A Passionate Faith

Faith, I suppose, is, ultimately, a personal matter.

It didn't always used to be so, of course. The very foundation of the Catholic faith was a meeting, a coming together in unity to celebrate the salvific action of Jesus the Christ. It has remained so throughout the entire span of its history. But, today, while still a numerically dominant force in the world, the reality is a much reduced number of bums on seats for Sunday Mass.

It isn't just the myths from Ancient Greece that have lost their hold over the modern psyche.

Nothing now ties the modern person to the wisdom of the ages.

And, yet, at the same time that the modern world eschews the old stories, new ones are being sought.

In the previous episode, "Die Hand Die Verletzt", we saw how Satan deals with those whose faith begins to weaken. It seems even the devil has an attendance problem!

In actuality, of course, there can be no such problem in Satanism as there has never really been an organised church - not, at least, until Anton LaVey started his church in 1966.

Satanism has appeared, then, as just another sought after solution to the loss of faith in more traditional forms of worship. Along with Wicca, founded by Gerald Gardner shortly after WWII, and any number of other New Age religions, it seeks to provide some sort of meaning for those who want to feel more involved on a personal level.

Which makes one wonder why the traditional churches have lost the loyalty of the young. What could be more self-affirming than the knowledge that the Son of God gave his life for my sins? Yes, it is true, that He did it for everyone's, not just mine, but, then, Satan is willing to grant power and success to anyone willing to sign the dotted line, allegedly.

It is really just a matter of not being allowed to have sex on the altar in a Catholic Church? Or, maybe, it’s the lack of chickens. Where's the fun in worship if there aren't any chickens for the biting off of heads?

Yes, I know that's a Hollywood stereotype, but what is Voodoo except a Hollywood stereotype? And, yes, I know there are people who participate in a faith properly known as Voudon, but that's not really what we see in "Fresh Bones" anymore than we do in any film or TV programme portraying Voodoo.

The attraction of these 'new' religions is fairly obvious. Active participation brings with it a certain catharsis, acting out an incantation or spell that may or may not bring further desired results is bound to make one feel good. Certainly it provides the sense of actually having done something about a situation, rather than just kneeling before a Crucifix and saying a silent prayer. That's never gonna have the same appeal!

And, let's face it, the media contributes to their attractiveness. Who wouldn't be drawn to the kind of power Beauvais is seen to wield in this episode?

I have to admit, though, that I kind of miss the point. It's great that you have the power to come back from the dead to seek revenge, if that's the kind of vengeful spirit that you are. Wouldn't it be better, though, if you had the power to prevent them from killing you in the first place?

That would be the real test, wouldn't it? I mean, anyone can say that you came back after you died, any number of people can testify to your return. Wouldn't stand up as proof, though, would it? But, if you could actually prevent your own death, now, that would stand up as proof of whatever you wanted to acclaim.

In this kind of story, however, prevention isn't the best remedy; revenge is. The eternal cycle of death and destruction feeding the angry spirit. Colonel Wharton's men died in Haiti, so now the Marines are given sanction to seek revenge on the innocent, who then, through Beauvais, seek revenge upon the Colonel. A sad, sorry story that keeps everyone rooted to exactly the same spot for generations.

• Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, Iphigenia, before the fleet can sail for Troy.
• Upon his return, Cassandra, his wife and the mother of Iphigenia, kills him in vengeance.
• Electra and Orestes, the children of Agamemnon, then kill Cassandra and her lover, Aegisthus, to avenge the death of their father.
• The Erinyes (or Furies) then chase Orestes, seeking his death for his murder of his mother.

And on it goes.

(Aeschylus, being the great playwright that his is (was), manages to end this cycle with the birth of the Athenian legal system, which forms the foundation for all Western legal systems.)

It isn't necessarily faith that breeds a lack of reason - as the so-called New Atheists would have you believe, it is the passion that goes un-checked. Anger and hate are human emotions that need not lead to violence and death, but left unexamined and allowed to fester, almost inevitably, they will.