Mark Dohle
6 comments
Image Credit: sxc.hu I just watched a movie titled, “The man who came back”. It was a movie, a western, which was supposedly based on a legend of a man who suffered a great injustice; witnessing the brutal killing of his son and whose body was flung into a well. Then he was also forced to watch, as his wife was gang raped, after which she was also killed and then she followed her son, being also thrown into the well. There was also a good deal of racial violence against the local population of freed slaves. There was the brutal hanging of one man, also the whipping of another and in one part of the movie, the shooting of many freed slaves in a camp that they had set up while they were on strike. Men, women and children were shot. At the end of the movie, it was stated that over 700 freed slaves died at that time; so that part of based on historical fact.
The tragic hero was a good man. At least he seemed to be better than those who were guilty of murdering his family and who also committed the crimes inflicted on the freed slaves; who had no recourse to justice. He was not a racist and suffered greatly for simply trying to protect the people who worked under him and for challenging the guilty for their crimes. He himself was capable of great violence, for during the civil war, he was an assassin working for the confederate army; which of course helped with the story line.
I guess it is easy to get all self-righteous over these kinds of events, which are actually commonplace even to this day. People killing each other, over race, politics and yes, sad to say religion, still fill our newspapers and are the meat and potatoes of our books, magazines and movies. Actually we should get angry over these injustices, but it would be wise not to forget that what separates us from those that commit such crimes, is a line thinner than most would like to believe. In those countries where genocide was committed, those who participated were not just soldiers, but ordinary people, who in some cases lived side by side for years, until the killing started and they turned on each other. So to say that we all have our inner demons is more than just a cliché. It is as if the individual ego is swallowed up by a collective identity that sets apart and dehumanizes those who belong to another collective, or perhaps tribe would be a good word.
We are a species who are involved in an inner struggle, at least for those who wish to live a humane life. Those who look inward don’t always see just what is bright and beautiful, but also things that are bestial and yes evil. For evil takes, devours and then discards what it uses. For those who are unaware of what lies within, are in fact on more dangerous ground than they can imagine. People ‘blow’, ‘loose it’, do horrible things when the inner beast shows itself; often leaving ruined lives as its fruit. Evil hidden away, only grows in power in the area of the human unconscious, which is for more vast that our everyday consciousness. It is as if this life is for that purpose, this self confrontation, seeking a freedom deeper than merely the instinctive one. Now instinct is not evil, but we are not bound by our instincts, though our freedom is lessened by them. It takes deep commitment, to seek to grow into a balanced and loving human being. The true miracle is that there is so much good in the world. For evil is not the only problem. For in fact why indeed, is there also so much good?
Let’s go back to the movie. If I lived during those times, after the civil war and I was a southerner, raised on the belief that blacks were inferior, not even human, who would I be then? I think if I lived back in those days, I could easily have been one of those men who did those awful crimes. Or perhaps if I was the hero, I could have also easily killed those who were responsible for what they did to my family. I know this to be true, for I know what is in my heart. I seek to love and grow, yet the inner beast still protest, wants to be let out to run free.
I think that is one reason the two batman movies, that dealt with the “Joker” are so popular. The Joker played by Jack Nickelson, was truly free, for he did not seem to have any inner conflict, in his total commitment to chaos and destruction. While Batman, who was a man trying to fight the forces of evil, came across as a gentleman conflicted and in fact, very neurotic in comparison with the Joker, which put him at a disadvantage. As I was watching the movie I felt a certain attraction for the joker and revulsion for Batman, but in the end, it was Batman that I was routing for. For I saw my own inner split in him; so perhaps the Joker is an energy that lives in me, a modern rendition of an inner demon. However in the end, as is shown in our literature, movies and yes what we also see played out around us, in the conclusion, it is evil that leads to the void.
How is this dealt with? For once this is understood, it is difficult to point fingers, since the knowledge of self, precludes that escape. I suppose belief systems, of which I am pretty sure we all have one, will lead to some kind of answer if not a solution, to this ever deepening, nagging, human problem.
It seems obvious to me, though perhaps not to others, that the human heart is alienated, not only from self but from others, for these two aspects cannot be isolated. If I finally come to the conclusion that I am just as much a part of the problem as anyone else, who can I scapegoat? It is not a comfortable place to be, for when I see something, say on the television or read about it, it always comes back to me. What would I do in that situation? Or if I was a politician would I be able to fight the temptation to corruption. I would like to say that I would always come out on top, when in fact, I think I would fall.
So the struggle for freedom, the desire to do the right thing is with most of us I think, as well as the knowledge of failure. Maturity and inner growth have their own burdens, yet as heavy as they can be, they are in the end, much lighter than the fruit of allowing the ‘id’ to run amok. When something wrong is done, on some level we know it, no matter how we were raised, or in what time we lived in. How is this? Well, I guess the bottom line is we know how we want to be treated, so to treat someone otherwise is wrong. Perhaps it could go like this. I will use something simple and common. At work, suppose I steal from my boss, just little things, papers, perhaps stables etc. So one day I come to the office and I find someone has taken ‘my’ company stapler from my desk. I guess my response would be anger, for I would feel an injustice has been done to me. If I really thought deeper, perhaps it would stop me from stealing from my employer, since it would make me face that injustice I am committing. It would lead to some kind of self confrontation and hopefully a life changing resolution. Others are like me, no one likes to be stolen from; it is a violation, so why would I want to do to someone, what I in fact would perhaps be enraged over if done to me? So the simple rule, “treat others as you want to be treated”, can only be lived out from self reflection, which can lead to empathy and compassion, which makes it more difficult to reduce others to an ‘object’, but leads to a seeing others as a ‘thou’.
As we mature, hopefully along with this, our belief systems will also deepen, mature and well, simply grow up. However as a species, I think we are about 14 years old; teenagers with too many hormones firing off all the time, with little forethought about the future. Though as time moves on, I think we will mature, for I believe there is a plan afoot, a place that we as individuals and as a species are moving towards. Though it is often obscure; yes it is like looking through a window darkly.
As a Christian, I feel that we have yet to get the message that Christ was presenting to us. Well perhaps I should not speak for others, when in fact I know that I am still very far from truly living out the message that Jesus brought us. There is not just one way of looking at this message, but the central part has something to do with love. Love of self, and then love of others and before that a deep abiding love of God. If any one of these is missing, then the will-to-power will manifest, wars promulgated and so the cycle continues…….as pogo said: “I have seen the enemy and the enemy is us”. Pointing fingers will not work, for in doing so we are often pointing at out our own blind spots. So yes it is easy for me to point out the splinter in someone else’s eye, while over looking the log in my own.
Those that are different are in fact dark mirrors that can lead to inner freedom, if what we see reflected is understood and accepted. Of course there is nothing simple about any of this, the difficulty remains and I just stumble along, more flat on my face than upright, yet I am hopeful. Each person has to find a way to live out their lives, how perhaps they might make this world a little better than when they arrived. For me, as a Christian I have my path, a somewhat narrow one since it is a call to love. So the freedom I seek precludes me acting in certain ways. This can lead to inner conflict and a halting movement towards my goal. Others seek a freedom that takes no real struggle, but in the end can lead to heavy chains of pain and addictions. In either case, there is suffering for all, no matter what road taken. Compassion and empathy flow naturally from self knowledge, lessons hard won and painful. Yet how else do we grow? Perhaps pain is our greatest teacher if we listen to the message. An expanding heart is what heals us, freeing us slowly from the endless cycle and tyranny, revenge and hatred. It also frees from activities that lead only into greater pain, just another type of cycle, for we often love the very thing, or type of person, that leads only downward……well that is until the lesson learned. Then of course there is always mercy of the infinite kind, which allows the defeat of our real enemy, simple despair. Yes to simply give up is the greatest temptation of all. Perhaps the Christian messages is this: there is always hope.
Mark Dohle Comments (6)
Inner demons
July 2, 2009 | 6 comments
Image Credit: sxc.hu I just watched a movie titled, “The man who came back”. It was a movie, a western, which was supposedly based on a legend of a man who suffered a great injustice; witnessing the brutal killing of his son and whose body was flung into a well. Then he was also forced to watch, as his wife was gang raped, after which she was also killed and then she followed her son, being also thrown into the well. There was also a good deal of racial violence against the local population of freed slaves. There was the brutal hanging of one man, also the whipping of another and in one part of the movie, the shooting of many freed slaves in a camp that they had set up while they were on strike. Men, women and children were shot. At the end of the movie, it was stated that over 700 freed slaves died at that time; so that part of based on historical fact.
The tragic hero was a good man. At least he seemed to be better than those who were guilty of murdering his family and who also committed the crimes inflicted on the freed slaves; who had no recourse to justice. He was not a racist and suffered greatly for simply trying to protect the people who worked under him and for challenging the guilty for their crimes. He himself was capable of great violence, for during the civil war, he was an assassin working for the confederate army; which of course helped with the story line.
I guess it is easy to get all self-righteous over these kinds of events, which are actually commonplace even to this day. People killing each other, over race, politics and yes, sad to say religion, still fill our newspapers and are the meat and potatoes of our books, magazines and movies. Actually we should get angry over these injustices, but it would be wise not to forget that what separates us from those that commit such crimes, is a line thinner than most would like to believe. In those countries where genocide was committed, those who participated were not just soldiers, but ordinary people, who in some cases lived side by side for years, until the killing started and they turned on each other. So to say that we all have our inner demons is more than just a cliché. It is as if the individual ego is swallowed up by a collective identity that sets apart and dehumanizes those who belong to another collective, or perhaps tribe would be a good word.
We are a species who are involved in an inner struggle, at least for those who wish to live a humane life. Those who look inward don’t always see just what is bright and beautiful, but also things that are bestial and yes evil. For evil takes, devours and then discards what it uses. For those who are unaware of what lies within, are in fact on more dangerous ground than they can imagine. People ‘blow’, ‘loose it’, do horrible things when the inner beast shows itself; often leaving ruined lives as its fruit. Evil hidden away, only grows in power in the area of the human unconscious, which is for more vast that our everyday consciousness. It is as if this life is for that purpose, this self confrontation, seeking a freedom deeper than merely the instinctive one. Now instinct is not evil, but we are not bound by our instincts, though our freedom is lessened by them. It takes deep commitment, to seek to grow into a balanced and loving human being. The true miracle is that there is so much good in the world. For evil is not the only problem. For in fact why indeed, is there also so much good?
Let’s go back to the movie. If I lived during those times, after the civil war and I was a southerner, raised on the belief that blacks were inferior, not even human, who would I be then? I think if I lived back in those days, I could easily have been one of those men who did those awful crimes. Or perhaps if I was the hero, I could have also easily killed those who were responsible for what they did to my family. I know this to be true, for I know what is in my heart. I seek to love and grow, yet the inner beast still protest, wants to be let out to run free.
I think that is one reason the two batman movies, that dealt with the “Joker” are so popular. The Joker played by Jack Nickelson, was truly free, for he did not seem to have any inner conflict, in his total commitment to chaos and destruction. While Batman, who was a man trying to fight the forces of evil, came across as a gentleman conflicted and in fact, very neurotic in comparison with the Joker, which put him at a disadvantage. As I was watching the movie I felt a certain attraction for the joker and revulsion for Batman, but in the end, it was Batman that I was routing for. For I saw my own inner split in him; so perhaps the Joker is an energy that lives in me, a modern rendition of an inner demon. However in the end, as is shown in our literature, movies and yes what we also see played out around us, in the conclusion, it is evil that leads to the void.
It seems obvious to me, though perhaps not to others, that the human heart is alienated, not only from self but from others, for these two aspects cannot be isolated. If I finally come to the conclusion that I am just as much a part of the problem as anyone else, who can I scapegoat? It is not a comfortable place to be, for when I see something, say on the television or read about it, it always comes back to me. What would I do in that situation? Or if I was a politician would I be able to fight the temptation to corruption. I would like to say that I would always come out on top, when in fact, I think I would fall.
So the struggle for freedom, the desire to do the right thing is with most of us I think, as well as the knowledge of failure. Maturity and inner growth have their own burdens, yet as heavy as they can be, they are in the end, much lighter than the fruit of allowing the ‘id’ to run amok. When something wrong is done, on some level we know it, no matter how we were raised, or in what time we lived in. How is this? Well, I guess the bottom line is we know how we want to be treated, so to treat someone otherwise is wrong. Perhaps it could go like this. I will use something simple and common. At work, suppose I steal from my boss, just little things, papers, perhaps stables etc. So one day I come to the office and I find someone has taken ‘my’ company stapler from my desk. I guess my response would be anger, for I would feel an injustice has been done to me. If I really thought deeper, perhaps it would stop me from stealing from my employer, since it would make me face that injustice I am committing. It would lead to some kind of self confrontation and hopefully a life changing resolution. Others are like me, no one likes to be stolen from; it is a violation, so why would I want to do to someone, what I in fact would perhaps be enraged over if done to me? So the simple rule, “treat others as you want to be treated”, can only be lived out from self reflection, which can lead to empathy and compassion, which makes it more difficult to reduce others to an ‘object’, but leads to a seeing others as a ‘thou’.
As we mature, hopefully along with this, our belief systems will also deepen, mature and well, simply grow up. However as a species, I think we are about 14 years old; teenagers with too many hormones firing off all the time, with little forethought about the future. Though as time moves on, I think we will mature, for I believe there is a plan afoot, a place that we as individuals and as a species are moving towards. Though it is often obscure; yes it is like looking through a window darkly.
As a Christian, I feel that we have yet to get the message that Christ was presenting to us. Well perhaps I should not speak for others, when in fact I know that I am still very far from truly living out the message that Jesus brought us. There is not just one way of looking at this message, but the central part has something to do with love. Love of self, and then love of others and before that a deep abiding love of God. If any one of these is missing, then the will-to-power will manifest, wars promulgated and so the cycle continues…….as pogo said: “I have seen the enemy and the enemy is us”. Pointing fingers will not work, for in doing so we are often pointing at out our own blind spots. So yes it is easy for me to point out the splinter in someone else’s eye, while over looking the log in my own.
Those that are different are in fact dark mirrors that can lead to inner freedom, if what we see reflected is understood and accepted. Of course there is nothing simple about any of this, the difficulty remains and I just stumble along, more flat on my face than upright, yet I am hopeful. Each person has to find a way to live out their lives, how perhaps they might make this world a little better than when they arrived. For me, as a Christian I have my path, a somewhat narrow one since it is a call to love. So the freedom I seek precludes me acting in certain ways. This can lead to inner conflict and a halting movement towards my goal. Others seek a freedom that takes no real struggle, but in the end can lead to heavy chains of pain and addictions. In either case, there is suffering for all, no matter what road taken. Compassion and empathy flow naturally from self knowledge, lessons hard won and painful. Yet how else do we grow? Perhaps pain is our greatest teacher if we listen to the message. An expanding heart is what heals us, freeing us slowly from the endless cycle and tyranny, revenge and hatred. It also frees from activities that lead only into greater pain, just another type of cycle, for we often love the very thing, or type of person, that leads only downward……well that is until the lesson learned. Then of course there is always mercy of the infinite kind, which allows the defeat of our real enemy, simple despair. Yes to simply give up is the greatest temptation of all. Perhaps the Christian messages is this: there is always hope.
Mark Dohle Comments (6)
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