Practicing Safe Sects

FACEBOOK POSTS, as billions of people have doubtless discerned, range from the inspired, to the insipid, to the idiotic, to the insane. In which category to place particular offerings resides in the realm of individual discretion. "Avoid dangerous Cults: Practice safe Sects" scrolled down my screen, offered up by my seventh grade social studies teacher from fifty years ago, a young man then, perhaps the victim of dementia now. Presumably he intended this as an endorsement of Christianity. I have never cultivated sufficient discipline to refrain from commenting when I should refrain from commenting. To this I responded: "Among these are those which promise salvation to those who accede to the torturing to death of a human being as atonement for one's personal mistakes, with the guarantee of eternal torture for those who do not." I thought this was an apt if terse description of the Christian religion in general, and expected numerous negative responses, but got none. My suspicion is that those who read the exchange failed to comprehend what I was talking about, failed to grasp that in fact I was relegating Christianity to the "dangerous cult " category, which in fact i was, and do. Goethe said that the Christian religion began as an uprising against roman oppression, failed, and turned moralistic. To me that very well explains its melodramatic, tragic, sad, yet hopeful characteristics. Jefferson was so horrified by the details of crucifixion theology, and other supernatural aspect of the faith, that he described himself as "a sect unto myself", and at best a "primitive Christian", by which he meant that he, like many intellectuals, embraces the moral teachings of Jesus but rejected all claims to miracles thus insulating himself from the miraculous, which he summarily rejected. As Einstein said: either everything is a miracle, or nothing is. An interesting quote appeared: "An irreligious society cannot endure the truth about societal conditions. it prefers a lie, no matter how idiotic." To me, that's another comment about Christianity, and all religion. we invent our religions for inspiration and comfort. Again, I responded. Sometimes the lie takes on grotesque proportions, such as when human sacrifice is used as a means to appease an angry, meat eating deity, and people believe that through that sacrifice great miracles occur, including their own personal salvation from eternal m=suffering and torment, and the appeasement of the hostile, violent deity. if I am fortunate, this too will seem too abstruse and arcane to generate antipathy among Facebook's many devout worshipers. At least, if I am fortunate.