ALL THE POPE'S HORSES, ALL THE POPE'S MEN

CAN THEY EVER WIN IRELAND BACK AGAIN?

  “Multitudes of Christians within the church are moving toward the point where they may reject the institution that ‘we’ call the church. They are beginning to turn to more simplified forms of worship. They are hungry for a personal and vital experience with Jesus Christ.

They want a heart-warming personal faith. Unless the church quickly recovers its authoritative Biblical message, we may witness the spectacle of millions of Christians going outside the institutional church to find spiritual food.”

                                                                                  -Billy Graham

 In his book The Myth of a Christian Religion, Gregory A. Boyd writes: “While wealth, power, and sex are the most prevalent idols in Western culture today, religion is historically the most common idol people latch on to.”

Steeped in Roman Catholic lore, Ireland was as confused and misled as any other country that claims it adheres to a higher set of religious values. And for all its veneer of religiosity, hypocrisy and debauchery was rampant in Ireland in a clergy that failed to keep the high moral standards of the global religious institution that claimed Ireland for its own. Persistent violence between Irish Roman Catholics and Protestants who butchered each other along religious lines proved that savagery is not exclusive to radical Islamists or those who perpetrate violence in the name of Hindutva in India or anywhere else.

There is no evidence anywhere in the world that a country merits the title of a ‘Christian’ nation or in the case of Ireland, a ‘Roman Catholic’ nation as it was considered to be for centuries. There is no evidence of any country or place being transformed for the better or even staying true to the tenets of any religion, which makes any such claim a myth. That includes Vatican City and Rome, Jerusalem, Mecca, Benares and any other place men may describe as “holy.”  

People and places are not holy – only the One who created us, the Scriptures tell us.

On the other hand in the gospels we see that when Christ interacted with someone, that individual's turnaround was remarkable and he or she was not the same again. There are some exceptions perhaps, like the religious-power hungry Pharisees and individuals like the rich young man, Pontius Pilate, King Herod and those who mocked Jesus as he hung on the cross.

Even today, there are many who will testify to an encounter with the resurrected Christ and the far-reaching change that came about in their lives.

Something startling happens with Christ – not Christianity.

In my case knowing Christ terminated my interest in institutional religion.

I can’t help pointing out that Someone set me free – all else pales into insignificance as I keep finding more and more evidence of his handiwork in people from all over the world. Looking back I am confounded how change came about for me – it happened in ways I could not have imagined – very slowly, but radically – night into day category change.

I was a proud jerk in a terrible mess and the transformation didn’t happen overnight. Like a novice runner’s toughest first "mile," the healing process of rebirth took a long time, it was hard and I often wanted to go my own way.

But old patterns of behaviour unquestionably gave way. Relationships wrecked began to heal as I dealt with my feelings. To my relief I discovered I could separate myself from a painful past. But I fell down often and if I had measured change on how I was doing, I would probably have given up.

‘Amazing Grace’ maybe a haunting melody to listen to on bagpipes, but it is slave trader turned abolitionist John Newton’s testimony of rebirth. As the years went by I could see how things that controlled me too were uprooted.

What was obvious though was that God was in no hurry. If I backslid He waited, until I got up and started again. I could go only as far as I could see and then I’d see some more. I never obtained all the answers, I could only glimpse one more step. All He seemed to require of me was to keep going – and falling, as He walked beside me on that difficult road to meaning and purpose – and life.

Augustine of Hippo observed, "The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home." Indeed – from a heavenly Father who cares and wants to be personally involved in our individual lives – He is not someone with clay feet in the Vatican who allows himself to be called ‘Holy Father’ and works through a global often debauched crew who are hypocrites impotent to change people’s lives.

You might think I’m crazy but I know Matthew 6:33 is a guarantee –“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Only we must weigh, implement and assess every word in that verse like we do when we buy meat or vegetables – God is a mathematical genius and His measured Word is full of proof that He means business in our transactions with Him.

In hindsight I can see how God overhauled me by His life giving resurrection, disregarding my pathetic attempts at overcoming my weaknesses on my own. To my amazement and delight I discovered how the Scriptures can feed and nourish a starving soul –and someone like me desperately qualified. Over nearly four decades, I have experienced God’s Word as something completely reliable unlike institutional religious diktats and rituals I was seldom motivated to follow.

Catholic countries like Ireland, Philippines, much of Latin America that allowed themselves to be controlled by Rome display the obvious effects of an ‘ism’ on their societies – where impotent religious idolatry poses as genuine faith. The sad part is, if Ireland is just exchanging one ‘ism’ for another, a new set of consequences will be evident sooner or later.

There is a legal aspect to the Ireland vote – equality for the LGBT community which I wholeheartedly support. But there is also a spiritual side to it that I cannot judge, I only know that spiritual import is individual and distinct, not grouped.  Jesus did not cast the first stone so I am certainly not called to judge.

However I will say this – which man or woman can deny (by the Galilean's standard) sexual curiosity or experimentation– homosexual or heterosexual? But we all make choices – if there is someone who claims I cannot make a choice, that 'this is who I am,' I cannot question the design of his sexual machinery – for that falls into the divine Potter's territory!

LGBT’s can claim victory only in the legal sphere as a community – as far individuals go, everyone will have to account for their own choices.

Why do I share all this in reference to Ireland? I was once a religious slave as a Roman Catholic. I also studied at an Irish Christian Brother school – I understand what has happened in Ireland and why. Ireland went from political slavery to religious slavery; the Irish were starved by a great famine during British rule when one million people between 1845 and 1852 died and another million emigrated. I think it was only a foretaste of how Ireland would be starved spiritually by the Roman Catholic Church. It became a country of religious slaves not unlike many other countries that are under similar bondage.

Countries like Ireland, being fed with Christianity – not the life giving Christ. Others being indoctrinated with religious idolatry.

Peter Manseau, author of “One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History,” believes nothing has done more damage to the ideal of American religious pluralism than stubborn ideas about America’s religion. The recent Pew Research Center study indicates the impact – “America’s Religious Landscape is changing with people declaring they have no affiliation to any religion, identifying as ‘None.’ Manseau's deduction: “The true gospel of the American experience, is not religious agreement but dissent.”

In the New Testament we find a community called the Bereans who were of more noble character than the people in Thessalonica, for they received the message of Christ with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what even the great Apostle Paul said was true. The Irish could have learned something from the Bereans – instead of remaining a so called ‘Roman Catholic’ country for centuries.

A few years ago my wife and I were exploring the back roads of a lovely part of Ireland by road and we lost our way. A little worried, we came across an elderly gentleman walking and stopped to ask for directions.

My wife said: "Excuse me. Could you show us which road leads to Dublin? We're lost."

A lovely smile creased the old man's wrinkled face, filling his porcelain blue eyes.

"You're not lost at all, do y'see, for you've found me, and I know the way."

Irish eyes will keep smiling only if they discern the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Frank Raj is the founding editor of the 22 year old magazine The International Indian and the author of Desh Aur Diaspora.