Mr Muldoon and religion
Sir,-Neville Rush (November 17) feels that my accusation of “fear and damnation” sects adds to the “confusion.” Surely that same confusion originated with these very sects, preaching their endless subjective interpretations of scripture — a sqrt of latter-day tower of Babel, all righteous, all ramming their versions of guilt, fear, sin and salvation down our throats. On last Sunday’s “Credo,” while interviewing four faces of Christianity, Brian Edwards, a self-con-fessed atheist, likened the churches to a physician who injects the unwary patient with some mythological disease (guilt, original sin), then offers
him the cure (grace, salvation). In fact, the churches do not offer so much a cure, as ah analgesic, a hallucinogenic drug, or, as Marx (Shhh!) astutely observed, “an opium for the people.” This is a bitter pill that ’numbs one to the cold reality of for ever being duped and exploited by politician, profiteer and priest.—Yours, etc., BILL FILSHIE. November 18, 1982.
Sir,—The virtues of the affluent are seldom queried and purity is supposedly the prerogative of the poor. They should also display suitable humility and preferably invisibility. Predictably, any church or organisation which attempts to alleviate the distress of a faction, deprived by race, colour, religion or poverty, cardinal sins, is labelled Marxist and Left-wing. R. M. Anderson and his mentor elevate these labels to terms of endearment to a rapidly swelling segment, 87,000 plus, of our population who are doubtless the authors of their own destiny. Possibly members of the Methodist congregation are searching for Christ in the service of their fellow human beings and they might find him. Christ lived as a carpenter and a member of a deprived subject race and came to a distinctly unpleasant end. — Yours, etc., ERIN E. Van DIJK. November 19, 1982.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19821120.2.56.6
Bibliographic details
Press, 20 November 1982, Page 14
Word Count
295Mr Muldoon and religion Press, 20 November 1982, Page 14
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.