Joseph’s post lamenting the state of England’s culture, vividly displayed at the Olympics, generated an extraordinary number of comments. Almost all of them were in sympathy; the two or three that objected were comically childish sputterings of indignation.

I didn’t watch the closing ceremony. I had seen the opening and thought it shocking. Not accustomed to watching Olympics, however, I thought maybe all Olympic ceremonies were like that. But I couldn’t help feeling sympathy for English friends, believing them to be embarrassed by the orgiastic spectacle of self-worship. (A word occurred to me that is too indelicate to mention here.)

The comments on Joseph’s post prove that other people were shocked as well. Particularly poignant were the comments of a few English readers. How alone they must feel. If I could offer sympathy, I would say: Take comfort. The very fact that you are there, that you are not consumed by this cesspool, that you are able to see it for what it is—even if it hurts you to see it—all of that is reason to hope.

John Lennon’s “Imagine”  was played/sung; it was mentioned in the post and in several comments. Has no one ever actually listened to the words of that song? Imagine there’s no country—okay, just imagine. Peace, according to Lennon, means annihilating countries. He believed, apparently, that “countries” cause war, and that if there were no countries, there would be no war. But wars are only rarely fought over national borders. Most wars are caused by conflicting ideologies, not boundaries—in fact, ideologies just like that which he expresses—which would cancel, eradicate, destroy, all ideologies except its own. This song is an anthem of Absolute Intolerance. The truth is that if there were no countries, no home, no rootedness, no identity, there would not be peace, but psychosis.

No religion—except the religion of no religion. Absolute Intolerance of religion would enforce the eradication of any religion except itself. Imagine. The Other would simply not be allowed to exist. What would remain then, except utter aloneness. Any obstacle to humanity’s self-worship would then be removed, because there would be no one to love but itself. And since it would also have no one to be loved BY except itself, that love must, by necessity, be enforced. But authentic love must be given freely, so there could be no love. The inescapable truth is that, if there is no God, there can be no love of any kind except self-love.

Imagine. Yes. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we never had to respect anyone’s beliefs again? We could just say—oh, you have a belief contrary to this? Okay, that’s it—you shall not be allowed to exist. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just deny anyone’s right to a sense of their own identity? We could just kill off anyone who didn’t identify with us. We could just kill off anyone who loved Anyone except us. We wouldn’t have to worry about respect for each other—we wouldn’t need it; all we would need is adherence to the creed of Absolute Intolerance, which declares that nothing shall be allowed to exist except itself. There shall be no Other, neither God nor man.

Imagine. Yes. Imagine hell.