THE CADRE, APRIL 18, page 8

GHRISTIANlTviTHE-HOLY RIP-OFF

It strikes me as being very peculiar that those men and women whose task it is to carry on in the way of Jesus are trying to do so by the methods He came to deliver us from. Jesus . spoke against the ways of men which let them fall from their principal task: assuming their freedom, responsibility and decis- iveness. To carry on in the way of Jesus is to shoulder His burden and encourage others to do likewise.

How many priests and min- isters walk among us today

, who have the effect Jesus

had upon the men of His time? None! I do not imply that our clergymen must have that charismatic quality which Jesus poSs- essed? I do demand however, that if they are going to bring us the "Good News" -that they commit themselves with passion and stray not from that path.

Being a "Christian" is a very easy task in North America - indeed, in all of Christindom ( asKierkegoord saw in his day). Consider now the absurdity and stu- pidity of that which you are all subject to (subord- inate to!) To begin then.

There is this notion that he Who enters the ministry does so in response to a CALL. What is this call? Why are some called and others not?

To maintain that a few are "called" to bring the good news to the rest is to imply that only a few are competent for this task in the eyes of the Lord (or, man).

Do these "few" have some special characteristic which others do not? If so, that is tantamount to saying that the rest of us are somewhat lacking as humans. But who is to decide this? On the other hand, they might say that we are all called but only a few are capable of hearing the call: which has the same implications as the forner suggestion.

Furthermore, are these clergymen called once to

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which they respond and main- tain themSelves in adhere- ance to that call for life?

If that is so then there must be one opportune mom— ent in their life when they are called which serves as the foundation for the rest of their lives (ministry).

In order to avoid much metaphysical nonsense we must posit that we are all equal as human beings, all equally capable of being called, and all equally capable of hearing the call. Also, it_is necess- ary to point out that, to hear the call, and to res- pond, is in no way indicative that we will become clergy- men (as we understand what clergymen are today).

Indeed, what the call calls is for each individual to assume his freedom and res- ponsibility for his own life and to live it out as uniq— uely his. It may be as car— penter, fisherman, steel— workers, etc. In no way does the call specify that upon response you will ipso facto become a minister (in the social sense of that term: strictly speaking however, one will be a "minister" by virtue of living on authen— tic existence.)

What was unique about Jesus was that he assumed the weight of his freedom and responsibility and lived his life accordingly (so did Socrates). He did not seek the comfort and security of the crowd-indeed, He saw the dangers of fleeing from one— self into the crowd. They crucified Him because He brought to them their free- dom and the responsibility that implies. Men-being true to form-sought to es- cape this freedom: and, in fear of that responsibility, slew Jesus. _

These so—called ministers of the "cloth" or "word" are a far cry from anything Jesus was. However, it is for each of us—as individuals— to live out our lives in freedom; "ministers" in-

cluded: ' Since they are no different

than the rest of us why then do they have a special status? Obviously, if they were pos—

APITALIST LOGiI

Ii IT'S noi yoUr Child,

is not your problem

ing a real threat to our cow- ardice, and flight from free-‘ dom, they would be massacred by the dozen: but they enjoyr a very peaceful existence — indeed, they live in very good homes, drive better- than—average cars, eat well and dress well, and are soc- ially promised. If one didn‘t know better you would think

I was talking about some well- to—do businessmen. In other words, they are hard to distinguish from other meme

:bers of the community. You

see, the community has"lev— elled them down“. Jesus was not levelled down. He stood out-just as any man stands out when he speaks of the necessity for truth, just- ice, acceptance of free- dom and responsibility-

But‘noo Our so—called clergymen-deceive us. They pretend (oh they are quite serious—fools that they are!) to be Christians when in fact they are wolves in sheeps clothing. Their version (society's version) of Christianity is far removed from true Chrisfianity: they lull usrto sleep rather than stir us to awareness of our freedom, etc. The clergy and Christhnity, is nothing. other than an agent of soc- iety. It is also a political tool. It would not surprise me one bit if the government created a Department of Religion. Ian Glass would make an excellent Minister of Religion.

Politics and religion could be united and everyone could go to sleep. So much for Christianity.

Where,does this leave us? To ourselves! There is really no way we can avoid this anyway. Those "ministers" whose task it is supposed to be to awaken us have fallen down on the job — it could not be otherwise due to the phony nature of their stupid role. .

They cannot help us - it is for each of us to stand on our own two feet and gather the courage to hear the call and acceot its implications. Do not be led astray by any fancy preaching "minister" or "Priest" - he will lead to Your falling° He has no answer. The answers are in the CALL. Listen to it—it does not speak in words or any Similar mode of comm- unication, rather, it 5 Speaks in the mode of SILENCE, DISTRUST THEREFORE ANY AND ALL POPULAR MODES OF COMM. UNICATION AND LISTEN RATHER TO THE CALL WHICH CALLS IN: SILENCE. v

This is another reason why You should shun those so— ‘called ministers of the word.

STAN DA LTO N