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The Enemies of Knowing
If you’re the kind of person that can’t hear dissenting opinions without being offended to the point of violent rage, stop reading now. The internet is your oyster and you can have your “beliefs” read back to you in any number of places, most of which you already have bookmarked.
For the rest of you, I’d like to pose a question: Is there one book of advice written thousands of years ago you would trust more than one written more recently?
If you’re about to go under the knife, would you rather your doctor learned from a recent text or from something written in a dead language? Or maybe your child has cancer. Should the doctors adhere to the Galenism embraced in the 1600’s? Subject your child to bloodletting to reestablish their equilibrium? Or would you prefer that doctors follow the best practices of the twenty first century – using tools that couldn’t even be imagined all those years ago?
These are rhetorical questions. I already know your answers. There’s probably no real instance where you’d select an outdated text to a recent one. Heck, you’ll probably update your smart phone next year and the one you have is barely a year old.
You’re not driving a car from 1977 or wearing clothes from 1984. You’re not investing money like it’s 1999 and you’re probably not chain smoking if you’re pregnant, like you may have done anytime before the early 70’s. We’re constantly learning new things and applying them to the important aspects of our life.
So why do so many still base their “spiritual life” on books written thousands of years ago? I’m talking specifically about “holy” books filled with parables and mythologies that many still take literally – as if we learned nothing since they were published.
Truth is we’ve learned a lot since then, including how they were written, rewritten and why. Yet folks still believe these books (and there have been many through the years) are the words of the gods that created everything. Gods that, coincidentally, have a few rules for you to follow, and representatives on Earth that take credit cards.
Alas, knowledge can’t penetrate where it’s not welcome. Ask Bill O’Reilly, who in conversations with David Silverman and Richard Dawkins pointed to changing tides as proof of the existence of God.
“I just don’t think we could have lucked out to have the tides come in, the tides go out, the Sun go up, the Sun go down.” Bill O’Reilly
Why am I thinking of this stuff? Well, a conversation I overheard recently is stuck in my head. A young girl told her mom she learned that Christ was a Jew. The mother didn’t like this, insisting he was Catholic. A few others chimed in agreeing he was most assuredly Catholic and that Catholicism was, in fact, the first religion. Oy vey.
“Why do so many still base their spiritual life on books written thousands of years ago?”
This interaction reminds me that many who feel strongest about religion know the least about it. I don’t believe Christ existed, but I wasn’t about to chime in on that aspect. Nor was I about to explain the difference between Christianity and Catholicism. For me, it was another example of humans relying on this very old book, that very few people have actually read all the way through, instead of applying modern philosophy to child rearing.
And why should they? The same “truths” were told to them, to their parents, their grandparents, and backwards through the endless yawn of history. So of course the enemies of knowing are uninterested in new ideas. They already “know the truth” from these archaic texts, why would they want to hear other explanations. It’s far easier to swallow classical conditioning, even after you’ve learned a fact or two. Just ask a Priest fresh from the seminary where they learn that religious texts are mythologies and not the word of God. While some lose their faith outright, most plow forward, slightly confused about their choices in life and wondering if it’s too late to become an astronaut or join the circus.
“God is angry. It’s probably something you did.”
Spirituality is not, as many are led to believe by these old books, limited to supernatural gods, goddesses, karmic possibilities or transcendental rituals. Spirituality can be anything done in the “spirit” of something larger. You can choose non-violent protest in the spirit of Martin Luther King, for example. You can even live your life in the spirit of mythological religious characters without believing they were ever flesh and bone. Just ask a Christian Atheist.
You can literally live in the spirit of anyone and everyone you’ve ever learned something from, not just from one book, or even from one thinker or philosopher. When you can apply the best practices of multiple schools of thought, regardless of – and especially in spite of – your own affiliations, that’s some serious spirituality right there.
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on writing your first book, presented by the Harlem chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Alongside Jim St. Germain, Author – A Stone of Hope: A Memoir and Dr. Keneshia Nicole Grant, Author – The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century. We opined on pain points, benefits and strategies regarding our inaugural voyages into authorship. Feel free to watch for your self and I hope this provides some insight to all those looking to make the same voyage. Enjoy!
