You don’t believe any of this, do you? Do you really think that I think the St. Andrew Valley water tower is the all-powerful, all-seeing ruler of all-that-is? Let me ask you something. Do you think every single person sitting in, say, your local church (or temple or mosque or coven or whatever the hell it is your parents drag you to) believes everything they hear? What about the guy who goes to church on Sunday but cheats on his taxes. That’s a sin, right? If he truly believed in God, would he sin?
But that doesn’t mean the tax cheat isn’t religious. Religious is a whole different kettle of fish, as my grandmother would say. I’m religious. And I’m serious. Serious as a heart attack (Grandma again). Chutengodianism is important to me. But that doesn’t mean I think that a big steel tank propped up on a few I-beams is omnipotent. I might be a religious zealot, but I’m not crazy.
So, you ask, how can Jason Bock be serious about a religion that worships a false god?
Are you kidding?
You ever watch a football game and get totally into it? Why? It’s not a real battle. It’s a game somebody made up. So how can you take it seriously? Or, you ever see a movie that made your heart about jump out of your chest? Or one that made you cry? Why? It wasn’t real. You ever look at a photo of food that made your mouth water? Why? You can’t eat the picture.
Ah, you say, but the food that the picture shows is real. Is it really? Maybe that tasty-looking apple is made of wax. Maybe that loaf of bread is plastic. Maybe the football game is fixed. Maybe the movie is nothing but computer-generated pixels. So it’s not as if the picture shows you reality. What you see is somebody’s idea of reality.
Same thing with water towers and God. I don’t have to be a believer to be serious about my religion.