Blog

by John Dillon

What I mean by god

What I mean by god is that imaginary, supernatural being who is credited with having created the universe, as well as working miracles and other dubious conjuring tricks through the medium of his salesperson on Earth, Jesus. He turned water into wine, restored sight to the visually impaired, allowed the lame to walk again, and fed a multitude from an armful of bread and fish, not to mention walking on water. So, pretty damned impressive, huh? I know this because I was forced to listen to such bilge every day of my school life in compulsory Christian assemblies and religious education lessons. But what is beyond maddening is that organizations that promulgate this balderdash are increasingly allowed to take over our educational institutions and insinuate, nay impose, their fantastical mythology on developing minds through the academisation process.

What is taught in schools

I concede that these stories might have had some entertainment value for the illiterate masses of biblical times, but unfortunately many schools today try every trick in the book to persuade youngsters that they should swallow wholesale the tropes contained therein: that if you believe you might get a miracle cure for life’s ills, and that if you behave you’ll be rewarded by a place in a fantasy paradise called heaven. However, if you don’t comply, beware, hellfire and damnation will be yours for eternity, no hope of redemption. This stultifying, misleading and proselytizing process is the very antithesis of education.

What schools should teach

Education should be focused on teaching, to the very best of our knowledge, what is true and honest about the world, how to live in it as successfully as we can without impinging on the freedoms and rights of others, to respect and tolerate individuality and difference, to exercise critical thinking, and in all circumstances to refute myth, superstition, ignorance and bigotry, the latter four as far as I can tell, being the end result of biblical teachings.

Indoctrination: A Crime Against Humanity?

I concede that concepts such as truth and honesty, rights and responsibilities, and what it is to know, are debatable matters, but to pretend that something written two thousand years ago is still fit for informing such a task is not only misleading, but immoral. The infiltration of religion into our education system has a sinister intent: it is to recruit the young to a particular theistic world view and to convince them to adhere to a simplistic and rigid set of principles aimed at creating a compliant and deferential society. Such a confining and conformist ideology needs to be challenged and refuted at ever opportunity.

I guess, on this site, you might say that I’m preaching to the converted, but at least my intention is not to fool anyone which is more than can be said for religion.