It’s all part of the charade!
Friends, the visit by the Pope to the Middle East is over. What the result will be remains to be seen but given that the intention of the exercise was to bring about reconciliation between Muslims, Jews and Christians, the early impact seems minimal.
To his credit the Pope did condemn the concrete security wall built by Israel and did call for the creation of a Palestinian State and did call for an end to violence in the region and did condemn the Holocaust (how many times must it be condemned?) but nothing seems to have changed. The reason?
The most obvious one is the fundamental difference between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They are as alike as chalk and cheese and bricks. The Jews believe in Yahweh and don’t believe in Jesus or anything that is included in the New Testament. Anyone who is not a Jew is considered a gentile and both unworthy and inferior.
The Christians believe that Jesus was sent by God to save them, the same Jesus that was crucified at the urging of the Jews. Christians believe that only Jesus can ensure life ever after and that other religions are false and those who follow them miss out completely on the mysterious fantasy of heaven.
Muslims of course believe in Allah and that Mohammad was the prophet sent to ensure they got into heaven where many pleasure awaited them. They believe that non-Muslims are infidels! Given these vast differences and given that each of the religions is in competition with the others for converts and/or power and/or wealth, how can they reconcile their vastly conflicting theologies?
The answer is simple: they can’t!
So the Pope and his Pope mobile go back to the Vatican palace and the luxury therein. The Rabbis go on preaching about the exclusivity of the Jewish religion while the Islamists talk about 72 virgins waiting for their followers should they die.
And the truth is that there is not one word of truth in any of their fantastic claims but there is the potential for a Holy War in the Middle East that involves the use of nuclear weapons.
Some Christian folk, ones who are religiously deranged, are urging the nuclear conflagration to begin believing that they will go to heaven without dying! Some Muslim folk carry bombs on their person and blow themselves up believing that, instantaneously, they will achieve life for ever. And some Jewish folk believe that God has given them a mission to create a Greater Israel and has given them the green light to remove or destroy any group or nation who gets in their way.
Of course, the common problem here is religion and the childish superstitions which drive it. It seems that we who see it for the con that it is are going to be caught up in the Holocaust that is coming, one that could destroy billions of people.
I wonder if Holocaust memorials will be held for us, the tens of millions of atheist innocents caught up in a massive struggle between groups of crazed religious zealots?
I suspect not!
Atheist Innocents: I like the way those words look together, especially since usually we atheists are spoken and written about as if we instigate evil. Thanks David.
Reply
David G Reply:
May 16th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Therese, we with functioning brains who don’t fall for the fraud are growing in number. However, the number of fanatics are many and they will stop at nothing to fulfill their selfish, crazed agendas.
Inciting or indoctrinating people to be religious should be made a crime.
Reply
David the ol Pope is taking a risk with the reputation the Priests have
Reply
But Phill, he is in the missionary position!
Reply
Phill Reply:
May 17th, 2009 at 1:11 am
Can’t be too careful,Sex among the religious types leads to dancing.
Reply
David,
I really like what you write.
I have always respected atheists. They are peaceful, rational and friendly. They do not harbor hate or bad intentions towards others.
But isn’t there a third path between being religious zealot and atheist?
I think secularism could be another reasonable choice. You may believe in some sort of deity but you still look at people with different faiths as being equal and just as human as you are. They are not inferior to you just because they are different in terms of religion or race or whatever.
I did not pin any hope on the Pope’s visit. Even Palestinian Christians have felt betrayed by the Pope’s lack of sympathy for their suffering. On the other hand, Israeli war criminals have expressed their joy and comfort because the papal visit has helped them a great deal after their image had been tarnished following the horrible holocaust of Gaza.
Greetings.
Reply
For all the differences between religions they all have a few things in common. The biggest, of course, is the fantasy god they are selling people. Doesn’t really seem to matter who the god is, once the leaders have people beleiving in him they can pretty much convince their followers to do just about anything.
Voltaire wrote: Those who can make you beleive absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
That seems to sum things up, once someone beleives in a god they will do almost anything asked in his name no questions asked.
To any reasoning person this is a truely frightening type of behavior.
If only people would stop and think about what and why they beleive!
Reply
Thank you David
a very accurate description
The words by Prometheus could be mine as well – thanks
and Jeannie:
Voltaire wrote: Those who can make you beleive absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
Reply
Yes, Prometheus, there is a middle road and some find it beneficial to believe in some spiritual force but not the one dreamed up by religious institutions.
Jeannie and John, once fanatical belief takes over all rationality is gone forever. That is the danger!
Reply
Reminds me of a line in a song, ‘Are you getting what you paid for?..” Never have so many given so much for so little in return. Flat Earthers I call them. They are buying themselves social acceptance from power. A pat on the head. They could not bear to live outside the box. Oh my goodness, a person might find the brother and sisterhood of humanity outside. A person might find themselves, outside..
Reply
David G Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Grace, I think most people fear finding themselves. They might be disappointed!
Reply
“..most people fear finding themselves. They might be disappointed!”
David, that kind of thinking is part of toxic indoctrination that all of us have experienced to greater and lesser degrees. Kind of like a parent yelling at their kid telling the kid he is shit. The kid knows he is not shit – and yet the damage is done. A niggling self doubt can live in someone who has been ‘put in their place,’ but by whom? An adult who feels like a piece of shit? Boredom, impotence, disappointment are symptoms. They are flags to help us learn about our true selves. Experiencing and embracing boredom is a developmental stage for humans. It is important for children to be comfortable with quiet moments.. Kids that are entertained in some form constantly will suffer eventually.
I find your sentence provoking a resistance within me towards that mindset of fear. A person like that, I would like to make a medicine circle out of rocks, give the adult some magic mushrooms, and they can do anything they want as long as it is in the circle, until the trip is over. The safety of the circle and of course the mushrooms will allow the person the safety to find themselves and leave the circle with their self intact.
Peace.
We must believe there is something miraculous of which we are a part.
Reply
I take that back, we must not believe, we must KNOW that we are a part of the miraculous that is life.
Reply