A Sunday Morning Quiz
by William Edelen
A good Sunday morning to you Santa Barbara. .How about a little quiz to go with your morning coffee and croissant? Here is the situation: We have two groups of people in this country, each thinking that the other group is full of nothing but weirdo’s I am talking about the Christian fundamentalists and the New Age Movement. Now, every group, movement and profession has flakes and crazies but, obviously, some seem to have more of their share than others. So, I will give you a brief profile in the short space that I have and then you can decide which group is composed of the most flakes and weirdo’s.
CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS AND PENTECOSTALS.
1. Believe that the bible is to be taken literally. Some wrap rattlesnakes around their neck to prove their faith, quoting from the bible. The rattlesnakes, who do not believe the bible, bite them. They die. Conclusion: the rattlesnakes understand biblical literature better than the fundamentalists.
2. Many believe that the voice of the “true”, 100%, “spirit” is coming through them when they talk in “tongues”. ( ”Tongues……unintelligible utterance…” Websters dictionary).. When they talk, this is what you hear from the “spirit”: mana….glub-glub…..kee do koo-koo….slipwash….feenless….popah….and so on. The “spirit” just cannot learn English.
3. They believe that Adam and Eve just dropped out of the sky…around 3000 b.c…..or so, and with belly buttons yet.
4. They believe that the Grand Canyon of Arizona was the result of Noah’s flood and they even have been able to place books in the book store there stating such stupidity.
5. They believe that all of the thousands and thousands of biblical translations over the last 2000 years are without error…infallible. They then believe that they can read, infallibly, the infallible translation. This presents a problem. Which fundmentalist or pentecostal group is infallibly reading the infallible translation. For, they all fight, even among themselves, as to what the infallible translation means.
6 They believe that women are subservient to men and the male leader and should take orders from them, including sexual bondage. “Let the women keep silence for it is not permitted for them to speak; they are commanded to be under obedience.” (1Cor. 14:34) “Man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man.” (1Cor:11:13)
In that classic university text book for religious studies, “The Ghost Dance”, the author Weston La Barre of Duke university writes these words; ”The traditions of fundamentalist Christianity give powerful support and impetus to cults..fantasies and fanaticism..”
PEOPLE OF THE “NEW AGE” MOVEMENT.
1. Believed to be “NEW” AGE only by those critics who are historically and religiously illiterate. Beliefs of the “new age’ people go back 3000 years to Taoism..Classical Hinduism….Gnosticism…..and American Indian cosmology and spirituality.
2. They do not believe in mind crippling..spirit stunting theological creeds and doctrines that have brainwashed the human mind. They believe that religious maturity is moving away from orthodox doctrines to a personal spirituality. …such as found in the words of that giant 13th century mystic Meister Eckhart…”my eye and Gods eye are one and the same….one eye. He who knows himself…and the other creatures….will have no more need for church sermons.”
3. They believe in preventive medicine and a “wholistic” approach to health and wholeness. They believe, with Dr. Roy Menninger, of the famed Menninger Clinic, that archaic, traditionsl approaches to health must give way to these new and more knowledgable approaches.
4. They believe that millions are moving away from the dead forms and defunct symbols of orthodox dogmas to the beauty and revelations of direct experience. And leading this resurrection of spirituality are the women who are discovering their orientation to the divine principle of the Goddess, this divine Goddess we call Earth. ..a living, breathing entity….Gaia..Mother Earth, the sacred Goddess as the Greeks called her….Maka Wakan, the sacred Earth, as the Lakota of the Sioux nation thought of her.
5. They believe the statement recently given at the close of an international conference by Nobel Prize physicist, Eugene Wigner: ”Today, we are on the brink of a new synthesis. Western science is experiencing a shattering and reforming of basic concepts. The scientific community now recognizes a striking correlation between their findings and those expressed by ancient Eastern mystics. This conference is a convocation of visionary men and women pioneering this new synthesis.”
6. They believe that they are working for a new humanity, built on cooperation rather than competition. This combined with a new and nurturing love for our Mother Earth.
7. The women of this movement who are free of the biblical superstitions are now recovering their relationship to the Great Goddess who created this Universe and all of its laws. She was the ruler of Nature, Time, Truth, Wisdom Justice, Birth and Death. She ruled for 25,000 years…..there was only the Goddess. The divine, feminine principle is being recovered as a vital part of the creation.
There you are for todays little quiz . The question: Which group would seem to contain the most flakes and oddballs and weirdo’s? Now…enjoy the rest of your coffee and croissants.
About the Author
William Edelen has spent his life in courageous pursuit of the historical truth about religion. Basing his research on facts, not popular opinions or religious dogma, he stands for accuracy. Visit his website www.williamedelen.org
Copyright © 2010 Toward the Mystery
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