The Keys To The Kingdom based on the book by AJ Cronin – the argument against this might be found in The Psychological Effects of Religion by Nathaniel Branden http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/04/psychological-effects-of-religion-by.html - 9 out of 10

 

The Keys To The Kingdom based on the book by AJ Cronin – the argument against this might be found in The Psychological Effects of Religion by Nathaniel Branden http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/04/psychological-effects-of-religion-by.html

9 out of 10

 

 

This narrative emphasizes the positive sides of religion, through the main character, Father Francis Chisholm -portrayed in the film adaptation by illustrious Gregory Peck, the one that enthused audiences in gems like To Kill A Mocking Bird and A Roman Holiday http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/09/one-of-realini-best-100-movies-100-out.html -who has all the wonderful qualities we aspire to possess – thus he is a Role Model and a Super Hero, Superman and Holy Man rolled into one – unlike the real clergy.

 

When I think priests, a horrible image comes to mind from real experience: when my father died, we had to hire a few priests, not for a lavish funeral, we were not rich (we are better off, Alhamdulillah, but still worried) only the customs required a ceremony at the interment, another one after one week, six weeks, 10 maybe, six months and so on (which by the way I wave here, I tend to place my testament in notes, saying I want the bare minimum, no, or just a tiny expense, clergy free departure, if possible, the thing they have now, where one becomes compost, albeit that would be more of a fuss, so it is unlikely to happen, no tears, maybe the Badman’s Song by Tears For Fears and that is just about it) and every time you need the ‘holy man’ to act as an intermediary between you and God…Oh God!

The fellows were slimy, lusting for gold, greedy, incompetent, disinterested in the ethereal and all too passionate about the worldly, dirty (metaphorically and literally) absent in spirit and in the flesh somehow, haunting the entrance of the cemetery like unsavory salesmen, vultures competing for each other for the remains of the deceased, and when you hire them and pay (through the nose it seems, especially given the poor service you get, when you consider both sides of the argument, I mean, if you are a believer, you would be appalled at the prayers they mumble and the lack of genuine attempt to address the All Powerful, and if you do this just as the rituals require, then you say ‘Oh My God’, he (there is no woman in the Orthodox priesthood, never mind other persons form the LGBTQ+ community) does not make any effort to work for the money, his singing of the psalms is atrocious, it does not ‘lift you up’, it makes you cringe and grind your teeth, this is actually hell, not even purgatory…

 

In other words, I am more than reluctant to embrace clergy, religious doctrines (though there is something in the Buddhist, especially Zen Buddhist dogma, if there is one, for over there many precepts make sense, some do not, and what the Buddha taught is reasonable, take that anger advice, where keeping fury is compared with ‘having coals in the hand, kept to throw on an enemy and burning your flesh in the meantime’, besides, Nirvana, the notion that cravings are the problem is not just wise, it could save us from mercantilism, the exaggerated consumption that could literally burn the planet, and we would be so much better off with a dose (huge one in most cases) of stoicism, a restraint from purchasing so much

 

Therefore The Keys to The Kingdom does not appear to have the most attractive subject, hero, premise for an exhilarating experience, and it could work in the way suggested by the ‘lower your expectations’ rule…furthermore, we do have a marvelous protagonist in Father Francis Chisholm, one that highlights what is good about religion, Christianity in particular, the munificence, self-sacrifice, bravery, humility, justice, wisdom inspired in the most admirable of the faithful, inspired by the example of Jesus Christ, son of God, if you feel that way, a way of life that is shared by billions of humans…

If Nathaniel Branden thinks that The Psychological Effects of Religion are all calamitous – for instance, the idea that you have an all-powerful fellow watching always over the shoulder, ready to punish the older man for the masturbation practiced by the teenager is atrocious and traumatic – then Sonja Lyubomirsky has the opposite view, arguing in her The How of Happiness http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-how-of-happiness-by-sonja.html that one of the twelve rules of happiness is exactly connected with faith – however, you learn from the book that you need to take a test and see which activity suit you better, and religion might not be one of them – as in  ‘Happiness Activity No 11: Practicing Religion and Spirituality- becoming more involved in your church, temple or mosque or reading and pondering spiritually themed books’…or just meeting with the likes of Father Francis

 

I just realized that this is the name of the Pope, another benign figure, one that inspires trust, benevolence, humanity, magnanimity, tolerance and so much more, with the benefit that he is real – he has made mistakes, and then, if you look for the perspective of one who is not a believer, then the whole thing is a Charade, believing in ghosts, virgin birth, as Maher was just jesting on his show – only he is the leader of an outfit that has tolerated abuse, perversion, the molestation of children by a huge, ghastly number of ‘representatives of God on earth’ who do much to annihilate the good campaigns of the unsoiled ones…

If the clergy were much more like Father Francis (the one from The Keys to The Kingdom, or the one in the Vatican, who has just been sick, and is going to participate in the service tonight, I guess it is Easter for the Catholics, and then coming soon for the majority here, who are Orthodox, perhaps next week) then you would take larger portions of the dogma to be ‘real’ or follow precepts…I have been thinking some years back, maybe a decade, when discovering the wonders of positive psychology – take Flow as an example http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/10/flow-by-mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-this-is.html which inform you about the conditions for Maximum Experience, challenges meet expectations, you are in control, time is relative (“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour…Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute…That's relativity”) feedback is constant, it is an autotelic experience, nothing else matters – that a new religion (as if Scientology and all the rest are not enough) would be required, one that centers on positive psychology and the rules – be grateful, munificent, have meaningful goals, good relations with family and friends, decipher the acronyms PERMA, SPIRE and so on – and then respecting with religiosity all that, the future is ours, Nirvana, Heaven descend upon earth with the Great Designer from Above…a first step is here http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world

 

Written by revolutionary Realini – as proved in this article from Newsweek, talking about the 1989 Revolution that took down Ceausescu, due in infinitesimal  part to…Realini  - if there are enormities in the text, they are solely due to the trauma suffered then, at the hands of the local KGB, FSB and then the not dissimilar attention paid by the WIFE http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html