"Pope Joan" And The Marvelous Roman Catholic Church As "The Smithsonian Institution Of Religions"

 

Dear Ed,

Been there, done that.

Pope Joan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Joan

My most important intellectual mentor at the University of Toronto - Rev. J. Edgar Bruns - wrote a book titled "God as Woman, Woman as God" dedicated to his sister. The slender volume includes a chapter about Pope Joan. https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5429130M/God_as_woman_woman_as_God

Here are a couple useful links about Joan herself.

First, we have this fascinating -- and apparently well-researched -- video which, unfortunately, is narrated by a fellow with a distracting English accent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-OZgs6VRwI 

Check out the Vatican's "genital identification chair" - currently housed in the Vatican Museum - a "device" that enabled Vatican officials to identify the sex of anyone who was a serious pretender to the papacy. The description of this sedia stercoraria is at the 4:22 mark of the previous YouTube clip. 

And here is a clearly presented article about Pope Joan from History.com. https://www.history.com/news/who-was-pope-joan

Check out this review of the eponymous 1972 movie Pope Joan starring the great Swedish actress, Liv Ullman, plus Olivia de Havilland and Maximilian Schell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Joan_(1972_film)

There are so many things about the Roman Catholic Church's florid (and often horrid) history that I find so engaging.

For example, I have long been intrigued by Jesuit archeologist and cosmologist Teilhard de Chardin whose brand new 2 hour long PBS documentary was released just 3 weeks ago: https://www.pbs.org/video/teilhard-visionary-scientist-pt9dc1/

Hildegard of Bingen was another remarkable thinker - abbess and musician-composer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYzPR0nwcmY

Thomas Merton:

   

Thomas Merton: "Adolf Eichmann, Sanity and Normality"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/09/thomas-merton-adolf-eichmann-sanity-and.html

G.K. Chesterton: 

"G.K. Chesterton: On Charity, Hope And Universal Salvation"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/08/gk-chesterton-on-charity-hope-and.html

Ivan Illich: 

Ivan Illich, Catholic Priest, Revolutionary And 20th Century Intellectual Titan

http://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2023/01/ivan-illich-carholic-priest.html

Walker Percy: North Carolina's physician-novelist and "diagnostician of the human condition." I find it notable that (both Walker's parents - who were not Catholic - seem to have committed suicide: 

Percy's Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_Percy

"Lost In The Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book" (1983) -- https://rlo.acton.org/archives/125061-walker-percys-guide-to-these-deranged-times.html

Dave Brubeck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryA6eHZNnXY&t=14s

Honorary Catholic, Simone Weil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Weil

My God, what a brilliant, penetrating insight!

Truth, Justice, and Public Good: Simone Weil On Political Manipulation, The Dangers Of “For” And “Against,” And How To Save Thinking From Opinion

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/08/truth-justice-and-public-good-simone.html

Amadeus ("He loves God") Mozart, the most buoyant of all classical composers

"Amadeus"

the movie

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The list goes on.

It seems to me that Catholicism is "The Smithsonian Institution" of religions. 

It's ALL there - an interminable attic, where, if you poke around enough, you'll find something to win over your heart and soul. And, taken in the round, the Roman church is far less doctrinaire than the anal-retentive, prone-to-torture-and-punishment clerics would have us believe.

As for the debris... and what a shitload!!!

Well, what a shame... 

We humans are prone to all the behaviors we see in Donald Trump, and the 40% of Americans who comprise his deranged cult. 

As Beat Generation gadfly Neil Cassidy noted: "Take what you can use, and let the rest go by."

And I would be remiss in not drawing your attention to Pope Francis, whom I consider the most admirable, inspiring, uplifting "politician" on the world stage.

A Compendium Of Pope Francis' Links With An Inter-Related Critique Of "Conservative" "Christianity" (Which Is Neither)

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-compendium-of-pope-francis-links-and.html

Here is a brilliant theological summary of Christendom's shadow side - by comedian Emo Philips. (Reading Emo's passage daily would, I think, be more enlightening than reading daily passages from Thomas Aquinas.)

"I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. "Well, there's so much to live for!" "Like what?" "Well... are you religious?" He said yes. I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?" "Christian." "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant ? "Protestant." "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist" "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God!" "Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God!" 

"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" 

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"

 I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

And now we have a large percentage of Trump Cult "Christians" actually praying for Armageddon as the "biblically-ordained" prelude to Jesus coming back to "make all our boo boos go bye bye." (Do watch the following movie trailer.)

https://www.prayingforarmageddon.com/ ("Christian" "conservatives" who are neither,  are the most dangerous people on earth.)

Sadly - if not tragically - the trouble with our human "shadow" -- whether individual or collective -- is that we cannot get rid of it without getting rid of the humans who cast it... 

...which is what I think our "Armageddon Cheerleaders" are hell-bent upon.

Needless to say... I could go on.

But being a merciful "universalist" by nature, I will spare you.

Pax et amor

Alan 

On Sun, Jun 9, 2024 at 3:51 AM Ed Myer <remyer20002000@yahoo.com> wrote:

Your smile for the day:

Sent from my iPhone