The serpent conjured up two illusions that hide the truth from us:
- an illusion that camouflages the sweetness of paradise from us and
- an illusion that sugarcoats the sourness of godlessness.
The illusions deceive us. They fool us into believing that up is down and down is up - that right is left and that left is right. The illusions foul up the engine of rationality and make it sputter and stall. Our rationality, when fed the adulterated fuel of illusions, steers us in the wrong direction.
When the illusions are shattered, the sweetness of paradise and the sourness of godlessness exit the darkness of illusion and enter the light of truth. They become visible to us. Rational people seek the sweetness of paradise and flee the sourness of godlessness. It is contrary to our self-interest to do otherwise. At the moment the illusions are shattered, we ask for directions from here to there - from godlessness to paradise. "How do we get there from here?" We look for the escape route. The shattering of the illusions transforms settlers into pilgrims. Settlers pull up the roots we have sunk deep into the hostile desert of godlessness. We become mobile instead of sessile. We start to move. We join the new exodus that is making its escape from slavery under the yoke of Pharaoh, through the valley of tears, to freedom with God and his holy family in the promised land.
The truth sets us free.
Our rationality, when fed the pure fuel of truth, steers us in the right direction.
Therefore, shatter the illusions. Shatter the illusions with the sledgehammer of truth. Shatter the illusions as the blow of a hammer shatters glass.
At What Location Does the Path to Salvation Start?
It seems, based on their preference for regulation over revelation, that the only desire of the clerics of the Church is to rule us as the secular governments do. Unlike the secular governments, however, the Church has no police powers. To make up for their lack of police powers, clerics invented the billy club of sin. They delight in using the billy club of sin to beat us over the head and about the body until our souls are black, blue, battered, bruised and bleeding. They beat the crap out of our souls. The experience is as unpleasant as the unpleasantness of sin itself. Yet, the clerics justify the liberal application of the billy club of sin by perversely saying that it would be cruel - a disservice to sinners - not to whoop the shit of sin out of them. Repeated beatings with the billy club of sin are good for the soul, they say. Corporal punishment is necessary for our salvation. We must take our lumps. The sadistic use of the billy club of sin reveals much about them and their twisted ignorance. They do not understand the role the Church plays in the valley of tears. They do not understand where the path to salvation starts. The path of salvation does not start with sin. The Church is not a secular government. The Church was not established to regulate us. It was established to get us to ask for directions: 1) directions from here to there - from godlessness to paradise (navigation) and 2) directions on how to best live our lives as we pass through the valley of tears (optimization). The process does not start with them whooping us with the billy club of sin. The process starts with the sledgehammer of truth. Instead of beating us over the head and about the body with the billy club of sin, clerics ought to take up the sledgehammer of truth and whale away at the illusions that hide the truth from us and that foul up our engine of rationality causing it to sputter and stall. Shatter the illusions as the blow of the hammer shatters glass. When freed from the illusions, the sweetness of paradise and the sourness of godlessness become visible to us. Rational people seek the sweetness of paradise and flee the sourness of godlessness. It is contrary to our self-interest to do otherwise. The truth sets us free. Our rationality, when fed the pure fuel of truth, steers us in the right direction.
P.S. The key of morality unlocks the cages of sin. A billy club has no place in morality. A key has a place but not a billy club.
The Thickness or Thinness of the Illusions
The illusions that hide the truth from us are thin or thick depending on whether we are rich or poor. It is easy for the threshold of truth to shatter a thin illusion. It is hard for it to shatter a thick illusion. That is why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24). The rich have thick illusions that are hard to shatter. They have the means to ameliorate the shithole of godlessness. They can mask its stink with perfume. Moreover, they have difficulty appreciating the sweetness of paradise when they think that they already possess paradise. The weight of their wealth makes them settlers in godlessness instead of pilgrims. The illusions of the poor, however, are thin. You have heard it said that blessed are the poor. Without the heaviness of wealth, it is easier for the poor than for the rich to replace their sessility as settlers with the mobility of pilgrims. The poor are blessed because the illusions that hide the truth from them are easier to shatter.