virus: Re: Angelica de meme

Ken Pantheists (kenpan@portal.ca)
Mon, 31 Mar 1997 12:09:51 -0700


Tad wrote:
Bad/good behaviour was often associated with demons/angels. The same
behaviour may be judged bad in one religion and good in another. It all
depends on who is the judge. With demons it used to be the clergy.
When
we say "let's program ourselves with best possible memes" it's like
saying
"let's follow what angels tell us rather than listening to devils".
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If I may throw a few shades of grey into this observation: It is not
behaviour that is judged angelic or demonic (well, ultimately it is) but
rather it is *desire* that is angelic or demonic. Frye associates
demonic and angelic (or apocalyptic) imagery in art and poetry with the
following simple (simplified by me:-)) formula.

Angelic= man's desire and labour exerted positively upon nature.
Gardens, farms and cities are reflections of ideal cities and gardens.
(Eden and the Holy City)

Demonic= desire consumes. Decay and madness abound. Demonic machines
produce nothing or are instruments of pain and torture.

Tad is right when he says that consideration of what is demonic and
angelic changes from religion to religion, as well as from age to age.

But it has to do with what is considered an ethical goal of desire.
Ethical desire of a medeival person is very different from ethical
desire of a rennaissance person.

As far as looking to an authority figure for what is right or wrong---
sheep are sheep whether they are medeival, rennaissance or modern day
1990's

Tad says:
The only problem is who those angels and devils work for.

I say:
I thought they work for you. They do in memetics-- and I'm certain they
do in religion (but I was brought up by a protestant mother and a
socialist father so my view might be scewed.)

But I *know* they work for you in one particular offshoot of
Catholicism... Voodoo. That's what it's all about... making the memes
work for you.

Please note: I am NOT saying that memes are spirits. I am saying that
spirits are memes.

-- 
Regards
+--------------------------------------------------------+
  Ken Pantheists         http://www.lucifer.com/~kenpan 
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