Fistfights with God and Why I Will Win

I was looking through old blogs and reposting them to my own website and I noticed a pattern in them. At least once in every three, I am blasting religion. I have also written songs like "Heaven's Full of Assholes" and "Jesus in a Pancake" which don't flatter the churchgoers either. My songs have been used by the Humanist Network to promote atheism. I must hate God.

To be honest, I am not another Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. I agree with a lot of what they say but they seem to me to be super-muggles. A world without God is nothing that I would want nor do I think it would really fix anything. Pol Pot and Stalin proved that assholes don't need God to commit horrible atrocities.

I do not fear theocracy. I fear Idiocracy.

Actually, I find religion endlessly fascinating. When I was in Europe, I visited the grand cathedral that centered every town I went to. My senses are not so dull as to not feel some awe and reverence in such magnificence. Religion is a history of people trying to uncover the mysteries of the universe and their place in it. I find the ancient myths to be beautiful at times. Some of those old myths touch a truth that could never be expressed in text book format.

Which is the problem I have with a lot of churches. To these unenlightened dolts, the Bible is a text book. This is a sad byproduct of our education system which has for years neglected poetry and arts in favor of more "practical" disciplines. Apparently, millions of people don't understand what a metaphor is and read the Bible as if it is the owner's manual to a DVD player. The myths of the Bible, some of which are much more ancient than the Bible itself, are designed to enter your heart and lead you to a truth that cannot be simply expressed. Adam, Eve, Jonah and Lucifer are not comic book characters or historical people, they are Us. Their struggles, successes, falls and ascensions echo the struggles which all of us go through. Stripped of its symbolism, the Bible not only loses its value but it is delivered into the hands of Evil.... into the Idiocracy.

In a sane society, people that take the Bible literally would be committed to an asylum. After all, they are a danger to themselves and others. They get so confused about the Word of God (who Himself could be considered a delusion), they blow up abortion clinics. They rally against things like gay marriage, which to a rational person, would seem to be a matter of common decency.Christian fundamentalists along with their arch enemies, Muslim fundamentalists (Pepsi to the Christian Coke) are currently the single greatest threat to peace and stability in our world today. Somehow I doubt that Jesus or even Muhammad would approve.

It is perhaps understandable that fundamentalism would thrive in the illiterate backwaters of some place like Afghanistan but for it to thrive here... in a relatively educated and modern society is... frankly... fucking embarrassing. We have members in Congress denying evolution and global warming because such concepts go against their moronic conclusions about God. There is no merit to their arguments, they're just idiots. They are a disgrace.

I think the reason why such backwater religious beliefs thrive here is because of the type of society we have. We Americans are desperate. We feel powerless against the mega-corporations that legally screw us over on a daily basis. Sadly, it seems like millions are heading into church for the worst reasons. They are drawn by a false sense of superiority. They may be getting screwed in the real world but they will be a member of God's elite in the afterlife. To me, this is a pathetic reflection of our sad American values which believes certain people should be lauded with ginormous wealth and others should be excluded and have to fight over their scraps like dogs. I find it tragic that our society can't instead project a Heaven where all are welcome regardless of religious brand.

Like schoolyard bullies, these morons come out saying "My God is right and you are going to Hell!" When I point out that a God who would deliver his message solely to a small desert tribe and ignore the vast majority of His Creation would be something akin to a petty tyrant far worse than Adolf Hitler and not worth worshiping, they say "Ours is not to question His wisdom". To which I respond the same way my mom responded when she visited the Mormon Temple Square here in Salt Lake.

"Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit."

I will not bow before a God whose morality is inferior to my own.

....

The Elders came by last summer spreading the word of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As usual, these kids looked at me with the same sense of condescending compassion they always do. After all, they were holy.... dressed properly in a white shirt and tie... preaching the "true" word of God and I... well.... barefoot in dirty jeans drinking a PBR while working on the yard. They hit me with one their standard arguments they always put before a "sinner" like me. They said it was easier to deny God's Plan and lead a lazy life of pleasure (referring to my beer drinking lifestyle) than to follow "God's Plan"..

My response was to point out that it is easier to accept the answers given by an institution than to honestly seek out the answers yourself. It is easier to think that you are loved and cherished by a supernatural creature and will be protected by him even through death than to openly an honestly consider the possibility that there is no God and nothing awaits the dead other than cold black emptiness.

Who is lazy?!

My path is to not take the easy... lazy... approach to life's mysteries. I seek not the warmth and false comfort of a convenient narrative but the Truth.

For me, faith is no virtue. It is a sin. A willing denial of God's greatest gift to man... Reason. Faith is for cowards. Unless, you have been willing to risk it all... including the existence of your big friend, God... you have nothing to teach me. You have nothing to teach anyone other than wishful thinking.

Myself, I am still seeking the Truth. I believe strongly that anyone who says they have the answers... be it Joseph Smith or Dr. Dawkins... are liars.

There are some churches out there that preach love, peace, and openness and with them I have no quarrel. I only wish your voices weren't so easily drowned out by the idiots. I guess hatred and intolerance get better ratings than peace and understanding. Again, I am embarrassed for my country... My culture.... Sigh.

To those condescending self righteous assholes who think they are God's Chosen People, I will fight you to the death. You are a cancer.... a plague upon mankind... you are Unholy. If you are right and you get to go to Heaven and I go to Hell, I will proudly march with Satan and overthrow your ass. By all accounts, we sinners have you VASTLY OUTNUMBERED so you guys are fucked.

In the end, reason will win. It always does. It just takes forever. As Bill Maher put it, we either have to grow up or die. I think we will grow up and someday more or less everyone will agree that love is better than hate... that the One True God is everyone's God and not just for people who share your views... This is the God I believe in and, in the end, He is going to win and Heaven will not constructed in the sky but, instead, here on Earth.... in our hearts.

As Jesus said of the Kingdom of Heaven in the heretical gnostic Gospel of Thomas (suppressed by the Church back in ancient times)

"It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it."