Spiders, Jesus, and Henry Ford

A detailed Summary of Spiders, Jesus, and Henry Ford

Given the nature of spiders, webs are inevitable. And given the nature of human beings, so are religions. Spiders can't help making flytraps, and men can't help making symbols. That's what the human brain is there for-to turn the chaos of given experiences into a set of fairly manageable symbols. Sometimes the symbols correspond fairly closely to some of the aspects of the external reality behind our experience; then you have science and common sense. Sometimes, on the contrary, the symbols have almost no connection with external reality; then you have paranoia and delirium. More often there's a mixture, part realistic and part fantastic; that's religion. Good religion or bad religion-it depends on the blending of the cocktail (Huxley Island, ?).

The quote above, by Aldous Huxley illustrates his view of religions. He thought that, in matters of religion, as well as in matters of society, the good or evil lies in the implementation, not the concept (Birnbaum Aldous Huxley's Search, 63). The implementations of religion in Huxley's novel of is symbolic of the manifestations of society in his alternative worlds. Aldous Huxley does not oppose religion or God universally, but he does oppose religions that are misleading and ritualist

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The religious signs of the Fordian world honor the God of efficiency. The fast, efficient sign of the T is a gesture of that God (Huxley Brave, ?). The cross of Christ is trimmed efficiently into a T. No wasted energy or mysticism, no thought. The T is used to curse, bless, and forgive. The traditional religious sign is forced into service to the state. The crosses of the Old world are not even wasted, merely rearranged, to form the omnipresent T. This stretching and slicing of religion to fit the Procrustean bed of social stability and efficiency represents another grave error in the Fordian world. If all things are directed inward, there is bound to be a stifling of expansion, thought and exchange. In Brave New World, we see that the best and brightest of the Fordian thinkers are sent away to an island (citation). The Fordian world is stable, but stagnant, and the arrival of change and inefficiency throws the entire system out of whack.

The symbolism of religion in the works of Aldous Huxley is shown through the ceremonies, icons, and curses of his religions. These are not the causes, but only the symptoms of the diseases that are runnign rampant through Huxley's societies.

The savage worship ceremony has its own religious flaws. This worship allows for a full belief system, but there is no room for dissidence in these beliefs. Skeptics, heretics, and questioners are all anathema to the savage worshiper. The exclusion of this religion and its narrow minde

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Approximate Word count = 1041
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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