What We Believe: Conclusions and Position Paper of the Avalonian Catholic Church

When splendors in dark shadows rise,
Whilst mortal flesh from myst'ries shies,
and grace is garbed in freedom's guise,
our trust in all assumptions dies.
Seeking shards of ancient realms,
meekly, far-thought, rank errors flee,
as evidence new tales tells--
--Spiritual archaeology.

--from a chant Copyright 2002 Jon Ryner

"Every church in its beginning becomes acquainted only with the general [principles] of doctrine; for it is then in its simplicity, or as it were in its childhood. In the course of time it adds particulars; which are partly confirmations of general principles, partly additions,--which yet are not repugnant to the general principle,--and also explanations, that open contradictions may be analyzed, and not clash with what common sense dictates. --Arcana Coelestia n. 4720 by Emanuel Swedenborg

Conclusions of Our Research to June 8, 2003

Note: This is only a general introduction to this topic for the general reader.

Humankind has reached to lowest point in its evolution. Witness:

Education

It has been many years since Sir Jeffrey T. Lant resigned his professorial position at one of the formost Ivy League colleges, disgusted that his students could not write. All the most recent studies indicate that American students are becoming dumber every year.

The blame for this must fall entirely on the teachers and administrators of the school systems. Many a teacher has failed a student, only to be called into the principal's office and told that "it would look good downtown" to change the grade to passing. Sometimes this is because the NAACP decides that the student's "civil rights" (to pass when they really earned a failing grade) are more important than the development of that student and thus society as a whole.

We quickly admit that studies show that many of these students are "unteachable", yet we question what that really means. True, they often have bad home lives, but many of the best students have come from such environments, so we suggest that this is too easy and answer. The schools have always had a duty to teach, and if they are unable to find a suitable method, they should be fiscally punished until they do. Obviously, there needs to be a better method developed than the "positive attitude" programs that only tell the kids how good they are. In many cases, this approach is only solidifying a rebellious spirit and encouraging further deleterious delinquent activities.

We encourage parents to realize that their children's education is not accurately measured by how many courses they take or how much homework they are given or complete, but by what they actually know. Since repeated studies have shown teachers to often be less intelligent and knowledgable than the parents, the parents should not feel in the slightest bit worried about being "unqualified" to teach their children at home, either solely or in conjunction with their lessons at public or private school.

Politics

With international agencies like The Committee of 300 deciding to exterminate most of the planet for its own good, to those evil agencies like the World Health Organization (who long ago admitted to injecting AIDS into the poor African people), who do their business, it has become painfully evident that people cannot trust even their elected leaders, who have also sold out to to convenience and greed. Whether a country has a two-party system or a plethora of parties from which to choose has not made a significant difference.

Worse still, some politicians have taken to claiming immunity from prosecution for their heinous acts, though American decisions have thrown this out. We need more honest leaders, and we should pay them for the work they actually do, e.g., not paying those "servants of the people" who can't even bother to show up to vote on bills regularly.

Medicine

The overreliance on allopathic "medicine", with its lab-grown artificial drugs, including antibiotics, has led to a general suppression and even destruction of the immune systems of most humans and animals. This, in turn, has fostered the terrible diseases that now ravage the folk, the animals (like "mad cows") and the land.

Furthermore, the greed of the professional "medical care providers" has led them to prescribe drugs which actually injure their patients before performing adequate tests to obtain a proper diagnosis, and to perform extremely dangerous and unproven "procedures" (surgeries) without adequately revealing the risks to their patients. These criminals should be expelled from their profession, for violating the Hypocratic Oath in doing this kind of harm (which amounts to assault), and for posing a general nuisance and danger to society as a whole. Enacting a system like the traditional Chinese one, where they are paid only when the patient is well would be a good step, as would a publicly-accessible database of their misdeeds.

Religion

Many churches are now plagued with a man-centered religion. Yet even so, their temples have been stripped of the beauty of all the arts: music, carvings, paintings, vestments all have suffered at the hands of those who would pander to the lowest common denominators of secular society.

While The Avalonian Catholic Church lauds the ancient architects' harnassing of telluric forces to foster faith in the Children of God, we also stress that the feelings these powers invoke must be kept in the proper perspective. While a renowned theologian wrote extensively on the importance of the numinous aspect of Godhead, we must remember just how low and insignificant we individually are. If we do not, we risk succumbing to any power that is greater than we, even if it is exceedingly evil.

This truth is behind Jesus' condemnation of the Jews for demanding miracles. ("Blessed are they who have not seen and believed.") For many can perform wonders to astound, but that in itself is no guarantee of a right spirit within them.

This is an ever-more important consideration when it is in the religious sphere of influence. As readers of our Website know, the "mainstream" churches have historically and presently repeatedly hastened after the gods of greed, anxious to store up material spoils of this physical world. Verily, we say unto you, they have received their reward! The danger they pose, however, is great to the Seeker of the Spirit, for they will stop at nothing to continue to enslave humankind to continue their own existence, and will make deals with any and all nefarious entities, agencies and organizations to achieve that goal.

Ethics

Immorality and ammorality reign supreme in all fields of human endeavor. This has occurred because the vast majority of humans, led by their so-called "experts" have proclaimed ancient tribal societies and their approach to be "primitive" and "superstitious", with many perjorative epithets hurled at the same, without good solid logic, revealing the stupidity of the "experts" and their followers.

In the course of our daily lives, we have become continually more fragmented. It started with people getting too busy at work and home to continue to support fraternal organizations. Then they got too busy to be involved in supporting their community. They got too busy for church. Now the sad refrain so commonly and sometimes proudly stated is, "We're working harder so our children can have a better life." Well, once again, we stress that quality of life is not measured by material things. Bishop Ryner has yet to find one family where this kind of decision is discussed with the children, or where they are asked if they would rather have more stuff or more quality time with their parents. I think we can guess what the answer would be.

Our greatest question is: If we do not even have closeknit, well-functioning families, how can we hope to have a good society?

One part of ethics is honesty. When we are able to scientifically research the problems presented to us, instead of acting and reacting on a base emotional level, we have a greater chance of solving the incredible problems of our day. Recognizing the similarities in people gives us the power to do that, but if we are not careful, an overemphasis on this area can lead to false conclusions. Even these problems and their solutions are thus connected, and need to be balanced.

Remedies

The Avalonian Catholic Church first recognizes the extreme difficulties inherent in any serious attempt at affecting change in any of these areas. Many people have given up their power, feeling helpless. Powerful and selfish interests have for centuries worked their wills to enslave these people. But their shackles can be overthrown.

The first step is education. The power of the Internet and independent reporting has changed the nature of mass control, as the wicked acts of the oligarchs are continuously exposed. Unfortunately, with our world becoming a continuously more wicked environment, we can become desensitized to the barrage of negative reports and forget about the old ones. Creating and expanding one tribal community awareness will alleviate the former problem, and reminding people of past misdeeds the latter. We must learn from our past mistakes if we are to avoid repeating them, and we must all work to grow and help others grow.

"Over all works Life is victorious!"

All written material in this site is copyrighted by the Most Rev. Jon Ryner, except where noted.