The Folly of Religion: Part 1- Christianity

Now I realize that there really is no way to insult religion without also insulting the people who follow that particular religion, but I have some serious qualms with religion. I have grown up in a Christian household for most of my life, so I believe that I have the legitimacy to critique certain aspects of religion.
First of all, I have an issue with the whole concept of heaven and hell. I remember when I was a child, in Sunday School, I was told that everyone who did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God would be condemned to an eternity of condoned torture known as Hell that makes Guantanamo Bay look like the candy factory. So suppose that I was a decent person, but I have a fairly minute disagreement with God, namely, let's say, and I do believe this, that Jesus never existed, and that he is not the Son of God. If the former premise is true, then the latter is a moot point. I hold the following position: if there were adequate, plausible evidence that established the existence of Jesus, I would be inclined to believe it. However, since there is not, with much of the supposed evidence being refuted when it was realized that many of the writings that were used to prove his existence were fraudulent interpolations., I think that my lack of belief is a rational position.
Also, there is just the fact that I have never believed in Jesus. The whole story was not credible to me, even when I was a young child. For a fairly long period in my life, I was tormented by the fact that people around me believed in Jesus, and because I did not, I would go to Hell. Now, I'm completely confused because there is no evidence to corroborate the existence of Hell (or Heaven). I mean, if dead people could be resurrected, then maybe they could attest to its existence, but since not, we have no way of knowing. And then, there is just the simple fact that Heaven is not a pleasant place to be. The way Heaven was always presented to me was a place where time did not exist and God would be worshiped forever. I'm sorry, but that sounds like slavery to me. There is no way, and I reiterate, no way, I will want to worship at the altar of anyone's feet. I don't even like myself that much to just worship and exult myself.
This is just my personal belief. I believe that God, Heaven, and Hell are just projections of our desires. We want to be perfect. We strive for perfection, and we believe that this means that we have to be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, etc. However, there is no such thing as perfection, and even if there were, we have no model to emulate. There is also the contradiction, that while we perceive God to be perfect, we endow him with human qualities, such as jealousy, presumably because the human experience is the only one we can relate to. We feel that if we have all these qualities, then we will be more secure and have more control over our lives. The key aspect of religion is control, which is rooted in our desire for security. We not only want control over ourselves, but we want control over others as well. We want to control others' behavior so that we can control how they behave towards us and affect out quality of life.
I think as humans evolved, we began to feel more insecure, more conscious of our mortality and vulnerability. Like a mother protects her infant, so a God protects his children. It is human to want to feel secure and feel like someone will take care of you. We like to have a safety net. And what better way for a safety net to be than omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. What better safety net than one who callously and brutally destroys your enemies. No one will want to mess with you then! God's wrath, more powerful than any nuclear weapon.
And then there arises the problem of bad things happening to good people, and vice-versa. We want to feel that there is a purpose to everything, that there is a reason for suffering. So we say, well, if you believe in this person and follow his teachings, then after you die, you will go to this magical place where there will be no more suffering, and if not, you will be punished beyond comparison. We like to feel self-righteous, and we like to feel that if we are good, we will be rewarded. A problem with this is that so many people focus on the illusory dreams of a no-suffering afterlife, we neglect the present, the only thing we can be really certain of. And of course, if someone wrongs us, we feel vindicated that they will be condemned. Personally, it's a bit childish, but who said that all humans must be mature?
Another problem I have with religion is just the appearance of purpose. Ever since the beginning of time, we have always wanted to discover the purpose of life, so many religious people say, 'Well, we are alive to praise God in his infinite glory, ' or something along those lines. My issue is this : not only is this completely unappealing, it's slavery, and it's letting someone or something predefine your purpose. Others are a bit better, 'Well, we are here to make the world better for other people.' The flaw with this belief is that it is dependent on the existence of people, but doesn't explain why we were created. We should just be honest. No one really knows. And that's fine. The problem arises when people attempt to impose their beliefs on others, and this is inevitable. Most religions need to gain adherents, or else they will die out. Religions have to recruit, many times forcefully. This is why religion is notorious for violence. I wouldn't be so hostile to religion if it were relatively nonviolent, but so many people have been killed in the name of religion. If it were mainly a preference, no problem, but religion had demonstrated a fundamental aspect of human nature. It is a testament to our fear of the unknown and our fear of our demise.

19 Fact-Pinions

1. I have a habit of stealing other people's style. If I like your shoes, I'll go out and buy them. I also stole somebody's handwriting.

2. I think stripping is an art and not everyone can do it. I dislike male strippers, no offense, but you already have a pole between your legs, so what's the point?

3. I love older men. A couple generations is good..maybe it runs in the family. My father is eighteen years older than my mother.

4. I secretly hate white girls with big butts, except if I were to be reincarnated, I would come back as Kim Kardashian. It's not fair, I mean you should have either the butt or the breasts, but she got both

5. I love krumping. I would start a group if someone was interested, it;s nothing but pure emotion

6. I am fascinated by tattoos. I would get once, except I don't have the money to get one, but I have planned my first one:m my whole back covered with the continent of Africa in red, black, and green, with a rising sun, and Audre Lorde's quote: "If I don't define myself for myself, I will be crushed into other people's fantasies and eaten alive."

7. I like to portray myself as a conscious person, but I can't resist a song with a good beat

8. I've always had a desire to smoke a joint, as long as the police don't catch me.

9. I think all the real revolutionaries are either dead, in jail, haven't been born, or in a mental institution

10. I think Malcolm X is one of the sexiest men ever, with the glasses and the beard, and when he delivers a speech.....

11. I think college is bull, I don't understand the purpose. I would love to just dropout and write and learn

12. I think money is one of the worst things that has ever happened to humanity.

13. You know the guy that threw the shoes at George Bush, he should have gotten me to do, I wouldn't have missed

14. John McCain, fifty years ago, could have given Barack Obama a run for his money

15. I can't do people who try to push their religion on others.

16. I secretly wish that I was a bird, or that I was invisible

17. Ever since Aaliyah died, I've been scared to ride on airplanes

18. We're in a recession, so do what you gotta do to get money

19. I think if Jesus were alive, or existed, I would "take up my cross and follow him." Jesus is sexy, and I know that he had locks. And when Judas betrayed him, I would have been the one to comfort him and keep him warm.

Gaza

I know that this is completely random, and maybe no one will respond to this note. This note concerns the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip in Israel. As of right now, millions of people are having their houses bombed and are being starved by the Israelis, with a lot of help from the Palestinians. For those who need some background information about the topic, I will give a brief synopsis: This whole debacle started in 1948 when Jews were given Israel as compensation for the West's complicity in the Holocaust. I am not certain of the exact number, but many Palestinians were forced of their land to make room for the Jews migrating to Israel. To this day, the descendants of these Palestinian refugees have had to suffer. In June 2006, Hamas, an Islamic political party, was democratically elected in the Gaza Strip. Ever since they have been elected, the United States and Israel have sought to undermine them, allegedly because Hamas said that Israel has no right to exist, even though they only want 22% of their original land. You may have heard in the news how Israel is engaging in acts of self-defense because Hamas keeps firing rockets in their territory. Now, I don't know if this is an adequate analogy, but imagine if a toddler was hitting you and kicking you, but only because you attacked the toddler first? Would that toddler be in the wrong? The Israelis have sophisticated technology, loaned to them by the United States, that they have used against the Palestinians. It's just no comparison. Today, I read that the Israelis have invaded Gaza. Now, this is a crisis that has been ongoing. I remember reading last year about how Israel would block humanitarian aid to the Gazans, as a form of collective punishment. It didn't matter that there were children there. It didn't matter if people were on dialysis machines when the Israelis cut off their electricity. None of this mattered. It didn't matter when the Israelis bulldozed Palestinians' homes because they would not move. Approximately eighty percent of the people in Gaza depend on humanitarian aid. People have asked Obama about his thoughts concerning Gaza, and he has sided with the aggressors. I am not trying to bash anyone, I just wanted to make everyone aware of this. Some of you may not know that Cynthia McKinney tried to transfer medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, but her boat was attacked by Israeli troops, and the press basically ridiculed her for trying to ease the Gazans' suffering. For those who don't know much concerning Israel, there is a loooot to learn, but I have posted links at the bottom of this note. If this is not enough, you can google, 'Gaza humanitarian crisis.' Maybe some of you don't care, maybe some of you do, but I think that this is important because we see similar crises happening all over the world, especially in Africa. This is genocide all over again, and we can choose to ignore it if we we wish. Spread this to as many people as you can. I wrote this note because I feel so helpless, and the only reason I feel helpless (I think) is because not enough people know about it. There is strength in numbers.

Among Other Things....

I think I must be the only person alive who is not excited about Barack Obama's presidency, and I usually don't say this too loudly because people don't like to hear this, but I have a huge problem with Obama. I've never really trusted him too much, besides the fact that I believe he talks a lot with his wonderful speeches, but says little. Has anyone asked how much sense it makes to spend over one hundred million dollars on the inauguration, but we're in a recession? Has anyone asked why he supported the seven hundred billion dollar bailout last year, and why he's putting the same people who started this mess in charge? Has anybody questioned him about his alleged cuts in Medicare and Social Security? Has anyone questioned him about trying to extend the war in Afghanistan? Has anyone questioned him about his undying support for Israel? Has anyone questioned him about his support for "the War on Terror?" Has anyone questioned his reasons for appointing Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State,when we know she voted for the Iraq War? Has anyone questioned Obama when he said, "the surge (in Iraq) has worked better than I imagined." (not exact words, but close enough) Has anyone questioned Obama when he said he would support raids into Pakistan, and would not tolerate Iran having nuclear weapons? But this is a man that is supposed to be about peace and change.A leopard doesn't change its spots, and for those who say, "Oh, the people elected him." No they didn't. The electoral college elects him, and let me tell you, sometimes, they pick the opposite of what the people chose. Has anyone said that for someone who is so much about change, his policies are very much close to that of Bush, and what about, him wanting America to lead the world? For those in third world nations, I say, don't get your hopes up. And for those who don't care about foreign policy, I'll say the same thing. What has Obama said about the prison-industrial complex, the war on drugs, etc? The only reason he said something about the economy is because white people are suffering. Black communities have always had a high unemployment rate. Every time I look for him to be specific about his plans, he's not, he's just very vague and says what everyone wants to hear.Obama is a great speaker and has charisma, and that's what this campaign was about:style. It was not about substance. He had a personality cult, people fawning over him, and not questioning anything he did. His election was the closest thing to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
He is not a grassroots president, Citigroup and Wall Street funded his campaign. Plus, there's the fact that he is related to Cheney, and by that account, Bush. Now some could say, it's just a coincidence,but I say not. Most of the presidents are distantly related to each other, and they're chosen way before you cast your vote.All of these elections are staged, to make you think you actually have some freedom. The only reason, in my opinion, that Sarah Palin was put into the race was to completely discredit McCain and make the people vote for Obama. See, McCain was too much like Bush, and Americans, I really don't think would have gone for another Bush term, so they had to put in someone a bit slicker. They knew the world is tired of old white guys, so here comes Obama, and I believe that if this economy gets worse, and we have a crisis, who is going to get the blame: Obama. Now I don't think he really cares about black people, he's one of those"Oh, we're all Americans., " but black people will have to pay for what he does. We also have to look at some of the people on his campaign: Kissinger, which if you do some research into him.....well, he's done so much dirty stuff I can't even really go into it. However, I believe he said something along the lines of how perfect Obama would be to establish the New World Order.(please google it)He's a stooge, listening to his advisers, and a puppet. Some say, well he may just do an about face, but what it takes to get power is what it takes to maintain power. He does what they tell him to do, and if he doesn't, well I could give you a nice list of assassinated leaders. At the end of the day, it's business as usual for the American Empire.