Bothered By Things: WYD
I’ve decided to post about a collection of things that bother me because, frankly, I haven’t posted anything in a while… and what is a blog besides an online soapbox?
World Youth Day: They came, they saw, they trashed Randwick race course. I was secretly relieved that I was struck down by illness so I wouldn’t have to venture up to Sydney. I guess on the one hand I totally got that they were there to celebrate their religious convictions. I totally get there is great affection for the latest Pope. What I don’t get is… why? And that isn’t even a criticism of Ratzinger himself, more a general wondering about what makes the pope so important within the realm of Catholicism to begin with. I don’t feel like I’m being flippant, either. What makes any singular person any more divine than any other? There is a wonderful presumption that Priests are particularly divine though surely there is enough anecdotal evidence to acknowledge their own individual and collective shortcomings?
I recently saw The X-Files: I Want To Believe. At one point there is an exchange between Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Father Joseph (Billy Connolly). Scully asks Father Joseph if he thinks God hears his prayers. Father Joseph quips back, “Do you think he hears yours?” At this point Scully offers flatly that she (unlike Father Joseph) didn’t sodomize twenty-something altar boys.
Elsewhere, some Anglicans are up in arms. Well, actually, I think most Anglicans are up in arms; it is more a question of which quarter of opinion they fall into. Gay Priests. Female Bishops. Lions and Tigers and bears – oh my!
I suppose I’ve come to two basic conclusions.
Discrimination seeks legitimacy from religion and this is not appropriate. I was particularly disappointed to see the introduction of new laws for the benefit of World Youth Day that meant that those ‘annoying’ WYD delegates could be arrested. I severely doubt the laws would be available to more secular events such as Mardi gras. Which is disappointing because I have to say Cardinal Pell’s routine protests at that particular event are really fucking annoying!
Furthermore, Organised Religion is ‘Organised’ for a reason and whatever that reason is, it seems doubtful it is about cultivating personal freedom or improving your relationship with your creator. I wonder if The Church (indeed, any church) might actually impair the potential for a relationship between you and your creator. I doubt, for example, that, if permitted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Gay Priests or Women Bishops will be seen any differently than they were previously by God himself. No, rather, they will just have made themselves accountable to an entirely worldly figure who had spent the better part of their lives treating them like second class citizens.
We are able to freely acknowledge that historically people were controlled through militant force and religious influence; why is it so hard to acknowledge now the power we surrender to mere mortals and the potential for that power to be misused and abused?
In response to The Joy of Shame, Daniel wrote:
It’s not just ‘extremist’ churches that focus on guilt and shame. I’m not positive on this, but I think that John (like me) was raised by run-of-the-mill moderate evangelical Australian Protestants. The fact is that Christianity is centred around the doctrine of salvation, which all seems very positive until you stop to ask, “salvation from what?” Sin and damnation is the other side of the coin – you can’t have one without another, and you can’t help but be concerned with both no matter which of the two aspects your church chooses to focus on more in expressing it.
I suggest to you, today, that perhaps we are not ourselves sinful. That our creator need not want us to feel ashamed, or shameful. That the rhetoric of shame and sin is an entirely worldly construct. Born, primarily, to aid in controlling people. That the hierarchy is set up not as an exercise in support though rather in influence and control. But mostly I would suggest to those wanting to infiltrate the inner workings of either the Catholic or Anglican churches simply – be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. It might feel ostensibly like ‘acceptance,’ though it might actually be little more than a surrender of control. You may have just made yourself part of the machine.
I realise there will be those among you who will at this point cite the bible as assurance that, ‘no, John, there is really sin!’ The bible is what we politely call, in paranormal circles, ‘inspired literature.’ And I really feel as though if I am going to accept one ‘inspired’ text at face value it is only fair to accept all ‘inspired’ texts in this fashion, including – er – those faithful reworkings of history and the bible itself. What separates some books dictated by strange supernatural powers as being ‘crazy’ and others being ‘religious’ is surely a dilemma worthy of further consideration, too.
Well, what can I say? I agree with you just as heartily as I disagree. I believe the way I’m feeling is something like that of St. Augustine: “The church is a whore but she is my mother”.
A lot of what you say here is true. In many, many cases instead of helping people connect with their creator, the church gets in the way. But, speaking as a person who is active in a church, the relationships I have with my pastors and the congregation help immeasurably in bringing God and I closer together. In fact, I find them irreplaceable.
I think that the church is an important way God can connect with us, and we with Him.
Rohans last blog post..Independant Dreams
While I do think that most Churches get the message wrong, I also thing there is profound good in many of them that allow us to connect with God.
Is there sin? Of course. Is it a man-made construct? Well, that’s really no delineation in your argument, since man created sin in the Garden.
As a member of the Clergy, I try to repair much of what the Church has done over the years.
Steves last blog post..What kids Say II