Face Of The Screaming Werewolf

A few days ago, I was talking to an intellectual fellow about the possibility that the terms "existential" and "nihilism" are mutually exclusive. I disagreed, but that's a boring discussion (though if you want in, email me). Anyway, this quote was provided by my online friend, from the book Face of the Screaming Werewolf by Ken Gage. I dig it:

"Cover the belief that this life is transitory in a literal sense and that the afterlife is the better one — justification for religious men and women and handpuppets to perpetuate their worldly evils: to decimate forests; to extinguish animal lives so routinely, both human and non-human ones; to poison the human food supply and the oceans; to wreak every manner of ecological disaster upon the one and only home planet. Such things are insignificant in that they
occur to flesh in transition, but occur for what reasoning? To generate profits for corporate shareholders and other wealth accumulation goals in this life, this transitory insignificant life?
If this life is so meaningless that these worldly evils ought not to matter, then why should wealth accumulation play so centrally to so many institutions and individuals? The great leaders who pretend in the supremacy of their dollar-creation schemes in this transitory
world are — one and all — frauds, liars, charlatans, tricksters, bullshitters and kings who would say anything to live closer to the top of the shit pile; they drive the gullible and faithful masses to toil away their one and only lifetime using the old spiritual con of transition as a mask to hide their own greed engines that deliver the lion's share of worldly material benefits to the luxury classes higher up the pyramid. You working class imbeciles, maybe it is better that you die toiling away for your illusions than know the sad disappointment of the actual situation. Yes, in the afterlife you will finally have your reward — 72 virgins, too, and whatever other promises your spiritual leaders have made. To die with the happiest dreams, though even in dire earthly poverty, is reward enough for dreamers; leave all earthly pleasures to the wicked leisure class, for they certainly shall not pass through those gates of paradise in the next world, having seen and tasted so much paradise here along these earthly shores."

As it turns out, I was talking to the author himself, Ken Gage. I like what I've read so far, and I just ordered the book.

Dobie the nurse his here! More later...