You are not going to believe you are reading the next paragraph. You
had better go get another cup of coffee and sit down, maybe even hold tight
to the edge of the breakfast table for balance.
Not long after the United States’ 2000 Presidential Election, the Rev.
Mark Craig, Senior Minister of a Dallas, Texas Methodist church, one of
the largest in America with a flock of 12,000 sheep in Craig’s pen, climbed
up into the pulpit and in his sermon, as shepherd to this flock, compared
President elect George W. Bush to Moses “being chosen by God to lead
the people.”‘ And as usual when preachers get carried away with
the sound of their own voice while looking down into all of those upturned
faces of their flock, he crossed the line from Theological ignorance to
stupidity and in the process of getting excited by looking into the Bush’s
faces he crossed on over into insanity.
When I read this I thought…“my gawd….I hope Bush is not Moses.”‘
Moses was the Slobodan Milosevic of the Old Testament who ordered ethnic
cleansing…rape…genocide and a scorched earth policy.’ That brilliant
Deist Thomas Paine, who gave us the words “The United States of America”
wrote this about Moses:
‘
“The character of Moses is the most horrid tale that can
be imagined. Moses was a wretch that committed the most horrible atrocities
that can be found in the literature of any nation. ‘ For Moses said unto
them (according to the bible) kill every male among the little ones….and
kill every woman that hath known a man by lying with him….but all of
the women that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.’
“‘ Among the most detestable villains in history you could not find
one worse than Moses. Here is an order, attributed to God, to butcher the
boys…massacre the mothers…and to rape their daughters….”
If you want to read about this slaughter, blow the dust off your
bibles and turn to the book of Numbers, Chapter 31. I’ll tell you, that
‘God’ has been the greatest cosmic hit man in our history as a species.
Comparing George W. Bush to Moses must be among the most insane statements
ever made by a preacher.
From the clown of the Crystal Cathedral to the nearest bible pounding
church, most preachers just cannot resist pouring forth absolute nonsense
to all of those upturned faces of the sheep.
By the way, can you in your most vivid imagination picture Jesus speaking
in the Crystal Cathedral surrounded by glass and spotlights, and clothed
in pastel, color coordinated robes and stoles?’ I’ll never forget
Schuller on Larry King Live after he had been arrested for assaulting
a flight attendant. Shaking….Schuller said to King…..“but Larry…..I
did not break any of the ten commandments.”‘ It was so comical
it was embarrassing, and yet his flock is there every Sunday waiting for
their shepherd to throw out his hay.
Another thought to go with your morning coffee. Have you ever realized
that the typical church service on a typical Sunday morning bears a striking
resemblance to a court of law. The minister has on a robe, most often black,
like a judge. The pews and pulpit closely resemble the furniture of a courtroom.
The minister is elevated above the audience, like a judge. The minister
preaches law from that idol that has replaced God, called the Bible. The
audience (subjects, flock) are supposed to symbolically prostrate themselves
before all of this. The judge, (minister) interprets the law…and then
throws the book at them. (law: bible)
No wonder it is almost impossible to think your way beyond all of these
trappings to the enlightenment of a more refined spiritual consciousness
if you have been subjected to this kind of authoritarian structure since
early childhood.
The preacher of one of the largest Methodist churches in America said
Bush was another Moses.
It is this kind of insanity from organized religion that stands as a
great wall, as the greatest obstacle, to our spiritual evolution as a species.
Our American literary and philosophical giant, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
put it in these words:
‘
“Christian doctrines and creeds are a disease of the intellect.”
‘
“Bush and Moses” is copyright © 2001 by William Edelen.
The electronic version is copyright © 2001 Internet Infidels
with the written permission of William Edelen.