Re: What do you believe?

Description: Prozac to cure a personal philosophy.

Question:  Do you have a personal philosophy?

Transcript: You know I had one, and then I started taking Prozac.  And now I really . . . I’m just bulling forward.  I’m just getting through day-by-day.  I don’t know.  I . . . I . . . I . . . You know that’s a joke, but I really am just bulling forward.  I really . . .  It’s . . . It is such an impossibly complicated and depressing world, that unless you just sort of keep your eye on the small things – keeping your wife happy; you know, doing a good job at work; going home and feeding the dogs – you will go crazy.  You know I guess looking back at some of the things I said . . .  Like I don’t think I’m making the world a better place, and I don’t think I’m contributing to anything.  So that’s really depressing.  That’s a very sad philosophy, but . . .  Okay, so maybe I’m making the world a little better place.  You know I’m making my wife happy, so . . . and I really like her, so that’s nice.  You know I’ve done something there.  And my . . . you know the dogs rely on me.  And so I’m doing . . .  I . . .  I don’t know.  I think . . . I guess my philosophy would be not to . . .  My philosophy is . . . is  . . . is the most important things you can do are for your family and for your friends.  I think everything else is kind of meaningless.  And if you devote yourself to a cause above your friends and family, you’re just kidding yourself.  I think everything . . . every government, every world is fleeting.  It’s   . . . it’s not going to last forever.  The only really permanent things in your life are your family and friends.  You know the lowest circle in hell was for Brutus because he betrayed his friend.  And he did it for his country, but you know screw your country.  Because Rome is gone now, but Cesar has always betrayed.  So I think yeah.  I think you can really only, in a way, care about . . . and do good.  And hopefully your friends are good people, and your family is good people.  But you can really just try to make the world a better place for them and that’s it.

Question: Do religion and faith inform your worldview?

Transcript:  It does, but I mean I’m terribly conflicted.  I mean awfully . . .  You know I . . .  In a way I can’t help but believe in God despite all the evidence to the contrary, which makes me very angry at God.  And so I . . .  I’m . . .  In a way I’m always fighting it.  But you know, and again, 200 years ago it would be very easy to be a religious person, and to live my whole life, and that was that.  And it . . . and it   . . . and it . . . I think it would be blissful.  I think it’s much harder for all of us to live today.  You know the world is too much with us.  That said, I . . .  You know I don’t say “that said” as much as I say it . . . as I said it in the past half hour.  I’m saying it “that said”, I . . . I think if there is a God, I think He’d be rather forgiving of anyone’s lack of faith right now.  It’s, you know, much easier to believe in God when you believe the sun goes around the earth, and we’re . . . it’s flat, and you know that the Bible is literal historical truth.  It becomes . . .  When you know those things aren’t necessarily the case, it becomes harder to believe.  It may be God chose us now, to live now because our faith deserves to be tested a little bit more.  I don’t know.  I think that’s bullshit.  But I . . . You know I think God is probably charitable enough to go, “Well you didn’t believe.  Why should you?”

Question: Why do you persist in believing?

Transcript: I can’t help myself.  I think atheism’s really easy.  I think it’s very easy not to believe in God.  I think all that evidence in front of you, I think it’s . . .  And so . . .  I think it’s a little cheap, I guess, for that reason.  I think I guess I didn’t come here with the defense of . . . of belief, you know, in my back pocket.  Maybe . . . maybe it’s sheer perversity.  You know maybe I believe in God because it seems so obvious He doesn’t exist.  And also I want an old school, but I don’t want some sort of artsy fartsy, “We’re all love, we’re all part of God” blobbety boobety.  You know I want an Old Testament God.  I want a God throwing thunderbolts.  And I want . . .  I want punishment.  I want my . . . I . . .  I see no problem with an eye for an eye.  I really don’t.  Like that’s all cool, you know?  I don’t want tree spirits or anything, or . . . or . . . or mother goddesses, or you know.  Forget it.  What’s the point of that?

Question: What is the measure of a good life?

Transcript: I don’t . . .  I have a horrible cartoon I want to make.  There’s the people standing in line at St. Peter’s gate to go to heaven.  And you know the rich men, the poor widows, and St. Peter’s asking them, “How much money did you make?” And that . . . and then the poor people are going to hell.  See that’s my horrible cartoon.  You know and that’s like . . . should not be the measure of a good life.  My . . .  I think . . .  I think it’s being true to your . . .  I . . .  I really think it’s being true to your family and friends; to whatever world you’ve created around yourself – the real world with who are the people you care about.  It’s not . . .  I don’t think . . .  I think you can try to make the world a better place, but I think too many people I see doing that become, you know, Mrs. __________.  And they just . . .  They throw themselves into that and screw over the people who are actually around them.  I think causes are nice, but I your greatest cause needs to be your immediate circle.

Recorded on: 9/4/07