Religion & Holy Week

I noted the recent correspondence on the existence of God, and am giving it more thought this Holy Week. It seems to me that the great weakness of all religions is that they accept the existence of God - the blind watchmaker, the computer in the sky, the revelation of a good book etc - but they all quickly agree that God does exist, but are very reluctant to undertake any real research or discussion - because that comes very close to blasphemy or heresy. We all know how we punish heretics. I wish they would agree! There is always the problem about what happened before God existed and why he felt so lonely. My own conclusion is that my powers of analysis are quite the equal of the priests I have met in Riyadh, Tokyo, Caracas, Seoul, Manila, Lagos or even Canterbury, but they still prefer to pretend that the others are wrong and they only are right. I can see I may be wrong but not that all the others are equally right. I suppose I do think that there is an absolute truth somewhere even if I have not found it yet.
I spent 10 years going into a Christian church every day, and must have been brainwashed quite well for a time. I have always been fond of history and find the first 350 years of Christian history fascinating. But what Jesus, as a wonderful philosopher, is reported to have said in the New Testament seems to a have little to do with subsequent ritual and dogma invented yars later. I wonder why no one wanted to teach me the history of the early Christian Church in any detail? I only discovered the books of Josephus recently and was amazed they were actually suppressed at school! Nag Hammadi and the Dead Sea Scrolls seem important, and yet so-called holy men want to pretend they do not exist. This shows little faith in God! I am also not clear why religious rules change with time. I would have thought that rules would have been timeless and applicable to all time. I am slightly surprised in Manila to find Catholic services in English quoting the King James Bible, when in the 16th Century many Englishmen were burnt at the stake for using English at all! It was a surprise that Joan of Arc became a saint in (was it?) 1927. It seemed a long 600 wait to find out! I can understand the historical and political reasons, but not a religous justification for a volte face merely to please the French. The other aspect of religion is that it has depended on cultural isolation to protect the faithful. Religion in the Philippines has only a limited truth, because it has inherited a Spanish way of thinking. Many British and Americans tend to be protestant for much the same historical reasons. Islam in the Middle East depends more upon history than truth. All this is falling apart in 2007, and I would predict religious authorities are already have great difficulty in preaching one truth when the din of other truths can be heard all the time. The young are going to be confused!
I always fondly greet the stutue of Philip II of Spain here in Manila whenever I pass by, and consider that but for Divine Providence Philip II might have been King of England - and of the Philppines at the same time. My recent researches show that San Beda is indeed the Venerable Bede, Anglo-Saxon if not English - and there are number of schools in Manila dedicated to St Thomas Moore ("I am the King's good servant but God's first"). They still belong to me culturally, even if I have strayed somewhat from the fold in the last 500 years! Eostra (Easter) is of course the Anglo-Saxon Goddess, and even the days of the week in English follow the old Norse Gods. Surprising that no one has changed them yet in Easter Christian services! Happy Easter!