Hunter S. Thompson, Catholic Perspective
Speaking of Godspy.com, the pub ran (last May, I guess, though I didn't see it until tonight) an interesting piece on Hunter S. Thompson that looks at his work and suicide through a Catholic filter... "In Thompson's case, his self-abuse obscured that side of him that was most praiseworthy and unique, his apocalyptic vision—that the swine would ultimately be separated from the upstanding. But like some hubristic protagonist of a Flannery O'Conner short story, Thompson believed the only chance the meek had of inheriting the earth was if they organized a mob, crashed the gates of the Pentagon, captured the top brass and put them on trial for their crimes."
posted by Ernesto at 8:39 PM
2 Comments:
Why stop with the Pentagon? Why not the Senate and the House and on down to Pennsylvania Avenue? Then, again, why not continue until my own heart is reached? I wrestle with such things often and always end up with the same conclusion. The best we can do, it seems to me, is continue to follow His voice and our conscience, dealing with our own screw-ups as we go..........
Then, again, why not continue until my own heart is reached?
I appreciate that, and Thompson's suicide and way-beyond-over-the-top lifestyle may testify to the fact that he could have benefited from your advice, focusing exclusively in on yourself can lead to a neglect of worldly possiblilities. From a Christian point of view, Jesus seems to think his core teachings are twofold -- the love of God and the love of the Neighbor. I don't think I'm too far out there in extending the demand of neighbor-love to the poor and oppressed, do you?
It's probably bad to focus on your relationship with God to the exclusion of your responsibilities to the world, or vice versa, for that matter. One must storm the Pentagon (in one sense or another) while releasing ourselves from our worldly desires and turning our souls to God, no?
Nowhere in Scripture does God say this is gonna be easy, does He?
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