By Simplex Munditiis ~ Firstly let us ignore the laughable irony and hypocrisy of being told that a loving and let's not forget, omniscient God that would curse the entire human race for two peoples' mistake, then later kill most of that race, amongst a myriad of, shall we say, 'morally questionable' events such as the raping of virgins, is somehow the fount of all morality. Image by Bart van Damme via Flickr China. Egypt. India. The Incan Empire. The Aztec Empire. The Native American tribes. The Inuits. The African tribes. What is one thing all these societies have in common? They all have laws and rules against murder and theft amongst others. None of those societies developed these laws after Christianity spread to their lands, they had these laws for centuries before. Surely these heathens that do not know God and all his morality would have no laws banning what, by some odd coincidence, is also banned by the Ten Commandments ? God is not the fountain of all m...

by Simplex Munditiis -- R ecently I discovered a song named ' Kyrie Eleison Image by Dave Hamster via Flickr ' by Divna Ljubojevic . Though I am no longer religious, I still do enjoy listening to religious music, especially Roman Catholic or Orthodox chants which are arguably even more beautiful now that I am actually listening to the song and not too busy praying at the same time. But listening to the song I was struck by the realization brought about by the words ' Kyrie eleison '. For those who don't know, Kyrie eleison is Greek for 'Lord have mercy' and forms part of a prayer in Eastern Orthodox Christianity . I was suddenly struck by the question, why do these words even exist? If God is a loving and kind father who seeks only the best for us, then why do the words, much less an entire prayer, that call upon him to have mercy exist? Why should a loving God need to be pleaded for mercy? If God is truly loving then he will not hurt us, no? If all p...

By Simplex Munditiis -- Respect - noun; esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability: e.g. 'I have great respect for her judgement.' Image by grantlairdjr via Flickr T here is a great deal of talk nowadays about 'respecting' this and 'respecting' that. We are told that we must 'respect' religion, even when we disagree with it. But why? Why must we respect something that is built upon dividing the human race into 'believers' and 'non-believers'? Why must we respect something that is so flawed at its core that it has caused some of the greatest conflicts in history? I find we are constantly told that we must respect a person's beliefs; but a Marxist believes in communism, and I hardly need say how those beliefs are so often attacked, just as a Anarchists believes in anarchy...