Now I was going to leave all my blogs on the reading until the New Year and enjoy the Christmas break but whilst at midnight mass last night with my gran and great gran I was reminded of the main theme's in George Orwells ground breaking book, 1984.
Most merciful God,
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
We confess that we have sinned
in thought, word and deed.
Kneeling in church the people around me were praying to God for forgiveness for not only deeds they have done and things they have said... but also immoral thoughts they have had. In religion not even your thoughts are your own. This ties in heavily with Orwells themes in 1984. Orwell suggested that by 1984, (he had written the book in 1948) that the government would control our thoughts by changing language. He suggested that if you take a word away then you not only take the word but everything associated with it. In 1984 if you thought about something that had been 'removed' then you were commiting a 'thought crime' and in time you would be killed... no wait not killed... also removed! Anything to do with sex was a "sex crime".
It seems that today in a way, Orwells predictions have materialised after all... for those who attend church regularly, albeit very few. The people in that church were begging to be forgiven for their unpure thoughts which shows a sense of fear of a higher figure, in this case God which contrasts with the government in 1984. I once suggested that some people go to church to give themselves standards and morals to live by but now I wonder if this is somebody elses intention. I will leave you to come to your own conclusions of what I mean by that.
Anyway... it's Christmas Day and on a lighter note, my father went to put the turkey in the oven earlier and the oven had broken! He refused to see the funny side like my mum and I. I can't help thinking it's the ghosts of the turkeys I saw being killed on BBC's Kill It Cook It Eat It, making a stand. At least this is a Christmas we won't forget in a hurry. Our next door neighbour Joyce, (pushing 80, swears like a trooper... envision the nan off of Catherine Tate) has put our Turkey and spuds in her oven, so it won't be Christmas beans on toast like my dad joked about. I love Joyce... yesterday she asked me if I had a boyfriend and when I answered no she told me "Good girl, have sex and stay f***ing single!!" I would like to end this festive blogpost on those wise words from Joyce!!
* Merry Christmas 2009 *
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Kayleigh,your blog reminds me of a blog that i wrote about identity.As a people, do we have the autonomy to determine our identity,gender and culture or is it society that decides.Therefore we are indoctrinated from birth and have to conform to what society dictates.In the interim,if i decide to walk naked,i will be subject to prosecution because,it is society that decided through the social contract,on what is morally acceptable.Most of what George Orwell predicted in the novel 1984 is what we are experiancing.Our thoughts are suppressed and controlled by use of language.
ReplyDeleteVery insightful, thoughtful...
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