Jesus catches up with the creative agency…
Tag: religion
Hellfire and Damnation
I took this picture in the Iglesia de Santa María de Betancuria, on the island of Fuerteventura.
Salvation awaits with the saints in Heaven, while the beasts of hell devour the sinners. The priests reach out to the poor souls, waist-deep in the fires of purgatory. They, and they alone, have the power of earthly redemption.
This picture has a single purpose: to terrify.
We cannot imagine the horror pictures like this invoked in the medieval mind. Every visitor to the church would be faced with this image of terror, hellfire, and eternal damnation.
Unbelievably wicked.
Go out into the world in peace
I went to a very sad funeral last week. A bishop is a family friend and he took the service.
He ended with the following benediction:
Go out into the world in peace, have courage.
Hold onto what is good.
Return no one evil for evil.
Strengthen the faint-hearted.
Support the weak, help the suffering.
Honour all people.
Love and serve the Lord,
Rejoicing in the love of God,
The communion of the Holy Spirit
Be with your all, now and forever.
Amen.
As I heard these words I found myself thinking, ‘I couldn’t agree more’. I am not a Christian and have no faith, but instinctively agree with the sentiments and philosophy behind those words.
If I were to articulate my life philosophy, there would be no better way of doing so than saying, “Go out into the world in peace, have courage. Hold onto what is good. Return no one evil for evil. Strengthen the faint-hearted. Support the weak, help the suffering. Honour all people.“.
I have always believed in the wisdom and values of the Christian faith and, despite my atheism, have lived according to Christian principles. I see them as universal values, rather than exclusively Christian ideals.
I don’t do God.
But, I do do the simple, lasting values of Christianity.
Who doesn’t ?
The will to disbelieve….
Saw Jonathan Miller’s A Brief History of Disbelief last night on BBC4.
Fantastic !
Miller discussed and investigated the philosophical basis and long history of atheism and disbelief.
He, as I am, is a secure atheist who finds belief in a God an unfathomable state of mind. His exploration of the arguments for atheism and his conversations with philosophers, historians and thinkers were fascinating and very illuminating.
He reviewed the Greek philosophers and their thoughts on the existence of God. Here is a question posed by Epicurus 400 years before the birth of Christ. No one has yet come up with a satisfactory answer…
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; Or he can, but does not want to; Or he cannot and does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. But, if God both can and wants to abolish evil, then how come evil is in the world ?
Food for thought…
Gay marriage
Gay marriage is all over the media and it’s got some people all worked up.
So, same-sex couples may actually want to certify their partnerships. Why is that such a big deal ? Surely, it’s a natural progression and should be welcomed and encouraged.
Bush is threatening a constitutional amendment and the Church are going through a series of reactionary spasms, ranging from fire and brimstone to anguished hand-wringing.
‘Love thy neighbour’ is the first thing Christians forget when homosexuality comes up…
The interesting thing is the Bible, and indeed most major religions, clearly say ‘no’ to homosexuality.
For various historical reasons, they conclude it is immoral and should not be practised. If you take the Bible literally, then that is an inescapable fact.
Leviticus 18:22
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Leviticus 20:13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
King James Bible
The Book of Leviticus in the Bible is clear that homosexuality is an ‘abomination’ and Islam is equally vehement in its opposition.
However, society is starting to understand and accept same-sex relationships. A more pragmatic and tolerant attitude is emerging.
We’re moving on now, leaving medieval doctrines and superstitious belief systems behind.
Science, biology, genetics and more inclusive philosophies have taken the place of religious dogma in informing us about ourselves and why we are here. We no longer need the Church’s outdated prescriptions and prohibitions.
Christianity has been obsessed with sex and it’s regulation for centuries. Meddling in people’s personal lives and producing petty rules to ensure compliance.
Strange really, Jesus never mentions homosexuality. Not once. Not even in passing. In fact, he rarely talks about sex.
Christianity has also been plagued by endless splits and schisms. One branch believes this, another that… Who can count the number of Christian denominations in existence ?
Disagreement on the meaning of Scripture is endemic. Let’s face it, there are four conflicting accounts of the life of Christ in the New Testament. Even the Scriptures don’t agree with each other !
Hardly a strong basis for absolute doctrine. But that is Christianity’s strength, it evolves and adapts as society changes.
Like contraception, divorce and abortion – things are a changing ! Will religious dogma evolve, as it always has in the past (think Galileo !), or will the theocrats be left to bicker over their irrelevant doctrines ?
Clearly, if same-sex couples want to declare the following vow in a public, recognised ceremony; we all should welcome it,
“Do you take ___ as your lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?”
Surely, it’s in all our interests to promote and encourage loving relationships between people, regardless of gender.
It’s a tribute to the institution of marriage that gay people want to share in the commitment, stability and recognition of matrimony.
With skyrocketing divorce rates and more and more people opting not to marry, gay weddings should be welcomed with open arms.
PostScrpt: new research into who wrote the Book of Leviticus and what their original intentions were is usefully summarised in this New York Times article entitled, The Secret History of Leviticus.
It seems the absolute doctrines of the church were interpreted very differently in antiquity and have been revised and edited by subsequent generations of clerics.
God, the universe and everything…
There is no God.
There never has been and there never will be.
Virgins don’t give birth and the dead cannot be resurrected.
Heaven and hell do not exist.
We should have worked these things out by now.
So, thinking about it, which is more terrifying: That there is a God or there isn’t…
That there is a God. A great all seeing all-knowing creator who made the universe and loves us all. He invisibly watches our every move and bestows eternal salvation on his devotees. Those who reject him, or fail to live according to his wishes are condemned to burn for all eternity.
There will be a final reckoning when God will sit in judgement. The good will live in glory in heaven, the bad will be cast out, into a monstrous hell.
or
That we are totally alone.
The only intelligent life ever to exist anywhere (so far as we know).
Marooned in the cold silence of space.
Life formed through a fantastic combination of random chances and evolutionary accidents.
Perilously perched on a cooling orb of stellar rock propelled around a burning star at exactly the speed and distance to permit life. Unplanned, the children of chance.
So, the meaning of life ?
Depends on which of the above you go for.
If you choose God, then it’s pretty much covered. It’s up to him to decide our purpose. We don’t have to worry too much about meaning, we can happily defer the big questions (and answers) to his celestial plan.
He’s the architect and we are the bricks !
All will be revealed and let’s just hope he’s kind to us on the big day ! (‘God have mercy on our souls’… sound familiar ?)
If you don’t buy the God thing, then it gets a bit more tricky.
There are no Gods, no grand plans, no celestial architects, no blissful after-lives and no eternal damnation.
Life has been assembled by an unfathomable configuration of chances and probabilities. We are moulded over millions of years by an evolutionary process not a God. All we have are the bleak certainties of scientific theory to navigate by.
It’s up to us to make of it what we will…
I go for the second scenario as the most likely. bit bleak huh ? What do you think ?
So yeah... 