revenge vs mockery

the other night at dinner, my mom shared a story with us. i forget exactly how the conversation led to this this particular story, but the story itself is something that happened many years ago.

my mom works at a catholic hospital; the hospital is owned by a catholic organization and there are hospital nuns and a hospital priest who visit the patients and offer prayer. in a meeting, they were discussing reaching out to different communities (i dont remember what the outreach had to do with) as the priest started listing off different communities to reach out to, he had not mentioned the jewish communities/synagogue communities. one of the attendees of the meeting suggested that they be included. immediately the priest responds that he wants nothing to do with the jews. coming from a priest that is a rather harsh and intense statement. the meeting continued and finally ended.

some time after, my mom worked up the courage to go to the priests office and speak with him. being jewish, my mom was offended by his comment against the jewish community. she approached him and addressed her concerns. he replied that that probably was not the best thing to say. he comments that he is probably the only priest she will know that has had a bar mitzvah and then invited her to look at something he had hidden in a closet. as he opens the closet door, there sits his tallis and tafilin. now confused, my mom asks for an explanation.

the priest indulges her with a story from his past. he says that he grew up in an orthodox family. at a young age, his mother died. the rabbi of his synagogue suggested that his father not share this with him; instead they should just tell him his mother has gone away and they do not know when she will be back. this is exactly what his father did. some time latter, he discovers the truth, that his mother had in fact passed. he grows extremely angry, both at the rabbi which extended to judaism as a whole and his father. he was angry at judaism that by some moral and value of the religion, the rabbi had deemed it reasonable and responsible to not share the death of his mother with a child. he was even more angry at his father that his father would take this advice and that he did not share his mothers death with him.

in anger, this man wanted to seek revenge on his father and on judaism. he decided that that worst possible thing he could do to his father is become a priest. with that, he entered preisthood (first converting, then preparing for preisthood, etc.). my mom asked if he believed in jesus and with a laugh he said no. he proceeded to tell her that she is never to refer to him as father because she knows the truth. some years later, she found out that he had resigned from priesthood.

in attempt to seek revenge on his father, this man made a mockery of catholicism and led believers with falsehood. for many, religion is the absolute truth, for he who one looks to to find and come in contact with this truth to be a lie and a non believer himself would make any follower question his/her truth. sure this decision may have upset and hurt his father, but it too upset and hurt many others who trusted him. to get back at his father, essentially he did to his congregation what his father did to him.

the human condition is an interesting state of being. schopenhauer states that humans have a will to power; in that, humans will do anything to be in control and have power over. this is a wonderful explanation to the hate and bigotry the rules social interaction, defining reason for such superiority complexes that so many people develop. this need to be in control or how power over, leads to actions that are only understood within someones adrenaline to gain power over and in retrospect the desire for revenge or will to power is only a minute aspect of the affects and consequences of that action.