metasilk: can't say I agree with Iago's ethics either, but it's a beautifully presented example of a type of thought you see variants of some 400 years on.
Saw a production of Otello this year set in 20th/21st(?) century, with contemporary military uniforms. The set was a palace damaged by fire & shelling. It reminded me of the recent Balkans war. The scene where Iago states his Creed was very dramatically powerful, and well sung, but at least I'm old enough to have thought & experienced enough to not be swayed by such appeals. It can appeal to some. That was one theme of Stephen King's The Stand, IIRC.
mythago: some, perhaps many, people select their current 'beliefs' because of what is currently chic. "God-bothering" is pretty chic in much of the US. Others have thought & felt deeply, and considered the good & bad consequences of different beliefs while developing their own convictions. And different ones still come up with different answers - tho' as Bjorn said, 'Treat others as you would like them to treat you' tends to recur. Please don't dismiss all atheists as airily as some zealous non-believers dismiss all believers as being ignorant superstitious bigoted dupes.
A different creed again (just to cheer everyone up) - can't work out how to get them neatly in two columns here. Please don't read this if you're not feeling strong.
"Iago's Creed" from Otello
Credo in un Dio crudel
che m'ha creato simile a sè
e che nell'ira io nomo.
Dalla viltà d'un germe
o d'un atomo vile son nato.
Son scellerato perchè son uomo;
e sento il fango originario in me.
Sì! Questa è la mia fè!
Credo con fermo cuor,
siccome crede la vedovella al tempio,
che il mal ch'io penso
e che da me procede,
per il mio destino adempio.
Credo che il guisto
è un istrion beffardo,
e nel viso e nel cuor,
che tutto è in lui bugiardo:
lagrima, bacio, sguardo,
sacrificio ed onor.
E credo l'uom gioco
d'iniqua sorte
dal germe della culla
al verme dell'avel.
Vien dopo tanta irrision la Morte.
E poi? E poi?
La Morte è il Nulla.
È vecchia fola il Ciel!
I believe in a cruel God
who has created me in His image
and whom, in hate, I name.
From some vile seed
or base atom I am born.
I am evil because I am a man;
and I feel the primeval slime in me.
Yes! This is my testimony!
I believe with a firm heart,
as does the young widow at the altar,
that whatever evil I think
or that whatever comes from me
was decreed for me by fate.
I believe that the honest man
is but a poor actor,
both in face and heart,
that everything in him is a lie:
tears, kisses, looks,
sacrifices, and honor.
And I believe man to be the sport
of an unjust Fate,
from the germ of the cradle
to the worm of the grave.
After all this mockery comes death.
And then? And then?
Death is Nothingness.
Heaven is an old wives’ tale!
A Boito/G Verdi, based on Othello by W Shakespeare.
Translation by Jonathan H. Ward (ilbasso@aol.com)
Two sources of several:
http://www.aria-database.com/translations/otello01_credo.txt
http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/librettim.html
There are other translations I prefer parts of, e.g.
I believe the just man is a poor actor,
whether in his face or heart,
everything about him is a lie:
and
And I believe man is a plaything of an unjust fate
or
And after this futility comes death.
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