Sunday 4 July 2004

Pic of the day: Screenshot from my Sim comic, a work in (glacially slow) progress. Somehow it felt appropriate for the day ...

Dogma, catma and karma

In Denmark, recently, there was a priest (preacher) in the state-sponsored majority church. This guy happened to say that he did not believe in one creator-god. This was not well received by all. Some of his colleagues seems to have tried to back him up, and then there was clamor to exclude them all, at least from their jobs if not from the church. This move chocked some people: Fundamentalism! This is a turn to the right in Danish Christianity, they warn.

Frankly, I think a Christian preacher who doesn't believe in one creator-god could look for another job. Most vegetarians don't work in meat processing, and most pacifists don't work for the military. It is certainly possible, but not very consistent. So, I think he should leave. However, dogma is not everything.

There are at least three different aspects of religion, and to make it easy we can call them "dogma", "catma" and "karma".

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Dogma is the classic theology. Each denomination has its own points of doctrine that sets it apart from the rest. In Christianity in particular, belief is considered very important, so even small differences in doctrine can be enough to split congregations apart. And the longer a particular church exists, the more dogma it accumulates. Theologians are supposed to doggedly follow the dogma, and it should surprise no one that they are chastised when they go far, far, far out in the left field and dig down there.

But a lot of people go to church because of the feel-good factor, which I call "catma". (The word is popular among anti-church neo-pagans and such, where it refers to the very loose and informal nature of their religions. I use it slightly differently here.) People like the sense of belonging, they like to rub up against others; they like the pretty decorated buildings and the songs and the reassuring speeches. It makes them feel good. A very catma-oriented person will not understand why you would kick out a nice pastor just for not believing in God. Who comes to church for God anyway?

The karma-oriented member of the congregation seeks in his religion a guidance to the good and virtuous life. A person who is kind and just can believe in the Invisible Pink Unicorn if they want, it is the life that matters. "My karma ran over your dogma" as the funny saying goes. The apostle James says it less flippantly: "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." He even has a commentary to this rotten thing in the kingdom of Denmark: "You believe that God is one? You do well. The demons also believe that, and tremble." (James 2, 18-19.)

I think all Christians should believe in the Creator. But ... that's not enough, not nearly enough. As a pastor (shepherd) you also have to live in such a way that others believe in Him just by seeing you. That's where the action is lacking right now. And in this respect, there's something rotten not only in the kingdom of Denmark.