Last Sunday (17/11/13) I was unfortunate to wake up early enough
to listen to BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship.
That particular day it was from Headington Parish Church. Still, I
thought that a bit of hymn singing never did anyone any harm so I
continued to listen. What I had forgotten about was that there was a sermon to be got through and as last week was
the 50th anniversary of
the death of CS Lewis, he was chosen as the subject under, erm, discussion?
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But, heigh ho, I
persevered, after all they do say that suffering is good for the soul – even
though I
had already sold mine a couple of years previously. However, what I heard
almost made me choke on my crispy bacon butty.
Before going any
further, let me quote the BBC website’s (badly punctuated[1])
disclaimer concerning the content of the Revd. Prof. Alister McGrath's sermon: "This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors ...changes may also be made at the last minute...".
Disclaimer
nothwithstanding, this is indeed what the Reverend quoth from The Last Battle by CS Lewis: [On seeing the new
Narnia the Unicorn declared:] “I have come home at last! This is my real
country! I belong here”’. Then the lips of the Revd. Prof. dropped this pearl of wisdom (my bold): "For Lewis heaven is the "other country" for which we were created in the first place.". Rather woolly thinking in my humble opinion.
OK, I know that greater, more capable commentators than I have written, spoken, chewed over and even been burnt at the stake for questioning the existence of god and his(?) designs for milennia. I know that the debate on free will has rumbled, and will continue to rumble, on for centuries, but I have to express my indignation at the above quotation. I find it so infantile, so silly, so... totally bollocks.
Quite simply, if we were all created for heaven in the first place, then why do we have to pass through this vale of tears? Come on, Rev., please! What kind of god dumps us here first? Why doesn't he just let us straight in instead of having us chance our spiritual arm? I'm sure that even the greatest monsters of the 20th century who caused so much anguish and suffering such as Mao, Hitler, Stalin and a whole host of smug TV presenters were once innocent children who helped little old ladies across the road.
Indeed, the Judaeo-Christian god himself is a cruel, vainglorious spiteful monster. He smites sinners[2] razes whole cities and drowns innocent people and animals (which, of course, are amoral and do not have eternal souls that can be damned) because of the sins of a select few. Perhaps he more than most should not even be allowed to fill in the visa forms for the "other country".
OK, I know that greater, more capable commentators than I have written, spoken, chewed over and even been burnt at the stake for questioning the existence of god and his(?) designs for milennia. I know that the debate on free will has rumbled, and will continue to rumble, on for centuries, but I have to express my indignation at the above quotation. I find it so infantile, so silly, so... totally bollocks.
Quite simply, if we were all created for heaven in the first place, then why do we have to pass through this vale of tears? Come on, Rev., please! What kind of god dumps us here first? Why doesn't he just let us straight in instead of having us chance our spiritual arm? I'm sure that even the greatest monsters of the 20th century who caused so much anguish and suffering such as Mao, Hitler, Stalin and a whole host of smug TV presenters were once innocent children who helped little old ladies across the road.
Indeed, the Judaeo-Christian god himself is a cruel, vainglorious spiteful monster. He smites sinners[2] razes whole cities and drowns innocent people and animals (which, of course, are amoral and do not have eternal souls that can be damned) because of the sins of a select few. Perhaps he more than most should not even be allowed to fill in the visa forms for the "other country".
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Even his son wasn’t averse to saying the occasional porky to raise
his audience ratings (my bold): "And I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Luke 11:9-10) I've been askething for a Ford Mustang Shelby for decades and I still haven't receivethed.
What's more, I've been looking for a set of lost house keys for the last 3 months - to no avail.
Luckily I have a spare set, so I don't have to knocketh. These days JC would be hauled up under the Trades Descriptions Act (and figuratively crucified on Radio 4's You and Yours?).
So please god, if indeed you do exist, then cut out the middleman and let us all in now so we don't have to suffer illness, mortgages, German motorbikes that don't work, bad TV series, Coca Cola at room temperature, unwashed hippies, people with halitosis and yet others that fart in lifts. After all, according to the Revd. Prof. Alister Mcgrath's reading of CS Lewis, we were all created for heaven anyway.
What's more, I've been looking for a set of lost house keys for the last 3 months - to no avail.
Luckily I have a spare set, so I don't have to knocketh. These days JC would be hauled up under the Trades Descriptions Act (and figuratively crucified on Radio 4's You and Yours?).
So please god, if indeed you do exist, then cut out the middleman and let us all in now so we don't have to suffer illness, mortgages, German motorbikes that don't work, bad TV series, Coca Cola at room temperature, unwashed hippies, people with halitosis and yet others that fart in lifts. After all, according to the Revd. Prof. Alister Mcgrath's reading of CS Lewis, we were all created for heaven anyway.
[1] There shouldn't be a comma before the and.
[2] For
example he fulminated Onan for coitus
interruptus, for spilling his seed instead of impregnating the widow of his
dead brother whom his father had forced him to marry – hence the term Onanism.
Applying logic to religion is a waste of time because religion is not logical and believers disclaim logic whenever logical argument becomes too difficult to deal with. That is why "faith" (the ability to unthinkingly accept as true statements that no sane person could possibly accept as true) is so highly valued among the religious.
ReplyDeleteEven quite eminent churchmen make pronouncements which are, as you say, childish and silly, and it amazes me that such intelligent and well educated men can bear to abase themselves to make them. I would blush with shame. Yet make them they do and with boring regularity. George Orwell may have given a name to what he called the "double think" but it was the religious who invented the concept, long before Orwell came upon the scene.
Perhaps priests and vicars, bishops and popes, and all preachers of religion, should have a health warning tattooed on their foreheads: "Believing what this person says can damage your mental health."
How true that where religion is involved, common sense flies out of the window.
ReplyDeleteAs for the health warning, sadly for the more backwards parts of the world it should have a second part: "and disbelieving him might lead to physical injury or death".
Religion, like piles, has been and always will be, the scourge of humanity. Luckily, I suffer from neither.