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.

America and the Future

I am befuddled (I like that word). I was brought up with the idea that the Nation, in fact, the entire World, was going to enter some wonderous age, a period of high tech wonders, easy living and enlightened peace. Well, here I am, 60 years later and I'm still waiting.

Sure, we have technological wonders aplenty. The cell phone and personal computers are two, but how beneficial are they really? I, for one, do not like feeling connected all the time so I have come to abhor cell phones, especially since the advent of texting, a rude and insidious habit. Computers are useful but I have begun to question just how time saving they are. I have worked at places where it took more time and effort to do the books with a computer that it did manually. And while there is a vast amount of information on the Internet, information can become a trap. You can resaerch yourself into inactivity. Add into that the out of date web sites, the enormous numbers of popup adds, and the frequent disruption in Internet service and the whole computer revolution grows a might shaky. Just wait until they start taxing Internet commerce and start censoring content. Bith are on their way.

Mediaclly, doctors can do wonders. Or can they? They sure have a whole bunch of really cool gadgets but, you know what? Folks still get the same diseases and they still die and when they do live longer, the quality of life is often not high enough to justify the extra few years. Also, did you ever try to get an HMO or a low cost insurance policy to cover the use of those really cool gadgets? Good luck on that.

Cars are still about the same. Food is basically the same. Clothing is about the same. Well, that's not really true. The quality of all 3 has gone down while the prices have gone up. Remember, we import much food, many cars and most clothing, all from countries where people work for a couple of dollars a day.

As far as peace goes, well, it doesn't. We have fightinmg throughout the Mid East, China is rapidly militarizing, the Koreas are rattling sabers, and Russia is bombing Syria to rubble. In addition, India and Pakistan still hate each other and keep those nukes ready for action and God Himself doesn't know what the Israelis have planned. Europe is a hot bed of Islamic terrorism and just wait and see what happens when the average Europeans get sick and tired of taking in a semmingly infinite stream of immigrants. In our own US things are not at all peaceful. There is a simmering tension between whites and blacks, that has come to the forefront because of the gestapo like attitude of a lot of cops and now I am beginning to notice a few white groups such as the Klan, raising their ugly little heads.

When I was schooled, we were, with surprising frequency, treated to Disney made documentary films showing how science was going to lead us all into a glorious future. Well, that ship sailed a long time ago and has been lost at sea.

Years ago, science fiction seemed to take two contridictory stances toward the future. The Ben Bovas, Arthur Clarks, and Robert Heinleins painted a fairly rosy picture of a brilliant shiny techno-future, full of adventure and discovery. Huxley, Orwell and Phillip K.Dick portrayed dystopian visions of  weird, viscious totalitarian regimes. Guess who's winning?

America and Fear - Part 5

In Frank Herbert's great book Dune, an oft repeated phrase is 'Fear is the Mind Killer.' True, usually, however, fear can be used. Fear, when controlled, can bring the mind to a razor sharp edge, for awhile. If uncontrolled, or if it continues for too long, the mind buckles from stress and thought, clear thought, becomes impossible.

In the first 4 parts of this series, I have traced the mind-boggling rate of change we have seen in the last 150 years. It has been exciting and it has been draining and nothing slows down. Still, we have to cope. The fear response to such change is understandable, but we have to take a few deep breaths and get over it. In the past, change was dealt with by relying on an underlying system of thought, a world view, and these changed slowly. We no longer have that option or that crutch and far too many are looking at past views of our place in the World in hopes of finding security.

Often, such world views are bound to religions, so let's look there. Much of the World is Hindu or Buddhist and those views can be discounted because they largely view this World as unimportant. True, that might help you cope but only if you basically just want to opt out of the whole deal. Tempting, perhaps, but in the long run, unsatisfying.

Judaism is no longer a major player on the World scene. To put things quite bluntly, their insistence on following an ancient set of tribal laws is not even too appealing to most ethnic Jews. However, there traditions are being kept very alive by the insanely fanatic Moslems who are wreaking so much havoc. The fundamentalist Islamic movement does not, as has been stated, wish a return to the Middle Ages, they wish a return to the ancient days of Biblical tribalism. Sharia law is nothing more than an especially harsh, literal interpretation of Levitical law, a frightening concept given how harsh those laws are. True, they wish to re-establish the old Caliphate, but then they would turn the clock further back. Why? People who are so frightened of the present, so terror stricken at a vision of the future they cannot understand, will seek refuge in the past.

The Christian world is little better off. The Catholic Church went through centuries of trying to dominate the World and finally gave up, but today, there are still those who long for a return to a Medieval-like world in which the Church is the Law and I would not be surprised to see the Church make some sort of last effort toward those ends. The Protestant Churches, especially those teaching a literal interpretation of the bible, make clear their belief that they will one day, sit with the Lord as rulers of the World, which will, conveniently at that point, consist of nothing but Protestant Christians, since everyone else will be in Hell.

All of these religions base their beliefs around the Jewish Old Testament. The New testament and the Koran use that book as their base. One big problem, years of research by dedicated historians, archeologists and linguists have shown that the tales of the Old Testament are, for by far the most part, either total fabrications or extreme twistings of what really happened. You cannot use a book as the basis of your belief, of your world-view, and claim that you have the truth that will prevail, when that book is full of half-truths and out-and-out lies.

The more rational among us have their own problems. Many of these folks wish a return to the Enlightenment, The Age of Rationalism, and its Clockwork Universe. They wish to view the World as a great machine, humming along steadily and mechanically like a giant wind-up toy. Well, sorry folks. Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Theory put an end to all that. The Universe is unfathomably weird and we have just scratched the surface. To all those seeking comfort in the thought of a cold, mechanical world, sorry, that ship sailed about 100 years ago and you missed the boat.

Finally, a word about the so-called New Age beliefs. These are basically based on simplistic versions of science and even simpler versions of the old pagan beliefs. The key word there is simple, as in simple minded. Learn some real science and a bit of real anthropology, and learn that quantum theory does not mean that the Universe is just what you want to think it is and that some of those old pagans you want to follow were bloodthirsty monsters. Then, if you still believe in all of that New Age BS, please consult a therapist, because you need serious help.

So, to wind up this series, I guess I should offer some smooth, easy answers, some profound wisdom. Sorry, I have nothing. Until we slow down, think things through and open our minds to what we are learning, we will have these wretched wars and unwarranted sufferings. All I can say is that the way forward is not back. Look at history, learn from it, save the good, save what works and jettison the rest. You do not need to carry old baggage on a new trip. What works? That's easy. Be kind. Try not to judge your fellow humans harshly; they make mistakes, so do you. Be open minded, but not bubble headed.  Be tolerant, but do not let yourself be bullied. Have some fun, it's good for the soul, body and mind. Avoid violence in all but the most extreme cases, but fight if there is no other way. Last, think, with your head and your heart.

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.