The following is a rant short on logic, but long on annoyance and concern.
Recall the saying, Life isn’t a series of problems to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. With that in mind, read this article in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. Wasn’t that fun? Anyone doubt the mystery part of life?
One thing I will say, the man who is the subject of the article doesn’t want to think about nor seek solutions to life’s inequities. Black and white? Fine! Gray? Not so good.
For him, reason is the solution to all problems. Whose reason? His. Certitude is a scary thing to hold. Some would call it a loss of faith. Or, we can at least say, being smart does not mean one is wise. And he does, after all, appeal to a small group of bishops. I could name at least four more who would also think he’s great.
On another, but related, subject, I was listening to the discussion called “Tensions in Iran” on today’s (12/22) Diane Rehm Show during my morning exercises. As I listened, it seems the goal of most conservative religious extremists is to keep people in their place. Women, in particular, take it on the chin. The laity, in general, come in a close second.
Once the sheep learned to read, things began to unravel, and those in charge circled the wagons and dragged out and dusted off any and all old dogmas, doctrines, and traditions.”Get back! Get back! Do as you’re told!”
This whole “created in God’s image” thing seems to be hanging on the fig tree which isn’t bearing any fruit. At least not in their orchard. I would love to find somewhere, anywhere, in the Gospels a reference to an insular hierarchy in lavish vestments shuffling about on polished marble floors. I picture Jesus walking into any chancellery office and saying, “Oops! I’m sorry. I was looking for some of my followers.”
Were the Pharisees in Jesus’ encounters that much of an abstraction? Simply a reference to some folks way back when? If the Gospel lives, Jesus must have been referring to someone, some group, in today’s world too? Perhaps those who still think adherence to a handful of rituals, rules, and medieval thinking will always trump the needs of God’s children. Vatican II fades further and further back into the darkness.
There is an organized suppressing and diminishing of those who are outside of some “natural law norm.” Leaders on the right seem to sense a hierarchy of values in lives to be led and those worthy to lead them.
A clump of cells is worth going to the mat for. Collateral damage in an unjust war? Who cares? And homosexuals? Surely disqualified from being able to express one’s love for another. So, am I supposed to say, “I have my life-long love, but you can’t have yours.”? I wonder what our divine creator thinks of all that? How could She/He have been such a screw up in the divine planning?
In a dim light... 