Comments on: Religion http://www.unitedbyyucca.com/2006/11/04/religion/ This blog is about the things that make me smile, rant or shake my head in consternation. Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:49:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: Ally http://www.unitedbyyucca.com/2006/11/04/religion/#comment-2216 Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:15:36 +0000 http://www.unitedbyyucca.com/2006/11/04/religion/#comment-2216 Here here. Here here.

]]> by: exmonkey http://www.unitedbyyucca.com/2006/11/04/religion/#comment-2209 Sun, 05 Nov 2006 08:52:38 +0000 http://www.unitedbyyucca.com/2006/11/04/religion/#comment-2209 The whole land owning, fine art hoarding megalithic bit of religion is another thing entirely, but certainly worthy of debate. I suppose I see that face of organised religion as being a bit like Microsoft or Enron - big, corporate, unaccountable. For me though, it's the belief thing that bugs me. I'm fed up of indulging all these people who insist on hanging on to a bunch of centuries old superstition in the smug belief that they will get their place in heaven. God theories served a useful purpose when human understanding about the world around them was vastly outweighed by the amount of seemingly unexplained events. Of course they had to have a god, how else could they explain floods and failed crops and bread. But as our knowledge of the universe grows, the interface that defines the limit of 'human' and the start of the divine get pushed back. I know we don't know very much about the universe, but surely we have learnt one thing... there is no god. The very idea of a god just doesnt stand up to rational examination. I was watching a David Attenbrough thing the other night. He was saying that this unexplained clearing in the Burmese rainforest is cause by these special ants. They only found this out recently, and prior to that the local though that the trees were killed by evil spirits. I think this is a microcosm of what should be happening to belief in gods world wide. The whole land owning, fine art hoarding megalithic bit of religion is another thing entirely, but certainly worthy of debate. I suppose I see that face of organised religion as being a bit like Microsoft or Enron - big, corporate, unaccountable.

For me though, it’s the belief thing that bugs me. I’m fed up of indulging all these people who insist on hanging on to a bunch of centuries old superstition in the smug belief that they will get their place in heaven.

God theories served a useful purpose when human understanding about the world around them was vastly outweighed by the amount of seemingly unexplained events. Of course they had to have a god, how else could they explain floods and failed crops and bread.
But as our knowledge of the universe grows, the interface that defines the limit of ‘human’ and the start of the divine get pushed back. I know we don’t know very much about the universe, but surely we have learnt one thing… there is no god. The very idea of a god just doesnt stand up to rational examination.

I was watching a David Attenbrough thing the other night. He was saying that this unexplained clearing in the Burmese rainforest is cause by these special ants. They only found this out recently, and prior to that the local though that the trees were killed by evil spirits.

I think this is a microcosm of what should be happening to belief in gods world wide.

]]> by: ditdotdat http://www.unitedbyyucca.com/2006/11/04/religion/#comment-2208 Sun, 05 Nov 2006 02:48:08 +0000 http://www.unitedbyyucca.com/2006/11/04/religion/#comment-2208 Plus, you need to add in the fact that the big organised Christian religions, Catholicism and the Anglican church, have access to enormous power and wealth which has a very corrupting influence on their policies. I don't think you can expect to find God in a church. You're more likely to find pride and prejudice. Actually you may also find some hate and intolerance instead of the love and acceptance that you were hoping for. Surely, though, it doesn't really matter if someone thinks you or me or Milo are going to go to hell, limbo or Tooting. We'll go where we want to, we don't need to get annoyed about it. It only starts to bother me when they start wanting to make me walk around with my face painted purple, or they get upset if I eat aubergines on a Wednesday. Mind you, I do know some people get irrationally upset about my Siberian rabbit-skin hat, despite the fact that it's not even their rabbit, and they probably don't consider themselves at all religious. Plus, you need to add in the fact that the big organised Christian religions, Catholicism and the Anglican church, have access to enormous power and wealth which has a very corrupting influence on their policies.
I don’t think you can expect to find God in a church. You’re more likely to find pride and prejudice. Actually you may also find some hate and intolerance instead of the love and acceptance that you were hoping for.
Surely, though, it doesn’t really matter if someone thinks you or me or Milo are going to go to hell, limbo or Tooting. We’ll go where we want to, we don’t need to get annoyed about it. It only starts to bother me when they start wanting to make me walk around with my face painted purple, or they get upset if I eat aubergines on a Wednesday.
Mind you, I do know some people get irrationally upset about my Siberian rabbit-skin hat, despite the fact that it’s not even their rabbit, and they probably don’t consider themselves at all religious.

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