- Sep 22, 2013
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This is a Christianity/spirituality vignette inspired by the film Immortal Beloved, which I wrote/posted to reflect on the symbolic weight of morality correlated with evolving sophistication.
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A female descendant of Joan of Arc living in France named Elsie liked to sit for hours in front of the vanity-mirror in her bedroom and think about the splendor of Christianity contoured against the reality of religious persecution. You see, Elsie was very philosophical, but she was also imaginative and enjoyed folk-tales about religion such as Milton's Paradise Lost. Elsie concluded that the basic foundation of the world, its stability and its drama, in terms of religion and philosophy, was based on a 'chess drawing.'
Elsie's son Alan collected comic books and enjoyed Marvel's X-Men which presented stories of deformed mutants exhibiting superhuman powers and control over the supernatural. Alan believed that new age globalization-related intrigue regarding war and conflict could be re-presented in X-Men battles between iconic martial characters such as Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Alan wanted to see Wolverine and Nightcrawler play chess, so they'd finally resolve their differences. Such a 'contest' would parallel the real-world complications regarding cultural and political disagreements. Alan's mother, Elsie, was impressed.
Elsie purchased a video-game Battle-Chess for Alan, and Alan played for hours with himself, imagining that one side of the warrior-figurine chess set represented Wolverine's mind while the other represented Nightcrawler's mind. Alan concluded that somehow, Battle-Chess was a 'beacon' for the evolution of civilization itself. Elsie agreed and wanted Alan to study how his beloved comic book characters paralleled religious/Christian intrigue scholars explored. Alan decided to investigate how the Satanism-adapted DC Comics 'anti-hero' Lucifer Morningstar captured some of the modern intrigue surrounding notions of 'great idols' tackling 'demi-gods' in chess-like arenas (e.g., urban civics).
Alan also decided to start making home-made dioramas of the American Civil War, convinced that the symbolic sociocultural struggle symbolized a civilization focus on ethos-based meditation. Alan compared his dioramas with the X-Men storylines regarding the proliferation of the subversive/revolutionary underground American cult known as 'Friends of Humanity' which worked to undermine any endeavor by the 'super-mutants' to seize control of democracy. Alan wondered if the 'chess' mentality of civilization was imprinted onto the reality (or Hell!) of governance dissatisfaction.
Elsie showed Alan numerous colorful and rich films/stories depicting mankind's spiritual journey towards self-discovery, including Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The images in these stories revealed to Alan a special human focus on the tangibility of the 'magic' of self-discovery. However, Alan continued to wonder how such 'flowery' would be measured against the gravity of the history of religious persecution (e.g., Salem Witch Trials).
Alan purchased a grand French Revolution painting for his birthday. When his college friends asked him about it, he'd explain that its colorfulness and searing realism reflected the reality of chess-oriented conflicts in a progressing 'beautiful civilization.' Alan also played Battle-Chess regularly with many of his friends and talked about how chess captures the drama of the human instinct to win...at any cost. Alan also began reading Alexandre Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask.
Finally, Elsie decided to gift her son Alan with a DVD collection of Robotech anime from Japan, depicting stories of bravado in a space-opera format. Robotech fables presented grand technology and incredible space-vehicles. Alan quickly deduced that this 'wondrous technology' revealed why modern-day consumers would want a 'video-game rendition' of chess (Battle-Chess). Was humanity becoming...mechanical?
Alan started collecting new age films/stories about fantasy-worlds, such as Tolkien's Hobbit, McKenna's Shannara, and Rowling's Harry Potter. These presentations 'ancient fantasy' were spiritual backlashes to the modern-day obsession with technology and toys. Alan wondered if he should also consider why Ouija-boards saw a resurgence in popularity among various sub-culture groups and fraternities/sororities. Elsie started showing Alan passages in Revelation about the coming of the AntiChrist, the adversary of innocence.
Alan decided that Christianity in evolving civilization required an optimistic attention to the details of figurines, avatars, and metaphysics dolls such as Lucifer Morningstar, Constantine, and Venger. Alan realized that the age of media made free-speech and pornography intriguing subjects, and images of graphic sensuality in comics marketed to a broad audience were imprinted onto society as 'imaginings of heresy.' Modernism did not come without a certain dosage of escapism(!).
ALAN: I believe the AntiChrist is coming...
ELSIE: Maybe such an 'adversary' will make films about heresy!
ALAN: I wonder if such an adversary will be a 'fan' of Medusa or Catwoman.
ELSIE: Female avatars signifying governance-consciousness represent idolatry.
ALAN: Yes, but in some cases, they can symbolize socialization-meditation.
ELSIE: Don't lose sight of the value of gender-rights and free-speech.
ALAN: I get the nagging feeling that new age journalism is a 'chess-game.'
ELSIE: Yes, there's plenty of controversy and mind-games.
ALAN: Who appreciates chess more, Hebrews or Muslims?
ELSIE: It's enjoyed mostly these days by Christians.
ALAN: That's because Christians have dominated in warfare.
ELSIE: Yes, and chess symbolizes war more than anything.
ALAN: It's a game of 'tactics.'
ELSIE: Maybe the AntiChrist will convince the world that chess is religion!
ALAN: In that case, Hollywood should make a movie about Bobby Fischer.
ELSIE: The American chess grandmaster/champion?
ALAN: Yes; there's a new film depicting Fischer's contest with Russian Spassky.
ELSIE: The Fisher-Spassky contest revealed valuable things about the Cold War.
ALAN: Maybe civilization is simply a portrait of biases.
ELSIE: That's why we keep faith with folklore...
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A female descendant of Joan of Arc living in France named Elsie liked to sit for hours in front of the vanity-mirror in her bedroom and think about the splendor of Christianity contoured against the reality of religious persecution. You see, Elsie was very philosophical, but she was also imaginative and enjoyed folk-tales about religion such as Milton's Paradise Lost. Elsie concluded that the basic foundation of the world, its stability and its drama, in terms of religion and philosophy, was based on a 'chess drawing.'
Elsie's son Alan collected comic books and enjoyed Marvel's X-Men which presented stories of deformed mutants exhibiting superhuman powers and control over the supernatural. Alan believed that new age globalization-related intrigue regarding war and conflict could be re-presented in X-Men battles between iconic martial characters such as Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Alan wanted to see Wolverine and Nightcrawler play chess, so they'd finally resolve their differences. Such a 'contest' would parallel the real-world complications regarding cultural and political disagreements. Alan's mother, Elsie, was impressed.
Elsie purchased a video-game Battle-Chess for Alan, and Alan played for hours with himself, imagining that one side of the warrior-figurine chess set represented Wolverine's mind while the other represented Nightcrawler's mind. Alan concluded that somehow, Battle-Chess was a 'beacon' for the evolution of civilization itself. Elsie agreed and wanted Alan to study how his beloved comic book characters paralleled religious/Christian intrigue scholars explored. Alan decided to investigate how the Satanism-adapted DC Comics 'anti-hero' Lucifer Morningstar captured some of the modern intrigue surrounding notions of 'great idols' tackling 'demi-gods' in chess-like arenas (e.g., urban civics).
Alan also decided to start making home-made dioramas of the American Civil War, convinced that the symbolic sociocultural struggle symbolized a civilization focus on ethos-based meditation. Alan compared his dioramas with the X-Men storylines regarding the proliferation of the subversive/revolutionary underground American cult known as 'Friends of Humanity' which worked to undermine any endeavor by the 'super-mutants' to seize control of democracy. Alan wondered if the 'chess' mentality of civilization was imprinted onto the reality (or Hell!) of governance dissatisfaction.
Elsie showed Alan numerous colorful and rich films/stories depicting mankind's spiritual journey towards self-discovery, including Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. The images in these stories revealed to Alan a special human focus on the tangibility of the 'magic' of self-discovery. However, Alan continued to wonder how such 'flowery' would be measured against the gravity of the history of religious persecution (e.g., Salem Witch Trials).
Alan purchased a grand French Revolution painting for his birthday. When his college friends asked him about it, he'd explain that its colorfulness and searing realism reflected the reality of chess-oriented conflicts in a progressing 'beautiful civilization.' Alan also played Battle-Chess regularly with many of his friends and talked about how chess captures the drama of the human instinct to win...at any cost. Alan also began reading Alexandre Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask.
Finally, Elsie decided to gift her son Alan with a DVD collection of Robotech anime from Japan, depicting stories of bravado in a space-opera format. Robotech fables presented grand technology and incredible space-vehicles. Alan quickly deduced that this 'wondrous technology' revealed why modern-day consumers would want a 'video-game rendition' of chess (Battle-Chess). Was humanity becoming...mechanical?
Alan started collecting new age films/stories about fantasy-worlds, such as Tolkien's Hobbit, McKenna's Shannara, and Rowling's Harry Potter. These presentations 'ancient fantasy' were spiritual backlashes to the modern-day obsession with technology and toys. Alan wondered if he should also consider why Ouija-boards saw a resurgence in popularity among various sub-culture groups and fraternities/sororities. Elsie started showing Alan passages in Revelation about the coming of the AntiChrist, the adversary of innocence.
Alan decided that Christianity in evolving civilization required an optimistic attention to the details of figurines, avatars, and metaphysics dolls such as Lucifer Morningstar, Constantine, and Venger. Alan realized that the age of media made free-speech and pornography intriguing subjects, and images of graphic sensuality in comics marketed to a broad audience were imprinted onto society as 'imaginings of heresy.' Modernism did not come without a certain dosage of escapism(!).
ALAN: I believe the AntiChrist is coming...
ELSIE: Maybe such an 'adversary' will make films about heresy!
ALAN: I wonder if such an adversary will be a 'fan' of Medusa or Catwoman.
ELSIE: Female avatars signifying governance-consciousness represent idolatry.
ALAN: Yes, but in some cases, they can symbolize socialization-meditation.
ELSIE: Don't lose sight of the value of gender-rights and free-speech.
ALAN: I get the nagging feeling that new age journalism is a 'chess-game.'
ELSIE: Yes, there's plenty of controversy and mind-games.
ALAN: Who appreciates chess more, Hebrews or Muslims?
ELSIE: It's enjoyed mostly these days by Christians.
ALAN: That's because Christians have dominated in warfare.
ELSIE: Yes, and chess symbolizes war more than anything.
ALAN: It's a game of 'tactics.'
ELSIE: Maybe the AntiChrist will convince the world that chess is religion!
ALAN: In that case, Hollywood should make a movie about Bobby Fischer.
ELSIE: The American chess grandmaster/champion?
ALAN: Yes; there's a new film depicting Fischer's contest with Russian Spassky.
ELSIE: The Fisher-Spassky contest revealed valuable things about the Cold War.
ALAN: Maybe civilization is simply a portrait of biases.
ELSIE: That's why we keep faith with folklore...
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