Daily Archives: June 30, 2017

Materialists believe that, in the end, we are only so many carbon molecules, signifying nothing. Hence, mostdeny human exceptionalism, arguing essentiallty that we are just another species in the forest when they arent castigating us as the enemy of the earth.

Comes now materialist Nick Hughes a self-declared disenchanted free-thinking atheist to declare while it is true from the Universesperspective that humanity is utterlyinsignificant never mind that a materialistic Universehas no perspective that doesnt mean we should despair. From, Do We Matter in the Cosmos? published in Aeon.

For the disenchanted, it is hard to deny that our causal powers are insignificant from the point of view of the entire Universe. But should we be troubled by this? Should it lead us to nihilism and despair? I dont think so. To see why, we need to go back to the issue of value and draw another distinction.

Some of the things that we care about happiness and human flourishing, for example areintrinsicallyvaluable to us.

I think Hughes misses a big point. Even if we are merely thinking carbon, our existence itself is inherently valuable.Indeed, only we have the capacity in the known universe to understand much less contemplate the concept and importance of significance. That is one of the things that makes life worth living.

To put it another way, we are the only true moral beings (again, in the known universe). That which also implicates our unique rationality is one of the distinctly human attributes that make our existenceitselfexceptional.

But Hughes cant see that. He just gives readers an empatheticpat on the back, telling us not to despair because, well, well always have art:

Whether or not they are objectively valuable, the ends that matter to us, the things that we care about most our relationships, our projects and goals, our shared experiences, social justice, the pursuit of knowledge, the creation and appreciation of art, music and literature, and the future and fate of ours and other species do not depend to any considerable extent on our having control over a vast but largely irrelevant Universe.

We might be distinctly lacking in power from the cosmic perspective, and so, in a sense, insignificant. But having such power and such significance wouldnt make much of a difference anyway.

To lament its lack and respond with despair and nihilism is merely a form of narcissism. Most of what matters to us is right here on Earth.

No. Its not about power. Its not about cosmic perspectives. Only we understand there is such a thing as the cosmos.

Its also notwhat we can do, the art we can create creativity is another uniquely human attribute but about who we are inherently. We think, therefore we are. We contemplate meaning, therefore the universe itself comes to have meaning because a species exists that can find it.

Hughes bemoans the authoritarianism that sometimes befouls our thriving. But authoritarianism can only exist whenhuman exceptionalism our unique and equal individual value, coupled with our duties to each other (among others) is denied. Thats when those with power feel free to exploit and oppressthose they falsely denigrate as being without it.

In his proud disenchantment, Hughes tells us not to despair because there are aspects of life to enjoy until we are snuffedinto non-thinking carbon.

Thats a dangerously nihilistic viewno matter how much Hughes strives to whistle past the graveyard.

Go here to see the original:

Human Exceptionalism: We Understand Significance - National Review

Christopher Eccleston (left) and Carrie Coon in The Leftovers

Watching the three seasons of the TV series The Leftovers is like taking a short course on William Jamess The Varieties of Religious Experienceexcept richer and more entertaining. The Leftovers imagines a world in which 2 percent of the worlds population has suddenly vanished, Rapture-like, with no rhyme or reason governing who is taken and who is leftover. In the absence of all scientific and religious explanations, human meaning-making systems begin to collapse.

When I wrote about the series halfway through its first season, I wondered how religion would be engaged going forward. At that point, religion mostly seemed to be a coping mechanism, and not a very good one. The only Christian, Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston), is an Anglican priest on a smear campaign to defame all the Departed. The main cult in town, the Guilty Remnant, refuses to let people get on with their lives. The season has an austere beauty and many rich character portraits, but also nihilism, confusion, and despair.

In season two, the action moves from Mapleton, New York, to Jarden, Texas, also known as Miraclethe only place on earth with no Departures. The town has become a national park and a hotbed for every form of religious experimentation. This season offers a primer in big philosophical questions: What is religion? Where does it come from? Can we live without it? This might sound didactic, but the show is so narratively and formally creative that it feels more like a cross between Alice in Wonderland and Flannery OConnor than a philosophy of religion textbook.

About midway through the second season, one of the protagonists, Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), seeks help from his ex-wife, Laurie (Amy Brenneman), because he is seeing visions of the former leader of the Guilty Remnant, Patti Levin (Ann Dowd), who died in his presence. Laurie, a psychiatrist, explains to Kevin that he is having a psychotic breakdown. She gently explains that the human brain is a clever and defensive organ. In the face of chaos, it reaches for any system of order or meaning. It reaches, in other words, for religion, which is glossed by Laurie as the longing for security, comfort, and narrative cohesion as found through magic, visions, portents, prophesies, dream states, charismatic leaders, and ritualized behaviors (all on abundant display in season two). Laurie has some personal experience with this; she herself destroyed her marriage to Kevin when she joined the Guilty Remnant for a few years.

Lauries speech offers one interpretation of the entire show: the Sudden Departure is an instance of human fragility in an indifferent world, which prompts some people to make a therapeutic turn to religion. If Lauries view is correct, then religion can be explained in scientific terms. It is a defense mechanism of the fragile human mind.

Laurie proposes that Kevin go on medication and seek therapy. But Kevin chooses instead to do spiritual battle with Patti. Under the guidance of a guru, Kevin drinks poison, dies (or appears to die), and wakes up in (or is reborn into) the apparent dream world of a corporate hotel. He assumes the role of an international agent who must assassinate Patti. She has become a senator running for president. I told you it was a wild ride.

Scattered through Kevins visions are clues that his quest is happening in some way in the real world of the show, not just in his own mind. But if that is true, Lauries therapeutic secularism is not the final word on religion after all.

In season three, news of Kevins death and resurrection is taken up by the Anglican priest from season one. Matts faith has been tested by more than a few plot twists, but it is a testament to the shows sympathetic interest in traditional religious belief that the episodes centered on Matt are some of the best in the series (and theres a laugh-out-loud moment for theological education nerds when were told Matt is a Berkeley Divinity School alum). Matt becomes convinced that Kevin is a new messiah, a harbinger of an unspecified reconciliation to unfold on the seventh anniversary of the Departed. He even writes a new book of scripture to explain his theology.

Through the eyes of Matt and his small band of disciples, including the skeptic Laurie, who plays a self-described Judas to the group, The Leftovers offers many different perspectives on how faith is made, formed, and lost. If the strangeness of the Departure allows the writers to explore religious belief and practice with verve and sympathy, the show ultimately connects the Departure to the experience of loss and griefreligion does not so much explain the mysteries of life as provide a framework for living within them.

The final scene is a conversation between Kevin and his erstwhile lover Nora (Carrie Coon), who is also Matts sister, many years after the Departure. Nora offers the best explanation for the Departure that we are going to get, one that reframes her life as caregiver rather than victim. Her story doesnt end her grief so much as help her live into a new life. This is the kind of religion The Leftovers finds most interesting, and it makes the viewer interested toono small feat for a show that begins with the end of meaning.

A version of this article appears in the July 19 print edition under the title A wild ride with The Leftovers.

Read the rest here:

The Leftovers and the end of meaning - The Christian Century

If you give us your fucking heart, well give you ours, declares Arcade Fires Win Butler to the thousands of devotees with arms outstretched into the Belgian sunset. Its only the opening day of Rock Werchter 2017, and Butlers promise perfectly captures the spirit of the occasion an unbridled display of passion from music fans who just want to lose their minds, regardless of whats on stage.

Is it loud enough? snarls Savages Jehnny Beth earlier on, Christening the main stage, I know its early, but its about to get a little louder. Back on stage together for the first time in seven months, the band actively lead punk away from nihilism and towards an energetic celebration of life, unity, and defiance. Beth spends just as much time walking over the crowd as she does stalking the stage like a predator, her every move an inflammatory invitation for the crowd to lose their shit.

That same mood lingers as the crowd swells for the Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill supergroup Prophets Of Rage with punk power and politics out on parade to make Belgium rage again. Theres no thrill comparable to the primal reaction of hearing Testify, Sleep Now In The Fire and Killing In The Name played by the three metal pioneers themselves, but the vocals of Chuck D and B-Real with the backing of DJ Lord make the aggression much more streetwise and allows for a wider allowance of diversity. Throwing in covers of Fight The Power, Jump Around and How I Could Just Kill A Man destroys the boundaries of genre, and creates a reaction nothing short of feral.

Savages at Rock Werchter 2017

Were from a country very, very far from away from here, a visibly humbled Lorde tells the packed out Barn stage. It would take me a day to get home right now.

Introducing the tender Liability, she opens up: This is a song about being alone and learning how to be alone for the first time, because its something you have to learn. Its one thing to go Im going to go to a restaurant by myself. Youre sitting there, youve looked at everything you could possibly look at on your phone, and you think shit, have I missed something? For me, I was always scared to be alone because I felt like I was kind of a loser and when I was by myself I was way more aware of that.

I think everyone knows how it feels to walk into a room and be scared that youre too much for everyone, or that everyones just going to leave, she starts to stifle tears. But I want you to know, its going to be OK.

Its a rare privilege to see one on the finest performers of the planet in such a setting. Stripped of the huge perspex box set-up that dominated the stage at Coachella and Glastonbury, Lorde stands before us with a much more direct and intimate performance. Shes a stones throw away, dancing like nobodys watching, treating the audience like friends. Theres a warmth saved for the invertedanthemics of Tennis Court, Team and a deafening sing-along of Royals, while theres nothing quite like the sheer abandon that overtakes you for Supercut and Green Light. Everything feels heightened in here, but ultimately human.Theres no persona, no gimmicks, its just us and Ella. She could make anywhere feel like home.

Lorde at Rock Werchter 2017

Theres a rush to the main stage where the crowd stretches on into the horizon awaiting Arcade Fire. The disco instrumental of Everything Now whirrs up and Werchter is at once lost to dance for an unrelenting 90 minutes. Anthem follows anthem as Win Butler and co create a carnival with 16 songs. The choral call to arms of their early material with Rebellion (Lies) and Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels) inspires the same religious fervour as it did back in 2004, but the full journey of the setlist shows a band highly evolved and at the peak of their powers.

Sing this one for David Bowie, says Butler of their late friend and collaborator, introducing The Suburbs. David, we miss you so fucking so much. Lets pray that somewhere, a child is born with David Bowies soul.Save your prayers, as it is Arcade Fire who have picked up his torch and are charging with it into the distant future. While Reflektor, Here Comes The Night Time and Afterlife from the previous record saw the band move from antiquity into the space, the adventurous dance-driven new tracks Creature Comfort and Signs Of Life are among the best received this evening an acknowledgement of that chameleon-like swagger into new terrain that they inherited from the Thin White Duke.

Closed with a seismic sing-along of Wake Up before Butler awards his tambourine to a young girl in the crowd who spent the entire show on her fathers shoulders, Arcade Fire couldnt possibly have given much more.Kings Of Leon ended the night with a set loaded with the arena friendly warmth of their latter days, but sadly lacking in the danger that first made you fall in love with them. Theyre a band built for festivals and can do little wrong, but it was the magic of Arcade Fire that will remain the enduring memory of the day. They just had it every member performing as if it was the last night on Earth, and the audience giving the love back in spades. To see them in 2017, is to watch Arcade Fire reaching a career high. That is how you win hearts, and they have ours.

Arcade Fire at Rock Werchter 2017

Everything Now Rebellion (Lies) Here Comes the Night Time Signs of Life No Cars Go The Suburbs The Suburbs (Continued) Ready to Start Month of May Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) Reflektor Afterlife Creature Comfort Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) Wake Up

Excerpt from:

Arcade Fire honour David Bowie and Lorde gets emotional with ... - NME.com