A Preacher's Misconduct Undermines 
Faith in His Message

A Dialogue between God and the Pope   

Written by Raymond Fontaine, PhD - September 2003

   Yesterday, I received an e-mail questioning my way of advancing Deism. Like others, notably Einstein, I propose that the structures and laws in nature presuppose an intelligent Originator. I say nothing about what he's like, nor where he is, nor how he might be intervening in the world. I say nothing because nature tells me nothing about that.

   Meanwhile the promoters of Christianity preach that God has revealed a lot about his Being and his activity in the world. These revelations were made to a few humans and recorded in the Bible millenniums ago.

   Given a choice between the little that nature discloses about God and the great amount of divine revelations in the Bible, a billion people on earth embrace the latter. Accordingly, they believe that God is heavily engaged in the lives of humans on earth and that he promises the righteous an afterlife of heavenly peace. No wonder that God as revealed in the Bible is more popular than God as revealed in nature.

   To help people see and accept the truth about Nature's God, someone must let them know that God as portrayed in the Bible is merely a myth. He is like the gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans - mere imaginary fabrications of the human mind. In time, the Greeks and the Romans realized their error and dropped their gods. It's time now for humans to let go of God as depicted in the Bible. To demystify this caricature of God, one needs to discredit its source: the Bible and its preachers. Having said this, the e-mail abruptly closed with a challenge: "take up the cudgels for Nature's God". 

    Stung by that pointed e-mail message, I mulled it over before retiring. After I dozed off, my subconscious switched on a dream featuring my favorite stars: God and the Pope. They were discussing how Deists could best advance belief in God solely as the Creator of nature.

    God was telling the Pope, "I rejoice that believers in the Bible like you and the non-believers in the Bible like Einstein agree that the laws of nature presuppose an intelligent Creator. Despite your differences about the Bible, you stand together on nature's revelation of my existence, a revelation as solid and enduring as earth itself." 

    "I too am happy about that," said the Pope. "But as regards the Bible's revelation of your nature and activities, we stand poles apart. Deists don't accept the Bible's doctrine that three divine persons share the same nature, that the second person later became man without a human father and that you have prepared an eternal afterlife for humans in heaven or hell, and a whole lot more supernatural realities and events."

    "The Deists are right," interrupted God, "because none of that supernatural world exists. As I told you in an earlier conversation, I did not intervene in the course of history for any favored nation, such as the Jews. I did not guide the writers of the Bible. I did not guarantee its interpretation by any Church and its preachers. The Bible is a mythology like those of the Greeks, the Romans and other civilizations."

    "If that is so," said the Pope, " where do we go from here? By yourself, you could rectify this situation in an instant. You could arrange for the Bibles to self-destruct and for their preachers to vanish into thin air.  Luckily for many of us, you don't intervene in the course of nature and human affairs. You leave it up to creatures to clean up their mess and rectify what's wrong. But could you suggest how best to proceed?"

    "First of all," said God, "the Bible's revelations, being supernatural, cannot be proven right or wrong. They can only be believed or disbelieved on the say-so of someone. And this one's credibility depends on his or her integrity. The messenger or preacher must be upright, honest and sincere. When his actions show otherwise, his word and his message are no longer credible. People lose faith in him and his message."

    "I agree," said the Pope. "That's what happened in the Middle Ages. Many bishops and some popes led greedy and lustful lives. They disgraced themselves and the Church. With good reason the people lost confidence in them and left the Church in droves. Unable by themselves to verify and decipher the Bible, the people sought preachers who seemed sincere and honest. But before long, many became disenchanted with these preachers as well and splintered away once again."

    "This ceaseless process of disillusion," God said, "would never have started if the people had been satisfied with nature's revelation of my existence.  But what more do humans need to know in order to live on earth and enjoy its blessings? To survive and succeed on earth, do humans need the direction of bishops and priests? Do humans need churches, rituals and rosaries? You may think that humans need this inspiration. But the entire paraphernalia of supernatural religions are only a distraction and a diversion from how to get the most out of life on earth."

    "With Christianity so deeply embedded in the culture of millions," asked the Pope, "how can a handful of Deists disillusion them about the premises and promises of Christianity?" 

    "In the Middle Ages," said God, "the lust and greed of bishops and popes disillusioned thousands and drove them away from the Church. Nowadays the lust and crimes of pedophile priests are undermining the faith of thousands. Departure from the Church follows the disillusion that results from the disclosure of its failings. That's the logical process, is it not?" 

    "Yes, my Lord," said the Pope. "If I were a deist, I would capitalize on that logic. I would make the most of the misconduct of the Catholic clergy. As sure as rain falls, so will bishops and priests - even popes. But don't expect me to name names and divulge any secrets."

    "Are you suggesting," asked God, "that Deists ferret out clerical failings and disclose them in order to discredit the Church?" 

    "Deists need not do that," said the Pope. "The victims of clerical misconduct now tell their stories to the police and the press. Deists can simply refer to what everybody sees in the papers, on television and on the global Internet. Doing this, the deists are not perceived as despicable scandalmongers."

    "I like your idea," said God. "If Deists focus on the victims instead of on the criminals, they will be considered benefactors and not malefactors. Let the Deists remind the victims that I exist. I did not abandon them while they were being victimized nor now. As always and everywhere in the universe, I let nature take its course and humans exploit their resources with the help of their neighbors and environment. The designs and laws of nature reveal my existence and intelligence. Human reason can reach that conclusion. Humans should then rely on their common sense to know what is right and wrong. They don't need cardinals, bishops and priests who are mere humans like themselves. Wearing roman collars and carrying Bibles and swinging censors don't give them insight into a whole supernatural world that really does not exist. Like you, John, I suggest that Deists concentrate on the victims of churchmen. These victims need commiseration, encouragement and enlightenment - the truth about their benevolent Creator who is confident in his creation."      

    On that divine note, my dream ended. Now sure of myself, I sat at my computer and brought up the e-mail which suggested that I "take up the cudgels for Nature's God." I replied to this challenge from cyberspace with the above article which I condensed in the closing words: "instead of cudgeling the victimizers, I will try to reorient their victims from the fictionalized god that is revealed in the Church to the real God that Nature reveals - its intelligent Creator."  

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