An interesting example of gnostic consciousness in action

William R. writes:

In a recet posting you wrote that “[g]nosticism means the replacement of the divine and natural order by an artificial, man-created order which worships itself.” I recently had a bizarre encounter with modern gnosticism during my morning commute.

A radio ad for a breast cancer walk features a woman who says, “I never really got to have a say in whether or not I wanted to lose my mom, and I feel like having done this walk and having had this experience——I feel like I have finally had my say.” The ad closes with an exhortation to sign up for the walk “because everyone deserves a lifetime.”

The wages of gnosticism is incoherence.

It’s important to give people grieving the loss of immediate family members a wide berth. If the woman had sobbed this at the funeral, good sense and empathy would say to let it pass without comment. When it’s someone’s considered response to cancer, when it’s packaged by media professionals and broadcast by a major foundation to solicit donations/participation from society at large, then it’s just unsettling. Anyone with traditional sensibilities feels fixed by the glassy stare of the unmoored female consciousness. Discussion at VFR about how rites of passage into adulthood guard against gnosticism is particularly relevant here. An adult woman understands not only that the world does not register her “say” on who dies from cancer, but that it isn’t her place to have one. Participating in a breast cancer walk does not change this.

Making the case against cancer isn’t a difficult task, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation should be able to do it without lapsing into solipsistic nonsense.

A television version of this ad, with some minor editing differences, can be viewed here. It looks to be two years old, so this must be one their better performers.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 14, 2010 07:14 PM | Send