outlier_lynn (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
outlier_lynn) wrote2011-10-06 08:02 am
outlier_lynn) wrote2011-10-06 08:02 am
Making it up as we go along
This morning, on my way to work, I passed a new, $70 luxury sedan with a perfect symbol of irony on the trunk near the license plate. A silver-colored representation of a fish with a cross where the eye would be.
The 2000 year history of the religion named for the character in the four Gospels has almost nothing to do with the reported teachings of this character.
Oh, there are small pockets of Christians who, more or less, follow in the philosophical footsteps of their charismatic cult leader; i.e. the Brethren, Quakers, and Amish to name a few. Mostly, though, Christians are products of their greater society.
One of the many translations of Matthew 19:24 reads, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” I am confident that the driver of that sedan is convinced that his place in Heaven is secure.
And Matthew 19:29, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life." Does this not describe clearly a cult? For 2,000 years, the cult of Christianity has grown in wealth and power. Its history is one of terrible violence, war, and general intolerance.
It has little to do with the values preached by its original leader.
There many examples. I am reminded almost daily of the oppressive nature of most religions and, particularly, Christianity.
This morning it was a rich man claiming for himself the earliest symbol of the Christian church.
The 2000 year history of the religion named for the character in the four Gospels has almost nothing to do with the reported teachings of this character.
Oh, there are small pockets of Christians who, more or less, follow in the philosophical footsteps of their charismatic cult leader; i.e. the Brethren, Quakers, and Amish to name a few. Mostly, though, Christians are products of their greater society.
One of the many translations of Matthew 19:24 reads, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” I am confident that the driver of that sedan is convinced that his place in Heaven is secure.
And Matthew 19:29, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life." Does this not describe clearly a cult? For 2,000 years, the cult of Christianity has grown in wealth and power. Its history is one of terrible violence, war, and general intolerance.
It has little to do with the values preached by its original leader.
There many examples. I am reminded almost daily of the oppressive nature of most religions and, particularly, Christianity.
This morning it was a rich man claiming for himself the earliest symbol of the Christian church.