{"id":3392,"date":"2008-10-15T09:25:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-15T09:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2008\/10\/the-matrix-and-revolutions\/"},"modified":"2008-10-15T09:25:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-15T09:25:00","slug":"the-matrix-and-revolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2008\/10\/the-matrix-and-revolutions.html","title":{"rendered":"The Matrix and Revolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poster.net\/matrix-the\/matrix-the-reloaded-teaser-neo-4100406.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.poster.net\/matrix-the\/matrix-the-reloaded-teaser-neo-4100406.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/a> \n<div>It is blog action day, with the theme of poverty. One way people and societies attempt to address poverty is through revolutions. One type of revolution that fits with the theme and title of this blog is\u2026<em><a href=\"http:\/\/whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Matrix Revolutions<\/a><\/em>. <\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>The concept behind the <em>Matrix<\/em> films is a fascinating one. If one treats the matrix as a symbol of society, what is suggested is that this human creation in fact also turns around and enslaves us. And when we think we are managing to fight against it, it turns out that even <em>that effort at rebellion<\/em> is simply part of the way the system works.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>Societies have a certain status quo. When one individual\u2019s amassing of wealth or power begins to impinge too much on others, equilibrium is threatened. Revolutionaries and heroes may rise up. But \u201cthe One\u201d is always counterpart to another \u201cone\u201d who is doing the opposite. And revolutions never seems to lead to anything other than a new society with a new status quo. The <em>Matrix<\/em> films thus ask the really profound question of whether society is not something greater than us, which exerts a controlling influence over its component individual human beings that there is no way we can genuinely transform society in a profound and genuine way.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>If we want to address the issue of poverty, it will take radical changes to the ways things are done. Has our global society taken on its own autonomous existence to an extent that we are merely like cells in its body, capable of rebelling but not capable ultimately of transforming this \u201corganism\u201d into something else?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/mariofufufu.up.seesaa.net\/image\/Matrix2520Reloade3F3FA6CE3F3F.jpeg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/mariofufufu.up.seesaa.net\/image\/Matrix2520Reloade3F3FA6CE3F3F.jpeg\" border=\"0\"><\/a>The <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.matrix-explained.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Matrix<\/a> <\/em>movies don\u2019t hold out much hope. When Neo confronts Smith and restores the system, he is most likely where he would have been if he had gone through the other door. If he had chosen a different pill earlier, someone else would have become \u201cthe One\u201d. <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But pessimism is appropriate only if we think society is something from which we need to be free. If we embrace being part of society, and view some \u201cmatrix\u201d as inevitable and indeed necessary, then we can stop seeking to escape or destroy and work to <em>transform<\/em>.<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>We cannot escape being part of <em>some<\/em> matrix. But if we come to understand it, as Neo does symbolically in the movies, then there is hope that we can make whatever matrix we are in a better place for all its inhabitants.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7622297540113836091-7076127681775757638?l=exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com\" alt=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is blog action day, with the theme of poverty. One way people and societies attempt to address poverty is through revolutions. One type of revolution that fits with the theme and title of this blog is\u2026Matrix Revolutions. The concept behind the Matrix films is a fascinating one. If one treats the matrix as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Matrix and Revolutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is blog action day, with the theme of poverty. One way people and societies attempt to address poverty is through revolutions. One type of revolution\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2008\/10\/the-matrix-and-revolutions.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Matrix and Revolutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is blog action day, with the theme of poverty. One way people and societies attempt to address poverty is through revolutions. One type of revolution\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2008\/10\/the-matrix-and-revolutions.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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