Simple Message

The message was very simple.  Many images of the Good God have been used to personalise the good god. They are all the same Good God . Rulers  of nations provide a service to their subjects but they do not own their subjects, there should only be one nation and the Roman model is as good as any other, material possessions are unimportant and critically– the worship of Set must be abandonned.

Massive Implications

More than one element of this simple message was absolutely offensive to many Jews but had had enormous appeal to almost everyone else including Roman Citizens and the Roman state. Jesus message was based on a remarkable insight into earlier teaching and our current condition.  He was heir to the whole world but abandonned that heritage in order to emphasise the message that a rejection of the physical world was necessary to find eternal peace and satisfaction.

Jesus wanted  to bring about a physical world in which there was only one religion and only one sovereign state.   This could have been achieved then mankind could cease to be obsessed with material possessions and concentrate on loving each other, physically as well as spiritually. in such circumstances it would be easier to obtain the union we all desire.

Make love, not war

The 19th and 20th resurgence of interest in the Cathar faith is based on many different things, which are attributed to its beliefs and practices. Feminism, Free love, Anti- materialism, Vegetarianism, all appealing to various sections of the community. However it is the core message that material possessions, religious beliefs, national or ethnic differences should never be reasons for envy or discrimination let alone be a reason for going to war, which has the widest appeal.

(Make love not war-anon – San Francisco 1967).

(Imagine there’s no countries … and no religion too – John Lennon 1971)