MODERN RELIGION'S ROLE
College Life speaker: 'God is dead' theory
By Joyce Grist
"God is dead, so what." Today we are living in an existential world, said John G Gottuso, last night's College Life speaker.
"According to the existentialist philosophy, existence precedes essence. But belief in God teaches us that essence precedes existence," he said.
"WE HAVENT been taken in by God, but by religion. God gives us existence, he doesn't exist. Death is a mere part of the existence of life. We can 'stuff' God and it doesn't bother us, but if another human being is 'stuffed,' we are really affected."
Gottusso said our culture has taught us to be shame oriented, not guilt oriented. This shame orientation comes from our group associations.
The modern world has mass-produced everything we need to live by, he said. "We can get everything from antibiotics to
sarsaparilla at our shopping centers.
"IN THE AREAS of food, transportation and communication we don't need God," he said. "This is not a new concept. It dates back to Greek times when Aristophanes said, 'Zeus is dead, the world is alive.' Using the term God has become a habit."
There are two things that God does not provide us today, Gotuso said. "He doesn't provide an easy equation formula for the 20th century and he doesn't provide a hard-driving authority figure.
"THE QUESTION SHOULD be rephrased, 'Is Life Dead?', not God," he said. "If Life has meaning, then God has meaning. If we sell out on God, then we sell out
10 Daily Kansan Friday, April 15, 1966
viduals." Gottuso, Glendale, Calif. holds a bachel's degree in sociology and a master's degree in psychology.
Gottuso told the group, "God isn't really dead. He is not a religious concept, but a person who accepts us and treats us as indi-
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on life. We can't live like God, so we want to get rid of him. Most of us go day by day worshiping death."
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