Politics, Religion and Science

Konrad Sallaway
Mr O' Brien
Cat's Cradle

My Thoughts on Different Schools of Thought
Special Regard Taken Towards Cat’s Cradle

To start, I suppose I should state my beliefs and thoughts on each of the topics to be discussed. Spiritually, I have been most affected by my moderately religious mother. This involved going to church on Sundays as a child. This was eventually phased out, we now only attend on major holidays. I can see how formative childhood years are, that even though I adore logic and reason, I still find myself unable to completely renounce the possibility of a higher power. I take no stock in organized religion, having decided relatively early that spirituality was an incredibly personal relationship between yourself and whatever you believe in. I'm no atheist, but I'm also far from a blind believer in something I can see no evidence of.
Politically, I dislike politicians almost universally, except for Jon Gnarr of Iceland, for the humor in his party. I cannot side with a party that I do not agree with on certain key issues, which happens to be every party. Therefore I am forced to show my hand as an independent. I see the value in democracy and personal freedom, but the glaring, inherent flaws in such a system unsettle me. There is no political system that is perfect and I have accepted that. I am merely left wondering where the line should be drawn, where personal freedom begins to interfere with the workings of the system and where efficiency and happiness are most in balance. As far as I can tell, democracy is that answer, though I have never known another.
Last, but certainly not least, Science. I love science, the wide swaths of knowledge that remain unknown to us, to the methodology and the flat refusal of the easy answer. But to not see the obvious influence politics and religion have had on science over the course of history is to be ignorant. All of these schools can be seen to intertwine throughout the course of history.
Cat's Cradle is a curious book, the views contained within not easily accepted by those not open-minded. Religion is portrayed as a necessary evil, invoking a sense of unity, complacency and hope. Bokonism was a beautiful creation by Vonnegut, allowing him to both extol the virtues that it fostered and criticize the absurd practices contained in all religions. Religion binds people who believe together and widens the gap between those who do believe and those who do not. For the people of San Lorenzo, the secret nature of Bokonism allows the spark of rebellion in all to burn in a nonviolent fashion, it gives them hope, that they resist the government in such a passive-aggressive manner.
Science is shown to be both good and bad, that those things created to give us an advantage can be used to disadvantage others. Ice-9 was to be used to help the military, so slogging through the mud would be no longer necessary. It ended up destroying the world. The atom bomb killed thousands of people, but it opened the way for nuclear reactors and a myriad collection of other applications. The question to be asked is "was it worth it?" The death of many to help even more in the future? I begin to tread on moral and ethical grounds, with no concrete answers and thus am forced to abandon this line of questioning.
Politics is shown to be meaningless and contrived. On this level I can agree with Vonnegut, during my short stay here on Earth so far, I have seen very little done by politicians that would make me want to trust them. How easily the control of the San Lorenzan people is shifted reflects the constant leadership changes in real life.
Cat's Cradle, even when I read it for the first time, changed my views very little. I appreciate the message that Vonnegut conveys, but my views remain for the most part unchanged. Vonnegut is much more radical in his own views than I am and his cynicism gets under my skin, leaving me feeling a little alienated from his worldview, an extreme example of the faults he sees in the world. Then again, his experiences with war left him understandably jaded.