With so much that unites these people, they honor their religions by creating fake boundaries guaranteed to be breached, and then engage in a violent conflict for no real discernible reason other than that they wish to fight and do harm to one another.
In many ways is that NOT the very definition for why religion can still cause so much harm in the world today?
If homosexuality is an illness that must be stopped according to Christians, then it is safe to conclude religion is cancer.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, none of the men were arrested. Men of God? You'd think they worshiped Thor (who delighted in brawling), except they weren't drunk and weren't having fun.
ReplyDeleteSince they do this EVERY year, over a place that is a total fraud (the man known as Jesus was not born in Bethlehem), I think being locked up in a common jail (missing all their ceremonies) and made to do community labor for disturbing the peace would be fitting punishment.
A few years of having their priests locked up in the pokey for fighting like street thugs might convince the sects involved that their behavior isn't tolerated any more. Otherwise, there will be no end to this annual brawl until the walls themselves come down around their ears... and maybe not even then.
This reminds me of what happens when you put too many chicks in a pen under a light. They start attacking each other to establish a pecking order. Once started they will often blind or kill each other.
ReplyDeleteToo many people in too small a space with minds and hearts too small to function effectively. All intent upon being in charge.
Keep this area out of the control of the Christians-- they will destroy sacred places in the name of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who is Orthodox should be embarrassed by this.
I just knew you'd be all over this one.
ReplyDeleteStupid men.
Yup, there are lulls, but there seem to be quite a few territorial issues that pop up within the running of this church.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I ran across another interesting wrinkle. Due to these problems, a system was established where a Muslim family is the keeper to the keys of the church. Really!
I think this may be the longest family gig in history!
Muslim family holds key to sacred sepulchre / For centuries, their ancestors have opened door to church where Jesus believed buried
March 27, 2005|By Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service
Wajeeh Nuseibeh is custodian and doorkeeper of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, focus of world attention at Easter.
(03-27) 04:00 PST Jerusalem — 2005-03-27 04:00:00 PST Jerusalem -- Every morning at 4 a.m., Wajeeh Nuseibeh walks through the walled Old City of Jerusalem to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the most revered shrine in Christendom. He takes an ancient 12-inch iron key, climbs a small ladder and opens the huge wooden doors to the place that most Christians believe is the site of the crucifixion, tomb and resurrection of Jesus.
Every evening at nightfall, after three raps of an iron doorknocker spaced out over half an hour, Nuseibeh closes up and places the key in safekeeping.
He inherited the job from his father and grandfather, in a chain stretching back more than 1,300 years*. But surprisingly, Nuseibeh, doorkeeper of the site of the crucifixion, is, like his ancestors, a Muslim.
* According to family history, when Salah A-Din recaptured Jerusalem in 1191, he promised English King Richard the Lion Heart he would invite the Nuseibeh family to resume their role as custodians.
rest of this fascinating article is at: http://tinyurl.com/ycotohz
I am a follower of Christ's teachings. I believe that "God don't make no junk", and we are all inevitably forgiven and loved. So organized religion has place in my beliefs. I have come to loathe organized religion, although I love hymns sung with a good choir (but avoid services because I tend to weep - just like I do at the opera). I would sneak into services or masses just for the music if I could hold it together. Jesus is getting a serious bad name with these heathens. Jesus is clearly standing with OWS. Jesus forgives Sarah Palin for being mentally ill, but wish she would just go home and take care of Piper.
ReplyDeleteIt's funnier with the right music:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fVJt9FToP4
Anon @8:36: You are talking about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This fight broke out in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. I am just correcting a small point. The larger point is that all of those supposed "holy" sites were identified by Constantine's mother on her pilgrimage. And all of them are lacking any historical basis whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI think you could just as easily have titled this:
ReplyDelete"I don't think I have ever seen a video that so adequately sums up the reasons for my disdain of organized humanity."
Whether it be government, sports, entertainment, school rivalries... neighborhood rivalries... whatever... from time to time organized humans just find an excuse to break and fight.
If those are "Men of God",I guess I'll just thank God I am a female. Not a follower/believer of Jesus,but I do believe in my Higher Power/God. I do believe I have more faith,and am living life as a better person than these piss poor excuses of Christians are. Where is God and their Jesus in that behavior?
ReplyDelete"So organized religion has place in my beliefs."
ReplyDeleteGod did not make organized religion, man did. Evil men made a system to lord it over other human beings in the name of power backed by whatever god(s) they chose to worship. Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Christian, Muslim, Jewish... they are and were all the same. A small select group of elitists making money and power plays off the back of the rest of humanity. Toss in the muscle of organized governments and their armies married to religions and you have the recipe for unhappiness.
What I have described is exactly what Jesus tried to fight. Instead evil men made a church around his body and extended their power to the whole world.
My husband and I are saving up to buy a little piece of retirement property near a small town. In addition to looking at locations we like, climate, town size, etc., we are also checking on the number of churches in town. I just crossed off a town in an area I really like because the last time we were exploring there, we lost count of the number of churches. Now I've found another small town that doesn't appear to have many churches (still have to drive around and check on that). And it has a brewery. It gets bumped up to the top of the list for the moment. I don't want to live in a town where all of the billboards say JESUS in giant letters. And yes, I drove through one of those about a month ago.
ReplyDeleteThe crazy just gets crazier.
ReplyDeleteDinty @9:18
ReplyDeleteYou owe me a new keyboard, that double crossing woody allen clip had me rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes laughing hysterically. Thanks for the laugh!
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As an officially excommunicated Ex Roman Catholic, I can relate to Anonymous 9:01's comment. After the initial shock and the slap of being shunned from something I believed promoted a living, forgiving God, I found that I missed the beauty of the stained glass windows, the statues, the rituals that were passed down for generations. Being excommunicated doesn't mean you can't enter a church and give money in the collection baskets, do the catholic aerobic exercises, and voice the prayers and sing, it just means you can't receive any commandments, nor be buried in a Catholic Cemetery.
A clean break was what worked for me. If I want to be moved to tears, there's opera, art, music, fox news, volunteering in soup kitchens and shelters, all kinds of giving that are just as uplifting as any organized religion.