WARNING: ANGRY RANT BELOW, PROCEED WITH CAUTION
I am not sure wether it is because of recent horrific events (the Oslo bombing/shooting) or if I've just been watching too many documentaries, but I've started to read Richard Dawkins The God Delusion for the third time.
It might be completely missing the point to say this, but I consider this book my Bible. If ever someone was to refute the idea that I was choosing to lead my life free of supernatural faith then I would calmly refer to it as some sort of manual. 'How to be a person of reason and why religion has caused more harm then good' would have been a more appropriate title for Dawkins.
This book divides me and not in the sense you're probably expecting. It doesn't make me question wether I believe in a omnipotent God, or that Jesus rose from the dead, it only solidifies the fact that in all honestly the idea of him just does not interest me and I'm not sure that it ever has. What rips me apart whilst reading this is that at one end of the spectrum it delights me so much to be reading from someone who is so passionate and outspoken about the horrible things that religion encompasses, whilst it also angers me at the way in which people in this world will use religion as a scapegoat.
Don't get me wrong, I have total respect for those who wish to be religious- not matter WHAT religion. My problem is with the use of religion to get away with things like religious holy wars, the oppression of women, discrimination against homosexuals and pro life preachers who declare that not even those who are victim of rape can terminate a pregnancy.
Funnily enough most of these movements are run by men, with most religions being thousands of years old in Gods eye us women must be just tools for which we can (lawfully) reproduce. An all loving, all forgiving God in my opinion would allow all humans to love each other, despite their sexual orientation and have all people equal, despite their sex!
One thing that bothers me most is the political hold that religious organisations have in some countries, namely America. The idea that evangelical christians constitute one third of the total voting population in the USA is frightening to say the least. Yet the US has more states that have legalised gay marriage than our own country. Perhaps electing batshit politicians like Bob Katter kind of trump the millions of batshit Americans?
Now, not all religion is bad, and most of the things I am pointing out in this blog(rant) are but mere generalisations about certain places in which these religions practice. I d not believe that ALL christians, or any other religion are wholly evil, with the exception of maybe Scientology and Hillsong. Both 'churches' use the idea of religion as a facade because let's face it, they are not Church's but CORPORATIONS, designed to benefit from the governments tax breaks and created to reproduce thousands of God fearing, money throwing idiots that go out into the world and preach their bullshit onto reasonable people like ourselves.
I've always held the idea that if religion brings happiness to those in need then it can't really be that bad. And the point is that it shouldn't, but like with every structure in human kind there lies a source of power for which someone will abuse. Unfortunately religion has been abused for many thousands of years, and it has aimed it's sword at a many innocent, loving people to which it promised protection. If I believed in the 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' as Dawkins likes to put it, then you would think I was crazy and probably put me into some kind of institution. But because your belief has been carried by hundreds of millions of others for millennia then that's ok, doesn't matter that the idea of it is completely insane itself or that you have absolutely NO WAY of proving it.
I don't feel a need to believe in any kind of supernatural being. I'm so content with looking out my window and marvelling at the absolute magic of this world, the idea that we have evolved from some big bang, that our universe is still making itself even bigger every second, that our chances of actually surviving to this point in time absolutely blows my mind. We are but a speck of dust in this huge universe, why can't we be content with the fact that we are here and that nature is far more complex than any kind of 'God' could dream of.
In the words of Douglas Adams:
"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
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