Yay Jebus

So Sunday I actually ended up in a church for the evening Easter service; I was walking past with a friend and the bells were tolling and she impulse-asked if I wanted to go in and I said sure, so we did.

That church is gorgeous, and I've wanted to pop inside for a while. I guess it's designed by the same guy who did St. Patrick's. It's Episcopalian, which is pretty close to the Anglican tradition, which I grew up with at the private school I attended; I think the Episcopalian Church actually is the Anglican Church of America. In any event, ceremony-wise it's closer to the Catholic tradition than to, say, a Baptist service. One thing that struck me in the middle of the service was how much space there was inside, how little of it was filled at the time, and what it must be like when it's more full; perhaps at the 11 am Easter service or the Christmas services.

The only slightly sour note struck all service actually came during the sermon, when the priest (father? deacon? Whatever they're called in the Episcopalian tradition) informed us all that Christianity did not begin with the birth of Christ, the teachings of Christ, or the death of Christ, but with the resurrection.

I have a bit of a problem with that statement.

I think it's typical of all religions to place emphasis on the mechanics of the prophet's actions rather than the underlying message, and I think it is this emphasis that leads to a lot of the negative aspects of organized religion. I was watching Real Time the other day and there was an author on there who mentioned that typically a prophet arises as a reaction to social, political and economic influences, but that in the formation of an organized religion by the prophet's disciples the message is pushed aside in favor of their own predjudices and agendas. I cannot understand people who are so blinded by the institution of their religion that they could believe that un-Baptized people are burning in Hell (this would include people like Mother Theresa and Gandhi).

Everyone's path to enlightenment, or heaven, or whatever it may be, is different. You cannot simply repeat the actions of another and expect that to bring you peace; you must understand the why. Systems of thought, whether religious or scientific (and yes, scientific individuals are just as prone to a blind adherence to dogma), are a sort of shorthand for lazy minds; you don't need to worry about why, it's just an assumption you make. Why all the emphasis on Jesus dying? How morbid is that? Why not celebrate his life, and all the beautiful things he tried to show us all before his time was up? What's really more important, more conducive to inner peace and social harmony: believing in a mystical Resurrection, or believing that I should love my neighbor as myself?

WWJD?