I do not believe in "god." I
am an American and that is my right.
It should be obvious to any adult with a working
brain that gods - all gods and goddesses - are
obvious mythology, invented by ignorant and superstitious
men in a time before the dawn of knowledge.
Almost everyone I know still claims to believe in "god".
However, most retain only a vague deism
- satisfying the de facto minimum requirment
- and could not really be called religious.
Most of them are just nice folks who
don't think or talk about religion very much, let
alone try to shove it down anyone's throat. Essentially,
they are functional atheists. I do not begrudge them
their vestigial beliefs - it is understandable
how they got 'em and why they still have
'em. I think they represent the majority who would
never cause anyone pain over privately held beliefs.
Mostly it never comes up because, in the common,
secular affairs of regular folks, religion is not
only inappropriate, it is unwelcome, and it is an
entirely unnecessary source of friction and ill will.
Things just run smoother without having to constantly
accommodate some believer's prayer ritual. Few people
really enjoy or appreciate public proselytizing.
Privately held beliefs of individuals
are of no consequence to me.
However, true to form, the worst elements
of organized superstition continually try to impose
their religion in inappropriate venues; they continually
try to supplant the science of biological evolution
with the ridiculous biblical creationism fairy
tale; they continually attempt to insinuate ritual
prayer into public secular events despite legal prohibitions;
they insist that this is a "xian nation" and
strive in many ways towards theocracy; they even insist
that non-believers should not even be considered as
citizens; they insist that biblical commandments be
posted in secular courts of law and in government buildings;
they insist that women should be subservient captive
breeders. I could go on, but let it suffice to say
that somewhere in there their beliefs ceased to be
privately held opinion and became of some concern to
everyone.
I strongly support the Constitution
of the United States.
I think the Establishment Clause of the first Amendment is the
smartest thing the Founding Fathers did. Everyone is free to believe
any dumbass thing that they want as long as they agree not to force
it upon others. In return, they enjoy protection from the government
and from any other religions overpowering them. What could possibly
be fairer than that? Throw in a completely free ride on our tax dollars
and an utter lack of courage by anyone in government to reign in their
brazen charlatanry and their flagrantly illegal political entanglements and
It is WAY beyond fair. However, given the violent and privileged past of established
religion, and the golden days when they controlled power and wealth,
fair is a serious demotion for them. And they don't like it. Given
that past, religion is poorly served by the Constitution's prohibition
against Establishment. It doesn't appear to me that they consider
the matter settled.
I consider religion to be a cancer
on humanity.
It is a malignancy that not only causes great harm, but acts to
defeat the possibility of rational solutions. It is the antithesis of reason
and acts as a catalyst which brings out the worst in humans. It serves as
a framework which allows, even sanctions, horrible abuses of fellow humans.
While posing falsely as the source of all morality, religion provides justifications
for murder, mayhem, hatred and intolerance. While posing falsely as the source
of life, love and compassion, religion diminishes human worth and promotes
the imagined desires and proclamations of clearly mythological beings above
the welfare of fellow humans, rendering any rational and coherent morality
impossible.
Religion is both the result of, and a large contributor
to, a dark and violent history.
The reason that xianity holds so much
sway over all our lives is simple: for the greater
part of the last 2000 years it has been highly lethal
to be in disagreement with the xian cult. If I had
a blank check to oppress, kill, and torture anyone
I wanted, I'll bet I could get grown men to tearfully
expound at length about their undying love for the
fucking tooth fairy. Take a continent full of miserable,
illiterate, ignorant and superstitious peasants, living
in the worst kind of squalor, hopelessness, and despair,
living in constant fear of painful death, and completely
unacquainted with joy for a couple of thousand years,
and you have a lot of people for whom the concepts
of a "savior " and "heaven" might
hold a certain amount of attraction. Ignorance
and superstition, along with fear and oppression,
are the fertile ground in which religion flourishes.
They are also religion's legacy. That and a shitload
of dead people. |