Religious Dogma: Propaganda or Blind Faith?
Behind the Illusion
Dateline: Thursday, October 13, 2005
By: EDWARD O'TOOLE
By:
Alien autopsy videos, Christ’s bloodline, the excess of kitsch symbolism at
Rennes-le-Chateau; the powers-that-be deny all knowledge, discredit as fakes...
and the Truth Seeker salivates, believing him/herself to be on the right track
and delves further.
I wonder how many of you have ever seen a conjuror or magician, in the ‘Mungo
the Magnificent’ vein? The ones who do small sideshows, wear penguin tails and
have assistants called Shelly. When the conjuror performs a trick where either a
small object disappears or reappears in his hands (or behind an audience
member’s ear), does the object materialize on the palm of his hand? No. Prior to
any materialization, ‘Ian the Indefatigable’ occupies both his hands, and your
attention, by doing something else.
The conjuror holds up a hand, pulls back the sleeve and wiggles his fingers.
He’s directly challenging you to analyze that specific limb, even though he’s
just told you via gesticulation and raised eyebrows that it’s empty and devoid
of trickery. Yet, you, the audience member, through some unconscious will, wish
to challenge the conjuror and find fault. You’re looking for a mistake in his
art – the telltale corner of a coloured ribbon, the glint of a coin wedged
behind his digits. What you are in fact doing requires great strength of
willpower to overcome and, while you’re concentrating on that specific limb
(which you’ve already been shown and told is innocent, yet you persevere), the
conjuror hides his true art behind his back, out of sight.
Not only has he distracted your attention but he’s also challenged your
intellect and perception. He’s slapped your ego with his illusory gauntlet and –
even if just for the briefest of moments – you wish to prove your superiority
and discover and prove his lack of talent.
In fact, you’re doing what he wants. Eric the Expropriator has you, and your
attention, just where he intended, enabling him to perform his act of
substitution or whatever without your prying gaze. Having a scantily clad,
sequin drenched Sheila signaling his empty hand with two of her own and a
humungous grin also helps enormously.
You’ve been duped, my friend.
Try the same trick with a dog, or even a small child. A dog relies on more than
just sight – smell, particularly – and will not be easily fooled into believing
an empty hand contains aught of interest. The dog will try to walk behind you to
‘see’ what you’ve got in your other hand. A child will oft do likewise. Why
then, as adults, do we not? Imagine the conjuror’s surprise if his entire
audience suddenly shouted ‘It’s in the other hand!’ Which, oddly enough, they do
– but not before the magician has managed to perform his trickery and relocate
the offending object, thereby permitting his revelation of a second ‘clean’
hand.
Why then, do Truth Seekers believe that a gaudy bauble of esoteric interest,
which has been refuted and denied by the Church, the State, and Science, should
in fact be the key to a great secret? It’s akin to telling a child not to go
into a room, knowing full well that curiosity will drive the infant there.
The question should not be “Why are THEY denying it?“ it should be “WHY are they
denying it?” To the former, it implies a cabal, a conspiracy so wide-ranging
that half of humanity would have to be involved. To the latter, it’s a simple
case of distraction – while you’re looking where they want you to look, you’re
not looking where they don’t want.
It always amuses me when Gnosticism - and its arcane secrets that would be earth
shattering if known – is used in conjunction with the Catholic Church. What
secrets is the Vatican hiding? What DO they know? Did Christ really have a
child/get married to the Magdalene? And off we Truth Seekers go, searching in
darkness for clues to the greatest secret in history.
While we Truth Seekers/Students of the Occult/Alien Hunters are off digging
through history for the apocalyptic dreams of a few dead Palestinians, Egyptians
and Greeks, the Catholic Church (term first used by Ignatius of Antioch in
110AD) rumbles on, quite content. After all, it is the largest landowner on
Earth – as well as the largest corporation – and has been the single most
powerful body since the Roman Empire decided to swap the eagle on it standards
to an eagle on its lecterns (Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity the State
Religion in 380AD – interesting that when the Western Roman Empire collapsed in
476, the Catholic Church moved eastwards to the Byzantines, thus keeping itself
healthy). Why isn’t anybody looking at that? Where did all that power come from?
We talk about alien mind control, intervention, and government conspiracies –
for well over a thousand years, a single body of men has controlled the rest of
Western Civilization (the Conclave of Cardinals and the Pope, who can only be
elected by the Conclave of Cardinals thanks to Pope Symmachus’ ruling in 502AD).
Why bother looking for secret sects? We already know where they live. I’ve got
the address if you want it.
catholic. a.1. universal (Collins Reference English Dictionary, 1992)
The universal church, eh? And what would they be touting? What could be so
mind-numbingly riveting that it would keep humanity enthralled for an eon? Well,
they’ve got a book, the majority of which is the mythological history of the
Israelites and the actions of the god of the Israelites, despite which the
Israelites do not worship via the Catholic Church and are quite content to
remain as, well, Israelites. In fact they’re quite sure that the Talmud and
Torah currently don’t need a sequel. Why was it even included in the Bible?
Catholic Missionary: "Jesus was a Jew."
Dark Age Northern European Pagan Barbarian: "What’s a Jew?"
CM: "An Israelite, from Palestine. Well, not exactly from Palestine, you see
they were kicked out of Egypt…"
DANEPB: "Sorry, you’ve lost me, what’s an Israelite? Where are Palestine and
Egypt? Are there any monsters in this book? Any drinking or wenches? What
happened to your hair? Is it contagious?"
The second part of the book, the New Testament, is even more peculiar. The
founding fathers of the Christian faith (not the same founding fathers who were
martyred for their beliefs by the Romans – these guys ARE the Romans), gathered
to decide which books should be included and which books were better off being
burned as they sort of detracted from the general theme the Council wished to
portray. The hero of the piece, Jesus Christ the Essene became Jesus Christ the
Nazarene (the Essenes were the lowest of the low in terms of Pharisees and
Saducees, therefore not very marketable). As the Essenes were possibly
descendants of a Buddhist Missionary sect (or at least shared their beliefs) and
held views vastly different to what the new Church envisaged, out went the books
where the Christ spoke of individuality, man-as-god, etc. The Son of God married
a whore? No chance, mate; out you go (even though Jesus was addressed as Rabbi
and Talmudic law requires a Rabbi to be married). The list goes on.
So what was the council aiming at? Go have a look at Osiris. Déjà vu?
Moving away from the pick-and-mix book – which, due to the vast majority of
possible converts being illiterate, had to be read to, not by, them (even in the
Medieval period the Church argued violently against the translation of the Bible
into local tongues – imagine a thousand years of listening to a Priest droning
on in Latin, not understanding a single word, until the Priest gave his lessons
in the local dialect. Hard to question a doctrine when you’ve no idea what it
actually is. The Vatican finally agreed to the giving of services in local
languages at the 21st ecumenical council, in 1962). The first authorized Bible
in English was published in 1569 (Bede’s wasn’t legit). Something must have kept
bums on seats, as the Bible in Latin or Greek is certainly not a page-turner.
Heaven and Hell. To the pagans this was just peculiar. In most archaic European
religions, the good gods and the bad gods were usually related and neither was
particularly good (and killing lots of people in battle guaranteed a place in
Heaven). The Revelations of John is ideally suited, tacked onto the end, to
satisfy the need for a Ragnarok among the barbarians (even today it’s still the
most popular of the books; Corinthians just doesn’t compare). The threat of an
eternity in Hell and damnation (don’t look for it in the Old Testament, it
wasn’t introduced until around 500BCE when the Persians began exerting influence
over the Israelites, also inflicting upon them a theological binary opposition.
Don’t believe me? Satan (the adversary/prosecutor) was Jehovah’s lackey for most
of the books. This was to cause huge problems later when the Persian Prophet
Mani emerged in the 3rd Century and his ‘Gnostic’ teachings would continue to
reappear for the next thousand years, effectively challenging the fundamental
integrity of the Catholic Church. Remember ‘God’ banished Adam and Eve from
Paradise in Genesis, casting them to the Earth – that’s about as close to Hell
as you can get).
A promise of a better life in Heaven – if one didn’t question one’s betters, was
humble, and toiled in this one. Or, an eternity of pain and suffering, worse
than this one. Support this argument with a malenky bit of ultra violence – kill
anyone who disagrees and take their gold and land – and instill a pathological
fear among adherents. The recipe for success, a few examples:
364AD Death to all Christians who keep 7th day as Sabbath
382AD Heresy punishable by death
444AD Expulsion of Jews from Alexandria (remember whose book it is…)
1205AD Legal help for heretics forbidden
1224AD Heretics found guilty to be burned to death
1229AD First Inquisition in response to Cathar Heresy
1252AD Torture of heretics authorized
1260AD Inquisitors able to absolve one another of any crimes committed
1391AD Jews in Barcelona offered Baptism or death
1478AD Spanish Inquisition formed to protect against Jewish and Muslim
pseudo-converts (observe previous entry…)
1542AD Roman Inquisition founded
1814AD Spanish Inquisition reformed
1908AD Spanish Inquisition becomes ‘Holy Office’
1965AD Holy Office renamed “Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith”
High Mass. Transmutation (Transmogrification was Christ’s prerogative). The
Liturgy. Eh? Where do those rituals come from? And why do all the churches have
to face a certain way (despite the fact that Christ said physical structures
weren’t necessary)? Steeples to Heaven? There are a lot of churches in the
world, and a lot of steeples pointing upwards and, at a certain time every
Sunday (despite the fact the Sabbath is Saturday), the voices of the faithful
fill those places of worship – globally directed upwards. I don’t recall reading
about that in the Bible, but it’s been around since at least 590AD (Gregorian
Chant). Crucifix symbolism? A tad different to the Tau cross utilized by the
Romans.
If you’re looking for secrets, then look no further. The Catholic Church has the
best intelligence network in the world – there can be little that they don’t
know, at least up until the period where Martin Luther threw a spanner in the
works. The principle of Confession guarantees that the Church keeps abreast of
all the little happenings (and in Feudal times, the Lord of the Manor that paid
for the Vicar or Priest could also) – visualize a spider’s web of informants
stretching out from the Vatican – Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Believers –
for over a millennium.
Again, I ask the question – just where does the Catholic Church get its power
from? Forget the little sects – there’s a whopping great secret power right on
your doorstep.
A few final points:
In the early 5th Century, Pope Innocent I decreed Roman custom to be the norm
for Christianity.
The Prophet Mani wanted to combine the best tenets of Zoroastrianism,
Christianity and Buddhism (to paraphrase the yogic philosophy: In the beginning
was a crystal of truth and it shattered on the Earth into many fragments. Wise
men took single fragments and declared them to be the whole truth – but they
were just parts of the whole).
Gnosis means knowledge and is therefore the antithesis of Faith, which is belief
without proof. There is no secret Gnostic answer to Life, the Universe and
Everything. The whole principle of Gnosticsim, as opposed to the Catholic Church
and its doctrines, is the quest for knowledge by which one may compare and
contrast in order to conceive one’s own philosophy.
