"Lost" was a good show. It featured a lot of science stuff and references to historical figures that kids today know nothing of. Lindelof has admitted he didn't have a clue what he was doing...Twitter never lies. He strung us along promising this show was not about death or forgiveness and that it was going to be "real". As "real" as he could make it. Lindelof, as cute as he is, sucks. The last season of "Lost" sucked. They were dead. He lied. I would totes still date him, but people lie.
I wanted "Lost" to be real, to focus on the science and the history, but it wasn't. I wanted to see that moment of quantum physics explained to middle America; it wasn't. I fear for people who must take their beloved Genesis literally, without explanation. Believing without science or history is a dangerous thing. Most don't know when it was written, where it was written, and the stories of a desert population that it speaks of. Some old-timers even still cling to the story that Moses wrote it...anyway, it certainly doesn't tell the stories of white middle class America. It certainly doesn't speak to running water and Gucci purses. I was one of those people who grew up believing that Genesis was "true". Well, I probably would have been smacked had I even questioned it, but as we grow up and realize that there is a big world out there, we have to question lots of things. But even as a literalist, I always wanted to back people into a corner over Genesis chapter 4.
Cain was thrown out of Eden. So whilst incest ensued to create this great and "chosen" (how I hate that word) people, (? was there another version I missed?) Cain was pushed out into another world. A teeming bright working world. A world of book clubs and science experiments and large marble idols...oh, that was The Others on "Lost" wasn't it? If you remember, I think Cain is the father of Tubal Cain, the man who invents iron working....what can you glean from this? That the world was there. Perhaps G-d did bring Adam and Eve into the story, but if you are a literalist, then you need to take a deep breath and understand that life was being lived outside of Eden. For how long...well, long enough that these people were on the brink of inventing iron working. So, the Bronze age had passed and we are looking at 1200b.c. ~If you're a literalist. Do the math.
Sometimes when we live in a world without Internet or ABC Nightly News, we fail to notice that the Others are even there, much less thriving in nice brick homes with running water and driving automobiles. We are still in the forest trying to get Charlie to learn the difference between a Phillips head screwdriver and a bamboo pole. We are suffering, they have medicine. We are in the dark, clinging to each other during a fierce storm while they have fallout shelters and pancakes. The other side of the story will always be different, but to exclude the other story...to deny that there were Others and deny the life they were living...well, not very literal of you. There will always be excuses. I don't care what Cain did to get thrown out of Eden. The POINT to me is that he had somewhere to go....and just like John Locke, the Others, the hostiles; with all their technology, took him in. I like the nuances of the Cain story.
When the stranger arrives at your door, marked and in need, not speaking your language and not prepared to live in your world; whatever will you do? What if he asks to marry your daughter and teach your children some bizarre language and wants to worships a "Real" G-d that you cannot see? Will you call him crazy? Will you see him as a threat? What if it was you?
What if I was sinful and marked? What if I don't fit in? What if I constantly have to fend off people pushing their religion down my throat when I am doing EXACTLY what I need to be doing? What if I am surrounded by people that speak nonsense and look at me strangely?
I am Cain... I don't care. I will continue to do what I need to do, with the situation I am in, and know that I have already paid my dues. You cannot keep flogging someone whom G-d has already dealt with just to make yourself feel like a mightier person....that's not living literally. Seth may have been given to Eve, but Cain was the father of hard work, thought-provoking innovation, and mixed family. Seems like Cain may actually be an American after all. Strange thing is, that now we have scholars stating that Cain was the son of the serpent... geez, petty much? Well, get behind me, Satan, cause I really am not feeling the love right now. When people have been disconnected from their family, their livelihood, their G-d.....how do you react? Like they deserved it? Nice. Who's the serpent again?
We all have stories, and whether you were pushed out of the church or left willingly, we are all marked. And if you are struggling, then : Hi, my name is Cain. I am sinful but not lost, and my story isn't about death.
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