Cosmic Faith: Formulation #427
I reside at the bottom of the hill, where the cool air settles...
There is a religion of dignity that exists quietly in the hearts of all mankind. Ironically, to transgress it willingly is the most popular way of preserving it. This is the hidden core of the master-slave dialectic, & why some erroneously believe that slavery itself is a choice, when it is more aptly ascribed as an instinct. It is functionally a surrender of power, & the confession unspoken is that one can only surrender what one has. The value of something cannot be intrinsic, it is always in relation to another thing, either less than or more valuable, & to believe that ones own being, in spite of what a cold nihilistic rationality might suggest, has intrinsic value is the beginning of Our Dignitous Faith.
Assuming dignity is the ultimate progenitor of all other spiritiual inclination, it provides us readily with the explanation for the punishment of death meted out for apostates. The renunciation of faith being punishable by death creates an incentive for the suicidal to abandon it, but which impulse is the dominant one? The desire to die or the loss of belief? or are they concurrent? Systems of systemic mycosis exponentially arising as the suppressed immune system creates conditions for sinister secondary succession. The opportunistic await with eyes full of lust and hunger outside the gates of our souls, the demonologists can attest to their variable forms & nature. Nihilism then can be thought of like a fungal infection, an endless siege on Faith Cosmic, but every siege must have moments of reprieve. Even at Ceuta there were moments of peace, there must have been, and even the brothers of Sibettu bound to their stars must occassionally catch glimpses of the light emanating from one another & for a moment feel less alone in the universe.
I feel thusly implored to resist the temptation to abuse our power over our dignity by surrendering it to invisible forces with alien & consequently unsympathetic agendas, or to plunge into the cold nihilistic waters of endless calculation. If there is a choice to be had it is a far more subtle one, to genuinely risk humiliation, to take the stance that there is no particular stance necessary to take. To ride as free as a Thracian across the plains of this world without the hesitation instilled by tyranical conditioning. To look for no justification nor condemnation for your desires, & if the world finds itself opposed then allow them to correct you, as is their usual way, or adjust themselves accordingly, as they do in the presence of royalty.
Whatever they must do to save face.