Friday, September 22, 2006

In Gods name...


September 22, 2006

Indonesian Executions Lead to Violence

Filed at 6:45 a.m. ET

Published: September 22, 2006
PALU, Indonesia (AP) -- Christian mobs torched cars, blockaded roads and looted Muslim-owned shops in violence touched off by Friday's executions of three Roman Catholics convicted of instigating attacks on Muslims.

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I actually saw this article on Andy's Last Debate and was so infuriated that I had to actually post my own commentary.

Oh, the hypocrisy that has been made of religions and this notion of justice and god's love. Andy had titled his post "Do Unto Others". Whether he was quoting the Bible, where it is probably most well-known for, I am not clear. However, it should be noted that very similar phrases appear in many Ancient texts and/or dialogues, from Socrates to Confucious to the Koran and Talmud. My point is that if all these religions and philosophers have spouted similar ideas of good deeds and of neighbourly love, where then, are the good deeds and neighbourly love?

"Where's the Beef" I ask?

A little mathematical equation pops in my head, everytime something like this happens:

Bible(Human inability to think for themselves) + Koran(Human inability to think for themselves) = stupidity

This is what happens, when you take a human construct like the Bible/Koran/whatever, that speaks of doing good deeds in one text, then of "smiting" in others, and the human need to define themselves by something other than their own brain. Again, the hypocrisy.

"Do Unto others" indeed. Maybe they are all masochists, seeking sexual pleasure in their annihilation. This simply solidifies the belief that religion, rather than being an instrument of love and spiritual growth, has been bastardised into an instrument for personal agendas.

"In the name of Allah"
"In God we Trust."
"God Bless America"
"God will protect us..."

Every damned person and every damned leader is calling god to their side, and each believes that they will prevail with god's power and their blind faith. If this wasn't a sign that god has a cruel sense of humour, nothing does.

I apologise, if this offends the sensibilities of religious folk, but in all honesty, all this "in the name of "put name of god here" bullcrap offends my sensibilities as a human being.

Everyone seems to be invoking god's name as the reason for their crusades. It is infantile and disgusting. Personal responsibility has been shirked under god's protection, so that leaders and individuals will have a clearer conscience for the murder or persecution of others who do not follow their faith.

So people, do your god a favour and leave him/her alone. I'm pretty sure s/he has better things to do, like creating a star than dealing with your stupidity and intolerance.

Amen.

11 comments:

St. Dickeybird said...

It's this type of hypocrisy that scares a lot of people away from religion, myself included.

Snooze said...

I am constantly inspired by people who try to help and live by their faith, and disgusted by the hypocrites you note, who cite religion for their own agendas.

tornwordo said...

People nourishing their spiritual side doesn't bother me. As long as it's not blind faith in some dogma and drawn from their own personal experience.

You don't have to believe in god to be a kind and loving person.

There is no fiery lake of damnation, nor a gaggle of virgins awaiting your arrival.

Jess said...

It always amazes me when people commit acts of violence in the name of God. What's wrong with this picture? "He's a loving God, but He wants us to kill you." Ummm... does something not make sense here?

My favorites are the radical Christians. Christ was all about love and tolerance. How can anyone possibly say they're Christian and commit such acts?

Perry Neeham said...

I used to think of religion as harmless nonsense. Although none of the world's religions can be proven to be true, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? But I have since realised that my head was in the sand.

Faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. It gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness, it gives them false courage to kill themselves, it encourages hatred of others (absolving the 'believers' from normal morality so 'unbelievers' can be killed too) and at the same time all religions declare themselves immune from criticism.

Nearly 2,000 years after a Judean carpenter failed to make it to his 34th birthday I think we can do better than honour what is merely inherited tradition. Grow up people!!!

dantallion said...

Couldn't have expressed this better myself. These bastards use religion to lend credibility to their cause, and stir up enough hatred so as to 'rally the troops'. There is nothing even remotely religious about what they're doing.

Andy said...

Well, the problem is not with Christianity, the problem is with people who call themselves Christians who apparently haven't read the Bible. One of the few things that Jesus was absolutely unambiguous about is "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." There is simply no Scriptural justification for a violent response to anything. Think of the crucifixion, the ultimate blasphemy: people literally beat and spit on the body of God himself, and what was his response? "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." If even the greatest sacrilege in the history of the world can be forgiven, who are we to hold grudges and pursue vengeance? It's appalling.

Polt said...

You spelled this out so well, it's what I've been thinking myself. Very nicely done.

HUGS and stuff...

Anonymous said...

beautifully stated epi! *bravo!* i agree with you entirely. its infuriating!

Anonymous said...

I've thought of this numerous times.
1 How much land would be free if temples, mosques and churches disappeared?

2 How much money would be back the pockets of the people if they'd never have donated to a church?

3 How much more calm and non judgemental would the world be if religion was totally gone from the earth?

4 How much truth would be revealed if religion hadn't have washed the lies of the past away and revised our human history?

just a thought,
kb

Anonymous said...

We have quite an epidemic of "God told me to do it" here with the current administration. I think they all need to be involuntarily institutionalized for paranoid schizophrenia, or at least manic delusional disorder.