Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
The Erotic Disposition of Homer’s Bowling Ball.

The Erotic Disposition of Homer’s Bowling Ball.

Last updated on: November 17, 2010 at 7:04 pm by George Elerick

The Erotic Disposition of Homer’s Bowling Ball. 2010-11-17T19:04:54+00:00 George Elerick

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Believing there is a code to be cracked is of course much the same as believing in the existence of some Big Other: in every case what is wanted is an agent who will give structure to our chaotic social lives. – Zizek

Our attraction to figuring things out stems from the erotic drives within us all. Freud speaks of the id which part of the fundamental core within our erotic drive. What is the Id?

“THE ID (‘It’): functions in the irrational and emotional part of the mind. At birth a baby’s mind is all Id – want want want. The Id is the primitive mind. It contains all the basic needs and feelings. It is the source for libido (psychic energy). And it has only one rule –; the pleasure principle: ‘I want it and I want it all now’. In transactional analysis, Id equates to “Child”.

If we see life as system, then we think we are inherently drawn to the space of tinkering with something we think is broken and something we have come to believe is merely mechanistic. Existentialism at its basic level is driven by the core of the Id. Expending ourselves over a part-object struggle is something we think we need to be committed to.

What struggle do I speak of? I am speaking into the angst of our beings, the questions that haunt us: Why am I here? Who am I? What is my purpose here? I refer to them as part-objects because they are truly things that seem to leave when we think we’ve cracked the code, but much like the Cheshire cat in Alice and wonderland they return when we least expect them to or maybe even want them to.

Maybe I can posit something here. Maybe we’ve moved beyond the ‘Why I am here?’ Phase of global identification. It does seem the world is more in tune now more than over with its purpose, but maybe now we seem to be more ontologically wired in our enquiry. What does this mean?

Ontology is the study of being.

In its simplest terms: “ontology deals with questions concerning whether entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences.” Ontology is enquiry into being. But I would also say isn’t much different than existentialism. ontology is less caffeinated.

Let’s get back to cracking the code.

If life is a code we’re meant to crack, then the irony is how do we know when we’ve cracked it? And when you find the code, does that mean that code should work for me to? Because if your code is meant to work for me, and one-size fits all than most likely we’re a cosmic hoax with go-go gadget insides. Let’s dig a bit deeper. The consumer promise hidden behind the one-size fits all is the reality or non-reality showcasing the differences between all of us.

In its terminology, it represses the truth, which is, that we are all different and one-size truly doesn’t fit all. In fact, i’m sure this has happened to most of us at one or another where we’ve entered into the marketplace wanting to make such a purchase and then we find the one-size doesn’t fit all. The perverse intention is to make it seem we all have the same size hands, heads, and other appendages. That in our excess, what lies outside of our torso ( the limbs represent the excess) is exactly same as the person standing next to us.

But we know this isn’t true.

Yet, we purchase in the hope that the idealistic notion can be true. That one day we can all be the same. This is the obscene gesture within a lot of multiculturalism today, it tries to assume that everyone should be treated the same, but in reality by higlighting the cause of the ‘downtrodden’ we exalt their plight above everyone else’s. Although this may not be the intention, we must look at other possible alternatives rather than destroying the very objective we seek to uphold.

There is a portion of scripture in the Bible that hilights an important point about society today.

Jesus’ friends are a bit apprehensive about their encounter with some other people who seem to be talking about jesus but aren’t hanging out with him or others. Some versions call them ‘the other disciples’. The disciples are almost in childish fashion ‘tattle-tell’ on these rogue followers of Jesus.

And basically Jesus tells these trepidacious disciples to leave them alone. If there for him then that is a good thing. It seems to be in our nature to want to force a ‘one-size fits all’ on those we meet. In fact this is the ghost of the Id, this is the childish aspect of our being.

Where our fear of being alone takes over.

In this moment, it is not merely a weak selfish moment categorized by a possible fear of social abandonment, but rather it is driven by eros. the Greek word for erotic love. A tempetous self-driven kind of love that, in the end, only benefits the giver rather than the receiver.

This is much like Homer Simpson who purchases for Marge a bowling ball with his name on it. The paradox,as I am sure you can see is that Homer is not driven by a selfless love, but a love that only benefits himself, and in so doing solidifies this erotic type love by insisting that Marge receive a gift that has been clearly purchased solely for his benefit.

When we assert that our code should fit everyone else’s this is the gift under the guise of a gift.

Although on the surface our intentions might be white as snow, at the core the pleasure principle is driving at the wheel, we are merely the shotgun passengers. The way to move forward is to take the shotgun we hold and kill that aspect of ourselves that drives us to purchase ‘bowling balls’ for others. When the bowling ball may not clearly be the best thing for them.

Short term mission trips or short terms overseas development tend to pride themselves in helping others. But in the end, do more damage than good. The missionaries of old were white, had money and were somehow linked up with God.

This belief was so pervasive, that those who participated in such things were almost treated like gods.

Overseas development shout from the mountaintops of sustainability and transformational momentum, yet the after-effects tend to be short-term and not what the indigenous population need. These types of trips are driven by the id. they are erotic gestures. They are a ‘bowling ball’. They do damage under the guise of help.

I think maybe we can learn from the professional bowlers, who, when their balls get old and worn out, throw that one away and get a new one. The examples are endless here. But the ideology of one-size fits all hurts people under the guise of helping them. What we can do is to foster a safe space for their discovery, a space where we don’t guide their journey, but simply enjoy it with them.

pleasure principle

Previous Post

November 15, 2010

Monday Meditation: Christ is Coming

Next Post

November 18, 2010 Does God Really Talk To Us?

Recent Comments

144 Comments | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Author Interviews Battle Over the Body and Blood of Christ Bearing Beauty Book Reviews Christian Education christian spirituallity christianity Christmas Church Church Leadership Contemplation Creation Care Death and Dying Death Penalty Disruptive Change Disruptors Series Easter Education Evolution and Faith Future of Progressive Christianity Gun Violence Health & Wellness Holy Week Interfaith Israel-Palestine Leading Differently Lent LGBTQ Living with Cancer Meditations on the Cross Mental Illness millennials Mimetic Mondays Monday Meditations Movie Reviews New Monasticism Pando Populus Parenting Patheos 10+1 Q&A Series PC(USA) Politics Pop Culture Practical Theology Series Prayer progressive christian Race Relations Reformation religion Religion and Politics Religion in America Rethink Church Social Justice Spirituality Spirituality of the Body Stump a Scholar Technology and Faith Thanksgiving Theodicy Trust Me Church Uncategorized Why I'm Still Christian Youth Ministry

Select a Month December 2025 April 2025 January 2025 September 2023 September 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 November 2021 October 2021 May 2021 February 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010

Follow Us!

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Mark records Jesus' birth narrative in Bethlehem.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Related posts from Faith Forward

Progressive Christian

Should Christians Attend Same-Sex Weddings?

Progressive Christian

Gender Dysphoria: Real or Imagined?

Progressive Christian

A Christian Defense of Critical Theory

Progressive Christian

Christianity and Environmentalism

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Progressive Christian

Why Christians Have a Sacred Duty to Vote:...

The Bible offers strong support for the sacred duty to vote. Here...

What Being a Modern-Day Apostle Means to Me

In my last column, I discussed the ins and outs of modern-day...

Did Ancient China Once Worship the God of...

Across human history, a common thread weaves through the origins of the...

Love Your Neighbor – Including Earth-Kin: Lev. 19,...

God’s command to love your neighbor means acting in an ethical and...

Lead a Church Study of “Jesus and Lao...

Guest writer Jack Thomas (The Irreverent Reverend) reflects on leading his church...

Principles for Understanding the Apostolic Ministry Today

Whenever people discover that my formal ministry title is "apostle," as in...

view all Progressive Christian blogs

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos