why i am an atheist

i've mentioned a few times that i have no truck with religion. here's why.



because almost all religions:

• are intolerant of other religions;


• are intolerant of homosexuality while covering up for their priests' homosexual (and heterosexual) paedophilia (not just the roman catholic church here, folks, for those of you who want to have a go at the r.c.s alone);


• intolerant of extra-marital or pre-marital sex while covering up for their priests' sexual adventures;


• have practitioners who are appalling hypocrites, preaching e.g. peace and love while encouraging the lynching of those they oppose (see pat robertson calling for the murder of hugo chavez);


• have murdered those they claim are witches (i believe most religious practitioners to be only 10 minutes from burning their next witch, even if they've not burned one yet, iyswim);


• talk about "tough love" as if it's something good. it's not. it's bullying.;


• oppose evolution theory 'cos it makes their childish creation myths look silly;


• try to enforce conformity of actions and thoughts;


• try to enforce the power and influence of their practitioners (priests as politicians);


• try to prevent the separation of church and state;


• try to prevent the evolution of new technological methodologies;


• try to prevent scientists from being scientific;

here's the one that should give pause to all people capable of thought:

• expect me to "believe" in their god(s) without evidence.

now, call me a bit of a pedant, if you want, but how can anyone believe anything without evidence? (i put the dictionary link in there for those who don't know the difference between pedant and another word and end up beating the crap out of a paediatrician 'cos they think she's a sex offender).



it flies in the face of all logic.



it's like telling me that i should believe black is white, green is pink, up is down, left is right.



i know that all those terms only have meaning because we humans give them that meaning, but that's true of gods, too. they only exist because people make them exist. because people want or need them to exist in order to make some sense of an otherwise somewhat bewildering universe.



but, sorry, if you can't cope with the world without gods, go and live in a cave somewhere and worship the sun. that's much more sensible that trying to pretend that there's an all-seeing, kindly old gent sitting up there in the clouds, with angels around him doing his bidding and keeping us all safe.



we're not safe because the world is an unsafe place; we have tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, wars, house-fires, car crashes, psychopaths, rapists, paedophiles, resident cunt bush, anthony charles lynton bliar, dick-head cheney, suicide bombers, the c.i.a., the f.b.i., joe mccarthys, joe stalins, adolf hitlers, adolf eichmanns, general custers, attorneys general, genghiz khans, armed robbers, armed police and loads of other things that make it unsafe.



no fantasy god sitting in his / her heaven is going to stop any of those things being bad for our health and fitness, so stop believing.



without the rose-tinted specs, the world is a dangerous but marvellous, sensuous, wondrous place where we can experience intense joy, intense pain, laughter, happiness, sadness, love, our child's first words, our mother's smile, our father's love, our grand-father's horse-play, our grand-mother's indulgence, our lover's kiss, all without filtering them through a load of religious bilge-water whose effect is to take the shine off them all and make them less intense, less meaningful, less wonderful.



by "wonder" i mean "awe-inspiring, "astounding", "astonishing", not puzzling.



we don't need religionists fucking-up the world for us.



summary : nice legs, shame about the boat race.