Precis on 'On Coincidence'

William Burroughs sets out his piece talking about religion. How Christ heard God’s Voice, but how the non-dominant brain hemisphere only created that voice. In modern times Christ would have been institutionalized. Someone claiming they hear a voice? Someone who says that they can heal people? Do we not laugh at them and eventually lock them up because ‘they can be a danger to themselves and to others’. Burroughs seems to slightly mock this form of what he calls ‘religious truth’, which is too absolute. He then goes on to talk about ‘scientific truth’, which according to him is too black and white. A scientist saying that something is ‘impossible’ is again an absolute statement. Burroughs would like to argue for another truth; the ‘magical truth’. This does not include Harry Potter waving around a wand, but it does explain coincidence. Because according to Burroughs we all have a certain mental power with which we can influence the world around us, like the CIA pushing a guy in front of a van with a ‘magical push’. This leads him to his main point, “lightning usually strikes more than once in the same place.” One incident can cause another similar incident to take place, not only at the same location but also with the same person. An example he gives: “If you start the day by missing a train, this could be a day of missed trains and missed appointments.” Now I have to say that (but maybe this is just in Holland) the reason your whole day is filled with missed trains and missed appointments is because the train network sucks and if you miss your first train, you will most likely not be able to catch any of your other connections resulting in you being late at least an hour and missing your appointments.
Let’s move on though. Burroughs claims that by thinking certain things, we induce events around us, we see signs on the street because we were thinking a certain thing. We create the world around us. Now the last paragraph of ‘On Coincidence’ reveals his reason for writing this piece, to convert Christians and Muslims. We need to “leave the Word-God behind.” I have to say, I am always in for a good discussion about faith and why someone (or me) would be religious and if you have good arguments I can be swayed to change my mind slightly. (You can’t really talk me out of being religious though, but you can try.) But Burroughs here tries to convert Christians and Muslims by offering up another truth, a ‘magical truth’ which seems even more farfetched. We do not see a sign on the street because the sign is there and we happened to look in that direction, no, we see it because we were thinking a certain thing. There is one point in the essay where I feel like Burroughs leaves a link open for religion to bond with the ‘magical truth’. He says: “… the assumption that nothing happens in this universe (…) unless some entity wills it to happen.” The question is, why can’t this entity be God? Burroughs however, does not supply us with an answer.
I almost felt at the end, that Burroughs was simply mocking religion the whole way through by coming up with this ‘magical truth’ to show the ridiculousness of believing in something greater. But to be honest, (and after some googling) I believe that he was serious and that he truly believes in this ‘magical truth’. And I have to say, who am I to argue with him? After all, I believe in someone who in modern times would have been institutionalized.

Martine