The Current Reality Fallacy
Bill Maher of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher eschews religious belief as engaging in fantasy, often equating those believing in God with needing to have a “pretend friend.” Maher by implication professes “faith” in the current reality; that is, faith in the social and political institutions of the current culture. He effectively acts as a secular prophet, calling attention to the fallabilities of these institutions. Although he acknowledges their limitations, he does believe in the institutions. The goal of his show is to familiarize viewers with current social and political problems — engaging them in an entertaining fashion — to motivate them to take action. Fixing the system through the system by educating viewers.
Yet, this is a fallacy. Postmodernism arose as a reaction to this notion of modernism. Bill Maher believes through scientific and political knowledge, human beings can create, improve and reshape their environments. According to Bill Maher, resolution of societal problems requires the general public being educated and ineffectual leaders being replaced. Yet Maher’s “belief” in this reality is faulty at best. The essential social institutions valued by Maher became irrelevant and ineffectual.
To illustrate this point, below is a table illustrating institutions, modernist beliefs and postmodern realizations.
|
Institution |
Modernism Belief |
Postmodernism Realization |
|
Workplace |
Work hard and be rewarded with higher position and more money; loyalty to and tenure with company is rewarded and encouraged. |
Promotion is often not tied to hard work or ability; layoffs can occur in random fashion regardless of seniority or expertise due to workplace politics or economic conditions |
|
Government |
Elected leaders determine legislation motivated by the need to better the social and economic conditions of the citizenry |
Elected leaders determine legislation based on the weighted economic value of the constituents. As such, lobbyists and affluent citizens carry more power than those having middle or low incomes. Desires and interests of the affluent minority motivate legislation. |
|
Science & Technology |
Through the advancements made in science and technology, a better world can be forged, readily able to resolve any or all social, political or environmental problems. |
Science and technology advancements also have the potential to cause destruction. Cases in point: nuclear bombs, chemical warfare (e.g., anthrax), oil spills and other ecosystem hazards (e.g., nuclear waste, air pollution). Advancements outpace evolution or transformation of ethical standards. |
|
Education |
The more educated the populace becomes, the more able the society is to act responsibly in terms of decision making and problem resolution. |
The United States citizenry is one of the most educated in the world and yet have one of the highest rates of violence among the world’s populations. The United States also is one of the largest polluters of the world and consumes much of the world’s resources. |
If the entertainment industry reflects societal values and attitudes, the failure of modernism often is depicted in movies as irrelevant or in delusional terms. In American Beauty, Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) equates happiness with success as a Realtor possessing — as her husband Lester (Keven Spacey) defines it — much “stuff.” Yet she is not happy, sobbing uncontrollably after each failure to sell real estate. She suppresses her feelings through self-punishment, commanding herself to “stop it” repeatedly. Her husband Lester — as noted in previous postings — discovers the fallacy of the workplace defining happiness. The meaninglessness of this reality is driven home when Lester (employed at the Ad Agency for over a decade) is “evaluated” by Brad (employed by the Agency for just six months). American Beauty magnificantly depicts another reality, ironically discovered by Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley, a dealer in drugs just to accumulate income to “survive” in his own meaningless reality. Yet, Ricky “sees” something beyond the meaninglessness; a reality steeped in beauty so much so that it often threatens to overwhelm him. American Beauty’s ability to capture his ability to “see” this reality is exemplified in Ricky’s video of the dancing paper bag. His video convinced him that another reality existed, a beautiful one controlled by a benevolent power whereby anxiety was unnecessary.
Note that Ricky’s social status is not related to his ability to “see.” There are numerous examples of this relation in the Bible. Paul’s status as a murderer of Christians also was irrelevant to his “revelatory vision.” Jesus’ disciples were commoners — fisherman, tax collectors, etc. The man crucified on the cross next to Jesus “saw” salvation — a new reality — and joined Jesus in paradise.
The never ending cycles of meaninglessness characterize the “prevalent” reality. In Ecclesiastes 3, time is represented in cycles occurring ad infinitum. The theme of Ecclesiastes is the meaninglessness of attempting to accumulate wealth, possessions, power, and even knowledge because these cycles occur anyway, in spite of people’s best efforts. Playing by the rules of this reality (see The Matrix, Wanted, American Beauty for media examples of the need to transcend the prevailing reality and its rules) is futile and produces no advantage nor awareness. In fact, depictions of God define time as a circle. God — in the book of Revelation — defines God as the “alpha and omega” or the beginning and the end. If God is both beginning (alpha) and end (omega) of time, then a linear conceptualization of time is faulty. Instead, viewing time circularly; repeating itself in cycles is more accurate. As such, the participants and the styles in which they accomplish or perform feats change (war, peace, love, hate) yet the actual cycles of peace, war, love, hate, etc. continue in perpetuity for this reality.
This is why pursing God by spiritually transforming yourself is necessary. Spiritual transformation is requisite to “seeing,” to going beyond the never ending cycles that comprise the meaningless fabric of this reality. Faith alone does not enable “seeing.” If you do not pursue God, how is it that you “see” God’s messages for they appear in a diverse and wide range of mediums. Closing yourself off of experiences, people, environments, etc. means closing yourself off to God’s messages, “blinding yourself” instead of “seeing.”
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