25th Confession

One of my favorite lines from Dashiell Hammett comes from his novel The Thin Man, later made into a movie starring my favorite native Pittsburghers, William Powell: the wife, Nora Charles (later portrayed by Myrna Loy), says to her husband, "I love you, Nicky, because you smell nice and know such fascinating people."  Although I've been complimented several times about how nice I smell, today's blog is more about the interesting people I know.

When I married into my wife's family, I inherited six nephews and nieces, as well as the parents to go along with them.  My wife's sister, Grace, is the first very interesting person I'd like to celebrate today; her viewpoint is always refreshing, her insights continuously thought-provoking, and her cooking sublime.  Today's posting finds its roots in her contemplation on the perverted nature of the modern American church; perverted not meaning "lurid" or "debased", but rather the classical definition of "twisted".

What started out as a genuine outpouring of love from God has been twisted at the very base into something almost unrecognizable.  The career pulpiteer preaches "It was for freedom that Christ set us free, but within a strict set of laws and rules."  The love that a congregation has for its own members eclipses the outreach that it has to the community; as soon as a member leaves a congregation, the circle closes its wound and shuns the new non-believer.  The flock is weak from being fed pablum, mediocrity is rewarded, and the Kingdom of God is only for those who hold on until the bitter end.  Anyone who has talent is milked dry of their enthusiasm by being overworked in the house, and God Himself help the person with a slightly different viewpoint than that of the particular house where the congregant is planted.

It's not really the fault of Americans; the system became flawed back in the days when clergy and laity needed to be clergy and laity.  The clergy shared the good news with the laity because the laity weren't educated enough to read the words on a page.  As has happened today, knowledge and power went hand in hand; those that have the knowledge obtain the power.  And instead of doling out the knowledge freely, the clergy retained their power, even when it was obvious they shouldn't have it.  The Church made itself an enemy of science starting even before the whole Galileo Galilei debacle, and therefore is directly responsible for atheism.  The Church alienates the exceptional people who might be a threat to their personal corporate religious empire, if not consciously (through pressure and the like), then by celebrating the mediocre and the unexceptional.


Speaking of mediocre and unexceptional, did you realize that the most pervasive prejudice in the atheist world is the rampant stupidity of Christians?  The most cynical view Christians as superstitious sheep, following a religion that worships a zombie, without a thought for themselves or others, considering science as something to be mistrusted.  Apply the epithet of stupidity to any other people group - heck, apply ANY epithet to ANY other people group - and watch the hurt feelings pile up.  And yet, as Christians, we feel the necessity to accept this abuse as a pious exercise in "turning the other cheek" or being blessed when people speak ill of you "on [His] account, for my sake." 

The worst part about this is that the abuse isn't just heaped on by the world; it's heaped on by the very clergy that Christians go to for help.  The very people that are called to cover and equip the people of God abuse, misuse, ignore, and mishandle the gifts and people that God gives them!  Unbelievable!  No wonder many people leave the churches where they are called to minister; there is no place given for them, just a bunch of rules.  Because, God knows, it's easier to tell a bunch of people what to do or not to do in a given situation than it is to - Heaven forfend -  BUILD ACTUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM.  Like the Great Commission calls us to do.  There's enough material in THAT for another angry blog; however, let the following story speak to the situation at hand and be enough.  Many and many a year ago, I saw an amateur production of Godspell, the classic 1970 musical adaptation of the gospel of Matthew.  At the beginning, Jesus interacts with each of the twelve disciples in a personal manner: bumping knuckles with Luke, hugging John, secret-handshaking with Thomas, and so on.  Just before the crucifixion sequence, Jesus interacted with each of the twelve disciples in the same manner, albeit a bit more solemnly: John's hug was more tearful on both parts, for example.  I'd like to think that anyone who claims to be a personal Savior would be able to be personal with me; why is it that His Shepherds are too busy to build that kind of relationship with the sheep? 

Hebrews 13:17 is used a lot to browbeat the laity into submission: OBEY YOUR LEADERS AND SUBMIT TO THEIR AUTHORITY.  The latter half of this verse is nicely glossed over: they have to give an account of your souls.  I wonder, when the great Judgment is passed, whether or not the sheep will be judged more harshly according to how they submitted to leaders, or whether the leaders will be judged more harshly on how they used the sheep that were under their aegis.  Leaders also nicely forget a few verses earlier, where the sheep are called to consider the outcome of their leaders' way of life.  If there's no fruit, why should I follow?

Sorry about the angry timbre of this post; the next one will be about roller skating.  Honest.