I was reading a piece by Stephen King, called "Why We Crave Horror Movies".  In it, he quite clearly states his opinion - all of us are insane.  Varying degrees does come into play - we have "Jack the Ripper" and "Ted Bundy" at one end of the spectrum, and then the unfounded and rediculous fear of, say, spiders.  Or water.  Yet, he touches on a subject that struck a question in my class - he writes that, "one critic has suggested that if pro football has become the voyuer's version of combat, then the horror film has become the modern version of the public lynching."  An interesting idea - one King obviously shares.  In the previous paragraph, King writes that, one of the main reasons we go to horror movies is to have fun.  He writes that this is a "very peculiar sort of fun," and goes on to say it "comes from seeing others menaced - sometimes killed."

My Composition teacher then went on to proclaim that it was a sadistic pleasure, this sort of fun.  I cannot refute this - no, I must concur.  A sadist in my own right, I have shared this strange desire for "fun".  The conversation continued, where she began to say we cannot do these sorts of things - and how few people would go to a public lynching.

Now, my teacher is, of course, welcome to her own opinion.  Indeed, at first glance a public lynching is a horrible thought.  But these are the concepts of a "proper" person - as Stephen King later describes them, "civilized".  I wondered on this for naught but a moment, before realizing I would indeed attend a public lynching.  After a brief quizing of various friends, most responded with abject horror - no moral person would attend what they felt was paramount to murder.  Others responded with what I thought to be an archaic response and concept - honor.  They would attend, for one should always watch what he and his fellows has wrought.  If one cannot be willing to pull the floor from beneath a man on the gallows, they should have no right to condem him to death.  A fair and honorable outlook, all must agree.

Now, this is where my sadistic nature comes into play.  Thankfully, I was not asked if I would attend a public lynching, nor why.  This question would have recieved a response that, like much of my inner most thoughts, would achieve a horrible squeal of disgust, causing those around me to repulse indignantly.  I would go to watch, for it would be, as Stephen King put it, "fun".

I wonder, now, what it would be like to look in someone's eyes as the life is snuffed out.  I imagine it would do one of two things - I would either find it disgusting and leave, or I would be entranced.  Entranced that life, no matter how long or short a period of time it has gone on, and it's experiences, it's actions, deeds, virtues and vices, is so easily snuffed out; or perhaps I will find it to be something of even GREATER interest - by greater I mean of a more etheric concept, or that of a 'soul'.  Would I see some spiritual flame inside their eyes, revealed in the final moments of life?  A soul that would be so horribly wrenched from a body, or perhaps simply extinguished, like a candle.  As though the rope around their neck would be the equivilant of my forefinger and thumb,  calloused tips pressed against a burning wick.  When removed, all that remains would be a few smoldering embers, and a long trail of thick, whispy black smoke.

So, this is what I am wondering, now.  Do we honestly have a soul?  Or are we nothing more than trillions of microscopic cells, working together in unision to form muscles, organs, and in the end a body - something so complicated that we, the end result, cannot begin to comprehend our beginning, or the process in which we got here?

I was never one to like the book, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  However, it posed an interesting question - What is the meaning of life?  A computer spent many, many centuries contemplating this, and came up with the end result of 42.  However, after so much contemplation and work, it had forgotten the method at which the answer had been concieved.  I've always lent my belief to this - we are simply the end result of a process we cannot wholely understand.  In some parts, yes, it is simple.  But as a whole, we've yet to understand the method in which we are continueing life.

Since the dawn of man, we've often given ourself to the belief of gods or spirits guiding all things - from the early Sumarians believing in gods and goddesses such as Ishtar, to the Greeks with the Olympian Gods, believing all things were done according to a pattern, or weave - the Tapestry of the Fates.  This belief was shared with the Romans, whom adopted the Greek gods.  The Egyptians had Ma'at, or Divine Right.  It was a little less restrictive - they believed the Pharoah ruled by Fate, and that this spirit, Ma'at, would tell the Pharoah how to rule.  If an error were to occur, it was not the Pharoah's fault, oh no - it's Ma'at.  Kalvinists, a christian sect, believe that all thing happen according to God's Will - all things.  A child is born homosexual not because of the Devil or some corruption in it's upbringing, but because God has made it so.  I found this to be interesting, yet still does not answer my question as to why.  Many Eastern religions share the belief in a Wheel, which would weave the tapestry of fate according to a predetermined pattern.  There is small gaps between these threads of existance, allowing people to make many small changes here and there, but in the end, all shall fall into this Divine Will.  Some Native American people believed our spirits lingered long after death, running and hunting in the afterlife.  This was shared by the greeks and romans, in the concept of the Elysian Fields.

I have oft contemplated the existance of a god - or perhaps many gods.  Christians will swear to me their god is the sole god, and no other exists.  An interesting concept, given the world's three largest religions follow the same diety.  Christians (this includes Catholics, Lutherans, Kalvins, Baptists, Ana-Baptists, Mormons, etc), Judeaism, and Muslims.  They all follow Yahwey, or Allah.  The Christians do not give Him a name, simply refer to Him as God.  I have oft been approached about my failure to believe in their deity - I have become so tired of the various excuses they have (all of which tend to lead back into the all-necompassing statement that one must have Faith), I have begun countering with a simple question and answer - "Why do you believe that your god is the sole god, and no other exists?  No, do not say your answer aloud - we both already know it.  And this is how I know your god does not exist."

As I wrap this rambling up, I leave you with this question -
Is this so wrong?  To want to see the ending of someone's life, solely for the sake of seeing the ending of someone's life?

Drivel.

I'm going to bed, but will post a proper response tomorrow.

If I remember.

I'm sure the adrenaline rush from fear has nothing to do with watching horror movies.

If its ever wrong to watch or enjoy something, I think random death is one of them.

If its ever wrong to watch or enjoy something, I think random death is one of them.

Why?  And by what morals/ideals/concepts are you basing it is 'wrong'?  Public lynchings were a source of entertainment until very recently.  In fact, it was done quite commonly in the South.

I'm also curious as to which form of logical reasoning would bring a person to believe in multiple gods, unless your wishing to just have semantic debates.  Its really a 1 or 0 type of thing.