And finally, the devil, is she/he all bad? Or just an over used and redundant religious metaphor, rich with harmful guilt association used by the church to instill fear, loathing, and control in its followers?
Flip Wilson’s immortal line “The devil made me do it” was used as a way to distance his character Geraldine from taking responsibility for his/her actions. I was raised in the Catholic church and from the age of 10 – 17 went to Catholic schools.
I was branded by Ranch Catholico from an early age too, managed to get a skin graft once I hit mid teens.
I never really believed in the devil. From around the age of 10 I found myself at odds with the nuns when I questioned how pre marital sex and murder could be in the same category of sin. All organised religions have their own particular methods of control. The one thing most of them have in common is this sense of a Heaven and a Hell.
They justify their existence by acting as the go-between for us mere mortals, with God/Heaven and the Devil/Hell. I prefer to take responsibility (or not) for my own actions and forge my own relationships with whoever does or doesn’t exist. I find the only reason the devil is of any use is for red costumes on Halloween, a way to change up the way to serve hard boiled eggs!
Many thanks Kathleen. Her new album and her second, Don't Tell, is out on 23rd July, on the Howlin' Hound label and is available from all good purveyors of sound art.
Read more about Kathleen Haskard and cosy on up to her and be her friend on her myspace gang bang site.
Article comments
1 - Rob
Nice post. I recently blogged about how you can extend the Open Source ethos to not only software but also politics and even food and drink! There's a tenuous link between how do Naomi Kleins no-brand, no-logo cola, chicken curry, and beer affect globalisation.