Fear and Faith
Most commonly, the period of history that we call the Dark Ages refers to the years between 476 AD (when the Roman Empire fell) and the year 1000 AD, or about 95 years before The First Crusade. Some writers, including myself, prefer to carry the "Dark Ages" forward to the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th Century, viewing the Crusades and the various witch hunts of the intervening centuries as an extension of the Dark Ages. Although there were certainly witch hunts after the Renaissance began, there is no doubt that the beginning of the Renaissance marks the beginning of a return to reason.
The one overwelming characteristic of the Dark Ages was intolerance. The Roman church and Protestantism were intolerant of each other and later of Islam. Most of all, they were extremely intolerant of science - particularly where it appeared to conflict with their narrowly religious view of the Universe - and therefore progress was brought almost completely to a standstill for hundreds of years. Oddly, during its earliest centuries, Islam was very tolerant of science. Later, that pendulum would swing the other way. Now, it is swinging back again - just listen to the creationism / evolution debate if you doubt that. Nothing is forever.
Of course, for an extremely religious person, perhaps the historical (or coming) Dark Ages do not seem so dark after all, but most of us would have found such a life, or will find it - in the words Thomas Hobbes originally used to describe anarchy - nasty, brutish and short. This is because no religious fanatic ever meets anyone appearing to them to be as perfectly religious as said fanatic knows he/she is, and it is unfortunately true that fanatical religious groups often teach conversion by the sword. Which, if you think about it, leads to a lot of swordplay - and also a lot of blood.
Religion - all religion, and I am not an atheist myself - is rooted in fear, usually fear of the unknown. We are conscious, self-aware creatures, and we simply cannot imagine an eternity of nothing after this life. Answering that question of what comes after death has been a preoccupation of human beings since the dawn of thought and spoken language.
But how can you tell the difference between genuine belief and an ugly - and dangerous - cult? It really isn't all that difficult. A person with genuine faith is no longer afraid. True or not, their religion is working for them as it was meant to work, and it has taken away their fear. Such individuals can face life, and even death, with happy serenity, and they feel no baseless ill will toward anyone.
On the other hand, the hate-filled fanatics that are coming out of the woodwork everywhere we look today, even in politics, are all afraid. They are terrified. That is why they are desperate to at least appear more religious than their neighbors. Somehow they have to claw and fight their way into this Heaven that folks talk about, because the alternative is not even to be contemplated. This drives them to hate. They hate Obama because he's black and has an Arabic middle name. Meanwhile, the Catholics hate the Protestants, and the Protestants hate the Catholics, and the Apocalyptic cults hate both, and everybody hates the Muslims - and let's don't even mention Pagans and Witches and those dreadful, dreadful folk. It seems like that is all we are hearing out of everybody these days. Hate, hate, hate. This isn't religion at all. It's mental illness, exacerbated by the need to find a scapegoat you can blame for difficult times.
Fear of death is natural and human. It is man's earliest fear, even if not a thinking man's deepest fear. However, any reasoning being knows that fear of death does us no good at all. We are all dying from the moment of our individual births, and nothing and no one can ever change that in even the smallest way. Only when we can finally accept the fact that death is natural and comes to all of us without preference can we begin to grow spiritually and find a belief system that actually works for us. That's all it takes - just that tiny bit of courage needed to say that death is unavoidable, and therefore wasting fear on it is pointless. On the day you can say that - and believe it - life changes forever. Until then, however, every moment of every day is filled with fear. And fear breeds hatred.
The crowds surrounding John McCain and Sarah Palin lately have been vicious in their hatred - which means they are truly terrified. Real leaders, ready and able to lead our nation, would calm the fears of those who follow them - and in fairness to Senator McCain, he has recently begun to try. Unfortunately, he cannot get past his own fears, and the stink of his fear infects the crowds that surround him.
Sarah Palin, who frequently accuses Obama of terrorism, and who loves to refer to his multi-racial heritage and name, is a daughter of an Apocalyptic cult that makes David Koresh look like a mainstream Baptist. The hilarious irony is that Palin recently allowed a Kenyan witch hunter to bless her in a way that was designed to protect her from witches. The video is all over YouTube, so I'll paste it here.
Since Obama is half Kenyan himself - a heritage that Palin herself says makes him unfit to lead - the video afforded me some much needed laughter. Poor Sarah! If you only knew, honey - we Witches, the real thing, always were the least of your worries.
Sarah is a soldier in Joel's Army - and I've been reading about them a lot recently. These folks don't just hate. They intend to fight for their God in a real and physical sense, driving those of us who don't believe "rightly" either into their twisted idea of righteous faith or into our graves. Well, at least they plan to give us that much of a choice. Joel's Army are taught from childhood that every time they stop praying for even a few moments, they are subject to demonic possession. Charming bunch of folks, without a doubt. I suspect that most of them need medication to function in the real world.
What triggered the early medieval period known as the Dark Ages? The fall of Rome. Are we headed into another Dark Ages triggered by the fall of another empire? I don't know, although I am growing uneasy about the possibility. I do know, however, that I don't want frightened people for leaders, and especially not now.
McCain and Palin need psychiatric help, not votes.
The one overwelming characteristic of the Dark Ages was intolerance. The Roman church and Protestantism were intolerant of each other and later of Islam. Most of all, they were extremely intolerant of science - particularly where it appeared to conflict with their narrowly religious view of the Universe - and therefore progress was brought almost completely to a standstill for hundreds of years. Oddly, during its earliest centuries, Islam was very tolerant of science. Later, that pendulum would swing the other way. Now, it is swinging back again - just listen to the creationism / evolution debate if you doubt that. Nothing is forever.
Of course, for an extremely religious person, perhaps the historical (or coming) Dark Ages do not seem so dark after all, but most of us would have found such a life, or will find it - in the words Thomas Hobbes originally used to describe anarchy - nasty, brutish and short. This is because no religious fanatic ever meets anyone appearing to them to be as perfectly religious as said fanatic knows he/she is, and it is unfortunately true that fanatical religious groups often teach conversion by the sword. Which, if you think about it, leads to a lot of swordplay - and also a lot of blood.
Religion - all religion, and I am not an atheist myself - is rooted in fear, usually fear of the unknown. We are conscious, self-aware creatures, and we simply cannot imagine an eternity of nothing after this life. Answering that question of what comes after death has been a preoccupation of human beings since the dawn of thought and spoken language.
But how can you tell the difference between genuine belief and an ugly - and dangerous - cult? It really isn't all that difficult. A person with genuine faith is no longer afraid. True or not, their religion is working for them as it was meant to work, and it has taken away their fear. Such individuals can face life, and even death, with happy serenity, and they feel no baseless ill will toward anyone.
On the other hand, the hate-filled fanatics that are coming out of the woodwork everywhere we look today, even in politics, are all afraid. They are terrified. That is why they are desperate to at least appear more religious than their neighbors. Somehow they have to claw and fight their way into this Heaven that folks talk about, because the alternative is not even to be contemplated. This drives them to hate. They hate Obama because he's black and has an Arabic middle name. Meanwhile, the Catholics hate the Protestants, and the Protestants hate the Catholics, and the Apocalyptic cults hate both, and everybody hates the Muslims - and let's don't even mention Pagans and Witches and those dreadful, dreadful folk. It seems like that is all we are hearing out of everybody these days. Hate, hate, hate. This isn't religion at all. It's mental illness, exacerbated by the need to find a scapegoat you can blame for difficult times.
Fear of death is natural and human. It is man's earliest fear, even if not a thinking man's deepest fear. However, any reasoning being knows that fear of death does us no good at all. We are all dying from the moment of our individual births, and nothing and no one can ever change that in even the smallest way. Only when we can finally accept the fact that death is natural and comes to all of us without preference can we begin to grow spiritually and find a belief system that actually works for us. That's all it takes - just that tiny bit of courage needed to say that death is unavoidable, and therefore wasting fear on it is pointless. On the day you can say that - and believe it - life changes forever. Until then, however, every moment of every day is filled with fear. And fear breeds hatred.
The crowds surrounding John McCain and Sarah Palin lately have been vicious in their hatred - which means they are truly terrified. Real leaders, ready and able to lead our nation, would calm the fears of those who follow them - and in fairness to Senator McCain, he has recently begun to try. Unfortunately, he cannot get past his own fears, and the stink of his fear infects the crowds that surround him.
Sarah Palin, who frequently accuses Obama of terrorism, and who loves to refer to his multi-racial heritage and name, is a daughter of an Apocalyptic cult that makes David Koresh look like a mainstream Baptist. The hilarious irony is that Palin recently allowed a Kenyan witch hunter to bless her in a way that was designed to protect her from witches. The video is all over YouTube, so I'll paste it here.
Since Obama is half Kenyan himself - a heritage that Palin herself says makes him unfit to lead - the video afforded me some much needed laughter. Poor Sarah! If you only knew, honey - we Witches, the real thing, always were the least of your worries.
Sarah is a soldier in Joel's Army - and I've been reading about them a lot recently. These folks don't just hate. They intend to fight for their God in a real and physical sense, driving those of us who don't believe "rightly" either into their twisted idea of righteous faith or into our graves. Well, at least they plan to give us that much of a choice. Joel's Army are taught from childhood that every time they stop praying for even a few moments, they are subject to demonic possession. Charming bunch of folks, without a doubt. I suspect that most of them need medication to function in the real world.
What triggered the early medieval period known as the Dark Ages? The fall of Rome. Are we headed into another Dark Ages triggered by the fall of another empire? I don't know, although I am growing uneasy about the possibility. I do know, however, that I don't want frightened people for leaders, and especially not now.
McCain and Palin need psychiatric help, not votes.
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