RELIGION IS THE AMPHETAMINE OF THE PEOPLE?: So St. Mary’s rocked, as is traditional. Today I have very little time for posting, so I apologize in advance for this shankery, but I would like to riff a little on the homily I heard yesterday. The priest mentioned Marx’s line about religion as the opiate of the masses. One of the most common and appealing criticisms of religion is that it’s a con job to keep the powerless from revolt by promising them “pie in the sky when you die”–don’t improve yourself or your situation now, since God will reward you in Heaven! That child with flies crawling across his swollen stomach may be suffering now, but think how happy he will be in Heaven!

The homily reminded me of C.S. Lewis’s point that every person we see every day has an eternal destiny that is either greater or more horrible than we could ever imagine. We glance at (and away from) countless people; we cut down, gossip about, fail to teach, or ignore people every day. Yet if we could see what those people will be after death, we would either fall on our knees in awe or recoil in horror. If we consider that fact, we can never be drugged into complacency. The choices we make are too important, and the people around us too astonishing, for us to rest.