The religion of Bokonon was created on the impoverished
island nation of San Lorenzo and the first sentence of the Book of Bokonon
warns readers that "all of the truths I am about to tell you are shameless
lies" (p. 5). I believe that
intentions are more important than the actions that come along with them, and
therefore believe that the religion of Bokonon is not a lie. This first
sentence showed that the book was not planning on deceiving readers and allowed
them to decide what to believe and take what they wanted out of the religion.
To me, this first statement also showed that Bokonon's intentions were to use
the book to help others, even if it meant creating a foundation of lies for
people to extract happiness from.
"Papa"
Monzano was clearly the dictator of San Lorenzo, and while he may have lived a
glamorous life, his people were clearly
suffering. They were described as " thin and every person had teeth
missing. Many legs were bowed or swollen. The women's breasts were bare and
paltry. The men wore loose loincloths that did little to conceal..." (p.
136). With such a difficult existence, the religion of Bokonon could have provided
them with hope. The idea of a karass, a team that people are divided into where
they do God's Will without even knowing it, can give meaning to an otherwise
trivial life. A wampeter, or hub that members of a karass orbit around could
provide people with a physical symbol to search for to find the real meaning of
their life. Bokonon also said that it was the souls that orbited the wampeter,
and not the body. This transcended the physical reality and could give people a
hope that even if their current life is difficult, it is all part of a plan and
they will have an opportunity to continue to do God's Will in a different body
in a better environment. This concept also created a larger universe, and could
make the burdensome life the people live in trivial and more tolerable to the
mind.
If
Bokononism could give these suffering citizens of San Lorenzo a glimmer of hope
in their lives, is the fact that the religion was built on lies take away from
its accomplishments? Personally, I value intentions more than actions and
Bokononism stayed true to its intentions of helping people, which made the religion
of Bokonon genuine.
This is what I find most interesting about the idea of Bokononism – the notion that a religious system completely based on lies, which should logically render it illegitimate, can actually be regarded in a positive manner. As Karl Marx said, “religion is the opiate of the masses.” In a literal sense, then, belief in a higher power is a ‘drug’ that soothes its users, takes away their problems, provides them with a short- or long-term answer. Whether religion is a truth or a lie cannot ultimately be determined – but I agree that the intents of Bokononism, to soothe the senses of pain and hopelessness felt by the San Lorenzo people, warrants the belief as legitimate and positive, even though Bokonon himself admits that it is based upon lies. Bokonon likely admits this, actually, because he himself understands that his notion of a “foma” – a harmless untruth that instills happiness in someone – is not really considered a lie, but a sort of opiate that serves as a positive, not negative, influence.
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