Celtic Spirituality

Renames Celtic Spirituality, formerly "Health Spirituality." We aim to encourage and develop awareness of the many benefits of a healthy faith with many innsights from a Celtic perspective. We explore the Mind-Body-Spirit connections. See also Paschal's home faith community at the website of Celtic Christian Chruch. Inspiration: Ps 23, Luke 1: "My sould magnifies the Lord...", & follwing 15 vv., and the words of Amazing grace. Noblesse Oblige.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Whence the rancor, hate and violence among us?



IS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF HATE AND

VIOLENCE FOUND IN RELIGION? V 6

"You know all Catholics are going to hell!, my mother-in-law told my wife after we married. "But mother, there are a lot of Catholics in the world," she repelled. "Honey,"said her mother, "heaven won’t be crowded." Then she added, "It’s my duty to judge others." Much later, after being in our home many times, she mellowed remarkably.

Growing up Catholic in a small Kentucky town, we were taught and believed that all Protestant were going to hell. The "we-they, white versus black" dichotomy was so strong, Catholic boys were forbidden to join the Boy Scouts because all the troop leaders were Protestant. Religion invites us to make our world views absolute. Is this the main challenge of our civilization?

In both the West and the East, religious faith has fueled wars, crusades, inquisitions, massive killing, murder and torture. Religious persecuting was so bad in Europe that twelve of the 13 original colonies crossed oceans to find freedom.

The superior privilege of Christian faith permitted us to view native Americans as "savages," and justify our actual genocides. Because the Bible accepted slavery, Christians were able to justify the slavery of Africans and import then most inhumanely to staff cotton fields for the economy of the South. We fought a great and terrible Civil War, each region believing "God is on our side." Nazi Germany had 20 million Catholics and 40 million Lutherans. Some worshiped even in sight of the smoke of the crematoriums where nine million Jews perished..

Every major faith still justifies itself as superior to others. Each has an exclusive claim on the mysteries of God. This claim, I suggest, is the source of much hate and violence everywhere , not just in the Middle Eased. This "power over" easily trickles down into political discourse. Rancor, stereotyping, misrepresentation and even lying is justified. We can too easily demonize those who think differently. Cable news with many talking heads, I suggest, is full of this.

All the Abraham religions, Hebrew, Christian and Muslim, are guilty of these exclusive claims today. When we are raised in such cultures, we can easily transfer the absolute claims to other views, both moral, social and political. We are so sure of our point of view that we do not need to listen to "strangers." Civil discourse becomes impossible..

Yet Abraham kept his tent open on all four sides so he and Sarah could see strangers coming from all directions and so have food ready to welcome them. The Bible commands us to "love the stranger" almost 40 times.

Is it time for religious leaders to surrender the exclusive claims of their traditions? This claim divides the world into "us" versus "they" --assuming a privilege from God. Yet faith can only be truly accepted as a gift, as an obligating. We are commanded to love one another, even and especially, those who are different from us.

Our country was the first in history to be founded on principle rather than power. We claim power wis from the people, not from top down. Is it time for people of faith, all faiths, to remind our leaders, "All humans, each of us, is created in God’s image." Each of us must find our own way. God now speaks in 7.000 different languages. Not merely the Kind James version.

It is time for us and our religious leaders to relinquish the exclusive claims of our privileged ways to God? It is too small a step from believing our faith is the only way to God and believing God is on our side in other matters, particularly in politics and morals. "Humans never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religions conviction,"

said Blaise Pascal.

We no longer live in neighborhoods where every other person is "just like us." Our world requires us to live with different others. We are commanded "to love the stranger"repeatedly in the Old Testament which all three major faiths embrace as God’s word. This is the "Word" that needs fresh attention and study by all of us, but in particular by people of faith.

MY favorite quote from Christian tradition is from Gregory of Nyssa: "Concepts create idols; only wonder and awe understand anything." When we accept the incredible and undeserved gift of faith, with its empowering vison of compassion, hope, courage and grace, we must love those who are different from us. We must stretch ourselves to promote peace.

End.

Note to editor: use any or none of the below to identify me.
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Paschal Baute is a married Catholic priest of the Celtic rite, active for decades in Lexicons promoting interfaith understanding. The last thee community conference he helped lead at the Catholic Newman Center were on "Welcoming the Stranger,," "the Voices of Women," and "Christian - Muslim Dialogue." Currently, he is a Spellbinder storyteller using folk fairy tales to nourish public school children. He officiates interfaith weddings at Amazing Grace outdoor chapel.