Ashes To Ashes, Stardust To Stardust

Today is the holy Catholic day of Ash Wednesday, marking the opening of Lent, a hearkening back to Jesus' 40-day fast in the desert before beginning his formal ministry. The streets of many nations will be filled with people with a cross drawn in ash upon their forehead as a sign of repentance. It marks an attempt for many Christians to reconnect with the actual teachings of their Savior.

Sadly, it doesn't work in most cases.

Even the most devout, once Easter has passed, suddenly forget the life and death of Jesus Christ, his words and his wisdom. They slip off the cloak of piety and slip on the armor of judgment, of pitilessness, of self-righteousness. They attempt to force the world to conform to their uninspired and often insipid interpretation of The Bible, the words of their Savior to become dust upon the ground. That dust, however, is not devoid of meaning. The dust and dirt that cover our Earth was a gift from the universe, mixed, recombined, forged, broken, and reconstituted millions of times, starting with the beginning of creation itself.

Fall From Grace

I am not a proud Catholic. It cannot even be said I am a good Catholic. Though baptized and confirmed into the Roman Catholic Church, it has, at times, disillusioned and confounded me. I have questioned it, its history, and the decisions (or non-decisions) of Rome. While I believe in my heart that the teachings of Jesus are admirable, and have incorporated them in my own life, I am less enthused by the Church itself, still straining to operate a world far different than the one Jesus was born into two thousand years ago. While there are elements of the Church that show an ability to adapt to the times, the message of the Roman Catholic faith (and its many Christian offshoots) is still too mired in tired dogma of millennia past.

The saddest part of the modern Roman Catholic Church, has been the rash of incidents involving clergy and the sexual abuse of young children. It strains credibility to believe that Rome is unaware, but it is inconceivable that knowledge of such heinous acts has not stirred the Church into an encyclical frenzy. Apparently, these crimes are the product of Man, and the Church feels itself above true concern for those who are scarred, as it shows no penchant or inclination for defrocking those who perpetrate such awful acts. Too often, they are simply shuttled to a new parish, to begin the cycle again, or tucked away in some corner of the Church, unrepentant and untouched by the enormity of their monstrous work.

The Church would have me reject homosexuals as "abominations," abstain from the use of contraception, and promote an end to abortion; all these are social issues, that they have seen fit to delve into. Yet, how can I -- even if I believed in the Catholic view on these things (I do not) -- push for such things when the Church itself cannot deal with the demon in its midst? That The Vatican would have me attempt to promote their social agenda, even as they fail to address such heinous acts, is hypocrisy of a grand order. Jesus must be weeping to see how far his religion has fallen, given that the titular head of it brushed such thing sunder the rug.

Any priest, if he be a true and faithful Catholic, would know the stain that such abuse places on their soul. Though the Church preaches forgiveness and the absolution of sin, on the day of reckoning, we are to be held account for our works on Earth. No amount of absolution can wipe such a stain so easily from a man, especially when that man is a priest, charged with safeguarding the souls of his flock. It is as if the shepherd has fed some of his flock to the wolves, and expects us not to notice.

Children, once baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, are supposed to be cleansed of original sin; how despicable then that the youngest, most vulnerable of God's followers are then swallowed up by the sin of a priest, casting their soul into darkness. If The Vatican is truly intent on proving its divinity as guardians of the word of Jesus, and its infallibility, it will not shuffle such reprehensible examples of the Lord's shepherds around to pillage new flocks, but will excommunicate them, expelling their foul ichor from the body of Christ.

And once the Pope has done this, he then needs to ask the forgiveness of the members of the Church, for allowing such transgressions against Man and God to go unpunished for so long. As we are baptized into the Church and cleaned of sin, let the Church be baptized into a new age of humanity with a clean soul.

Un-holy War

Some facts:

- Pope Benedict is not President of the United States

- The First Amendment has not been repealed

- America, while predominantly Christian, is not 100% Christian (roughly 84%)

Now, while this country was founded primarily by members of Christian sects, who emigrated to America to escape persecution or start new lives, and also given that many of the Founding Fathers were members of Christian faiths, men who were strong believers in God, but also in the freedom to worship the god (or gods) you saw fit, it is interesting to note that one enjoinder that is pivotal to the formation of this nation as a free nation, is the one regarding the government's ability to establish a national religion. So important was this idea, that the government should not be able to establish, recognize, or support a single religion, that it was made a part of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The founders were well aware that the contentious differences between religions as a whole, and divisions of those religions in particular, would be anathema. For representative government to work, and for all sides to receive fair and equal representation, various aspects of a person's life would have to be kept separate from governance. The general welfare of all Americans was more important than the petty squabbles brought about by differing belief systems. There would be enough squabbling created by the simple act of trying to get so many different States to agree on anything.

We must also remember that there were many among the founders who were Freemasons, and one of their main precepts was that it did not matter which god you believed in; as long as you believed in "god," then it was possible to have discussions about other things without needing to invoke any particular religion's deity to make a point. Mind you, this way of thinking still denies the atheists their due, but at the time, it was more enlightened thinking than "worship my god or else!"

Personal belief had to be separated from governance, if the expounded principles found in the Declaration of Independence ("We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.") were to be realized. The citizens of the United States had to be taken as individuals, each in his or her own way, and treated equally, irrespective of religion -- though race, gender, and the like were sadly lacking in equal treatment.

Flash forward more than 200 years, and we find the Roman Catholic Church, or at least some high priests of it in the United States, attempting to dictate social policies affecting all Americans, because they conflict with Catholic values. They have gone so far, as to use Holy Communion as a political tool, making it clear that any Catholic public servant who takes positions contrary to the Catholic Church should not receive Communion.

Now, my days of calling myself a Catholic are long over, mainly due to such improper manifestations of power as these. While there is nothing wrong with the Catholic belief system, per se, there is a great deal wrong with those who consider themselves "keepers of the faith." It is quite clear that the church is becoming quite reactionary, to the point of overstepping its bounds in America by attempting to meddle in the affairs of the nation. This bombast and hypocrisy has made its way throughout Christianity, to the point of poisoning my view of organized religion. I am a great believer in spirituality and its role in making people better, by encouraging us to look towards the needs of our fellow humans and giving them the same care and concern we would expect them to give us.

What I am not a great believer in, is the idea that there is one "true" religion, whose precepts are manifestly better than any others, and whose system is to be placed ahead of all other consideration. I have nothing against those who worship in any particular belief system, as long as they understand that they are free to live by those codes if they choose, but they cannot impose those same codes on me. On Earth, humanity and fellowship must reign, and religious belief must be a function of the individual; it is against the founding ideals and laws of this nation, that any one religion may hold sway over public policy, for the laws of humanity must apply equally and without rancor, if there is to be true freedom and justice.

It is safe to say that any public official has a duty to all citizens first, above and beyond personal considerations. Anyone who cannot see this is not fit for public service. The constituency any public representative is representing, stands to be a complex mixture of race, culture, gender, and belief. To claim that personal preference trumps the will of the citizenry, is to claim that an individual's personal belief is somehow "superior" to the judgment of those he or she represents. This is hubris of the highest order, for no matter what an individuals capabilities or beliefs, when elected to an office by the citizenry, it is the task of the elected to not only carry out what is in their best interests, but what is in everyone's best interests. This will no doubt cause consternation among the citizens, as it will be impossible to please everyone, but in the end, to maintain the principles of freedom and democracy, it will be necessary to make hard decisions which go against popular sentiment, because they stand to give everyone greater latitude and liberty.

So, it must be said, strongly and forcefully, that the ministrations of Catholic bishops are better spent on their flocks, than in the political arena. While it is admirable that they would look to "protect" people, the basis for their efforts is a flawed understanding of what individual liberty and freedom are. Any American is free to worship as they choose, and accept or reject the precepts of any religion or belief system as they see fit. In the end, the only way to protect such freedom is in the way outlined by the founders, in the strictest terms, by compelling the government to respect the rights of individuals to their beliefs, and conversely, for the government to protect Americans from the undue imposition of any other group's beliefs. Only by maintaining such balance, and by keeping politics and religion separate, can we progress toward a more harmonious future.