How is your Monday going for you? It is off to a good start today. I just took a new job with Boulder County Public Health and got my TB test today and filled out a lot of paper work. I get excited about new work even though I would rather do my own thing, sometimes the economics of the situation says, it is time to go to work for someone and get ahead for awhile. My blog and my peace company have kept me very busy but not financially robust. So I returned to work I know well which is mental health, recovery, and program planning. This may mean that my blog is not as consistent but only time will tell that. I am excited both about the new opportunity to use my finely tuned skills and experience and I am also excited about keeping my blog and peace company moving forward.
I was reading on the Internet today that the Catholic Church has come up with so new sins. I, being a recovery Catholic, like to make comments about my former church and about churches in general. I find it interesting that these old guys in Rome think about ways to make their followers feel guilty. Confession is one of the great guilt making institutions. The purpose of confession is to review all that you have done wrong and then go to a priest and have him forgive you and give you some things to do to make up for your wrong doing. Now why can’t our government set up confessions so they don’t have to put so many people in prison?
In case you were wondering, the new sins possibly could include: selling drugs, genetic manipulation, social and economic injustice and pollution. I guess this is the newly released 2.0 version of the 10 commandments. I frankly can’t believe that people actually pay attention to what leaders of this church or any others have to say about sins you may be committing. As I have mentioned before, this is all about control. Churches are primarily social control agencies trying to clamp down on what you think, how you act, and what you believe. That may make sense for out-of-control kids to have a set of clearly defined guidelines but for adults? I suggest you follow you own inner compass of what is right and wrong and leave those in the Vatican, Salt Lake City and elsewhere to live whatever way they think is right for them.
The idea of guilt as a social control to me is for the lazy minded who have given up their own thinking to follow the thinking of others. The idea of sins is even more questionable. Sins are things we do wrong according to a bunch of men who have no better moral compass then we do. I doubt the existence of sins and encourage you to say goodbye to guilt. A better way to live is to pay attention to your own inner right and wrong and when you do you will feel better and when you don’t you will see that doesn’t feel as good.
I hope you have a good day and you act according to what feels best to you.