March 31, 2013 6:24 AM

Happy Easter...you'll have to pardon me for abstaining from the festivities

[S]ix thousand years ago, a talking snake convinced a naked hippie chick to munch on an apple. She then convinced her naked hippie dude to munch on it too, and the space daddy was like totally pissed off at both of them, but mainly the naked hippie chick.

It isn’t even a good fairy tale.

I understand that today is an important religious holiday for many, and I mean to respect that, even though I don’t believe in God. Faith and spirituality can be a powerful and positive force when employed for the right reasons. I hope that y’all will focus on exactly that today…because tomorrow will once again find the resumption of killing and oppressing one another over which imaginary friend is real and legitimate.

Part of the reason I disdain organized religion is because of the ways that humans have found to fold, spindle, and mutilate it to their advantage. The teachings are far less important than being able to use your religious “faith” as a means of maintaining social control. It’s not about how we can make the world a better place. It’s about how the faithful (whether Christian, Muslim, or Jew) can use the tenets of their religion to justify their lust for power and dominion over others. Does the Quran REALLY say that women are property? Does the Bible REALLY provide justification for bombombing abortion clinics and passing unconstitutional laws to limits a woman’s right to a safe, LEGAL (and hopefully rare) abortion? Does the Torah REALLY justify walling Palestinians off into ghettos and treating them like animals? And how corrupt and venal is it that the Vaticenjoys dominion over millions of Catholics?

Humanity spends more time oppressing and destroying itself over the issue of who has the correct imaginary friend than could possibly be justified by any religion. I understand the concept, and at their most basic, religions can reasonably be described as a good thing. The tenets of most religions advocate for peace, justice, and caring for the least among us. The problems begin when the fearful, the ignorant, and the narrow-minded get involved and decide to use religion as a means to maintain social control and political dominion over the masses. Then you have what religion has stood for throughout human history: an excuse to extinguish large numbers of those who refuse to recognize the superiority of your imaginary friend.

If your faith is what leads you to celebrate Easter, more power to you. I hope that your day will be meaningful and enjoyable. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t share in the revelry. I’ve seen firsthand too much death and destruction done in the name of religion to want any part of that.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on March 31, 2013 6:24 AM.

And you wonder why I don't believe in God? was the previous entry in this blog.

Happy Easter.... is the next entry in this blog.

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