For The Message Of Television As Metaphor

The Past Is Strapped To Our Backs. We Do Not Have To See It; We Can Always Feel It. People Gather Bundles Of Sticks To Build Bridges They Never Cross. People In Distress Will Sometimes Prefer A Problem That Is Familiar To A Solution That Is Not.

The Spectacle We Find In True Religions Has As Its Purpose Enchantment, Not Entertainment. The Distinction Is Critical. By Endowing Things With Magic, Enchantment Is A Means Through Which We May Gain Access To Sacredness. Entertainment Is The Means Through Which We Distance Ourselves From It.

The Written Word Endures, The Spoken Word Disappears

But In The End, Science Does Not Provide The Answers Most Of Us Require. Its Story Of Our Origins And Of Our End Is, To Say The Least, Unsatisfactory. To The Question, "how Did It All Begin?", Science Answers, "probably By An Accident." To The Question, "how Will It All End?", Science Answers, "probably By An Accident." And To Many People, The Accidental Life Is Not Worth Living. Moreover, The Science-god Has No Answer To The Question, "why Are We Here?" And, To The Question, "what Moral Instructions Do You Give Us?", The Science-god Maintains Silence.

The Reader Must Come Armed , In A Serious State Of Intellectual Readiness. This Is Not Easy Because He Comes To The Text Alone. In Reading, One's Responses Are Isolated, One'sintellect Thrown Back On Its Own Resourses. To Be Confronted By The Cold Abstractions Of Printed Sentences Is To Look Upon Language Bare, Without The Assistance Of Either Beauty Or Community. Thus, Reading Is By Its Nature A Serious Business. It Is Also, Of Course, An Essentially Rational Activity.