This is as important subject, but I have the uncomfortable feeling that Americans do not want to think about it. America is a secular country at a superficial level, but it is still full of religious beliefs at deeper levels.
America used to be full of religious controversy, but now we have moved to the opposite extreme: religion is never discussed at all, and we pride ourselves on giving equal value to all religious beliefs - as long as they claim to be Christian. I am all in favor of religious tolerance, but I also think we ought be aware of the side-effects of some of these beliefs. Let’s examine one of them.
The world is not important
Does this notion sound a bit extreme to you? Well it doesn’t to many Americans; for them it is just a fundamental tenent of Christianity. And they are right, it has been part of Christian Craziness for a long time, and the early Christians no doubt got it from some elements in the Jewish religion, and some other places besides. It is not a new idea, but it is a dangerous idea, and always has been.
In the religion of my family of origin this was expressed simply: there were spiritual matters and there were worldly matters. In other worlds, there was Godliness, and there was Worldliness. There was the good people and the bad people.
This is a powerful idea, and it has not disappeared; it still affects our lives in many ways. But it is supported by an another radical notion: the physical world is temporary, and will soon pass away. I assume most of my readers do not believe this, and reject it out-of-hand. But they should be careful to not dismiss it carelessly, because it still has a big influence on the world they live in. How so?
This is an extremely subtle set of ideas, believe it or not, and they have an equally subtle effect on our mental processing. We are easily distracted from the real world, with real people in it, to issues which seem more important, and this weakness is exploited by all kinds of politicians. They keep our attention focused on spiritual matters (the war against Islam), so their paymasters can concentrate on worldly matters (controlling the world’s oil). This allows us to keep our spiritual purity, and at the same time get our share of the world’s dirt.
Recent Comments