An Entheogenic Theology
Originally, I had attended to write concerning the extent to which Paul Dano accurately portrays Nietzsche’s teachings in Little Miss Sunshine. Upon watching the video included in Jordan’s post, entitled “Heidegger,” I attempted to write a brief comment in response to his post; however, in watching the video, I found myself incapable of writing a short response, and I realized that I was much more interested in the aspect of human nature and instinct that the video revealed rather than in writing about some impersonal indie movie.
I’m not quite sure how to respond to the video, which is one among 85,800 other videos that have been posited under the search term, “near death experience” on Youtube. After discussing Kierkegaard’s Teleological Suspension of the Ethical, and especially after writing a blog post concerning the same principal, I wanted to be open-minded and consider this man’s particular experience with the absolute. But where do we draw the line? Why is it that we are much more inclined to give attention to someone relaying a religious near death experience about angels, but we would immediately discredit someone who claimed that the after life is a meadow made of marshmallows, surrounded by a crop of yellow elephants growing out of the ground that are tended to by guardian lawn gnomes who have to support their subterranean families with agriculture because the economy has hurt the profit margins of Travelocity? The particular is meant to be entirely personal and wholly impossible for those tied to the ethical to comprehend, and yet there is a specific breed of the particular that we choose to heed with a minimal sense of bias. Both “visions” (or whatever terminology you care to use) could be viewed as equally particular or hallucinatory, but somehow religious “visions” are given much more credence (or at least, heard in a much less pejorative manner). Also, it is only when someone has either been very near death or has claimed to have been brought back from death, that it is usually viewed as a particular experience these days. However, if one were to smoke DMT (which, incidentally, is a chemical released right before death), one would be fairly likely to have a similar “vision.” Although, the vision could even be exactly the same, one of an angel passing one’s judgment, I don’t think anyone would consider that to be that person’s particular experience with the absolute. So it seems very strange to me that we souldn’t regard other “visions” as any more miraculous than such because in all likelihood, the visionary, prophet, religious nutjob, etc. was purely tripping, having been administered a heavy dose of dimethyltryptamine by his pineal gland.
In order to make my argument more forceful, I call upon the prophetic words of Joe Rogan, who is not at all mentally challenged. The countless Emmys he has received for his roles in both The Man Show and Fear Factor alike evidence his insight and intellect. Enjoy.
I think religious visions are are given much more credence because people want to believe. If someone came back to life and said he saw angels then religious people would take this as conformation of their belief. On the other hand, drug induced experiences are not deemed religious because drugs are bad and religion is good so obviously there cannot be a connection.
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