“…If Freud was right in claiming that the individual seeks his or her own path to the grave, so we might say that each civilization arranges its own death…”
Freud was also correct about the Oedipal wish to destroy The Father. Judaism is the father to Christianity and Islam. Rage directed at the father, and envy of the child for the father’s greater experience, presumed power and prowess, etc., are the driving forces.
Also, Judaism gave rise to no “perfect” beings; the patriarchs, Moses, kings, prophets — all were flawed human beings. Jesus and Muhammed are icons of perfection to their believers. This silliness rationalizes their respective attitudes of supposed superiority, which is a mask of rage and envy. In contrast, Buddhists, for example, don’t do this.
Jewish realism — “Israel” means “wrestles with God” — is more difficult to live — to face one’s life for what it actually is — than the magical, infantile thinking of unknowable after-life ascendence, “grace,” “martyrdom,” etc.
David Solway — I love how you think and what you write. You bring intelligence to an otherwise mostly insipid cultural dialogue. Thanks.
