Crossposted at EricStetson.com
A patient walks into a therapist's office for a consultation...
THERAPIST: So, what's troubling you? How can I help you?
PATIENT: Well, I seem to have a mental illness that's causing a lot of suffering in my life. I'm not interested in buying the latest fashionable clothes or electronic gadgets -- I mean, for one thing, I'm just not interested, but to make matters worse, they're made by oppressed and impoverished workers in a third-world country. Instead, I'm interested in trying to promote positive change in the world by supporting progressive causes. I expect the politicians who lead the government to keep their promises and govern based on a desire to do what's right for the people, not for wealthy corporate lobbyists. I get frustrated when I see that no matter who gets elected, all they do is start wars, cut taxes for the rich, and cut social programs, scientific investment, education, funding for the arts and culture, and everything else that's actually good. I feel that life has become too detached from nature and that the culture of our society has lost its spiritual and moral foundations. The meat we eat comes from gigantic animal factories, where the poor creatures live lives of misery ending in a brutal and highly mechanized slaughter. People seem to be too individualistic, too selfish, and treat each other like commodities to be consumed. Everything is commercialized, phony, and based on the desire of huge multinational corporations to stoke people's desires for more things than we need so that they can make more money than they need. Being ignorant, cynical, and apathetic is celebrated, and being well-informed, idealistic, and actively working for major change is laughed at and regarded as quaint. All of this -- all that I'm telling you -- is impossible for me to accept. It pains me so much to think that this is really what the world is like, and that most people around me think it's okay and go on with their lives as if this is somehow normal. I feel that I must do something to change the world, and I would give up what comforts I enjoy, maybe even my life, if there was something I could do to make a real difference. What's wrong with me, doctor? Can you cure me of my sickness and make me like everyone else so that I won't feel like this anymore?
THERAPIST: I'm sorry, but I can't help you. You see, you have a condition that used to be called "having a soul." In fact, this condition was once regarded as the normal or ideal state of a human being -- not a disordered state at all. There was a time when people like you were regarded as admirable and honorable, and when all people were urged by institutions of the highest moral authority in society to be more like you are. Songs and poems were written to celebrate the memory of people who were afflicted to an extreme degree and spread the affliction of soul to others.
PATIENT: But there must be something you can do to help me! Some pill, some medical procedure?
THERAPIST: I cannot amputate your soul. If the world as it exists around us hasn't succeeded in doing that already, then nothing ever could. It appears that you're just going to have to live with your condition. Since there is no cure for having a soul, I suggest you be bold in your madness rather than trying to hide it. Let everyone see what it is like to be a human being afflicted with a soul. Raise awareness of ensoulment syndrome. Start or join a support group for people like you who give a damn, and do something together to live beautifully crazy, soul-filled lives. And maybe, if enough people catch this noble disease, eventually it will become normal again. Good luck and God speed!