Hi David f,

Isn't it fun to flog the past ? Perhaps we should dig up Henry VIII and kick his bones all over the cemetery ? That'll show 'em.

Yes, superstition is a curse in the 21st century: let's you and me both condemn every beheading and rape and enslaving we come across. Are you with me ?

Hi Daffy,

I kicked my toe on a lounge chair the other day. Yes, there is 'reality' and it bloody hurt. And my 'objective truth' still hurts.

Let's move on. There is religion, and there's reason, science, as near to truth as we can get. Let people believe what they like, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else. After all, they have a purpose too, to make you and me feel superior.

Yes, let's both condemn all idiotic religions, especially those that have no problem condoning the most barbaric actions in the name of their made-up god. Those religions which exhort us to love one another even if we are not believers or from the same ethnic group, are, by comparison, a quantum leap forward. Isn't that so ?

Cheers,

Joe

Dear Peter,

"The seeing through of religion has been a profound movement that cannot be simply dismissed."

It CAN be dismissed and if you are a Christian, then Jesus has shown you the way:

"If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."

[Matthew 5:29-30]

So if your mind causes you to stumble - then stop thinking, or better count sheep; and if your ear makes you listen to Feuerbach et al. then cut it off or at least fill it with wax.

Religion is not dead, it's your faith that has weakened.
You may have hit rock bottom personally as we all do at times, so some time-off in a monastery is in order, away from books and intellectual pursuits. Doing physical work and constantly chanting to God can do wonders to replenish your soul.

Dear Loudmouth,

You wrote: “Yes, let's both condemn all idiotic religions, especially those that have no problem condoning the most barbaric actions in the name of their made-up god. Those religions which exhort us to love one another even if we are not believers or from the same ethnic group, are, by comparison, a quantum leap forward. Isn't that so ?”

A religion that has no problem condoning the most barbaric actions in the name of their made-up god may also exhort us to love one another even if we are not believers or from the same ethnic group. Religions are not consistent within themselves.

Thank you David F for your response,

Can you cite any religion that does that ? Which 'condones the most barbaric actions in the name of their made-up god' AND 'exhorts us to love one another even if we are not believers or from the same ethnic group' ?

As an atheist, I'm no expert on religions, it all seems so unnecessary to me. Desirable (who wouldn't want to live forever, and fall over themselves licking every orifice of a god who could guarantee them that) but simply not likely.

But, down here on the ground, back on Earth, there aren't many religions which make room for the Good Samaritan, someone who helps someone else from a different ethnic group, race or language group, or different religion.

I'll agree that Christians don't often abide by this direction, but it's there, and I don't think that it's in any other body of religious dictums. Buddhism ? Maybe. Hinduism ? No, not even for their own who are afflicted, that's just their karma. Islam ? You're kidding :) it must be one of the most parochial, narrow, self-focussed, up-itself, stuff any non-believers, religions ever conceived by man.

But thanks anyway for raising the issue.

Joe

David f will always come across contradictory as he has no moral base to draw upon. Certainly people who claim order came from chaos and that we evolved from apes show they are not fit to make any useful moral judgements.

G'day Runner,

Many of us have not the slightest problem in believing that we come from the same ancestors that apes and monkeys have, it's not an issue any more. Just look at us. I always thought my grandfather looked like a gorilla [god, that sounds horrible, but I really loved him], and always tear up when I see a gorilla on TV. I love gorillas.

It shouldn't be any real problem for you - your god has surely lived for billions of years - forever, actually - so in all that time, from your point of view, he's dabbled with amoeba, fish, mosquitoes, dinosaurs, apes and eventually - well, why not, give it a go ? - he's come up with us.

He or she (or it) is probably not all that happy with what has evolved from then onwards, but he's stuck with it. It's up to us to show him/her/it that it wasn't a complete waste of time: that we CAN BE decent, loving, sharing beings, capable of amazing sacrifices for our fellow human beings.

Good on you, Runner, keep going !

Joe