BUBBLES OF VIRTUAL REALITY
What does Timothy McVeigh have in common with Heaven's Gate and David Koresh's Branch Davidians?
You're right! They're all extremists, isolated from the
mainstream by a distorted belief system they hold so strongly they're
willing to sacrifice their lives (or those of others) for it. You
could say they were all willing captives within bubbles of virtual
reality, which they believed were the real world, but which actually
separated them from reality. Like all cult members, they are
surrounded with others who share the same delusional system, and
constantly reinforce each others' belief in the truth of the system and
the dangers posed by outsiders. Usually they are cut off from any
outside voice of reality that could break the spell they are caught up
in.
In a less absolute and dramatic sense, I
think this phenomenon of getting caught up in a belief system which may
distort reality, happens to all of us in ways we are unaware of.
We may inhabit different bubbles at different times in our lives, but
each time we are generally quite convinced that this is the real world
and no one else can see reality as clearly as we do. Even though
our worldview may have gone through several transformations as we
mature, we are still certain that our present view is finally the
correct one, and that anyone who doesn't see things our way is
misguided. This is one reason opponents in an ideological,
political or religious conflict may be so militant about the rightness
of their views and the wrongness of the other side, that they will
often go to war in defense of their beliefs. Sometimes, outsiders
can see clearly the errors in perception on each side, but those
involved typically suffer from "bubble vision," and give no credence to
an outsider's view.
In a way, our culture may
serve as a kind of bubble, surrounding us with like-minded people, but
also walling us off from other cultures and worldviews. I think
one of the many causes of the high divorce rate in our country is the
fact that men and women grow up in very different gender-cultures which
are highly polarized, and it is very hard to see through our own
bubbles to understand the world of the other.
Religion is perhaps the toughest bubble of all, because by
definition it is supposed to represent the ultimate truths about the
ultimate issues in life. Most of us seem to have a very strong
need to believe ours is the only true religion, and all the others are
idol-worship, or at least misguided. I saw a bumper sticker
recently which could burst a lot of bubbles: "God is too big to
fit inside any single religion."
Our concept of
God needs to grow along with us as we mature, but since religion is
taught as ultimate truth, most people fiercely resist change in their
basic beliefs, as do their churches. Many congregations are still
stuck with an Old Testament image of God as an oversized, petulant,
tyrannical, even murderous old white man with a long gray beard.
Others are beginning to see this concept as distorted, limited and
idolatrous. By creating a god in the image of only one half of the
human race, man has managed to perpetuate patriarchy and misogyny for
several millennia.
I have often thought that our
brief sojourn on this planet, which we tend to see as the very
definition of reality, could be thought of as occurring within a
fragile, ephemeral bubble floating within the real universe of
eternity. The irridescent skin of the bubble is a mirage of
beautiful and ever-changing colors, which both reflects and conceals
the beauty beyond. With our limited perception, we fear this
transient bubble is all there is, and avoid coming too close to the
permeable membrane which is all that separates us from the abyss of
blackness or nonexistence we fear surrounds our little oasis of
life. We long for proof that the patches of light and beauty and
love we have glimpsed in this world are but a preview of what awaits us
outside our bubble. We want to believe that when our individual
bubble pops, we will find ourselves welcomed into the real eternal
universe, a friendly place of infinite light and beauty, where we will
feel completely at home among loving loved ones, and where we will at
last see clearly the whole of reality.
Turn off the bubble machine!
--Phyllis Palmer