DISCLAIMER
This post is going to focus on religion. Worst yet, this post will focus on a single religion: Christianity. Faithful readers of LOST TIDBITS are aware that there is a religious theme throughout LOST. We are also aware that several religions are represented on the show. But for ease of example and discussion, I’m going to use Christianity. Blame it on Christian Shephard, if you will. HA!
COUNTERFEIT
The Bible and indeed, many other religious works, refer to the Devil as a counterfeiter. The Apostle Paul describes the Devil as the “prince of the power of the air”. As I researched this topic it seemed to me that right away we have a description of Smokey as the airborne entity.
Could it be that the devil in LOST is the master of Smokey? We just have to think back to the Blast Door Map to find the reference to Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hades. Could Smokey/Cerberus’ master be the devil on the show? Is the Man in Black this devil?
The Bible clearly describes the Devil as a deceiver. His greatest con game is not easily recognized for his offers and promises are close counterfeits to the real deal. If one wishes to fool a store clerk, we wouldn’t offer Monopoly money. The crook who escapes detection is the one with the best counterfeit money. And yet, at the end of the day, the offer of compensation is still just a fake.
Likewise on LOST, the devil character is not going to be obvious. How many times have we switched characters from the “good guys” to the “bad guys” and back again and again?
The Bible has an interesting comment on the devil’s deception. The Scriptures claim that the deceived doesn’t know he is being deceived. This brings me to the prime example of John Locke.
TWO VOICES
Philosophers and pastors have preached for years that we have two voices within us. Some use the example of a devil standing on shoulder whispering in one ear and an angel on the other shoulder whispering in that ear.
I think we shouldn’t miss the word “whispers” in that above paragraph!
The point is that life seems to be a tug-of-war. Which inner voice do we listen to? How do we know the source of each piece of conflicting advice? I believe John Locke struggles with these same questions along with most of the Survivors.
John often feels he is following the proper guidance. He calls it “the island” or “Jacob” or “destiny”. Christianity calls it the Holy Spirit. But what if Locke is being deceived by a close counterfeiter? I wonder if this isn’t what has gotten Locke into a bit of sticky wicket.
THE BIBLE THEME CONTINUED
It must be pointed out that the religion of Christianity requires a sacrifice for the shortcomings each human possesses. That sacrifice is the death of Christ – the mirror image of the Devil in many ways. After all it is John 3:16 that says “And God so loved the world that he gave his own begotten son…”
Could Jacob’s death then be part of the larger plan? If this overlay of the Bible story to LOST is anywhere close to being the ballpark, then look for Jacob to resurrect himself in three days.
SUMMARY
Christian. Shephard. Flight 316. John 3:16 on Eko’s stick. Smokey. Cerberus. Deception. Redemption. Resurrection. Mirror image. Good and Evil. Black and White. Sacrifice. Choices. Free will or Predestination.
If you were given this list of words there are two valid answers that connect all of them: The Bible…and LOST.
**
Next TIDBITS I hope to spend a bit of focus on another section of the Bible that deals with the Devil being cast into the Bottomless Pit. Can you say the cabin?
**
If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!
Enjoy,
KC
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
LT298: Artificial Intelligence
LOST UNIVERSITY
The ABC summer game, Lost University, is being paired with a DVD to be released September 22. Yep, that’s five years to the date of the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815.
There appears to be two semesters of courses that allow us to dig deeper into the meaning and purpose of LOST. This should supplement my real-world college courses since I need more to do in my life! HA!
The courses are offered on-line – again the registration date is September 22. It isn’t clear if you must have the Blueray discs. I’ll keep you posted.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Part 2 of the 1980’s documentary series, Mysteries of the Universe, has been released. If you recall, ABC discovered the old video footage when doing some cleaning up of its archive files. The series was never aired (for reasons unexplained), but now with the popularity of LOST, they have decided to release the only episodes still intact.
On September 8, the second section was released (Part 2 and Part 3 as Part 1 was…well…lost). It begins its focus on a church in Los Angeles that we recognize as the place where Mrs. Hawking has that swinging pendulum in the basement. Here are the revelations from the documentary:
-- Over $.15 million donated to the church by the Dharma Initiative Group
-- Invoices from the church reveal supplies of a wide variety of curious items that could supply a colony for an extended period of time such as 1.4 million tons of seed, ammunition, animal care supplies, drugs and soft restraints.
-- The land the church sits on is owned by a third party – a dizzying array of shell companies
-- Techniques by former potential staff include brainwashing techiniques
-- Discovery of a submarine fleet by the church and supporting groups
I’ll keep you up-to-date on the next airing!
MY WORKING THEORY
In the last few posts we have been examining the working theory of good versus evil, the role of shoes, and the various states of “living”.
If you search on “The Computer Theory” you’ll find some older posts which suggested some supercomputer is behind all this stuff and the reasons for this theory.
In the process of looking for a final theory before Season 6 begins I was led back to religion and science being co-mingled. Then it hit me…
What if all these theories we have been kicking around are intertwined? For example…
Jacob is for good, Man in Black is for evil.
Jacob feels technology will destroy mankind eventually, Man in Black believes technology is required for mankind to exist.
Jacob is supporting the Others, Man in Black supports the Dharma Initiative.
Jacob is a man of faith, Man in Black is a man of science.
So where does the computer theory come in? I suggest that the Temple is the super computer – some sort of mega-artificial-intelligence machine. That relates to the four types of dead people outlined in the previous post.
I’ll try to flush out these ideas and suggest where they could lead LOST for Season 6 in the next few posts, so keep checking back!
**
If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!
Enjoy,
KC
The ABC summer game, Lost University, is being paired with a DVD to be released September 22. Yep, that’s five years to the date of the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815.
There appears to be two semesters of courses that allow us to dig deeper into the meaning and purpose of LOST. This should supplement my real-world college courses since I need more to do in my life! HA!
The courses are offered on-line – again the registration date is September 22. It isn’t clear if you must have the Blueray discs. I’ll keep you posted.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Part 2 of the 1980’s documentary series, Mysteries of the Universe, has been released. If you recall, ABC discovered the old video footage when doing some cleaning up of its archive files. The series was never aired (for reasons unexplained), but now with the popularity of LOST, they have decided to release the only episodes still intact.
On September 8, the second section was released (Part 2 and Part 3 as Part 1 was…well…lost). It begins its focus on a church in Los Angeles that we recognize as the place where Mrs. Hawking has that swinging pendulum in the basement. Here are the revelations from the documentary:
-- Over $.15 million donated to the church by the Dharma Initiative Group
-- Invoices from the church reveal supplies of a wide variety of curious items that could supply a colony for an extended period of time such as 1.4 million tons of seed, ammunition, animal care supplies, drugs and soft restraints.
-- The land the church sits on is owned by a third party – a dizzying array of shell companies
-- Techniques by former potential staff include brainwashing techiniques
-- Discovery of a submarine fleet by the church and supporting groups
I’ll keep you up-to-date on the next airing!
MY WORKING THEORY
In the last few posts we have been examining the working theory of good versus evil, the role of shoes, and the various states of “living”.
If you search on “The Computer Theory” you’ll find some older posts which suggested some supercomputer is behind all this stuff and the reasons for this theory.
In the process of looking for a final theory before Season 6 begins I was led back to religion and science being co-mingled. Then it hit me…
What if all these theories we have been kicking around are intertwined? For example…
Jacob is for good, Man in Black is for evil.
Jacob feels technology will destroy mankind eventually, Man in Black believes technology is required for mankind to exist.
Jacob is supporting the Others, Man in Black supports the Dharma Initiative.
Jacob is a man of faith, Man in Black is a man of science.
So where does the computer theory come in? I suggest that the Temple is the super computer – some sort of mega-artificial-intelligence machine. That relates to the four types of dead people outlined in the previous post.
I’ll try to flush out these ideas and suggest where they could lead LOST for Season 6 in the next few posts, so keep checking back!
**
If you enjoyed this post, please take a moment to click on one of the ads after you finish reading. Thanks!
Enjoy,
KC
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