Inspiration & Information

I thought that the article was really quite intriguing. There were some good arguments and points. The very last line in article however really caught my attention. "Science can give us knowledge, but it cannot give us wisdom. Nor can religion, until it puts aside nonsense and distraction and becomes itself again." I agree with this quote to a certain extent. I feel like it is very cut and dry saying that this is the way it is, and there is nothing you can do about it. It makes the argument that science cannot give us wisdom- this is debatable. Then it argues that religion too cannot provide wisdom until it puts aside nonsense and distraction. I can see her point, but what I don't agree with is the fact that she generalizes it for the masses when it is more on an individual basis. Religion is what man puts into it. If we want religion to "put aside nonsense and distraction" and become itself again then we must be the ones to do that. We are the ones who put aside the nonsense and distraction in our lives to make room for religion. Religion will then provide for us wisdom and understanding and can help us answer the questions at hand. Approaching belief in our work can be a difficult thing, and doing it in such a way that is not offensive is even more difficult. But the moment that we do put aside the nonsense and distraction and allow for the spirit to guide us in our endeavors as filmmakers the difficulty leaves. I believe that the spirit is our greatest guide to success in respectful material, but we must remember that inspiration is greatly based on information. The more we know about the parties that we are representing in our works the more capable we become to do it in such a way that is respectful. If we want the guidance of the spirit we must first be worthy of his presence, and second we must do our homework. An example of this is meeting someone for the first time. If we were to represent this person after meeting him for the first time we would certainly misrepresent him, and we may be ignorant to what is important to him. But once he becomes a friend our take on him is suddenly more respectful, more considerate and we really take into consideration what we are sharing with others. We don't want to paint a poor image of that person, but rather present him in the most pleasing light. So in my opinion I believe that before we represent a person, a group, or even a belief we must do our research and familiarize ourselves with the subject. If not we are being inconsiderate and unfair both to ourselves and the represented party. So just as a short reminder- inspiration is greatly based on information.