Actually, I can see the priest's point in one instance (and I'm not sure if this is what he wanted to have as the take away, but it's what I got).
Simply because he brings up snake handlers, statues bleeding out of the eyeballs, etc. and places it alongside the license plate -- I get the impression that in one sense he's making fun of both (maybe he isn't, but it's hard for me not to).
And to make the observation that a lot of atheists (not all, but a lot) are just as bad as any evangelist speaking in tongues. Prime example: so-called, self proclaimed atheists who are engaged in all manner of eastern religious mysticism while proclaiming to all and sundry that they don't believe in religion (for which one gets the feeling that at the end of it all they shall be rewarded with some cosmic cookie).
In short, people on both sides have created a graven image of their own beliefs and worship them. There is no real honesty and loyalty to the actual belief, no serious thought, or application of said thought; it's all about the image of oneself as righteous and the true...and owner of clever little knick knacks that proclaim the owner as one of the righteous and the true above everyone else.
Take away their snakes -- and their bleeding statues and their Darwin fish and the pilgrimages and the rites and the rest -- and those bastards won't know what to do with themselves. Which raises the conundrum of the risks involved in allowing them to continue on with their diversions (at the risk of having them potentially get serious about proclaiming their diversions) or risk the fallout of trying to wean them of said diversions (which may not completely be possible).
Probably something that needs to be approached carefully on a case by case basis.
Actually, I can see the priest's point in one instance (and I'm not sure if this is what he wanted to have as the take away, but it's what I got).
ReplyDeleteSimply because he brings up snake handlers, statues bleeding out of the eyeballs, etc. and places it alongside the license plate -- I get the impression that in one sense he's making fun of both (maybe he isn't, but it's hard for me not to).
And to make the observation that a lot of atheists (not all, but a lot) are just as bad as any evangelist speaking in tongues. Prime example: so-called, self proclaimed atheists who are engaged in all manner of eastern religious mysticism while proclaiming to all and sundry that they don't believe in religion (for which one gets the feeling that at the end of it all they shall be rewarded with some cosmic cookie).
In short, people on both sides have created a graven image of their own beliefs and worship them. There is no real honesty and loyalty to the actual belief, no serious thought, or application of said thought; it's all about the image of oneself as righteous and the true...and owner of clever little knick knacks that proclaim the owner as one of the righteous and the true above everyone else.
Take away their snakes -- and their bleeding statues and their Darwin fish and the pilgrimages and the rites and the rest -- and those bastards won't know what to do with themselves.
Which raises the conundrum of the risks involved in allowing them to continue on with their diversions (at the risk of having them potentially get serious about proclaiming their diversions) or risk the fallout of trying to wean them of said diversions (which may not completely be possible).
Probably something that needs to be approached carefully on a case by case basis.
PW