December 11, 2007

Nonrequired Reading: 002: Cat's Cradle



There was a quotation from the Books of Bokonon on the page before me. Those words leapt from the page and into my mind, and they were welcomed there.

The words were a paraphrase of the suggestion by Jesus: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.”

Bokonon’s paraphrase was this:

“Pay not to attention to Caesar. Caesar doesn’t have the slightest idea what’s really going on.”

- Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut, 73

4 comments:

::athada:: said...

< delete> Caesar
< insert> politician of your choosing

Josh Jackson said...

:)

or:

:(

Hopefully that doesn't work every time.

Dad said...

Jesus statement says, respect authority, honor those placed over you, don't check out of a system of government you live in. Give to Caesar what is his. And don't forget that the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus with evil intent in their hearts. To me, Bokonon's statement is a cop out statement.

Josh Jackson said...

Pops -

I totally agree with you. I think Vonnegut was reacting to the frustration of his government at the time and used Jesus' teaching as a venting piece. And it's classic Vonnegut satire as well.

I think it's our job as citizens to take an active role in the communities we mesh with...couldn't agree with you more. Checking out often leads to isolation and indifference. Not my cup of tea.

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