Moral Torture

Getting crucified, what a bummer. Christianity's iconography has glutted itself for millennia on divine agony at human hands.

Some people volunteer to be martyred in one way or another: soldiers, saints, wives, husbands, parents, children ... citizens ... gods. I know, I'm one. But I bet history is full of kamikazes who are sorry once their plane is actually impacting the World Trade Center. (One saint wanted to be crucified upside down — was that Peter? Did he know that upside down meant he'd suffer less? he who wanted to suffer more? Even if he suffered much less than Jesus, still might not he have been sorry by the time he'd been on the cross for an hour or two?)

But: think of this: Jesus' crucifixion as reported in the gospels was over by sundown: first they tortured him, then they just dispatched him: so the Jews wouldn't be thought guilty of cruelty on the Sabbath. However intense the suffering, it lasted less than a day. Since the Persians instituted the torture some were known to suffer on crosses for up to three days before finally dying.

Still: I write this today to suggest that talk of Jesus' suffering on the cross, whether for one day or for three days, is misleading. Can Jesus' physical suffering on the cross exceed his moral suffering simply by being alive among kleptocrats? Among Original Sinners?

But even that suffering, at least in my imagination of Jesus' suffering, pales compared to a meta-moral suffering: the suffering endured by Jesus since the crucifixion to see that his suffering was wasted! How many did his sacrifice save? One? Ten? A hundred?

Christians think they can feign atonement and slip into paradise; fine, let Christians believe whatever they want, the morons. But what does God believe? What will God do at Judgment? if he can ever free himself of the supervision of the priests!

Will Jehovah fare any better under the ministrations of Jehovah Witness preachers than God does under the interferences of the Catholic prelates? I say we should all shut up and sit down and wait to see: abstaining from interfering. Let God be the judge without our supervision.

Hey, you know what? Maybe sitting down and shutting up might save us!

This is it! In a wave now: everyone, sit down, and shut up!

Theism

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Quoth Pema Chaudron, Buddhist Nun:
The difference between theism and non-theism is not whether one does or does not believe in God. It is an issue that applies to everyone, including Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there's some hand to hold: if we just do the right things, someone will appreciate us and take care of us ... From this point of view, theism is an addiction. We're all addicted to hope... Non-theism is relaxing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of the present moment without reaching for anything to protect ourselves ... In a non-theistic state of mind, abandoning hope is an affirmation, the beginning of the beginning.
I love Christian theology, but I despise any theology, any cosmology, having a monopoly. We're supersaturated with Christian theology: any other set of ideas can be a relief. Here's a neat related statement:

There is no greater joy than knowing there is no help coming. The decision is ours to make alone.

Lords of the Bow

The author is Conn Iggulden: from his Genghis Khan series. I suspect it's better to try on different thoughts than to always insist on one no matter how right we believe it to be.

Who's Christian?

Who's Christian, who's saved, will be judged by God at Judgment.

Meantime, in this world of thieves and liars, any of us can believe whatever delusion permits.