Religion It’s advisable to discuss neither politics nor religion among diverse groups of people. That’s because our beliefs vary so widely from person to person that the likelihood of conflict is virtually guaranteed, even more so when the belief systems are irrefutable...at least for the believers. The other factor mitigating against rational discussion of religion is the lack of proof that one belief system is better than the other. When one wades into the realm of spirituality, it becomes very difficult if not impossible to obtain objective data. This is because it’s not possible to subject nonmaterial entities to the harsh light of scientific inquiry. It would appear that the major thrust of most religions is the maintenance of social order as opposed to social chaos. This is what the Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments were all about, a means for regulating personal behavior for the good of society. The concept was that if one were to violate the religion’s code of conduct via sin, the sinner would be held accountable in the afterlife and subject to horrific punishment. While one may get away with a variety of sins against one’s peers, someone up above would be keeping score. Personal redemption from sin had to come via the Supreme Being with the clergy serving as an intermediary. For centuries the European nobility were able to maintain control via “Divine Right Of Kings”. The peasants were told that the King received his power to rule directly from God, and this principle was re-enforced by the village priest. Few dared question this. “Are you good for God’s sake......or are you good for goodness sake?” Carl Reinert, teacher of American Government at Manchester High School Central, 1966. Mr. Reinert tried to teach us critical thinking, though we didn’t appreciate this until many years post graduation. While the World’s religions have done much good, they have also been a source of pain and suffering via religious wars, persecution, and genocide. Over the centuries we have seen clashes between differing faiths......Muslims against Jews, Hindus against Muslims, Sunni Muslims against Shiite Muslims, Catholics against Hugenots, Catholics against Protestants, and Jews against Muslims. We’ve seen The Crusades and Spanish Inquisition commit unspeakable acts of violence in the name of God. The irony here is that many of these warring factions believed in the same God, though each group truly believed that God was on their side. In 17th Century England, the Puritans were persecuted by The Anglican Church, which at that time was the country’s official religion. Separation of church and state was unheard of at that time. To escape this intolerable situation, the Puritans came to America, their experience in England weighing heavily in the separation of church and state concept in the U.S. Constitution, though the persecutions continued in conflicts waged against the Roman Catholic minority. The first Roman Catholic church in Manchester was St. Anne’s Parish. Its pastor was the Rev. William McDonald who had his share of opposition from the established Protestant community, alarmed by the swelling ranks of upstart Roman Catholics whom they feared would be owing their allegiance to the Vatican. Not long after this, St. Joseph Cathedral was consecrated in 1869, becoming the center for the Diocese of Manchester. Fr. McDonald had an elementary school named in his honor, but was closed many years ago to make way for an apartment building. At that time churches played a larger role in people’s lives than in the present day. There were many Protestant denominations scattered throughout the Queen City. To name only a few, there were First Baptist Church, The Franklin Street Church, Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Grace Episcopal Church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal, First Congregational, Brookside Congregational, First Methodist, and St. Paul’s Methodist Church. Somewhere in this mix was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There was a Jewish temple on Central Street, I think, and possibly another on Valley. These were replaced by the two extant temples, Temple Israel and Temple Adath Yeshurun. The Eastern Orthodox were represented by Assumption, St. Nicholas, and St. George Greek Orthodox Churches, as well as Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church. Manchester’s Roman Catholic Churches grew and prospered, though many were established along ethnic lines to attract the recent immigrants from Canada, Ireland, and Poland. There were St. George, St. Anthony, St. Marie, St. Augustin, Sacred Heart, St. Edmund, St. Jean The Baptist, St. Joseph, Holy Rosary Chapel, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Pius, St. Catherine, St. Raphael, St. Hedwig, and Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, which broke with Rome in the last century over the American hierarchy’s intransigence regarding the needs of ethnic Poles. Religious education was begun early for Catholics via The Baltimore Catechism which was the primary text used to imbue Christian Doctrine into elementary school students. As a young child, I had no idea that there were religions other than the Roman Catholicism. We were taught that there was no salvation for non Catholics, and that the Catholic Church was the only true church because it was one, universal, and founded on The Apostles by Jesus Christ himself. As we had been told by the nuns, Jesus turned to Simon the Apostle and told him, “Thou art Peter (Petrus) and upon this rock I shall build my Church.” This was supposed to have sealed the deal in our minds. It might have been in the 2nd Grade at St. Joe’s that we heard of a backlash about this. Apparently some of us had told our Protestant and Jewish friends that they were going to Hell because they weren’t Catholics. Their parents had called the Diocese to complain, but so far as we knew, little came of this. The indoctrination was ongoing and intense. While our Protestant friends had the option of attending Sunday School, and our Jewish friends went to Hebrew School one day a week. In our case, as students at St. Joseph School, we had Religion crammed down our throats on a daily basis. We were encouraged to receive the Eucharist on nine consecutive First Fridays of the month, and to facilitate this the nuns would herd us over to St. Joseph Chapel to confess our sins. “Make nine consecutive First Fridays,” we were told, “and be rewarded with a happy death like St. Joseph, who died in the arms of Jesus and Mary.” The best I ever did was to make eight First Fridays. Something always cropped up to break the series. The nuns had a problem in particular with the Protestant Reformation, calling Martin Luther a traitor to his faith for daring to question the ethics of Rome selling plenary indulgences to the faithful for dispensation of their sins. And as far as King Henry VIII of England was concerned, he was an ego maniac who broke with Rome and founded the Anglican Church when the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon so he could marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn. In hindsight its likely that Martin Luther was a good man who saw a problem and tried to fix it. About Henry VIII, the nuns’ description of him was probably accurate, though he may have simply been ahead of his time and would have fit in well in the present day U.S. political system. Bow, NH Winter 1990 I’m at home late one morning taking care of my three year old daughter who was sick with a bad cold. There came a knock at the door, and standing on my front stoop were two conservatively dressed women. They asked if they could speak to me about religion. The younger of the two had two pamphlets, AWAKE and THE WATCHTOWER. I knew immediately that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses and invited them in. We spoke for about a half hour, but when I had questions which they could not answer, they promised to return later with one of their elders who was better versed in the Scriptures. They let me have the two pamphlets and I thought nothing more of it until about a month later when the phone rang in my office at work. My wife was on the other end of the line and she was really upset. “Did you invite somebody here to talk about RELIGION?” She said this through clenched jaws as though doing a bad impression of Clint Eastwood. I knew what this was about and did what I could to deflect the blame heading my way. “Religion?......Oh, yeah. About a month ago. Two Jehovah Witnesses......real nice ladies. They could not answer my questions, so they promised to send someone who could.” This conversation was heading south rapidly and there was nothing I could do to change the outcome. When I got home later that night she blasted me, telling me to never again invite anyone into our house to discuss religion. “So you spoke with the elders?” “NO!” There followed threats and intimidation which I could not comprehend, especially considering my wife was a big church person who taught Sunday School herself. She complained that the Jehovah Witness elders made her uncomfortable....even though she hadn’t invited them inside, and had slammed the door in their face. I think that if we are confident in our beliefs that we should be able to discuss them in a rational manner. My wife unfortunately lacked faith in her own faith. Truly, what we may believe about religion, life, and death means little in the big scheme of things. Reality is what it is and what we may think about it will change nothing. St. Marie’s Church Notre Dame Ave. October 2006 I was on a layover between appointments and chose to view St. Marie’s Church which was in the process of undergoing a major renovation. St. Marie’s was built along the lines of the great European cathedrals and its construction had been funded by the contributions of its French-Canadian parishioners. I sat there in the choir loft observing and noting all that must have taken place here in the intervening years. The result was the following poem which was featured on the literary web site, JB Stillwater Here it is, submitted for your approval. The Cathedral by Jim Ganley Tucked solemnly in the shadow of the cathedral Events of bygone days and times forgotten Hidden amidst a facade of stone, mortar, and brick Marking time for no one, times of joy and sorrow Unreflected in the stone cold visage, built by Indigent laborers, celebrated in plenary indulgences Waiting for the confessional seeking recompense And absolution from tortured souls of the cloth No solution to the veil of tears riddle of existence A model of persistence for couples in wedded bliss In time souring to a curdled mass seen at high Mass Waiting in line to take the host while told to surrender To a sacred specter, a real treat that Paraclete who appears Like a dove and symbol of love though we cannot relate To this avian metaphor sent to clear the way to paradise With blinders covering our eyes to suffering wrought From blunders to tear asunder the Law of Moses in a Bed of roses set amidst marble and gold as has been Foretold in the scriptures foreshadowing the rapture To make our escape from the physical plane Joining the legions before us, of fathers, sons, and brothers Sent to make the world safe for democracy, such hypocrisy Abounds in the doing and dying, promises broken Prostrate before the tabernacle of sanctifying grace Demonstrating the zeal of one’s faith spawned Out of embellished religiosity, a token mis-spoken And sacraments celebrated with coffins and confetti Buried with much fanfare in the shadow of the cathedral
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 20:07:33 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015