Tuesday, September 05, 2006
♂ Children of the alley
I just finished reading a book titled "Children of the alley" by an egyptian author called Naguib Mahfouz. This books tells the story about a feudal lord and his descendants who populated and lived in the alley outside his mansion. What is interesting about this book is its hidden allegory. The feudal lord represented the almighty monotheistic God of the Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Some of the descendants of this feudal lord became great men among the community of the alley and they represented Moses, Jesus and Mohammed.
An interesting read, very thought provoking...
One comment that I can make about this book is a statement I read in it which I found to be very intriguing.
"Rifaa did not die at the moment of his death. He died when his successors turned into gangsters."
For those of you who aren't familiar with the book, Rifaa is a representation of Jesus. With respect to the entry I made some weeks ago about life after death is about what you leave behind for your sucessors. I guess the same successors can kill their ancestors again after they have been dead. Jesus is alive for some people. His spirit and ideals of non-violence, love and self-sacrifice lived in some people. Ironically, some people are speaking and claiming to do unspeakable things in his name. Some people cheat and kill people while claiming to do Jesus' work. I guess these people may say that Jesus lived in them, while the truth is that they crucified him the second time.
12:23 AM
Friday, September 01, 2006
♂ comparison of old blog and new blog
I read some of my old entries in my
old blog and I realised that most of 'philosophical/ideological/theological' entries there had some heavy christian elements to it. It's not that I think they are wrong, I would think of them more as 'outdated'. Many of the basic and main ideas within those entries are still true and I still feel strongly about them. However, the religious concept within it has become somewhat irrelevant to me. When I compare that blog to this one, I feel that this blog can be a change somehow. I feel that I am still the same person with lots of thoughts and ideas floating on my head. It's probably that I'm more open now. I guess now I'm willing to take on both religious and secular allegories to represent what I feel. Being a ex-believer, I feel there's nothing wrong with learning from religions and perhaps incorporating them into secular philosophy. I only hope that I can put those ideas into written words.
12:26 AM
