When a file is corrupted it won’t read, when a CD is damaged it will skip and eject, when a vinyl record was damaged, one either heard scratches, or it tracked through the same several grooves and the same music was heard over and over again. This is the genesis of the phrase, he/she sounds like a broken record and I’m afraid you’re in for a bit of a broken record tonight.
I’m into one of the Great Courses, The Alternative Christianities of the 2nd and 3rd Centuries. There were several varieties of Christian belief in vogue before the 4th century when Constantine said he wanted it standardized and voila, we have New Testament, which is, like the Old Testament, an agreed upon set of books/ writings.
Historically and scientifically the myths of the RCC, and consequently the other flavors of modern Christianity, don’t pass the test. The RCC made heroic efforts to suppress scientific research and advancement because they could see it was to have the effect of nullifying things like virgin birth, water walking, resurrection, ascension, assumption, and a second coming.
The fall back position is to say, well it was allegory, it had spiritual meaning and was not to be taken literally; tell that to the people who were burned at the stake. The truth is, but up to and including now it is hidden and has been replaced with imperfect human interpretations.
It starts with the word “God.” Press anyone on a definition and you’ll get theirs but it won’t be the same as anyone else. It turns out that in the early days of Christianity, before the aforesaid standardization, there were some who said there was one God, two Gods, on up to 365 Gods, (I suppose one per day?) Each proponent had good sound arguments as to why he was right. It is reminiscent of the many Christian sects that exist today, each purports to be the “one true” and each has a good argument.
The difference between what is preached by the RCC today and fifty years ago is night and day. Priests in StL had people going to hell for not attending Sunday services, eating meat on Friday, going to see Jane Russell in a movie, and (ahem) not giving enough money to them. You see there were 10 commandments of God and 6 commandments of the Church. You could go to hell for breaking them; times were good for old brother Satan. Then that started changing, probably around 1960 or so when Pope John XXIII decided that something had to be done to stop the hemorrhage of membership; so Vatican II was convened. The Nicene (circa 300 AD) creed is still being said; the one that includes some of the above myths. So while the church became “more reasonable” they held on to the basic party line.
It is delusion at best. People are conditioned from infancy with regard to religion; a person will not take the chance with his/her immortal soul to think about in what they say they believe. It’s easier to go along with it, learn it, profess it, participate in it than not and besides, one feels more comfortable in a crowd of worshipers of like mind.
Churches in general have the capability of doing much good, and they do. The members’ hearts are in the right place, the hierarchies and the finance committees are often another story. A $10 million house for Rev. Wright; a $25.5 million lawsuit settlement for protecting Louisville sexual predators, and no one really knows how much more money is spread around by finance committees for irreligious purposes.
A book entitled “So You Want to Become a Philosopher” started with a statement that I understood to say, “If it can be put into words, it can be proven true.” I threw the book away. If that is philosophy you can have it. When I listened to sermons, especially about some of the basic beliefs of the RCC; I had the same reaction. There is a basic tenet of ethics that says the end doesn’t justify the means. Yet this is broken over and over again by do-gooders who defend all of the crap that’s going on. The basic philosophy is for you to profess belief in this preposterousness so you will live happily ever after in heaven; and by the way don’t forget to give us enough money to pay the bills.
There have been some notable agnostics throughout history; generally they are condemned. I can see now their frustration and disillusion with the RCC. Starting their own version of it didn’t really get them anywhere except in a position of power that they couldn’t have otherwise achieved. Now some several hundred years later there is a confusing array of Christianities. And just over there is a large number of Islamists who would take over if they could. Talk about your basic struggle between good and evil, and you can take your pick as to which is which.
And yet, what would it be like if everyone shared my view and the churches dried up like over ripe fruit left on the tree. It won’t happen because so many have the need to believe in something bigger, something spiritual, something dreadful, and a further need to belong to/adhere to a group of like minded individuals. In many ways belonging to a church is a cop-out, taking the interpretation of someone else instead of thinking about it until you clarify it. A glib preacher can make it sound so compelling; and yet it can be so wrong.
What I believe is ok for me but I won’t bother you with it; go figure out the truth for yourself and then don’t bother me with it. It’s there, you can do it and you don’t need a Pope, Bishop, or Priest. You won’t find it in one book or even one set of books and you won’t find it after one episode; it takes years and years of thinking, reading, challenging, verifying through experiment and observation and even then, as in my case anyway I know I’m still not there. But I will persevere. I am an imperfect being in search of Truth.
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