LOOK OUT FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT (or at least, don't stand underneath it just in case).

 

Read this:

CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE CAREFUL NOT TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is the least known member of the Trinity. Many Christians know much about God the Father and God the Son but many do not know anything about God the Holy Spirit. Some denominations do not even acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is God.

           Oscar Amaechina  Christian Post

No shit Sherlock!

"Some denominations do not even acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is God."

I like the surprise, almost shock in the tone here in the writer, assuming that everyone accepts that The Holy Spirit is a real thing but that some don't acknowledge that it's a god.

According to Barna research in 2021: “The study shows, in general, that while a majority of America’s self-identified Christians, including many who identify as evangelical, believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and is the Creator of the universe, more than half reject a number of biblical teachings and principles, including the existence of the Holy Spirit.”

This article tells us that the Holy Spirit is the executive arm of the Trinity. The world was created by it in Genesis 1. It wrote the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). It was responsible for the miraculous birth of Jesus (Luke 1:35). All miracles which Jesus did were done by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mathew 12:28). Jesus was able to go to the Cross to be crucified for the salvation of humanity by the leading of the Holy Spirit (Hebrew 9:14). Jesus would have remained in the grave if not for the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). After Jesus commissioned the Apostles and the other disciples, they had no motivation of preaching the Gospel until the Holy Spirit enabled them on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). There is no way we would have come to know Jesus if not for the conviction power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). The Holy Spirit is powerful in more than one way.

Holy shit! - I mean Holy Spirit.

The writer of this claptrap is a real nutter not just a Robert-grade one.

He then goes on to talk about blasphemy and how men were denying the works of the Holy Spirit and attributing them to some other powers - demons? Jesus? He's not entirely clear on this part. He does say that doing that is blasphemous against the Holy Spirit: 

"When “Powerful men of God” abuse their office, they are getting dangerously close to blasphemy. Prophecy is one of the vocal gifts of the Holy Spirit, and abusing the gift of prophecy and saying what the Holy Spirit did not say is a blasphemy against Him."

I think old Oscar is a little bit in love with the Holy Spirit which is clearly his favourite over the old guy and the whippersnapper. He reminds us that Christ was crucified for an alleged case of blasphemy under Judaic law but that Christianity is different from Judaism because it doesn't condemn anyone to death because of blasphemy (that's a relief - ed) but then gets a bit tangled up by saying: "But should we continue to blaspheme that grace may abound? God forbid! It is important that we take heed to the warning of Christ not to say a word against the Holy Spirit because the sin is unforgivable here on earth and the afterlife. If blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, what will be the fate of those who are ignorantly engrossed in this sin?" WTF?

Oscar gives up on direct blasphemy at this point and bangs on about apostasy which we all know is an act of refusing to continue to follow, obey, or recognise a religious faith. He says that Christians should avoid mocking the Holy Spirit - those who deny its existence are guilty of the sin of apostasy which in his mind he sees it as an unpardonable sin. 

I guess I'm guilty of this 'unpardonable sin' because, I do admit, I've mocked it and referred to it as the Holy Seagull. Sorry. 

I'm not sure if Richard has an opinion on the Holy Seagull Holy Spirit as he just rolls the Trinity together and mocks it as one entity. He does acknowledge it in a recent post though where he accused Robert of colluding with it for his own advantage.

Robert believes in it and, like Oscar, loves it a bit. He uses it like an instant finance company when he needs a bit of extra dosh, prays to it and, miraculously what he's asked for comes true. Here's an example from an earlier post of his:

"We were a bit short of readies yesterday and I didn't think I'd be able to provide for my little family. I prayed to the Holy Spirit for assistance and lo - when I went shopping in Pak 'n' Save, pork roasts were on deep cut special. I bought two plus some dehydrated mashed spuds,  a couple of litres of Top Top ice-cream, some Scotch eggs, a few chocolate eclairs, some Bulgarian sauvignon blanc and  a family sized pack of Bisto gravy. Life is good. Thanks Holy Spirit."  - Robert the apathetic sanctimonious sinner and toilet cleaner

AS THEY HAVE SOWED, SO SHALL THEY REAP

 A nice unconscious pun there.

Here's an interesting read for 'Bob' who really needs to brush up on the abortion debate, the Roe vs. Wade case and the Catholic Church's approach to the issue, or non-issue as the case may be (a pun there).

CATHOLIC BISHOPS CELEBRATE A BIG WIN

Overturning of the US Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade ruling was advocated by Catholic bishops against warnings that to do so would open the doors to 'crude zealots' who would take over the debate for their own (right wing) political agendas and have a polarising effect in US democracy that, on top of current race, diversity, gun control and economic issues would create a dangerous 'civil war' situation.

Now that this has happened, that the 'crude zealots' have won the Catholic bishops are pleased and have managed to ignore the fact that Donald Trump engineered this in his rigging of the Supreme Court. They ignore that because Trump, a known liar, misogynist self-proclaimed sexual predator and political opportunist happened to be against abortion. It's no surprise that four of the five justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade were conservative Catholics.

Whoop-de-do.

But now these Catholic bishops are making a call for everyone to unite in the name of families

"It is a time for healing wounds and repairing social divisions," the bishops wrote in a statement. "It is a time for reasoned reflection and civil dialogue, and for coming together to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families, and where every woman has the support and resources she needs to bring her child into this world in love."

          - Celia Viggo Wexler June 26 2022

What a crock of shit.

Catholic supported anti abortion groups "were funding voter suppression efforts in key states, endorsing Donald Trump's Big Lie and pushing for future Republican victories". Where's "healing wounds and repairing social divisions" in that?

Outright abortion bans are a weapon against women's rights and a movement towards fascist-type repression of women who want an abortion and anyone who assists them. I was wondering what Margaret Atwood's view of this would be and sure enough she has already drawn parallels between the Supreme Court's ruling and her novel The Handmaid's Tale. Life imitating art.

"Now listen up women - your bodies don't belong to you"

In the article (link above) the Catholic Church goes even further than a stance against abortion:

But women who want to get pregnant may also be at risk. The Catholic church condemns in vitro fertilization (IVF) because of its doctrine that life begins at conception, wary that some fertilized eggs could be discarded or used in medical research. If a state decides to take the same position, where does that leave infertile women and couples?

I note also that Justice Clarence Thomas is against contraception as well:

Justice Clarence Thomas in a concurring opinion released on Friday that the Supreme Court “should reconsider” its past rulings codifying rights to contraception access, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.
The sweeping suggestion from the current court’s longest-serving justice came in the concurring opinion he authored in response to the court’s ruling revoking the constitutional right to abortion, also released on Friday. - POLITICO 24 June 2022

What's next?  Reversal of LGBTQ rights? Ban on same sex marriages? Total ban on sex outside of marriage? Compulsory reading of the Bible and the Catechism? Mandatory attendance at Mass on Sundays? Compulsory Confession and Communion taking - the real Catholic host not that bogus Anglican one?

The mind boggles. Maybe 'Bob' can enlighten us.

Twin Peaks Bob has nothing on Moera Bob.

THE SEASON OF THE GHOST

 

TIME OF THE SEASON

What's you name? 

Who's your daddy?

Is he rich like me?

Has he taken any time

 To show you what you need to live?

Those lyrics could apply to The Holy Ghost.

 

I was reading the latest post on Richard's Bass Bag this morning (it's a cold day here with very low cloud and mist so there's nothing much happening) and liked his idea of a revolution in heaven.

This is one of his best ideas for a while and is nearly as good as his mistaken belief that by now we should all be driving around in hovercrafts.

What if there was a revolution in heaven though?

That holy ghost joker seems to have been given a bad rap. For a start he/she/it wasn't given a normal body, instead being given the form of a seagull:

I can see why this might rankle given the implication that he/she/it just flies in, makes a lot of noise and shits over everyone. I mean - wouldn't that make you mad?

After a couple of thousand years the holy seagull hasn't been given much to do or, if he/she/it did anything, old Goddy and Jesus seem to have suppressed any mention of it and hogged the limelight for themselves.

It was reported that the holy seagull had some sort of role to play in Jesus's conception but, given the aforementioned unfortunate form, his/her/its involvement might have been more of a voyeuristic one with Archangel Michael having the more 'active' role.

I went to The Bible Speaks To You on-line for some answers and learned this:

What does the Holy Ghost do?

It reveals the Christ and announces its coming. Matt 1:18, Luke 2:25

Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Matt 3:11

It energizes. Luke 1:15

It fills us with inspiration. Luke 1:41,46-55,67-79

It leads into all truth and teaches all things. John14:26,

It abides with us forever. John 14:16

It speaks the words of God. Luke 3:22

It leads us into the wilderness not to tempt us but to make us face temptation head on. Luke 4:1

It puts the words of God in our mouth. Luke 12:2

It commands us to preach the Gospel. Acts 1:2

It causes us to champion Christ’s cause, not our own. Acts 4:31

It bears witness to the mission of Christ. Mark 12:36

It infuriates the carnal mind but gives us boldness. Acts 7:54

It reveals heaven & shows relationship of Christ to God. Acts 7:56

It multiplies the number of believers. Acts 2:41, 9:31

It “falls” on those who hear the Gospel in their hearts. Acts 10:45-47

It assigns tasks to believers and sends them forth. Acts 13:2

It commands us what not to do. Acts 16:6

It makes us overseers of the church. Acts 20:28

It makes us prophets. II Peter 1:21

It enables us to heal through God’s power.

 All very good but not very helpful. It also seems to pad out his/her/its responsibilities and achievements kind of like an under-performer pads out a CV.

I did like "It infuriates the carnal mind but gives us boldness. Acts 7:54" though.

I can see old ghosty sitting back and enjoying needling people, kind of like blogging.

Overall though, after a couple of millennia the seagull probably does think that it's time to step up. God himself/herself/itself is too self-obsessed to notice what the seagull is doing, being too busy smiting and smoting and demanding to be worshipped. Jesus has been missing in action since the day dot AD, only appearing to crazy and sexually frustrated cloistered virgins. The time is right for a regime change.

SAINT THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

 Well Robert missed his chance here:

SAINT TASTIERA

Already touted as the "patron saint of the internet", Acutis created a website to catalogue miracles and took care of websites for some local Catholic organisations. While still in elementary school, Acutis taught himself to code using a university computer science textbook, and then learned how to edit videos and create animation.

"Carlo used the internet in service of the gospel, to reach as many people as possible," the cardinal said during his homily, adding that the teen saw the web "as a place to use with responsibility, without becoming enslaved".

I've said before that to become a saint nowadays you don't have to be roasted alive or eaten by lions.

I wonder though, how you go about getting recognised for supporters to beatify you and set you on the way to sainthood? I've already got two followers on this blog which, given the subject - religion - you'd think is enough.

Some other pretenders to the position are lurking though - Angry Jesus, Catholic Apologist Evil Doctor Richard and Robert the apathetic sanctimonious sinner and toilet cleaner so maybe I should send old Frank my resume.

I've been posting as The Religious Curmudgeon since November 2017 and have written over 100 posts. These have covered a range of important and interesting Catholic topics from the very first one STIGMATA to the last one THERE IS NO GOD.

I admit that sometimes I take a confrontational stance against Catholicism and religions in general but it's healthy for the church to be given a different view of itself sometimes.

I'll wait for Frank to call.

"THERE IS NO GOD"

Against my better judgement, I allowed a discussion on the non-existence of god to dominate our blogging over the last day or so. Mea culpa. Robert was helpful, finally admitting that there was no proof of the existence of god which I thought had comfortably brought the discussion to a conclusion when he said:

"But to get back to the subject, I believe there is no real proof that God exists because the God that is, is outside science or the observable." - Robert the apathetic sanctimonious pork eating sinner and catholic 

Richard kind of agreed that there was no god although, being distracted, he wavered a little. I thought that it would be best though to  get some professional input and found this from George Carlin which pretty much sums it up.

RELIGION IS BULLSHIT - GEORGE CARLIN

WILL THE CATHOLICS HAVE A NEW SAINT SOON?

 The Catholic Church hasn't been backward in coming forward with new saints to inspire the congregations. They seem to roll one out whenever things get a bit slack down in the  trenches and, going by past choices they're not very picky.

Old Pope Frank just announced 10 new saints but, to be fair to him  most of these, at last, seem to be deserving of some accolades (although I don't believe in the idea of sainthood).

Some of Frank's earlier canonisations have been a bit suspect though like for a couple of previous popes John 23rd and John-Paul 2nd who supposedly produced miracles (that no-one's ever seen).

Earlier popes were worse having given sainthood to assorted mystics, histrionics and nutters like: Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto from Fatima; Saint Adjutor; Saint Bernadino of Siena; Saint Drogo; Saint Catherine of Siena; Saint Padre Pio; Saint Theresa of Avila; Saint Margaret Mary; Saint Rose of Lima; Saint Lutgardis of Aywières and, Robert's current favourite Saint Faustina. It's worth looking some of these up on Google. They are true nutters and time-wasters but somehow have managed to convince some old guys in dresses that they are worthy of being elevated to sainthood. Old Drogo's story is a doozy and hold onto your hat when you read about Saint Lutgardis of Aywières.

Calm down Lutgardis, you'll only further encourage Robert

So where does Robert come into this you might ask.

You'd know the answer to that if you read his posts like wot he writes on his blog ...... his blog named ..... Oh, yeah I see......

Robert writes (tosses a few lines amid cut and pasted quotes, pictures and links to podcasts and videos) on a blog currently titled Robert the sanctimonious apathetic sinner and toilet cleaner (don't ask). The posts are usually about violin playing, Paganini, Catholic Apologists, the Pope, Mass, Catholic Sacraments, abortion, homosexuality, his pets, his family, his dinner, how our government manages to be simultaneously fascist and communist and some other things. Often all of these themes are contained in the one post which is quite a feat when he only uses about fifty words.

In one of his most recent posts he had this to say:

He seems to be  moving into the mystic (no, not this: INTO THE MYSTIC which is one of Van's greatest songs) and is looking for a 'Faustina-type' revelation.

Looking at the monstrance* held by the priest he seems to be desperately trying to see Jesus and almost convinces himself that he's done it. Almost. A little bit more fasting and some stimulating drugs might help in the future.

With practice and dedication, along with a bit of natural glutamate enhanced by a psychedelic he might achieve his ambition. The next step will be to get noticed by the church and its hierarchy. This is where hysteria, fainting, talking in tongues, stigmata, religious ecstasy (not one of the little helpers ingested earlier), visions, fantasies and even death come in. Beer will help.

* Short for monstrous nonsense.

BREAKING NEWS

Well, blow me down with a feather - the Pope has come out with strong words of support for LGBQT people and has welcomed them into the Catholic Church.

GOD ... DOES NOT DISOWN ANY OF HIS CHILDREN 

"Yes Robert, some of my best friends are gay"

Pope to LGBT Catholics: 'God is Father who does not disown any of his children'

“God’s style is closeness, mercy and tenderness” Pope Francis said answering three questions put to him by Jesuit Father James Martin who ministers to LGBT Catholics.

Outreach: What do you say to an LGBT Catholic who has experienced rejection from the Church?

Pope Francis: I would have them recognize it not as “the rejection of the church,” but instead of “people in the church.” The church is a mother and calls together all her children. Take for example the parable of those invited to the feast: “the just, the sinners, the rich and the poor, etc.” [Matthew 22:1-15; Luke 14:15-24]. A “selective” church, one of “pure blood,” is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect.

I'm sure that this 'outing' will annoy many 'good' keen catholics and catholic apologists and know certainly one who got a bit huffy with Pope Francis this morning after he heard about it.

Robert the apathetic sanctimonious sinning catholic from Moera commented thus:

No doubt Frank will be off Robert's Christmas card list this year. Robert will have to find one of those right wing catholic reactionary sects like Opus Dei to join.