Elder Dominic Monroe of Boardman came into a Bible study group and announced that Musser was being fired for practicing witchcraft.What medieval nonsense! Actually, it's sub-medieval -- throughout most of the Middle Ages, the clergy insisted on higher standards for accusations of witchcraft.
"Apparently, Monroe accused (Musser) of manipulating the congregation, of casting a spell on them," Blair said.
Musser is suing to get his job back. My advice? Don't bother, Rev. You're well out of it. That type of Christianity is insanity.
When I was a boy, such a lapse into superstition was considered unthinkable in a civilized nation. Is the Goddess of Reason dead, or does she merely sleep?
9 comments:
There is no Goddess of Reason in religion. Religion is not about reason. And most religion is about nothing but superstition.
How can the idea of a Goddess of Reason even come up when the biggest religion of all claims that God is both a man and God who was born of a virgin? Which virgin-mother was assumed bodily into heaven. And in that religion, Roman Catholicism, the virgin-mother is venerated as herself having been immacuiately conceived by her mother, Ann, even though the virgin-mother's mother is barely mentioned in the Bible and was never named.
The report of the Lutheran Church minister who was accused of casting a spell on his congregation and was fired,is no stranger than the myths most religions are based on.
What about Joseph Smith and the Mormon religion? Smith was given gold plates by the angel Moroni which only Smith could translate. And then the plates disappeared. And this was only 176 years ago. Oh, and according to Smith the Garden of Eden is in Missouri.
How could a Goddess of Reason possibly co-exist with religiion?
I believe we need our religions. But religion is not logical or reasonable.
Joy Tomme
Ratbang Diary at: http://ratbangdiary.blogspot.com
We are no longer allowed to personify an abstract concept? The Goddess of Poetry must be weeping.
At any rate, Citizen Tomme, the reference was to this incident (as summarized by Wikipedia):
"During the French Revolution, on November 10, 1793, a Goddess of Reason was proclaimed by the French Convention at the suggestion of Chaumette. As personification for the goddess, Thérèse Momoro, wife of a printer, was chosen. The goddess was celebrated in Notre Dame de Paris, desecrating the church in the process."
Ah, the good old days! I'd call for their return, but for the undue burdens on our lyricists. It's easier to find a rhyme for "June" than for "Prairial"
Ouch!, Joy. Looks like Joseph carelessly left an open bear trap, and you stepped into it. Glad you did before I did.
...but what you said was very well said indeed, Joy.
Come on Joe, you were incensed about a minister being fired for witchcraft and you said when you were a boy such a lapse into superstition would have been unthinkable. Is the Goddess of Reason dead? you said. Period.
Now you're saying you were referring to an abstract concept and you were being lyrical?
No. You weren't Joe. You said "that type of Christianity is insanity". You were not personifying an abstract concept until after the fact. You sounded really annoyed in your original post.
And what's the Citizen Tomme? Are you being formal with me, Mr. Cannon? If so, I apologize for calling you Joe.
Joy Tomme
this einstein quote gets at the distinction obliquely, but nevertheless:
"religion without science is blind; science without religion is lame."
the point being that the human mind requires both, or some version of both (reason and faith? some such), to function optimally.
but i think this position is strongest when we recognize that all these concerns are best expressed within each individual. whenever EITHER perspective - be it reason or religion - becomes institutionalized, there exists the danger of ideologizing and exploitation.
i've spent a lot of time in the scientific community, and i can tell you that - despite the claims to reason and logic - there are just as many egos and ideologues and power freaks as you'll find in religion. they may not look quite as freaky as pat robertson, but then b.f. skinner comes to mind. hell, skinner would not even acknowledge 'mind', an interesting abstraction in itself.
it is the human bent (and i evoke all nuances there) to cathect to the familiar and predictable, the known and the controllable. even if these are delusions (which of course they are). chaos is scary, dogma is safe. with the latter you don't have to think for yourself.
as for these references to the masculinity of god vs. the femininity of so many 'lesser' powers, i hardly think joe was intending emphasis on the sexism in humanity, and i hardly think he is ignorant of it. we all know it's there. it runs part and parcel with the need for control and familiarity.
not to slur the men out there. we're all in this together. and we all need both the male and female impulses to be recognized and respected. just as we need both reason and religion (on a personal level) to be recognized and respected.
Joy, I love your blog, but you really need to read up on your French history. You can't get my little jokes and colorful references without a clearer idea of what happened between 1789 and the advent of Napoleon.
You're absolutely right. I need to brush up on those fifteen years of French history so that I can better appreciate your little jokes and colorful references. Thank you for the tip.
Joy Tomme
oooh... is that the sound of toes being stepped on?!
as much fun as religio-specatator sports are-- WHO CARES if some church dude was fired by another church dude!!
come ON people. get a grip.
granted, the accusation of witchcraft is a bit ridiculous-- but is that really such a surprise coming from the nooks and crannies of the midwestern bible belt? no.
i have noticed a strange and rather disturbing phenomenon developing on these blogs i frequent-- the topic of the day(s) seems to be sliding over the edge into church-talk and religion-speak... what is the deal??!!!!
are WE now going to stick our heads in the sand, too? as if we have nothing better to while away our time with...
joe-- please do not encourage your blog to spiral down into the murky sludge of religious posturing and puffed-up spiritual-belief slinging.
there are FAR too many other things facing us today, this week, this year to get bogged down in the age-ole debate of the millenia.
the spell-casting-priesty is an odd and quirky tid-bit for sure... but the RR whack-a-blog game is picking up steam. don't give them any tokens.
.....
.......also... there appears to be some trouble with your posting/word verification setup... it seems incredibly slow and mixed up today.
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