Nineteen Eighty Four Religious Perspective

Some comments, from a religious perspective on George Orwell's book "1984" (NineteenEightyFour):

The question for me, as a Christian, that arose from NineteenEightyFour was whether God would step in and (at some time) upturn the Totalitarian State that Orwell described.

I think that should a '1984' situation arise, such a State would be allowed to remain for a while, even a considerable period, but that ultimately a Higher Authority would intervene. This idea is probably one of the most consistent themes of the Judeo-Christian scriptures. -- MartinNoutch

Not surprising considering that the scriptures were mostly written while its followers were being oppressed. Negativistic philosophies abound from the Roman empire, such as stoicism as an extreme, I suppose. Hope is good marketing!

See GodVsStalin? for discussion on that last statement.

What's interesting is that the Jews gave up on being saved. They hoped for earthly salvation umpteen times and when it never happened (one conqueror being replaced by another and another and ...) they gave up on it completely and invented this Kingdom in Heaven nonsense.

[RefactorMe: the following few paragraphs of discussion between RobertChurch and GarethMcCaughan are getting pretty confusing. Robert, please feel free to do with them whatever you please. -- GarethMcCaughan]

''Funny. When I read 1984 as a Christian, the state seemed to be a metaphor for religion, with Big Brother as a stand-in for God (ever-present, all-seeing, invincible, immortal, and aloof), and the Party as a clergy class. There's an ever-present and invisible enemy to galvanize the followers (The Devil == Emmanuel Goldstein). I am no longer a Christian, and I would say that 1984 was instrumental in causing that change.'' -- RobertChurch

[Note that whereas many followers of any faith say that nothing imaginable would cause them to abandon their beliefs, the reality is that a relatively minor cause suffices to convert slight doubts into complete disbelief.]

It seems to me that the most distinctive thing about the world of 1984 is the Thought Police, and most religions don't have anything close to that (the infamy of TheSpanishInquisition notwithstanding).

Though the enforcement end of things has been relatively lax of late, many religions do try to legislate the thoughts of their constituents. See TheSevenDeadlySins?, for example, or the Ten Commandments' prohibition on coveting. In 1984, I was also struck by the Party's treatment of sexuality, which seemed to me to be similar to the treatment of sexuality by Christianity in its Puritanical branches. Sex, according to the party, was only for purposes of procreation and was referred to as "doing one's duty for the party". I suppose that I'm arriving at the conclusion that 1984 is a book about totalitarianism, which can be either political or religious. -- RobertChurch

(I agree. -- gjm)

I agree too: Thought Crime is the key to this novel: can you commit a crime/sin in thought only? I think Orwell argues that a people can be cowed into having a collective conscious; that dissenters in thought alone will inevitably go on to reveal their minds through deeds; therefore mind control can be enforced through self-censorship. The church argues that impure thoughts are a sin. -- NC

Incidentally, Orwell wrote this:

: My recent novel is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism ... but as a show-up of the perversions to which a centralized economy is liable and which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism. ... I believe ... that something resembling [the society in 1984] could arrive. I believe also that totalitarian ideas have taken root in the minds of intellectuals everywhere, and I have tried to draw these ideas out to their logical consequences.
: (from his "Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters", as reported in an article on the WWW.)

I think it's clear that 1984 was not intended as an attack on religion in general or on any religion in particular. Of course, the reader is free to reinterpret it in any way. Baseless conjecture: Robert would have stopped being a Christian even without 1984, which served as a nucleus for the crystallization of his pre-existing dissatisfaction with Christianity. -- GarethMcCaughan

I'm sure you are correct, Gareth -- RobertChurch

Much much later . . .

My friend Josh tells me that all of this would make more sense if I explained that I used to be a Jehovah's Witness. -- RobertChurch

Robert, the Christianity taught by the JW's is far different than true Christianity. I'm glad you've rejected the JW version; but I encourage you to give an honest look at the Truth and Freedom offered by the real Jesus. -- BrucePennington

Which 'true Christianity' would that be then? I don't know any Christian who DOESN'T claim they're following the 'true' way their god intends for them. (Because who the hell would follow something they thought was false - just for the fun of it?) I suggest having that argument with other Christians and leave out the arrogant language. -- JamesHollidge

I agree that 1984 fits any church organization that uses their power structure to control people. The true church does not do that, though. The true follower of Christ follows in Jesus' footsteps out of love for God, out of respect for Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. There are many denominations that use the supposed power to excommunicate (i.e. send to hell) anyone not complying with their doctrine (Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses are the main ones). You will not find this power given to men in the Bible, however. -- BrucePennington

Oh Jesus, please save me! The only truth that exists is that which you can taste, touch, see, smell, or hear. If you want the real truth, be objective. If you want a fairy tale of epic proportions, read the bible. --former Roman Catholic

I have read and continue to read the bible, and find it to be fascinating and full of good advice about what one tastes, touches, looks upon, smell and hears. -- presentlyObjective

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the teaching of hell.

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