Current mood:
irritated
How do you do -
Last night, I saw a commercial for the movie Constantine.
It made me remember that in the class in which I am a Teacher's Assistant, we
were told the story of Constantine, because it related somehow to perspective
in a painting by Thomas Aquinas.
That isn't my point...
So, last night's commercial made me want to remember what the story of Constantine was... I hadn't heard it before this class, and any of you who know me know that I don't retain random historic details in any fashion.
So I got online, and I looked in the Wikipedia.
Despite the inferable sketchiness of the interactive nature of the Wikipedia, there are sources for what I am about to say. You can check them here.
I also post the one reference I am quoting from, here:
MacMullen, Ramsay, 1990: Changes in the Roman Empire:
Essays in the Ordinary (Princeton)
These things seem true.
And I thought, as such, it wouldn't be beyond my boundaries to disseminate this information. My mom was impressed with my research...
Here's the story:
Apparently, Constantine I was the first Roman Emperor to allow Christianity into Rome. Apparently this is because he believed in it. He also was a scholar. So the church simultaneously revered him for giving power to the church and regaled his intelligence.
What follows are the quotes that inspired me to write
this, and that, according to the Wikipedia, ushered in the Dark Ages:
"Accept the end of truth, and the certainty of Divine inspiration from the one and only God on high. Why desire to learn more? Indeed, why question or inquire at all? The only supreme, infinite, knowledge of value was revealed by the wisdom and judgment of the clergy of the Christian Church State and their contemporary interpretation of the holy scriptures."
-and-
"Blessed is he who has obtained infinite
ignorance."
Both of these quotes are but a small part of the big picture. Again the entry on the Wikipedia is here.
Is that not terrible? What apparently happened after this,
was that the Christian States executed scientists and mathematicians for
heresy, thereby causing a backlash against progress. The incident with
Constantine is referred to as The Folly of Constantine: the Betrayal of
Reason.
This is relevant because it still goes on today.
Luckily, between Constantine and the Rennaissance, Arabian and African and Asian mathematicians and scientists continued to discover things and expand the knowledge of the human race. Though the Europeans, led by the Church, resisted, knowledge did prevail eventually.
This is in direct opposition of the desires of the Church, so they deny it. However, just in the last ten years or so, I have become aware of discoveries showing that we have been held back as a people, forced into submission for someone's greed. Archaeologists found a steam engine in an Ancient Roman ruin. Had the Christian church not come in and destroyed progress, we might be living in the futuristic world you see on television and in the movies.
Theology has slowed our progress.
Here's something else to note; it's just a quip, coined by me:
Giving up your life, or your freedom, whether to God or Country or Whatever, in exchange for Redemption, is Indentured Servitude.
In other words - they'll make a lot of promises to you, and you will be let down. If you choose to live in the moment, you can be happy in your flesh and chemical and elemental physical existence. It doesn't last long, so try to be happy. If you live for God, you deny yourself.
The Church asks you to give them money in exchange for the gift of their superstitions and myths.
They make rules that limit your freedoms in the name of Jesus, in order to control your lives. And you buy it.
Folks - This is Oppression at its basest level.
We don't have to allow them to have this power any more. It is simply despicable.
Have a great day.
-Josh
Currently
listening :
Ritual De Lo
Habitual
By Jane's Addiction
Release date: By 13 August, 1990
