Faith is a wonderful thing:
Is this religion really any sillier than any other religion?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his is the heart of John Frum country on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu.
Villagers at Sulphur Bay worship a mystical figure who they believe will one day bring them wealth and happiness.
"John is our god," declares village chief Isaac Wan, who beats his fists into the ground to emphasise his words.
"One day he will come back," he says.
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Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific
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Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific
by Zardoz » Sun 18 Feb 2007, 03:35:31
In John They Trust
The last cargo cult
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Re: Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific
by Loki » Sun 18 Feb 2007, 04:17:50
Seems rational enough to me, at least for religion. Certainly makes a lot more sense than Christianity.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')John promised you much cargo more than 60 years ago, and none has come," I point out. “So why do you keep faith with him? Why do you still believe in him?"
Chief Isaac shoots me an amused look. "You Christians have been waiting 2,000 years for Jesus to return to earth," he says, "and you haven’t given up hope."
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')John promised you much cargo more than 60 years ago, and none has come," I point out. “So why do you keep faith with him? Why do you still believe in him?"
Chief Isaac shoots me an amused look. "You Christians have been waiting 2,000 years for Jesus to return to earth," he says, "and you haven’t given up hope."
I'd venture to guess that John Frum is much more likely to come back than Jesus.
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Re: Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific
by gg3 » Tue 20 Feb 2007, 23:45:12
Some of the more extreme beliefs about UFOs in Western societies are exactly the same thing.
"The little green men will come down from the sky and give us magical technologies that will save us from our follies." Translation: cargo.
(This is not the same thing as "science should investigate UFO reports," which is a reasonable opinion. I'm talking about the true believers who think the little green men are going to save us, etc.)
"The little green men will come down from the sky and give us magical technologies that will save us from our follies." Translation: cargo.
(This is not the same thing as "science should investigate UFO reports," which is a reasonable opinion. I'm talking about the true believers who think the little green men are going to save us, etc.)
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Re: Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific
by Narz » Wed 21 Feb 2007, 07:54:37
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', 'I')'d venture to guess that John Frum is much more likely to come back than Jesus.
“Seek simplicity but distrust it”
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Re: Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific
by Tyler_JC » Wed 21 Feb 2007, 12:55:18
Now if only these America-lovers had oil....
Why can't we ever win over the useful people?
Why can't we ever win over the useful people?
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Re: Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific
by threadbear » Wed 21 Feb 2007, 14:37:17
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Loki', 'S')eems rational enough to me, at least for religion. Certainly makes a lot more sense than Christianity.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')John promised you much cargo more than 60 years ago, and none has come," I point out. “So why do you keep faith with him? Why do you still believe in him?"
Chief Isaac shoots me an amused look. "You Christians have been waiting 2,000 years for Jesus to return to earth," he says, "and you haven’t given up hope."
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')John promised you much cargo more than 60 years ago, and none has come," I point out. “So why do you keep faith with him? Why do you still believe in him?"
Chief Isaac shoots me an amused look. "You Christians have been waiting 2,000 years for Jesus to return to earth," he says, "and you haven’t given up hope."
I'd venture to guess that John Frum is much more likely to come back than Jesus.
Judeaism may have cargo cult type of origins, or so some think. People of all tribes can't seem to resist the idea that salvation lies outside of themselves. Hope always has to be contained in a new body of knowledge or some kind of box.
Cargo cults show how a primitive culture interacting with a more sophisticated one, gets the more sophisticated one completely wrong, misinterprets motive, doesn't understand general patterns, etc...The dominant theme for me, and it comes up over and over again, in my area of interest, is the cartoon nature of the experience--the complexities of modern technological life being rounded off to absurd simplifications by primitives.
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