Karma Police

I'm not a religious person, despite the internet name many people know me as (christschool). I'm agnostic, meaning in my case that I don't know if there is a God or not. I'm equally repelled by dogmatic religion and atheism. Both seem illogical to me. One that subscribes to a certain text as the truth about the existence of God and one that says there is no God. However, I'm not anti-religious as long as religion is kept in the personal realm. If I were to choose a religion, I'd probably choose to be a Buddhist.

There is an eastern concept shared between Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies called Karma. Karma is the concept of "action" or "deed" understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect. The law of Karma states: "The effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others." Similar along the lines of the "love you give is equal to the love you make" to borrow from the Beatles.

The Karma Police Gallery Exhibit in Video If you have problems viewing the video, try going here.

I find this concept of Karma interesting: Actions do not create karma (good or bad) when performed by an individual in the state of 'Moksha' or liberation. An ancient philosopher named Adi Shankara taught "Akarmaiva Moksha," which means Moksha (a state of liberation of the consciousness from all the suffering of a worldly existence) can be attained only by doing, not by a process of effort. All actions performed by one in the state of Mokshare are called Dharma (a righteous duty).

This is the original version of Radiohead's song "Karma Police". The original lyrics include these lines:

Karma police, arrest this man
he talks in maths,
he buzzes like a fridge
he's like a detuned radio

Karma police arrest this girl
she stares at me as if she
owns the world
and we have crashed her party

this is what you'll get
this is what you'll get
this is what you'll get
when you mess with us

Karma police, I've given all I can
its not enough
I've given all I can but
we're still on the payroll

phew...for a minute there
I lost myself
I lost myself

Many people think the lyrics mean "what comes around goes around, or an eye for an eye". But I think the Karma police are the people who judge outsiders and single them out. A man who "talks in maths and buzzes like a fridge, like a detuned radio" is someone many people will not understand. The Karma police are the people who make it impossible for those who don't fit a social construct of normality to be accepted. What this song does for me is take the ideas of social exclusivity and the concept of outsiders and tries to show how it divides and hurts society and the people in it.

Take a look at wikipedia's definitions of Karma. There are many interesting variations on the concept of Karma.