The Church of Moloch (Reformed)
Christopher Bailey on the Religion of Upward Mobility
If this is your first visit to the Church of Moloch (Reformed), welcome. We hope you’ll find what you’re looking for here: a community of like-minded executives who understand that your career comes first.
Unlike traditional religions, with their disturbing and counterproductive messages of “self-denial” and “compassion,” the Church of Moloch (Reformed) understands your priorities.
Your career means everything to you. And in today’s fast-paced world, you need to stay on top. More than that, you need to advance. At the Church of Moloch (Reformed), we call it the Upward Path: the road that leads ever onward to greater and greater personal achievement. We know as well as you do that there’s never any rest for the true pilgrim. Family and friendships can be temporary comforts along the way, but they must never distract you from your true quest.
We’re here to give you the spiritual support you need on your lifelong journey along the Upward Path.
Some Frequently Asked Questions
Is Moloch your god?
Only a naive and uneducated (and probably unsuccessful)
person could believe in a “god” per se. Moloch is not a “god”
in the sense of a being outside ourselves. Moloch is a spiritual reality within
us all, the source of our inner strength and resolve. Whenever we tell the rest
of the world that we’re too busy and too important to care about its petty
problems, that’s the spirit of Moloch at work within us.
Where does the Church of Moloch (Reformed) come from?
Three thousand
years ago or more, a highly civilized tribe in what is today Palestine had a
revolutionary idea. These Canaanites, as they were called, realized that an
unhealthy obsession with the family could stand in the way of an individual’s
progress on the Upward Path. Ambition and upward mobility characterized this
creative and successful people. They represented their ideals in a beautifully
carved sculpture they called Moloch, the god of personal growth.
To free themselves to follow their ambitions, they would frequently offer their infant children to Moloch as sacrifices to their own personal growth. The children were humanely incinerated at high temperatures, freeing the people for more constructive activities than changing diapers all day.
Unfortunately, this beautiful ceremony was misunderstood by barbaric neighboring tribes, who valued the transitory delights of their children more than their own personal ambitions. The Hebrew barbarians overwhelmed the enlightened Moloch worshipers, and for a long time the light of civilization was extinguished in Palestine. The ultimate failure of the Hebrews to establish any lasting empire was, however, an ironic vindication of the Canaanites’ advanced belief system.
So do you really sacrifice children to idols?
Of course not. While infant sacrifice was an idea well suited to its time, it
would be considered unacceptable in this modern age. On the contrary, we take
very good care of children. Recognizing that you don’t have time to waste
with your family, we offer a wide variety of youth programs to keep your children
occupied and out of the way.
Christopher Bailey , a Lutheran, writes about everything from Arthurian mythology to wireless networking. He spent a decade on the Upward Path in corporate America, but now must be counted among the backsliders.
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
22.8—November/December 2009
Looking for Beauty & Justice 150 Years After Darwin’s Classic by Charles Taliaferro
31.5—September/October 2018
Errands into the Moral Wilderness
Forms of Christian Family Witness & Renewal by Allan C. Carlson
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
