Citizen God

[poliphilo]

This is prompted by something qos was saying.

Religious language is always conservative. We live in a age of democracies but we're still using monarchist language about God.

Why, when I don't want to be ruled by a King in real life, should I want to acknowledge one in my spiritual life?

I don't like Kings (or Queens or Princes.) If I got an invitation to Buckingham Palace I would (politely) decline. I'm a Republican in the European sense of the word. Ah ca ira, ca ira, ca ira and all that. I think Prince Charles is a national embarrassment.

But if I go to Church (which I don't, but if I did) it's all "crown him with many crowns, the lamb upon the throne."

No thanks.

Where are the rights of Man in all this? Why is Heaven still stuck in the feudal middle Ages?

"He hath put down the mighty from their seat". Does he exclude only himself from the levelling process?

The myth of the incarnation suggests otherwise. God becomes Jesus, becomes an ordinary Joe, becomes a citizen.

Citizen God- why not?

My God is immanent- a sister, a brother, a comrade- or I don't want to know.

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Yes: "God is immanent." That's the only meaning of God I can relate to or understand.

I heard on the news this morning a small but instructive remark from a hiker: he and his friends were up in the Smokies and they came upon a group of shivering college kids who got caught in the snow and weren't prepared. One of them was hyperthermic.

"His human life was as valuable as mine," said the hiker to the reporter. "I stayed behind to help while my friends went for rescuers."

I've been thinking about this: he is exactly correct. There's no hierarchy here on earth. We're equally valuable. We can worship movie stars and Prince Charles all we want.

Kate tells me dogs have an urgent need to establish themselves in the pack by determining where they are placed in the hierarchy. Maybe our need to crown some people and ignore others is a vestige of our past.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Celebrity culture is so strange. It seems to be less and less the case that the people we "worship" need to have any talent.

There's a woman called Jordan who used to be a topless model. She's now one of Britain's top celebs. I was watching her "sing" the other day. She has a weak voice, she was out of tune and her "dancing" was feeble. The poor thing looked terribly uncomfortable about being up there on stage.

There's a cruelty about it. People like Prince Charles and Jordan receive as much mockery as adulation.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Celebrity culture is so strange. It seems to be less and less the case that the people we "worship" need to have any talent.

It was interesting to me how the "10 things I've done that you've haven't" meme was so linked to contact with celebrities.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed.

I think I had two celebs on my list.

In my own defence I would plead that these were both people of real accomplishment- a great actor and a great sportsman.

[cataptromancer.livejournal.com]

I don't think I "worship" the celebrities I like so much as 1) would really like to hang out with them and 2) find that they speak to something important that I either want to express or to learn (often simply an artistic style or technique, sometimes a lifestyle or attitude). Of course, these 'celebrities' are people like momus, neil gaiman, stephin merritt...not exactly your american idol types (I guess it's 'pop idol' for you over there?).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't actually want to meet the people I admire. They're mostly artists of one kind or another and I suspect their work is far more interesting than their personalities.

Yeah, our version of the Simon Cowell show is called Pop Idol.