Jesus jesus jesus!

So, it's Saturday afternoon. I've been laying in my boxers for about two hours, just listening to Skeptoid, watching Michael Shermer interviews and contemplating going to pick up the most recent issue of Skeptic.

And so, I figure, we should talk about some Jesus.

Disclaimer: My views are the ones which are supported by fact and reality. If you disagree with them, remember that extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence. And "because God said so" is neither evidence nor true in any sense, period. However, if you genuinely believe in God and nothing will ever shake that, then just stop reading now and save us both the headache.

Religion has been afforded a certain respect in society, a respect which is utterly undeserved. There are a number of reasons thrown around for the importance of religion in our culture, including, but by no means limited to: morality, political justifications, social constructs, history, and explanations of the universe.

None of these reasons are valid, because none of them are worthwhile. In fact, given the current state of science, several of these are laughable, and given the history of any given holy book, the rational for these things is downright laughable. Of course, I'm not expecting you to just take my word for it. So let's break it down.

Let's talk first about morality, since that's the one that tends to piss me off the most. This idea that the religious are somehow more moral than the non-religious. What utter bullshit. As an extreme example of how false this thought is, nineteen extremely religious people ended the lives of over three thousand people on the eleventh of September, two thousand and one. Yes, religion did that one.

Now, I don't really expect that religious people are lining up in the wings to massacre the general populace. But it is still important to remember that those young men did what they did because they genuinely believed that they would be rewarded upon their entrance to heaven for killing all us infidels. And yes, they were Muslims, not Christians, not Jews, not whatever. However, a cursory look over history will show that Yahweh is THE number one cause of death.

Okay, so morality is not just found in the murdering of innocents, I'll give you that. So, are the religious more moral? A study published in 2005 by the Journal of Religion and Society shows what you and I already know in our black hearts, and even takes it a step further stating that religion may in fact contribute to societal ills. That's right, ladies and germs, religion causes social maladjustment. Isn't that great?

Well, no. (Though to be sure, it is funny.) Morality is something that is clearly not found in religion. "But what about Atheists," I hear you ask, "You people have no moral code like the Ten Commandments to keep you from killing folks. Why should I trust you?" Sigh. The fact of the matter is that I do good things because they are the right things to do. Not because I'm trying to impress the invisible man in the sky. I don't do bad things because bad things are wrong, not because I'm afraid of the bogeyman. Why is that hard to understand?

Next on the docket: the speciousness of virtually everything ever said by a priest (or imam, or pope, or rabbi...). I'm referring here to the alleged "truth" of any given "holy book". To start, the history lessons given by these books are questionable at best. It seems odd that the ineffable creator of the universe wouldn't know about some of the inaccuracies reported by scribes whose hands were guided by him. For example, that the Earth was created in both six AND seven days. (http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/creationint.html although there are many better sites and resources, that was the first one I found, and it works fine for my point.) Or what about the fact that the Gospels were written hundreds of years after the life of the man they supposedly document? That seems a wee bit sketchy. What about the conflicting accounts of Jesus' birth within the Gospels, accounts with spurious factual information. John's account notes that the followers were surprised to learn that Jesus wasn't born in Bethlehem, owing to the Torah's prophecy concerning Jesus' supposed birth. Matthew states that Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem all along, moving to Nazareth later in life (because of Herod). Luke, on the other hand, says that Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth beforehand, and that Caesar Augustus declared a census for taxation purposes, and that all men must go "to his own city". Which doesn't make much sense, really, because the claim is that Joseph was "of the city and lineage of David", who would have lived roughly a thousand years before Joseph. (It also invalidates the claim that the Savior is descended from David, since Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit.) The best part of Luke's account is that it has information which can be easily checked, and turns out to be, who would have thunk it, incorrect.

So, clearly the veracity of these texts isn't all it's cracked up to be.

What about religion creating the social norms? Isn't that a good thing? Do I need to even tackle this?

The social norms that religion promotes are, quite simply, insane. You'll note that a lot of things about religion are insane. Also discussed in this category, the current political movement to make religion a solid part of the government.

Religion is essentially a form of control, and that is why the Religious Right is stripping away our civil liberties. They simply don't believe that we have the right to "sin". The unfortunate fact of the matter is that all of us, each and every one, are sinners. At least, according to religion. Good news, though. For the rest of us, it doesn't fucking matter! I can lie, adulter, and have impure thoughts to my hearts' content. Sin is an arbitrary designation to things which are intended to control not only your actions, but your thoughts as well (thoughtcrime, anyone?). And the restrictions that the religious put on the rest of us are simply ridiculous. They don't like homosexuality because they believe that God says "no". So they restrict gay marriage. This is absurd. Stating that someone can't do something that you can is discrimination, period. You are stating that you genuinely believe that those people are somehow "less" than you, which is the sort of thing that people in white robes and hoods who enjoy a good lynching agree with. You believe that collection of cells without consciousness and without even a central nervous system is alive, and that it must be protected. What? By that logic, every time you clean your ears, you commit genocide. This is almost criminally idiotic. I'm sorry, but I'll allow you to have your opinions, but please keep them away from my rights. If you don't like gay marriage, don't get gay married. If you don't like stem cell research, then simply don't support it. How hard is it to let the rest of us get on with our lives? Jefferson would be spinning in his grave.

Speaking of Jefferson, the next time someone tells me that the Founders were Christians who wanted a Christian nation, I may punch them in the face. Jefferson was against organized religion in pretty much every way. He was, in all likelihood, a deist, if not a true atheist. Many of the Founders, including Madison and Adams, as well as General Washington, all believed in a STRICT separation of church and state, and they recognized that this was best, not only for the state, but also for the church. If the state was involved in the church's business, how would that be freedom of religion? And when that person, who commented on the Christian nation, tells me that "In God We Trust" and "One Nation Under God" (on money and in the Pledge of Allegiance, respectively) are proof of his insane hypothesis, I'll probably kick them in the shins. You see, neither of those phrases were ever used until about 60 years ago, during the Red Scare, back when there were all those dangerous commies around. We needed the assurance that God was on our side. They hardly "prove" anything.

Which brings us to the rock in my shoe. The meaning of it all, or the explanation of everything, or the reason for being, or whatever.

Creationists, in particular, are the ones against whom I'd like to grind my ax.

(place holder. more will go here.)