Religion and Politics
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:12 pm
I think people, rather generally speaking, whether attending gatherings related to a particular religion or not, would nonetheless acknowledge that some sort of 'service' is rather useful, at least with regard to celebrating marriage and death. We are all born into a designated religious system but that doesn't mean we are hide-bound by its rules and regulations.
In the not-too-distant past, the lives of everyone in this country were very much more tightly bonded, to a Christian belief-system, of some sort.
In Hastings, as elsewhere, if you did not attend religious services, you would be ostracized for not taking part. You had to be part of the system, at least in the quite recent 'Victorian' era.
It is with that background in mind that I am trying to understand the mindset of frequent visits by certain young men, of the Mormon faith, 'Latter Day Saints', often seen, in smart attire, walking about the streets in Hastings, attempting to explain their faith.
From frontier-times in the mid-west of America, where, in the 1840's, the Mormons were just one of many cults, when they, at first, set themselves apart from and then tried to re-integrate into mainstream society.
Mormons believe that Jesus paid for the sins of the world and that all people can be saved through his atonement. Basically they believe in the Bible and its teachings.
At home in Britain, the late Victorians of the 1880's, were probably first made aware of the Mormon faith, by the writings of Sherlock Holmes, in his first major novel, 'A Study in Scarlet, published in the 1880's, in which he, the G.P. novelist, wrote a story, set in the 1840's, about a father and daughter, rescued by a party, led by the second President of the Mormons, Brigham Young, the time of the great exodus of exploration into the American 'Wild West'.
The narrative, of Holmes, suggested that a daughter of a man in peril of starvation, was further obliged to marry into the Mormon faith, after receiving sustenance and shelter and that theme set the tone, regarding a suspected insidious Mormon manipulation and possible religious indoctrination.
We now see other newcomers in Hastings, with Jewish dreadlocks and the Torah, wasting their lives dedicated to studying ancient texts and beliefs, alien to us.
Young people, of certain good intelligence, yet willing to sacrifice their lives in the worship of matters, which are no longer adhered to by the population at large in Britain.
These Jews with dreadlocks, avidly following the Torah faith, are far less pro-active in mingling and communicating with the local populace - I just wonder what they are about.
Whatever changes have occurred, whether with Jews or Mormons, or what any other religion is about, it is clear that Government and current politics have now firmly taken over from the role of religion.
The State provides, in many and more varied ways than ever before, such that we are debating 'Brexit' and its effects on the economy, above all else.
People are, seemingly, only interested in money and the economy or are they just more easily manipulated on that level?
Perhaps that is why we may need to 'review the situation'...
In the not-too-distant past, the lives of everyone in this country were very much more tightly bonded, to a Christian belief-system, of some sort.
In Hastings, as elsewhere, if you did not attend religious services, you would be ostracized for not taking part. You had to be part of the system, at least in the quite recent 'Victorian' era.
It is with that background in mind that I am trying to understand the mindset of frequent visits by certain young men, of the Mormon faith, 'Latter Day Saints', often seen, in smart attire, walking about the streets in Hastings, attempting to explain their faith.
From frontier-times in the mid-west of America, where, in the 1840's, the Mormons were just one of many cults, when they, at first, set themselves apart from and then tried to re-integrate into mainstream society.
Mormons believe that Jesus paid for the sins of the world and that all people can be saved through his atonement. Basically they believe in the Bible and its teachings.
At home in Britain, the late Victorians of the 1880's, were probably first made aware of the Mormon faith, by the writings of Sherlock Holmes, in his first major novel, 'A Study in Scarlet, published in the 1880's, in which he, the G.P. novelist, wrote a story, set in the 1840's, about a father and daughter, rescued by a party, led by the second President of the Mormons, Brigham Young, the time of the great exodus of exploration into the American 'Wild West'.
The narrative, of Holmes, suggested that a daughter of a man in peril of starvation, was further obliged to marry into the Mormon faith, after receiving sustenance and shelter and that theme set the tone, regarding a suspected insidious Mormon manipulation and possible religious indoctrination.
We now see other newcomers in Hastings, with Jewish dreadlocks and the Torah, wasting their lives dedicated to studying ancient texts and beliefs, alien to us.
Young people, of certain good intelligence, yet willing to sacrifice their lives in the worship of matters, which are no longer adhered to by the population at large in Britain.
These Jews with dreadlocks, avidly following the Torah faith, are far less pro-active in mingling and communicating with the local populace - I just wonder what they are about.
Whatever changes have occurred, whether with Jews or Mormons, or what any other religion is about, it is clear that Government and current politics have now firmly taken over from the role of religion.
The State provides, in many and more varied ways than ever before, such that we are debating 'Brexit' and its effects on the economy, above all else.
People are, seemingly, only interested in money and the economy or are they just more easily manipulated on that level?
Perhaps that is why we may need to 'review the situation'...