........Last Stone from The Last Church Falls on The Last Priest
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
17 August
2023
“Civilization will not attain to its perfection
until the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest.”
― Émile Zola
Years ago
while leaving a Biblical seminary permanently, where I taught the Bible without
an iota of faith, the Reverend requested me to come home to have dinner with
him. He was an exceptionally learned man who introduced himself as an
'accidental priest.' Over a goblet of wine, he quoted the aforementioned
statement made by the great French novelist and journalist Emile Zola. It
stayed with me.
Though I
fully agree with Emile Zola, I still feel that churches and shrines of all
faiths shouldn't be razed to the ground as humans are still not so evolved as
to live without these structural totems and emblems of their respective faiths,
called temples, mosques, churches, sthaanak, monasteries and what not. But they
can certainly live sans all clergy, clerics, Rabbis and the whole caboodle, we
call priesthood. Mind you, prostitution and priesthood are the oldest
professions in the world. While I don't cast opprobrium on the former, I cast
aspersion on the latter.
Remember,
the philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a
great many philosophers. If you believe in the crucifixion (or crucifiction?)
of the putative Jesus of Nazareth, it was the clergy that demanded that Jesus
must be crucified; not Pontius Pilatus, the judge who was reluctant to execute
Jesus. In the case of Mansur-Al-Hallaj's excoriation for proclaiming An-al-Haq
(Upanishadic equivalent of Aham Brahmasmi or I'm the Truth), a group of
clerics persuaded the four judges to peel Mansour's skin off and cut him to
pieces. The supreme judge Anaipheida tried tooth and nail to save the life of
Socrates, but the Pagan priests at the Temple of Athens wanted to eliminate
him.
Already
useless religions were further desecrated by their priests and clerics because
these people have been the biggest nuisance in the business and drama of
religion and god for thousands of years. Islam is the biggest sufferer because
of its clerics, whose insane fatwas (decrees) have insulted the faith and
relegated it to being called ' The Factory of Edicts.'
Why do followers
require priestly conduits to reach out to god/s? Hasrat Mohani stated, "Darmiyaan-E-Banda-O-Khuda/
Nahin Darkaar Kisi Teesre Shakhs Ki" (Between the worshipper and
Allah, there's no need for any third person). So, why do worshippers of all
faiths allow these pests called priests to interfere?
The
priestly segment of all religions has defiled the essence of religiosity and
obfuscated the simple message of spirituality. In Plato's Apology, Socrates
warned people of reposing faith in the priests. He called them, colleberium
(Greek word for an insidious enemy of god). Priests are indeed insidious
enemies of god.
----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/last-stone-church-falls-priest/d/130461
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