RELIGION Part Three
by Nick Wormley
Who created God?
On the 6th Day, Man created God in his own image. Thus brought into existence, God could then create Heaven and promise us eternal life, reunited with our loved ones that it was so horribly unbearable to lose, in a beautiful spirit world. People like this idea and so they decide to believe it rock-solidly, blocking out all intelligent, rational thought, because it is so fantastically appealing.
[These stairs lead nowhere. Ed.]
Father Christmas et al
Father Christmas is fantastically appealing. So is Bambi. If we were talking about any other subject than religion everybody would agree with me. Fortunately today, science has rescued us from religions. It answers all of our questions much better than ancient folk stories, childish fables, imaginary legends and wishful longing.
Spirituality is a myth, a product of human nature. It’s all in the mind. Cats, dogs, cows and horses don’t think about spirituality because their brains haven’t developed (through natural, genetical evolution) the same capacity for thoughts, ideas and imagination as ours.
Natural Born Atheists
[The editor lives with Hermes and Apollo who are natural born atheists but with each making an exception for himself. Just two egotheists with mutually contradictory belief sets. Ed.]
Believers might point out that many millions of people are Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and followers of other religions, but widespread conviction does not prove that something is true or strengthen the case for any religion. For thousands of years everybody knew that the Earth is flat.
If anyone says: “Look at all the good, kind charitable work churches have done to help people – religion is a massive force for good and love in the World”, I might respond that in the 1930s, the Nazi government of Germany did many good things for the German people. They even brought in laws against cruelty to animals, particularly dogs.
All right, religion certainly isn’t all bad; it has done much good in the world. I don’t object to anybody being religious if it makes them happy and I really, honestly, don’t want to offend people. But I cannot ever forgive its past cruelty.
Christian Churches owe a colossal number of huge apologies to millions of people that they have intolerantly, cruelly, hurt, persecuted, punished and killed during the past 2,000 years. Even if they make such apologies and say “we have changed”, it is far too late.
For centuries religion held people back from learning about the world and the cosmos – it deliberately thwarted progress that might threaten its power and control over the population. Astronomer Galileo was sentenced to life-long house arrest by the Vatican for his scientific theories and observations, and lucky to get off so lightly. For hundreds of years the Roman Catholic hierarchy suppressed any such heretical ideas by agonizing medieval torture and executions. Modern Christians might say: “We don’t think or behave like that any more”, and I do believe they are sincere. But this is far too late as well.
Thou shalt not kill
One of the 10 Commandments says; “Thou shalt not kill”. The words are simple and crystal clear, with no caveats or clarifying footnotes underneath. Yet, churches and mosques throughout history have supported many wars, from the medieval Crusades to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and sent many chaplains to minister at battle fronts. They have encouraged millions of innocent people to be killed for reasons of human politics or ambition. Apologists might say the commandment only meant you must not commit murder, and it didn’t mean “justified” killing. Form your own opinion…
Until only 300 years ago, Christians murdered many old ladies who were maliciously accused by hateful gossips of being witches and casting harmful spells on people. Theoretically, the Catholic Church and the C of E still preserve a process of wording and prayers to cast out demons by exorcism.
Birth control and the death of women
Strict, petty-minded rules of the Catholic Church in particular, but also of other churches too, indoctrinating people to believe that birth control is sinful, shameful lust, have caused an astronomical degree of unnecessary poverty. Millions of families have suffered grinding hardship and deprivation because of this arrogant interference in people’s personal, private lives, inevitably leading them to have more children than they could financially support.
Religious opinions being enforced by national laws in some countries sends homosexual people to prison, even today. There are still places where they are executed. Modern census replies and research suggests that about one person in every 20 is, to some degree, homosexual. In a global population of 8 billion people, that is equivalent to the entire population of North America. I say this to make clear that we are not talking about tiny minorities suffering past and present persecution by religions.
The Taliban, and other extreme, anti-progressive, medievalist sects, such as some African cultures which demand painful and pointless female circumcision, continue, even now, to ruin millions of people’s lives.
There was a time when I would have been agonizingly tortured and put to death very painfully for writing this blasphemy, and it isn’t good enough to say: “Things are different now”.
The sooner all religions wither away and die out the better. They will be well replaced with good, caring, helping, responsible, progressive, secular philosophies and cultures.