To cling to the old theology is not only a failure of nerve
but could involve a damaging loss of integrity. –Karen Armstrong
The Black Death was a minor challenge for the human community compared to our current delusions because our very survival depends on our knowing the truth. Beliefs, attitudes and values comprise our worldview which in turn determines our identity. If we harbor beliefs that have no basis in reality then we are blocked on the path to creating a sustainable human community; we cannot fully experience the compassion of our life-affirming True self.
A belief in “sin” is an example of one of the most self-destructive delusions that “plague” the Global Village. Why? Well, as we have said, a delusion is a contradiction of reality but also a mental disorder. It is not nice to fool Mother Nature, but even worse to be a fool about Mother Nature. We have ample proof around the globe of crazy behavior.
We have continuously stressed that the journey to wholeness is one from the head to the heart. But we seem to have difficulty in refraining from deriving our identity from our mind. “The biologist Richard Dawkins, a vocal critic of religion, has said that in listening to and debating theologians, he has ‘never heard any of them say anything of the smallest use.’” (1)
Speaking of religious doctrine, it seems that il Diavolo is alive and well and causing all manner of sinful behaviors. “Andres Cardenas sat in the back of the auditorium, opened his folder and took careful notes as a Catholic cardinal with decades of experience casting demons out of possessed bodies gave a master class on how to yell at the devil, rid Muslims of black magic and purge Satan on your cellphone.” (2) We imagine that our journalist meant “to purge Satan from your cellphone.”
There are many insidious beliefs blocking the creation of a sustainable human community in all human institutions both in the East and the West but few are as fraught with “non-sense” as those in the Roman Catholic Church. Look at the choices of seminars that Father Cardenas could have attended at the 13th annual, weeklong “Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation” course:
- “The Prayer of Liberation, a Theological and Pastoral Approach” given by an exorcist
- The Auxiliary Exorcist: Skills and Duties
- Magical, Esoteric and Occult Links to Some Alternative and Energy-giving Therapies
- The Exorcist: Life, Choices and Mistake
- Witchcraft in Africa
- Exorcism as a Ministry of Mercy and Consolation Amid the Bewilderment of Contemporary Society
If you have had enough of “self-imposed nonsense” and would like to purge all the “Beelzebubs” from your consciousness, click on the link below.
Insight # 153: For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. –Romans 6:14
Link:
- “Sin,” in this blog and also in print version, The ABC’s of Simple Reality: The Encyclopedia of Self-Transformation, Vol II (2018), by Roy Charles Henry, pages 239-242.
References:
- Desteno, David. “What Science Can Learn From Religion,” The New York Times Sunday, February 3, 2019, page 12.
- Horowitz, Jason. “Amid Fears That Evil Is Winning, Learning To Cast Out il Diavolo,” The New York Times International, April 20, 2018, page A6.
