|
I've always found the parallels is religious antagonists to be interesting: it seems to be that free thought and questioning, rather than submissive obedience, is all it really takes to make one evil. The two figures that come to mind are the greek prometheus, who because he taught man of fire, was chained to a rock and doomed to have his liver pecked at by an eagle, and satan, whose first two sins were challenging authority and getting man to think (eating from the tree of knowledge and thus gaining knowledge). Look at one of satan's other names: Lucifer. The light-bringer, the morningstar. He who sheds the light of knowledge on man, but, in the process, destroys man's innocence. Organized religions tend to have a common thread of mindless obedience to the will of whatever god they've convinced themselves runs the whole show, and deluded themselves into believing has their best interests in mind. I'm sure other examples exist, but it's 4:15 am, and I don't feel like looking...
__________________
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
---Friedrich Nietzsche
|