Waste

 

 

 

St. Francis of Assisi in Ecstacy by Carravagio

I am bombarded during this season with media presentations about Christmas. As a secular-thinking person from a Roman Catholic family, I often shake my head in wonder at the tremendous waste of great thought in the Catholic Church. It is sacrificed on the altar of dogma by narrow men with little vision beyond their own selfish needs for power and comfort. 

I think of former soldiers, like Francis of Assisi (who allegedly set up the first Christmas creche) and Ignatius of Loyola. Francis laid down arms and devoted his life to the poor. His historical persona indicates he understood his place on the planet as a fellow creature to other forms of life. This is a Buddha-like biography from 13th century Catholicism. And what happened to the zeal for humility preached by Francis? It was turned into a monastic corporation by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. 

Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, was severely traumatized in battle. Part of his recovery entailed his chosen seclusion in a cave, where he experienced hallucinations which he attributed to divine revelation. He was used by the Catholic Church's hierarchy to aggressively fight the 16th century Reformation with his preaching and writing. However, studying Ignatius reveals a sensitive man whose eyes were opened to the value of learning and the waste of war. 

In their respective periods, these were exceptional men. Both were engaged in struggles with the Roman hierarchy which tried to manipulate them to do the corporate dirty work of the Papacy. Rather than listening to them, the Roman hierarchy was intent upon exploiting them. This is the waste of organized religion. While it has served the purpose of carrying a certain amount of valuable knowledge through the centuries, it has cast out a much greater volume of wisdom. The Royal Library of Alexandria, after all, was perhaps first  destroyed by the Romans in the pre-Christian era and then by Muslims in the 7th century. The Roman penchant for domination and control is ancient. The Catholic Church simply kidnapped and carried on the tradition after the conversion of Emperor Constantine.

My objection to organized religion is not aimed at the religious. Most religious people are simply trying to build a mental sanctuary with pre-scientific tools. They rely on the instruction of preachers, priests, imams or rabbis to feel consoled in their normal human insecurity. The organs of organized religion, mechanized dogma machines driven by sinister men with selfish agendas, are the evil of organized religion. The waste of organized religion is the wealth of personal goodness of those who are misled by their dogmatic exploiters.