David,
I think I may have seemed a tad bitchy in my response to you. I am a bit on the angry side these days. Troubled I guess. You know it's a weird world. Thank you for your response. I did not mean to be belligerent and rereading what I wrote I guess it may have seemed that way. I just didn't want to be lumped in with the yahoos that come up with shit like "Freedom Fries". I'm really not that kind of person.
The Albigenses, from my understanding of them, were an odd lot. They seemed to incorporate a little Eastern philosophy (yin & yang) in their belief system. They had it mixed up with Catholicism and were dead set on the fact that the flesh was evil...soul or spirit=good, light...flesh or material world=bad, dark. They despised marriage and saw having children as evil. They thought it better or at least less of a sin to have a concubine instead. So I guess from that perspective they had this great "guys just wanna have fun" philosophy. Except that like most hardcore Catholics they believed celibacy the best route to travel. No fun there really. They also found the idea of suicide to be noble, preferably by starvation...bloodletting worked well too though. You know the whole kill the flesh cause it's a tool of Satan thing. The only flesh they would eat was fish, so they were sort of vegitarians. They pretty much wanted to dump the whole Old Testament as it represented...ah the dark side...while the New Testament represented the light. I'm not really sure how it would have went had they stuck around. It is unfortuanate that Gnosticism was so radically suppressed that most of the texts and information was destroyed along with the people. Isn't there a saying that goes there's just enough religion in the world to make us hate and kill but not enough to make us love? Sure comes into play with this "War On Terror/Iraq" doesn't it?
Anyway, I wanted to recommend a couple books to you. Maybe you've already read them (you seem to have gone through a few books in your day) but I read them recently and enjoyed them. I mostly read stuff that helps me sit and contemplate life, the world, and all the larger questions...it seems to be the best thing for me and really helps me relax. I hope if you read these they allow you the same sort of opportunity for peaceful reflection that they brought me. They are "NonZero-The Logic Of Human Destiny" by Robert Wright and "no death, no fear" by Thich Nhat Hanh. I think as a guy who makes his living being creative they may inspire something for you. At least I hope they will. If you have any reading recommendations I'd be glad to hear them. Oh, and I know a good exorcist if you need to rid yourself of the ghost of Cole Porter that seems to have possesed you.
Peace,
Reg
p.s. Don't the more enlightened ideas look that much brighter when placed next to the stupid and ignorant ones?
