A case of a guilty conscience

Good day boys and girls, apologies for the absence but this one's been swirling in my mind for far too long.

When atheists are asked what their problem with religion is, there's a list of usual suspects that emerges: the prejudices, the censorship, the lobbying, the error and immorality in the bible, interference with the scientific process, list goes on.

But not me.  No, I've always been of a mind that people are allowed to believe whatever they want, no matter how boneheaded it is.  Lots of people believe in astrology and I won't deny them the opportunity to make fools of themselves.  All I ask is that whatever you believe, you act according to it.  The thing I have no tolerance for is bullshitters.

And that's my problem with the religious: They don't say what they mean and they don't mean what they say.

How could I possibly make such a broad generalization?  Because I'm an empiricist, I judge people by what they do, not by what they say.  Let me explain.

When the bible is criticized, this is always countered with "Old testament doesn't count!  We adhere to the new testament!"  Bad argument since an all knowing god would never need to change his mind but let's let that slide.  Okay, so what does the new testament say?

Oh don't worry, none of that "out of context" stuff.  This is passages every christian totally acknowledges and supports.

Jesus taught, among other things, to "love thy enemy" and to "turn the other cheek" to those who have wronged you.  Good philosophies.  He gets no argument from me on that.
It also teaches "Thou shalt not kill", "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not covet", also very good philosophies.  Killing and stealing are wrong and coveting will only make you miserable.

Also consider: The US is THE most heavily christian country in the world.  Nobody else even comes close to them.  And many of these aren't casual sunday only christians, oh no!  These are the big time god fearing crowd.

So...with the bible teachings in one hand and the US's heavy convictions in the other, one would naturally assume this means the US is a country who morally condemns stealing, coveting, murder and strongly opposes the idea of vengeance.


...........yea....you'd be quite hideously wrong on that one.

How many times have you heard people bleating "Tax the rich more!  They don't pay their fair share!  They dont' deserve to have all that!"  Explain to me how that's not coveting and stealing.

Forget the crusades and the dark ages!  Explain this to me christians.  Why have I NEVER heard a priest or any prominent religious figure morally condemn war?

Think about this objectively.  Your god says do not steal, do not murder, do not covet, do not harbor feelings of vengeance.  Your government says stealing is okay.  It says you absolutely should covet anything someone has that you don't.  It says going out and bombing people who wronged you is totally okay.  Hell, it even says bombing people just for living near people who wronged you is totally cool.

Your god says one thing, your president says another...
...AND YOU TAKE YOUR PRESIDENT'S WORD OVER YOUR GOD'S!!

How do you think this looks?  Taking the word of a mere mortal over the god you say you worship?  Any serious christian would condemn this as blasphemy of the highest order.  Yet, how many christian anarchists do you know?  Not a whole lot.

What would happen if christians actually acted according to their beliefs and morally condemned war as their holy book says they should?  How many lives would be saved if the pope publicly said "I condemn as sinful anyone who succumbs to bloodlust and raises arms against their enemies"?  There's a LOT of people out there who would take that VERY seriously.

All my atheist and/or anarchist friends out there, this is something you need to be CONSTANTLY bringing up with the state worshipers out there.  Don't let them get through a single conversation without bringing up this elephant in the room.


So what's my problem with religion?

It has the power to save lives and end war...and it chooses not to.  That's what my problem is.

Until next time, be aware and be wise.