Cute Little Angels vs. Horned Beasts (pt. 2)

To sum the whole thing up as a simple metaphor, the entire gambit reminds me of a scene in the original "Poseidon Adventure." Gene Hackman and his group are heading upwards. They encounter a group that is headed downwards (rather illogically since the water is invading the cruise ship from the bottom up. Hackman makes a few earnest, emotional pleas for the other group to turn around, but they don't. They have their minds set. The passengers in the other group are putting their faith in the knowledge of the ship man. Hackman just uses common sense as a rule. He happens to be a preacher, but one with a powerful sense of individuality.

The cost of individualism is steep. Breaking from the heard of zombies comes at a price -- not just the admonishment of those left behind, but the quandary of trying to do something, anything without anyone else's guidance or tutoring. "Going it alone" means you have no maps, no provisions, no one to welcome you along your journey. You are isolated and have to figure everything from scratch. Your existence is Spartan to say the least. When death occurs around you, when you are afflicted with your own severe illness, there is no one's lap you can crawl into and bawl. And you get to handle all of these niceties while millions of others look upon you as if you are about to sprout horns from your forehead. And above or below it all you stand at attention. If Jesus were to sit down with me and explain his mysteries on a one-on-one basis tomorrow night, I wouldn't doubt my senses, and if I could I would follow him or at least heed his prevailing message. And if Satan himself were to come the next night to whack me with his voodoo, I'd resist his temptations and threats to the best of my ability. Our brethren, the atheists, believe they have an ace up their sleeve (absolute knowledge), but there are so many ways of exploiting this and loading the foundation with termites. So, there is no looking toward them for reassurance, solidarity, or even the fundamentals of embracing the absolute unknown. And perhaps at that paroxysm of fear/doubt/uncertainty/confusion, we too may became as God's naive little angels. For then, we would surely be dwarfed psychologically to beings that would bear a great deal of resemblance to a flock of frightened, bewildered children on the verge of screaming out in horror.