Page 96 - The Religion Of The Ignorant

THE RELIGION OF THE IGNORANT

They frequently humiliate one another in public. In order not to
appear stupid, they say they don't like the other person, talk about
their faults and laugh at them in front of friends.
Despite all this, the relationship still persists—out of the fear of
failing to find anyone better. Despite all the arguments and break-
ups, they still get back together if they fail to find anyone else. It
seems better to have someone to go out with, no matter how unsat-
isfactory, than for everyone to know one is all alone.
When breaking up, it's also very important to make the first
move. People often split up just for the sake of not being the one
who gets dumped. Arguments and caprices are important with re-
gard to not being easy to get along with. In the event of getting back
together after a break-up, the make-up gift is of the greatest impor-
tance, because its cost will show how much that person is valued.
The courting period is when the boy and girl's personalities,
moral values and self-respect gradually disappear. Such a period,
largely built around show, materialism, pessimism and insincerity,
will have permanent destructive effects on the later life of young
people just beginning to mature and learn about life.
All this shows how empty and troublesome the relationship
model of Ignorantism known as courting or going out together truly
is. Yet for many people looking in from the outside, that period ap-
pears most enjoyable and delightful. Films are largely responsible
for that image. Thousands of movies have depicted this period as
one that makes two people in a relationship see the world through
rose-colored glasses, and constitutes the happiest moments of their
lives. However, this fine picture has nothing to do with real life. Just
as with all other relationships in the Religion of the Ignorant, male-
female relationships are conducted with insincere and self-inter-
ested logic. Both parties enter a troubled, depressive state of mind

94