“I want women — and men — to feel empowered by a deeper and more psychotic part of themselves. The part they’re always trying desperately to hide. I want that to become something that they cherish.” -Lady Gaga
The myths and practices of religion can take us deeper into the fountainhead of our own being. Let us grant that most religions have lost that great art and now wander in a hall of broken mirrors. I would never defend the superstition and cruelty that is now sometimes called “religion,” but I want to ask if the great art can be restored.
Our mammalian depths do not go away just because we learn the lessons of science. The question is, are we better off ignoring our deepest impulses, or understanding and harmonizing them? It does not have to be called “religion,” but I fear for the sanity of my species if we do not remember the art that reveals to us our irrational roots into life and nature. There is one insanity that comes from surrendering to our irrational impulses, and another that comes from believing we can live in the bloodless light of pure reason.