Credo

St Anthony Catholic (Public Domain)

Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, - "I believe in one God, father almighty." The people in the church repeat this every Sunday. What are they thinking when they say it? If I don't say it with them from my refuge in the tenor section, does that mean I don't believe it? What difference does it make whether I believe this or not? Would I sing any differently, live any differently, love any differently, if I believed it?

Why do our creeds spend so much time on the supernatural stuff? Every week we solemnly recite about a young woman getting pregnant by having sex with a ghost, and about dead men walking. None of that has anything at all to do with the way we live our lives and raise our children. The Creed is the tabloid version of modern Christianity, the sensational hook that frightens and dazzles us into being willing to keep paying for the bells and candles. It is insulting and pointless.


Our bible quotes Jesus of Nazareth as saying some pretty profound things. For example, he is supposed to have said that the gentle people among us should be honored because they will inherit the earth. Why the hell don't we recite that every Sunday morning? How would our families, our schools, our businesses, our governments change if we ruled them with gentleness instead of with "One God Father Almighty"? I wonder if Jesus believed in OGFA, or if he believed in the inheritance of the gentle. Is it possible to believe in both at the same time?

I wonder if there actually was a first-century itinerant preacher named Jesus or Yeshua who said any of the things attributed to him. The fact that the ruling priests at the Council of Nicea said that he spoke those words doesn't make it so. We know now that those guys had a very worldly political and theological agenda and that they used their power to mold the Canon to fit their ideas. They were the original OGFA Party. But none of that makes any difference at all. Someone - it doesn't matter who - said that the gentle will inherit the earth, and that is a very powerful idea that somehow survived to remain in the approved book. The inheritance of the the gentle is about as far from OGFA as it is possible to be.

The problem is that the creed of One God Father Almighty inevitably leads to multitudes of Gods Junior Grade: preachers, ayotollahs, presidents, congressmen, and assorted other talking heads, who claim to stand in for the God we speak of in the creed. It is the GJGs, not God the Father, who write the blasphemy laws, fight the culture wars, and plan the invasions. In their lust to dominate, these poor little men (and they are overwhelmingly male) have used OGFA as a tool to create societies predicated on male domination, separation, exclusion, exploitation, greed, and repression of disagreement. They devote enormous energy and resources to keeping us in a frenzy of fear and loathing for our counterparts in other lands, with other languages, other beliefs, and other skin colors. Under the direction of the GJGs, OGFA results in constant conflict, violence, inequality, and ignorance. They have truly created a hell on earth.


20161203_Gentleness (Tom Borden)

Gentleness accepts, loves, and co-exists. Gentleness is strong enough and brave enough to recognize that differences should be treasured, not rejected. Gentleness is wise enough to know that as long as one child among us is hungry, we are all poor. If any one of us is sick, it is everyone's business to find medicine and competent care. If a single child lacks the opportunity for a quality education, we must move heaven and earth to see that she gets it. A regime of gentleness requires no heirarchy, no institutional structure, no buildings. It is simply people being fair and just with each other. It is each of us treating our neighbors the way we would want to be treated ourselves. A society that recites and believes that the gentle are to be honored is one that we all can flourish in. It is the kingdom of god on earth. The first step is to start saying it: "Honor the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth."


Thomas R. Borden
Waugh, Alabama
December 23, 2014
Revised December 4, 2016