From Purex laundry soap to Pure Silk, ads emphasize the importance and beauty of purity.
But with so much negative emphasis of late on the destructive “purity culture”
of Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims
—especially where girls and women are shamed, persecuted, abused, even executed
simply for what they wear or don’t wear,
how they choose to express themselves, and so forth,
one hesitates to use the word “purity” because it’s
often now misunderstood.
But no other word really suffices.
Purity in its denotative meaning is essential for humanity. Think of purity in water.
Even the slightest infestation of bacteria or dangerous chemicals in drinking water can cause severe illness, even death quickly.
That’s why when backpacking in the Sierras
and the Grand Canyon, we always used water purification tablets.
Nobody wants pollution in water, air, or food, except the crazy or the greedy. Think of the many cases
of food poisoning in the news in the last 3 months including 80 students in New England.
That's why there are high standards in food preparation and store products.
Also, ever hear of pure gold?
Who wants gold if it’s mostly scattered in amidst other minerals which will make it hard to extract?
So what is Purity of the Mind?
Purity of the Heart?
Probably, first, it’s easiest and quickest to show what it ‘ain’t’ (to quote Huck).
#1 Think of the illusions and delusions of the mind.
Many Americans are convinced that the earth is only
a few thousand years old and that evolution is false!
Yet there is plenty of hard evidence and scientific
conclusions which show that evolution
is a fact and that the earth is billions of years old.
When we humans stop seeking what is true, but stay only
with what we learned in the past, and with what is
accepted by our culture and society, we will harm others
and ourselves eventually.
#2 Consider many of the salacious ads that appear on the Internet
(and on TV, Cable, etc.) every time we search for an article, product,
movie, idea, or to look up an old friend.
Ironically, even when I was looking for images of purity,
a few morally sick graphics came up on Google.
Even when anyone stops at a philosophical or ethical site
to read about goodness and justice,
there will be ads not only for food, health, and travel, but often also--
“20 Stars Who Clearly Aren’t Wearing Underwear”
“See What Short Skirt Kim Wore”
--ad nauseum...
#3 Who the hell cares?
(Sorry for that unpure expletive; it's intentional to emphasize the spiritual sheol
so many humans obsess in.)
#4 Unethical advertisers do. They create these clearly salacious, prurient, lewd
(whatever term you want to call it) ads to hook young adults (or not so young)
into clicking and viewing each ad which may give them a voyeuristic jolt,
and then get them to buy some product.
That is NOT purity of the heart or mind—
not for the immoral advertiser,
the idiotic sponsor,
or the morally foolish individuals who click on them.
Yet millions of humans do all the time.
#5 And the Internet--which was supposed to help bring people together,
to enrich their intellectual and emotional lives--
is instead used to make billions of dollars through pornography.
Why have we as a human species so twisted our sexuality, gotten so licentious and prurient
that we use brilliant technology to con humans into descending into a subhuman level.
Well, no, not "subhuman"; as Mark Twain wrote, that's besmirching animals.
Rather salacious ads and pornography and immoral media are anti-humanistic.
Whew...
#6 Another example could be given of impurity of the mind by studying the speeches and statements of the presidential debates
and related comments.
Contrary to what all we literature teachers taught students about the danger and destruction of propaganda
(via Animal Farm by George Orwell), the current media focus has been one endless bag of informal fallacies and ad hominem.
--ad hominem,
you uneducated blob;-)
To be continued
Got rid of a little of the muck...
next the good--
In the Pure Light,
Daniel Wilcox
