World of Pretend

Of all the music artists I’ve listened to, none even compare in the art of subliminal messages than Linkin Park. Not only that, but the amount of wisdom and philosophy tucked under the hood of their songs is awe-inspiring- at least for me. I believe that the Bible is intended not as a manual to living life, but to understanding why we live life the way we do. To understand the Bible, you must realize that it does not matter how things turn out ultimately (the ends), or even what our intentions were (the means)- Both of these are irrelevant. What truly matters is that we understand why we live life the way we do- the Bible helps us understand this, but what really makes it unique- and what makes Linkin Park unique, is that the more that you read it, and relate it to your own perception, the more you can learn from it. In particular, Linkin Park’s song “Forgotten” has the most meaning of any of their songs (to me), and the translation found in “Reanimation” actually leaves even more meaning behind. So this is the 3rd post I’ve had that’s a homage to “Forgotten”, and the title is actually one of the lines in that song:

(“Then with the eyes shut / looking through the rust and rot and dust / a small spot of light floods the floor | And pours over the rusted world of pretend | The eyes ease open and its dark again”)

When people are in love, be it with God, some religion, google, or another human, many times- probably most times it starts with blind passion. The problem with blind passion though, is that if our perception of our object of desire changes even in the slightest, be it by change of information (i.e. “you were lying when you said you were rich?!?”) change of priority (i.e. “I don’t get the sex I ‘need’ from him/her”) or just learning new information (i.e. “I’m having a baby”)

When I was a Christian, and when I was in love, I really knew I was a Christian and in love. There was no doubt in my mind- I was on fire for Jesus and loved Elyse. But, in retrospect it was blind passion for both her and God. So the question is, “Was I really in love and a Christian”?

The answer is both true and false. In the present I was not, but in the past I was. In other words, the ability to look back gives us the ability to see things that no longer exist as if they did, because they exist in memory (which is also explained in “Forgotten”). We have all sorts of different realities, but the ones with which this post is especially concerned, is the realities of past, present, and future. That is, are the realities of past and future just as “real” as that which is right in front of us- the present?

I would say yes, and here’s why: Because in the past I was in love, and was a Christian, I was able to learn and grow from it- after all, how would I know that it was “blind passion” now, unless I had matured? Even if I was blind, I still lived as if it was true, because I believed it to be. As long as we believe, it is true- it only is false if we believe it as such. As I explained in Id versus Ego, faith is a product of Id, naturally because Id’s essence is blind desire/passion. No logic can convince a person driven by Id of anything, since Id is illogical. This knowledge has helped me understand human psychology and motivation a great deal- before I was constantly irritated by other’s actions, because they were illogical. Now I know why. Id is still truth, just a different kind of truth. So logically, I wasn’t a Christian and I wasn’t in love, but I was illogically- no doubt about that.

Christians often cite the fact that people underwent so much persecution in the name of Jesus, and of Christianity. So much work was done, so much was sacrificed, so many lives given. So it must be true, right? Until now I have either suspended judgement, or discounted their actions as foolish. But while Christianity may be illogical in essence, it wasn’t supposed to be any more than God is. So that claim, in its own right, is justified. However, it should be noted that it was, and is, true to Christians. It was true to me, but not anymore. The Bible however, does have some truth to me though.

I’ll probably add to this later, but that’s good enough for now…