The Heresy of our Time

The words of Bill Moyers in 2006- Prophetic?

A Time For Heresy

It was in the name of Jesus that a Methodist ship caulker named Edward Rogers crusaded across New England for an eight-hour work day. It was in the name of Jesus that Francis William rose up against the sweatshop. It was in the name of Jesus that Dorothy Day marched alongside auto workers in Michigan, brewery workers in New York, and marble cutters in Vermont. It was in the name of Jesus that E.B. McKinney and Owen Whitfield stood against a Mississippi oligarchy that held sharecroppers in servitude. It was in the name of Jesus that the young priest John Ryan – ten years before the New Deal – crusaded for child labor laws, unemployment insurance, a minimum wage, and decent housing for the poor. And it was in the name of Jesus that Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to march with sanitation workers who were asking only for a living wage.

This is the heresy of our time – to wrestle with the gods who guard the boundaries of this great nation’s promise, and to confront the medicine men in the woods, twirling their bullroarers to keep us in fear and trembling. For the greatest heretic of all is Jesus of Nazareth, who drove the money changers from the temple in Jerusalem as we must now drive the money changers from the temples of democracy.

read the whole speech here-

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/03/22/a_time_for_heresy.php

Proud to be a Heretic

“Heresy is a cradle. Orthodoxy a coffin.” Robert Ingersoll

Being a spiritual person is all about being a heretic. The word heresy originates from a Greek word that means “choice”. Jesus was a heretic. He chose which parts of his tradition made sense to him. He chose to heal on the Sabbath. He chose to dialogue with woman and to mix with lepers and Samaritans. He was a man of freedom and choice. He created his own reality. For the first three centuries, Christians were people of choice. It was only after the third century that heresy became an evil. Then and now, heresy has become known as straying from orthodoxy. Orthodoxy means “right belief”. As if anyone or any group could possibly claim such certainty.

Freedom, one of the central qualities of Jesus’ life has now become the marker of exclusion. You have to believe a set package of beliefs. This is when religion becomes dogmatic.

Like many people who explore spirituality, but are suspicious of religious dogmatism, I believe that life is a choice. I choose my priorities. I choose where to put my energy. I am not compelled to live and love in a particular way. I live freely and with heart.

My life mission is to live as a loving heretic, to choose a reality that builds a more peaceful world and to empower others to live with choice and heart.

There is a Sioux creation story that captures the call to create your own reality. The Creator gathered all of Creation and said, "I want to hide something from humans until they are ready for it. It is the realization that they create their own reality."The eagle said, "Give it to me, I will take it to the moon."The Creator said, "No. One day they will go there and find it."The salmon said, "I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean.""No. They will go there too."The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the Great Plains."The Creator said, "They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there."Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, "Put it inside of them."And the Creator said, "It is done."

Be a bold heretic. Choose life. Start now. Don’t let religious dogmatism get in the way of the reality you are creating.