I often lament the role scientism -- that belief that science alone provides clear and guiding answers to all reality -- plays in our society. And since I went in defense of Halloween this year, some have challenged me that calling for a re-enchantment of death is denying the devotion to good science (as opposed to scientism) that I also often do.
So let me offer a bit of cultural criticism here I order to set out -- yet again -- how I think reading the Bible (or more broadly re-enchanting the world's mysteries) and engaging in good science are tensions to one another, not contradictions.
And let me begin at the movies.
I'm not a big horror movie guy. But Kendra loves them and I love her so I watch them occasionally. And here's something I've been noticing: science offers all the explanations, the metanarratives, for our movies these days.
Take vampire and zombie movies, for example.
The classic vampire genre cast vampires as evil and occult. They are undead. Thus, the classic genre (CG) has a heavy metaphysical overlay where the spiritual forces of good and evil fight it out. Thus, weapons against vampires are holy water and crucifixes (along with the non-spiritual weapons of garlic, sunlight, and silver). By contrast, the modern genre (MG) of vampire movies is moving away from these metaphysical and spiritual themes. The MG, in contrast to the CG, is non-metaphysical. The MG is biological. Increasingly, you see biological explanations for vampirism and its symptoms. The vampire bite is analogous to a mosquito or rabid dog bite causing a gene-altering allergic reaction or viral infection. Further, the vampire’s reactions to garlic, sunlight, and silver are increasingly portrayed as hyper-severe allergic reactions.
In a correlated manner, we thus see the decline of the metaphysical weapons against vampires. If you assault a vampire in the MG, holding a crucifix aloft, the vampire will chide you for being superstitious. The supernatural is absent in the modern vampire genre. Biology -- with its allergies, viral infections, naturalistic ontology, and genetic mutations -- is king in modern vampire movies.
Then there are zombies. Think Michael Jackson's Thriller video. That's really the last time I saw zombies coming up from graves. You just don't see zombies come out of graves much anymore. In modern zombie movies, zombies are more likely produced by toxic waste, radiation, or a virus. In modern movies zombie etiology is biological, not occult. So it's a bit of a surprise to see zombies coming out of a cemetery in Thriller.
Our zeitgeist hollows out the mysterious from the real. Even our monster stories are becoming scientific. Full of talk about genetics and viruses and illnesses and toxicity.
Think about how we see issues of race and eugenics emerge as significant plot themes. See the Blade series or Underworld as examples. Again, this is a very biological theme. And this brings me to Harry Potter.
Despite concerns from religious fundamentalists, Harry Potter is a very non-metaphysical series. The magic seems to come from nowhere in Harry Potter. The etiology of magic is unspecified. Magic just is. No occult forces are described. No devils, gods, or demons. True, there is dark magic. But the darkness is largely a moral issue speaking to uses and outcomes rather than supernatural source. "Darkness" is a pragmatic issue, not a metaphysical one.
But what you do see in Harry Potter are heavy biological themes. Race issues -- pure-bloods versus mud-bloods -- feature predominately in the series. Further, magical ability appears to be transferred via some kind of rare recessive gene. For example, two muggle parents can have a magical off-spring (e.g., Hermione). Lastly, magical ability in the Harry Potter series seems to be a matter of genetic talent. Some of the children are naturally good magicians (e.g., Harry) while others are not (e.g., Neville). But it is more complex than that, hard work is also a part of acquiring magical skill. Hermione is a good example of this. In short, what we see in the magic of Harry Potter is not a metaphysical portrayal but the classical biological conundrum of nature vs. nurture.
My point? God/the mysterious is dead in our movies. What I mean to say is that even in classically supernatural and metaphysical genres (vampire or magic stories) we see this de-emphasis on metaphysics and the rise of the biological (i.e., scientific) worldview. It really is a startling shift: Science as the coin of the realm in classically occult or supernatural tales.
Of course, this isn't a big surprise. More and more often, our psychological and moral states are being defined by biology rather than spirituality. Sins are now addictions. And moral failures are increasingly traced back to genetic predispositions. Our debates are less about good versus evil and more about nature versus nurture. We are no longer bedeviled by demons but are harassed by genetic determinism and chemical imbalances in the brain.
We see a similar hollowing out regarding spiritual categories. Sin is no longer a spiritual condition. The etiology of sin, as with zombies and vampires and Dark Lords, is more likely to be biological. Sin is an illness, a disease, an addiction, a product of genetics.
I'm not saying this is necessarily bad. I'd rather not go back to an age were schizophrenics were considered to be demon possessed. I'm just noticing the hollowing out that is occurring during this age of disenchantment where even traditional occult stories are nowabout science.
Regular readers here will know where I'm heading when it comes to reading the Bible. I've been infected by science. Thus I repeatedly filter biblical narratives through my scientific grid. Is this good or bad? I see it as a mixed blessing. A gift with lots of warning labels (e.g., Don’t bathe with your toaster). I think the main issue is to be self-aware and to keep the situation fluid. To not let science or the Bible trump each other in an unthinking and uncritical manner. The goal is to pay attention to the influences that are working upon you. And when you are self-aware and analytical you notice things.
Things like movies and children's books.
Because, thing is, with all the rise in science and its accompanying technologies, we're becoming more death-denying than life-affirming. Modern medicine and technology creates an illusion of immortality. That through our technological power we can defeat death. And this death denial and avoidance is even creeping into zombie movies. How bad has it become that even zombies can't be associated with death?
But the reality, despite our illusions, is that we can't defeat death with science. And we should remember that from time to time. (Like, say, on Halloween!) To remind ourselves that zombies and death do, actually, go together.
Nietzsche once remarked:
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.As Nietzsche warned, who is the greater monster? The one who pursues the zombies or the zombies themselves? Because, in our world it's getting more and more difficult to tell the real difference.