<\/p>\n
The most aggressive, yet seemingly mute conceptual paradox of our age, because largely unarticulated – I die, therefore I am<\/em> – owes its authority, as with the greatest paradoxes of mankind, to Religion\u00a0 – You must die to be saved.\u00a0 In the midst of life, we are in death. Only through death are we re-born etc<\/em>, etc\u2026\u00a0 <\/em>These in turn are anchored to the very biological paradox that defines human existence\u00a0 \u2013 life as a progression towards extinction. No matter how lavishly inserted into religious sermonizing, or even as cultural devices for the acceptance of life\u2019s ultimate denial in death, such paradoxical givens are never intended as instigation towards literal, instant fulfillment through suicide.\u00a0 Rather, they urge, quite prosaically, a pious life, full of good deeds and service to mankind and so on. In a more challenging dimension, they propose that life itself cannot be ontologically grasped, its fullest implications embraced, except simultaneously with an underlying consciousness of an inbuilt negation, death – life as containing the seeds of its own destruction. Such implications are benign, albeit filled with chagrin, regarding which most intelligent beings do their best to put on a brave face. I am reminded of Francois Mitterand\u2019s mordant wit with which he confronted that prospect \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t really mind dying; it\u2019s the thought of not being around that I find unpleasant.\u201d<\/p>\n Not so benign, or reconciled with this human condition that defines \u2018mortality\u2019 is the increasingly assertive derivative, a twisted application of the theological intent:\u00a0 I die, therefore I am.\u00a0 I die, and thus, become. I die, therefore exist\u2026 <\/em>or whatever other variation we conceive of in our effort to articulate the state of mind of the suicide bomber as he moves towards the moment of his existential fulfillment. To begin with, it is a dubious, perhaps over generous exercise to ascribe, to a mind in a state of \u2018submission,\u2019 a capacity for the exercise of will, or volition – this would only land us in another paradox. Yet the troubling fact is that submission itself implicates the premise of such a condition, since it is an exercise of the mind that leads to any decision. A choice is implicit when one says: \u00a0In dying, I attain eternal life.<\/em>\u00a0 However dismissive of such claims we non-believers may be, we still cannot help but remain intrigued by the notion that inhabits the mind of a specific breed of such a believer from the moment of his suicidal volunteerism \u2013 which itself is an act of resolve, of choice \u2013 all the way to the moment of self-immolation. A seemingly futile preoccupation, but one in which, even for practical purposes, we may profitably indulge since, like it or not, we are potentially implicated. It may just be our turn to accompany this terminal volunteer on the next train or plane ride, or sitting at a bar enjoying a glass of wine.<\/p>\n The phenomenon described so far is vastly different \u2013 in critical ways \u2013 from the individual self-sacrificial statement of Buddhists who, decades ago, serially set themselves on fire to protest the corrupt and tyrannical regimes of former Indo-china and their western backers. It is vastly different from Europe\u2019s own exemplar in that mode \u2013 the student Jan Palach, protesting Soviet invasion of his homeland, setting off a wave of emulators, all young and idealistic. It is miles apart from the even more contemporary act of self-immolation of Muhammad Bouazizi of Tunisia who set off what is now know as the Arab Spring. By contrast, the more familiar disciple of the doctrine of self-immolation does not believe in traveling light \u2013 isolating himself from the rest of humanity – no, his ultimate gesture attains sublimity only when it drags others into its terminal intent. Its impact on survivors and distant observers is not of empathy but of anger, fear and even disgust, certainly a challenge that generates hostility. It does not require any imagination however to gauge the contrasting response in the facilitating camp, among those waiting in line to embark for the same destination. There, we shall encounter only impatience at the delay in their call-up to divine duty, an eagerness to emulate and attain self-fulfillment.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n I shall not attempt to explore the banal motivations that, in some cases, general enthusiasm for this terminal gesture, evident in the belief that self-immolation implies no existential paradox, but affirmation of the materialist status quo, <\/em>only eternally enhanced, since the basis of such belief reads:\u00a0 I die, therefore I live in the hereafter, live in an infinitely enriched hereafter. <\/em>\u00a0One refers here to those believers for whom \u2018martyrdom\u2019 is filled with material calculations \u2013 rewards for the act of self-sacrifice, the lascivious vision of deluded youth who are locked on the prospect of afterlife where, literally and palpably, a thousand virgins exist to cater to the immortal lust of the volunteer. A speculatively prurient dimension of that non-paradox has been offered in the escapade of the most notorious of these – the young Abdulmutallab, who hid an explosive device next to the very asset that would be needed to service a thousand virgins. Regarding that Nigerian trail blazer, little did his countrymen and women know, at the time, that this was a mere blip on a distant radar, that our own soil would soon thereafter be home to a steady propagation of such distorted vision. What was then bruited as an aberrant event has proved to be the mere prelude to a discordant anthem of homebred zealotry. No matter, to indulge a little more in our prurient speculation, perhaps Abdulmutallab approached the prospect of that life-after-death in the belief \u2013 which, come to think of it, is both logical and consistent \u2013 that the incineration of that very part of his anatomy was the surest guarantee of its resurrection, divinely reinforced, for the daunting task of keeping a thousand virgins satisfied.<\/p>\n Not necessarily Abdulmuttalab himself \u2013 we do not know enough of him, psychologically dissected \u2013 but such youths exist in numbers, and their conviction is absolute. Despite the self-gratifying motivations among many, one is compelled to concede, paradoxically, a basic, devotional conviction to the enabling paradox of one\u2019s own potential murderers \u2013 ardent pilgrims to the meadow of a thousand virgins \u2013 a conviction in the belief of resurrection after life. The inescapable datum is that there have existed throughout human history both religious and secular martyrs \u2013 of all shades of conviction, often at opposing polarities \u2013 whose moment of truth demonstrated that self-extinction was indeed what truly gave meaning to their existence. Some have embraced the definitive moment \u2013 at times prolonged and painful \u2013 stoically, soberly, calmly, and with unflagging resolve.\u00a0 For the average individual, this is perhaps a state of mind that is outside conceivable rational norms, indeed unimaginable. That is a pity.\u00a0 It is futile to approach the phenomenon within the confines of the rational, seeking to inject the dictates of reason into a condition of unreason. Or could it be that the cohabitation \u2013 and interaction \u2013 of reason and instinct constitutes the most affective paradox of existence after all?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For even here we find embedded yet another unsettling interrogatory of human existence \u2013 is self-preservation a function of reason?\u00a0 Or is it of instinct? On what basis, for instance, do the Yoruba preach \u2013 iku ya j\u2019esin lo \u2013 <\/em>\u2018Sooner death than humiliation\u2019? The Yoruba are not alone. Not simply individuals, such as the Jan Palachs, Muhammad Bouazizis, the unemployed family bread-winner at his wit\u2019s end = among thousands unknown and unsung = but most cultures have their own versions of that existential ethos, one that places self-preservation at the lowest rung of the ladder of human volition. The suicide bomber is however in a category all of his own, where the denial (and pursuit) of dignity need not feature as a motivating factor, but is supplanted by the vision of domination, hate, or vengeance.<\/p>\n What else, but bewilderment and frustration at such an insurmountable paradox, could have prompted a Nobel Peace Laureate, Elie Wiesel, to propose on a number of occasions that suicide bombing be deemed a \u2018crime against humanity.\u2019 Of course it is that, but it is much else. It is the fatalist paradox of our time. A \u2018crime against humanity?\u2019 Yes, but how do you set about arraigning and prosecuting a self-terminating paradox? The paradox that makes existence a contradiction of itself, argued into fulfillment through an unexceptionable human pursuit: self-worth, peer approbation \u2013 even if confined to fellow fanatics \u2013 and dignity? Totally beyond recall, beyond the proposition that others also have a right to volition in their quest for self-worth, peer approbation and dignity as a condition of existence, this other<\/em> actively denies to all others the same pursuit in the valuation of their humanity!<\/p>\n The school of hate is allied matter, one which, like the school of after-life gratifications, requires its own field of discourse, and offers no paradox. We confine ourselves here only within the face of utter, self-absorbed conviction. It is there resides the insuperable paradox, a contradiction within contradiction that indicts, judges, and executes.\u00a0 And the accused? All of\u00a0 humanity wherever and whenever, who happen to be minding their own business \u2013 from the most banal preoccupations to the sublime.\u00a0 For the solipsistic judges who accuse such humanity of the crime of living, only the invalidation of humanity\u2019s very existence guarantees them their own certificate of existential self-sufficiency, indeed self-fulfillment. Laid prostrate before the implacable judgment of a paradox, the world is helpless. It is confronted by members of its own species at an embarrassing point of agreement \u2013 that without dignity and volition, existence is nothing.<\/p>\n Any response to the conundrum should therefore seek validation from this basic, universal terrain of paradoxes \u2013 the auto-destruct mechanism in every human life, and the tendency towards self-preservation \u2013 instinctive or reasoned, actively or passively embraced. This implies that we cannot concede to others the right to interfere with, or rob us of that inborn paradox, and this implicates \u2013 insofar as we also cherish our dignity and the right of volition \u2013 the moment and means of our extinction, be it suddenly, through choosing to stand in the way of an express train, or in submission to that hidden paradox, the conclusion of a cumulative gradualism, hastened perhaps through such activities as indulging in forbidden fruits, privations or excess, or simply by growing old. We are equally entitled to attempt to postpone that moment through jogging, bland dieting, and other forms of joyless existence.\u00a0 Each and every individual is entitled to that very dignity and condition of volition that makes one human.<\/p>\n \u2018I die, therefore, I am\u2019, <\/em>taken to its homicidal deliberation – \u2018I kill, therefore I am\u2019 <\/em>– violates<\/em> the very conditions of volition and dignity in others. While the former can be elicited from the auto-destruct code within the human genome from conception, there is no equivalent in which the interventionist variant \u2013 I kill, therefore, I am – <\/em>is encoded. Only by a stretch of ego-appropriation \u2013 which requires the elimination of the ego of others – can the latter be sustained as a valid criterion for one\u2019s humanity. The former paradox is universal and empirical, eternal and temporal – paradox upon paradox! \u2013 but then it enables one to see paradox as the very condition of existence \u2013 in the light of truthful contradictions.\u00a0 The killing variant is simply an ego trip to the land of illusion – there are no thousand virgins on the other side of existence!<\/em><\/p>\n *\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>from contribution to the theme \u201cPARADOXES\u201d at La Milanesiana Festival of Literature, Music, Cinema, Science, 12th<\/sup> edition – Milan, Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Paradox Comes Home to Roost* The most aggressive, yet seemingly mute conceptual paradox of our age, because largely unarticulated – I die, therefore I am – owes its authority, as with the greatest paradoxes of mankind, to Religion\u00a0 – You must die to be saved.\u00a0 In the midst […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":802,"parent":599,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-49","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":666,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/49\/revisions\/666"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtls.ca\/issue13\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}