Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI

Open letter to Pope Benedict XVI

Congratulation on you recent election as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and Pontiff or Head of State of the Vatican. Please consider these two points I make as a child of the ONE God.

Countries and governments are asked to adhere to certain principles to belong to such organizations as United Nations, European Union, and NATO etc.

You sir, as the Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, and as a disciple and representative of Jesus the Christ, on earth, could lead as a peacemaker, by making a statement in support of the two requests enunciated below, which I believe your Lord, Jesus of Nazareth would readily endorse.

There is one principle that all spiritual movements, religions and in particular the major or “traditional” religions, non-profit and charitable organizations of the world should voluntarily adhere to so as to receive "charitable" status. The theological principle is:

God does not command people to kill, or God Forbids Murder or in Biblical terms: Thou shall not kill.

Religions that do not endorse and do not adhere to this theological principle should not be considered “charitable” and hence, not be "tax exempt". In some extreme cases where the criminal aspects of some "holy book" or "holy decree" can be shown to have a direct link to a criminal act, the leader of the group should be brought before the courts under "hate literature" or "inciting violence" legislation. If found guilty, such religions, spiritual movement, group, organization or cult should be disallowed from operating inside the boundaries of "civilized" countries (I.e. The countries that adhere to this principle). If found guilty, their wealth and belongings should be confiscated or seized and used to compensate the victims.

Churches who use "holy books" to condone "killing" also use "holy books" to marginalize or discriminate against certain groups in our society such as women, or the gay community. The "emotional" word attributed to the Biblical God, Yahweh, in this last case of discrimination is "abominable". Please help us put society's religious concepts of God, and the organization and business of religion, on trial for all to see, so as educate the masses in matters of theology, without jeopardizing anyone's right to "freedom of religion" or "worship".

You sir, as a theologian, can certainly agree with:

Point one: (The Principle): I ask you to voluntarily extricate from your Holy Books, all references to God commanding men (usually) or women to commit criminal acts. Specifically, killing, murder, war and genocide. (I.e. Bible: Joshua, Abraham, etc.)

Those acts, in a civilized society, should be viewed and dealt with in the same way we would deal with an individual, who today would claim that "God" told him/her to kill his offspring, neighbour, or members of another group. Hopefully with the blessing of the Roman Catholic Church, our Mental Health and Justice systems would be called in to deal with such a person. This act of depravity should be categorized either as a "sickness", a “disease” or a "criminal" act unless there is an element of “self defense”, as in a physical or violent attack by another individual or group.

Leaders of countries, and revolutionaries, claiming to be religious, and making claims of divine inspiration, lead their followers to war(holy wars). Some even make these claims in public. Some Gurus demand obedience to the point of "killing your mother". Some even write it in their books.

It is not acceptable theology, nor good morals or ethics. Churches and church leaders can be encouraged or pressured into expressing concepts of their ONE God who, at least, adheres to His/Her/Its own commandments and does not speak from both sides of His/Her/Its mouth. You sir, could thus command the respect of the Catholics and members of other religions, spiritual movement and even some atheists, and your numbers would grow. You could, if you wanted to emulate Jesus, the good shepherd, also decree that all Catholics will not kill in war anymore, as the Quakers have done. Catholics can obey the ONE God and follow or emulate Jesus at the same time.

Point two: (Science)

Churches, and in particular the Roman Catholic Church, have always historically claimed that science should not interfere with man's quest for the divine. Then I would ask you, as Pope Benedict XVI, to organize a seminar of "men of science" with the sole function of creating a "globally acceptable calendar" and get your religion out of the business of science. Churches historically, in their attempt to control the masses have always tried to control the method of counting time, hence the "Julian calendar" and later the "Gregorian calendar". So I would ask you sir, as Pope to give back to academia their "scientific" method of counting time; one that is tied to a cosmic event rather than the birth of some arbitrary character. Calendars should have either moon, sun or galaxy components (three calendars in one?) and no societal aspects. Help us get religion out of our science and help us get on with the huge job of uniting the people of planet Earth so as to deal with inevitable future cosmic events.

The history of religion is one of flawed theology. Flawed theology has developed into flawed philosophy, flawed morals, ethics and finally flawed societal systems, including justice and science. We can easily see such flaws in the "Julian" and "Gregorian" calendars and the persecution of men of science throughout the ages. This is not to mention the persecution and ultimate destruction of much superior calendars belonging to the "so-called" primitive cultures of the "new world".

You sir have the power and the responsibility of helping to make your religion more spiritual. Where religion ends, spirituality begins. One is extrovert, one is introvert. One is pomp, one is humble. One kills (even God), one offers life (God).

May the ONE God Bless you and all the Roman Catholics of Planet Earth.

4d-Don