“Rebellion”
This was a comment from subscriber BackZ, following the second Epstein episode. Nothing to add.
“The most famous chapter of Brothers Karamazov is "The Grand Inquisitor," but the one right before it, "Rebellion," contains another long monologue by Ivan in which he details the genesis of his rejection of God (not disbelief but a 'rebellion,' as Alyosha calls it). As he relates to Alyosha, Ivan's disillusionment with Jesus and His promise of eternal harmony stems from harrowing stories Ivan has read about the suffering of children:
"'You see, once again I positively maintain that this particular quality exists in much of mankind - this love of torturing children, but only children. These same torturers look upon all other examples of humankind even mildly and benevolently, being educated and humane Europeans, but they have a great love of torturing children, they even love children in that sense. It is precisely the defenselessness of these creatures that tempts the torturers, the angelic trustfulness of the child, who has nowhere to turn and no one to turn to - that is what enflames the vile blood of the torturer.'"
I couldn't help but think about that chapter when listening to this episode. I shed tears reading it and I shed more listening to these stories. I'm not sure I'm ready to agree with Ivan about God:
"'I'd rather remain with my unrequited suffering and my unquenched indignation, even if I am wrong. Besides, they have put too high a price on harmony; we can't afford to pay so much for admission. And therefore I hasten to return my ticket.'"
But if people who do these things not only remain largely unpunished but are allowed to continue as powerful agents in our society, I'm tempted to say that it's an obligation for all of us to return our tickets through which we participate in that society, unless or until these people face grave consequences.
"'And if the suffering of children goes to make up the sum of suffering needed to buy truth, then I assert beforehand that the whole of truth is not worth such a price.'" I should note that Ivan is against retributive suffering; for myself, I would be in favor of stretching statutory interpretations of the Eighth Amendment as far as possible when dealing with these people.”
Fantastic reference.
I agree with you about “returning the ticket” on the social and political level.
“Returning the ticket” on the level of divinity and ultimate meaning over something like this is obviously a more troublesome prospect.
I’d like to say that I would not return the ticket there. I know that’s the “right answer,” even in the face of the most unspeakable horrors. In fact, that’s what Christianity (along with many other religious traditions) teaches us and prepares us for. Not losing faith in the face of these horrors is what makes faith worth anything at all.
And one related pitfall may be that when facing horrors like these through a worldview and in a society that has abandoned God and faith, the sublimated religious impulse manifests itself in zealotry on the sub-divine level of vulgar politics. (The recent conversation between Jordan Peterson and Clay Routledge is a fascinating exploration of this).
A wholesale “return of the ticket” here can lead to totalitarian political projects, Utopianism, and ultimately catastrophe. And maybe this is where Ivan has ended up. From Brothers Karamazov: “For socialism is not merely the labour question, it is before all things the atheistic question, the question of the form taken by atheism to-day, the question of the tower of Babel built without God, not to mount to Heaven from Earth but to set up Heaven on earth.”
Of course I can’t say that I would always make the “right choice” in returning one ticket and keeping the other here. Not until life puts my nose in such horrors first hand would I know what my choice would be. It’s hard to read BK, get to know Ivan, and still be naive enough to think I would have access to the “right answer” when shit hits the fan. Unless I build my life around it.
this is the kind of post that makes my subscription worthwhile. I have read this 5 times and am still digesting it! I have also really been enjoying "Always with Honor". Good stuff!