The truth is, I don’t know all that much about the religions of the world. Not really. But I do know that religion has always been important to people. From the earliest get-go of things, people have believed in a God, or lots and lots of Gods.
It seems that religion helps people make sense of the world when at times, nothing makes sense. They need answers, so they look to a God that will help guide them in how to live life.
Supposedly, it helps them in knowing right from wrong.
Now isn’t this a thing? They hold religion in a highly important place, both now and historically. As such, they sometimes argue over it. That might be an understatement. Millions of people have been killed in the name of religion. Wars have been fought, and countries demolished over religion.
I was born and raised Catholic, so I know that religion. For over 1,000 years, the Catholic Church was the main religion in Europe and many other parts of the world. And? One man broke the power of the Catholic Church and started a major revolt.
That guy was Martin Luther. He was born in Germany, and his parents were mere peasants. Ma and Pa Luther wanted young Martin to become a lawyer. But fate reached down and tugged him on the britches. Martin got caught in a horrible storm. Lightning was popping all around him. So in that scary moment, he promised God that he would become a monk if he’d be saved to see the other side of the storm. And so it was to be. He survived that turmoil and kept his promise to God. Monky Martin.
I only bring this up because Martin Luther was declared a heretic by the Edict of Worms on this date, May 26, 1521. The Diet of Worms banned his writings and declared him an outlaw who was to be captured and punished.
The Diet of Worms? It wasn’t a convention of fat little earthworms wriggling in the dirt, trying to lose weight. Well, not really. The “Diet of Worms” was a meeting of the Diet (which is the name for an assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire. This was held at Worms, Germany. The Diet of Worms. And an “edict” is a mandate, a decree, an order.
Generally speaking, Martin Luther’s writings were responsible for slaying the Catholic Church and marking the new era of the Protestant Reformation. His main idea was that the Bible is the central source of religious authority. He said that salvation could only be reached through faith and not deeds. And this shaped Protestantism. And there it was.
The world is a big place. And there is a lot in it. Every time I hear of Martin Luther and the Diet of Worms, my mind goes to a hundred other places through word association. Martin Luther. Then, like to Lex Luther, the villain of Superman. Or, of course, to those little worms, watching what they eat. Or to the Marvin the Martian, on the Bugs Bunny cartoon, which then leads me to think about Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross. Right on back to Martin Luther, and people with their arguments about religion.
It is all connected, yet somehow, it doesn’t connect.
As I said, I don’t know that much about religion.
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Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
— Napoleon Bonaparte
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When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that’s my religion.
— Abraham Lincoln
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Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
— David Thoreau
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Martin and the fatty worms.
