Religion: What is going on in the church today.

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Monday January 14, 2008 23:58

by Seamus Power. - Victims of the Legal Profession Society

What is going on in the church today.

Institutionalised religion is concerned in retaining control: the reality of power is more important than the prospect of exploring multiple realities. Anything new or different raises the alarm bells.
The words of church officials come from dogma not from the heart, influenced by tradition, not intuition.

While civil law and common law have different terms of reference the principles underlining both disciplines are very much the same. Rules, laws and regulations are designed to define the conduct of the citizen and devotee. This adherence to a set standard often works against the greater good, this is especially so with regard to religion.

Religion plays a major role in the world today. It controls the minds of billions, underpins many political ideologies and shapes events in almost every part of the globe. Belief in the supernatural influences individual behaviour, culture, the arts and music. Very few activities are outside its remit. It cuts to the very heart of human affairs and most people in some form or other rely on its guidance and reassurance. It is the one phenomena that unites all of humanity, but at what cost?

Religion today is far removed from the ideas of its founding fathers. The institution now takes precedence and dogmas have formed and hardened with the passage of time. These beliefs often bear little resemblance to what was practiced in the early days. Superficiality has taken over and the core message is often lost. Religion to many has become just another consumer product defined by the expedient of the time. Today religion accommodates the world more often than it inspires it.

The ancient practitioners understood reality and the subtleties of the unknown. They connected with other worldly energies and gave meaning to the ordinary. The known and the unknown blended into one and the mysteries of the universe were sensed, if not understood. The seers and the healers could penetrate into different realms of consciousness; their revelations were inspiring and practical, not like today.

Modern religious diktats often have little relevancy to what is happening in the world. The words of church officials come from dogma not from the heart, influenced by tradition, not intuition. Only those that can feel can reveal, a select few. These are gifted people with certain skills and abilities. They are found in all places and in every strand of society. They have little say today, institutionalised religion dominates.

Its functionaries are trained in dogma and tradition. They learn from ancient books and scribes. They reflect on the wisdom of the past, but can offer little useful advice today. They repeat the words of the founding visionaries but do not have enough insight to change the narrative. Only those that have contact with the unknown can act as an intermediary: they can bridge the gap between humanity and divinity, a vital task but one largely ignored today.

Modern religions are based on ancient truths, idioms that have little application today. Church functionaries act as bureaucrats, they implement the rules, preserve the past, and keep the system intact. Religions today rather than challenge the world, compliment it. The political system would not survive without ecclesiastical support. It is the backbone of the modern dilemma. The poor will be always there, it couldn’t be otherwise.

Had institutionalised religion not taken control and had ancient practices remained intact, the world would be a different place today. The ministers, mullahs that instruct the masses are bureaucrats not visionaries, they learn from man not mystery. They connect with the past, not with the unknown. Religion is not a force for change, it has entrapped the spirit. Ancient truths and wisdom are tied up in ecclesiastical bureaucracy.

Institutionalised religion is concerned in retaining control: the reality of power is more important than the prospect of exploring multiple realities. Anything new or different raises the alarm bells. A structure built on illusions cannot sustain the threat of fresh thinking. There is no place for the shaman or the wise man. The fixed idea is crucial, everything hangs from this. A litany of encyclicals, edicts and pronouncements define church policy, the institution takes root and big power follows.

If there was no institutionalised religion today the world might be better for it. The seers and healers would return and the human spirit would be enlivened again. The intermediaries without clerical garb would connect the known with the unknown and the mysteries of the universe would infuse the ordinary. Everything would take on a new meaning and make more sense. The ignorance and confusion that props up the institutional system would dissipate.

Bureaucrats and religious functionaries without insight or special gifts would disappear. The world would return to its ordinary level, dignified, silent and serene. The tyranny of religious paraphernalia would be over, the poor might then inherit the earth or at least their rights, today, not in some cloudy deferred mystical future.

The new church or gathering would consist of healers, visionaries, prophets and wise men. They would be part of the community not the basis for an institution. They would confront events in the world, not condone them, change rather than consolidate being the operative word. Belief would be based on insight not dogma. People could see for themselves and understand the energies that shape events.

Direct contact with the unknown, no need therefore for official church intermediaries. In this way power returns to the individual. It is this prospect more that any other that so disturbs the religious empires of the modern era.

save preference

Comments (7 of 7)

I'd like to pick you up on the "founding father" thing.

by gurgle

Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:21

Er.... who were the founding fathers of religion you feel to be so abandoned? You wrote Religion today is far removed from the ideas of its founding fathers. . I presume you're writing about Christianity by the way, not "religion" as your one word title seems to promise. Further I reckon you're writing just about Catholicism, unless of course you're arguing that Luther, Calvin & Bringham Young are rolling in their graves. So... who were the founding fathers of the RC Church? Let's ask 'em.
[Link to the Roman Catholic Encyclopedia entry on the "Fathers of the Church".]
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/

& therein you find the names of Montanist Tertullian, St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Jerome, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, and of course the Three Cappadocian Fathers (Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Basil & Gregory Nazianzus).

Oh well we're still using Gregory's calender & Augustine' s treatises on heresies & materialism don't seem so far from your little worries .... Maybe you don't know what you're talking about when it comes to Catholicism & actually meant Jesus (the muscular on the cross for your sins) as the founding daddy of religion back in the days your average citizen or slave could chose worship of caesar, mithras, isis, or whatever little statuette suited if any at all.
You should consider Islam. Have modern muslims abandoned the hadith of the prophet (PBUH) and his little jewels of advice on day to day life? Are the minarets silent?

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/

Profit Before Prophet

by Gargle

Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:48

Have modern muslims abandoned the hadith of the prophet (PBUH) and his little jewels of advice on day to day life?

Indeed they have. Unlike The Prophet they no longer take nine year old brides.1 The Prophet had 20 wives, modern muslims restrict themselves to 4. The way to get ahead in the service of The Prophet was to give him one of your young daughters as a bride. The prophet also kept concubines and slavewomen who he raped.2 This isnt generally publically admitted to by any modern muslim who might do it.

Modern muslims dont generally conquer other countries a favourite past time of The Imperialist Prophet. Saddam did though, so he followed in The Prophets footsteps.

1. This is historical fact. Muslims admit it but try to put a spin on it.

2. Unless anyone wants to argue that slaves can give consent then itsrape.

religion and self

by old believer

Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:06

The article emphasises that religions "control" people's minds in the modern world. In buddhism and christianity, probably in judaism too, ethical teaching handed down over centuries urges adherents to practise self control, over emotions and carnal desires.

Let it all hang out/let yourself go/turn on, tune in and drop out etc.
have been the influential countercultural dicta/teachings in western countries since the hip 1960s.

So we have a choice between self control and no control.

Oh God.

by We the People

Tue Jan 15, 2008 22:15

Religion has divided more People in history than anything else ,but I always believe that it is up to the individual whether or not to fall prey to the con job of it's deception.

Money always plays a major part in all belief systems and all types of Churches ,whether Christian or otherwise ,are like giant Cash registers with the latest model of motor transport (mabe a few) parked outside to transport the tax exempt cash receiving Priests to their next port of call.

But ultimatly ,it is the guilt ridden Folks who will give the most for that ticket heaven.

Remember what Frank Sinatra said when asked....'what would you like for Christmas'.

Frank said ,'another one'.

That was after he pledged 50million to the Vatican.

The Zeitgeist film describes how the Sun of God/that God the creater created, is with you every Day. Sure it is . It rises every Day to give us life and sustain us.
We would all die without the Sun of God every Day in the sky in our lives.
The Sun of God is with us every Day ,like it or not.

It also describes that at December 21-22 the Sun of God stops moving in the Northern Hemisphere - for how long? Three Days. It dies for three Days and then comes back to life on the 25th when it moves 1 Degree and the Days start to become bright again by roughly 3 mins per Day.

I'm looking 4ward 2 the Summer thank God. Day Day.

O Dear

by leo bloomers

Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:42

What does it matter what any1 blieves if they treat you well and don't give you any crap? If yer in hospital (you should be so lucky), you wouldn't need to know the surgeon/doctor or nurse's beliefs, just their reputation. Anyone can be a Good Samaritan/Orangeman/Pole, etc.,

oh deary me

by corkman

Wed Feb 06, 2008 22:21

Another tiresome diatribe against the perceived evils of organised religion (presumably, disorganised religion is better?). It's all been said before, but I suppose a little extra church-bashing can't hurt.

peace 'n' love,
corkman

You think you had it bad

by Irish Nationalist

Thu Feb 14, 2008 18:10

Ireland is a liberal democracy, not the "priest-ridden" society that Dublin 4 types like to portray it as. The Irish government DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE against anyone on grounds of religion and I would beware anyone who says it does.

Compare this situation with Northern Ireland where the a large part of the population was persecuted by the state.

Number of comments per page

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Lockdown Skeptics

Voltaire Network

Religion: What is going on in the church today.

Comments (7 of 7)