Tuesday, February 18, 2014

It Just Doesn't Matter! ~ Bill Murray from the movie Meatballs

I know that in these uncertain and troubled times there are those who feel that any actions taken to counter the divisiveness, hatred and anger that has permeated our culture are fruitless., that in the end they just won.t matter. They may feel that that the problems we face are insurmountable and that those who have organized groups to fight back against inequality, the the destruction of our environment, the erosion of freedoms, the attacks against our democracy and slide towards an authoritarian government or a dictatorship will, in the end, make little difference.

A few years back, on the Daily Show, one of their reporters interviewed a young Russian woman at the Olympics in Sochi, I believe it was regarding the Russian government's position on homosexuality. At one point, waxing philosophically, the woman said "If what we do doesn't matter - then all that matters is what we do." That struck me as somehow profound but much like a Zen koan in that I couldn't quite understand the meaning. I'm not sure in what context she offed this thought but after a little research I found that the likely source of this quotation is from the TV series Angel, the Epiphany episode (on YouTube) where the Angel actually said,"If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... , then all that matters is what we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do. Now. Today."

This scripted "epiphany" in that episode of Angel appears to have been influenced by John Ruskin who wrote, "What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do." That Ruskin quote is one I've tried to live by since I discovered it many, many years ago. It makes all the sense in the world to me and calls attention to all the insane religious, social and political beliefs we are exposed to and how the proponents of these hate and anger directed beliefs impact me and you and our world, the consequences of what the ignorant and misinformed among us do.

Now it becomes more clear and I can see how that little piece of dialogue from the Angel episode and the statement made by Ruskin might answer the concerns of those who oppose what is happening to our country but believe that nothing we do will change a thing, that it's too far out of control. If  what we think, what we know, or what we believe is of little consequence and if there is no glorious end to this - then what we do, now, today, is all that matters. For those that understand, that see clearly and think rightly, doing nothing, resignation, is not an option.

In any event, in the Angel episode above, the scriptwriter added a very important adjunct by having the Angel conclude, "All I want to do is help. I want to help because, I don't think people should suffer as they do. Because, if there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."

Consequently, the quote by the Olympian being interviewed doesn't stand very well by itself. It needs to be preceded with "If there's no great glorious end to all this" which sets the stage of understanding and then followed by "Because, if there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in all the world ", which completes the idea.

It always befuddles Christians or followers of other religions as to how an atheist can be peaceful, honest, kind, loving and compassionate. What's in it for them? There's no reward - no payoff. What about goodness for the sake of goodness? Apparently Christians, Islamists and others have to be bribed to get them to dedicate themselves to doinmg the right thing by the promise of a "glorious end", a paradise of wealth and ecstasy - or the threat of the worst kind of eternal suffering if you don't "believe". An answer to the atheist's decision may be found in Pascal's Wager, an argument in apologetic philosophy which was devised by the seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist Blaise Pascal (1623–1662). It posits that humans all bet with their lives either that God exists or does not exist.

On the other hand we all may be biologically programmed to respond one way or another to the genetic bi-polarity of the human potential for both good and evil. Perhaps some of us may lean to the evil side by chance of birth and have no real choice in the matter. Could "He's just like his Uncle Charlie" be a real condition governed in a large way by genetics? I think science will soon verify this and, in which event someone by chance is destined to sin against humanity, what benevolent God, who supposedly is solely responsible for creating this being, will condemn this poor soul to suffer for behavior over which they had no or little control? Reference Omar Khayyam/s likening God to the potter and the conversation of the pots in the Rubaiyat, i.e., “Who is the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?”

Bill Murray, as a camp counselor in the 1979 movie Meatballs, performed a scene that profoundly influenced me when I first saw this movie. When faced with the apparent impossible challenge of the poor kid's camp to defeat the rival rich kids camp across the lake in the annual camp games, Murray invoked a motivational speech to lift the underdog camp's spirits, a speech that ended with a rousing chant of  "It Just Doesn't Matter!". In this case it was  not whether they won or not - it was just the doing - just playing the games that mattered, because in the end he suggested it made no difference, "-- even if we win, even if God in heaven above comes down and points his hand at our side of the field, even if every man woman and child held hands together and prayed for us to win, it just would't matter because all the really good looking girls would still go out with the guy's from Mohawk because they've got all the money!' There is an element of truth in that conclusion but it should never dissuade one from doing the right thing - from acting in the right manner.

And in this movie you would expect that the poor kids would rally to win and hand the rich kids a thumping defeat. And that's just what happened!  They adopted the idea that it was not the end of the world if they didn't win, that it really didn't matter if they won because their lives would go on regardless. So, they relaxed and played with a zest and abandonment that delivered a win for the first time in the camp's history. All that mattered was what they did.

In the end, regardless what you believe or whether you win or lose may not matter. Just the doing, what you stand for, how you do it, how you play the game, is likely the only thing that matters, the only thing of consequence as Ruskin suggests. Being honest, the discipline of doing the right thing and avoiding the temptation to do otherwise is always the best choice. And as the angel states, even the smallest act of kindness may rank with the greatest acts in world history.

So stand up - get out there and RESIST!