|2-Religion... |1-I Can't Believe Its Not Bollocks! Another Corker By Phil!95/Neo I was up fairly early today (well thats before 12pm!) and had just finished my brekkie when "Riinngg!" went the door bell. Seeing how there was nobody else about I answered it and.. shit!.. I knew the score right away.. Saturday morning, two complete (well dressed, middle aged) strangers with suitcases greeted me with "Hello sir, and how are you today!" Sure enough, it was the Jehovas Witnesses. Bugger! Resisting the temptation to say, "Ah, you're those nutters that won't allow blood transfusions for dying children". I tried to be polite and pointed out that religion wasn't my bag. It didn't look like I was gonna get rid of em without accepting the 'Watchtower' so I did (grudgingly), and after some shite about the answer to unemployment being in the bible they were gone... Phew! Well I didn't have the heart to lob it straight in the bin (I'm a sentimental old fart) so I thought I'd have a squint for a larf! Christ on a bike! Talk about 'Brainwash for the weak minded!' In fact it got me so fired up, I've decided to do a nice article on why I reckon religion is all baloney. It seems to me that religious thinking came about to explain natural phenomena that couldn't be explaned at the time in any other way. EG: The seasons, thunder and lightning, creation of the Earth, life and death. Just look at any pre-civilized culture (Aborigines/Native Americans etc) and you can see that this is true. The only difference with the religion practiced in the modern world is that these theories have been refined and mixed through the spread of people and ideas across the globe. One or two of the more wacky / unpopular ideas have been conveniently dumped along the way, and common threads are now shared through the different religions EG: A single god. But today, I reckon religion is just an out-moded form of entertainment that now preys on captive audiences such as the old and desperate. It's backward looking and narrow minded, it tries to keep subjects it can't handle taboo. Sure, it has some noble sentiments but these are just common sense really. Surely, we don't still need the trappings of 'god' and spirits n shit? Religious freaks seem to be always banging on about the answer to the world's troubles can be found in the bible. Funny, it seems to me that wherever there is trouble in the world, religion is pretty high up on the list of causes! EG: Yugoslavia, N.Ireland, Middle East. In fact, the most dangerous people today seem to be the fanatical religious fundamentalists! Religion dictates how people should live their lives and even how they should dress! Its nuts! Its hardly likely that such an almighty god would give two shits about such trivial matters as growing a beard etc! Why be a sheep just because somebody 2000 years ago reckons its got god's rubber stamp in it! Be individual, be yourself!! If god can't handle it- tough shit, Eh? Preachers contantly witter on that the end of the world in nigh, citing conflicts in the Middle East, Earthquakes etc etc. Complete crap! You could say the same of any period in history. They say society is rotting cus we have turned our backs on god. Whats god got to with anything? Criminals turn their backs on any kind of acceptable behaviour. Just because you don't believe in god, it doesn't mean you go around beating up old grannies does it? Anyway, isn't it religion that allows a bunch of terrorist nutters to go around blowing innocent people up, getting forgiveness, only to go and do it again?? ^1^^30 |1- "Please don't beat me up |1- Mister non-believer..." I suppose in modern Britain there is some feeling of 'take it or leave it' about religion. Though the attitude of the churchy types that those who ignore it are misguided or are led by the devil/'worldly pursuits' etc really gets up my nose. If you've made a decision based on facts and your experience of life, why can't they just shut up and live with it?! Yup, religious guppies are still poking their interfering noses in to an annoying extent. We've got people dictating that kids should have a set amount of preaching every week. Why? I never understood a word of what was being rammed down my throat when I was a kid, it was just boring waffle. I just think its a waste of time, surely they could talk about something more relevant to today's world instead? And what about Sunday shopping? You can't buy tea bags, but you can buy a nail clipper and all that shit. Its absurd! Ok, so the Government actually tried to do summat popular and allow more shops to open, but we've still got the (quite vocal) religious types saying "Sunday is the lords day and should be kept special". Bullshit! Its a matter of free choice. Churchy freaks take note: You won't fill churches by closing shops on Sundays! One religious preoccupation that tickles me is the subject of death / reincarnation. Woo! Scarey! I'm gonna meet goddy-poos (not). Are these people so hung up that they can't imagine a time when they will not exist? Look, you didn't exist before you were born, and you didn't know you existed for some time after. You also don't know you exist when you're asleep (unless you're dreaming!). So being dead is like that, simple! Ok, its a nice thought, say, when someone dies, to imagine them going to 'a better place' and all that stuff, but the concept of Heaven is just a comfort for the living thats all! As for reincarnation, well, who particularly wants to go through that shit again anyway?! We had some other bumf pushed through the door a few weeks ago. This was really irritating! Evangelists I think? Anyway, it was doing its hell- fire and damnation bit, saying 'Jesus is coming, time is short, repent thy sins or you will perish. God will judge all and those that fail his test will be punished by death.' Now hold on there bald eagle, isn't this the same guy who's supposed to be all loving, all-forgiving etc? Odd, I never imagined god and jesus as mass murderers... Actually, one of the best things about living around 2000AD will be hearing the excuses these bible thumpers come up with when jesus doesn't show up. "Well, he's only just been born!" perchance.. Or.. "God is in no hurry."! Or even.. "He's here, and its David Icke!"... Religious theories have been proved wrong and made to look the nonsense they are time and time again, yet people still blindly cling to them. Why? I don't get it! EG: The Turin Shroud.. A much treasured and believed in proof of Jesus's existance. Carbon dated.. Fake from the Middle Ages!! How about Adam & Eve / The creation.. Err.. What about the dinosaurs guys?! I suppose the preachers would say "The bible isn't meant to be taken literally".. Most convenient! I bet they didn't say that before science proved em wrong! There's one thing that gets me most pissed off about religion - and thats how it tries to hold science (read: THE TRUTH) back. Take for example, Galileo who proved that the Earth orbits the Sun - Locked up and branded a heretic liar for PROVING a simple fact! We'd probably still be believing in a flat Earth at the centre of the universe today if they'd managed to stifle him completely! Oh well, It only took 'em 300 years to apologise to him! Preachers rant on that everyone should trust god and not question the world or come to their own conclusions about life. They slag off science and technology at every opportunity but they're soon ready to utilize them when it suits them - just look at all the religious shows on satelite TV in the USA and the vicars with their Bible-on-a-database type set ups! All mankind's greatest modern achievements have come about through science: The understanding of genetics, medicine, man on the moon, global communications. Meanwhile religious types keep on peddling their myths and superstitions that never got us anywhere. Religion will never allow us to explore the universe or find a cure for cancer. Science,one day will. I know where my faith lies.... Fin.