Of Virgins and Dead Horses, 09/05/2008

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is updating the Heidelberg Catechism to make it more gay and woman friendly. This is called beating a dead horse. Or, ignoring the dead one on the dining room table. Either way, it is death we are not dealing with. What is dead is an idea of God that has outlived its relevance. And, when we try to make relevant what is not relevant, we cast ourselves into the role of throwing more virgins into the volcano while the drought continues in the land.

Revising the wording of the old creeds, catechisms, and confessions equates to finding better virgins to give to the gods. We need to revise our thinking about the gods. We need to realize we cannot think about the gods—or about God—the way we once did. We need to throw the gods—and God—into the volcano. We need to take ALL the creeds, and catechisms, and confessions, and doctrines off the table, and start over with an empty table, as it was in the beginning.

When I say ALL the doctrines, I mean every last one. All the Christian doctrines, and all the Jewish doctrines, and all the Moslem doctrines, and all the Hindu doctrines, and all the Buddhist doctrines, and all the Mormon doctrines, and all the Baha'i doctrines, and all the Krishna doctrines, and all the Astrology doctrines, and all the New Age doctrines, and all the rest of the doctrines. Take them all to the volcano. Push them in. Come back to the table, pull up a chair, identify with each other what is important, what has value, what counts, matters, makes a difference in our lives, in our relationships with each other, and in the world.

Of course, it will never happen. We—all of us, worldwide—will continue to beat the dead horse and ignore the stench coming from the dining room. We have too much invested in what we call truth to recognize what is true and live in response to it. We will shore up the structure as it teeters and topples, add more whitewash to the tomb, and send out search committees looking for the right kind of virgins, while the drought continues in the land.