That Other God

Whoever wrote down 'thou shalt not have other gods before me' didn't believe in just one god. There were many gods, and then there was the Alpha & Omega, so it was important to prioritize.

The other gods of today are groups. Church, government, corporations, colleges, communities, occasionally even family, though family has usually been exploited by every other entity. They don't tell you that the group is a god, but they do tell you your relationship with God is mediated through these groups.

I have read the bible all by my little self, and I have noticed that this god is perfection, wants us to become perfect, and wants more of us to exist with a certain level of quality of life. Many of the rules people seem to dislike are there so that the next generation gets to be born with a decent chance not just to scrape by, trying to stave off hunger, but to have enough time to actually try to know God. I am not suggesting prosperity gospel here- suffering is part of living, but if one is going to have life and have it more abundantly, then it's probably a good idea for there to be two parents and some way for said parents to provide.

I think it has been going bad since the 1800s, but one of the things that sped all kinds of awfulness up is when corporate types figured out the young childless female is precisely the sort of conformist worker they want and need. It used to be that the corporations wanted married men- and by many measures this is still the sensible way to go. Married men tend to be more productive and since they feel responsible for the wife and kids, they'll put up with a lot more crap, and generally be more loyal. But you have to pay them a lot more, or else they'll move on, because of that same sense of responsibility to the wife and kids.

With young women, you can usually find a few wanting to try and prove themselves, and there are always more every year. College attendance is now overwhelmingly female. Nobody reads 1st Timothy, and when they do quote St. Paul, they pretend a bunch of women staying single during their fertile years is right in line with what he said, even though that is complete nonsense.

These are your gods now, and they are definitely before God. The more traditionalist mindset looks at the Church and say, well this was instituted by God and grew organically. Well, cancer grows organically too. Since the 1800s, when the nobility were routed, the bureaucrats took over. Where ever someone attempts the true calling of the Church, they get betrayed by those who should know better:

These friars are in jail serving a three year sentence without a trial. What could possibly justify such action? One can only surmise that they are determined to drive these men from the priesthood for the crime of 'crypto-lefebvrianism' and they will be not allowed any escape into a diocese. They want them gone.

Knowing the psychological hack job done on the conservative minded, many of these friars will attempt to hold on to the group- the Church. From a doctrinal point of view, the Roman Catholic church, like a lot of traditional churches, views itself as the 'one true church'. But there are very real evil and/or stupid men in authority, while there are equally many men with no authority who love God, and can no longer stand the incipient drivel coming from the pulpit. Where is the Church? I don't see why the Holy Spirit wouldn't be grieved by the incipient drivel either.

This idolatry of groups has been encouraged and the fruits are now showing. There are now two sorts of leaders: sociopaths and imbeciles. The sociopaths usually use the imbeciles, so the imbeciles are placed in traditional offices, where people can see them, and the sociopaths tend to run things behind the scenes. Those with a conscience tend to avoid leadership because they don't feel qualified. The sociopaths don't actually care about the groups, but use the sanctity with which it is imbued to their own ends. Eventually the group is destroyed, and they go on to some other group to do the same thing again.