Friday 25 July 2014

A rant about god-botherers...

Billions of people adhere to some sort of religion; there are countless creeds and sects, almost entirely mutually exclusive: one can not be both a Methodist and a Mormon, for example - and that's just within Christianity. By definition, therefore, almost everyone is wrong - if either the Muslims or the Catholics are right, then the other 85% of the global population is going to hell.

So far, so logical; here's the confusing bit. Each of these numerous groups asserts possession of incontrovertible evidence to support its faith. Again, if any one of them is right, everyone else is in trouble.

Here's the undeniable bit. Every society through history has developed a creation theory, invariably based on belief in a non-human superior being. (OK, almost invariably - there are some indigenous people of Vanuatu who worship HRH Prince Philip as a god.) Far from god creating man, sooner or later, man invents god.

I don't mind. It's not my concern if you believe that saving a dying baby with a blood transfusion is sinful, or that everyone should donate a tithe to buy the pastor a new sauna, or that the church candles have to be gold rather than base metal, or that the best person to advise on birth control is a lifelong celibate, or that it's wrong to eat a particular animal or even any animal at all. Believe what you want.

Here's the thing, though. When you assert that your evidence is so strong that it outweighs the evidence of any other creed, that's exactly what they also say about you and your evidence. There are only two possibilities: either most of you are wrong or all of you are wrong.

So, if you have the arrogance - and/or insecurity of whatever kind - to continue to insist that your particular minority is the only one that knows the truth, that's up to you.

But...

Don't you dare - don't you ever dare - to insist that anybody else should be forced to live their lives according to your particular superstitions, rather than their own.

And...

Don't you dare have the pompous, sanctimonious, self-righteous arrogance to insist that when you tyrannically oppress others by forcing your beliefs upon them, that you do so in the name of freedom.

OK, so you have an oral tradition or a book that was cobbled together several hundred years ago, from third-hand accounts of several hundred years earlier, and you want to believe in it. Go for it. Enjoy.

Just keep your stupidity to yourself. Those of us possessed of greater common sense simply aren't interested.

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Here we go again.

It seems that they want to chop open my left knee and fiddle around with its components.