tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667173462753211299.post6066874566593598773..comments2023-01-01T08:24:11.147+00:00Comments on Catholic Scot: Disappearing into darknessCatholic Scothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01820688010421857488noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667173462753211299.post-1934902539595279782014-01-30T07:22:09.434+00:002014-01-30T07:22:09.434+00:00Consumerism is not the Ur idolatry. The idols that...Consumerism is not the Ur idolatry. The idols that get worshipped are those which appeal to the particular sensual experiences we are most in thrall to. The pleasure we can derive from our senses is perfectly legitimate and God given. They make excellent servants but terrible masters. The Law of Moses put a premium on mastering these senses and then granting them moderate pleasure. It suggests that the pursuit of happiness has incidental pleasures but that the pursuit of pleasure alone does not incidentally lead to happiness.Catholic Scothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01820688010421857488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667173462753211299.post-87643394545782678032014-01-30T01:00:37.686+00:002014-01-30T01:00:37.686+00:00(Blogspot seems to be completely sensitive and won...(Blogspot seems to be completely sensitive and won't let you post from anything with a number in the name. So I've picked a name from my family tree and I'm using that instead..)<br /><br />Hmm, I was mulling over idols old and new, and I'm less sure that you can make such a direct translation. I don't know a huge amount about this period in the ancient world, but it seems likely that at least among a nomadic tribe, people wouldn't have loads of stuff, but a lot of what you describe as modern idolatry is really hyper consumerism - a sort of excess of something mass produced that would be just fine in small quantities. Phones and cars would all be good inventions if we were'nt continually urged to buy a new one every year - and if they weren't made to fail so we *have* to buy a new one pretty frequently. Even celebrities have that sort of five or six year cycle of disposability, most of the time, because they are so frequently created by executives, not genuine creators themselves....<br /><br />The golden calf, by contrast, seems to be something that comes out of a quite different society - where things are fewer, and carry their own shamanic power and stories - so that it does not seem ridiculous to make a thing and then worship it. I was thinking of this in the light of my new dinnerplates. For two months I've been chatting with the potter about them, we both agreed how they would look, and we've become pretty friendly. They cost quite a bit more than going to Wilko and getting them for 99p. Now I spend a measurable amount of my day looking at them and feeling pleased, and in short, I've invested part of myself in them, even though they are Just Dinnerplates. In some ways this is a healthy thing in this society - I'm not going to just sling them out and buy more next time I move - they have permanence. But I think they tend more towards Golden Calf pleasingness than towards worship of disposability and the future, which is more prevalent now. Different idolatries.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04547218267037441322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667173462753211299.post-14101266255770458902014-01-30T00:17:47.764+00:002014-01-30T00:17:47.764+00:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04547218267037441322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667173462753211299.post-29716188926749344542014-01-29T08:21:27.288+00:002014-01-29T08:21:27.288+00:00Thanks Heather. A comment from you on the feast da...Thanks Heather. A comment from you on the feast day of St Thomas Aquinas is almost as if the Angelic Doctor was giving me a friendly nod. The phenomenon is more important than the name given to it. And the phenomenon of idolatry is extraordinarily widespread in Western societies. Catholic Scothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01820688010421857488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1667173462753211299.post-16025190299630897582014-01-28T21:13:24.079+00:002014-01-28T21:13:24.079+00:00Modern idols are very powerful indeed. Mass instan...Modern idols are very powerful indeed. Mass instant communication adds significant power to the modern idols and millions in our society worship at their feet, spend huge amounts of time and money on them. Think of the worship of the car in our society, celebrity, consumerism and materialism, sadistic mysogenist pornography, and the way so may people make bad judgements in their lives because those judgements are based on<br />deeply flawed values - the values of the idols, whose voracious appetite for your money time and energy are never satisfied. Thus, there are millions of very unhappy, unfulfilled people in our society. There is always a right time to talk about the way to find true happiness and inner peace and contentment in a human life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com