When talking about God there is no absolute truth. Through five major religions, there is one god but all with a different story or face. God is referenced in everyday conversation, but do we really know what or who god really is? People say that they “love” God, but what does “love” mean and how can someone “love” and unknown thing like God? Everyone has their own definitions for these two things, but which one is the correct one? There are so many questions to be asked from two simple words yet no one has come up with a final answer to any of them. In the novel, Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut, he explores the idea of both of these words and the concepts of different views on both of them. God and love are both concepts of personal truth, not absolute truth.
From the beginning of the book Vonnegut wants us to think that God is just one big lie,
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God, Allah, Buddha, whichever name used associated with it, is supposed to be an omnipotent figure. One who is all powerful. For the most part, these figures are benevolent. It is man’s interpretation of texts and writings that pervert the message. An omnipotent figure cannot be proven nor disproven. That is why the “faith” is required by those who place their beliefs in those ideas. The absolute truth about God is simple. Whether there is one or not shouldn't affect how we treat each other as people. The hypothesis of master string theory states that there are an infinite number of universes with an infinite amount of possible outcomes and combinations. In one universe, God is absent altogether and never had faith built around an omnipotent figure. In another universe, there is an overabundance of the presence of god. God can never be real or unreal it is just a possibility, therefore, there is no absolute truth behind god, but instead is in the eyes of the beholder to decide.” My good friend Coy gave me this answer when asked: “ what is the absolute truth about
Kurt Vonnegut writes pessimistic novels, or at least he did back in the sixties. Between Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night, and Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut paints a cynical and satirical picture of the degradation of society using distortion as the primary means to express himself. In Cat's Cradle, the reader is confronted with the story of the narrator, John, as he attempts to gather material to write a book on the human aspect of the day Japan was bombed. As the story progresses, he finds that becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from illusion. He meets up with a midget, a dictator, and a nation's object of lust as his journey progresses, and he eventually ends up the sole leader of a remote island and witnesses the end of the world. Using implausible stories and unbelievable characters and situations to convey his message, Vonnegut's utilization of literary distortion allows him to move the reader and prove his point in a far greater way than he could by just blatantly shouting his opinions. "Anyone unable to understand how useful a religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either"(16), states the narrator, concerning Cat's Cradle. Throughout the text, Vonnegut uses the religion of Bokononism, which is a fictitious faith founded on the basis of deception, to establish that people can prosper and be happy under false beliefs. When two men founded the island nation of San Lorenzo, Cat's Cradle's model for society, it was...
Chapter 2 of “Bind Spot” corresponds with the topic of “Shades of Truth”. The chapter was about the difference of lies, which people give to each other. White lies are known to be the most innocent lie; it is a common lie to prevent hurting others. A example of a White Lie would be saying that you remember a person even though you have never seen them before. Blue Lies are lies that seem true, however, they are not. For example, a wrestler confirms his coach that he did not eat the night before, even though, the wrestler did actually ate meals. Red lies are lies that become second nature. It makes us survive longer. For example, someone pointing a gun to you saying, “Do you know this person?” You respond with denial, however, you actually do know the person but denied it because you wanted to survive.
I think one thing that Vonnegut is trying to show us is that man too easily accepts things as valid without questioning. Refering to this, Newt, another character, says, "No wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat's cradle is nothing but a bunch of X's between somebody's hands, and little kids look and look and look at all those X's…No damn cat, and no damn cradle" (114).
Vonnegut satirically attacks religion by displaying it’s purpose as only providing comfort to it’s followers regardless of whether it’s based on truth or lies. Cat’s Cradle introduces Bokononism, a religion made up of ”bittersweet lies” (Vonnegut,12) with the sole aim of providing people with purpose and meaning to their otherwise boring life. Bokonon the creator of the religion admits that it is based on lies but he also realizes that in order for it to be useful it does not have to necessarily be true. The books of Bokonon, the biblical equivalent of Bokononism states : “Live by the foma (harmless untruths) that make you brave and kind and happy and healthy.” (Vonnegut, 6) The city of San Lorenzo is used by Vonnegut to display the usefulness of Bokononism over any truth. The truth would be that the lives of humans lack purpose and that does not in any way help San Lorenzo, the poorest country in the world. In addition, San Lorenzo has no ...
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, lying means to tell an account of an untrue event or give false information.
By creating new religious and scientific vocabularies, Vonnegut infiltrates the reader's very mind. Bokononist ideas and principles that are almost reasonable give the reader a temporary framework for interpretation, "'As it was supposed to happen,' Bokonon would say" (Cat's Cradle 63). Never too far from reality, "Bokonon tells us that it is very wrong to not to love everyone exactly the same. What does your religion say?" (CC 141). Vonnegut's prophet cuts close to the bone, and so he must in order to reach the philosophical roots of the reader's belief system. Yet, the security of any and every belief and interpretation of any and all of the characters is in one way or another polluted until there is nowhere to turn.
...escribes two different aspects of God’s Love. The first is that God’s love can be very commanding, resulting in a sovereign relationship between man and God. The second being that God’s love is everything, all around and forever present. There is nothing that was not made by God, and without his love nothing would continue to exist. Julian implies that it is humanity’s duty to observe these “sixteen showings” and to make it their goal to work towards that oneness with God. Once man is able to obtain this ultimate unity with God, he will be able to understand the true passion of God.
The narrator's lack of control on events brings up one of the main themes of the story which is embodied in a fictitious religion invented by Vonnegut, Bokononism. Bokononism is Vonnegut's way of describing the main theme of the book, which is that no matter what anyone does, no one can possibly change the incredible stupidity of mankind. Bokononism contends that all religions (including Bokononism) are nothing but a pack of hideous lies which should be completely disregarded. Even with this self-defeating underlying...
They have been called "gods." These almighty, powerful beings that are far too superior for us to understand; or so most of us have been made to believe. Some may say he is a Great Examiner, others could say he is the Creator. Some could even say he doesn't exist. Frankly, what I want to emphasize is how such beliefs could reduce even the bravest and strongest of us all to a whimpering child. Something that we ar...
God is sinless, loving, forgiving and full of wisdom. God’s love is shown throughout the Old and New Testaments. Many times throughout the Old
Modern medicine has proved that the best way to prevent the contraction of a disease for humans is to inject a tolerable amount of the virus into the host and let the individual's immune system build a defense capable of withstanding future invasions of the same strand. The small pox vaccination, for example, has eliminated the disease from almost every nation on Earth.
Seeking Truth in a Doll's House. & nbsp; The characters, in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, are hiding from each other and seeking the truth about each other and about life. The game of hide and seek that Nora plays with her children, she also plays with her husband. She hides her actions and her true personality from him. He also hides his life from her. Thinking that she would never even understand, he keeps all the business of their relationship secret from her.&nbs of the play is a game of hide and seek. Excellent. I will be back. & nbsp; Nora plays a game of "hide and seek"(Ibsen 506)* with her children. The simple game can also be seen as a symbol of real life in the play. Nora is playing hide and seek with the adults in her life.
I don’t think that Vonnegut is trying to change people’s viewpoints on religion, just trying to make them consider the point that religion might be essential to the human race. He’s saying that people need it in their everyday lives to feel the urge to keep going and to give them motivation to do well in their lives. By creating a world in his book where religion is founded on lies, it makes people consider how religion really affects their lives everyday. The narrator, John, says, “Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either.” This quote sums up Vonnegut’s opinion of religion pretty well. Any religion that motivates people to do good and give back is a good religion, no matter how many lies it tells about the world. I don’t know if I quite agree with this idea because all these people are doing this good with the idea that they’re going to get something back from God after they die, and this religion is lying to them and giving them false hope. And maybe the things these
The conception of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is monotheism, the belief in the existence of a single indivisible God. The three of religions maintains that there is only one God, who is active in and concerned about the world. These religions are also patriarchal, male-dominated, which has resulted in God being described as “He.” However, how Christians, Judaism and Islam conceptualize God in their respective theologies is actually quite different. In Christianity, God is the supreme creator and ruler of the universe. Christians believe God is infinite, omnipotent, all-powerful, perfect, personal, eternal, unchanging, holy, all-knowing, and all-loving. Their idea of God is shown in the belief of the Trinity. God is one, but with three aspects: God is Father, the creator, ruler, and sustainer of all life, and divine judge; God is the Son, who is Jesus, God made incarnate and savior of humanity; and the Holy Spirit, who is God working in the world. Both Muslims and Christians love and respect Jesus, however, the major difference between Islam and Christianity is the Christians insistence on the supposed divinity of Christ. In Christian scriptures, God never claimed divinity while the emphasis in the Islamic theology of God is “absolute unity;” God is sublimely one. Muslims think that by believing in the Trinity, Christians believe in three Gods. For them, God is One God. Judaism views the existence of God as a necessary prerequisite for the existence of the universe, and the existence of the universe is sufficient proof of the existence of God.
The concept of God can be a difficult one to grasp especially in today's world - a world in which anyone that believes in God is trying to define exactly what God is. To even attempt to grasp such a concept, one must first recognize his own beliefs in respect to the following questions: Is God our creator? Is God omnipotent (all-powerful) or omniscient (all-knowing) or both? Does God care? Is God with us? Does God interfere with life on earth? These questions should be asked and carefully answered if one should truly wish to identify his specific beliefs in God's existence and persistence.