Akkam’s Razor

I didn’t buy this at first, until I went back and reread it.

The gist of his argument was that mainstream Christianity arose as sort of the “Walmart of religion.” Like a virus, the Church replicated itself across the land, co-opting ideas, undercutting “prices,” gobbling up real-estate, and providing a one-stop shopping source for all your (diluted) religious needs.

I guess this guy thinks that Catholics can be a counterbalance to the radical fundamentalists. Not very likely.

History generally didn’t treat these gnostics kindly. The hierarchical franchise of the Catholic Church couldn’t afford to allow their attitudes of self-reliance and operating outside the system to flourish. Luckily, despite centuries of persecution, their ideas never died away. In fact, they are arguably more popular today than they ever were - which is good because we need them more now than ever as the world marches towards total Walmartization.

Sorry, but I fully expect Catholics the Vatican to join everybody else in the mad rush to the right.