Kung Fu Sex, Hate Crimes, and the search for Goodness
If you have read the headlines the last few days, you know of two stories which speak of misery, addiction, hate, and sadness. David Carradine, former “zen master” star of the Kung Fu series from the 70’s, and star in the Kill Bill movies, was found dead in Bangkok. The circumstances surrounding his death, initially presumed or at least reported as a suicide, are more than a bit disturbing. If the line of reasoning and evidence continue along the lines they have in the last couple of days it will be documented that Mr. Carradine died from sex play gone horribly wrong. It seems, at this point, that the ropes tied around various parts of his body were not, as initially reported, the outworking of a suicide, but rather, some sort of horrid sex game which involved more than a bit of danger. Not exactly what was in mind when it was said, “That’s the way to go.”
The other story, from our nation’s capitol, is one of anger, rage, hatred and violence. It seems clear now that Mr. von Brunn, a known anti-semite and hate monger, carried out a hate crime on the grounds of one of our important museums which stands as a vivid reminder of the price of hatred and the abandonment of reason. At our national Holocaust Memorial Museum two people were killed as Mr. von Brunn began his rampage.
When we encounter this kind of ugliness in the news stories of our world, it is easy to question if there is any good left in our world. Amidst a world full of chaos and tragedy we can become bitter, cynical, and jaded. But here in lies the truth hidden behind the veil of evil.
We live in a world where we desperately desire to redraw the lines. In our attempt to find ourselves, apart from any moral absolutes, we are prone to drift too far from the shoreline of rational behavior. Our obsession with our individual right to live as we choose leads, often, to a life of increasing compulsion and addiction to things we once thought would bring us pleasure or contentment.
Mr. Carradine’s story ought to remind us that expressions of our sexuality, detached from any standard of truth, can lead to an open ended and ever increasing search for more. That search can lead to painful realities. Mr. Carradine’s route to this end was no doubt begun on a road that appeared to him to offer only fun and adventure. Without any compass with regard to sexuality who is to say that any form of sexual expression is amiss? Is this not the question of our day, and our current political climate? In the aftermath of such stories, and many much worse (the sexual slavery of women, men, boys, and girls which is running rampant in our world now, for example) who can doubt that something is “wrong”? But, how can we dare admit this in our day when we crave the unleashing of our mores, and want so desperately to redraw the lines and even re-define the family? We don’t dare use common sense nor read the manual on the “plumbing” in a culture where moral freedom is the call of the day. Don’t tie me down!, we say.
But where does our right to anything we want find its grounding? How can this logically be supported? As has been asked of the moral cynic before, “In some cultures they love their children, and in some they eat them…do you have a personal preference?”
You see, the problem with suggesting that either Mr. Carradine’s or Mr. von Brunn’s behavior is immoral is that it opens up the gateway to the “truth” question all over again. If the activities and unfolding events represented in these stories can be labeled as “wrong” in any sense, then we must logically admit there is some standard of truth we all acknowledge when the rubber meets the road. We cannot, after all, abandon the reality of moral boundaries all together. This would make life unlivable. We drive a certain way because we know if we abandon all reason on the roads we will hurt ourselves or others. That is the truth. We don’t run and jump off of the tops of tall buildings even though Spiderman does it because we know what will truthfully happen if we do. Simple math. Or is that Physics? I liked neither. Truth is unavoidable. Didn’t your math teacher make that clear? Mine did…darn her!
The truth hidden in the stories of the day should point us toward a pursuit of truth and goodness. We just know there is a better way to do sex than to be hung and suffocated in some hotel room in Bangkok. And we just know we should not be filled with so much hate that it motivates us to walk into a museum and start firing away at people we don’t even know. Such moments ignite within us an ache of the soul and a thirst for goodness. That which we thirst for is true goodness, and a break from the madness. Such refreshment of the soul and healing for the world can only come if it exists in the form of an all knowing, loving, and good God, a God beyond us and not defined by us. It certainly won’t come from within us. Recent history continues to point out that we are all too prone to bad acts. Truth is, the world is not becoming a “better place”. It will not, and cannot, separated from an embrace of absolute truth.
The challenge for us, in light of these kinds of stories, is to evaluate our own lives and our own demands for life on our terms. The truth hidden amidst the broken choices and painful realities of our own addictions is that goodness does exist. We would not, could not, ever have a sense of evil if goodness were not a reality. We sense or perceive evil in light of the reality of the true and the good. Truth shines the light upon the darkness. The moments of soul aching exist because something more calls to us amidst the pain and says, “Come hither.” There is a profound beauty which can be lived and expressed. The world can be a better place. It must begin with an acknowledgment of and a pursuit of Truth.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He is the way to sexual fulfillment, the road to peace and compassion, and the means, the very reality of the adventure we seek.
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
blog.optimuschoice.com
soulstormsite.com