Posted by panchmaster from host-148-244-221-138.block.alestra.net.mx (148.244.221.138) on Monday, November 11, 2002 at 3:39PM :
It must be extremely gratifying to believe you have special access to the ear of god...that he talks to you in preference to anyone who doesn't believe in him...or better yet, that out of several millions who profess to believe in him...he finds only you and your friends to be his nearest and dearest.
Imagine if someone such as Robert DeNiro only spoke to you. Imagine he called only on you to discuss his dearest beliefs and plans for his career...imagine that he called you night and day to see how you were, how the kids were minding their manners...imagine if he wept at every bad turn in your life, rejoiced at every bit of good luck. Imagine also that he made all his resources available to you...to keep you believing in him and worshipping him. Now...wouldn't that go to your head a little? If not DeNiro then substitute your own favorite "god"...anyone you worship or would like to be favored by above all else.
Pretty heady stuff. You couldn't help but see yourself as quite the person...someone favored above all others...and who are you to argue with DeNiro...let alone the god of all creation? And if you received their "Power of Attorney"...if you were authorized to speak on their behalf...to interpret their words when they were unavailable...to speak for them...to speak in their name...to sign contracts and death warrants...wouldn't it unhinge most anyone?
If a stranger in the street urges you to committ murder, it's one thing. But if the god of the universe absolves you if you committ mass murder with sophisticated weaponry...what's to stop you? In fact...you would be remiss if you didn't do as you were expected to do...to save the honor or religion of that god. It was Yahweh who commanded the faint hearted Jew to go back and kill every woman and child...the human wanted to show mercy...the divine wouldn't hear of it. What are these stories if not an exhortation to commit the murders you secretly want to anyway, even against your better judgement and humanity...because your god insists he knows best?
And which god? That's the corker in this nonsense. There are more gods than you can squeeze into a Volkswagon. Even in the case of the same god you have his, and it is always a HIS...followers gleefully chopping each other up...to satisfy the same HIM. Who is kidding whom? I mean even if we accept the notion that people must have some spiritual carnival in their lives...can't we all agree to stop short of demanding that any god condones murder in his name? Can't we agree that the minute anyone kills someone and brings god into the act as blessing the guns or the people who did the killing...that the god is suspended, or the people who use his name in these crimes are banished from his presence forever...no absolution, no "gee I'm sorry"?
That the Roman Empire turned Christian tells you all you need to know about the value of Christianity and its real benefit to a society based on theft and greed and mainaining itself through any means necessary...as all the "great" ones are. Same goes for all religions. You know something is wrong when generals and politicians turn religious...damn wrong.
-- panchmaster
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