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EVERYTHING SHOULD BE UNDER THE SUN

To GOD or Not To GOD!

by Gabriel Ariel LEVICKY

Ever since woman/mankind lifted its new, enlarged cranium up — its obsession was to locate and pinpoint a source of its constant existential entertainment. If, for example, a neighbor had been completely fried by a sudden lightning, surely it must have been a sign of some profound meaning. People just do not get fried like this, unless of course, one is firmly committed to the gastronomic doctrines of cannibalism.

Nations after nations, culture after culture pondered on the subject of life and death and dedicated many long hours of fighting and rivers of blood to ‘discover’ its very dual essence. Surely, if life that takes so much to come to full fruition can be taken away so easily — what is then meaning of all this (heavenly) jazz?

Some attempted to circumvent the final journey out and desired to preserve the flesh in its former glory. The desert colored Egyptians went so far that everything around them was filled with all kinds of gods in different anthropomorphic forms whose chief purpose was to scare the shit out of the people and when the last call arrived, take them for a final journey to the un-repented Underworld.

Cartoon by Gabriel Ariel LEVICKY

Tired of so many gods, Akhenaton, the radical, courageous and poetic Pharaoh (even by our contemporary standards), decided to spent less time bending in front of different marble, limestone, and granite creatures and defiantly had chosen the only one deity — the Sun-Aton. It made a lot of sense, since Egypt was constantly battered from the time immemorial by the low radiation that — as it seemed to them — can speed up the process of corporal decay. To their and our horror — a body can comfortably disappear in rather a short time span. What remains (if we are lucky) is a skeleton and as such, it does not have that much use except in boring biology classes or will create a shortsighted archeologist’s excitement.

The ancient migratory Hebrews, the old rascals of monotheism, decided to adopt oneness for who has that much time to worship many gods, especially when on a constant ‘business’ trip? Little did they know that this pragmatism would coast them dearly in the years to come. The adopters’ adopters (Christians & Muslims) also figured out the practical, social, psychological, and political aspects of one who is to be worshipped.

What’s more, they were convinced that they alone can provide far better conditions and glory for the newly adopted protector and in his/her name bring a concept of Hell closer to human understanding. It was thus easier to kill in the name of the Highest Authority.


Cartoon by Gabriel Ariel LEVICKY

No wonder that under such a pressure; people finally conclude that there must be something more in store for them than a fragility of human flesh. The anonymous ‘spirit’ does not need to inhabit a weak body. It can soar unlimited, beyond everything and over any time zone. That was a promise. Therefore, it was easier to dispatch a potential enemy and allow him/her a faster passage out of their bodies, to release them from their misery…The cries, agony, madness, fanaticism, horror, disbelieve and the red soaked earth is still with us, reminding us of our splendid capacity to interpret a meaning of the Supreme Being in so many ‘miraculous’ ways…

So, who or what is that God? Good Old Devil or perhaps Glad Over Depression? Or may be it is a hallucinatory state of mind when we finally understood that we all are in the same pit full of snakes and rats (our fellow travelers), desperately searching a way out.

The various radicals during so many revolutions decided to get rid of God. They did not succeeded since in their ideological blindness, similar to the religious one; they copied the same methods as those who were reducing the numbers of general population in God’s name.

Is it therefore possible to conclude that there is no God, no spirit, no saintly bone relics, no mysterious messengers & prophets, or other attractions/distractions? It is the same question as a scientific faith in Sun’s finality — in about 6 billion years our bright star and free heater will self-collapse in a huge explosion and become a dead planet. Can you believe this? How about the immortality of DNA and iron in spinach?

If one needs God as his/her crutches to walk through life, it is quite understandable.

I tend to lean to the satirical-sarcastic playfulness of one of my American iconoclastic hero Frank Zappa, who ‘established’ C.A.S.H. - Church of American Secular Humanism. In his Tenets of the Faith, Zappa bites: That men have invented gods, and may continue to do so, utilizing these inventions for personal benefit.



Cartoon by Gabriel Ariel LEVICKY

In the same breath, perhaps we should ask ourselves: is there a stock market in Heaven (almost certainly in Hell), does God deals with money, politics, elections, stupidity, earthquakes and floods, drunkenness, Viagra, circumcision contraversy, adultery, lottery, and missed highway exits? Does God have the Web site and on what MHz is he/she running? Does God believe in Bill Gates, or even worse, why he/she created a person such as Bill? How touchy or touchable God is? Does he/she believe in him/herself? Does God really goes to a church, synagogue, mosque or other related not on-line sites and observes what is going on there? Does God really allows bad filmmakers and dentists to enter heavenly gates? Does God believes in UFO? Is he/she a vegetarian or a vegan? How is God’s relationship with Satan and who is better looking, according to People and other mediocre magazines? Is there sex in Heaven and refrigerators in Hell? How come we are so obsessed with God?

If I would be God, I would close my lab and hang a sign on the door: Closed for revision. The experiment failed. Do not call us, we will call you!

Of course, it is good to have God on our side, especially when the other side claims he/she is on their side, basta.

Last time God demonstrated Him/Herself was when Moses got sunburned in the desert of Upper Egypt and had his far reaching Freudian experience…

So, bring back that ol’ religion? To God or not to God is not a question. Hey, it is a way of life, right?

Amen.

Gabriel Ariel LEVICKY
This issue is dedicated to contemporary Turkish artist Erol AKYAVAS.

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