The Heart of Darkness is a short novel written by
Joseph Conrad in 1899. The story takes you as a passenger on a journey down the
Congo River in Africa. On the surface, the story is thought of as an exposé of
the inhumane treatment of the aboriginal culture by a ‘civilized’ imperialist
and colonialist British trading company.
I still remember the story from college, mainly because the
story is really about a descent into hell.
Conrad states in chapter one [referring to the Congo] “…a mighty big river,
that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its
head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its
tail lost in the depths of the land. And as I looked at the map of it in a
shop-window, it fascinated me as a snake would a bird - a silly little
bird." (Page 18)
The Francis Ford Coppola movie “Apocalypse Now” borrowed
heavily from the Heart of Darkness. Kurtz in Conrad’s novel and Colonel Kurtz
both offer the ending words “The Horror. The horror.” Both stories are a
powerful reminder of the ease at which the current of life can carry us
inexorably onward toward a destructive descent.
Both stories illustrate the thin veneer that separates
society and civilization from savagery. These stories left me cold. They remind
me of the end times. “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most
will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12) There is no compassion and no mercy. It is
matter-of-fact, commonplace horror.
Both of these stories leave one with an acute sense of how
the civilized world can overcome and take captive, a culture incapable of
resisting it. The aboriginal cultures may not become civilized; but the
civilized cultures can descend into savagery and madness in the process.
Christians are called to be both salt (a preservative) and
light in the world. In the West in general and the United States in particular,
we have become the aboriginal culture. Christianity is a culture of and about
life. “I am the Way the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6) “The thief comes only
to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it
abundantly." (John 10:10) Yes, we are commanded to love our neighbors but this
is to be a life giving love. While we know that the gates of hell shall not
prevail against the church, we also know in our hearts and through Scriptural
eschatology however, that evil will increase in the end times.
In current fashion is an advancing culture of death. We are
downstream and see it approaching. There is a wink and a nod by the rich and
powerful. Behind closed doors there are candid comments, referring to small
town folks as bitter, gun carrying and religious as if the three things went
together. The comments were both condescending and patronizing. Christians are portrayed
as xenophobic, homophobic, racist and anti-feminist. We are no longer seen as welcome
with our antiquated, pathological ideation.
Here is a comment that would not have been publicly stated only a few
years ago. “‘If they are extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state
of New York,’ Cuomo said in a radio interview Friday. Cuomo defined ‘extreme
conservatism’ as being ‘anti-gay’ by opposing same-sex marriage rights, opposed
to abortion rights….’” http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/politics/cuomo-no-place-in-new-york-for-extremist-conservative-politicians-20140117.
Men who govern us
made these discouraging and disparaging remarks. How long will it be before this
kind of talk will give license for the civilized to descend into savagery and madness? This will all be done in
the name of civilizing the simple-minded aboriginal culture. Abortion was only
the beginning in the culture of death.
1 comment:
Sadly, many agree with him.
Post a Comment