Page 119 - The Irony Board

Into the Cosmos

So large are the groups
Of sinners and believers,

They must overlap
In a group whose members sin

Either because of
Or in spite of their belief.

Faith in divine law and punishment for its transgression are
inextricable strands in the yarn of theology. Since religious standards
of behavior in our culture often deny basic human needs, churches
generate deviance as consistently as repressive government or
oppressive industry; this counterproductive (and therefore ironic)
aspect of social institutions was noted first by early sociologists such
as Durkheim. This poem is best understood visually, as a
commentary upon a Venn Diagram of the entire population.
First, draw a circle representing the set of all individuals in our
society. Next, create two smaller circles inside the first, one each for
the subsets of sinners and believers among us. Both groups include
more than half the populace; therefore, they must overlap, creating
the category of the sinner-believer. If, as is implicit in their
definitions, the two qualities are (at least) psychologically
incompatible, then some explanation is needed for their coexistence
in the members of this odd class of people.
Gluckman proposes two possibilities. The first is the sin of
righteousness, wherein irrationally narrowed ends justify immoral or
unethical means; because of their belief, the faithful participate in
holy wars, persecution, and book-burning. The alternative is the sin
of laziness, a compartmentalization of meaning permitting the
commission of acts unacceptable to standards nominally upheld at
other times and places; in spite of their belief, the faithful lie, cheat,
and steal. In one case, the commission of sin is denied; in the other,
it is ignored.

117