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Unlock your brain freeze for a moment and imagine some parents saying to their children, "We're going to a celibration tonight where Mommy and Daddy are going to drink the blood of a man who has been dead for thousands years."
Imagine the terror rational children would feel if their parents told them this.
SR:
You have that a bit wrong, Jeff. A Catholic does not believe Jesus is dead; it is not the blood of a dead man. And Catholics most often do not drink the blood, either—the tradition is to take the host alone.
But you have come upon a very important feature of Christianity that is too often missed: it is meant to shock. In the Bible, when Jesus says we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, this is how his listeners respond:
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." …
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
This demand for “cannibalism” is far from the only shocking thing in Jesus’s teaching. Every one of the Proverbs has something to deeply offend a hearer of that time. In this case, recall that drinking even animal blood was and is a profound violation of kosher laws.
Why does Christianity do this? Because, directly contrary to common popular belief, Christianity opposes “blind faith.” It demands instead that we strip ourselves of all prejudices and preconceived notions; become “clever as serpents.” We need to become deeply cynical of the world, “in the world but not of it.” We need to always think for ourselves, and rely on reason at all times. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines sin, firstly, as “an offense against reason” (para 1849).
Here, if we step beyond the emotional taboo against cannibalism, what is actually wrong with it? So long, that is, as it does not involve killing or even harming the person eaten? And is done by consent? “The spirit gives life,” as Jesus puts it; “the flesh counts for nothing.”
The traditional depiction of Mary Magdalene as a reformed prostitute is a milder example, but very much in this same spirit.
2 comments:
You say that a Catholic does not believe Jesus is dead. Here is an example of a root delusion that leads to so many other delusions (such as the Evangelists believing Jesus will return if there's a nuclear war).
Like the blood drinking, if you are unable to step outside the dogma to fully realize how delitarious this delusion has been, you will be locked into it upon your deathbed. This sort of belief, that a man murdered circa 2000 years ago is not dead, is no different that the sort of beliefs that characterize schizophrenia.
Thus, convincing you of the historical, scientific, rational truth is like trying to convince someone with schizophrenia that the TV isn't really sending him secret messages.
The comparison holds true when it comes to violence because those with schizophrenia have been know to kill people because a ghost told them to do it (this is like those who kill in the name of their delusional god).
However, unlike someone with schizophrenia, there's nothing wrong with your brain chemistry. Since your delusion has been caused by sheer conditioning, it can be extinguished.
It actually says in your cannon that sin is an offense against reason? Wow, thanks for telling me that. I find this shocking. Unfortunately,"reason" in religion is contaminated by delusion. I can give so many examples of how Christianity has been unreasonable, I don't know where to start.
Put it this way: You're way behind the zeitgeist of what's known when you claim that Christianity opposes blind faith. When push comes to shove, there's no proof of the supernatural, so that's all that's left, blind faith.
What's wrong with a little cannibalism? This is your question? You're putting me on, right? Besides being creepy, it's the kind of terrifying ritual that tricks people into blind faith. (Let's not forget that those who wrote the bible stole the idea of "flesh eating" from other cults.)
I have to admit Steve, I feel like you've given me a series of open nets to shoot at. Basically, your last post proves much of what I've been trying to say.
Thanks for sharing your experience
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