Bananiot wrote:According to the Greek Orthodox religious calender, today is Megali Pempti (Great or Holy Thursday). It is not just any Thursday but a special one, a great one. All mass media refer to it as such and in fact all the days of this week have been christened as such. Great!
The church is dominating our lives in Cyprus (and Greece, I presume). We have adapted the Jewish mythology and have taken it one step higher. Priests and theologists that abounded and are on talk shows almost every night and nobody dares tell them to shut it and find a proper, productive jobs that will be really beneficial to society at large.
This time of the year I feel miserable. "Serious" people tell us that the candles light up by themselves mysteriously in some cave in Jerusalem and of course this only for the Orthodox, and this is ample proof that ours is the only right religion. They force upon us numerous such unexplained phenomena (miracles) in order to stem any tendencies to doubt the authenticity of our God.
Normally, as people grow older, they tend to move closer to god, for many, just in case he (she?) exists. I find myself moving further away and feeling extremely sore about it, for as Piratis constantly, reminds us, the truth always lies with the majority opinion.
Christianity and other religions have created recrimination and guilt to humanity. This is their legacy. Religious wars are never ending, all over the world, with millions of people perishing in the name of god.
Just to end my mumbling, on this very confusing "Great" day. What makes me really miserable is the knowledge that we live in a theocratic state. The church of Cyprus can get away for not paying taxes on the business deals that run into millions. If the average person in the street does not pay taxes he will end up in prison. The state is politely asking the church to come to negotiations to solve this problem. The church sticks its middle finger to the state.
Our so called socialist party of EDEK openly supports the spiritually empty Archbishop on this. Then, I find out that the brother of the Archbishop is an important cadre of EDEK in Paphos. Probably a lot of church money goes into this party through the back door. Politically, our socialists are in full agreement with the church. Especially on the Cyprob.
Our President, instead of taking an oath to uphold the constitution, he takes an oath on the holy trinity and all these, always in the presence of the Archbishop. Young kids cross themselves as they pass outside any church and new church are sprouting like mushrooms in all neighbourhoods. Each one costing more than building two schools would cost.
Evolution is still not taught in schools and Education Minister Dr Andreas Demetriou was shocked the other day when he visited a top school in Nicosia and watched a biology lesson. It happened that the day was the day for the 200 years of the birth of Darwin. He asked them if they knew about this day. Of course nobody knew (not even their teacher, probably). He told them and then he was asked "who is Darwin?". He tried to explain and the only response he got from a pupil was "is he the joker that claims we came from monkeys?"
The church rules in Cyprus supreme. Even if we do not notice it! Cannot get more miserable.
How refreshing it is that I shall be agreeing with your entire post.
Do not despair, because the GO Church is on the decline. It is the most scandalous organisation in Cyprus, and is responsible for the biggest repression the native Cypriots have experienced, from tyranny, to brainwashing to accept the most ludicrous of false and selfish doctrines, which has caused the decay of the very Ancient Hellenistic ideals which are now beyond our reach as a people. The Church has ravaged Cyprus, but the Dark Age lasting just on 2 millennia will make way for the Atheistic revolution which will sweep through Cyprus like a tsunami.
Lest we forget the Hellenistic Holocaust.....
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