Religion = Politics
Whenever I am asked my opinion concerning the Pope… you
know, the Pope… the bishop of Rome… the leader of the globally entrenched
Catholic Church… the titular successor to Saint Peter… yeah THAT Pope. Whenever
I am asked my opinion concerning the Pope… I usually reply: “Good work, if you can get it.” I say
this, not merely to be snarky, but to illustrate the point that being Pope…
although an elite and arguably highly coveted position within the Church is, at
the end of the day, just a job.
…A job, occupation or profession… a means of livelihood,
taken up by a man or woman in order to “earn
a living.” The subtle implication (capitalist mindset) of the previous
sentence is that a man or woman must have a job, in order to justify their existence… “What do you do for a living?” read: “How do you justify being alive?” In
the case of the Pope… and as far as jobs go… being the reputed voice of God on
Earth, could be cynically perceived as a pretty good gig.
If the occupation of “Pope” is a job… what is the job
description? On first glance, it would appear to be a function of ecclesiastical
“upper management” …overseeing the workings of the Church. It would also appear
to be representative… that is, the Pope is elected by his peers within the College
of Cardinals during papel conclave. Similar to the appointment of Supreme Court
Justices within the American Judiciary branch of government, the position of
Pope is a lifetime appointment. Talk about job security.
The more we examine the “office” of Pope, the more we
realize it to be a political appointment. The political power of this
prestigious priestly position was consolidated, in a fashion, by none-other
than the Pope himself in 1870, with the proclamation of “Papal Infallibility.”
This takes the form of a dogma wherein the Pope is preserved from the
possibility of error when defining a doctrine concerning faith or morals. You
would think that the Pope’s “dogma” would eventually get run over by his
“karma” …but I digress.
So… after 1870, the Pope is not only the voice of God on
Earth… he is also infallible… can do no wrong… in regard to interpreting morality
(proper behavior). We all know how well the Catholic Church’s clergy are faring
in regard to proper behavior, but again, I digress. The point is… there is a
guy out there who’s title is Pope… who’s job is to oversee the Catholic Church
(over one billion members world wide) and tell it’s members what to think,
concerning right and wrong. Again I say… Good
work, if you can get it!
Now the Catholic Church is what is known as a Religion.
Religions are organizations, much like corporations or governments… of humans,
run by humans, who want to tell other humans what to think. In justifying their
bossy behavior, the humans who run religions, piously yet vaguely conjure spirituality.
Spirituality is not an organization, but rather a relationship… a relationship
between an individual human and that which gave rise to, sustains, and
ultimately implodes… all that is… or Universe. So the guys who run religions
use a very personal relationship, to somehow confer authority to themselves, to
tell you an I what to think! Unbelievable!
If we reject the premise that any organizational entity
created by men is justified (divinely ordained) by a personal relationship between
an individual & the power of Universe, then the façade of spiritual authority…
of any religion… falls away.
Absent the “cover” of spiritual authority, religions are… in
reality… a form of government. The science of governing humans has been
popularly identified as… politics. Politics and especially politicians… currently
enjoy a rather unsavory reputation. In light of the above, the similarity
between religious organizations and governmental (political) organizations
becomes unsettlingly apparent. The current “fall from grace” by the Catholic
clergy, driven by increasing accusations of child abuse, coincides with the
eroding popularity of politicians.
The horrific frequency of cases of abuse leveled against
Catholic Priests, appear to be validated by the number of convictions and/or
cases being “settled out of court.” Likewise, public opinion of elected
governmental officials sinks to an all-time low amidst continued criminal chicanery.
The abysmal performance of these two institutions leads us to the inescapable
conclusion that politician and priest alike are completely derelict in their
public duties. The undeniably symmetrical failures of these two institutions can
be succinctly illustrated in the following formula…
Religion = Politics
It is likely that none of the above is anything new to
readers of this blog. Many of us have watched for some time, the shameful fall
from propriety of both priest and politician. I realize that there are
exceptions to this condemnation… that there are exceptional individuals, both
religious and political, doing excellent work. However, it could easily be
argued that religion and politics have traded in the currency of deception and
manipulation since the dawn of civilization. Certainly when viewing the history
of the Catholic Church as a political entity, it has demonstrated a very bloody
yet successful track record. For many of us, it is a proven fact that power
corrupts, and that absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
So if in fact religion is indeed synonymous with politics, if the two entities are two hands of the same institutional organization of deceit, manipulation and control, where does that leave the individual? The great tekgnostic saint, Groucho Marx said it best (concerning membership in the Hollywood Friar’s Club)…
“I sent the club a
wire stating” Please accept my resignation… I don’t want to belong to any club
that will accept me as a member!”
Seriously… absent any moral authority coming from Church or
State, the individual finds solace in the very mechanism that those who control
religions point to when seeking justification… the very essence of
spirituality… Relationship. Relationship is the foundation of harmonious
success… On Earth, as it is in Heaven.
When asked, every successful politician, as well as every successful
clergyman/woman, especially those who are honest and do truly good work for
their community… attributes their success to the good relationships they have
fostered within their communities.
Relationships are the key to success in all of our Earthly
undertakings. Humans are social animals, and as such, we are only as strong or
successful as the relationships we nurture. Our ability to build strong
relationships at home, at work and at play, is directly proportionate to our
success in these endeavors. This is the true secret of success. This secret is
both plainly obvious and profoundly subtle. It applies equally to the mundane
deeds of man, as well as to the intimate relationship between self and the
mysterious power of Universe.
And now that the proverbial “cat is out of the bag” …now
that the secret has been revealed, I’ll leave you, dear reader, with a few more
words of wisdom from the incomparable Groucho…
“The secret of life is
honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”
Bonus Wisdom from Groucho…
“Outside of a dog, a
book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.”
“Last night I shot an
elephant in my Pajamas… how he got in my pajamas I'll never know.”
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