ON CATHOLICISM - A CULT

On Catholicism

What I find fascinating is the "devolution" that takes place over time in both etymology and the ritual practice of religious rites.

"Catholic" for example means "all-embracing" which hints towards tolerance and, I suppose in a cynically unintentional serendipitous sense, a religion born of a mishmash of pagan and inherited myths is indeed all-embracing even if its true origins are unknown to so many of its devotees. Even more ironic perhaps, the fact that Catholicism is (even today) founded on dogma which is forged on exclusivity rather than inclusion thereby rendering its epithet entirely oxymoronic. 

And Catholicism is just one splinter of the doctrine of Christianity, forged from a story of the demise and (purported [for some]) return of a prophet, a story which paradoxically took the Judaic teachings of that prophet, largely ignoring the message and birthing a new religion based on the reverence of the messenger himself. Something, Christ, arguably may not even have claimed if the Christian concept of talking in parable and metaphor is to be believed.

Once created, Christianity became much manipulated for the sake of Roman political expediency and thus appeared the Roman Catholic cult or branch if you prefer.

The chosen sites for Christian/Catholic churches and cathedrals owe more to pagan geomancy than they do to divine guidance or instruction from "God" although in my own theological perspective those aspects actually form one and the same thing. However, I do not exclude the paganistic validity in the great scheme of things whereas the Catholic Church does. Again - non-embracing. 

Arguably a more rounded form of "orthodox" Christianity was practiced by the so-called Cathars in the 12th century through the Languedoc region of France and where Christ was not seen as divine son of God and duality was accepted in a totally different way.

Upshot, the all-embracing "Catholic" Church launched the Albigensian Crusade, a pogrom that annihilated almost every man, woman and child who dared oppose the "official" religion of Rome unless they recanted and embraced "true" Christianity.

So for me, what Catholicism was, went through and what it has become is, in every sense, a bogus, misogynistic all-exclusive doctrine that has and continues to foment more harm than benevolence in the world.

That isn't to say that there aren't benevolent, dedicated, wonderful, tolerant, altruistic Catholics - of course there are, many of them but unless the essence of the original TEACHINGS of Christ are embraced and practiced and the manipulative self-serving machinations of what the religion has become, discarded, I'm afraid it's nothing more than another corrupt Boy's Club driven by power, greed and manipulation.

I wouldn't want to ever be part of that particular cult not even as an honorary member...