By Ex-Pastor Dan ~
So, it’s happened again. In Paris, a group of religious fanatics tried to prove that their God is better than your god, or any other god for that matter. Not only better, but in their warped minds; bigger, stronger, more holy – indeed unique and exclusive! Exclusive of all other deities, because alas, only Allah exists - and Muhammad is His prophet. Therefore, permitting… nay! commanding His sold-out, mindless, martyr-bound zealots to proclaim their “gospel of peace” [sic] to the heathen masses of unsuspecting Parisian partiers. This message was delivered with literal explosive force, granting these Muslim evangelists instant passage to the waiting bosoms of 40 virgin maidens. Their ticket to paradise, bought and paid for (like another very familiar religion) with BLOOD!
All day I have had an old TV advertisement jingle running through my head:
In my mind the word dog kept switching to “god” and the words “he gets Kennel RationTM” kept transposing to “he wrote the Revelation.”
I know, it’s kind of corny, but that’s the way my mind works, and isn’t that really the attitude behind the phrase that is always screamed right before a fundamentalist, Muslim suicide bomber detonates? “ALLAH AKBAR!” which translates: “Allah is the Greatest!” Allah is better than your god. Allah is Bigger than your god. Indeed, Allah is the only true God. How do they know this, because it is revealed in their Holy book. A revelation that they are willing to joyfully die for!
This is scary stuff! I know it sure scares the shit out of me! Martyrdom…YIKES! As “sold out” as I was as a young Christian, I always carried guilt and a little bit of shame because I knew I could never die for my faith. Oh, we would talk about it and even tell Jesus that we were willing, but I knew in my heart of hearts - that was a lie. To get to that point in your dedication, to anything, you must shun reality and walk over into the land of the mentally deluded and slightly (if not totally) insane. And what could be so persuasive as to coerce someone to be willing to give up their very life for a cause; or, worse yet, to take someone else’s life because of a cause? What indeed?
As Blaise Pascal so insightfully puts it:
Ah Yes! Religious conviction – My God’s Bigger than Your god. My religion’s better than yours. My God’s better cause He wrote the Revelation – My God’s better than yours!
How did the world get to this place? Why, in the 21st Century, are we still fighting to the death over misguided philosophies about whose god is better? Why has reality and fact-based science been replaced with make-believe delusions and faith, leaving billions in a state of willful ignorance and self-induced insanity?
WHY, WHY, WHY???
Well, it’s not God’s fault!
Why, in the 21st Century, are we still fighting to the death over misguided philosophies about whose god is better?God, even if he/she/it did exist, would certainly not be picking sides and pitting some of Its creation against other created beings. No! Man has created God in his own image and imbued Him with human traits. That’s why the Bible talks about a God who has emotions; a God who indeed does pick sides and commands His subjects to carry out heinous acts against each other. This God of the Revelation is one sick mutha fucka! And the religions that have spawned from these man-authored “holy books” are totally fucked as well! Amen! Yes, as Christopher Hitchens so insightfully proclaimed – RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING! What a sad, sad statement….sad but true.
Notice, Hitch didn’t say, “God Poisons Everything.” He said RELIGION poisons everything. It’s man’s interpretation of God, and man’s ever present need to feel like he has joined the right club; picked the favorite team; pledged membership to the most prestigious fraternity; found true salvation through the “ONLY SON OF GOD” – that is what has created this curse upon the human race; this curse called Religion. Religion is manmade! God, on the other hand, if He/She/It does exist, is Godmade.
I would be OK with a Godmade god. It’s the manmade gods that get the world into trouble. Manmade gods demand humans to pick sides and fight to the death. Manmade gods demand BLOOD! Blood, blood and more blood - the more blood the better! As the book of Hebrews says: “And without the spilling of Blood, there is NO Forgiveness.” Amen & Hallelujah! Oh how I used to love to quote that scripture!
Holy shit! If there were a God that created the universe, a universe that eventually generated human beings, would He/She/ It really be; jealous, petty, angry, malicious, capricious, impetuous, murderous and angry? I think not! If God had a son and sent him to earth with a heavenly message, would it be
Or, would he send a black man to an L.A. ghetto in 1992 with a more inspiring message of peace and goodwill:
Although I appreciate Rodney’s heartfelt plea a lot more than Jesus’ warmongering commission, I’m pretty sure that neither was sent from God.
So what is it that I’m trying to say? Is there any lesson we can learn from these heinous acts that continue to take place around the world? Or do we just get more jaded in our responses; more surfeit in our attitudes, lost in a sea of bitterness and anger?
I’m not sure what the answer is, but I am very sure where we will NOT find the answer, and that is in Religion - unless you consider Humanism a religion. A true humanism that needs no gods and requires no holy book; no revelations other than the ones that spring forth from other human minds when they are inspired by human kindness, courage, empathy and love - traits we are born with and emotions that require no revelations from a vindictive and jealous God - a human “morality” that has evolved naturally in the human race and needs no teacher.
Can we get there from here? I don’t think that I will see it in my lifetime, but if mankind is to survive, we humans had better get it figured out pretty soon, because the weapons that the armies of God now possess are beyond swords and spears. There will be no beating of atomic bombs into plowshares or ricin gas into pruning hooks! As long as religion continues to preach a God of favoritism and wonton jealousy, mankind will continue to take up arms and commit unspeakable acts upon each other just to appease their blood-famished warlord.
I leave you with the provocative words of Steven Weinberg:
I bid you peace and a sound mind.
XPD
All day I have had an old TV advertisement jingle running through my head:
“My dog’s better than your dog, my dog’s better than yours. My dog’s better cause he gets Kennel RationTM, my dog’s better than yours. My dog’s Bigger than your dog, my dog’s Bigger than yours……etc., etc.”
In my mind the word dog kept switching to “god” and the words “he gets Kennel RationTM” kept transposing to “he wrote the Revelation.”
I know, it’s kind of corny, but that’s the way my mind works, and isn’t that really the attitude behind the phrase that is always screamed right before a fundamentalist, Muslim suicide bomber detonates? “ALLAH AKBAR!” which translates: “Allah is the Greatest!” Allah is better than your god. Allah is Bigger than your god. Indeed, Allah is the only true God. How do they know this, because it is revealed in their Holy book. A revelation that they are willing to joyfully die for!
This is scary stuff! I know it sure scares the shit out of me! Martyrdom…YIKES! As “sold out” as I was as a young Christian, I always carried guilt and a little bit of shame because I knew I could never die for my faith. Oh, we would talk about it and even tell Jesus that we were willing, but I knew in my heart of hearts - that was a lie. To get to that point in your dedication, to anything, you must shun reality and walk over into the land of the mentally deluded and slightly (if not totally) insane. And what could be so persuasive as to coerce someone to be willing to give up their very life for a cause; or, worse yet, to take someone else’s life because of a cause? What indeed?
As Blaise Pascal so insightfully puts it:
“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”
Ah Yes! Religious conviction – My God’s Bigger than Your god. My religion’s better than yours. My God’s better cause He wrote the Revelation – My God’s better than yours!
How did the world get to this place? Why, in the 21st Century, are we still fighting to the death over misguided philosophies about whose god is better? Why has reality and fact-based science been replaced with make-believe delusions and faith, leaving billions in a state of willful ignorance and self-induced insanity?
WHY, WHY, WHY???
Well, it’s not God’s fault!
Why, in the 21st Century, are we still fighting to the death over misguided philosophies about whose god is better?God, even if he/she/it did exist, would certainly not be picking sides and pitting some of Its creation against other created beings. No! Man has created God in his own image and imbued Him with human traits. That’s why the Bible talks about a God who has emotions; a God who indeed does pick sides and commands His subjects to carry out heinous acts against each other. This God of the Revelation is one sick mutha fucka! And the religions that have spawned from these man-authored “holy books” are totally fucked as well! Amen! Yes, as Christopher Hitchens so insightfully proclaimed – RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING! What a sad, sad statement….sad but true.
Notice, Hitch didn’t say, “God Poisons Everything.” He said RELIGION poisons everything. It’s man’s interpretation of God, and man’s ever present need to feel like he has joined the right club; picked the favorite team; pledged membership to the most prestigious fraternity; found true salvation through the “ONLY SON OF GOD” – that is what has created this curse upon the human race; this curse called Religion. Religion is manmade! God, on the other hand, if He/She/It does exist, is Godmade.
I would be OK with a Godmade god. It’s the manmade gods that get the world into trouble. Manmade gods demand humans to pick sides and fight to the death. Manmade gods demand BLOOD! Blood, blood and more blood - the more blood the better! As the book of Hebrews says: “And without the spilling of Blood, there is NO Forgiveness.” Amen & Hallelujah! Oh how I used to love to quote that scripture!
Holy shit! If there were a God that created the universe, a universe that eventually generated human beings, would He/She/ It really be; jealous, petty, angry, malicious, capricious, impetuous, murderous and angry? I think not! If God had a son and sent him to earth with a heavenly message, would it be
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” ~Jesus Christ~.
Or, would he send a black man to an L.A. ghetto in 1992 with a more inspiring message of peace and goodwill:
“Can’t we all just get along?” ~Rodney King~
Although I appreciate Rodney’s heartfelt plea a lot more than Jesus’ warmongering commission, I’m pretty sure that neither was sent from God.
So what is it that I’m trying to say? Is there any lesson we can learn from these heinous acts that continue to take place around the world? Or do we just get more jaded in our responses; more surfeit in our attitudes, lost in a sea of bitterness and anger?
I’m not sure what the answer is, but I am very sure where we will NOT find the answer, and that is in Religion - unless you consider Humanism a religion. A true humanism that needs no gods and requires no holy book; no revelations other than the ones that spring forth from other human minds when they are inspired by human kindness, courage, empathy and love - traits we are born with and emotions that require no revelations from a vindictive and jealous God - a human “morality” that has evolved naturally in the human race and needs no teacher.
Can we get there from here? I don’t think that I will see it in my lifetime, but if mankind is to survive, we humans had better get it figured out pretty soon, because the weapons that the armies of God now possess are beyond swords and spears. There will be no beating of atomic bombs into plowshares or ricin gas into pruning hooks! As long as religion continues to preach a God of favoritism and wonton jealousy, mankind will continue to take up arms and commit unspeakable acts upon each other just to appease their blood-famished warlord.
I leave you with the provocative words of Steven Weinberg:
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes RELIGION!”
I bid you peace and a sound mind.
XPD
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