This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things!

I just returned home from an amazing trip to Israel.  For 10 days, a pretty large subset of my church family toured (what felt like) pretty much the entire country.  I had an amazing time and, as a Christian, got to visit some very important locations from both the Old and New Testaments, with a lot of non-Biblical stuff mixed in, just because it's pretty cool/educational/etc.  It's also phenomenal to see, first-hand, how the various Middle Eastern cultures live and work together.  Politically, it's a pretty big mess but, in the day-to-day, it's largely stable and full of people who would really like to go the rest of their lives not killing each other.  If you get a chance, you should go.

One thing really bothered me, though.  It's been scratching at my brain a little since I've been here in Europe, but now it's honestly become a full-blown issue for me.  My problem is this:

How does the Catholic Church justify its modus operandi?

Please, allow me to explain with a fun pictorial.  Here is Exhibit A:

This is the site, to include actual walls and excavated rooms, of the church that Peter started up after the crucifixion of Christ.  If you recall, immediately following the crucifixion, being (what would soon be known as) a Christian was a dangerous thing.  I mean, look, they just nailed up the head guy!  The remaining disciples, etc, were in hiding.  This tiny little room was where the first meetings were held as the Church tried to regroup and get its collective balance.





The site is found - awesome.  What a great opportunity for Christians to come and see the roots of where all of it began, right?  Well, sure, until the Catholic Church swoops in, buys the site, and builds a flying saucer right on top of it!






The sad part is that this is actually tasteful compared to some of the other sites.  Exhibit B, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the supposed site of Christ's crucifixion (Golgotha) and resurrection:

Seriously.  It looks like Liberace exploded in here.  What I find interesting is that there is no archaeological evidence that this is the actual site for any of the events leading up to Christ's crucifixion.  The Catholic Church bought this site and said, "OK, everyone.  This is the spot.  You know, because we say so".  They slap a bunch of marble and gold in it and it's the spot.

The very worst is that they've utterly erased any trace of anything in the  site that could possibly be used to verify their claim.





So, the part I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is that this is a religion, right?  Granted, they don't have the greatest track record, what with the Crusades and the odd Inquisition here and there.  But they can put that behind them and show how they've moved on.  Maybe they've put their thumbscrews in a long-forgotten cabinet in a long-forgotten basement, but this wholesale appropriation of historical sites is unfathomable to me.

Again, this is a religion, supposedly based upon the teachings of Christ and His followers.  When I look at the opulence on display, and how they plunk a church down on every holy site they can gain access to, I have a difficult time believing that this is an organization that is, in any way, concerned with getting people right with God so that they can go to Heaven.  Instead, I see an organization that is entirely concerned with saying to the world, "Look at me!  Look at how rich and powerful I am!".   When I look at these monuments to ostentatiousness (spell-checker is mad at me), I can't help but wondering how much good could be done if the money and resources went to the needy instead of to phallus-waving.  It really turns my stomach.

If they could say that they weren't doing this anymore, and were just maintaining the already-established sites, I could sort-of give them a pass.  But, they aren't.  The Vatican is, as we speak, trying to buy the room where the Last Supper was held.  The room has already been altered enough, since it's been alternately a chapel, a synagogue, and a mosque, depending on who's been in charge at the time.  Thankfully, the Israeli government is refusing the sale.

I know that the Catholics get upset every time Lady Gaga or someone uses Catholic imagery in a blasphemous music video, but it seems to me that the Catholic Church devolved into self-parody a long, long time ago.  I mean, if you think about what a church should be like, and what this one is currently like, I can't think of anything more ripe for satire and parody.

And, that's not to say that Protestants, Jews, Muslims, or Buddhists are completely in the clear on this, either.  But, cast your eyes to that first picture.  That's a real church, in the model of Christ.  It was held in someone's home with a group of dedicated believers, who wanted nothing more that to spread the Gospel and take care of widows, orphans, and the sick.  That's the model, people!  Not gold-plating everything that's nailed down.

I hope the tone of this isn't too biting.  I tried to keep it more or less civil, but I'm pretty upset about it, as a general concept.  We're all doing it wrong, and it seems, to me, that Catholicism is the worst offender.

I guess the silver lining is that this is really causing me to do some soul-searching on how I "do church" so, at least, I can thank them for that.