...and Jesus wept!
I especially loved the line where Kirk says, 'it's so simple, even a child can understand it.' Well, as a child, Santa Claus sounded pretty damned easy to grasp too. But hey, throw in eternal life, though, to sweeten the pot for adults who might not necessarily be angling for that Betty Crocker Oven and yes, it does become pretty simple to see why religion holds spellbound a species that recognizes and fears its own mortality.
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... what say............. despite all that happened to me and my wife as professional church workers, we still believe in the Bible as the Word of God, Jesus as the Son of God through whom all things were made, and all the other good stuff in the ecumenical creeds (my words above echo the Nicene Creed
But, I have a very studied and emphatic ambivalence towards "creation science," etc. I don't think its necessary to scientifically prove God to believe in Him, the Scriptures, etc. After all, St. Paul said that Christ was a stumbling block over which the wise man and philosopher stumble (see 1 Cor 1:19-21)
When I was a child I was fascinated by it, went to the meetings, and found (and find) some of it quite convincing logically/scientifically, but it yet remains that I know plenty of Christians who by both their words and deeds would seem to have very strong faith (only God can see the soul, so I say "seem," we can only observe externals- whether peoples' actions are congruent with their beliefs) who don't believe in a strictly literal 7-day creation, etc.
I am troubled that believers in Jesus, creation, etc., seem to be one of the most common and easy targets, as if we were all from branchless family trees, are confounded by indoor plumbing, etc.
I'm often the first to criticize people such as Dobson and Huckabee (because I believe its incumbent on each community to "police its own") for their intolerance, their attempts to legislate their beliefs (not all of which I share) through the code word "values," etc., but it does deeply disturb me that it is so in vogue to mock those who cling to the Cross.
Mind you, I'm not saying you're joining in that Betty... I'm talking about the general situation in society... you know me, I'm nothing if not a curmudgeonly observer of the world around me, and I hate ALL prejudice I see... even when its against people of whom I'm not terribly fond myself.
Goth, I was raised Catholic too, and held a belief system most of my life...especially after my parents died. The idea of oblivion after death does not terrify me, what does, however, is that it's all that awaited THEM, two people who truly believed.
I have since rebelled against the idea of organized religion, because I am simply too nauseated by its adherents...not all, mind you, but pretty much most. I'm appalled by the smarminess with which they view others who don't necesarily share their views or beliefs--even if I myself have or had those same beliefs too. I'm disgusted by Islamic states that perpetuate a backward existence and brutally punish or murder people in their name of their God, whom they refer to as "The Merciful." Christianity's had it's share too, as have most others religions as well. Religion has been a most convenient tool to not only control people throughout history, but also a convenient tool to ease the consciounces of those who murdered those they could not control. Every atrocity and senseless tragedy alike becomes so much more acceptable if you toss in, "...but it was God's will."
I don't have to believe there's a Creator to appreciate the wonders of the night sky, nor believe that I am spiritually immortal myself to feel a part of the eternal stars...which themselves are not even actually eternal. The Big Bang nor the ultimate collapse that may await the Universe does not become an exercise in futility if there is no 'Grand Architect of the Universe' behind it.
If there is a God, He did not create man as a science project, to flock to and worhip Him, as does a bowl of brine shrimp flock to the light from a flashlight. I believe to appreciate even the concept of God, you have to move away from dusty scrolls, parchments, prounouncments and just the unending sanctimonious claptrap of man.
I would much more readily believe in God, were the earth to suddenly open up and swallow all the self-appointed nitwits who proclaim come in and make profit from His name.
Oh yes...my apology for the crummy spelling at times, too. I used to be much better at that, I assure you.
Hey hun, its only spell checkers (firefox has one built in... why are you patronizing the Evil Empire and using IE?) and my immense vocabulary which save my scrawny ass.
I've not yet BEGUN to rant about the organized church here... and may never do so. Tess and I were DEEPLY hurt and abused during our time as church workers, and we're trying to move on now... but as victims of any form of abuse, we try to not reopen the wound. I have talked some about it on my Multiply blog but some choice words I wrote last June in a tour de force post where I talk some about it are:
The key problem is this: Though the Word of God is "living and active" [Heb 4:12] and produces a faith which is likewise, the church through the ages has tried to regulate, codify, and quantify it. The more it does, the less life to the faith there is. This was the great and apt critique of the [largely Lutheran] church in Germany and Scandinavia which led to Pietism. Unfortunately, as humans are wont to do, they took it too far in the other way. They made it so experiential and subjective that God became an emotion inside us, not a Force outside which works on and through us.
So... that should give you a taste of how I feel on the matter. I think Kierkegaard was largely right, but he went way too light/easy on the institutional rot he saw.... either that, or its gotten worse since then.
(Oh, in case you or others don't know... I was a pastor and chaplain, and Tess a missionary, then doctoral student and professor, in an arch-conservative protestant church body. We ran at the highest levels, and were utterly and viscously betrayed and attacked by most of our closest friends and those on whom we looked as spiritual mentors.)
None the less... we still believe teach and confess what we did when we were church workers... except that we don't tell anyone now that they need a pastor of any given denomination to "punch their ticket" to get into heaven.
And there are lots of Christians who aren't evil like the ones who hurt us- power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely and this is no less true in the church than of any other human institution, so most people in the pew don't see what we saw, experience what we experienced. One of the other reasons we don't tell all the tales is... we're glad they're in a state of blissful ignorance of what's going on... would that we had that joyous luxury and we won't take it from them. Let them believe in the Wizard... they'll never believe what's behind the curtain until they see it for themselves... we've learned that the hard way, as many of our former friends abandoned us because they'd not seen and experienced what we'd seen and experienced, and couldn't handle it that we had left church work.
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Yet it remains, we believe as we believe, and yet it remains that prejudice against believers is both prevalent and "hip."
I'm open to talking more about matters theological and critiques of the institutional problems we saw if you, Snark, Gunga Dean and the others think it would be a worthy addition to the blog, but I'm going to keep the personal anecdotes to my multiply page, or the Anvil. Though I can laugh about some of it now, its just too painful to talk about it in gory detail and somehow putting it into print is more intense for me than talking about it person to person... and so much of it is so personal that you'd practically need to know our life history and the history of our erstwhile church body.
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Like a joke which needs to be explained... much of what happened to us is best left untold!
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I was raised Catholic and have since become a recovering Catholic. I do NOT believe in any organized religion as they are all run by men. I am not male bashing, but I refuse to serve and obey when that is considered a one-way street. I take comfort in my conversations with the being I call God, but at the same time, I consider him to be a man with a wicked sense of humour who always manages to cover my ass (when he is done fucking with me). (NO sexual implications intended)
Catie... I love your witty way of expressing yourself! :> I've sometimes in jest, sometimes in all earnestness, thought that there ought to be some sort of 12 step group for people who have come out of repressive and abusive church environments.
But... I've enough on my plate starting my life over at 40 after having given my entire adult life to the church.
I got my wife out of it, I got to preach at my father's funeral, (and I'm sure others would say I did some other worthwhile things along the way) but I'm none to keen to go reopening old wounds (one of the more "innocuous" being told by a then colleague that my wife's migraines were not due to a medical condition but a spiritual one- in specific, either unconfessed sin or demonic possession) until a lot more time has past, and either Tess has recovered medically, or we've recovered financially.
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Your comment reminds me of the refrain from DePeche's Mode's Blasphemous Rumours:
I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find Him laughing
Kirk and Bill. Bill and Kirk. If God existed, THEY WOULD NOT!!!!! And YESSSSSSSS!! I AM SCREAMING!!!
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