Church, Politics and Me

I sent a commentary to a friend of mine written by Rick Wells with my comment as follows:

The church needs to get out of politics NOW... I am so fed up

We discussed this at length and finally, I responded with these comments, as I perceive my beliefs in the modern Catholic and Christian faiths:

I consider myself Christian with some Eastern, Jewish and yes, even Islamic beliefs thrown in. I, too, believe in Jesus, the Resurrection (reincarnation), the Virgin Birth, (although virginity meant something different 2,000 years ago) and so on. I also believe that Jesus and Mary Magdelene were married, Dan Brown and The DaVinci Code notwithstanding. I will explain my reasoning for this some other time.

But I look at the Bible, and other books of worship as compilations or stories (allegories) to help us be better people, to live in a society where we can all just get along and respect each other. The stories were written, as I see it, to people who could understand them clearly, e.g., Jonah and the whale or big fish,as they were fishermen, or Noah and his Ark, where he saved all existing species because he was told by the aliens (my interpretation) that something bad was going to happen since THEY understood weather forecasting, or Hammurabi's Code of 282 rules and laws being condensed by Moses to give us the Ten Commandments.

I agree that Martin Luther had it right when he criticized the church for charging an "admission fee" via plenary indulgences. Sadly, it seems we have the same issue today via the Bishop Relief Fund or whatever they call it now. Here is a thought - why not sell and auction all the gold and all the stolen art and jewels sitting under the Apostolic Palace? I bet we could eliminate poverty forever.

As far as Satan is concerned, I believe as the Jews and Muslims do. He is more of a prosecuting attorney, telling God what sins you and I committed and making the case to refuse admittance into Heaven at this time. Hence, reincarnation. Not Hell. Yes, there is evil in the world, but it is brought on by human failings, not "the devil made me do it." Fear of God is a Christian and Catholic belief. Jews and Muslims do not fear God. Hell is also a Christian belief to keep us in line; the other religions do not believe in Hell, not even in the Eastern religions.

And by the way, the Jews of 2,000 years ago were influenced by the Eastern religions as the proximity from Israel to India and other countries and societies, while far since donkeys and horses were the fastest modes of transportation, but they also were close as it was more of a trade with the next city or country and because of this, some societal influences were also impacting. So, the story of the Resurrection is also a story of rebirth or reincarnation, told in a way to fulfill a prophecy.

I, too, could go on, but you get my drift. I am not a fan of the papacy, although I agree that John XXIII and John Paul II were saintly (see History and the Communion of Two Saints from April 27, 2014). The definition of a saint to me is a sinner who managed in some way to show a different way to live, to provide guidance toward goodness and influence us in some small measure to achieve those goals.

So, I am a Christian, not Catholic, and feel as home in a building to pray as I am in a park or on a beach. God CAN hear us, wherever we are. There is more I could share, but enough for now.

I thank you for indulging me to express myself publicly regarding my religious, or rather, spiritual beliefs. But I still believe the Church and the Pope need to stay out of politics and get back to the business of saving souls.

That was Jesus' directive to Peter and the Apostles, not fighting global warming or defining climate change.