You'll Never Change

It's Sunday, a day of rest, yet there are plenty of people that don't rest on this day. Plenty that are kicking into overdrive, both today and on every other day.

I like to call them arseholes.

The fact they call themselves something else does bother me and I think it always will, you see I'm not a great believer in structured religion and yet it seems I understand it better than SOME of the people CLAIMING to be religious.

Lets take the recent film made by a Californian idiot with more cash than sense. He makes a film that shows the prophet of another religion as a nasty piece of work, presumably to directly stir up his fellow unchristian Christians. He knows its going to annoy the Muslims and that sects are going to rise up and cause trouble, burn flags, attack American troops in the middle east and he must understand that this will only fuel hatred and kill understanding.

Yes, he knows this. If he doesn't he is not just stupid but carrot like in intellect. So he has kicked the hornets nest and stepped back. The hornets do what they do and swarm and yet look, these aren't insects with no education, humanity or understanding. These are human beings and people, following a religion with hopefully a core belief of goodness. Surely these people will see through this weak attempt to breed hate and laugh at this pitiful Muppet and call him what he is? An arsehole.

Nope.

In an act of utter idiocy they leap up, charge about, burn flags, attack embassy's and kill people that have nothing to do with this childish piece of crap film. They prove their idiocy and add fire to the smoke he's blowing all over the Internet. Now a hold load of American Muppet's can look to the east and say 'See, look how mad they are!' While those mad bible belt lunatics and their creationist buddies can keep their holy war going because they serve different gods!

Wait...I think the wheels just came off. These two groups are from the same god. The Jews are too.
You know the Jews wandered the wilderness and finally settled and their rules and regulations set down in the tablets, set down by god, were built upon. More rules followed about crushed testicles and not being able to serve in temples if you have them. It didn't seem very fair, so up pops a dude not called Jesus!

What?! Not called Jesus?! As far as I understand it 'Jesus' is not likely his name, it was probably 'Joshua' and translated into the Greek version...Jesus. So what the fuck?! His name's wrong?! What else?!

Well, he came and fought against the dogma of Judaism and kicked the money lenders out of the temple and hung out with the homeless and chilled with prostitutes and beggars and the poor. He said screw the temples lets worship wherever you want to. He said lets have a big movement and be more accepting and leave the judging to god and just get on down here. This pissed off a load of people and so a drive-by was organised.

Killed off by the local powerhouses his story went forth and people screwed with it and wrote down the bits about being nice and then added lots of rules, rules about women and temples and orders of mass and where and when you can shop and who you can talk to and just where tab A has to go; certainly not in slot B.

That took them nice and far away from the original message; be cool, chill out, help each other and let god sort out the arseholes. So when a dude called Muhammad turned up some years later and said 'Hi, I'm from the god of the Jews and I have some amendments to the way you're acting and the weird rules you're following', everyone should really have paid more attention right?

Nope.

He told them to chill and not worry, to follow god by being good to people and for goodness sake, whatever you do, let god sort the arseholes out! Oh, and the thing that's important here guys is 'Man Is (insert word that could mean equal or lesser, depends on your agenda) to woman.' Then to stamp this really simple rule into peoples heads he marries an older female businesswoman and when he dies he leaves 'Fatima' his daughter in charge. That says 'equal' to me.

Nope.

Cue the subjection of women and the insanity of holy war. Brilliant. Nice one lads.

I have a simple question. One that is so obvious I feel anyone should be able to answer it. Ready?

If God is so mighty and he is going to sort out all the people that are arseholes and send them to crappy land when they die...why are you trying to kill them? You are breaking the law held above all others.

THOU SHALT NOT KILL.

So If your god is able to see all then why is it you have so little faith that the person who offends him must die now, and not be judged when his time comes to stand before God?

If your God is so powerful how is it he couldn't create a universe and make the world the way he wanted to. When evidence suggests the world was created 4.5 billion years ago surely that indicates he is the king of forward planning? Surely he had this thing worked out all from the start and every now and then made amendments to the world gene pool by chucking asteroids at it?

The dinosaurs were unlikely to develop the Internet so they had to go.

Its simple really. You have no faith! No love for your God! No understanding of the laws you claim God would have you live by. You are to be judged and you, my friend, are off to crappyland when all is said and done.

The rest of us, the people who don't know and those who follow the rules of god without buying into the hate written in by man and his quest for power? We get the bar where its always happy hour, or perhaps we get the picnic, on a sunny day, with our loved ones forever, or maybe we do something far cleverer?

Energy cannot be destroyed, it is transformed. Solid to energy, body to soul. Perhaps we just move on and its nothing as petty and small minded and unimaginative as harps and halos? I don't know the answers but I'm open. I don't believe in a dude with a beard, or a man with a burning bush, or a guy who can move mountains. I believe perhaps this stuff was not literal but symbolic.

Many people with faith are nothing like the lunatics that attack each other, gather in mobs, make inflammatory films or sweep child abuse under the carpet. Many of them are fantastic, wonderful, giving, beautiful people and I respect them for their beliefs. Measured and controlled and hopeful and full of the message of peace. Peace for all, not just people that think exactly the same as you. I think these people are excellent and the world is a better place for having you in it.

I know if I am shown evidence then perhaps I'll change, I can't see it happening but I know I have that ability. I don't have the same faith in the hate smothered arseholes who burn books and make films designed to insight violence. I have no faith in those that would take the bate. I know deep down that sadly...

You'll never change.