Faith and Damnation

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I also saw some of that terrible TV show, American Idol, where teenagers compete to be pop stars. Not, uh, not that I watch that sort of thing normally, or anything, but I saw some of it.

Now, watching reasonably talented kids competing night after night for a little recording contract that will one day qualify them to have their own website about what it's like to almost be a star is not really very entertaining, but the early episodes where they did the mass auditions were another matter. Those episodes weren't about talent, they were about train wrecks. They were about staring in wide-eyed wonder at ludicrous displays of misplaced self-confidence, wincing voyeuristically and thanking God that it wasn't yourself up there. They were about watching while some poor bastard testified to his musical genius and then proceeded to make Sheri Lewis and Lambchop look inspiringly talented.

The darkly fascinating thing about it was the faith.

They were about staring in wide-eyed wonder at ludicrous displays of misplaced self-confidence, wincing voyeuristically and thanking God that it wasn't yourself up there.

This is what disturbed me. The belief, which even the worst and most talentless individuals had, in their God given superstar talent. Time and again, contestants would step to the microphone and deliver piercing, catfight in an alley at 3am renditions of songs with weird, alien interpretations of otherwise simple rhythms, and then rage indignantly against the bias and ineptitude of the judges when they weren't chosen to advance to the next round. Rage against the judges and then tell the cameras that they knew themselves to be the most talented singer in America and vow to achieve superstardom no matter what.

Belief. Some is critical, none is a disaster, too much is worse.

And this brings me to the worrisome core of this little project, the hub that unifies these odd threads. Religion.

Surprise.

Most of the flavours of religion that I've encountered make blind faith in the unknowable their core requirement. You will never be presented with any proof, but you must believe. So you're damned if you don't have blind faith, but as we all know, blind faith is the road to heartbreak and Nazis, or at least public humiliation on network TV. So what do you do?

Well, I don't really know - watching less TV seems like a good start. If I really knew, I'd probably spend my days sitting around on snowy mountaintops, dispensing wisdom to hardy adventurers who'd managed to reach my airy perch. Just as well I guess - I don't really like to be that far from a Seven-Eleven. But it does leave me with a lingering feeling; a suspicion that people are maybe a little too quick to emphatically believe something just because they want it to be true, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Choose your beliefs carefully, wary travellers. Be cautious about where you place your faith because when the storm rolls in, lightning strobes the sky and rain drowns out the sound of approaching footsteps, the hounds you choose to guard your estate may turn around and bite you instead.