One of those topics that invariably amuses me is that atheists honestly think that religion has some sort of control over world events, despite all of the evidence to the contrary. It comes up often enough that you really have to wonder if these people paid attention to those mandatory history classes.
Look at the Christian branch. One of the first acts by a human is the rebellion of Adam and Eve. If God had so much control over his subjects then there the Serpent's Temptation would never have succeeded. Instead, the Serpent just had to ask the right questions and let Eve form her own opinion. Within the hour she and Adam were hot-footing it out of the Garden of Eden. (And I'd hasten to remind the class that Adam was right there, so he's just as culpable a Eve for not saying anything.)
And then there's religion in history. If the Church held such power there would never be schisms, those times when churches branched off and separated from Rome, such as the Reformation Church caused by the 65 Theses of Martin Luther. Or the Church of England, when Henry VIII decided that, yes, divorce is acceptable and that the nobles decided that a live divorcee was better than a dead daughter. For that matter, If the Catholic Church were truly all that powerful Galileo would not have been able to annoy more than his fair share of high-level clergy; he would have "disappeared" very early in his career.
Consider the Crusades. The Pope woke up one morning to find all of these armies camped out on his lawn asking for his blessing. If he had had any control he would have known about it well ahead of time and probably even fomented it rather than basically going, "Um, sure, let me get my robes on<" and then blessing the assembly and taking advantage of the situation. This would lead to the formation of the Templars, who would demonstrate Church control by being outlawed by King Philip of France and their lands being taken by the crown. Obviously the Church was in control.
Even when it came to modern events the Church ha bowed to temporal events. The Caholic Church felt the need to sign a treaty ensuring that it would not interfere with Germany in exchange for the safety of it members in Europe; Germany would not send its members to the gas chambers until the last days of the war. Even its off-shoots had had to deal with current events; the Episcopalians have had to start allowing gay clergy to appease their community.
In short, religion lacks a lot of ability to control it members that has been ascribed to it. There has just been a lot less control exerted by it than imagined, and that difference makes for some great comedy moments.
Look at the Christian branch. One of the first acts by a human is the rebellion of Adam and Eve. If God had so much control over his subjects then there the Serpent's Temptation would never have succeeded. Instead, the Serpent just had to ask the right questions and let Eve form her own opinion. Within the hour she and Adam were hot-footing it out of the Garden of Eden. (And I'd hasten to remind the class that Adam was right there, so he's just as culpable a Eve for not saying anything.)
And then there's religion in history. If the Church held such power there would never be schisms, those times when churches branched off and separated from Rome, such as the Reformation Church caused by the 65 Theses of Martin Luther. Or the Church of England, when Henry VIII decided that, yes, divorce is acceptable and that the nobles decided that a live divorcee was better than a dead daughter. For that matter, If the Catholic Church were truly all that powerful Galileo would not have been able to annoy more than his fair share of high-level clergy; he would have "disappeared" very early in his career.
Consider the Crusades. The Pope woke up one morning to find all of these armies camped out on his lawn asking for his blessing. If he had had any control he would have known about it well ahead of time and probably even fomented it rather than basically going, "Um, sure, let me get my robes on<" and then blessing the assembly and taking advantage of the situation. This would lead to the formation of the Templars, who would demonstrate Church control by being outlawed by King Philip of France and their lands being taken by the crown. Obviously the Church was in control.
Even when it came to modern events the Church ha bowed to temporal events. The Caholic Church felt the need to sign a treaty ensuring that it would not interfere with Germany in exchange for the safety of it members in Europe; Germany would not send its members to the gas chambers until the last days of the war. Even its off-shoots had had to deal with current events; the Episcopalians have had to start allowing gay clergy to appease their community.
In short, religion lacks a lot of ability to control it members that has been ascribed to it. There has just been a lot less control exerted by it than imagined, and that difference makes for some great comedy moments.
No comments:
Post a Comment