I visited two different places yesterday which illustrated to me, just how much we are embracing new beliefs, but ultimately are still shackled by ancient and floundering belief systems.
The mind,body & spirit show in the RDS seemed to affirm a new normality in this country where tarot cards, crystals, theta relaxation, Native American chanting, jyorei energy giving, and iridology are lapped up by a hungry audience. We certainly are in a new age!
In the midst of all this colourful noise, I saw a stand promoting Vassula Ryden’s horribly titled money making fiction “Heaven is real, but so is hell”. What an insidious, fear inspiring piece of nonsense, that is still actively promoted today.
The money raking was in full flow. I was invited to have my aura read, until I read the €50 charge sign on the wall. Like all ideologies, the ripple of greedy salesmanship was either barely disguised, or overtly palpable.
I then made my way to St Anne’s chapel on Dawson Street, to hear a talk by former judge, Catherine McGuinness concerning the 20th anniversary of the de-criminalisation of same sex relationships.
I didn’t know that it was a skewed church of Ireland attempt at conveniently ignoring the past, and rehabilitating their god and his supposed ramblings.
I could take it no more, and asked her,why she was trying to defend the indefensible, as far as I was concerned, if the law should not be entirely secular?
As I pointed out to her, that not too long ago people would have had their lives and liberty ruined by her colleagues, for acting in such deviant ways.
“All that is in the past, lets look to the future” was her unsatisfactory reply. This mother of a clergy woman herself, could not seem to grasp the link between religious inspired laws, and cultural values which still lead to too many LGBT suicides.
To ask them to come crawling back to a church, which may in the future deign to bless their unions, sounds crazy to me.
There was no talk at all of the legal impact of having civil partnerships. I could see clearly that day, the negative impacts ideologies can mask, no matter how fluffy and sweet their facade may be.
Links used for this post
Vassula Ryden: http://www.pseudomystica.info/tlighome.html