Jayne Says

Atheists for Jesus

Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man--living in the sky--who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time . . ,. But He loves you!

- George Carlin

I just finished reading Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion. Although his tone (at times catty, self-indulgent and smug) and style (shotgun, meandering, allowing his steed Tangent a far too liberal rein*) put me off, I quite enjoyed the content. And I like a man who wears an "Atheists for Jesus" t-shirt (I want one.) One can admire ethically principled teachers and teachings while shunning the religions and myths built around such teachers.

Stephen Colbert interviewed Dawkins recently, which was amusing:

If you wanted to ride the pulse of modern atheism and arm yourself with good arguments about the dangers of all religions, I'd recommend Sam Harris's The End of Faith. I wrote a little post about that book a while ago here.

However, Dawkins's book is a nice companion to The End of Faith, that contains some excellent quotes, arguments and (for a lay science geek like me) lots of fascinating (and accessible) information and studies, from evolutionary biology to the origin of life, to insect vision, social evolution and quantum mechanics.

A nice literary trinity (har, har) would be The God Delusion, The End of Faith and God Without Religion, if you didn't want to abandon your spiritual life altogether and believe we have much to learn about states of expanded consciousness, but you embrace reason and humanism and recognize that our clinging to ancient myths is destructive to all of humankind and hampers our inevitable progression.

Here's a little sampling from The God Delusion:

To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries. This may explain some of the sheer strangeness of the Bible. But unfortunately it is this same weird volume that religious zealots hold up to us as the inerrant source of our morals and rules for living.

* * *

I have described atonement, the central doctrine of Christianity, as vicious, sado-masochistic and repellent. We should also dismiss it as barking mad, but for its ubiquitous familiarity which has dulled our objectivity. If God wanted to forgive our sins, why not just forgive them, without having himself tortured and executed in payment--thereby, incidentally, condemning remote future generations of Jews to pogroms and persecution as 'Christ-killers': did that hereditary sin pass down in the semen too?

* * *

Our Western politicians avoid mentioning the R word (religion), and instead characterize their battle as a war against 'terror', as though terror were a kind of spirit or force, with a will and a mind of its own. Or they characterize terrorists as motivated by pure 'evil'. but they are not motivated by evil. However misguided we may think them, they are motivated, like the Christian murderers of abortion doctors, by what they perceive to be righteousness, faithfully pursuing what their religion tells them. They are not psychotic; they are religious idealists who, by their own lights, are rational. They perceive their acts to be good, not because of some warped personal idiosyncrasy, and not because they have been possessed by Satan, but because they have been brought up, from the cradle, to have total and unquestioning faith.

*With lots of distracting footnotes, such as remembering his time whilst at school scrumping apples, or an amusing Douglas Adams (dedicatee of the book) quote, or a Monty Python bit about every sperm being sacred.

Faith Healer

Now don't get me wrong. Y'all know I'm a fan of Jesus (just not all of his followers, especially the right wing fundamentalists.)

And I do like my doctor. She is smart, resourceful and patient.

But I have to admit that having these framed pictures of Jesus and the 10 Commandments as the only art decorating her lobby was a little bit off-putting. Not to mention a line on her intake form for "Religious Affiliation." (Which I left blank. And she pointed that out. And I said nothing.)

It is hard to see the scale of these (I snapped them quickly, on the down-low, as you might imagine) but they are HUGE and dominate the walls.

Of course, this reminds me of my recent pharmacy experience. What's with this town?

Religion and medicine: two great tastes that taste great together, or, for the love of everything holy, [har har] let's keep separate things separate?

God Is Pushy

Yesterday, I drove over an hour to walk the aisles of the cosmetics store Sephora. I had to go; I was running dangerously low on my "miracle" N.V. Perricone Pore Refining Cleanser and Borba Clarifying Pomegranate SPF 15 Fiber-Knit Lotion. [If your skin is sensitive, a bit oily and prone to breaking out on occasion, this combo will work wonders.]

I returned home, mission accomplished, skin disasters averted.

Then God got all up in my (incredibly smooth) face.

Yo, go check out this website, God commanded.

So I did.

J: Okay . . . I like it.

G: The Biblical God is a cruel, mass-murdering, misogynistic, gay-bashing, psychotic old white punk!

J: Dude, you're preaching to the choir.

G: People still read this archaic shit. And say I wrote it! Makes me want to go on a smiting spree something fierce. Or visit a plague of locusts upon these freaky freaks.

J: Yeah, I bet.

G: Someone needs to write a new book of spiritual myths. They can take the good stuff from the Bible and other "holy" books. Add the parables together to create a coherent, consistent, inclusive message that has relevance for modern humanity. Include parables about people like Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama who dedicate their lives to service and compassion. And eighty-six the rest.

J: What about Jesus?

G: One of my favorites! Not my "son" but a good teacher, like the Buddha and many others.

J: What about the whole died on the cross for our sins line?

G: Jesus was killed! This corpse worship and failure to take personal responsibility has gotten out of control.

J: So I take it you're not a big fan of Mel Gibson?

G: Well, the Mad Max movies were something . . . but back to the new Bible.

J: I'm totally down with that.

G: You should write it.

J: No way. Too much work. You can't make me . . . can you?

G: No. Humans have free will. End of story.

J: Thank G- uh, you.

G: Someone should do this. A major reform is needed.

J: Dude, YOU should totally write it!

G: Look, contrary to popular belief, I didn't even write the first one. This has to be by enlightened people. Remember: a collection of myths and parables, relevant to today, all about compassion, service, love, ethics, equality, freedom, inclusion, good works and stewardship of one another and this planet. Instruction on how to expand consciousness to reinforce one's connection to the Divine.

J: Well, the best I can do is . . . uh, mention it on my blog.

G: That's pretty weak, but it's a start. I sure hope people pull it together soon; those fundamentalist haters are making me look bad!

J: Yeah, sorry, but I have to go wash my face now.

[Don't blame me. Blame: 1) too many Africa pictures to sort; 2) Sam Harris and 3) Kristen for Losing Her Religion and helping to inspire this.]

Indeed

Image from here (they have bumper stickers too)

Book and Movie Pimp - Day 2

This has to be short as I am out the door, another week of travel. But Holy. Crap. I just finished The End of Faith by Sam Harris (it's on my sidebar). Pushy Beyotch Stella MADE me read it, turns out for good reason.

Speaking of good reason, Harris enumerates the dangers of archaic exclusive religions and admonishes religious moderates to act - declaring them traitors to both reason and faith (for if they followed what their holy books said, they would kill one another for adultery, false idols, taking the lord's name in vain, etc.)

And, this book made me re-think my own religious tolerance - and maybe that religious tolerance isn't such a good thing after all. (And about the reincarnation - that is a sometimes comforting mental construct; I have had validating experiences and feelings that make me believe it, but I would not stake my life -- or anyone else's because it is "truth." Because we just don't know.)

Here's a quick sampling from The End of Faith, which is one of the most provocative books I've read in a while (and that's saying something . . .):

• Faith drives a wedge between ethics and suffering. Where certain actions cause no suffering at all, religious dogmatic still maintain that they are evil and worthy of punishment (sodomy, marijuana use, homosexuality, the killing of blastocysts, etc.). And yet, where suffering and death are found in abundance their causes are often deemed to be good (withholding funds for family planning in the third world, prosecuting nonviolent drug offenders, preventing stem-cell research, etc.). This inversion of priorities not only victimizes innocent people and squanders scarce resources; it completely falsifies our ethics. It is time we found a more reasonable approach to answering questions of right and wrong.

• Can we say that Middle Eastern men who are murderously obsessed with female sexual purity [talking about "honor killings" for rape victims etc.] actually love their wives, daughters, and sisters less than American or European men do? Of course, we can. And what is truly incredible about the state of our discourse is that such a claim is not only controversial but actually unutterable in most contexts.

He lays into Islam, Judaism and Christianity equally, and states that there is a reasonable way to investigate ethics and expanded consciousness, but that we MUST (if we are to survive as a species) put an end to unreasonable, archaic faiths.

Oh, and if you want a good fiction recommendation, go talk to the lovely Neena. I will be blog visiting, commenting etc. later tonight.

How to Spread Hatred

Today's exercise involves a tried and true method of spreading hatred throughout the land, in 10 easy steps.

1. Formulate an extremist political agenda.
2. Locate your most impoverished, poorly educated, disenfranchised people, in preferably rural communities.
3. Preach to them a fundamentalist, exclusionary monotheism using dramatic scriptures from a book written by the only true "God."
4. Incite the disenfranchised into violence directed against the "infidels," or "heathens," that is anyone accused of corrupting the moral fiber of the "righteous."
5. Turn your followers against any group with a different skin color, sexual preference, religious practice or personal choice beliefs different than that espoused by your faith.
6. Prepare your followers for an inevitable conflagration, a dramatic end of days, whether personal or global.
7. Promise an idyllic eternal afterlife.
8. Secure insane amounts of private funding for your cause from corporate interests that understand you will support their future unrestricted power if your extremist political agenda succeeds.
9. Gain a foothold on "moral authority" among the disenfranchised, and spin, spin, spin that moral authority in the public discourse.
10. Use that foothold to advance your extremist political agendas, including tearing down your opponents by attacking their perceived weak moral character on "religious" or "moral" issues.

Fundamentalist Christians, fundamentalist Muslims, there is no difference. The formula is the same, the results are the same.

Spread it around, Beloveds, like mayonnaise on white bread, like hummus on pita bread, either way, the results are the same. More and more delicious, self-righteous, violent, ignorant hatred. Yummy.

Imagine No Religion

I am squeaking today's Sunday Sermon in under the wire at this late hour, as we just returned from a weekend trip. If you want more information about Sunday Sermons with the irRev. Jayne, check out my Fictitiously Asked Questions (FAQ). [I recognize that spirituality in blogs can be a bit cringe-inducing. Sometimes, my "sermons" will be more snarky and entertaining, sometimes, like today, they will be more serious. This topic moves me, I will continue to write about it, but just once a week, on Sundays. This blog is chock full of profanity on other days, not to worry ; ) . . .]

I am reading and enjoying a new book, God Without Religion, by Sankara Saranam. His writing resonates with me, because he criticizes the politics, wealth and exclusivity (which leads to division and hatred of those with different faiths) of organized religion as well as the intellectual dishonesty that can be found in the New Age community.

Here is an excerpt from that book:

Not to engage in this pursuit of ideas
is to live like ants instead of like men.
—Mortimer J. Adler

In today's complex world, many people are beginning to examine their religious beliefs in light of their longing for a more meaningful sense of God. Some individuals, while asking challenging questions about the religious beliefs handed down to them in childhood, are uncovering seedbeds of prejudice and divisiveness. Others, exploring New Age spiritual movements, are finding many to be as dogmatic as organized religions. People dissatisfied with dogma and prejudice change radically when they turn inward for direct knowledge of God.

Two steps are involved in preparing to seek direct knowledge of God. The seeker's first step is to assess his reliance on beliefs instilled in him by spiritual leaders, teachers, self-appointed gurus, or well-intentioned parents or friends. It is important to realize that the truth of an idea cannot be established based on the authority of its proponents. In fact, because of their positions some religious leaders no longer engage in actively seeking the truth. Ultimately, only when individuals are free to challenge authority does spiritual growth become possible.

The seeker's second step in preparing for a more meaningful understanding of God is to use his own intellectual faculties to evaluate his beliefs. A critical investigation of beliefs increases the willingness to take responsibility for them and also nurtures self-reliance. My work with students in recent years demonstrates that by holding beliefs up to the mirror of reason it is possible not only to have a profound understanding of God but to identify with a more expansive God.

While evaluating an organized religion handed down to them, many people stop short upon discovering the goodness of an entrenched belief system that teaches such principles as loving thy neighbor and doing God's work. However, just as machines that squeeze oranges are rated not by the health value of orange juice but by their effectiveness in producing juice, organized religions need to be evaluated in terms of their practical influence in the world rather than the ideals they preach, which existed long before the advent of religion. When viewed through this lens, it becomes clear that any good accomplished by an organized religion could have come about without the artifice of a belief system, while the faith's violent outcomes could not be mitigated by attributing them to God's will. Compared with religionists, secularists are just as worthy of emulation when they serve others, and no more culpable when they commit crimes against humanity.

Pressing beyond the positive biases of an inherited religion proves to be extremely beneficial. It unveils negative biases rooted in the seeker's religious background. It also furnishes training in individual and collective psychology, providing tools for penetrating the mysteries of the mind, including the extremes of human behavior, the need for spirituality, and the paradox of our existence as thinking creatures aware of our mortality yet aspiring to overcome it. Many great thinkers who rejected religious beliefs in an afterlife still pursued quests for immortality by striving to improve the human condition through their deeds.

But the study of only one organized religion, as helpful as it is, affords little insight into the overall impact of religion on humanity. For this, we must turn to the study of religious history, a horror story of immense proportions. An examination of religious history reveals that adherents of all faiths have consistently sought immortality at the cost of their earthly existence. Religions fostering a desire to be in a sectarian heaven do not inspire peace in their followers but instead tend to provoke injustices. Even religions that consider suicide a sinful act indoctrinate their followers with beliefs that breed inner turmoil, leading to a slow death. And sadly, the lives of "infidels" and "heretics" have historically been even more disposable in the adherents' bids for immortality.

Another awareness gleaned from religious studies is that religions routinely claim to deliver ultimate expressions of truth, often judging followers of other religions as inferior, or worse, dupes of some evil power. Ultraorthodox Jewish sects teach their adherents that the Jewish soul is superior to the souls of gentiles dogma that many Jews accept with pride. Asian Buddhist sects for centuries approached the search for truth as if it were a competitive sport in which they excelled through one-upmanship. Fundamentalist Christians inform followers that people who do not believe in Jesus go to hell, including those who lived before him, never heard of him, or were raised to believe in another god. Similarly, Muslims tell their followers that Muhammad is the last of Allah's messengers and that Allah's final word must be heard and obeyed by all; for Islamic fundamentalists, this means the whole world must convert to Islam.

Organized religions have done much harm by professing the superiority of their followers and creating such divisive categories as true believers and godless heathens, God's righteous chosen ones and pagans, the heaven bound and hell bound, and the enlightened and unspiritual. Overtly, "us against them" distinctions attract congregants by psychologically empowering them. Covertly, they forge polarized perceptions and a distorted view of human abuses, catalyzing endless violence.

In addition, religious scriptures of all persuasions have imperiled humanity's freedom of thought and pursuit of liberty. Playing on fears of the faithful, scriptural writings exalt those who follow blindly, attack brave questioners who entertain honest doubts, and threaten dissenters with a lifetime of guilt. These writings work insidiously in the minds of the faithful who, intolerant of criticism, have gone on to incite witch hunts and religious wars, resulting in immeasurable bloodshed between religions and within them.

Historically, some of the greatest evils have emerged from displays of holiness. It was usually zealots, sure they had heard the voice of God, who fueled the fires of fear and hatred, directing them toward religious sects, ethnic groups, racial minorities, and women. Humanity is still suffering from the fanaticism of individuals influenced by canonized books espousing erroneous ideas, theologies based on superstition, unscientific cosmologies, false expectations, and unethical commands. And not surprisingly, wherever ethnic or racial minorities or women are treated as inferior, the landscape is parched with ignorance and fear. If there is a useful purpose served by religions that continue to disempower any portion of the human race, it can only be in inspiring us to prevent history from repeating itself.

God Without Religion examines the past effects of organized religion and offers more direct avenues to knowledge of God for the present and future. Chapter 1, "Worshipping by Wondering," explores our present understanding of God; this invitation to worship by wondering rather than believing opens pathways for questioning popular definitions of God while simultaneously observing the effects of belief systems on the human mind. Chapter 2, "A Bigger Picture of Human Progress," shows how we arrived at this point; challenging linear notions of progress, it introduces an ancient model of human evolution and devolution as a means for viewing both the rise of religion and humanity's intellectual and intuitive potential for universalizing God. Chapter 3, "An Alternative to Organized Religion," presents the theory of self, a nondualistic option for realizing knowledge of God; this theory portrays intuition as a verifiable, repeatable, and unbiased psychophysical science. Chapter 4, "Testing Today's Choices," weighs the merits of New Age spiritual movements, points out the pitfalls of modern approaches to Eastern spiritual traditions, and illustrates ways to expand the sense of self beyond narrow spiritual identifications.

Interspersed throughout each chapter are techniques to aid in the search for answers to spiritual questions better answers than those furnished by organized religion. These techniques are universal, having been passed down in one form or another through mystical and philosophical disciplines. When practiced regularly, they help uncover not only better answers to spiritual questions but also better questions. And with better questions comes increased spiritual freedom on one's path to knowledge of God. Readers embarking on this path are advised to prepare for moments of discomfort following the release of one familiar belief after another. Eventually, in ceasing to identify with a narrowing belief system, your identity will grow, enlarged by the very questions you have embodied. And with your newly expanded identity you will be more knowledgeable in spiritual matters, for the more we question any aspect of life the better we come to know it.

Of the many ghosts from the past currently haunting humanity, few are as damaging as religion's outdated dogma and divisive practices. The dogma poses a barrier to intellectual and spiritual expansiveness, and the divisiveness a barrier to world peace. In vigorously challenging these walls until they crumble, we become the architects of our own thoughts, unfettered by conventional forms of worship and free at last to seek God from within.

He said it better than I ever could. I honestly believe that the only way for humanity to be "saved" is for at least 20% of the population to 1) pierce and dissolve the veil of dogma from any religion that is covering our eyes, minds and hearts AND 2) develop and nurture a personal, internalized sense of Spirit (God, the Universe, the field, Love, Truth, the Creator, the Goddess, pick your word; for many, "God" is too laden with negative religious associations. . .)

For when we are quiet, when we are radiant and aligned with Spirit, how many of our ills are instantly remedied?

God Smack

Welcome to church, kids. Check out my Fictitiously Asked Questions (FAQ) to learn more, or else run, fast and far to your safe place if you are spiritually sensitive, and make the Sign of the Cross at me over your shoulder as you flee. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Beloved Children of Blog:

I know why the Virgin Mary is crying blood this week. She told me. Jesus told me. God told me: The new Pope of the Catholic Church is wrong when he recently approved a document stating in pertinent part:

The Church considers homosexual acts "grave sins" and also intrinsically immoral and contrary to natural law. "Therefore, in no case can they be approved."

"If a candidate practices [sic] homosexuality or presents deeply rooted homosexual tendencies, his spiritual director, like his confessor, have the duty to dissuade him in conscience from proceeding towards ordination."

However, if gay seminary students acknowledge and stamp out homosexuality in themselves for a period of three years, then maybe they can become priests:

In spelling out its position, the Vatican office that deals with education within the Catholic Church made a distinction between deep-seated homosexual tendencies and what it called "the expression of a transitory problem."

"The Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the Seminary and to Holy Orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support the so-called gay culture," the document said.

But the document said when "homosexual tendencies are only the expression of a transitory problem ... these must be clearly overcome at least three years prior to diaconate ordination."

I swear to you on every Bible, God told me Pope Benedict XVI is wrong. Just look at him. Do you trust him over the irRev. Jayne? Honestly.

Verily, God told me:

All persons finding joy, solace, community and Spirit in their church are encouraged to continue.

HOWEVER, if any of us is Called to serve Spirit and humanity, it matters not whether we are straight, gay, men, women, of any particular race or class, priests, witches or bloggers, we must be allowed to follow such Calling.

God recognizes no distinction whatsoever between the Small, Insignificant, Man-made, Irrelevant categories of "homosexual" and "straight."

God is an expression of us All as One. We are all God, together, co-creating our realities. We must love one another as we must love ourselves. In fact, God tells me to love the Pope just as I must love any other person (but this is where I stick my fingers in my ears and chant "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, LALALALALA!")

God also Revealed to me the Catholic Church has an aggressive, audacious, lying, stealing, power abusing history of accumulating its temporal wealth, valued in the billions. [Edit. Larry Jones is keeping me honest and so kindly pointing out my lazy research--that link may or may not be a wee bit biased as it is from a fundamentalist Christian website that views Catholic Church as a cult. If anyone has a better historical reference for the same concept, please pass it on!] Now the Pope is a CEO of a multibillion dollar empire, but only received 8 billion dollars or so in donations in 2003, with a meager 4% growth rate per year.

There are many Catholics who I love. But I have more than a little discomfort with the political and legal entity that is the Catholic Church.

Peter, Himself, Prince of the Apostles, wrote me a letter on the finest vellum and in pure gold [same fundamentalist Christian website], telling me I am correct in questioning the Church.

God also told me (and I apologize in advance for God's Long-Windedness):

"I decry the power of the Church and its use of that power, in America in particular! Throughout the world, as all know, the churches are so organized as to have the wealth, size and formation of a great corporation, a government, or an army. And in America, the wealthy individuals who rule in corporate affairs appear to be attracted to the church by reason of its hold not only on the mind but the actions of its adherents. Politically, socially and otherwise, they count on its power and influence as of use to them. And not without reason, since especially among the ignorant and poor, its revealed wisdom counsels resignation and orders faith in a totally inscrutable hereafter. In short, it makes for ignorance and submission in the working class, And what more could a corporation-minded government or financial group, looking toward complete control of everything for a few, desire?

What makes these organizations all the more dominating and far-reaching is that actually, in the large, they offer one and the same interpretation of life. It is the creation of a Ruler, whose intentions, purposes and rules have been revealed to them. More, as I have said, the guiding wish or mood of that Creator is resignation. Hence they are obviously advocates of things as they are. To pry or seek to know or change, as in science, sociology, government, is wrong. The God of each particular denomination knows all, directs all. Resignation to His will, as interpreted by them, is all. Hence they do not, as a rule, advocate the necessity, let alone the value, of change. And since heaven is for all, and the chief business of all is to achieve the hereafter or "sweet bye and bye," why the urge for anything difficult, let alone revolutionary, here? And that is why wealth and government always look upon religion as, if not their handmaiden, at least their "side kick" in these, their earthly adventurings.

That the laws of this or any country should permit any such sums to fall into organizational hands, and especially such organizational hands as set up such claims and commands as those of our religionists, is obviously wrong. More, it is economically unsound, since most of it is untaxed, and permits the rise and support of a privileged class which does little, if anything, more than befog the human mind, For as any one can see for himself, religious doctrines are based on so-called revelation, not reality. And worse, with such wealth to direct, what political, and worse, mental, harm cannot be done! The unlimited use of propaganda! The millions spent on foolish campaigns designed to shape or change public opinion in regard to this or that: divorce, birth control, the falseness of the Darwinian theory, or almost anything in connection with science and history!

The blather about saints and cures and bringing all to Jesus, the while taxes are evaded and the scummy politicians whom they endorse, or even nominate and elect to office, proceed to rob the public in favor of the corporations and churches whom they serve! No wonder ignorance, no wonder illusion, when those with power in the religious field knowingly delude and mislead the masses! The things told them! That it is important to vote for this or that crook; uphold religion; it is good for the people to go to war, to put religion in the schools, to give into the hands of these mental bandits the care and education of all children, so that they may be properly enslaved by religion! (A slave, in my opinion, is the man who does not think for himself. A man with knowledge is not powerless.)

But always with suave and polished words. For it is not men who are talking, as they assert, but God through them! and so through the mouths of tricksters and social prestidigitators, and no more and no less, comes all this hooey in regard to the hereafter! No wonder then that Russia swept religion away! And it should so be done here! Men should be educated concerning the data of this world and the value to men of a properly organized social life, and the how of that organization, so that they may really live better and be better mentally and physically. But, no! Whisper! God has told me, and I will tell you, and you shall follow and sustain me as my servant who am the servant of God!

These enormous Church holdings, as I have said, goes not one cent of taxes on noncommercial property. But there are tricks by which certain denominations, by laying the foundation of a church or school and then resting, can and do hold property for years until, its value having greatly increased, it becomes advisable to sell for an enormously enhanced price, and then, of course, it is so sold. One would think from that that the Churches were a branch of the Government, a public institution, whereas they are only semipublic, being under the control of a special group of patrons, and as such should be taxed and made to pay the same as any other self-aggrandizing corporation.

Yet despite this the country to-day is suffering from a lack of faith, recognized everywhere, but the depths of which may not yet be ascertained. Personally I believe it to be due not only to ignorance but to the dominance in churchly undertakings of economics and its related activities over spiritual development. The Church itself, as much as anything, has made the spiritual life unfashionable, and hence has degraded it. Against the sole hope and inspiration of Christ, it has given way to commercial standards of corporations and just when people need a simple aesthetic and mental haven to escape from corporate speed and complexity. All in all, it has sought to become a moving factor in national life, and by so doing has defeated its purpose of spiritual nourishment. And certainly, the seeking human hearts, so lost from the Church, are something to be reckoned with. Thousands who have followed it from childhood have wakened to find it an intellectual (which includes aesthetes, of course) loss."

Okay, maybe that was Theodore Dreiser, in Tragic America, The Church and Wealth in America. In 1931! But he told me that God told him those things.

Does any one entity or person in America own more land than the Catholic Church? Look at your local hospitals, schools, nursing homes, charitable organizations and of course churches in your county. Any "St." in front of the name, perchance?

How warm and fuzzy does it make you, that the insanely wealthy Church gets to obtain Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3) non-profit status for tax purposes, exempting it from property and income taxes? (Image from here.)

(Full disclosure: I went to a Jesuit law school. I received an excellent education and met wonderful people affiliated with the Church. But then again, we in the Women's Law Association got in trouble for handing out condoms on Valentine's Day and then I got a little heat for subsequently submitting a cartoon to the school paper depicting a condom on a crucifix. Little Jaynie was just cutting her teeth those days.)

I haven't the energy to go into the Catholic sex abuse scandals, the cover-ups, intentional withholding of evidence, moving molesting priests to other parishes to reoffend. Others have covered this topic just fine.

Is it any wonder that intellectuals turn from Spirit in disgust, and throw the baby (authentic spirituality) out with the bathwater (organized religion)?

We have pierced through the veil, Children; we have seen the underlying lies of corrupt organized religion. Whether the message is coming from our political administration, our churches or from our corporations, we must not for a MINUTE believe any of the lies! About homosexuality, women, contraception, the evasions (whether of the tax or child molestation charges variety.) We MUST NOT believe the lie that we are powerless and submissive before the Rulers. We are not, beloveds. We ARE the Rulers; why have we forgotten?

Does anyone have that latent, near-forgotten spark still burning within? Is it enough to ignite a flame that will illuminate and banish the fog of apathy, while creating a brilliant, inspiring conflagration of Truth? Dare we to Dismantle and Expose the corruption, and rebuild our Heaven on Earth, with ourselves and one another?

God told me I do, and I should, or S/He is going to get all Old Testament on my ass. And yours, too.

PS - Don't worry, I'm not going to single out the Catholic Church in this series of Sunday Sermons. God is starting to dictate something to me about Pat "Patwa" Robertson and the Christian Coalition and then there's that thing about Joseph Smith and his plates . . . Gotta go. Until next week, Blessings to you all.

Fictitiously Asked Questions (FAQ)

Beloved Children of Blog: Beginning next Sunday, verily I will post a Series of Sunday Sermons, espousing from my bloggy pulpit the Truth according to the Irreverent (irRev.) Jayne.

(get your own church sign here, I "borrowed" the idea from Bugg)

I have prepared this list of Fictitiously Asked Questions (FAQ) as exposition and fair warning.

Don’t you mean “Frequently Asked Questions?”

No. Most “FAQs” are, at best, frequently “anticipated” questions; more frequently, they are points the author wishes to foist upon you. See, Truth, the whole Truth, nothing but the Truth here. Would you rather have Fox News deliver the "truth?" Here's what it would look like if Fox News had been around throughout history:

So these questions are just asked by voices in your head?

Yes. In fact, voices in one’s head will likely be a topic of many a Sunday Sermon.

Well, it’s only Monday—why didn’t you write a Sunday Sermon yesterday?

You’re a clever one, aren’t you? If you must ask, my heart was filled with Hate yesterday, Beloved. I simply found myself unable to Forgive and Love my teenaged Sister from the pizza parlor; her Unforgivable Sins are almost incalculable, but suffice it to say that answering “I don’t know what a pint is” when the irRev. thirstily makes a reasonable request for Assistance, will land a person at least in Purgatory in our Church. How can she not fucking Know what a pint is, much less look at me with such Scorn and Amusement, as though I had requested a spacecake? [mmmm, Amsterdam. . .] When there is a stack of pint glasses right there in front of her face, when the word “pint” is on the dry erase board above the bar, not to mention printed on every menu? And she was TRAINING another waitress? But I digress.

I know what a pint is. What is your church?

The Church of Connectivity, of course.

I am fundamentalist/devout/orthodox Christian/ Catholic/ Jewish/ Muslim/ Mormon, will I like your church?

Sure. If you believe in Dismantling your physical churches of Man,* Collapsing your rigid, outmoded, small, exclusive worldviews, Hastening the Radical Reformation that is Nigh, (can you not feel it Coming, Beloved?) Relaxing into the Embrace of Connectivity, Taking yourself and others Less Seriously, and Spreading more Love into the world. Otherwise, probably not so much.  In fact, the Church of Connectivity is not for the Spiritually Sensitive. Hence the fair warning.

What makes you qualified to Sermonize?

Why, because I have a Blog, of course. That fact alone makes me brilliant, authoritative, Holy and wise. Also, I am a bona fide Reverend.

But I have seen you half-nekkid. You swear and you drop casual mention of alcohol, drugs, not to mention Nasty Forbidden Threeways. What kind of Reverend are you?

The Perfect kind, for my Church, thank you very much.

Won’t God punish you for your Sins?

Oh, Beloved. And I thought I was the one with Daddy issues. My God is not a stern, watchful father, ready to mete out rewards and punishments, gold stars and spankings, for my every action. Beloved, I am God. You are God. The energy animating the trees and animals is God. Like it or not, George Bush and Karl Rove are God. There is no Man Behind the Curtain. We are not in Oz, Beloved. We are Home, we are God, co-creating our Realities, either making them Heaven or Hell on earth. Are we ready to Choose to Live our lives, exercising Free Will to co-create Heaven on earth?

Beloved, Imagine – there is no father God “out there,” no Heaven “up in the sky,” no “escape” to a better place when we die. Can we not Tend to ourselves, our planet, while we are here? For if we believe this is just a temporary Hell from which to escape later, will we not Neglect our planet? Would not Tending to it seem futile, like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

Beloved, our ship is not sinking. We are not in steerage. We are just setting sail!

What about Jesus’ Second Coming?

We love Jesus. We believe Jesus was reincarnated many times, then finally reached Enlightenment, and was an enlightened master and teacher. Of course, he was not the only one. Jesus taught about karma and reincarnation. And is not the reference to the Second Coming an overt recognition of reincarnation by traditional Christians? For a fascinating read about historical Jesus and the evidence behind him surviving the crucifixion and living in India, read Jesus Lived in India (on the sidebar on the left). Buddhist monks still follow the signs to find the next reincarnated Lama. Could not the Three Wise Men have been following the same practice?

East and West can be reconciled, Beloved. That is what the Reformation offers—dissolving the Illusion of Separation. The Separation between you and me, between us and God, between religions, between races, between genders. Do you think you do not have that Christ consciousness within you, Beloved? Do you not Believe that Christ (or your prophets, guides, masters) wish only for your Peace and Enlightenment? Why do you make yourself Small?

I am an atheist. This is all a bunch of mildly amusing lesser thinking. I do not need the “crutch” of religion. Everything can be explained by logic and science, not by this mushy, new-agey babble. I am embarrassed for you.

Beloved, there’s nothing I like better than inducing a cringefest. Methinks you doth protest too much. I regret to inform you that your thinking is outmoded, Beloved. Like East and West, Science and Religion can be reconciled. The image of illusory Separation dissolves when we shine upon it the Light of Experiential Knowledge. I know how preciously you cling to your Logic. You are invited to stick around; you may surprise yourself by finding the logic encapsulating the Beauty and Truth of our Church airtight. 

Are you a heretic?

If by “heretic” you mean experiencing God directly, without the “benefit” of the interpretive assistance from an organized church or religion, yes. Ours is a very disorganized religion, I am proud to announce.

If heresy is good enough for Joan of Arc, it is good enough for me. Except for the burning at the stake thing. And the leading of France's armies as a teenager thing. On the other hand, the voices in my head are telling me France needs a little help right now. . .

I just can’t think of any more questions, but I think I Love you. I bow at your feet and worship you. How can anyone be so intelligent, but also so beautiful, and cool, and perfect as you? Can I give you all of my money and possessions, be your sex slave and go out and hand out Church of Connectivity tracts, and offer Testimony and Bear Witness to the Good Word, especially to the Heathens?

Beloved, I know, I know. It is a Burden to be Me. To answer your questions, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. Although I believe you are God and equal to me, if you Choose to grovel before me, I will Honor your Choice. That is all for now.

* If you Belong to a Church that Bestows upon you naught but Joy and Community, please remember that the irRev. is often Resplendently full of Excrement and truly Honors your Path.