Re: Slogans - Formatted for easier reading -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 23:52:37 04/05/03 Sat
Author: Text by MVD, Formatting by Adilbrand
Subject: Re: Slogans - Formatted for easier reading
In reply to: mvd 's message, "Slogans" on 14:11:50 04/05/03 Sat

This morning I woke, climbed from my bed, and went downstairs for Operation Breakfast. With my breakfast I "Got Milk" then went to the bathroom for Operation Clean Teeth. My wife woke, smelled Operation Breakfast, and yelled, "Where's the Beef?" Upon hearing her complaint, I told her to "Just Do It" yourself.

I climbed into my car where I saw a police car with a bumper sticker that read, "Operation Pullover". I was heartily enthused by this positive message until further on when another police officer drove past me with a "Got Dope?" license plate on the front of the car. I felt bad, for I had none to offer, but I supposed that the officer would find some eventually. Where there's a will, there's a way.

I thought I had gotten all of my daily slogans in for the morning, but the radio soon told me that Operation Iraqi Freedom was still well under way. I then saw a man on the street corner wearing a tee-shirt that read "Got Jesus?" Upon realizing that I did not, I wondered whether Jesus could not be purchased in the dairy section next to the milk.

And this is what I am driving at. Please don't think that I am attempting to make light of war, or police officers, or Christianity, for I am not. All of these subjects are very serious and deserve serious consideration. What I am attempting to say is that those people who incorporate such slogans into an otherwise serious endeavor, make their cause seem less than sacred.

Is the Buddha more sacred because his likeness can be bought at the mall next to the prayer beads, the magic crystals, and the incense? Are officers of the law taken seriously when they have license plates glorifying their favorite Nascar driver, or are they rather, Barney Fife-like, shooting themselves in the foot?

Our culture loves slogans. We see them every day on our televisions, hear them on our radios, and read them in magazines, billboards, pamphlets, and newspapers. In a capitalistic society, it is not hard to understand why these slogans appear. They are memorable and they sell cars, sodas, and telephone service. My question to you folks is, should we be attempting to use the same tactics when selling governmental propositions, religious ideas, or law enforcement procedures as we do when we sell bubble gum, foot odor remedies, and the latest sedan?

The next question, I suppose, is why do we feel that we have to sell these ideas at all? If they are good and honest ideas and will benefit the majority of people, then it seems logical that the majority of people would naturally incorporate these beliefs into their daily lives without us having to sell them. It seems to me that advertising, which is what we must call this sort of sloganization, is usually engineered to reach people that don't want or need the product to begin with. Advertising is meant to entice, coerce, and otherwise hoodwink the gullible consumer into buying a thing for which he/she has absolutely no use.

Taking my proposition one step further, it seems to me that the more we advertise religion, governmental policy, and the necessity of law enforcement, the more we are really saying, "You have no need of this, but we are going to try to sucker you into buying it, anyway. Oh, and by the way, their are no refunds." Come and pay your five dollars to see the wonderful egress, the fascinating and most wonderful creation. Be astounded by the egress, just step through this door--- bye, bye!

And so it goes.

Now, to contradict myself, I must ask, if we do not need religion, law enforcement, and government, then why do we have them? It is obvious, from another viewpoint, that we do, indeed, need these institutions. But whether it comes from some failing within ourselves or from within our society at large, I cannot say. I have always liked to believe, however, that all men are created perfectly. If perfection is a thing that, by our present definition is unattainable, then why do we hold to the notions of imperfection? By default, everything, then, is imperfect. This makes the distinction seem rather, well, useless. Therefore I will say that all things are just as they should be. All things are perfect, because--- why not?

Slogans, no slogans, it's all the same to me, more or less, yet I do question their existence. I question everything, though. We may live a life free of questioning. We may have all our answers handed to us. This is neither here nor there, good or bad. Yet, I wonder, how can anyone who is not us, answer all of our questions? Do the answers to all things not lie within us? Somehow, I doubt that the slogans of this life will lead me to anything but the dairy aisle.

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