More About Single-Tater Religions in the Third Galaxy

I have attempted earlier to give you some idea of how the single-tater* religions in the Third Galaxy were in many ways shamefully complicit in the tragic developments known on that poor world as the "Terrible Times".

It would be exceedingly remiss of me if I did not clearly tell the reader that this shameful record could was said by many to be a perversion of their original religions. Although something can be said for this viewpoint, it was also a cop out, absolving religion for the ugly things done in its name without actually addressing the evil, which, with a few most notable exceptions, is what most religious leaders of that time did.

In that context I should mention that the Supreme Poobah of the Heehaw Mashers in Uran, the Ahtolduall Whomademe, issued a firm "Fatlaw" or edict that it was against Masherism to acquire or develop nuclear weapons of mass immolation. As far as I can tell from my researches in the 21st Edition of the Absolute Truth, Ahtolduall Whomademe was the only major religious leader to make such a firm condemnation death weapons. Religious leaders in Arrogance, on the other hand, tried to figure when it was morally right not to have Weapons of Mass Immolation but when the Great Potato would approve of their use!

As could be expected, Whomademe's Fatlaw was seldom mentioned in Approved Arrogant Media -- and then only as a footnote with out comment, or with ridiculing sarcasm. The reason for that, of course, otherwise it would not have been feasible to bomb Uran in order to prevent them from acquiring Weapons of Mass Immolation...

The Peelers considered their religion to be a renewal and purification of the religion of the Strugs. The Masher, in turn, claimed that he had been Selected by the Great Potato to reform and purify the message given earlier to the Strugs and the Peelers by Foundling and Holy Idaho. The Strugs, of course, denied that they have ever strayed from the True Path.

In order to prove the truth of their views, they all ethic cleansed, genocided, tortured and put to death in exquisitely painful ways fellow human beings. At the same time they have all failed to take real responsibility for the atrocities done in the name of their religions. Generally, they would say that what they did was the Will of the Great Potato.

But the crux of the matter?

Perhaps we should turn to the witness of a fellow who actually lived in the Third Galaxy up to and during most of the Terrible Times, Ichabod Rain:

"The truth is that one can find many wonderful, deep, in fact valid spiritual insights in our religions. But that said, a person of an open and inquiring mind must ask how it is they have been continuously sidetracked, hijacked by hustlers, power freaks and scoundrels of less than modest spiritual development -- and that is not mentioning the perverts and outright sadists who have had the temerity to dispense grace in the name of the almighty eternal..."

"One would think that the single-tater religions would have a leg up on the many-tater religions but that is far from the case. There is absolutely no honest way to claim that followers of our single-tater religions have comported themselves more decently, morally, nobly or even just as simple human beings than the followers of other religions -- that is, except in their own eyes!"

"If we ask ourselves with an inquiring and open mind why this is so, the answer is surprisingly simple: all the single-tater religions think of the Great Potato as Other, a SomeOne Outside the manifest universe. Once we have been fooled by that illusion, only Special People can tell us about the Great Potato. These Special People are Selected in "some way" by the Potato Himself and thus it is that we have, Lawmakers, Saviors and Prophets..."

"Oddly enough, these Special People lived hundreds, even thousands of years ago. The Message is contained in sacred texts and traditions and -- surprise! surprise! -- in order to understand how the True Meaning we need intermediaries.

These intermediaries have fine names and titles, live in big houses and drive in fat cars. But you poke them in the tummy they reveal themselves to be a flock of people who don't care to do a day's lick of work and have found out that explaining the Will of the Great Potato to the sheeple is a ticket to EASY STREET!"

"The fact is that the Great Potato speaks to us all, both great and small. The Spud is neither within nor without, above nor below, in front of, beside nor behind the reality of what-is. The best, in fact the only really useful thing any teacher or guide in spiritual matters can do is encourage people to listen in their secret heart for that voice of silence which continually asks the question..."

Irritatingly, this is how Ichabod Rain's small homilies usually end and he never explains what he means by "the question". The closest I have been able to find is this:

"The answer and the question are found within each breath -- even in peaceful times can be dangerous to speak too openly of such things.

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* A "single-tater" religion is one which maintains that there is only One Great Potato. The single-tater religious, mainly the Peelers, Mashers and Strugs. tend look down on the many-tater religions such as Hudooism as well as Buddyism which the others regard as a no-tater religion.