Shit and the act of shitting have struggled over time to receive the attention and respect they deserve. Even though everybody does it, societal norms dictate that we not talk about it in public. The outhouse was named such because society has long placed the act of shitting in society’s outhouse.
The emergence of the Church of the Holy Shitters has changed all that. Now, all of a sudden, there is a religion focused on it. Shit is the focal point of our existence. It is the compass of our lives. It is the substance that directs our attention. It is the stuff that really matters. Its contemplation assists us in achieving the Shitty Way of Life aspired to by members of our Church.
The first thing I want to mention as Poop John the First of the Church of the Holy Shitters is that people think shit is disgusting and they think the act of shitting is disgusting. They try to hide
taking a dump every day, try not to talk about it, try to stay away from it, try not to admit they do it every day and flush it away as quickly as possible when they're finished.
Anthropologists think disgust is learned. They point to small children who show no disgust at dirt or feces until they are educated otherwise. The anthropologist Mary Douglas concluded that something is dirty because it is out of place. Soil in the garden is fine; soil on a plate is not. Disgust becomes a way of ordering a society, of creating a hierarchy of what is safe and what is acceptable. It also becomes a way of distancing intellectual humans from their embarrassingly animal origins.
Here is an excerpt written by John D. Morris, Ph.D for the Institute for Creation Research entitled Is Man a "Higher" Animal? illustrating the "man is not an animal" argument so prevalent today.
...”Man is different. His "higher" characteristics have more to do with his intelligence, his ability to plan and consider the future, and ability to express emotions. Animal instincts and habits are remarkable, but something sets man apart.
We find this difference explained in the record provided by the Creator of man and the animals. In Genesis One we see that the fish, the birds, the creeping things, the cattle, the beasts of the field, and the beasts of the earth were all created "after their kinds." But when God created man, He created him "after His own image." We often have similar DNA to the animals, similar body parts, similar functions, similar consciousness, similar blood, but the comparison disappears when man's eternal spirit is considered. The animals have nothing like this. Something about man adequately reflects God's nature in a way that the animals don't share.
God created man with the wonderful ability to reason and comprehend abstract thoughts. He alone can speak in a language which communicates his inner yearnings. Most importantly, man can truly love and respond to love, most particularly the love of God. He can recognize his own sinfulness, repent of it, and appreciate God's gracious solution to his sin problem. He can respond to God's love by choosing a life pleasing to Him. Animals, regardless of their cranial capacity, know nothing of this.
Man is qualitatively superior to the animals in many important ways. But he is also quantitatively distinct from all animals.
No, man is not a higher animal. Man is not an animal at all. He is the very image of God, and nothing less.”
So, as this argument goes we are made in the image of God. Only we have a free will, only we have a soul, and only we have an eternal spirit. God has given us a superior intellect. We are higher. Life on this Earth is only a temporary state on our way to eternal life. Animals stay on Earth but we pass on to this higher place because we are different. We are godlike.
This line of reasoning allows us to trick ourselves into thinking we can do things differently; we can defy the rules of nature and bend them to our will by using our superior intelligence. The religions most people practice allow them to elevate themselves into believing they are the “masters of nature” and are uniquely endowed by God to conquer its forces bending it to their will. It inflates the ego.
With our intelligence we create our technology. We have unfaltering faith in its creation and implementation. How many times have you heard someone say that technology will solve the problem? Through research and development the answers will emerge. Trust the scientists to solve the problem.
Because of our superior intellect, our technology, and our God given destiny, we see no problem in bending nature to meet our every desire. Why not? We are in control of our own destiny. God has chosen us to be in control. We have a God-given right to subjugate nature to satisfy our every whim
This line of reasoning inevitably leads to an unsustainable lifestyle. It leads to an over-inflated ego. We literally tend to deny, or the very least take for granted, what is critically needed for us to live such as the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land on which we grow our food.
The Church of the Holy Shitters renounces this line of reasoning completely. We declare it a totally ass-backward way of looking at mankind’s place and role in nature. We propose a different ass-forward approach to nature and our place in the world.
Ass-forward thinking taught in the Church of the Holy Shitters dictates that mankind be considered an animal. We eat like animals; we drink like animals; we urinate and shit like animals; we scratch ourselves like animals; when we are threatened we scream like animals; we sleep like animals; we form packs like animals; we are born like animals and die like animals. What else could we be? Some animals have more highly developed eyes than us. Some have a better sense of smell. Others can hear better. We happen to have a highly developed cerebral cortex. So what? Does that make us not animal?
Furthermore, let us proclaim one thing further. Not only does the Church of the Holy Shitters consider man an animal, but the ass-forward way of thinking we practice dictates that humanity be put at the bottom of the animal kingdom. We are the lowest animal on the planet. Now I know your first reaction to this statement is “Holy Shit, how can anyone say that?” However, this is just your brainwashed ass-backward ego talking. Consider the following:
Who in the animal kingdom is polluting the air we breathe?
Who in the animal kingdom is polluting the water we drink?
Who in the animal kingdom is polluting the Earth from which we grow food?
Who in the animal kingdom is causing other species to go extinct?
Who in the animal kingdom is overpopulating our planet?
Who in the animal kingdom is causing our climate to change?
We've got to stop
bullshitting ourselves and come to terms with our bodily functions and our animal nature. We've got to take our heads out of the sand.
We've got to start thinking about crap if we're ever going to straighten all this shit out!
We're running out of time!
And when that happens we're screwed!
The Church of the Holy Shitters will post articles on our holy S.H.I.T. day ( So Happy It's Thursday)
Last week - 5/16/13: Shit vs Crap
Next week - 5/30/13: "Eco-San" - Ecological Sanitation
Hoping to add some humor, provoke thought, spark debate, deepen understanding, and shed some light on the fecal side.
Remember: "If we really want to straighten out all this crap we really need to think about shit." ( Shitbit by Poop John the First of the Church of the Holy Shitters)
Church of the Holy Shitters
A secular environmental religion, scientifically based, with a focus on the psychology of it all. Our ego is the culprit when it comes to dealing with climate change. We cannot save the planet. We can only save ourselves. Our current egotistical self-perception makes that prospect a dubious one at best. Meekness, humility and a realization that our shit does stink, guides us on our path to true sustainable living and climate equilibrium.
Cross posted at http://holyshitters.com/