Facebooking Facts

ON FACEBOOK somebody posted, in big, bright letters, something to the effect that he looks forward to the day when the cross and the swaztika are cast into the dustbin of history, as harmful and undesirable. And, as I often do with anti-Christian messages, I agree. I hit the "like" button. I have long had troulbe with the cross as a sacred religious symbol. In early childhood I tended to submerge any negative feelings about it, preferring to go along to get along. That strategy, I have found, has its limits. When I was about twenty or twenty one I was hanging with a group of smart people, having an intelligent conversation. A deeply religious lady there said that she is physically, psychologically, emotionally unable to wear a cross on her person, around her neck, on her lapel, wherever, anywhere. The mere sight of the cross evoked such vicarious pain within her, she said, the mere thought of the crucifixion of Christ was so traumatic for her, that she never donned a cross, fervant Christian though she was. I could easily understand her point. Over the years, my aversion to the cross has grown, and is now stronger than it has ever been. The chief issue for me is the idea of using an insturment of torture and death as your most cherished religious symbol, rather than rejecting it as an instrument of torture and death, of the beloved savior. Obviously the veneration of the cross was an act of sheer defiance, a statement of refusal to be defeated. The cross symbolizes Christ's great sacrifice and his resurrection and victory over evil and death. I get that part. Hell, I was raised surrounded by it. However, that attitude assumes gratitude for Christ's sacrifice, glorification of it, and the cross become a sacred object to which people are supposed to cling, as their sins are washed away in the blood of Christ. I've known all this since childhood, and have always been somewhat amazed and confused by it. Hell, I sing about it every Monday in the gospel group at the senior center. For one thing, I don't know about you, but I simply don't like the idea of a far better man than I dying for my sins. Cowardly though I can be, whatever my consequences for accountability, let me experience them. Not an innocent man; me. I'll take my own rap. Crucifixion theology reminds me much too much of all the other sacrificial rituals practiced by all the other ancient and primitive religions with which history is littered. Tying the virgin down on the sacrificial alter at the top of the sacred pyramid, and hack to to bits with a sword to honor god, or gods, all of whom are evdentlly, like humans, meat eaters. Too muhh blood for me. Hell, I'm still pissed at the Old Testament God for mentally torturing poor old Abraham by ordering him to murder his own son, Isaac. I mean, what an asshole. What a scam. Jehovah, Yawyeh, Elohim, whomever, was willing to settle for a sheep, thank God, choosing veal parmesan over cannibalism. A very good songwriter has a lyric "Just Give Us Jesus, You can keep the cross"...and how....future religions will be different from our traditional ones, if religions continue to exist in the future. They will be less bloody, less violent, less demonstrably false, more enlightened, aware of the universe, and, presumably, much more compassionate, If they aren't, may the devil take them.