The Essence of Sacred Slop

Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance. Jean-Paul Sartre

If Sartre sounds a little grim, he had good reason to be. "In his philosophical view atheism is taken for granted; the "loss of God" is not mourned. Man is condemned to freedom, a freedom from all authority, which he may seek to evade, distort, and deny but which he will have to face if he is to become a moral being. The meaning of man's life is not established before his existence. Once the terrible freedom is acknowledged, man has to make this meaning himself, has to commit himself to a role in this world, has to commit his freedom. And this attempt to make oneself is futile without the 'solidarity' of others."

Here's what happened (as Mr. Monk might say)... Europe had been a flourishing part of the world in what is commonly referred to as the Renaissance. For hundreds of years, religious devotion looked like it was paying off. Then along came the black plague and serious doubt and anxiety
churned in its aftermath. Then Nietzsche made things worse by stating that God was dead. So a largely Christian culture fell on its face, then along came world wars one and two plus the palpable fear that nuclear annihilation would bring. Man had no enemies but himself. In this Euro-neurosis sprung a perspective called existentialism, and it drove people crazy. Mainly because it challenged man's entire concept of self and society.
Existentialism: choosing the lesser of two evils.
Existentialism: there are no valid authorities to assist you with this.
Existentialism: you always have a choice and are condemned to that freedom.
Existentialism: there is no exogenous "meaning" to life...
or what The Transmogrifer calls "the fucked-for-life syndrome."
Existentialism: religion and its bastard child government only serve
to manipulate the masses.
"Noir" is a French word for dark, or black.
If there any doubt about what the CIA does check out these
cool CIA coins that sum up the CIA's attitude and mission: