Thursday, December 16, 2004
CREDO Part Three
Reward and punishment.
So... when the "god figure" was created and given authorities that it obviously didn't possess (being all-knowing, all-present, all-wise, infallible, etc.) what evidence did the creators have to sway more followers to their controlling idea? How do you get a large enough following to buy into the bogus, manmade "rules of god?"
Other than appointing this happening (say, five straight days of rain) or that happening (say, a two week long sandstorm) to god's desire, they had nothing to show for their made-up idol or his made-up rules. Something more awful/wonderful had to be made to be associated with the almighty being.
Enter PUNISHMENT. It had to be something so horrible that no one could possibly miss the point of consequences. They called it "hell." It was a place so terrible that NO ONE would risk being sent there after death. There, you would burn (and hasn't everyone been burnt in some form during their lifetime? It hurts like mad, no?) for a miserable eternity (gee, you think that you might actually get used to it after a decade or two). It would be controlled by god's counter-part (if you have a hero, you have to have a villan... they even understood story plots back then) the devil. The devil would be the character in the plot who would be the evil tempter, always trying to lure people to his domain through things that were opposite of god's rules. So, god was the GOOD guy and the devil was the BAD guy. So, whose side are YOU on?
Still, the threat of eternal damnation wasn't good enough. Just like the hero/villian scenario, if there's a hell, there has to be a home for god as well. Enter REWARD. We'll call it "heaven." It's a place where people go after they die if they've been good little soldiers on earth and followed all of the laws that god set up. Step out of line and, if you're lucky, you'll only get a few thousand years in some middle space called "purgatory," that is somewhere between the glorified and the dispicable.
Heaven. What a wonderful invention. It's somewhere in the clouds. No. I mean WAY up there where no man can see (at least until flight was mastered and we went beyond the clouds). Christianity's pictorial of heaven in the clouds is a damn good example of the misinterpretation of one of the key faith concepts.
But wait, it gets even better. Heaven is the catch-all answer to that ever-grinding question... why am I here?
So... when the "god figure" was created and given authorities that it obviously didn't possess (being all-knowing, all-present, all-wise, infallible, etc.) what evidence did the creators have to sway more followers to their controlling idea? How do you get a large enough following to buy into the bogus, manmade "rules of god?"
Other than appointing this happening (say, five straight days of rain) or that happening (say, a two week long sandstorm) to god's desire, they had nothing to show for their made-up idol or his made-up rules. Something more awful/wonderful had to be made to be associated with the almighty being.
Enter PUNISHMENT. It had to be something so horrible that no one could possibly miss the point of consequences. They called it "hell." It was a place so terrible that NO ONE would risk being sent there after death. There, you would burn (and hasn't everyone been burnt in some form during their lifetime? It hurts like mad, no?) for a miserable eternity (gee, you think that you might actually get used to it after a decade or two). It would be controlled by god's counter-part (if you have a hero, you have to have a villan... they even understood story plots back then) the devil. The devil would be the character in the plot who would be the evil tempter, always trying to lure people to his domain through things that were opposite of god's rules. So, god was the GOOD guy and the devil was the BAD guy. So, whose side are YOU on?
Still, the threat of eternal damnation wasn't good enough. Just like the hero/villian scenario, if there's a hell, there has to be a home for god as well. Enter REWARD. We'll call it "heaven." It's a place where people go after they die if they've been good little soldiers on earth and followed all of the laws that god set up. Step out of line and, if you're lucky, you'll only get a few thousand years in some middle space called "purgatory," that is somewhere between the glorified and the dispicable.
Heaven. What a wonderful invention. It's somewhere in the clouds. No. I mean WAY up there where no man can see (at least until flight was mastered and we went beyond the clouds). Christianity's pictorial of heaven in the clouds is a damn good example of the misinterpretation of one of the key faith concepts.
But wait, it gets even better. Heaven is the catch-all answer to that ever-grinding question... why am I here?
Comments:
<< Home
Hope and Faith = Carrot on stick. The reason Osama and his ilk can convince people to give their lives to carry out God's will. When people's lives become hopeless, and see no hope for their children in the future, they see heaven, and the promise of it, as the only better alternative to their plight. Also the reason the Catholic Church wielded so much power in centuries past.
By the way, have you guys checked up lately on the Landover Baptist Church site? It is hyterical! Pastor Paul would either puke or die laughing as well. Check out their holiday gifts for non-believers. Sorry, Paul, if you read this, but THIS is EXACTLY why we think that American christianity is such a joke!
Jeff, now this post I can largely agree with. The modern evangelical church in particular has lost all sense of the meaning of faith in the here and now. It has all become just a matter of "eternal destinies."
Jesus, on the other hand, primarily couched his mission in terms of "life" and "death" (though not in the common sense of those words). He put it like this: "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy [talking about in this life, not in hell]. I have come that you might have life and have it to the full [again, in this life, not in the hereafter]." His mission was that this life might be something more than an existence that we "bear" as best we can, but that we enjoy to the fullest - enjoy even when it doesn't go the way we want it to.
I think that's one of the reasons people aren't interested in the church. It isn't concerned about life, just the "afterlife."
Jesus, on the other hand, primarily couched his mission in terms of "life" and "death" (though not in the common sense of those words). He put it like this: "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy [talking about in this life, not in hell]. I have come that you might have life and have it to the full [again, in this life, not in the hereafter]." His mission was that this life might be something more than an existence that we "bear" as best we can, but that we enjoy to the fullest - enjoy even when it doesn't go the way we want it to.
I think that's one of the reasons people aren't interested in the church. It isn't concerned about life, just the "afterlife."
Jeff, I've seen the Landover site. I both puke and die laughing. I hardly think a parody of the church is really what is wrong with the church, though. Now the things that the site parodies are, in fact, sad problems within the church.
I guess the only other thing that's as much fun to make fun of is politics.
I guess the only other thing that's as much fun to make fun of is politics.
isn't purgatory mostly a catholic thing? i don't believe i know of any protestant religions that believe in that... i could be wrong, though...
Post a Comment
<< Home
