‘Doing the clergy’s bidding unfailingly and without question was exactly what Jesus preached against.’ ~ JOHN DOUGLAS
Up to one hundred years ago the farcical way of applying the Christian faith (still in effect today) was a perfectly normal and natural state of affairs. It wasn’t easy to reform a tradition almost two thousand years old. Translating and repurposing a body of text as voluminous as the Scriptures in terms of a rapidly changing, scientific world was too much trouble, and very complicated. People didn’t know any better. Society was firmly rooted in ignorance, doing as it always did, and change was hard to come by, no matter how timely and necessary it was.
But now? In the day and age of information and data-driven technology? How on earth does the Church get away with it? How do the believers put up with such nonsense? Never mind the notion of taking the Scriptures literally, a peculiarity we can brush aside for a moment. Let’s pretend that everything holds up, and accept the Scriptures at face value, deeming them a resource to which people aspire and turn in times of need … sources of light both in times of plenty and in times of sorrow … beacons, stars in the stormy night.
Poetics aside, shouldn’t these stars and beacons, for what they’re worth, flare up in ways that capture the vision of the world on which they shine? Shouldn’t their audience be illuminated by them?
The result is quite the opposite. Lost in translation, the majority of people are confounded and vexed. How can any audience be illuminated and guided home when all the texts with which it is addressed are written in a language the majority of today’s citizenry don’t speak, or fully understand? How can the faithful become wiser and more substantial individuals when they are taught to rely solely on the interpretations of others, especially when the interpreters are herders, hoarders and silver-tongued preachers?
The time has come to make some real changes, that is if the Church wants to remain relevant in a rapidly changing, informed world. Just like Christ did back in the day. Turn the tables and spill the misers’ beans, calling things by their names.