a simple prescription for all mankind

i was reading a piece that was put out by a Catholic Archdiocese in the states. Pope Benedict XVI was asking Catholics to give generously this year to the church's missionary agencies.

The Pope claimed that sending out missionaries to evangelize was part of the Catholic spirit and reflected the church's vitality. He said

"I mention especially the local churches and the men and women missionaries who bear witness to and spread the kingdom of God in situations of persecution, subjected to forms of oppression ranging from social discrimination to prison, torture and death,"

"Even today," he added, "missionaries are put to death for their evangelization work, joining the ranks of missionary martyrs through the centuries."

What is wrong here? No one should die spreading the word of the AllOne.

Pope Benedict strongly defended the fundamental missionary task to call all people to salvation in Christ.

"The task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the church, a duty and a mission which the widespread and profound changes in present-day society render ever more urgent. At stake is the eternal salvation of persons, the goal and the fulfillment of human history and the universe," he said.

"The church should make clear that it wishes to transform the world by proclaiming the Gospel of love and by spreading hope "contagiously" among all peoples, he said. He emphasized that the church evangelizes not in order to extend its own power or dominion, but to serve humanity, "especially the suffering and the excluded."

As a lapsed Catholic i find his emphasis on claiming that this wasn't about power or dominion or indoctrination questionable. i spent years being indoctrinated, i spent years watching the church spread its tentacles everywhere, years worrying that we were all doomed and years listening to the pleas for money to continue this "work".

In the past, on this blog, i have written about Speakers. Speakers from every culture and regions of the world that talk to their own. Jesus was a Speaker, Buddha was a Speaker, Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and all whose names i know not or have forgotten to mention, all were and are Speakers in favor of social justice. None of them wanted church's, temple's, or mosque's built that would enshrine their words of wisdom, bring in untold millions of dollars and make them icons. What they wanted was for mankind to emulate what they taught. To spread the teaching in a way that would benefit all of mankind.

Unfortunately, their actions became constrained by writer's who followed them. The main message became lost in all the text, worship, congregating, and tithing to keep the operations going.

Today's speakers that are not connected to any religion come out with a simple message, the one that has been passed down since the dawn of man. The one that is common to all religions and all peoples. The one that continues to get lost amongst the effort to create conformity.

The simple message is to be truthful and trustworthy, to respect and help our neighbors, to honor our families, and to put a stop to our bad deeds and endless fighting. The message is to look after those in need and do not slander or speak evil of women or men. To pray privately, to give to what ever cause moves you. There are no rituals, no dogma, no edifice to build or maintain, no dues to pay, community is that of which you create or that of which you belong.

You need no faith to understand this. No belief you must accept. Eternal salvation is not a reward for following dogma.

You are, always have been, and will continue to be even upon death a part of the AllOne.