The Holy See? Papa don't preach!

Where to go from here? I have deliberated upon this question, my children; I will disqualify the faith systems that I wish you to avoid, by virtue of their stupidity or the harm they cause to the human condition. Mostly I think they will undo themselves, I will hopefully point out the virtue of the tenant of the faith that is 'on the table'.

The best place for me to continue from is personal experience, the belief system that I am more familiar with by virtue of my own indoctrination. The delightful, the unquestionable yet whimsical; Roman Catholicism. Stunning in its simplicity, profound in its complexity. It is the embodiment of control through fear.

We know how it got started and 1.1 billion (2005) worldwide (and growing, their children have no choice, they are 'Baptised') lay claim to the truth it represents. It is a Christian faith; that is, Jesus was the bona fide 'son' of God. Not just his son, as we understand the father/son relationship, but Him, Himself also with another bit called the Holy Spirit (any other Catholics feel the urge to say 'Amen' every time you hear the words 'Holy Spirit'?) The Holy Trinity is explained thus;

"…three persons in one God, all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal persons, are of one indivisible Divine essence, a simple being. The doctrine also teaches that the Son Himself has two distinct natures, one fully divine and the other fully human, united in a hypostatic union." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity

I think you would agree; only God could make any sense of that. (ooh, therefore he must be real!) But, unusually for a religious doctrine, the concept of trinity is not referred to by either God in the old, or Jesus in the new testaments'.

It is the sole work of Paul-Saul. He is the chap who used to mash up Christians for the Roman Empire, before he encouraged it to become 'Holy'. He was Turkish, but of Hebrew lineage, he didn't actually meet his God although this might have been possible when he was a 'young Turk'. He died about 65AD and aside from the 'road to Damascus' story not much will be known of him by most people. He wrote a big chunk of the post-messianic New Testament mostly in the form of letters to little pockets of isolated Christians or possible converts.

It is accepted that he wrote most of the bits he is supposed to have written, although it is all the word of God so it doesn't really matter. It is important for you to listen to his words to make your decision about Catholicism. The Holy Spirit (Amen) is not to be messed with;

"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:30-32)

Consider yourselves warned! These are the sins that the Papa and his boys currently are sure go against the Holy Spirit (Amen); Not accepting the 'truth', not trying to find God, Believing (presuming) that God gives you grace or that you don't need Gods grace, Despair, Envy, and impertinence. Impertinence is tricky to avoid, however, because it means two things. It means being cheeky (insolent) or being irrelevant (the opposite of pertinent, see). Some of us (me) will find not being irrelevant very difficult and I like cheekiness. Clearly I'm being a little impertinent here, but how does one not. The modern world makes a little impertinence necessary for sanity. All of the rules and regulations to govern people, who, by and large, don't need it, but tolerate it in the misguided hope that it will govern those that do need it, and they tend to ignore regulations.

Envy is here listed as a sin against the Holy Spirit, not everyday envy per se. it must be envy of another person's spiritual welfare. That means, don't get upset if you think that God loves me more than He loves you. Nor I am closer to Him than you are. I'm not closer, he does not love me more, nor am I closer to heaven by virtue of my spiritual wonderfulness. If I am, it's NONE OF YOU BUSINESS. Try to make it your business and straight to hell you'll go. Priests beware, it sounds like Paul is trying to damn you (perhaps Paul’s Damascene moment was the realization ‘Keep enemies closer’ in order to better destroy them).

The trinity is foremost but the catholics have a little extra in comparison to the other Christian groups because they consider the mother of god to be almost divine (but categorically, not quite) also. She can grant intercession through prayer. The point that needs to be cleared up is that she is not the mother of the Eternal God; just the mother of God made man, the bloke called Jesus. Theotokos they call her, it means; 'god bearer'. She was a Nazarene, as you would expect, and was 'assumed' bodily into heaven. Study of Mary is called, Mariology and there is a school called the Marianum specifically for the study of Mary. The Virgin birth is also a contentious point, given that not all of the gospels mention it. It is only Mathew and Luke that do so. She is the 'author' of the 'magnificat' although mostly, like her son, she plagiarized the old wisdom of the Torah (after reading the magnificat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat check out the book of Samuel (1Samuel 2:1-10) and tell me you don't agree). I'm not disrespectful of her for that as, 'these words of my own' could not defend their entirety from such an accusation. I mention it because the more I look into these things the more I realize that all wisdom is repeated (*Burp*). We don't really need much more guidance than 'do unto others as you would have done to you' or if you prefer;

''How would you like it done to you, eh? Well there you go then." (Me, Here).

The 'Immaculate Conception', is not the same as, for want of a better term, her rape by God. The Immaculate Conception refers to her. She is the Immaculate Conception because she is born without sin; she is born without sin so that God doesn't have to consort with a filthy sinner. Like asking a 'two-bit whore' to take a bath first, one would imagine. (I am so going to burn!). So, she is without sin so that He can be born via the sinless, otherwise, he is guilty of original sin. God cannot be guilty of original sin, and not clarifying this would represent a clear paradox, the early Christians therefore had to come up with rationality the fits perfectly. So Mary must be 'the immaculate conception, I just felt I needed to clear that up for you. I mean to say, how in Yoda’s name you are going to accept 'strewth, as our antipodean cousins abbreviate it, if it does not make sense.
Those are some of the main issues that make Catholicism differ slightly from modern Christian clubs. Also, it is almost as old as Jesus; it venerates Saints and Holy men and has a Woman in a high office. The Pope is God’s agent on the earth (and capable therefore of changing the rules). There is a hierarchy of Holy men; from lay minister to Pope (any Catholic can theoretically hold the position of Papa). It is also seriously loaded and owns its own country as well as major influence, economic, political and social, in about a quater of the worlds land masses. Some of mankind’s most impressive works of art and architecture are within its state boundary.

Despite all this it is guarded by men in stripy pantaloons, who also happen to be hardened soldiers that will happily lay down their lives for the safety of the Holy Father. It is neutral in war, by action, but deeply enmeshed in, often fairly cynical, diplomacy. The sins of ‘the church’ are legion, however, and there is much blood on its metaphorical hands. I’m going to draw this post to a close now because I’m sure to make more references to Catholicism in future posts as all subsequent branches Christianity, in someway, relate to it. As I said earlier I am most familiar with it, as a child I was considered for the catholic priesthood but thankfully my parents decided I should have a life with meaning.

Here are some, eyebrow-raising, quotes from the Pope over the years;

“It is the custom of the Roman Church which I unworthily serve with the help of God, to tolerate some things, to turn a blind eye to some, following the spirit of discretion rather than the rigid letter of the law.” Pope Gregory XII

“A dimple on the chin, the devil within.” Pope Paul VI

“Failing to be there when a man wants her is a woman's greatest sin, except to be there when he doesn't want her.” Pope Paul VI

“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.” Pope Paul VI

“You must strive to multiply bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favour an artificial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life.” Pope Paul VI

“See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.” Pope John XXIII

“Anybody can be Pope; the proof of this is that I have become one.” Pope John XXIII

“It is now for the Catholic Church to bend herself to her work with calmness and generosity. It is for you to observe her with renewed and friendly attention.” Pope John XXIII

“Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it.” Pope John Paul II.

“Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it.” Pope John Paul II

“The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.” Pope John Paul II

There is no smoke without fire, however, and despite the good words, there is little wisdom in unquestioning faith. All that is said under the guise of being the word of God is the collective wisdom of mankind.

Bonne chance, mes amis.

Mr. Pat.