"'CAUSE I GOTTA HAVE FAITH........... "

I made a comment on Richard's blog earlier and said, in answer to his surmising that Robert might be right and there is a god:

" Robert isn't right. There is no god and I think if there was one he'd make a lot more effort to explain himself than the diatribe that the Christian bozos put out"

It was a throwaway line but I think that by chance this is the most enlightened comment I've made in opposition to Catholicism, Christianity and religion in general.

 The official texts that all religions have published over the last (many) years and the debates, discussions, arguments, proselytising and preaching all lack something, - mainly logic.
They depend on something called 'faith' which is a way of saying "I don't know what I'm talking about but I'm right because I have this inexplicable thing called 'faith'.

Now if there was a 'supreme' being of any religion one would think that he/she/it would be a bit smarter than the average Joe and, even smarter than the smartest human being, ever. This is a given as I doubt that any religious person of any faith or denomination would accept that his or her god wasn't a cut above everyone else. QED. So, why do we have endless arguments between religious faiths, denominations, factions and religious people and agnostics and atheists if there was a real god lurking around somewhere? If there was one (or more) surely it would think up a sensible and reasoned argument for all the inferior humans to buy into.


"Am I right or am I wrong?" (Phillip Marlowe from The Singing Detective).

JESUS CHRIST!

I've noticed from reading ROBERT THE SINNER and previous blogs run by Robert that he is a bit right wing in his thinking and this, tied up with his catholic and christian beliefs would make him a perfect fit as a Republican in the 'good ol' USA.  Over there, demented analogies and ridiculous hyperbole is de rigueur in the political arena especially from the Right.

I'm sure that Robert would find President Trump to his liking and many Republican senators who share his views like this joker when likening the impeachment of Trump to Pontius Pilate's handling of Jesus.

LOUDMOUTH LOUDERMILK

These guys dig deep into the bible, catechism and other religious writings and teachings to try to validate their reactionary views on abortion, same sex marriage, contraception, euthanasia, women's rights, the Me Too movement and many other issues of conscience, morality and ethical values.

Shame on them.

INSIDE MARY - THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT HER

Robert The Sinner has been telling us of Mary's upbringing and the 'fact' that she was predestined to be the 'New Tabernacle'.

Now if you can understand what that's about then maybe you can explain the origins of The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny and where my socks go when I put them through the wash.

I did some exhaustive research (Googled "Mary and the new tabernacle") and discovered a world of insanity. I picked the third in the list and found some guy named Steve Ray in CATHOLIC ANSWERS who was at pains trying to explain all this. His article was called 'Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant'.
This was a confused mish-mash of bible quotes and catechism mumbo jumbo. I persevered though as I saw that there was some sort of table at the bottom. I like tables.
This one in a very tenuous way tries to draw parallels between some Old Testament activity and  Mary, purportedly mother of Jesus. This reminds me of all of that  crap that came out after JFK was assassinated trying to look for parallels between his assassination and that of Abe Lincoln.

Hold on to your hat - here goes!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church echoes the words from the earliest centuries: “Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is ‘the dwelling of God . . . with men’” (CCC 2676).
The early Christians taught the same thing that the Catholic Church teaches today about Mary, including her being the Ark of the New Covenant.

Mary, the Ark As Revealed in Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth

Golden Box: Ark of the Old Covenant	Mary: Ark of the New Covenant
The ark traveled to the house of Obed-edom in the hill country of Judea (2 Sam. 6:1-11).	Mary traveled to the house of Elizabeth and Zechariah in the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:39).
Dressed as a priest, David danced and leapt in front of the ark (2 Sam. 6:14).	John the Baptist – of priestly lineage – leapt in his mother’s womb at the approach of Mary (Luke 1:41).
David asks, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Sam. 6:9).	Elizabeth asks, “Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43).
David shouts in the presence of the ark (2 Sam. 6:15).	Elizabeth “exclaimed with a loud cry” in the presence of the Mary (Luke 1:42).
The ark remained in the house of Obed-edom for three months (2 Sam. 6:11).	Mary remained in the house of Elizabeth for three months (Luke 1:56).
The house of Obed-edom was blessed by the presence of the ark (2 Sam. 6:11).	The word blessed is used three times; surely the house was blessed by God (Luke 1:39-45).
The ark returns to its home and ends up in Jerusalem, where God’s presence and glory is revealed in the temple (2 Sam. 6:12; 1 Kgs. 8:9-11).	Mary returns home and eventually ends up in Jerusalem, where she presents God incarnate in the temple (Luke 1:56; 2:21-22).

Mary as the Ark Revealed by Items inside the Ark

Inside the Ark of the Old Covenant	Inside Mary, Ark of the New Covenant
The stone tablets of the law – the word of God inscribed on stone	The body of Jesus Christ – the word of God in the flesh
The urn filled with manna from the wilderness – the miraculous bread come down from heaven	The womb containing Jesus, the bread of life come down from heaven (John 6:41)
The rod of Aaron that budded to prove and defend the true high priest	The actual and eternal High Priest

WE'VE GOT TO MOVE

YOU'VE GOTTA MOVE

You gotta move

You gotta move

You gotta move, child

You gotta move

Oh, when the Lord get ready

You gotta move

On my way home this morning from the dentist and a few holes of golf I turned into our street and the postman's van was stopped and he was putting mail in a neighbour's postbox.
I buzzed down the passenger window to say Hi to him. Before I could do so he said:

"Peace be with you"

I wasn't sure that I'd heard him properly and said"

"How're you going?"

Having just been to the dentist though, getting some serious root canal work done, the left side of my jaw was swollen and my face was still a bit numb. It sounded like I said"

"Go with god" or something like that.

It seemed to please the postman and he ended with:

"And with you"

and drove off.

WTF!

Did I hear right? Has the postie gone doolally? Maybe he needs a bigger hat in this hot weather we're having.

I drove off to my place 10 houses along and, before going up the drive collected the mail.

This!

Richard has sent us a card - an awful christmas card that has managed to blend Santa Claus imagery with religious claptrap. I swear that he's getting worse.

The message inside said that blessings were coming from Tod and it was signed off - Richard and Shelley.

I looked at the back and saw that this is one of those Canteen cards raising money for fighting cancer and was designed by a 17 year old who has cancer. OK, it's for a good cause and well done Shelley for supporting this but ....... it's a really horrible and kitschy card. Maybe it'd go well with Robert's camp christmas stuff in his fireplace.

No wonder the postman was using god-botherer speak when he was talking to me.

At least he didn't say :

"He is risen" but maybe he's saving that up for Easter Sunday.

We've gotta move.