Taking life philosophies from works of fiction.

[HK]

Out of all the ideas about the world and the possibilities of a higher power or greater purpose, one of the one's that I find most attractive is the notion of Ka, which is a fictional force described by Stephen King in his Dark Tower series.


Ka is the approximate equivalent of destiny or fate. Ka can be considered to be a guide, a destination, but is certainly not a plan - at least, not one that is known to mortals. Ka is not necessarily a force of good or evil; it manipulates both sides, and seems to have no definite morality of its own. To this end, Ka resonates with the concept of Karma.


Does anyone else find that sometimes concepts described in fictional works seem so much more believable or worthy of attention than the actual religions available?

 

[porterjack]

Simply put Mr Gump's observations about life, box of chocolates etc
are so mich easier to comprehend than any dogma espoused by conventional faith

 

[Tim]

Does anyone else find that sometimes concepts described in fictional works seem so much more believable or worthy of attention than the actual religions available?

The fact that he was able to get you thinking this deeply about it shows how great of an author he is.

And as to your question...

Yes, I have felt that way while immersed in a great book... but none of them stuck with me afterwards. Maybe because I know it's a story, maybe because I'm not searching for something to believe in... I really don't know

A Christian asked me once what it was like being an Atheist. So I asked him if he believed in Islam and he said no. I said it was like that.

 

[HK]

...maybe because I'm not searching for something to believe in...

This may be the crux of my problem. I do feel like I'm looking, or at least hoping, for something to put my faith in. Being agnostic, I've tried putting it in people, but you soon learn why that's a bad idea

 

[Tim]

This may be the crux of my problem. I do feel like I'm looking, or at least hoping, for something to put my faith in. Being agnostic, I've tried putting it in people, but you soon learn why that's a bad idea

That's your problem...

How do you look for something while taking out the human element at the same time?
A million different creative thinkers will come up with a million different ideas, yet they are all "tainted" ideas since they come from their own minds which were shaped by their life's experiences....

Maybe that's why I don't look for anything anymore. After years of trying to understand why I believed what I believed, I learned that none of my beliefs or thoughts were my own. They were nothing more than a culmination of bits and pieces from many other belief structures... How can I call that my own? How can it be true? Just because it seemed right to me???

We are raised to believe that there is something we need to believe in, have faith in. I think that's the problem..... because for the rest of our lives we search for something because that's what we were told to do.....

 

[Kyle B]

Well, authors usually intend to convey a theme in their work, so this doesn't surprise me.