America - The Dangerous Influx of Gnosticism, Mystery Religions

Across the Internet, you see about as much mention of Mystery Religions as you do Gnosticism, some promoting them, others horrified by them. Let me try to explain.

Among the Ancient cultures, many taught, not by discourse, not by liturgy, but by initiation. Someone wishing to learn about a certain sect was led through a series of steps, each preparing him for the next and finally culminating in the full revelation of whatever truth they claimed to have. The idea was that some truths just have to be experienced. In this way, they bore a loose resemblance to Gnosticism, but there was a difference. The 'truth' revealed in the Mysteries led the initiate to adapt to the World, not ready himself for departure, and there is the danger.

Inevitably, no matter how well intentioned the founders of the Mystery cult were, they degenerated to systems of control. In leading the initiate through the steps, they broke down, his personality and remolded them in the way that suited the Priests of the cult. To tell of the Mysteries procedures and truths was almost always a crime punishable by death.

To be honest, we know almost nothing about the exact steps in any of the initiations or of the supposed 'truths' revealed because almost no written records were kept, not surprising since they were 'mysteries' with severe punishment for any who revealed them. The Greeks left one sketchy report but it is none too detailed.

Each of the cults centered around a certain god or goddess. As discussed in the last post, the annoying spiritual entities that plague mankind often pose as deities. See the problem. Yet, there are those today who seem to long for the return of the 'old gods' and their Mystery cults. This is the problem with such groups as the neo-pagans who seem to pop up here and there on websites across the Internet. There are elements of this also in the fascination with some branches of Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, voodoo, and the old religions of Latin America. There is also strong hints of this in the otherwise inexplicable interest in the heroes of the now nearly ancient DC and Marvel comic books. Those heroes were modeled after the various pagan gods and goddesses and learning their lore is almost like going through an initiation.

I have even seen some wishing to equate exposure to occult based rock shows or extreme hardcore punk with initiation into a sort of nebulous cult, especially when psychedelics are thrown in. All who long for a return to the pagan past should remember one thing. The cultures that embraced these religions all collapsed. Yes, some remnants remain but, for the most part, they are so marginalized as to be non-existent. And, yet, here they are trying to reappear and some very foolish folks are calling them. They need to ask themselves, 'why did they disappear?'

The answer is simple. The Western Civilization, which is still hanging on, despite attempts to destroy it, are based, mostly, on Judeo-Christian roots with a bow here and there toward the Greek philosophers. These beliefs include the idea that the Creator made a Cosmos that is rational, that follows laws that can be discerned. Now, they made a lot of mistakes along the way, but this idea has led us to create the World we now live in, a world of comfort, fast transportation, instant communication, a world where if we think and study, we can grasp the laws of Nature and get at least a glimpse of the Mind of God. This line of thought led to the recognition of Man as an important being and the concept of the worth of the individual. It has given us a world where we can store food safely, see doctors that might actually cure us, the ability to pick up a phone and talk to Mom or get in a car and go see Dad.  In short, Western Civilization began when we abandoned the belief in appealing to whimsical spirits and started to explore the rational World God gave us.

Now, let me be clear. Science, the logical exploration of the cosmos, is not perfect. There are questions it will never be able to answer, and thus is a terrible substitute for Spiritual Beliefs. A society that looks to science for spiritual answers will end up like the old Soviet Union, cold and bleak, but science is a fantastic tool, when practiced properly.  By that I mean that science should fit theory to facts, not pick a theory and fit the facts to that, especially when that theory is popular only because it is the favorite of the guys paying for the research. But, you do not throw out the baby with the bathwater and you do not throw away the scientific method because it is misused.

In short, I would like to know how many would be neo-pagans really want to return to those days of yore when many women died in childbirth, many kids died when young, typhoid and cholera and smallpox were widespread and the average life expectancy was less that 40? How many wish to pay homage to the old gods and return to days when most never traveled more than a few miles from home in a lifetime, night was a time full of fearsome predators and the Priests of the local Temple to whatever God was popular where you live ruled the kingdom and if that God seemed a bit peevish might want to sacrifice your kids to cool thing out? If you can truly say yes, then great. Get yourself a piece of land, far away from the rest of us, and have at it. Me, I much prefer sitting in a comfortable air conditioned room, going to nice restaurants, golfing and dealing with a Creator who is rational and relatively easy to get along with. Next post, cults.

American Religion - No Longer That Old Time Religion

When I was growing up, we were told that religion was not to be discussed in public. Well, who cares? Let's talk. Many say that we are a Judeo-Christian culture. That is, at best, partly true.                                                                              

Few, in the country, practice Old Testament Judaism. Sit down some rainy afternoon and read the Book of Leviticus, or try to. It is amazingly boring. But if you can manage it, you will discover a world of insane laws, violent, misogynistic nonsense. We don't practice these beliefs because we are sane. In fact, most Jews don't practice these laws to their fullest, not even the Orthodox.                                                                    

 As far as the Christian part goes. it depends on which Christian you ask. To me anyone who is kind, forgiving and not overly judgmental is Christian, I don't care if they say the believe in the Great Pumpkin. Yet, we have a plethora of different sects, all calling themselves Christian, who can barely agree on the time of day. Fortunately, most American Christians just seem to give a nod and a wink to the theology and attend only to socialize, which is just fine.                 
                                                                                                                                                                      However, there are the hard core believers in each group and they are a source of great annoyance. They argue over the tiniest points and scorn those who disagree with them. Actually scorn is often too mild a term, they are generally ready to assign everyone else to Hell.                            

  I have a thing about using words correctly. We usually call the strictly religious, "fundamentalists." This is a misuse of the word. Fundamental means basic. In other words, if you believe the Bible is basically true, then you are fundamentalist. These people believe the Bible is literally true, that every word is straight from the mouth of God. How they reconcile all of the Bible's many contradictions is beyond me. For example, Kings and Chronicles tell of the same period in Israel's history, yet they tell very, very different stories, and that is just one example. Oh well, that is just my hang up. I like the language to be used properly.
                                                                                                                    
That aside, the literalists are a small minority, but they have big mouths and the media love them because they stir up the bread and butter of news, controversy. They refuse to admit all of America's other influences. We are just as much a product of Greek thought, the philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, have always been a key source of Western ideas, Their influence was felt all through the era of the Roman Empire and from there, after being lost through much of the Middle Ages, was again vital in the thinking of the Renaissance.                                                          

 We are also a product of the Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, when man began to seriously study the world. Many who claim deep religious beliefs do not recognize the validity of the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers but they surely do enjoy the fruits of the research, computers, TV, air conditioners, washing machines, cars and all of the wonderful conveniences we have.
                                                                                                                                         
Americans also have a long heritage of openess to Eastern ideas. The Transcendentalists included a simplistic version of Hindu beliefs in their mystical view of life. Hawthorne, Emerson, Melville, Thoreau, all came, to some degree or another, from this school of thought and have deeply influenced the ideas of many of the best Americans.                           

So, are we a Judeo-Christian culture. Yes, but we are so much more and we are the better for that. But, there is still more to come. Science is a great influence, a lousy religion, but deeply important in how we understand the Universe and our place in it. Its discoveries have to be included into any belief system that is going to be valid as we move forward. Oddly, the farther science goes, the more it resembles a sort of deep mysticism, and that mysticism has to be put into a spiritual context. There are those who tout Eastern Beliefs, others push a kind of New Age shamanism. Neither will ever be dominant in this country. Eastern thought is too impersonal and doesn't endorse the pursuit of fun and pleasure, so it will really never fully catch on here. Shamanism is just too darn weird and we are at heart a practical folk. My personal hope is that we follow three simple rules. Forgive, be kind, and don't judge. Do those three things and we can go far.