Well, yesterday the event we feared in the UK but hoped would not happen again, did in fact happen. At the time of writing it looks like a radicalised lone wolf has decided that his God is so weak, so ineffective and so fucking hopeless at protecting all of his faithful flock that he decided to help him out and kill some infidels.
This time using the blunt instrument of a large car, and the rather more sharper yet equally deadly knife.
I could harp on about the terrorists not winning, about the bravery of the police and emergency services, of the fellow people who helped out, tourists and normal people doing their normal business, about the fuckwittery of taking selfies at the scene and the mixed morality of live footage and photo's but I won't. Virtue signalling isn't my bag though and all of the sympathy and thoughts should be yours and my default stance.
Actually on that last bit ...I will. I would not want to see a dead friend or relative on social media and that be the way I found out about their demise. But i don't want to be denied the horror of what has happened. Like many this is what spurs us on to be stoic and outraged. if we weren't then what would we be...mere automatons robotically carrying on with no compassion? There's a line here, such as blurring faces for a start, something simply done but seemingly beyond the lazy and stupid insensitive bastards rubbernecking any type of human tragedy. And just based on human compassion alone, why not just picture the scene not the individuals involved? But get off your collective high horses about those who do take the pictures and publish, be they passers by or media corporations. Blackouts don't work and will never happen in this modern smartphone, social media instant gratification, on-line 'connected' age unless we willingly allow suppression of free speech and thought. I have yet to hear the same complaints regarding pictures and footage coming when the atrocity happens abroad in Berlin, Paris, Brussels or Damascus, Mosul or Ethiopia. Pictures of dead and starving children are fine are they, but not of people in the midst of a terrorist incident? I'm not saying I agree with the pictures broadcast yesterday but I do sniff double or mixed standards here.
My main gripe is that yet again the twisted and poisoned dogma of religion claims yet more victims and that is where my issues with religion come into play. Through the years I have moved from Roman Catholic born and indoctrinated/brainwashed/raised, to stroppy questioning teenager, after all what sort of *God wants me to go to Church when I WANT to play football with my mates? I then sauntered to the safety fence of agnosticism but questioning the morality of a God that promises unconditional love whilst applying the condition of undying and unswerving worship? After reading The God Delusion and a book called God: the Biography (By Alexander Waugh) the sidestep to atheism was completed. I am about to start God Is Not Great. I suspect it will reinforce my benevolent form of atheism even more. As an atheist I know that every bad thing i do is something I have to live with, and not something a few mumbled words in Church will assuage through God's alleged forgiveness.
I know **people will take umbrage on my view that religion in general is bad, but it is. And the bad outweighs any good because NOT ONE person should die for or because of religion. Religion should not be 'mostly good' it should be completely and unambiguously a force for good. It should be un-corruptible. It should be crystal clear. There should be no ambiguity. No doubt. And it should be optional. Every religion should have one overriding message that you can choose not to join and take your chances at your end. Simple as. As things stand and have always stood where religion is concerned, it looks to suppress and control people by the imposition of fear through threats of eternal burning and agony and servitude to the purveyor of the religion's ideals of right and wrong.
What sort of God would sanction that level of alleged hellfire punishment for people acting on the very frailties he built into his creation? Why give people the ability to hate or be mad or to despise and then allow them free reign to use them? If he's a God and omnipotent in the true sense of the word, then he could either limit those frailties, or allow them and use a mechanism to ensure it doesn't lead to anyone's death. If he created us then why not build a DNA algorithm into us which physically and genetically prevents every human from the taking of another life? No more murder, genocide, matricide or people being blown up by remote control. Surely as the ultimate creator of our complex world he could have done that?
But he didn't did he?
Either he couldn't do that because basically he's a bit of a shit 'Life Creation Engineer', or he didn't do that because he doesn't care what his creation does. Instead he's fallen asleep on the job. He's a seagull God, who flies in, hangs around a bit, shits on people (Adam/Eve anyone?....punished for eating a Granny Smith?) and then fucks off. While he snoozes he wittingly allows his 'disciples' to bastardise his alleged teachings (sorry folks, teachings written by liars and conmen) and then act unilaterally on his behalf. He allows these fuckwits to become judge, jury and executioner and allows them to carry out their acts of madness with impunity. He does nothing. He's asleep in the corner of a celestial party having knocked a few bottles of Deity strength Jack Daniels over.
God, if you exist, and you believe in judging people at the end of their life why not have the decency to allow them to live their lives to their natural end, and not have their lives ended at the hands of people acting in your name? Just think God, how lovely it would be for your creations not to have to live a life based in fear, but in joy and hope. And think where that might have led us.
I won't hold my breath waiting for your answer.
Later Mugs, GJ
*Note - I have used the gender 'he' to refer to God, because not one religion I know of has promoted the idea that a woman might have been God. And let's be honest, women would never be that fucking stupid or vindictive, or come to think of it, that lazy or ignorant so as to ignore the actions of their creations.
**If you're offended by this, then good. I don't really care. But know this, be religious if you like. I am all for freedom of choice, but you should in turn respect my right to not believe and not feel it is your duty to convert me. That way we can have a nice drink and chat with no problems.
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