Because You Never Asked

     (This essay was the first one written in what has now become a work of almost 700 pages. One might quibble (or even worse) with the literary value and content of these essays, but there can be no doubt with regard to their volume. This series has now been ongoing for more than 15 years. The first in a series of anything with such a remote lineage is always a milestone. I put it up on my website in 2007 because it is cross referenced in other essays I have recently posted.)

     Nowadays we here a lot from people who call themselves “Christians”.

     Theology has never been a field of expertise for me but I think I understand, or, shall we say, finally see the light. If we try to discuss the fundaments of the Christian ethic, we are really talking about the “Judeo-Christian” ethic. This is especially true in America where lots of Jews vote and make campaign contributions. Although the Judeos still don’t think Christ is the Man, this is hardly a factor these days. From what I can tell, most Christians, even the ones who flaunt it like the President or the folks who read the newspaper, watch the “News”, have life insurance, car payments, some flaxen-haired kids and a K-Mart wife, don’t pay much attention to Jesus Christ either. They’d rather put nothing down on a new bedroom set, sweep leaves with deafening blowers, and be “aggressive”.

     Ironically, although I’d be considered an unrepentant heathen by those attending church this Sunday, I’ve always had a high regard for Jesus Christ. When I say this, I don’t mean the Jesus that walks on water, or heals the sick, or He who can do the things Michael Jordan can. No. I mean the humble, unpretentious man of the people, the man who finds hypocrisy an impossible state of mind.

     If Jesus were to return to Earth today (descend from the dead?) and scrutinize the things Christians are currently up to, he’d immediately request the removal of his name from the title. He’d then start preaching and hassling and rousing the prole up again, just like in the old days. Not unexpectedly, the Wall Street Christians now running the show would have to step in and put an end to such shenanigans. Jesus would soon be seen carrying an electric chair on his back to the place of his execution, thus creating a new religious “logo”, but only if the duly executed market analysis concurs in such a symbol.

     What then is the basic premise of modern Christian thought, its philosophical touchstone? In trying to answer this perplexing question, the following conclusion seemed most cogent: modern Christianity is little more than a sponge which absorbs and accepts whatever the lay culture it operates in is putting forth. With this in mind, I would say this religion’s most cherished principle is a cheap and secure supply of oil. The first Commandment is: “Thou shalt not deny Western Civilization its full ration of petroleum”.

     Amen.

     Relevant Material: “It’s true”, he continued, “I don’t bother much with God, or the Dogmas, but my soul is Christian like that of all revolutionaries”. From the classic, universal novel, “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse“, by the Spaniard, Vicente Blasco Ibanez.