Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Ultimate Cargo
(6)
A Cargo Cult by definition is a belief system based on false premises, passed down from generation to generation, promising rewards contingent on belief and practice. The most original Cargo Cult must certainly be Judaism, which teaches that sexual mutilation of infant males is pleasing to God, somehow, and that God will reward the new inductee later in life, somehow: Jewish newborns are sexually mutilated, resulting in a lifetime of reduced sexual pleasure, and this is somehow pleasing to the Jewish God, somehow. In the Jewish case, the 'Cargo' is tribal membership, a minimal return considering the heavy lifetime investment. Another possible benefit is that, deprived of normal sexual pleasure, Jewish males will concentrate their sexual energies on becoming superior lawyers and pediatritians. Procreation will suffer, of course, but no matter. This is a marginal cult, offering little, and this cult has suffered for at least 3000 years as a result.
Take a more esoteric Cargo Cult: Buddhism. Buddhism promises a next life. Furthermore Buddhism promises a happier current life if you understand and apply Buddhist principles. Buddhism even offers a happier next life for adept practicioners based on the concept of 'Karma.' I see Buddhism as a vast improvement over Judaism and its derivatives. Interestingly, Buddhism sees 'Nirvana' (absorbtion of the individual soul into The One) as the ultimate goal. But whereas this far-fetched idea assures the individual Buddhist that while there is a next life for him or her providing he or she does not become tooooo good at Buddhist practice, the default is obviously dubious: observe, yes, but don't get too good at it, otherwise your chain of lives will end. I love that little twist! The Buddha was a genius of psychology!
Contrasting with the Jewish cargo cult is the Christian cargo cult which promises two alternatives: eternal happiness or eternal torment. Mohammedanism is a related cult offering the same alternatives. Those two cults dominate our world because they offer the ultimate cargo: eternal life vs eternal damnation.
A Cargo Cult by definition is a belief system based on false premises, passed down from generation to generation, promising rewards contingent on belief and practice. The most original Cargo Cult must certainly be Judaism, which teaches that sexual mutilation of infant males is pleasing to God, somehow, and that God will reward the new inductee later in life, somehow: Jewish newborns are sexually mutilated, resulting in a lifetime of reduced sexual pleasure, and this is somehow pleasing to the Jewish God, somehow. In the Jewish case, the 'Cargo' is tribal membership, a minimal return considering the heavy lifetime investment. Another possible benefit is that, deprived of normal sexual pleasure, Jewish males will concentrate their sexual energies on becoming superior lawyers and pediatritians. Procreation will suffer, of course, but no matter. This is a marginal cult, offering little, and this cult has suffered for at least 3000 years as a result.
Take a more esoteric Cargo Cult: Buddhism. Buddhism promises a next life. Furthermore Buddhism promises a happier current life if you understand and apply Buddhist principles. Buddhism even offers a happier next life for adept practicioners based on the concept of 'Karma.' I see Buddhism as a vast improvement over Judaism and its derivatives. Interestingly, Buddhism sees 'Nirvana' (absorbtion of the individual soul into The One) as the ultimate goal. But whereas this far-fetched idea assures the individual Buddhist that while there is a next life for him or her providing he or she does not become tooooo good at Buddhist practice, the default is obviously dubious: observe, yes, but don't get too good at it, otherwise your chain of lives will end. I love that little twist! The Buddha was a genius of psychology!
Contrasting with the Jewish cargo cult is the Christian cargo cult which promises two alternatives: eternal happiness or eternal torment. Mohammedanism is a related cult offering the same alternatives. Those two cults dominate our world because they offer the ultimate cargo: eternal life vs eternal damnation.
