Holy Spirit as Egalitarian Community
Žižek reads the Holy Ghost not as a supernatural entity but as the community of believers / emancipatory collective that remains after God's death, 'whenever there is love between two of you, I will be there'.
In his words 8
“holy spirit is already a return. it's a pure obscenity to look for something more, some living dead like christ coming up and returning.”42:46 The New Sacred · holy spirit as true resurrection
“the really good news of holy spirit is that an egalitarian emancipatory community which bypasses social hierarchy is possible. that's the really great news.”43:42 The New Sacred · holy spirit as proto-communist community
“christianity is a great religion because basically it says god is dead, we have holy spirit, which is for me the first name for the communist party, community of believers.”1:30:14 Europe is Kaput – Long live Europe! · Holy Spirit as communist party
The stories that teach it
the jokes and anecdotes he reaches for when he works in this idea, ranked by how many of its talks they turn up in; each card is one story, with every retelling on its page
Book of Job as first critique of ideology
Job's theological friends tell him his suffering has a deeper meaning; Jehovah appears and says Job was right, the suffering has no meaning. Chesterton reads God's 'where were you when I created monsters' speech not as arrogance but as: look, the whole world is a mess, you're …
Napoleon takes the crown from the Pope
Napoleon takes the crown from the Pope and places it on his own head; the Pope tells him he will fail at ruining Christianity because 'we Catholic institution have been trying to do this for years and didn't succeed'.
Niels Bohr's horseshoe
Niels Bohr had a horseshoe on his country-house door; when a scientist friend asked why a scientist would keep a superstitious charm, Bohr answered 'I was told it works even if you don't believe in it', Žižek's model for ideology today.
Starbucks ethical consumerism
Buying a Starbucks cappuccino is sold as supporting Guatemalan organic farmers and saving the planet; the owner appeared like Anthony Giddens calling Starbucks an ersatz place of collective experience. The sin of consumerism and its redemption are packaged together in the same…
Chesterton's reading of God's answer to Job
Žižek cites Chesterton's reading of Job: God's answer ('where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?') is not about infinite wisdom, but about God admitting his creation is a failure, validating Job's complaint.
Nixon, Brezhnev, Honecker ask God
Nixon, Brezhnev, and Honecker each ask God what will become of their country; each answer is worse than expected (USA becomes Soviet, USSR becomes Chinese colony, GDR likewise), and each leader cries, then finally God himself turns and cries. Illustrates the Christological mom…
Where it comes up 44
47 moments located in the transcripts, click a timestamp to play from there