THE GODS ARE DEAD

And we are the ones who killed them

Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

There are two gods on this earth: money and celebrity.

Unlike Jesus Chris, the god of money is never ridiculed. Nearly everyone clambers for it. Even if they do not, they begrudgingly accept his necessity. Most, however, are enthralled to him, spending their days grabbing at him. Their lives revolve around obtaining more of his grace; for grace they think it is. With him, they can spend and buy what they require for survival but also buy possessions they never before needed. Humans used to be able to carry their worldly belongings in a sack; now entire logistics companies have special trucks to move their possessions from one home to another. To the god of money, we toil and toil, the majority of our waking days entirely in his service. We believe that just a bit more of his presence will make our lives ‘better’, but in reality, it makes them worse. The god of money is an addiction. If we reach the amount which we aimed for, we are not happy but want more; we toil again, if not physically by our hands - as now we can buy other people’s labour as a reward from god - then in our minds, constantly obsessed, continually wanting more and perpetually thinking how to gain it. Those who do not reach their aim never stop trying; they spend more of their lives; their time, their health, their relationships, their families, trying to gain this arbitrary aim. The god of money requires full sacrifice, a life dedicated to it, an old age worrying if it was enough, and a death without it.

If God created man in His image for us to imitate him, then celebrity is that god. Likes of Kim Kardashian - famous for being famous; her sisters, princes and princesses; footballers; actors and actresses and singers. These are the brethren of the god of money, the ones he has been most gracious to. We ogle and awe at their photoshopped bodies, hidden behind Instagram filters, in expensive clothes with expensive bags; in expensive cars driving nowhere; on stationary yachts in crystal blue seas.

Worshipped greater than Greek gods for even though we know their bodies are fake, we still want them. We clamber to buy the fakeness they hold; for them, we must become.

Just like the Greek gods of Mount Olympus, they have proven selfish and self-centred. Zeus was forever cheating on his wife, Hera, not dissimilar to many celebrities of today. To satisfy his lusts he would do depraved things to humans. He r*ped the mere mortal, Io and then to hide it from his jealous wife, he cowardly turned Io into a heifer. But wives often know, and Hera sent a gadfly to torment Io. It followed her everywhere, stinging and hurting her. She wandered the earth in her cow form for years, followed mercilessly by the fly. A victim of both these man-made gods; a serial rapist and his jealous spouse: yet still they were worshipped for centuries, from Greece to Italy, Egypt to Asia Minor.

Despite these infidelities and injustices, the Greeks still worshipped Zeus, just as modern man still worships celebrities. It does not matter if they killed people and faced no punishment, no matter too how many times they broke their wives’ and husbands’ hearts. Even sexual assault of minors cannot budge the admiration and the longing of their form. They are not like us mere mortals; they live high above us all, on Mount Olympus, their earthly crimes accepted as simple misdemeanours committed against lower beings; mere humans.

But Mount Olympus is on Earth. And the Earth can shake.

Mount Olympus has been shaken by a mighty earthquake, one that has destroyed it beyond return.

Palestine.

The feet of the millions on earth marching for the freedom of Palestine have shaken the earth to its core. Mount Olympus has ejected its residents. It has crumbled to dust. They live among us now; human, desperate and confused. Their actions are seen as they are; immoral, self-absorbed and debased.

For what else can you call those silent on genocide? Or worse, those who support those who commit it?

The earthquake of Palestinian resistance that we are all part of, has shown these people that we see their fakery; their mask has fallen, and their ugliness is revealed in full.

And just as people turn away from antiquated religion in droves, the #Blockout2024 movement is sending them packing en masse.

It is not just the disgust against those we once admired, but the whole notion of ‘celebrity’ itself which is under fire. Celebrity had within our minds the aura of being in some way superior. But a class of people without the basic morality to call out genocide are no role models and are clearly not superior in any way. The class has fallen. It will not rise. No one wants to look at these ‘celebrities’ any more. We block them to keep them at bay: their only ardents now their own selves; their ‘fans’ preferring keffiyehs to silent complicity.

Just like the Greek gods, today’s celebrity gods are disappearing, joining the same pantheon of myths.

It is shocking how many earthquakes the people of Gaza have caused. The complete turning of the tide of public opinion. The opening of eyes of those who knew nothing; who once have seen can never return to their blindness. The desperation of the falling American empire. The beautiful rise in anti-anti-Semitism; a greater love for Jewish people throughout the world and the global effort for them to be separated and free from the political and racist ideology of Zionism which has hijacked their religion, ethnicity and birthright. The re-creation of communities; activists working together tirelessly, protests only getting bigger, not smaller, in an age where individualism is propagandised to be the norm. The global encampments of the students. The call of humanity over consumerism. The distaste of neoliberalism. Money’s grace no longer lies in possessions but in resistance: for what is the point of it all we have if we have no empathy; if we do not free Palestine? The god of money has lost his grip; no longer is he our object of desire and dedication; he is now merely a tool for basic needs.

The old gods are dead.

We killed them with our love for the people of Gaza. We killed them with our hate of genocide. Together with the martyrs of Palestine, we shook the earth loose from them.

Free Palestine.