Heretic Nation

I would like to begin this week with a little thing that scared me out of a bar one night (thank you very much Merchant Ale House and your attempts to culture those who seek escape through inebriation), a poetry slam.

There's a plot to beguile

An obstinate isle.

Great Britain, that heretic nation.

Why so slyly behav'd

In the hope to be saved

By the help of the curs'd reformation.

There's power enough

And combustile stuff

In thirty and odd trusty barrels,

We'll send them together.

The Lord can tell whither

And decide at one blow all their quarrels.

When the King and his son

And the Parliament's gone

And the people are left in the lurch,

Things will take their old station

In the curs'd nation...

And I'll be the head of the Church.

(Author Unknown, but possibly a Jesuit priest) - For the record, I did not write the part in brackets, they came with the poem. But, if I had to field a guess who wrote this poem, or on whose behalf it was written, I would have to go with hmmm oh well I don’t know THE POPE!!!! Click here for the webpage where this was originally located.

While desperately trying to come up with a pun that worked with the word Heretic, I stumbled across this poem. I read it, it made me smile. Because within the words of that AABCCB rhyming scheme, which incidentally fails at line fourteen, is more ammunition for the Tommy Gun of enlightenment that I brandish today. Today, Copyright Adam Durrant takes a swing at religion. One of the most devious means of control that mankind has ever loosed upon itself. Make no mistake, I am not talking about a supreme being that may or may not have created the universe. This is about religion. Religion defined as all of the stories, belief structures and institutions that we as humans have created over the last few thousand years. Yes most of them feature a deity at one point or another. And I’m sure that some of you are gearing up to tell me that religion is divinely inspired. But to use that argument against itself, just so we can move on with things, I will employ some sharp as a bear trap logic. Point 1 – I, Adam Durrant, was created by the Judeo-Christian-Muslim ‘One God to Rule Them All’ Point 2 – The ‘One God’ is active in the life of Adam Durrant and has set a path for me in all its determinist glory. Point 3 – That path is to be a writer and to use my brain. Therefore, that which I do is then an act of god. Therefore, my writing is inspired by god. And as god is infallible, everything that I have to say today is correct. Have fun with that one kids. And, if you think that my Ontology is self serving, allow me to cite one of Descartes’ proofs of ‘One God’ and then you tell me who is self serving. Point 1 – Whatever I clearly and distinctly perceive to be contained in the idea of something is true of that thing. Point 2 – I clearly and distinctly perceive that necessary existence is contained in the idea of God. Point 3 – Therefore, God exists. One goal Team Durrant, one goal Team Descartes, see you in overtime bitch. In case that show of irreverence did not make things painfully clear, I champion the cause of the Heretic. Heretics: those individuals who do not agree with the orthodox doctrine and choose to develop their own views toward the metaphysical. Born into the Christian faith, anointed in an Anglican Church before I achieved sentience, I, Adam Durrant am a heretic. And I will make no apologies for it. The heretic has no reason to apologize for making other people uneasy in their beliefs. Furthermore, the heretic should be praised for they have the courage to stand alone in the religious world and be counted apart from the masses. Religions formed because people are willing to listen and then hold has truth that which others have to say. The power of any church lay in the collective groupthink of those who attend, thus giving meaning and weight to that which is taught. No better (satirical) example of this can be pointed out than in Monty Python’s Life of Brian when, in an attempt to escape from the Roman centurions, Brian spouts off random rhetoric which stirs the hearts of the crowd. Praised as a messiah, his symbols the gourd and sandal, Brain is chased into the mountains by his unwanted disciples where he runs a foul of a naked man. Any groupthink par excellence will then lead to a measure of control over those people participating. You can start to create moral and value structures around your groupthink and before you know it you have people talking, dressing and eating the same…like say not eating meat on Friday? Everybody having to wear hats and bonnets? Sure it might not be law, but when everybody else is doing it and not doing it is ‘bad’ rather than ‘illegal’ it is potentially more powerful than law. Let simmer a few hundred years and what started out as an innocent groupthink has evolved into an entity that has both temporal and spiritual investment (control) in the lives of the people it guides (oppresses). This can pose some problems. Today, it only leads to awkward first dates where you start quoting Nietzsche to your companion who has just mentioned that she goes to church every Sunday. In days past, it would get you seasoned with the inquisitions’ special herbs and spices while cooking in your own juices on a rotisserie. Then the inquisitor would really start to work you over. Which brings me to my point this week; the heretic is not a person to be shunned. The heretic is one of the most courageous personality archetypes in the lexicon of human behavior. Where other people are content to accept the status quo, never questioning doctrine, never wavering from the establishment, the heretic is willing to suffer personal injury to exercise their right to say, “Why?” Why should I think the way you think? Why should I do everything that you do when you don’t even have a good reason for doing it? Why should I be afraid of something that is only made manifest because your resolute support of it? Why should I be afraid at all? The heretic dares to stand aside. In doing so they are shunned by the community at large. Facing exile from social and political circles, the heretic confidently steps forward from the ranks. Think, how many openly atheist, agnostic, spiritualist or other non conformist religion devotees have been elected to public office? Every Prime Minister and U.S. President that I can think of all tout themselves as followers of Christ in one fashion or another. Who is the worse person then? The heretic honest in their questioning of orthodoxy and tradition or the fraud who boasts piety for votes? The heretic risks damnation. “Believe what I tell you to believe or else you will burn,” says the evangelist to the heretic. It is something that every heretic must consider. The last time it was brought to my attention was over beer and chicken wings. Desipte my virtue, I was told that everything I have done in my life is for naught because I do not accept the proper deity as my salvation. A heretic will send away the clergy at their death bed and die well aware that they may have made a mistake. Choosing not to shoulder the burden of inherited social and moral conventions, the heretic dies with self confidence in their life’s value. The heretic does not need to be saved. A heretic sees clearly. Attempts to convert persuade or enlighten only reaffirm a heretic’s belief that the minions of orthodoxy have been blinded and so thoroughly conditioned by their religion that they refuse to, or have lost the ability to, conceptualize other possible dynamics of the universe. Within this one chosen dynamic the orthodox find comfort, safety and security. The heretic lives without that comfort, standing strong and steadfast in their own values and virtues. Courage, self confidence – not pride or arrogance but self confidence – and an open mind are the companions of the heretic; things that are virtues and classically defined as part of “the good”. Embrace the heretics, for they think the thoughts that others are not willing, or have lost the ability to ponder. The universe is infinite, and only the heretic who is willing to reject conventions that would limit that their view will ever be able to glimpse that which has been laid out before us. Mythology will not awaken you to that which surrounds you. Only the courage to stand alone and think will provide that opportunity. Now, my challenge to all of you that read this is to think genuinely and honestly about what you have seen. Have a reaction and go with it, anger, insecurity, support, the desire to throw cabbage at me whatever you choose. Ask me nicely and I might even let you throw that cabbage at me…well maybe not a cabbage but a lettuce. I would also invite everybody, and I do mean everybody, to post commentary on this. As a proud heretic I always enjoy the ideas of others, even if I don’t agree, even if I think they are wrong.

Until next week...unless the Inquisition tracks me down and decides to persecute me for my blog. If that happens then well who wants my playstation?