I was asked by a regular reader to comment on the Catholic Church and Madonna and her interest in the Kabala.
I have little to say about the Catholic Church except to voice my persistent distress at the current Pope who regularly adds his wrong-headed, Medieval and unsolicited advice to the Middle East, where he has no influence on the parties. At the same time, he and the hypocritical Church have never said a word about Belfast where Catholic terrorist are on one side and the Holy Roman Peace Loving Church could have a big influence.
Madonna is a different story entirely. Madonna is a modern person. She has a wonderful voice, chooses her songs well and is a good actress too. Any modern person, like Madonna, can recognize that he or she has “more than enough” and accept the higher challenge of finding his or her own authentic identity.
People commonly look everywhere for their identity. Kabala is a good place to look and Madonna is looking. The freedom to search for authentic identity is one of the great blessings of commerce and modernity. Good going, Madonna. Kabala is a Jewish Zen. Meditation and the esoteric have a long tradition in Judaism. The esoteric traditional interpretation of the main prayer, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One,” is that we live in a great realm of nothingness out of which all that we see and know is formed and yet everything remains nothingness.
The only wisdom I have to offer Madonna and other seekers is that authentic identity is usually right in your shoes when you get up in the morning. Madonna, if she is fortunate, will wake up one morning, put on her shoes and say, "I am a singer and an actress … I’m going to find every way to make use of my talent and work with others to jointly expand our talents." Madonna will be happy and will then be able to stop searching.
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If you’re fortunate you haven’t noticed that two mainstream churches are considering divesting investments from Israel. One is the Presbyterians, the other Episcopalians. Both denominations are acting like Arab nations. Their internal problems are so severe that they select a distraction -- hate the Jews -- to keep members from civil war.
Both American Presbyterians and Episcopalians are losing members rapidly, about 20% every ten years. The reason they are losing members is the same reason they are making their denominations less hospitable to their members with every absurd action. They are wed to Lefty ideology.
As with Madonna, many modern people are seeking authentic identity. Mainstream churches are offering them Lefty political ideology instead. Such behavior by churches is counter-productive. Lefty political ideology is a substitute for authentic identity. Ideology is definitely inauthentic identity. Churches cannot be helpful to their members if they are boring forums for Lefty gospel.
The real audience for mainstream churches, young prosperous Americans, are offended by the Lefty ideology they see in mainstream churches and are going to other places.