An extreme (and extremely visible) hermit
- say a Stylite atop a column like the original
Simeon Stylites
or the present Maxim of Georgia
depends on foll-
owers for his
(they seem to be always male)
existence,
which means that he is not
cut off from 'society' at all,
but is an egomaniac fraud
worshipping a false god.
And what happens to his shit ?
I guess his followers treasure (or market) it...
11 comments:
Auban, yes, one of the many surprises on this website is the frequently original perspective on things we have taken for granted all our lives--the anchorites, by the way, were frequently women--yes, what did they do with their shit and piss?
Señor Auban,
Probably his shit is winched down by Sergo and his friend. Holy shit. If I were God I would not like to smell his offering. Take care. Raúl
So instead of his means of support being proved to be grace by said means being invisible-as if it were an actual miracle, his support was all too visible and male too, and therefore self publicising... Thus faith becomes the act of turning a blind eye to seeing how things actually happen at several levels....
In the Catholic church, too, 'faith' has largely consisted in turning a blind eye to what is under your nose. Benjamin Black makes this point well in his first Quirke novel about the shipping of 'illegitimate' and unwanted babies from Ireland to the USA, and the kidnapping of Unmarried Mothers by the Magdalen Laundries, which everyone in the clergy knew about - if only because some of the clergy had been Irish babies fostered in the USA until such time as they were forced into seminaries and become priest-slaves, and others came from appalling orphanages run by the sadistic Christian Brothers in remote parts of Ireland.
Compared with this lucrative trade in bodies and souls, the question of a Stylite's excrementa is trivial.
Granted, the Church has a lot to live down. As a counterpoint to the above observations I am reminded of the medieval Jew who lamented with his Christian friend who on returning home after a pilgrimage to Rome, said, "Yes, my friend, the evils and greed in the institution are horrible, but it must have something of God in it, since only with God's support could such corruption have survived these thousand years."
That joke, Marcus, is simply sophistry.
Señor Auban,
Yes,Señor Auban,the excrementa thing is trivial. This Georgian monk suffers from the illusion of feeling the presence of his god there and Sergo and his friend helps him to continue with that sugared illusion/delusion. If the monk falls from that pillar no invisible entity is going to intercede. Raúl
Ireland has suffered tremendously because of the thugs in the Catholic church. But what can you expect from an institution whose symbol,the cross, is an instrument of torture? Suffering is the only thing these half-human creatures in black robes understand. However the church is not only to blame for what they did to Irish women and infants. Where are the politicians, judges, and reporters who turned a blind eye to this tragedy? Raúl
Sophistry? Maybe, maybe not…le pari de Pascal?
Hi Raul First of all I am not Catholic so I don't know Catholicism from the inside. I am well aware that The Catholic Church has caused suffering in every country it has ever operated in, as have many other organisations in their time-say The National Rifle Association in America or The British Empire. If the Catholic Church went to Mars it would create suffering there.... But I want to take you up on the matter of symbols; we don't need symbols to torture people, and they don't justify the level of suffering. The presence or absence of torture in the symbols we employ is neither her not there, the intent of our actions is important. When people believed in pantheons of gods and godesses in the past some dieties were shown in violent poses, many were not. The myths attached to said deities were very often violent, cruel and vengeful, the symbols were less violent etc. The people that believed in what was represented by the statues were barbarous because of their beliefs, not the symbols for said beliefs.
Symbols are important, too, but the point about it's people who do the barbarous deeds needs some qualifications as well. It is people as in individuals who do their dastardly deeds, not institutions, ideologies, not beliefs, although those do support the culprits, but ultimately cannot rationalize or excuse their deeds. It is individuals who lose control, torture, and cause pain and cruelty. Any generalization takes away from the specificity of the cruelty and crime and points away from the responsibility of the individual perpetrator to maintain his/her humanity.
Señor Bearz,
Thank you for your comment. I am not Catholic either but since I was little I could not be free from the environment where the Catholic church had influence although now it has diminished due to the presence of evangelical churches and now that most young people are becoming indifferent. But their presence is still in government decisions. I know that we humans are broken vessels. I am not versed in history like you but when you realize that the words of Jesus was brought with the cross and the sword leading to indoctrination,raping and looting, well you see things in a different light. Under the veneer of civilization we are beasts now more dangerous because we have more weapons of destruction far worse than in the past. Raul
Post a Comment