Manic Expression

Hello and Welcome to In Too Deep, where I over-analyse a certain section of pop culture.

Supernatural. For those of you that haven't heard of it it's basically a show about two unnaturally attractive brothers fighting against the forces of Heaven, Hell, and all the supernatural creatures in-between. It's actually a pretty good show, as long as you're willing to invest in the 5 season long story arc that cleverly weaves together (and the new story arc in the 6th and ongoing 7th season). But this isn't what we're talking about, not entirely. No the question is this: what if stuff like demons and vampires and the like were actually real?

Lets start at the more personal viewpoint. Often the two leads, Sam and Dean, would save the Character of the Week from whatever monster was hassling them (while several Red Shirts of the Week died to prove the point of the danger). Lets say you were saved from a Vampire. Now imagine living your life knowing that vampires exist in the everyday world. That out there there were monsters that kill people and feed on their blood. Now imagine trying to feel safe and secure. And that's only if you know one type of monster exists. Imagine if you got talking to the brothers and learnt that almost all mythology is based on real monsters. Could you reasonable try and live in a world where you know there are monsters everywhere; and that these monsters could look like ordinary everyday people. You'd never leave your house, or turn off the lights. You'd forever be in fear of the fact that the stories that people make up really do exist; and you have no power when compared to them. That'd really mess with someone's mind.

But that's not the worst part. The main story of Supernatural (at least the later seasons) deals with the idea of Heaven and Hell trying to start the apocalypse. But before that they dealt with stories of demonic possession. Now ignoring the fact that your body was taken over and that you were forced to commit horrible acts, how would this affect you spiritually? I mean, a Muslim is going to be disturbed to learn that his faith is completely wrong; and that Christianity really is the One True Faith. Or how an atheist suddenly realises that God really does exist and that they will go to Hell for not believing in him (though if he started to believe in him because he knew God exists, does that count as true belief or just knowing that something exists). The idea of religion being something that stops in faith (the belief that God exists) and becomes something grounded in fact (the knowledge that God exists) almost removes the point of religion. To quote a famous author (brownie points to anyone that gets the reference): 'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'

"'But,' says Man, 'the [existence of demons and angels] is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.'

"'Oh dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"'Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

So knowing that stuff like demons exist would ruin the idea of belief. Worst is that because you now know that Hell exists, you'll only be good because you know that there is worst torment (compared to doing good because it's the good thing to do, which is how some atheists see it). So knowing the existence of demons and angels destroys the belief in them.

Finally how would the world at large react to this? Well first off they'll probably be long and bloody wars over the revelation that there is only One True Religion, since people will still cling to their faith rather then accept the facts. The people leading the war will probably be the scientists, since God turning up on their doorstop ruins years of their hard work. But moving past that, what would happen? Well soon everyone would be educated on the dangers of the supernatural, the same way we're educated on the dangers of eating dirt and whatnot when we're children. The Governments of the World would put all their energy in the eradication of this common threat, wiping out all sorts of monsters that don't class as 'humans' (hey, we're willing to kill off our own kind, they'd be no problem in killing off non-human things). Scientists would dissect them to learn their secrets. Everyone would be required by law to be branded with a non-possesion tattoo to stop demons from invading. Everyone will carry salt and iron around with them, since it gets rid of ghosts. Cremations would become mandatory, since ghosts come from the remains of people (bones, hair etc). The Church will probably become the Head of State like it did in the Middle Ages, since their religious texts and symbols (holy water, crosses etc) are more effective against demons and other supernatural monsters then bullets. But most of all, Man would probably declare war against Heaven and Hell. We wouldn't allow the apocalypse to happen on the basis that we don't want to die. We're resistant like that. No doubt we'd quickly invent weapons capable of killing demons and angels. The proof of the existence of demons and angels will no doubt result in the eradication of them.

So there you have it. A brief look at what would happen if supernatural creatures really did exist in the real world. If you have anything to add, or anything you disagree with, feel free to leave a comment. Till next time.