The late Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s Cat’s Cradle creates a new religion, Bokononism. The bible of Bokononism is the “Books of Bokonon”, written by Bokonon — a British Episcopalian black from the imaginary Carribean island of Tobago whose real name was Lionel Boyd Johnson– as a way to distract the people of Tobago from their unhappy lives.
What is important to Bokononists? Not God; just one thing: man. Bokononism is a strange, Post-modern subjective faith that combines nihilistic, and cynical observations about life and God’s will. The supreme act of worship is an intimate act consisting of prolonged physical contact between the naked soles of the feet of two persons, supposed to result in peace and joy between the two communicants.
Hummmm . . .
I know a lot of Bokononists these days. Post-Modern, Post-Christian Bokononist American leadership are asking us to suspend belief. Pastor Clinton C. Gardner, in his book Beyond Belief: Discovering Christianity’s New Paradigm, “raised on Christian fundamentalism, he felt liberated by the grand picture of evolution and the empirical science of the Enlightenment.” Ok Brother Clinton! Imagine, there are people who believe that God really loved us enough that He sent His only Begotten Son to die for our sins! How uncool! And, get this, some of those remnant fundamentalist Christians—who have not yet bowed down and worshiped at the altar of Bokononism—actually believe that Jesus Christ is the only way, the only truth, the only life. How old fashioned can you get!
The last line of Cat’s Cradle includes a warning that I offer here: Pow Tee Weet. At one time song birds were lowered into coal mines to ascertain if methane gas was of dangerous high density. Everything was fine as along as the miners heard “Pow Tee Weet.” However, quite literally, if the bird stopped singing, everyone is in trouble.
I wonder how much longer the song bird will sing.
