Action is the enemy of thought
"Action is the enemy of thought"
A line from a movie made from a book, as so many movies are. I don't know if the line was in the book by Philip Roth, but Joseph Conrad once observed in a book of his that Action is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
I hadn't heard of the movie, but with Anthony Hopkins and Nichole Kidman starring, how could I help but watch (and it was free on cable). The movie received mixed reviews, (I like it), but I'm not here to talk about the movie but rather about that one line from it.
Is action the enemy of thought? Writing as a citizen of America, (lest any wandering citizen of the world think I would assume that if I'm writing here I must be American), I think that action as we define and perceive it is very much an enemy of thought.
Actions: more than physical, but also mental activities that divert us from thinking. One example comes immediately to mind, the IPod. We're a society afraid of silence. God forbid that we should have times when we're not working out, down loading, making the maximum mix to occupy our minds so that we don't have to think about what's happening all around us. That's what religious and political leaders are for, right? They tell us what to think and what to believe, and woe to us if we disagree.
Again, as an American I have only to look at the Bush years to be told that if I'm not for him, I'm for the terrorists. What's even more frightening is that so many people must agree with him, otherwise he wouldn't have been reelected when the lies and slimy dishonesty he operates with was and is so obvious. Read 1984 if you're not afraid of Big Brother browsing your library records. And to multiply even more the greed and deception of this administration is that they're doing it all in the name of God.
But aren't all the worst atrocities done in his name?
"Jesus wept". The shortest verse in the Bible, and my own reaction to what the Right winneoconservativees are doing to the name of God and Jesus. Instead of Christianity bringing to mind feeding the poor, clothing the naked, healing the sick; we're being made to believe that true Christians are Rich White Men who only impose Western Imperialism on weaker nations "for their own good".
Really, we didn't go to war based on a lie to try and get oil reserves, we only had the best interests of the people (who want us out of their country) at heart.
Why haven't we invaded Korea who we know has nuclear capability? Oh, that's right, they don't have the oil and they didn't threaten somebody's daddy.
And now we're being told to give up even more freedom to protect our security. Phone taps without warrantnt? Not to worry, it's for our own good.
And I have two cats that frighten off elephants...I haven't seen one since I've had them, so it must be true.
So keep moving, keep worrying about your weight, get on the latest diet, work out, watch TV all the time, keep your Ipod full, keep the action going. Are these things wrong in themselves? No. Only when we use these and other means to keep us from thinking. So we don't have to think about the light; for "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God" (John 3:20,21)
Think about it.
A line from a movie made from a book, as so many movies are. I don't know if the line was in the book by Philip Roth, but Joseph Conrad once observed in a book of his that Action is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
I hadn't heard of the movie, but with Anthony Hopkins and Nichole Kidman starring, how could I help but watch (and it was free on cable). The movie received mixed reviews, (I like it), but I'm not here to talk about the movie but rather about that one line from it.
Is action the enemy of thought? Writing as a citizen of America, (lest any wandering citizen of the world think I would assume that if I'm writing here I must be American), I think that action as we define and perceive it is very much an enemy of thought.
Actions: more than physical, but also mental activities that divert us from thinking. One example comes immediately to mind, the IPod. We're a society afraid of silence. God forbid that we should have times when we're not working out, down loading, making the maximum mix to occupy our minds so that we don't have to think about what's happening all around us. That's what religious and political leaders are for, right? They tell us what to think and what to believe, and woe to us if we disagree.
Again, as an American I have only to look at the Bush years to be told that if I'm not for him, I'm for the terrorists. What's even more frightening is that so many people must agree with him, otherwise he wouldn't have been reelected when the lies and slimy dishonesty he operates with was and is so obvious. Read 1984 if you're not afraid of Big Brother browsing your library records. And to multiply even more the greed and deception of this administration is that they're doing it all in the name of God.
But aren't all the worst atrocities done in his name?
"Jesus wept". The shortest verse in the Bible, and my own reaction to what the Right winneoconservativees are doing to the name of God and Jesus. Instead of Christianity bringing to mind feeding the poor, clothing the naked, healing the sick; we're being made to believe that true Christians are Rich White Men who only impose Western Imperialism on weaker nations "for their own good".
Really, we didn't go to war based on a lie to try and get oil reserves, we only had the best interests of the people (who want us out of their country) at heart.
Why haven't we invaded Korea who we know has nuclear capability? Oh, that's right, they don't have the oil and they didn't threaten somebody's daddy.
And now we're being told to give up even more freedom to protect our security. Phone taps without warrantnt? Not to worry, it's for our own good.
And I have two cats that frighten off elephants...I haven't seen one since I've had them, so it must be true.
So keep moving, keep worrying about your weight, get on the latest diet, work out, watch TV all the time, keep your Ipod full, keep the action going. Are these things wrong in themselves? No. Only when we use these and other means to keep us from thinking. So we don't have to think about the light; for "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God" (John 3:20,21)
Think about it.
posted by Bob | 23.1.06
4 Comments:
Although each one should be free to their own opinion, you should probably do two things. (1) Try just a little bit harder to get your facts straight. (2) Add all literary works of Michael Moore to your "books" section.
and you should overcome your cowardly anonymous comments...
Bob, I am also leaving an anonymous comment. Why? Because it is easier than trying to remember my Blogger login (which I set-up to comment on another blog and then forgot about). I use a different blog server, http://bookblog.blogstream.com and it does not even allow anonymous comments. I am working on that, because I want comments. A comment, even if anonymous is a complement. No one has to read my blog. I am thankful for every reader, especially those who choose to join the conversation. Be polite to your guests whether you agree with them or not. If you do not, you may find you really are just talking to yourself.
anonymous #2, I can agree somewhat with your comments. I guess it's sort of like the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" thing.
I guess my previous comment was spurred in part by how easy it is for people to hide on the internet and "boldly" make accusations or comments when they know they don't have to take responsibility for what they say. Kind of like if a government would hire fake reporters and vet attendees to fake town meetings so there would only be people there that agree with them. It's a from of dishonesty.
But I digress. I am consciouly trying to avoid making political commentary; people's minds won't be changed by my opinions. Instead I try to write about Christian scripture which is something that can change lives.
So thanks for your comment, and I will take to heart about being more polite; or more likely not commenting here. After all, I have the blog to openly express my opinions in my name.
Post a Comment
<< Home