Christo-Fascism

You understand neither fascism nor Christianity....you just think you do. Willful ignorance is a terrible waste of a mind.

 

Which "you" are you talking to, Piobare, the OP, or me (since I was the last to post)? Or possibly Mountain Wolf? All of the above? It seems this is your maiden voyage on HF. In the future, might I suggest that you support your assertions with some evidence and arguments, and reference the post you're responding to. It would be interesting to hear from you what the true nature of fascism and Christianity are. Do you disagree with the points in the OPs links that right wing Christian nationalists were prominent in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, that they have been leading up to it for a long time, or that the special blend of nativist nationalism, religion, and devotion to a personal human leader smacks of fascism? If you do, maybe you are illustrating your own point: "Wilful ignorance is a terrible waste of time."

 

And of course in Rome, the church became a political tool---control by unifying the people under one god and one belief system. Then in turn it became a weapon of conquest and control, enabling the rise of the Holy Roman Empire. But then this dynamic of religious control and prosyletization was a key part of history bringing us to where we are today. Christianity was key to creating a religious vehicle that spread across Europe and the world, and guided Newton and Bacon to try to explain the world, and Descartes to find the one truth he could not deny (I think therefore I am) and then Kant to separate religion and science, and eventually here we are now in the lap of a technological luxury.

I have long spoken out against the institution but spoken for the spirituality. In my interpretation, I would say that you are the model of that person who has found the spiritual center of Christianity and without being wrapped up in the trappings of the institution. According to the Book of... (I can't think of the name, but you probably know it---one of the books left out of the Bible, written in Aramaic, and supposedly the words of Jesus), and I paraphrase from memory, "My church is not made of bricks and stones."

But I also understand the importance of community. In my late 20's and into my 30's I had given up ever finding proof that there was anything beyond our physical reality. Then a crazy experience in the Philippines showed me that reality is not as simple as it seems, and I was back on that search for truth and meaning. Somewhere in my late 30's or early 40's, I realized that I needed to undergo a baptism of existential fire, so to speak, in other words a process of skepticism, attacking everything I knew and believed as a form of mental death-rebirth. I knew in the end, that whatever I was left with would be what I truly believed. I had no idea what would happen, if I would end up trapped in a world of Nihilism, a die hard atheist, or a believer in God or who knows. I had a wealth of understanding of various religions and belief systems and philosophy to tap into, as well as to attack through this exercise of skepticism in whatever way they applied to me. IN many ways it was a destruction of my parents within me, both my literal parents, and symbolically, my culture, teachers, leaders, etc. in other words, as much of my programming as I could access or identify. In the end, I came out very grounded and confident in my own beliefs and free of doubt. This was not an overnight thing and it just so happened that somewhere in this process I found my own proof, and something so profound that I could not deny it, no matter how hard I tried. So I came out of all of this without doubt, and so I no longer had the question of if, or can it be, but a new set of exciting questions of how does it work.

But now I felt alone and without a community. For me, I discovered, that what made the most sense was indigenous spirituality. I had some Native friends back in the 70's, and I had spent some time with mountain tribes in the Philippines and a bit with the Ainu in Japan. But I didn't really know anyone in the States any more, or even if I would be able to participate in ceremony.

Fortunately there are many Lakota who believe that these ways are for anyone who is respectful and are not there to exploit. It is interesting how things fell in place for me to meet some Natives on the Red Road, and how it all went from there. for me there is an amazing amount of power in these ways. It involves a level of experience that I have not found anywhere else, not in Christianity, nor Buddhism, nor Hinduism. That is very important to me. I need something that is existentially real, and not just in a mental sense. (All my life I needed proof and I couldn't just accept a leap of faith. I don't know why that was so important to me, but it was. I remember that even at 7 years old I had this idea that if I stare at fire I could catch a glimpse of God, and then I would know for sure). And there is a level of universality in it---that even though the names and traditions and stories are different---there is a common understanding, zeitgeist, and cosmic view between Australian aborigines, Philippine Aeta, Japanese Ainu, Tungusic and Samoyeds, African tribes, Lapplanders, Inuit, Lakota, Choctaw, Dine, Quiche Mayans, tribes in South America I can't even remember off the top of my head---all around the world. And this too is important to me. There are other things that are important to me too---such as the lack of contradiction---such as the teachings of thou shall not kill which are followed by all kinds of killing. There is authenticity and humbleness--these are all things that are important to me and I find in these ways.

But I too think that the divine is found in all religions and belief systems. I think the differences are, more than anything else, cultural. But I also feel that the institution is a man made structure that tries to manifest structure and context around a spirituality. I also believe that it is built upon the precedent of previous and older religions and spiritualities. The further we move down this path of evolution of religion the further we move from the original visions and mystical experiences, and especially from that primal spirituality that gave birth to all subsequent religions. I also want to point out that I do not consider indigenous spiritualities to be religions, again, separating religion and spirituality.

 

To add to that----Everyone has their own path and I respect that. In fact, I try to support it as much as I can, and I certainly defend their ability to follow their traditions. But I feel that the more one has latched onto the spirituality under the religion, or is spiritual, rather than religious, the more authentic their beliefs. That is my opinion. I'm not going to push my beliefs onto anyone, and be all holier than thou. So I don't want theirs pushed on me with some holier than thou attitude. I love sharing and discussing religion and comparing and so forth. And I will not demean one for believing as they do---at least in so far as they do not push it on me. But man my sister!

I have to go deal with her again today and I am about to leave. I'm going to help load stuff into the u-haul.






I don't know why she dislikes me so much or thinks I am so evil. I spent the whole night poking pins into the doll I made of her in order to counteract her judgement, and, you know...


(I'M JOKING!!!!)

 

How do your other siblings feel about her. They might be concerned about your mother's fate, too.

 

There are different ways of defining religion. Structuralist approaches look at the presence of certain forms similar to those found in western religions. e.g., gods, priests, doctrines, etc. By those definition, Buddhism and various indigenous religions wouldn't qualify. Functionalist approaches, on the other hand, may be too broad in defining religion in such a way that it's difficult to distinguish from some sports fans. I prefer the cluster approach, which looks at whether or not a given practice has one or more of the following: Higher Power, creed, code, cultus and community--some of the above. By these criteria, I'd venture to say that the Lakota, for example, have religion, although it is not compartmentalized into something apart from the rest of life. In the Higher Power category, there is Wakan Tanka (Great Mystery), aka Tunkashila, Taku Skan Skan (Grandfather; male aspect of creation), the power or sacredness that resides in everything; and also the spirits (Sun, Moon, Double Face, Winds, the Trickster, etc.); and Wo ȟ pe (Falling Star or Beautiful Woman; the feminine spirit of nature), incarnated asPte’ San Win, the White Buffalo Calf Woman . There are no official creeds in the Christian sense, but there are basic beliefs that are passed on by the elders and generally accepted: for example the creation myth in which the trickster Iktomi first angers Tunkahila by arranging an adulterous affair between Wo ȟ pe and the Sun (for which Wo ȟ pe is banished to earth); and then Iktomi tricking the first humans, from beneath the earth, to the surface with promises of paradise, after which the weather gets bad and they damned near die, but survive with the help of the buffalo. Not exactly Genesis, but close enough. There is a code of ethics based on sacred principles, including prayer, hospitality, truthfulness, and respect for others and for nature, As for cultus (rituals), there are the Seven Sacred Rites The yuwipi healing ceremonies in which you participated would be another example. And of course there is community. Unlike western religion, the community encompasses the whole band or sub-tribe. So on that basis, I'd say the Lakota have a traditional religion. Shamanism is a religion going back to paleolithic times, but alive and well today.

 

A Christian church hosts Michael Flynn (yeah; Trump's Russian conduit who literally advocated for a Myanmar-style coup d'état), and gives him an AR-15. He promptly threatens to go "find somebody in Washington, D.C.”
Church members roared with laughter and clapped when Flynn suggested hunting humans in the nation’s capital.

 

These people have definitely lost their way. I find it doubly distressing that my religion has been taken over by these Pharisees, and that my government is threatened by a similar takeover by right wing kooks.