The Struggle of the Mind to Be Free

As I compose these words while sitting in the Hilton O'Hare, I find that half of me is still in another world, the world of our near future, perhaps 40 years from now. I was brought to that world by a book I just finished reading. The book is Snow Crash, by Neil Stevenson.

Without going into a lengthy description of the plot, I will tell you that one of the main themes of the book is the struggle against control of the human mind and spirit. Several means were used in attempting to control people's thought. The bad guy, "the corporate giant," was not only trying to fry the brains of computer hackers but also trying to control masses of people by teaching them to speak one ancient language. There are many references to Sumerian, Babylonian, and Hebrew religions, which I cannot pursue here, but the main idea is that if you can force a population to speak one language you can make them more controllable.Diversity of language allows humans to grow and to become what they need to be.

The book makes several references to the story of the Tower of Babel in Hebrew Scripture. That story tells us that the whole world spoke one language, and the builders of the tower decided they would make a structure that would reach the very gates of God's temple (the word babble means the gate of God). God confuses the language so that the people don't understand each other, and they have to give up this maniacal attempt.

One of Stevenson's characters carries on quite a monologue about the ways in which religion is always in a struggle between the attempt of the powerful to control the minds of the masses and the attempt of free thinkers and rebels to elude that control. I am convinced that Jesus came to free his followers from the control of the Pharisees' legalistic Jewish religion and to build a community not based on compliance with laws or structures, but rather on freedom from those constraints. Jesus advocated freedom to be community, family, a living organism, the body of Christ, and yet at the same time freedom to think, ask questions, wonder, and even perhaps disbelieve.

As I travel around the country I find that there are oh so many practitioners of religion-Christian and otherwise-who want a regulatory structure, who want easy answers, who want everything to be black or white, yes or no, this or that. If you don't quit fit in the mold, you are anathema. In some cases entire Christian denominations have of late done their best to squash diversity, to eliminate all questions, and to excise those who don't comply. It is ironic that Christian denominations that once prided themselves on being non-creedal have in these days become in effect more creedal than the creedal ones.

It is my earnest hope that in 2003 you will dare to ask questions, dare to doubt, dare to try on a different perspective, and dare to simply wonder how our religious superstructures came to be. I am convinced that for those who are the faithful, these exercises will only serve to strengthen their faith. Freedom of thought does not destroy a faith; it matures it.

I also hope that if you're looking for something to read you will take a peek at Snow Crash. Don't be discouraged by the seeming lack of character building toward the beginning of the book. It takes a long time for things to wind up, but when they do, watch out. "In the growing is the rising, in the growing is the falling, in the growing is the holding, in the growing is the letting go, in the growing is the leaping, in the growing is the stumbling, in the growing is the joining, in the growing is the saying no, in the growing is the running free, in the growing shackles there must be, in the growing is the fearing, in the growing is the trusting, in the growing is the doubting, in the growing is the will to know."