Published in 1957, I feel the philosophical lessons in the this novel are even more relevent today. Here are excerpts from the book, where John Gault was speaking to the religious and political “leaders” of America (typed from audiobook, so may contain clerical errors):

1) Man’s reason is his moral fact. The process of reason is the process of constant choice in answer to the question true or false, right or wrong.

2) To live, man must hold three things as the supreme ruling values of his life: reason, purpose, and self-esteem.

3) Damnation is the start of your morality, destruction is its purpose, means, and end. Your code begins by damning man as evil, then demands that he practice a good which it defines as impossible for him to practice. Demands as its first proof of virtue that he accept his own depravity without proof, demands that he start not with the standard of value but with the standard of evil, which is himself—by means of which he then defines the good, the good that which he is not.

It does not matter the good is not for him to understand, his duty is to crawl through years of penance atoning for the guilt of his existence to any stray collector of unintelligible debts. His only concept of a value is a zero. The good is that which is non-man. The name of this monstrous absurdity is Original Sin.

A sin without volition is a slap at morality and an insolent contradiction in terms. That which is outside the possibility of choice is outside the province of morality. If man is evil by birth, he has no will, no power to change it. If he has no will he can be neither good nor evil. A robot is amoral.

To hold as man’s sin a fact not open to his choice is a mockery of morality. To hold man’s nature as his sin is a mockery of nature. To punish him for a crime he committed before he was born is a mockery of justice. To hold him guilty in a matter where no innocence exists is a mockery of reason. To destroy morality, nature, justice and reason by means of a single concept is a feat of evil hardly to be matched, yet that is the root of your code…

AWESOME BOOK. I’ve enjoyed the audiobook so thoroughly that I would love to have a copy of the printed book.

Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile) by Carlos Santana has to be one of the sexiest songs ever written. Prrrr.

just discovered this show today—I’ve been in bed all day nursing a bad back and migraine and started playing these episodes as a way to distract me and have found that this is a rather enjoyable show. A little different from things I’d normally watch, but well worth the view.

If that’s not enough to get you to watch, I clicked on this to add to my All Consuming list and see that one viewer is none other than Calypte. Cool!

I was confusing this with some other Aniston flick, one I had no interest in seeing. Then this weekend I was sort of ‘tricked’ into watching this, and I found it rather entertaining. Shirley MacLaine had some of the best lines, playing a character that was a cross between the mom in Postcards from the Edge and Ouiser in Steel Magnolias…

Katherine: “Come on in, I’ll put on a pot of Bourbon.”

wow, I’d completely forgotten how absolutely stunning this movie is. The emotional intensity played so tight—the entire family were like cats on a hot tin roof. The facial expressions by Burl Ives alone brought tears to my eyes.

If you’ve never watched, add this classic to your “must see” list. And if it’s been awhile, go back for another look.

Whatver happened to Ugly Betty? That was my one show, and then around xmas break it disappeared.

Now I watch ‘Skins’. I’d call this my secret show except I’m writing an entry about it on the internet. Still, it FEELS like a guilty pleasure to enjoy this show. Thanks to 4oD I’ve been able to watch season 1 and am 3 episodes into season 2 now.

I had a similar thrill years ago when I watched 90210 and Melrose, except everyone else was watching it so it was sort of okay. So maybe this is more like that one time I bought a Justin Timberlake album.

that was…interesting.

I like weird movies, and I like musicals, so a weird musical should be right up my alley—especially with James Ganolfini in the lead. Now, Sweeney Todd is definitely a weird musical and that.was.AWESOME.

Romance and Cigarettes? Very far from awesome. Now I totally get why this was on super-special at hmv.

I discovered this soap at a Renaissance Festival in Colorado (USA), loved it, and then ordered a bunch from their website.

I switched to liquid soap and kept this final bar in my sock drawer (to scent up the footsies) until this past summer when I decided to use up all of the unopened products I’ve been carting around.

Man, I love this soap.

this was the January selection for my Crime Fiction bookclub and I have to tell ya, it was sort of unusual. It read like a chick-lit book (ambitious & smart fat girl with self-esteem issues who gets the hot looking guy) with some serious violence, plus a mystery to solve.

I wouldn’t say run right out and pick up a copy, but it definitely kept me entertained.

a 1925 silent Russian comedy short (27 minutes) about a man’s obsession for sport (in this case Chess) and how it nearly ruins his love life.

this is a hoot to watch—83 years old and yet this film resonates with contemporary notions.