​Have Homo Sapiens Evolved to Humanus Stupidiens?

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

Homo Sapiens are now old enough to know better

According to fossil experts — so far, Homo sapiens have been around for about 300,000 years, evolving slowly from a few other Homos, until most of the Neanderthals met our Maker — if there is One. Homo sapiens have been left “alone” at that point, although it seems some Neanderthals have been hiding in political parties for thousands of years. Notice the high cheek bones and the bellicose larynx on Marjorie Taylor Greene. We are evolving to another level whether we are following Darwin’s “Origin of Species” or God’s plan as dictated in the Bible. The question is: are we moving up the “Chain of Being” of Shakespeare’s time or tumbling down to several of the nine levels of Hell as in Dante’s “Divine Comedy?”

A cartoon in “The New Yorker” of February 3, 2021, raises a lot of questions. God, complete with sun, halo, beard and rich robe is sitting at a bar with a guy dressed like a tired reporter with untied tie astray having a beer. God is speaking — and perhaps answering the eternal question: “Actually, on the seventh day, I’d planned to get a lot more work done, but I woke up late and was just kind of dragging my ass all day and then it was like 8 p.m., so I said screw it and went to bed.” That seems to be a reasonable answer about our present life on earth.

It’s not an alternative fact that 40 million Americans have stopped going to church in the past 25 years. That’s 12% of the population. There’s a new book coming out soon titled “The Great Dechurching" by two political scientists who analyze the surveys of 7,000 Americans about the subject. The answer why churches are excess property in the most developed countries in the world is not complex: “People are driven by how life works in the 21st Century. Contemporary America simply isn’t set up to promote mutuality, care, or common life. Rather, it is designed to maximize individual accomplishment as defined by professional and financial success.”

Perhaps the leading symbol of the “greed is good” philosophy is Elon Musk, the richest man of the world who seems to be on the way to being the world’s second Genghis Khan who dominates and runs the economies of wealthy countries. Here is a Homo sapiens who has fathered about a dozen children by at least a half-dozen women — and has a trans daughter who expresses magnificent hatred for her father at every opportunity. Trump is simply an ignorant nutcase predator who smashes and grabs power. How long will this political marriage of twin same-sex narcissistic sociopaths and the Muskers and the Trumpers last? Novelist H.G.Wells in a short story wrote the well-known phrase, “In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”

Today, in the Divided States of America, the most greedy Homo sapiens with the biggest ego, largest X account and largest bank account, will choose himself king. When the Rapture begins, will it be Muskers or Trumpers flying nude to Heaven? ‘Tis rumored in Russia that Vladimir Putin spent $300 billion on personal palaces and a Black Sea “cottage.” He could be the richest man in the world today.

The worship of rattlesnakes and tiny camels by prosperity gospelers

Surveys indicate we are becoming more de-pewed and de-churched each year. The survey says: “The problem in front of us is not that we have a healthy, sustainable society that doesn’t have room for church. The problem is that many Americans have adopted a way of life that has left us lonely, anxious, and uncertain how to live in community with other people.” Is the guy in the next pew or barstool a Trumper, Musker, Progressive or Liberal? At one time there were 125 churches in Appalachia where worshippers passed poisonous snakes from hand to hand and wrapped them around the neck. The practice was described in Chapter 16 of the Gospel of Mark: “These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; thy shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

The Bible, the absolute word of God according to the snake handlers, tells them they will be empowered to send demons packing to Hell, will allow them to speak in various tongues and languages, heal people with deadly illnesses, safely drink poison and handle all venomous snakes. Once in a while a “sinner” dies from a snake bite. Appalachian states have outlawed religious snake handling for obvious reasons, but often seasoned male practitioners dressed in the uniform of white shirt and black pants link their arms around shoulders, shuffle-dance to a regular beat, forming and reforming circles, praying and singing, passing and waving poisonous serpents slowly in the air, sometimes wrapping snakes around their necks. Very few women of the religion have ever handled snakes. One minister forced his wife to handle a rattlesnake — with a pistol pointed at her head.

The Pentecostal church is the home of the most toxic and dangerous white Christian nationalist churches in America. It promotes what is described as the Seven Mountain Mandate. Christians are ordained to dominate the seven “mountains” of cultural influence: family, church, education, media, arts, economy, and government.

Do you trust a guy who told you God campaigned for Trump twice?

Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Dominionists, Christian Identity, Southern Baptists and most of the old guys in the Vatican talk about miraculous experiences, how saints are selected, create miracles, and advertise TV apostles who always leave a phone number or website to collect part of Social Security payments going to the white hairs in every nook and cranny. That’s why there are more churches for sale than condos and ranch homes in some cities and towns. That’s why the majority of GenZs and those below 50 are de-pewing and de-churching — or selecting other churches with odd and sometimes unnerving names. One church that is actually growing in the Divided States of America is attracting the young with only Seven Fundamental Tenets:

1. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.

2. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.

3. One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.

4. The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly accroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.

5. Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.

6. People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.

7. Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

Please review the seven tenets to see if this church is anti-gay, anti-parent leave, anti-trans, anti-abortion, anti-IVF, anti-vaccine, anti-sick leave, anti-homeless, anti-renewables, anti-fluoridation, anti-immigrant, anti- gender fluidity, anti-climate control, anti-Social Security, anti-Medicare, anti-LBGTQUIA+, anti-same-sex marriage, anti-divorce, anti-science, anti-woman, anti-masturbation, anti-democratic, pro-theocracy, anti-contraceptives, anti-birth control, and the anti-list goes on and on and on.

You might be surprised to learn the name of the church with tenets

Attorney Jami Smith, a 40-year-old married woman with children, was very active and financially supported the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU) and Americans United for Church and State organizations before she became a fervent member of The Satanic Temple. She decided to join after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and she was replaced by a Roman Catholic who approved of living in a theocracy. She wrote in an article:

“I fear that American citizens are inching closer to living in a theocracy or dictatorship and that the checks that would prevent this from happening are close to eroding beyond repair. Members of The Satanic Temple do not believe in the supernatural or superstition. Temple members do not worship Satan and most are atheists. There is a Church of Satan, but The Satanic Temple is not affiliated. We use the devil as a symbol of rebellion. Our civil and reproductive rights are in danger like ever before. And so, I have turned to Satanism.”

It is one of 33,000 churches in the DSA. Only a few are popular with people between the ages of 18 and 45. Let’s also remember that 90% of Americans want tight gun controls and75% approve of abortion, two of the several public health crises of the many we are facing in a technological-enhanced world.

There is not much Jesus Christ left in American Christianity

The church of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh has virtually taken over the Republican Party which is now “hook, line, and sinkered” by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, his ten feet tall shadow yelling in his ear. Trump sells Bibles he has never read or believed while Musk, baptized in the Anglican Church, claims he has read texts of all major religions and their philosophical movements but can’t find one he can accept for guidance. He calls himself a “cultural Christian.” There’s not much doubt he follows the White supremacist beliefs of the Christian Identity Church, also known as Identity Christianity Church. Elon and Donald do not bow, genuflect, kneel, pray, or prostrate themselves for anything but money which gives them great power.

Members are taught — and believe — that Blacks were created to serve as slaves for Whites. The Identity churches are racist, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist and accept only Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Aryan and people that are descendants of the ancient Israelites. The religion is practiced by individuals, a few independent congregations, and is very popular in prison gangs across the country. And now it is exceedingly popular with Trump, Musk, and a number of Silicon Valley billionaires. McVeigh learned about it when he was serving in the U.S. Army. The Identity beliefs were first developed by writers who promoted Europeans as the “chosen” people and Jews as the cursed offspring of Cain. They believe all non-White people who are not of European descent will either be exterminated or forced into slavery to serve the White race when the New Heavenly Kingdom on Earth under the reign of Jesus Christ is in power after the Rapture. Only Whites can achieve salvation and enter Paradise.

It took Homo sapiens 300,000 years to reach a point where wars and hate are flourishing on every continent. Perhaps the last of the Homos are evolving to Humanus Stupidiens.