The Naked Ape

This was published on 15th December 2018. It’s another post rescued from perpetual-lab.blogspot.com, which no longer exists.

There’s a determinedly atheistic* elite of do-gooders who care more about “the planet” than those who fall foul of their holier-than-thou values. Prime example: President Macron of France had imposed a carbon tax on fuel to help save the planet without consideration for those making their living in country areas depending on cars for everyday purposes.

I imagine we all have the same fundamental make-up. We are “naked apes” in the words of zoologist Desmond Morris: a resonant phrase because the peculiar development of our brains beyond those of other primates makes us vulnerable. Other creatures have their defined ecological niche, to which they are biologically and instinctively adapted. They are subject to extinction either as the prey of other creatures, or their own inability to adapt to changing habitat.

Humans need cushioning against angst. We seek security. At the bottom of the heap we have nothing but imagination and hope. My own belief is simple: prayer, performance of ritual and thanksgiving are actions, whether willed or built-in, which yield positive results—reduction of angst.

Nature is unequal. Human beings are the product of nature and part of nature, which Ellie, referring to the material world, calls “the total ball of wax”. I don’t see “God” living outside or in anyway separate from that total ball of wax. In theological terms, I’d say that “God” is immanent.

At this point there is no meaning in the phrase “I am not convinced that there is a God”. A what? Bryan says

God is something that supersedes the physical limits of existence. To fulfil this definition, there has to be some transcendent mode where existence is as alterable as a dream, and there has to be a conscious will capable of dreaming those alterations of existence.

How does Bryan know this? He doesn’t. He says

If we’re talking about THE God, we generally imagine . . .

So he’s picking out something imagined by “us” and doubting its existence.  Quite right too, I’d say.

When I suggest God is immanent, I see this consciously willing unknown force as being the soul of each interacting part of the All: its very own tutelary spirit or angel.This may be homo sapiens’ earliest religious idea.

I believe there is in some societies an ideological conflict between religion and atheism. Each bristles against the perceived influence or interference of the other, leading to a mutual pushback which hardens the fundamentalists on both sides. So abortion, homosexuality, creation/evolution become issues that everyone can take sides on, regardless of whether they are personally affected, or have any special knowledge of.

What do I mean by “elite”? OK, it was a loose impressionistic term. Maybe I meant those who are educated enough and have stature in society enough to participate in leading the country by rule or influence. And/or those who are privileged to be free from nagging cares of poverty or other forms of survival insecurity.

To my mind the elite and the privileged have a duty of care, it used to be called “noblesse oblige”, to use their powers for the good of all and not just their own class, or those who share their viewpoints. When I said “do-gooders” I had in mind those who take a patronising view of  the poor, or victims of discrimination; for example “knowing what is best for them” or making judgements about their values.

I wanted a concrete example and picked the “yellow-vest” protests causing disruption in Paris. I haven’t researched the causes thoroughly, but gathered that President Macron has imposed taxes on polluting vehicles which weigh heavily on the non-elite citizens who commute from the wide outskirts of Paris each day. They claim that the “elite” can afford to worry about climate change because they depend on cheap transport, public or electric, available in the city itself.

*Why did I put “atheistic” in the same sentence as the rest? It was an intuitive leap, based on the vision of life in the universe I’ve sketched out above. When we are “not convinced there is a god”, we have to steer our planet (or beyond) to some optimum destination. Sin is the destructive things we’ve done to it through our expertise in science, technology, economics, politics etc. Virtue is to use the same tools to fix those destructive things, because we can’t trust in any god to save us. And because there is no power above humanity, the elite of the day can smash the other gods, undermine and redefine that values of the past. Perhaps not Marxism per se, but imitation as a form of flattery.