I am not a fan of religion.
I think that religions are, in general, crazy, dangerous, divisive and harmful. Notwithstanding that I understand that many human beings have a need to throw an imaginary friend between themselves and the big empty and so I just try to avoid religious debate.
However there is one group that consistently manages to stick up my craw; Evangelical Christians. I was involved, briefly, in a discussion in which an Evangelical Christian was claiming that Emanuel Swedenborg was a satanist!
Now for those of you who don't feel like reading Swedenborg's wiki page he was an influential Swedish (go figure) mystical Christian theologian. He was actually quite conservative and met with abject scorn from William Blake in the Marriage of Heaven and Hell for rather convoluted philosophical reasons.
So why was he a satanist according to this Evangelical?
He rejected the notion of salvation through faith alone. Certainly he thought you needed to believe in the Christian God to get into the Great VIP Room in the Sky but you also had to do good works. How dare he suggest that you have to do good to be treated as a good person! Clearly anybody suggesting that it was moral to do good works rather than throwing yourself blindly into your faith must be a servant of the devil.
Eurgh.
I am not a fan of Swedenborg. I rather side with Blake and found The Marriage of Heaven and Hell to be one of the more interesting writings on early Romantic era philosophy and religion. However I find myself nearly speechless in disgust at the base intolerance that would brand an individual a servant of evil for promoting doing good!
It just makes me shake my head.
Of course this same person was promoting a website that labels Unitarian Universalism a cult.
Because, you know, a non-credal religion founded upon the precepts of a benevolent god who lets everybody into heaven is so much more cult like than these guys.
Anyway, enough on the crazy religionists.
I got a bunch of copy-editing on my book done. Fifty pages checked for typos, misplaced punctuation and all the other joys of the Author's craft. It's truly the most drudge-like part of making a book but it is definitely a necessary step and gives me something to do while my readers are reading it and commenting on it.
If you want to read it let me know in the comments section and we'll talk.
Pam cooked supper tonight, Ochos Rios, a dish involving beans, rice, hot peppers and cocoanut. It is very, very delicious but I'm not posting the recipe because I don't know exactly how she makes it.
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interested in reading, not sure I have the time to help you out =S
ReplyDeleteas an aside, what would we do without religions to guide us and tell us what fantasties to have and believe in? where is our moral compass without very old books written about an even farther retreated passed that obviously ocurred?
why should we be bothered to act here and now, when clearly achieving never ending happiness awaits just beyond these shiny gates?
why do good, when we all have a free golden ticket awaiting us?
Oh great Simon where would we be? what would we do?
[ if you don't know I'm a sarcastic being, you really should have figured that out ]
I don't know exactly when Swedenborg lived, but in many ways evangelical Christians on the whole haven't changed much. They might even have become worse, in their modern efforts to influence politics. There's a reason they're called the "religious right" and it isn't because they have moral "right" on their side! These are the people who consistently work against any kind of socially progressive legislation. In the U.S., they are among the leaders of the fight against public health care - because God wants poor people to die or go bankrupt rather than access health care, I guess! If you want to find those most opposed to equality and rights for all, check out the evangelicals. This past week, in London, a gay friend of mine was physically attacked by someone who identified himself as an evangelical Christian. Around the world, alliances between the Christian evangelicals and right-wing governments, particularly military dictatorships, are so much the norm that it would be a surprise to find a prominent evangelical that did not support such an association. In the U.S., it was evangelical Christians that brought us Iraq, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and other torture chambers around the world - along with vastly reduced civil liberties at home. That sanctimonious belief that "God is on their side" really makes me wonder what kind of miserable, nasty, petty and self-absorbed deity they revere anyway! Not any God I would ever believe to be worthy of adulation, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteAllow me to respond to some of your ramblings of religion. It's such a deep topic. I want to offer you my thoughts. You know why the topic seems so hot and controversial because of it's history. Religion has been known to cause divisions in countries, divisions in family/friends and just overall arguments and upset. Religion also has a good side; basic goodness towards fellow man. IE: 10 commandments. Just think if a person were to follow the 10 basic principles for living, we wouldn't have any problems. I believe that it is not religion that one would need but rather the path to self improvement. I believe that one needs the presence of a supreme being with some form of spirituality. While being in a religious organization -- everyone wants to be right. This is why 'religion' is not the way. Lets compare religion to Tommy Hilfiger, GUESS, Polo or even Hugo Boss, they are all labels. What I have preferred to do is look at the similarities, what is it that we can all agree on ? This is my thinking which I have resolved with. I was raised Catholic and converted Pentecostal (tell me that's confusing!) and well although I do not go to church, this does not mean that I am atheist or agnostic. I choose not to label myself. I do maintain a sense of spirituality with my God and I can say it is now easier to acknowledge people's beliefs, sexual orientation or life style without being involved in any arguments. I feel much happier and at peace which is a better way to be.
ReplyDeleteDoes your sense of spirituality teach you about forgiveness. Perhaps you could use a visit to a church to learn these basic Christian principles. Don't judge someone just because they sin differently to you.
ReplyDeleteRecognize when someone truly loves you and try extending a hand rather than a slap in the face. Without love, there is no good work.
Hopefully you can find the forgiveness for the hurt and pain you yourself have caused. Perhaps your God will forgive you, because he truly loves you, despite your inability to forgive others.
Faith, Hope and Love and the greatest of these was LOVE.