Going to Church (updated and reposted from 12/13/2015)

 

"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.…

-- Matthew 6:5-7

I don't go to church unless it is a special occasion and I'm required to attend at the behest of good friends or family. I haven't made church part of my weekly ritual since before I left home for the military. It had nothing to do with Matthew's verse (above). Truth be told, at eleven years of age, I knew I wouldn't learn Latin so I could understand Sunday Mass.  Everything in the Bible, save the Ten Commandments, was totally Greek to me and, no, I wasn't going to learn Greek, either.  

My last stint of "scheduled" Sunday Mass was back in 1965 if memory serves. That was when the Mother Superior at St. Angeles Catholic School thought I would reap more benefits from a secular educational system.   Yep, at the ripe old age of eleven, I was such a pain in the ass even the Catholic nuns gave up on me. But, hey, lucky me!  This incident would have a lasting impact on my young mind, and on my view of tolerance and hypocrisy in religion.  The Catholic Church and I parted ways.  More to the point, all organized religion was relegated to a file in my mind titled "Mind Control" as I began to develop a stronger, more personal relationship with Jesus Christ and my Creator. 

Had I paid any attention to scripture, I probably could have saved myself, the church, and the holy sisters of St. Angeles, from two years of undeserved punishment. After all, according to Matthew, a church is pretty much peopled by hypocrites. But me bringing my newfound knowledge of Matthew to the attention of the Mother Superior, especially in the guise of an excuse to "blow off" going to church, certainly would have earned me a trip to the confessional, followed by some severe penance from the venerable Father Lane, whose Irish barróg was so thick as to be indistinguishable from Latin. But, isn't mind control a major point of a religious place of worship, throughout our history?

It would seem, whether Christian, Jew, or Muslim, that our places of worship have been used, all too often, for controlling the minds of the faithful.  Gentle sermons by Jesus were morphed, over two thousand years, into tirades of fire and brimstone.  Our fear of God would suck the life and the love of God from most people's spirituality and we would lose the point of fun and happiness in life.  

It almost seems as if marriage, misery, taxes, more taxes, death, inheritance taxes, and final judgment were all that mankind had to look forward to in life.  Couldn't we look forward to forgiveness?  Of course!  That's where confession and massive penance came into play, at least for those of us that couldn't afford to "gift" to the church and get a wave of the "holy" hand, and a "pass." After all, as Beth Haile writes in U.S.Catholic, "The Catholic Church teaches explicitly that there is no sin, no matter how serious, that cannot be forgiven (Catechism of the Catholic Church). To imply otherwise is a challenge to God’s omnipotence. God’s mercy is more powerful than any human ability to do evil."

Mafia bosses were generous when it came to donations for the church, as a steady flow of cash would seem to garner a blind eye from the local priest for any indiscretions, like snuffing out the lives of your competition or those who "wronged" you.  If sins were confessed one could look forward to divine forgiveness granted through the priest’s absolution, as long as the sinner made good "some satisfaction" for the sin. For most peons, this satisfaction would mean saying penance until hell froze over. For the mafia dons and the filthy rich, this "penance" could be accomplished with a healthy donation toward a new roof for the church.  

But, this kind of hypocritical give-and-take is historic for temples, churches, synagogues, and even mosques.  Money could always buy your way into heaven because, well, who are we to judge the servant of another?  It is before their own master they must stand or fall, correct?  

So, religion could use this excuse to take bad money and do good with it, at least we would hope.  Historically, however, we have seen priests, ministers, imams, and rabbis, living in the lap of luxury while the obvious suffering around them continued unabated.  Bring on the gold, pass the basket, send in those dollars, and let us build an even grander monument to the glory of God.  But, If we listen to Matthew, it would seem this isn't what Christ asked us to do, nor is it what God really wanted.

"Going to church doesn't make you a better person any more than standing in a garage makes you a car."

-- John Wayne

Does going to church make us better people?  Does being a better person make us righteous people?  Does being a righteous person make us better person?  When do we ever find the time to just develop our personal relationship with God?  

To quote Matthew, again, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."  The "church" was a congregation of the faithful.  It was anywhere people met in the name of Christ to discuss, learn, and strengthen their faith.  It was never intended to be, necessarily a building or one particular place.  Christ, for the most part, preached his sermons outdoors, in God's cathedral.

My earliest memories of "Sunday go ta meetin'," was having to put on our "Sunday best."  Bodies were bathed, hair was cut and combed, and suits were laid out so we wouldn't be an embarrassment.  Whom were we trying to impress?  Jo Bag O'Doughnuts and the entire Bag O'Doughnuts clan?  The priest?  Or, was it to impress God, Jesus, Mother Mary, the numerous saints, etc., et al?  Who were we really there to impress?  I always go back to what Matthew said, "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men."  

Somehow I think God would overlook one's wardrobe if one's heart was in the right place while praying, and, according to Matthew, that place would be in one's own "inner room."

"Protestantism has the method of Jesus with His secret too much left out of mind; Catholicism has His secret with His method too much left out of mind; neither has His unerring balance, His intuition, His sweet reasonableness. But both have hold of a great truth, and get from it a great power. 

-- Matthew Arnold

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and, finally, a senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Western Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research.

Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony:  tolerantpastor@gmail.com