Faith and Reason in Halloween Town Part 2

If you haven't read my previous post regarding this topic, the following post might not make much sense.  But, just like a lost student in the wrong classroom on the first day of school, you should stick around.  You just might learn something you'd have never thought about otherwise.

When we last left Jack, he was brooding over the mysteries of Christmas (which we had previously examined as being symbolically representative of the ambiguities of knowledge via Faith), and Sally received a premonition of sorts, leading to her to believe that Jack's Christmas won't be as jolly as he thinks.  After paying a visit to Halloween Town's resident scientist, Dr. Finkelstein, Jack procures the necessary tools for examining the specimens he brought back from Christmas Town.  When testing the conductivity of candy canes and the dissecting of teddy bears fails to shed any light on the matter, Jack paces in his tower, pondering the mystery of the physical representations of Christmas/Faith.  The following video is one of the most important to this discussion because it doesn't take very much effort to imagine any philosopher or scientist agonizing in much the same way Jack is.

4. In the song "Jack's Obsession", we witness firsthand Jack's (what else?) obsession.  His research into the empirical aspects of Faith prove fruitless until Jack reaches an extreme interpretation of Faith being made manifest in the actions of the individual.

The texts Jack has studied regarding Faith all lead him in circles.  As an empirical scientist may be when reading the Bible, Jack is unable to understand the ultimate meaning behind the words because the words are all he sees, and thusly, they are all he is able to believe.  This scene is rich with philosophical symbolism.  The house of cards Jack is attempting to build is an excellent analogy of philosophy itself.  The individual cards represent the basic principles, or axioms, that we ironically have to accept on Faith in order to build up our understanding of the world.  Without first assuming a few axioms, all human activity becomes paralyzed.  For example, the computer you're using is a complex system.  If you're reading this, the computer in question can access the internet.  It can pluck dancing lines of code from the digital ethernet and interpret it as legible text.  This computer is a useful tool, but in using this, you are operation on the assumption that this computer exists at all.  This implies that one of your axioms is belief in the existence of computers.  Now, if you went to the other side of the spectrum and suddenly became a skeptic about the existence of all computers, you would have good reasons to do so, but again, you are operating on an axiom, this time a belief of the non-existence of computers.  Whether or not you believe computers exist, you are still assuming an axiom.  Jack has built up a complex house of cards, a complicated series of fundamental axioms, but since his paradigm is that of the radical empiricist, his house of cards cannot support the weight of an axiom of Faith.

Up until this point, Jack has been scrutinizing things external of himself, but it suddenly occurs to him that it isn't these physical objects that are important.  Faith has no bearing on material matter; it is only of any significance to sentient beings capable of doubt and belief.  If Faith is to manifest itself physically, it can only do so in the actions of the individual, and this is what most profoundly strikes Jack.  Faith is like a seed that grows into a tree, but only if the potential inside the seed is actualized.  Ecstatic at this epiphany, Jack leaps to the conclusion that if Christmas/Faith is to be made real as he believes it must be, he has to make it a reality in himself and others.  His empiricist outlook evolves somewhat when we take a closer look at the words he sings: "It's simply really, very clear, like music drifting in the air, invisible, but everywhere.  Just because I cannot see it doesn't mean I can't believe it!" He has made a huge step towards a more rational, moderate outlook by admitting that something can exist without having physical form.  Jack still believes that for Faith to be really real, it should be made manifest in the actions of people, but he has firmly grasped the concept of an intangible, rational force that can legitimately exist outside the scope of his senses.

Unfortunately, Jack doesn't stop there.  At first his thoughts are that everyone should experience some degree of Faith, as he has.  But Jack, extremist that he is, takes it too far.  He assumes that if Faith can become physical in any sense, it can be improved by means of Reason.  If Faith, by its very nature is such that it doesn't build upon itself as Reason does, then Jack believes it should be made to build.  Feeling in his heart that he is doing the right thing, he proclaims to the citizens of Halloween Town that Christmas will be theirs this year, and that Faith will be embraced and perfected by Reason.  His argument is logical by Reason's standards, so the townsfolk eagerly agree to help him in his scheme.

This is where things might get a wee bit complicated.

If the nature of Faith is such that it will build upon itself without external influence, than Faith must be subdued by Reason.  This is shown in the symbolic kidnapping of Santa Claus, the task of which forces  Jack to call upon the services of Hallween's finest trick-or-treaters, Lock, Shock and Barrel, all of whom are associated with the darker figure in Halloween Town, Oogie-Boogie the Boogie Man.  Jack trusts the three devils with the task of capturing St. Nick, but they have their own plans, all revolving around the ambition of their master.  Santa is abducted from Christmas Town, and Lock and company take him to Oogie-Boogie's lair.

5.  Santa Claus falls into the clutches of Oogie-Boogie, the collective incarnation of Reason that refuses to acknowledge Faith.

Oogie-Boogie is a gambling Boogie Man.  He represents a side of Reason that puts more stock in chance than anything else.  It is completely Faithless, selfish, immoral and unwilling to even open itself to the idea of something greater than itself.  In other words, his view of the universe is completely the opposite of a teleological one, a universe of chaos and disorder. We later learn that Oogie-Boogie is actually a collective of insects given shape and form by the sack he wears as skin.  Without these insects, he is helpless and without form.  This weakness represents the fact that a chaotic view of the universe is made strong only by the sheer number of people it attracts and/or by the evils of the world that point to a less ordered universe.  Many brilliant thinkers throughout history have not thought existence was merely the product of chance.  Plato's Demiurge and Aristotle's Unmoved Mover are examples of a counter to Boogie's position.  Though the existence of a creator figure cannot be proven (hence the necessity of Faith), it is still more logically probable than an incredibly complex reality coming about purely by chance.  Oogie-Boogie also mocks Santa/Faith repeatedly, implying that he believes Faith is not a necessity nor a reality.  He is radically empirical, as Jack is, but he is different in that he internally resolves to never accept any force greater than himself or chance.

Notice also a lyrical similarity between Jack and Ooogie-Boogie in the mention of "music in the air."  Earlier, Jack described Faith as being "-like music drifting in the air, invisible but everywhere."  Oogie-Boogie says that to him, "-the sound of rolling dice is music in the air."  Where Jack sees Faith as being an intangible yet omnipresent force, Oogie-Boogie differs in offering that if there is any room for Faith in his worldview, it is only enough for Faith in the sound of rolling dice, Faith in the forces of chance.

While Oogie-Boogie schemes against Jack and plays host to the captive Santa Claus, the Halloween townsfolk are hard at work.  The townsfolk labor hard to make Faith a physical reality, but as good as their intentions are, they are also misguided.  As they work, they chant "Making Christmas, Making Christmas".  They think that Faith is something than can be manufactured by their labor, not something that they need to embrace and actualize.  Jack notices this, but knowing that the townsfolk cannot truly understand Faith as he does (remember that the townsfolk represent the Forms of Reason itself), he does not berate them.

As the work proceeds and Christmas draws nearer, Sally grows more concerned about Jack's plan.  When Jack begins giving out work assignments, he asks Sally to make him a Santa Claus suit so that he may embody Faith through his physical appearance as well as his actions.  Again, the intention is good, but the action is a misguided one.  When Sally makes that point to Jack, he remains oblivious, still obsessed with his idea of making Faith a reality and showing it to everyone.  Sally, though increasingly desperate to convince Jack of his folly, concedes and makes him the suit.

We should ask ourselves "why is Sally so desperate to stop Jack?"  Isn't Jack's raw intention good?  All he wants is to share the wonderful feeling of experiencing Faith.  To make the point more clear, suppose that an idea suddenly occurred to you.  It is not originally yours, but this idea is so incredible and revolutionary that you believe everyone needs to at least hear it.  Suppose also that you believed you could make improvements to the original idea.  Wouldn't you want to share it?  It's exactly the same with Jack.  He's stumbled upon something he believes is very important and he wants to share it with everyone.  Sally is not in conflict with him on this.  Since her premonition was also an experience of Faith (the vision gave her knowledge that she knows without knowing), she knows what he is talking about.  Where she has issue with him is his belief that he can improve Faith by means of Reason.

But wait.  If both Jack and Sally had experiences of Faith, why are they in conflict?  How can two people see truth and not agree on it?  The answer is that they are not truly in conflict because of Faith.  If Faith imparts truth and Reason discerns truth through logic, are they not both true?  Truth cannot conflict with truth because all truth comes from the same source.  The real conflict, then, comes from differing interpretations of the truth.  Jack has seen truth and believes he can improve the means by which this truth is acquired (via Faith).  Sally has also seen truth and realizes that Faith, since it is independent of Reason, cannot be improved.  It simply is.

So far, we have three viewpoints regarding Faith:  Jack says that Faith is to be pursued wholeheartedly and subject to Reason.  Sally believes that Faith and Reason are separately existing spheres (not unlike Thomas Aquinas), different methods to perceive the truth that should not conflict with one another.  And finally, Oogie-Boogie states that Faith is irrelevant because the universe is guided purely by chance, and that the only truth worth finding is the truth we make for ourselves.

Which of these views will ultimately be proven correct?  Will Jack's plan to subdue Faith succeed?  Will Faith and Reason finally find a lasting compromise?  Find out next time when the Idiot posts the final chapter in this philosophical saga!