In who's Name ?
Hello everyone, I hope you're all well and I'm glad to be back and writing to you, although the delay in my putting out another post has been entirely down to my wanting to get my thoughts in some kind of order before typing a word. I have struggled with this post as it touches on subjects which can divide people and that's not my intention, however, I feel so strongly, not to write at least something would have been a long way from honest.
Anyway, with all that said, I should like to add one last and very significant point, something I have said before, but, I believe, does need saying again, I am not a religious person, I don't follow a faith but I have the greatest respect for those who do - whatever belief system they might have and would certainly never condone writing anything which was offensive to anyone.
Recently, in Australia, a very senior figure within the Catholic Church was found guilty of allegedly not only personally molesting young boys, but also covering up similar atrocities performed by other clergy members. As happens, when this kind of case comes into the public domain, more horrific stories of abuse have been revealed and those too were the acts of those who have spent their lifetimes, publicly professing their undying devotion to the Christian way of life. During the Same Sex Marriage Debate in Australia, many of those same people expressed their horror at allowing two consenting adults the right to marry - often using the Bible as their frame of reference as to just how much God would apparently disapprove of such a union. Obviously, I don't need to explain how two-faced I find those people, who, on the one hand, had so much to say when it came to adult relationships while, knowing, they had routinely abused children and would do so again, should the opportunity present itself.
This made me wonder, as so many times, these people would say they work 'in Jesus' name', what would he really think of them ? Now, whatever your own belief may be, there is no question, Jesus existed, he was a real man, who did travel and talk to people about his God. This is a plain fact, he is mentioned by Roman historians, who were meticulous with details, so I feel confident in saying, the only potential debate, is who he was, where he came from and if he did, indeed, rise from the dead. Now, those are not for me to discuss here, but I do feel it's fair to briefly examine what he said and did in his known life.
If you have read the Bible, as I have, you cannot escape understanding many of his core beliefs, and its those, so many members of the clergy seem to have conveniently forgotten. As Jesus asked so many of his disciples to give up their lives and follow him, and during his travels, he doesn't seem to have any great material wealth - money was not high on his agenda. Yet today, most branches of the Christian faith, have vast amounts of wealth, there are palaces, land ownership which, if all put together, could form a medium sized country, not to mention, all the trappings of hugely expensive artefacts. Was this accumulation part of his teachings ? Absolutely not, so, if he did come back, would he believe it was a job well done ? Would he look around at all those who live in poverty, whose lives are blighted by disease and hunger and be happy that his priests, his representatives live in obscene luxury and privilege ? I don't think so. After all, he is quoted as saying, 'It would be easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.'
Aside from their vast wealth, how would he feel when he learned of all the apparently systemic abuse within his church? How would the man who was so concerned with the welfare and safety of children, feel when he discovered his representatives saw young, vulnerable people as little more than tools for their own perverse enjoyment? Would he be thrilled to know, when these acts were discovered by senior members of his church, they'd be covered up, offending priests would be hastily moved to avoid scandal. Yet in moving them, all that achieved was giving them a whole new crop of youngsters to abuse again. Of course he would be as horrified as we all are, yet for him, it would be a thousand times worse, because he'd know, people only entrusted their children with these paedophiles because they believed in him.
There can be no question - whatever faith you might follow - Jesus was a charismatic, principled man who spoke out against those who he felt were corrupt, he had no time for people who put their own self interest above the needs of those around them. Can any of us even begin to imagine what it would be like, to see so much that's fundamentally wrong, done while hiding behind the disguise of something which is meant to encourage only a good and caring society? Speaking personally, if I was Jesus, I would be disgusted and want to remove my name from the whole sorry mess.
Now obviously, there are many clergy who do wonderful work, who have a genuine mission to help those less fortunate, and do so with pure hearts. I think it is incredibly sad, they are now potentially viewed with suspicion, but that comes from the acts of those higher up the pecking order. If when abuse was discovered, the offender was made known to the public, was made to face the full force of the law and be kicked out of the Church, perhaps some kind of respect could be won back in the public eye. But sadly, it seems, there is still this belief, the church will always protect its own reputation rather than the safety of the most vulnerable in society - children. It will always hang on to every last penny of their wealth rather than wisely distribute it to the communities, around the world, which could change lives for the better. When an institution sees itself as separate, as above any law, sooner or later, the general public will see it as nothing more than some kind of corrupt corporation and lose faith in it completely.
Speaking as someone who does not have a faith, I can only imagine how conflicted, so many who do believe, must be feeling, as the people they trusted, are being exposed as the very worst a society can produce. Not that I have any right to speak, I would say to them, go back to the beginning and re-read what Jesus actually said, what he truly believed and, more to the point, how he lived his life. Sadly, it seems some of those who allegedly represent him on Earth, have chosen to almost tailor his words to suit themselves - so you need to see them for what they are and move forward.
I do have one last point, I watched some footage of the police interview with the convicted priest and was struck by his sheer arrogance, his pure disdain for those who had accused him and his obvious belief, he would 'get away with it'. It struck me, how completely opposite his actions were, when you read the account of Jesus' trial before Pilate - there is no comparison at all, they are at different ends of the scale. When I finished watching, I wondered how often that man had stood at a Mass and told the congregation how they needed to be - he would have said that phrase 'in Jesus' name' more than once - while knowing he had gone against everything Jesus believed. I sincerely hope - even as one who has no faith- when he is finally face-to-face with his God, that's when he will eternally account for everything he has done.
Well, that's possibly more than enough from me, for now, I hope you feel I have been both measured and balanced in my post today, that was my aim...until next time...
Take care out there xx
Anyway, with all that said, I should like to add one last and very significant point, something I have said before, but, I believe, does need saying again, I am not a religious person, I don't follow a faith but I have the greatest respect for those who do - whatever belief system they might have and would certainly never condone writing anything which was offensive to anyone.
Recently, in Australia, a very senior figure within the Catholic Church was found guilty of allegedly not only personally molesting young boys, but also covering up similar atrocities performed by other clergy members. As happens, when this kind of case comes into the public domain, more horrific stories of abuse have been revealed and those too were the acts of those who have spent their lifetimes, publicly professing their undying devotion to the Christian way of life. During the Same Sex Marriage Debate in Australia, many of those same people expressed their horror at allowing two consenting adults the right to marry - often using the Bible as their frame of reference as to just how much God would apparently disapprove of such a union. Obviously, I don't need to explain how two-faced I find those people, who, on the one hand, had so much to say when it came to adult relationships while, knowing, they had routinely abused children and would do so again, should the opportunity present itself.
This made me wonder, as so many times, these people would say they work 'in Jesus' name', what would he really think of them ? Now, whatever your own belief may be, there is no question, Jesus existed, he was a real man, who did travel and talk to people about his God. This is a plain fact, he is mentioned by Roman historians, who were meticulous with details, so I feel confident in saying, the only potential debate, is who he was, where he came from and if he did, indeed, rise from the dead. Now, those are not for me to discuss here, but I do feel it's fair to briefly examine what he said and did in his known life.
 |
| Roman Reference to the existence of Jesus |
If you have read the Bible, as I have, you cannot escape understanding many of his core beliefs, and its those, so many members of the clergy seem to have conveniently forgotten. As Jesus asked so many of his disciples to give up their lives and follow him, and during his travels, he doesn't seem to have any great material wealth - money was not high on his agenda. Yet today, most branches of the Christian faith, have vast amounts of wealth, there are palaces, land ownership which, if all put together, could form a medium sized country, not to mention, all the trappings of hugely expensive artefacts. Was this accumulation part of his teachings ? Absolutely not, so, if he did come back, would he believe it was a job well done ? Would he look around at all those who live in poverty, whose lives are blighted by disease and hunger and be happy that his priests, his representatives live in obscene luxury and privilege ? I don't think so. After all, he is quoted as saying, 'It would be easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.'
Aside from their vast wealth, how would he feel when he learned of all the apparently systemic abuse within his church? How would the man who was so concerned with the welfare and safety of children, feel when he discovered his representatives saw young, vulnerable people as little more than tools for their own perverse enjoyment? Would he be thrilled to know, when these acts were discovered by senior members of his church, they'd be covered up, offending priests would be hastily moved to avoid scandal. Yet in moving them, all that achieved was giving them a whole new crop of youngsters to abuse again. Of course he would be as horrified as we all are, yet for him, it would be a thousand times worse, because he'd know, people only entrusted their children with these paedophiles because they believed in him.
There can be no question - whatever faith you might follow - Jesus was a charismatic, principled man who spoke out against those who he felt were corrupt, he had no time for people who put their own self interest above the needs of those around them. Can any of us even begin to imagine what it would be like, to see so much that's fundamentally wrong, done while hiding behind the disguise of something which is meant to encourage only a good and caring society? Speaking personally, if I was Jesus, I would be disgusted and want to remove my name from the whole sorry mess.
Now obviously, there are many clergy who do wonderful work, who have a genuine mission to help those less fortunate, and do so with pure hearts. I think it is incredibly sad, they are now potentially viewed with suspicion, but that comes from the acts of those higher up the pecking order. If when abuse was discovered, the offender was made known to the public, was made to face the full force of the law and be kicked out of the Church, perhaps some kind of respect could be won back in the public eye. But sadly, it seems, there is still this belief, the church will always protect its own reputation rather than the safety of the most vulnerable in society - children. It will always hang on to every last penny of their wealth rather than wisely distribute it to the communities, around the world, which could change lives for the better. When an institution sees itself as separate, as above any law, sooner or later, the general public will see it as nothing more than some kind of corrupt corporation and lose faith in it completely.
Speaking as someone who does not have a faith, I can only imagine how conflicted, so many who do believe, must be feeling, as the people they trusted, are being exposed as the very worst a society can produce. Not that I have any right to speak, I would say to them, go back to the beginning and re-read what Jesus actually said, what he truly believed and, more to the point, how he lived his life. Sadly, it seems some of those who allegedly represent him on Earth, have chosen to almost tailor his words to suit themselves - so you need to see them for what they are and move forward.
I do have one last point, I watched some footage of the police interview with the convicted priest and was struck by his sheer arrogance, his pure disdain for those who had accused him and his obvious belief, he would 'get away with it'. It struck me, how completely opposite his actions were, when you read the account of Jesus' trial before Pilate - there is no comparison at all, they are at different ends of the scale. When I finished watching, I wondered how often that man had stood at a Mass and told the congregation how they needed to be - he would have said that phrase 'in Jesus' name' more than once - while knowing he had gone against everything Jesus believed. I sincerely hope - even as one who has no faith- when he is finally face-to-face with his God, that's when he will eternally account for everything he has done.
Well, that's possibly more than enough from me, for now, I hope you feel I have been both measured and balanced in my post today, that was my aim...until next time...
Take care out there xx
