I would have to say that I agree with the general
gist of this particular
write-up. I tend to look at the issue from both sides though. I, for one, am a great fan of theology and an even greater
opponent of religions in general.
I have been to
Catholic school, and found that I was always looking for answers, even if it meant using the religious resources at hand and stepping outside the lines a bit. I took
religious appreciation classes and even spent some time in other churches,
synagogues and various types of
temples.
I never found the answers I was looking for. I did however spend a lot of that time thinking about why people are
religious and why people would do all of the many things, good and bad, in the name of a higher power that they cannot see, hear, smell, taste, touch or feel.
Marx said that religion was the
opiate of the masses; a lot of people have said a lot of things, true, but I agree with Marx. This is the main reason why I feel that humanity would be better served by something other than
religion. It is time for us to move on with the truths that we know and use them to build a better life for everyone.
To bring this full circle I will tell you the other side of this particular
coin. You are correct, it is wrong to lay
judgement against those whom you know little about. But you must consider that most people out there are like me in that they have a distaste for religion; but unlike me, they have no desire nor have they ever had any desire to know anything about it.
These are people who have had these ideals of western theology pressed upon them. These are people who have encountered other people who claim they are
Christians and then condemn them to a fiery eternity without a kind word, a fuck-you or even a smile.
I am not one who associates
all of Christianity with the
rotten apples but it is true that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. We live in a world where you only get media coverage if you have killed someone, broken many laws or died in a pool of your own
vomit. You get no kudos for feeding half of
Africa or
digging wells unless you do it while wearing a tutu and sequined pasties.
I think until the
Deists of this planet start
actively disassociating themselves from the
misanthropic media whores and
violent judgmental backwater extremists, they are going to get clumped in with them.
These people do this shit in the name of your
religions and the religions never say much about it (or in some cases even advocate it). So you will have to understand when this is the only view of religion that people get. They don't want to have to care; they don't want to have to study, they just want to be left alone. Get used to them being not-happy as,
religions can't really kill them anymore, so I fear that we
infidels are around for good.