They no longer need to. It is possible for humans to define what is right and wrong without checking a dusty reference book or consulting a priest. Thoreau's knew this more than a hundred years ago. I remember reading that his family worried about his not professing an orthodox faith. Shortly before he died, one of them ( I think it was his aunt) asked him if he had "made peace with God." Thoreau responded, "I did not know we had quarreled."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-27206552136341310882007-10-21T22:39:00.000-04:002007-10-21T22:39:00.000-04:00I have a list of great moderns I'll never get thro...<I>I have a list of great moderns I'll never get through!</I><BR/><BR/>If you would be kind enough to provide a list, however brief, I would appreciate it. I know you're a fan of Vonnegut, and I do enjoy some of his works, but I rather doubt his staying power.A Wiser Man Than Ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02405864709965908573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-15779786201721609812007-10-20T23:30:00.000-04:002007-10-20T23:30:00.000-04:00The depth of religious contemplation has certainly...The depth of religious contemplation has certainly been the source of great art(and more than a little junk) but let's not go putting limits on experience. Nor pronouncing the end of literatue.I have a list of great moderns I'll never get through!troutskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16020298501632120830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-23733207954938498982007-10-18T19:15:00.000-04:002007-10-18T19:15:00.000-04:00I don't think that's correct. As Paglia suggested...I don't think that's correct. As Paglia suggested, great art can be made in rebellion against religion, but it's becoming increasingly clear that my way of thinking, i.e. along religious lines, is becoming less and less prevalent, at least in our culture. <BR/><BR/>I don't get all offended when someone blasphemes, but no one is going to care about the blasphemy when no one believes any longer in that which is being blasphemed.<BR/><BR/>I'm a fairly big fan of Nietzsche, and if his black mass--from <I>Thus Spake Zarathustra</I>--made me uneasy, I also found it to be a profound expression of art. The effect of his prose is lessened when the audience believes God is dead, and someone who could not consider the alternative, that God exists, would never be able to create like Nietzsche. <BR/><BR/>Interestingly enough, I just finished <I>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance</I>. It's going to take me some time to process some of his thoughts.A Wiser Man Than Ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02405864709965908573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-48790292813528486242007-10-18T12:52:00.000-04:002007-10-18T12:52:00.000-04:00Could it be that the dirth of art you find is that...Could it be that the dirth of art you find is that it is awakening to what you still hold sacred and therefore consider only desecration? I recommend checking out Pirsig's Dynamics of Quality.Yodoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09244765916380830711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-2894582648610833992007-10-18T09:43:00.000-04:002007-10-18T09:43:00.000-04:00It all about sprouting from the compost of ones pa...<I>It all about sprouting from the compost of ones past, becoming more aware and responsible.</I><BR/><BR/>This works for the brilliant, but you're forgetting something. If art is made from rebellion from authority, that authority must hold some real weight. For instance, it worked for Joyce because he felt deeply the Catholic traditions of his country.<BR/><BR/>What do we have to rebel against? A lazy plutocracy is hardly the impetus for great art. I hold that, whereas the religious atmosphere is rapidly shrinking, art will also lost its power and goodness.A Wiser Man Than Ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02405864709965908573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-33169806686022847102007-10-18T07:21:00.000-04:002007-10-18T07:21:00.000-04:00I reject the authority of authority.What I was try...I reject the authority of authority.<BR/><BR/>What I was trying to express before you got all huffy was that discovering ultimate responsibility for oneself after blindly following parents, principals, priests or presidents is stuff of good art — any realization of ones own capacities in contradiction to authority's will is the meat of great art. It all about sprouting from the compost of ones past, becoming more aware and responsible.Yodoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09244765916380830711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-18072953505777621032007-10-18T00:58:00.000-04:002007-10-18T00:58:00.000-04:00Fine, you reject the "authority" of religion. Wha...Fine, you reject the "authority" of religion. What do you posit for your alternative authority? A religion-rejecter, Christopher Hitchens, recently recommended that we bomb Iran. If you reject this immoral action, what do you offer as an objective standard which allows you to condemn his actions?<BR/><BR/>Further, with which points in my essay did you disagree? Religion may be an "excuse", but do you deny that it is useful in the production of good art?A Wiser Man Than Ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02405864709965908573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-23550074531447929132007-10-17T18:38:00.000-04:002007-10-17T18:38:00.000-04:00Awakening to ones own ignorance from faith in auth...Awakening to ones own ignorance from faith in authority is always the crux of moral responsibility. Religion is just one of our handy excuses to let someone else do our thinking for us — just to fit in, don'tcha know.Yodoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09244765916380830711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10835776.post-63850431917338142042007-10-17T04:59:00.000-04:002007-10-17T04:59:00.000-04:004. Maybe you are right. Sometimes the religion can...4. Maybe you are right. Sometimes the religion can have a great influence for our understanding of a good novel. But on the other side, we may have another feeling about the book by our own mind. We can also have another different understanding. We study it for enriching our mind but not copy the authors mind. We can have our own mind for it. This is I quote from a person at millionairematch.com. I do agree with him.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02500630333536465412noreply@blogger.com