The Walking Dead

The scene just before Shane's death really stuck out to me. He's releasing all of his inner thoughts to Rick and it reveals so much about his character that Rick didn't realize before, especially since they were former partners. The differences of the realities of Rick and Shane are quite interesting. Shane sees Rick as changing "destiny" so to speak; he essentially blames the influx of walkers near the campsite on Rick, whether he acknowledges it or not. Since Shane thought that since Rick was as good as dead, he could finally take what was Rick's without the repercussions of Rick being alive to have a say in it. However, this reality changed when Rick showed up. The intimacy that Shane had shared with Lori was removed because her husband was now alive again. Rick knew none of this until Shane snapped. I found the difference that the simple knowledge of the affair could create such different realities. Rick had no idea that he was driving Shane off the deep end by coming back.

The Flame Alphabet (2)

                “You have commanded us not to know you and we have obeyed. When we have known you we have looked away …

                Whatever this was, it was no real prayer. It sounded like an apology for something that had never happened. I could not bear the sound, particularly in my own voice, and so I put away my wires and did not eavesdrop on the cable again.” (274)

I view this passage as a commentary on religion and the influence it has over society. Sam describes "an apology for something that had never happened," which is something that Christianity deals a lot in with the original sin; people must repent for something they didn't do wrong, something that didn't happen to them or because of them. This idea can be used to guilt people into praying to a deity to cleanse them of something innate to their biology, something they were born with. 

The Flame Alphabet

"Spreading messages dilutes them. Even understanding them is a compromise. The language kills itself, expires inside its host. Language acts as an acid over its message. If you no longer care about an idea or feeling, put it into language. That will certainly be the last of it, a fitting end. Language is another name for coffin. Bauman told us the only thing we should worry about regarding the sermons was if we understood them too well. When such a day came, then something was surely wrong." (44)

Though this passage was relatively early in the book, I feel that it embodies some important concepts. the idea of "spreading messages dilutes them" is an interesting one, and I take it to mean that as different people spread a message from a central source, the message can start to evolve, like in a game of telephone, hence why the sermon transmissions are only allowed to come from one source. an idea in its purist form cannot be interpreted the same way by two different people, let alone people speaking different languages. This whole passage deals with the death of ideas, stating that "language is another word for coffin" and that language "acts as an acid over its message." These phrases all suggest that the original meanings behind phrases or messages can never be accessed, only interpreted. This idea explains part of the message of understanding the sermons too well; if you understand them too well, you have not taken away the original message or idea behind the sermon.

Bounty

I found Bounty to have a quite similar plot line, or even a similar monomyth to several of the stories in things such as The X-Men, the first and most noticeable similarity being that both are thinly veiled or completely evident metaphors for the racism that was ever present throughout western history, dealing not only with the slave trade, which is only really evident in Bounty, but also the segregation and disgust with the Flawed's, quite similar to the mutants. The story makes a big point of how society has digressed, suggesting that not all change is positive, and that history is doomed to repeat itself over and over, apocalypse after apocalypse.

Black Hole

[Image from pg. 155 in the pdf]

Since I cannot find a way to link the image to the post, I will have to describe the scene I selected. I chose the scene where Chris and Marci are eating at a fast food joint and Marci makes unpleasant comments about the teens with the bug eating out of the trash can and Chris changes the subject.

This scene can be viewed from a couple of different angles. For one thing, Burns could be criticizing the way that many people in today's society can say offensive things that affect people that we are talking to simply because we don't know and others don't show the same symptoms as others that are being criticized. The way Marci talks about teens with the bug obviously makes Chris uncomfortable.Chris is evidently offended by Marci's comment because she has the bug as well, just to a less severe degree. The stigma against the bug is highly evident in this passage.

Source Summaries

"Atheism" - CM Lorkowski
 In this article, Lorkowski aims to define atheism specifically and explain what sets it apart from agnosticism and other less common views of deism. Atheism is the belief in the rejection of all deities and supernatural influences on natural phenomena. Atheism differs from agnosticism in the sense that agnosticism provides the question of the existence of a deity; atheism does not provide that option. There are two forms of atheism; popular atheism and naturalist atheism. Popular atheists do not believe in deities, while naturalists do not believe that there any supernatural forces. Everything that happens is within the realm of nature even if it cannot be explained with current knowledge. The author then proceeds to explain that the vast majority of scientific research is performed under the naturalistic idea of atheism because it leaves unanswered questions that cannot simply be filled with lore; it evokes exploration of the topic that remains unsolved.

"Modern Militant Atheism" - Philip Kitcher
In his article, Kitcher argues that modern atheism has become militant in its efforts to attack religion and expose its faults. Kitcher states that the main source for militant atheists are the fundamental interpretations of religions, which is a small representation of a much more complex and diverse system such as a religion. Militant atheism focuses on all of the harm that religion causes without stepping back and considering all of the good that can come from religion.

"Atheism's Unholy Trinity" - Jarrett Dapier
In this book review from an issue of "In These Times", Jarrett Dapier describes Chris Hedges' view on modern atheists. Hedges sees them no different from any religious extremist group because of their viscous, attacking nature and unrelenting insistence on forcing their worldview. Hedges does recognize that not all atheists are as aggressive as the modern militant atheist, and he does mention his respect for atheists that recognize the flaws in human nature and accepts them. Hedges cites atrocities that have occurred as the direct action of atheistic influence, suggesting that atheism can hinder progress just as easily as religion.

Ragnarok

"When the bond round the earth was loosed, other bonds broke. The hell-hound, Garm, snapped his chain and leaped out to join his wolf kindred. The sun in her chariot, and the moon in his, whipped up their horses in their everlasting rush round the sky. But the tireless pursuing wolves, joined by Garm, with crimson eyes and gullet, knew that their time had come, galloped faster, and fastened their teeth in the haunches of the silver horse and the swarthy. The horses screamed and swerved, and light in the world went mad, black, blazing white, dark as hell, lurid red."-A. S. Byatt, Ragnarok, pg. 136

Passages like this one exemplify the fragility of the system which keeps the earth in balance and keeps entropy at bay. The "bond around the earth" which sends the earth into chaos in Ragnarok is the giant serpent and her destructive forces. This phrase can also be seen in light of human unity as the great global link of a common cause. once this common cause is lost, whether it be environmental struggles, global economy, or peace treaties, can lead to the rapid descent of humanity and the earth into complete chaos in which everything is wiped out by opposing forces and there is nothing left, represented by the two battling armies that wipe each other out and take out all of the world with them. This chain-reaction apocalypse that Byatt describes in Ragnarok is not entirely impossible to replicate with the world powers today, and was especially possible during the time of World War II, when this was written. It seemed almost certain that the world powers would take each other out.

Excerpts from the Qur'an

Admittedly, I did have a bit of an issue getting used to the voice that the excerpts were written in (I kept reading "Lo!" int the Pickthal translation as "Lol"), however I did acclimate to the various differences in the writing styles between the three translations. I thought it was interesting to see that the Shakir translation seemed to get across the same messages as the Pickthal and Yu Sufali translations, but did it in a more blunt, succinct way. The Yu Sufali seemed to be the most elaborate in its structure and phrasing, and in general, having the clearest articulation of the ideas in the passages. I found it quite interesting that the Qur'an is an elaboration and a continuation of the book of Revelation. I had not known that prior to reading the excerpts.
It surprised me how similar the stories are between the three main western religious texts actually are. I had always known that they followed the same general plot and told of the same virtues, but there are some stories quite literally involving the same characters and people, which I find fascinating. I had no idea that the stories would be so similar.

Book of Daniel

The Book of Daniel was quite the interesting read. It was oddly satisfying to find out the King's dream and read its interpretation as representations of the kingdoms that will come after Nebuchadnezzar. The revelations of the other kingdoms and their interpretations of each rise and fall are also represented in interesting ways; the interactions between the rams is quite the image to play out in the mind, especially with the branching horns and their strange numbers.

Revelations was also interesting because of its interpretations; as mentioned in the readings and by other posts, I found it particularly interesting that apocalypse simply meant revelation. I can now make a guess as to why Ali pointed out the multiple meanings of "martyr" at the end of last class, but I can not be completely sure if this was the direction in which he was headed.

Babel

The story of Babel is quite interesting to me, especially since I am so unfamiliar with it. The story is so short, yet it speaks volumes about hubris and trying to achieve the same level as God, trying to "out-play" him by trying to be above the next catastrophe he sends down, even though he has promised not to destroy the earth.
I really do enjoy the fact that the story of the origin of the different languages throughout the earth, which serves as a warning for becoming too powerful under one language, has been translated into so many other languages, effectively overstepping the language barrier between different cultures and unifying them with a story that is about the dangers of total unity. Just something that I found interesting; sorry if my thoughts are hard to understand.

The Great Flood(s)

I had not had any experience with the epic of Gilgamesh before this class, and found the similarities between the story of the flood in the epic and the story of the flood in the Bible to be quite similar. I found it interesting that when Gilgamesh, which had been lost for thousands of years, finally reemerged, there were two groups of people with polar opposite standings on the story; some believed that this discovery validated the Bible and its writings while others believed that it showed that the Bible was simply a collection of stories. The interesting rift in interpretation shows a lot about human nature.

Religulous Response

Bill Maher's documentary revealed a lot of flaws with the way that organized religion works, but did so in a fairly biased and uncomfortable manor. Bill Maher's techniques for questioning consisted of asking loaded questions that he knew the answer to; he was just trying to see how the subjects would respond to his disrespect and disregard of their beliefs. Many of the interviews were quite uncomfortable to watch, as there was very thick tension because of some of the language Maher used, or because of the outright disagreement that existed between the two parties. Maher did have quite a few interesting and varied guests that, at times appeared quite crazy, such as Jesus, the second coming. Maher posed a powerful argument that religion is based on insecurities that are fulfilled by listening to someone telling a story for their own personal benefit, and that many of the back stories to religions are unoriginal. However, I do not agree with his method of trying to think for people. This way of self righteousness is intrusive and gives people who share similar religious beliefs as Maher a bad reputation.

The Last Man

I found the graphic novel "Y-The Last Man" to have a quite unusual take on an apocalyptic event. The sudden death of any mammal with a y chromosome is a refreshing take on the apocalypse, not often explored in our common scenarios of nuclear dooms-days and chemical or biological warfare. In this scenario, inability to reproduce as a species brings about the apocalypse. The plot explores the possibilities of an all female society and creates an answer to the common question of "would the world be a better place without men?" "The Last Man" answers that no, society and human nature remains just the same. There are still murderous outlaws and gangs like the Amazons, the central government of the United States is still dysfunctional, there are still power-hungry military leaders that become dictators and go against the will of their people, etc. The basic human nature has not changed with the elimination of males, just the gender of the people creating the problems.The senator's wives, or the "Republicans", provide the scenario that women, just as men, will jump to dangerous decisions and act in haste and emotion, showing that *humans* have fatal flaws. This, however,  is just one view on this possibility for a female-populated apocalypse. I would be interested to see how others view this scenario and see how similar it is to "The Last Man".

My Imaginary Bunker

I really do enjoy this reading by Megan Meyhew Bergman, as she uses a really unique tone to emphasize her points about sustainability and human effects on the environment. Bergman uses a dark twist of sarcasm and comedy to talk about such grim topics as our own demise. These snippets of dark humor, such as the seed of anxiety that she recently had "blossom" inside of her deeply contrast and emphasize her serious points, such as her discussion of her daughters' futures and whether or not their offspring will have a future. Bergman also ridicules herself and her family's practices; despite her self-righteous ways of recycling and reusing, she creates just about as much carbon emission as anyone in the country. I was not expecting someone to consider their own lives and the impacts that they have had, negative or positive, on the environment because I would expect many people to call out others and raise themselves up on a pedestal. Bergman does not, and I find this really interesting and quite special.

The Shock Doctrine

Naomi Klein brings up a point in her work, The Shock Doctrine, that seems to resonate with many of the other readings that we have done. This statement seems to resonate with the message that apocalypses relate to the widening of the gap between the very rich and the very poor. Klein not only mentions this scenario in happening because of natural disasters like other authors and theorists have, but directly places the blame on the financial situations that create the rift and make it worse: the private sector. The point that Klein makes states that the privatization of property, businesses, services, etc. that happens after natural disasters adds insult to injury for the people most affected by the disaster. The poor suffer the most and then are expected to work with this "clean slate" that Klein mentions. Klein's points about Chicago school revolutions are quite terrifying; to believe that any human being wants these horrible events to happen just so they can push their own agenda upon the public is just plain demented and awful, and quite honestly one of the most selfish things I have ever heard about. These companies that are making money off of the destruction of cities in Iraq are pushing these already poor and underdeveloped countries further into poverty and debt by the privatization of their "clean slate" being open for bids.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

In this article, Burroughs talks about the future of the human body and other evolutionary and biological themes such as cancer causing viruses and genetically or biologically produced genocide with the use of enzyme inhibitors. The one point that really interested me was his description and comparison of the human body to the technical equivalent of the flintlock pistol. Burroughs describes this state of static development that humans seem to be stuck in; I find this interesting because it is not the first time that I have heard that humans have virtually stopped progressing genetically; rather, they are progressing socially. I do not necessarily believe that this halted evolution is a bad thing, but it has become completely social. Through our scientific breakthroughs, we have been able to keep so many people in the gene pool that would not have been able to live, let alone reproduce, in previous times, allowing for this great, wide gene pool with so much variation. By the same token, as Burroughs was warning, there is great potential for these genetic rifts between populations to go wrong with the use of these race and ethnically targeted chemicals. An event that wipes out an entire race of people simply because of their genetic code is a horrible thought and would prove catastrophic, apocalyptic to say the least, to any population.

Living in the End of Times - Slavoj Žižek

I was terribly enthralled in this article, as it dealt with one of my favorite topics: genetic engineering. I find the notion that genetic engineering can be used for profit to be a little disturbing, and i find what China's research labs are studying to be absolutely horrifying; the manipulation of genomes for any end can have severe consequences. The notion of eliminating certain genetic diseases seems so ideal, yet in practice, would prove to be as commercial as any other industry. This connects back to the central ideal of using something for the gains of a society, such as using these genetic technologies to improve upon society, or to use them for the benefit of the individual as another source of profit. It's rather depressing to realize the amount of damage that could come from such a promising field, especially since we have no idea if the genetically synthesized organisms will even function in the way we intend them to.

Apocalypse: What Disasters Reveal

Many of the points that Diaz brings up in his work are quite potent; for example, his insistence that events like the Haitian earthquake will happen again and keep happening until the collective of the first world nations re-evaluate our priorities and straighten out or until the extremely poor get wiped out by these continual events really does scare me. I agree with his point that there needs to be dramatic change in the way that we view social disasters and not just natural disasters. It was quite eye-opening to make the connections between the systematic natural destruction caused by development and over-development of areas such as Haiti and the results of the natural disasters. It seems that in times of these natural disasters, more of the world, the U.S. included, needs to behave more like the Dominican Republic and honestly try to help those in need without seeking immediate compensation. Imagine what the Dominican Republic gained monetarily from assisting Haiti; most likely not a lot. However, they serve as a superb example of the altruism that humans are capable of.