Sans Fig Leaf
w
"Package deal"
11 October, 2007
When Jim Henson, creator
of the Muppets, died several years ago, I was struck by the number of
comments I saw in one forum that all lamented the tragedy. What was
striking wasn't that they were lamenting it, but rather that so many of
the comments indicated that the worst part of the tragedy was that Mr
Henson's religious beliefs had (allegedly) caused his untimely death.
"It's a crime that someone who brought so much joy into the world was
the victim of his own superstition," was a common theme. A lot of them
waxed poetic about how wonderful and magickal his creations had been,
then angrily denounced religion and the very idea of faith for
destroying the magic.
The story in circulation
at the time as that he had delayed seeking medical treatment because of
his beliefs. This story later proved to be false: Henson had seen a
doctor, who had incorrectly determined that he did not have pneumonia.
Less than two days later, when the symptoms had rather suddenly become
much worse, he went to a hospital. After he died, several medical
experts did express the opinion that he might have been saved if he had
gone to the hospital a couple hours earlier, but that wasn't certain.
What bothered me wasn't
so much the misinformation, but the disconnect between the ideas of
faith and
"bringing joy to the world." It never occurred to them that perhaps Mr
Henson's faith contributed to the themes of friendship, magic, love,
and decency that infused all of his work. One does not have to be an
adherent of a particular religion to express love and decency, but
inherent in love is a faith
in something. If nothing
else, you must
believe that the object of your love deserves that love.
Put another way, loving
someone or something unconditionally requires the suspension of
skepticism. Loving someone means opening up, making yourself
vulnerable, and hoping that your love will not be repaid with hatred or
ridicule or indifference. It's risky. Believing that the risk is worth
taking is a leap of faith.
Faith doesn't have
to involve gods, or holy books, or rituals. You can have faith that
there is someone out there who will love you as much as you love them.
You can have faith that logic and discovery will eventually explain
everything in the universe. You can have faith that some people will at
least occasionally do the right thing. You can have faith in your own
ability to continue laughing at the inconsistencies in life.
All of those things are
uncertain. Believing in them is, fundamentally, no more rational than
believing in a higher being. It so happens that I place my faith in the
power of reason and ingenuity to solve most problems, but I recognize
that it is an
article of faith. If nothing else, I can't know every problem that will
arise in the future.
Accepting only the parts
of a person that conveniently align with your own values is neither
loving, friendly, nor decent. You don't have to endorse or agree with
every aspect of a person, but you have to recognize that it's a package
deal. Anyone can imagine a world where kindness and love and good
intentions are more than just sentiments. But in order for an artist to
make the audience believe in such a world, even if only for the length
of a movie, the artist has to believe in that world himself on some
level.
Dreams may be able to
exist without dreamers, but a dreamer can't help dreaming. If you
embrace the dreamer, you have to live with the dreams.
Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it
And look what it's done so far
What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers, and me.
--The Rainbow Connection, by Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams,
as sung by Kermit the Frog
.