Blasphemy laws, apostasy laws still on the books of ‘western countries’ in 2018. Ireland I think, was most recent to repeal its blasphemy law, just within the past year. Health care rights abridged, especially for women (information on family planning, birth control, abortion), the right to die when we decide our suffering is too great is denied us (though some small steps are being made in the case of a 6-month terminal illness diagnosis). Outright denial of sex education to our young people in public school; FGM is practiced in multiple countries; all in the name of a ‘God’. Fantasy creation myths are being taught in many of our public schools, pretending to be science, here, in the U.S., in 2019!
Our U.S. Constitution is being trampled; separation of church and state no longer really means what it says, so we have ‘god’ in our Pledge of Allegiance and ‘god’ on our money. Few people know that the ‘god’ was added to coin in the wake of the civil war, and then added to our folding money and to the Pledge and replaced the original national motto all during the cold war of the 1950s. Speaking of our civil war, some people to this day refuse to admit it was a war because of slavery, justified in the minds of southern slave holders and traders, by scripture. Some southerners still claim it was a ‘war of aggression’ by the federal government against ‘state rights’. I believe that is part of the reason for the careful language of Section I of the 14th amendment (ratified 1868 Jul 9). We in the U.S. have recently been told by the now extremely conservative Supreme Court that (basically) if a ‘christian cross’ has stood on state owned property for ‘long enough’, it is no longer a symbol of Christianity but has become a secular symbol on the monument (Bladensburg Cross, Bladensburg, Maryland). Does anyone (faithful OR non-believer) look at this behemoth and think it’s not a Christian symbol? This is even though all those dead it memorializes were not even members of the Christian faith. This is a similar line of reasoning taken to keep “In God We Trust” as the national motto, keep that phrase emblazoned on our money, and keep the “under God” phrase dividing the intended “one nation indivisible” language of our Pledge of Allegiance. This may well leave the door open for existing 10 commandments monuments to stand. I don’t see how they can be considered secular, but the old guys on the court may accomplish that. Of course, all god references will be removed or replaced when Allah becomes the dominant god here. Or maybe Krishna. In Odin We Trust, anyone? That’s why we need to religiously (pun intended) enforce the separation of church and state clause of our Constitution. As an aside, know that you can stamp over or just sharpie out that phrase on your paper money, I’ve done it for 30+ years. I haven’t found a way to get rid of it on coinage though. And yes, when I say the pledge I say it as it was intended.
A 2014 Apr 25 piece in Public Discourse defending Ayaan Hirsi Ali for speaking out against Islam after her invitation to receive an honorary degree and speak at a college was withdrawn. The piece also discusses the limits being placed on free speech by those trying to limit that Constitutional right. Hirsi Ali suffered a depraved childhood mutilation, as did most other girls in her native Somalia; FGM is practiced in the name of religion. (Little boys are frequently circumcised, often in the name of religion, in the U.S. and some other ‘western countries’.) Jerry Coyne weighed in on the fray on his site. He also brought up the death penalty for atheism imposed by Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries (this is the first I knew Mr. Coyne was also a fan of one of my favorite irreverent comics, Jesus & Mo). Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, other middle east countries all have strict rules regarding religion, from what you can eat, what women must wear (not men, mind you), how often, where, and how you must pray; religion invades every aspect of life in these countries.That’s what happens in a theocracy. In any society that does not value women, powerful men will do all necessary to retain and even grow their power.
It isn’t enough that Muslims are trying to oppress and subdue their own population, they are also fighting each other. The two main branches of Islam are Sunni and Shi’a. There is almost constant violence between the two sects, most recently on 18 Aug 2019 as far as I know – another suicide bomber, this time at a wedding in Kabul. It isn’t only the Muslims or only the Christians, either. The secular Constitution of India is not holding as much sway in the predominantly Hindu nation. A Washington Post article describes the Hindu vs Muslim conflict at the heart of the apparent property dispute in Kashmir. It seems the India populace is fine with a secular constitution, as long as Hindi is the state recognized religion. I’ve previously described the abuse, even murder, of children with albinism in several countries in Africa, due to a combination of native superstitions, witchcraft, and Christianity. Most of us know of the “Irish troubles” – the years long conflict between Catholic and Protestant Christians in northern Ireland. The attempted genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus, followed by retaliatory murders of Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi and Rwanda Africa. All told over 1million people were slaughtered in tribal economic and religious beliefs rivalries.
An Al-Jazeera reporter has been held in a jail in Egypt for almost 3 years (I think), simply for doing his job. You know reporter Koshoggi was murdered in Saudi Arabia on the orders of King Abdullah quite recently. Controlling news media is a favorite tactic of dictators everywhere. Any despot worth his salt will attempt demonizing the press — the only real news is what you hear directly from the would-be “king”. Everything else is “fake news”. Does this sound familiar? This is not specifically a religious ideology, but the conformity and indoctrination laid down by the religious leaders makes it easier to sway and control the ruled.
American white supremacists (a/k/a christian nationalists) far too regularly commit hate crimes against Jews, Muslims, black and brown Christians. The crimes are under reported by many states to the FBI database, so statistics are difficult to come by. The Charlottesville, Virginia attack that killed Heather Heyer was an example. She was not even in the database until the journalist and/or researcher began looking into it. Some ‘Christian Leaders’ have noticed the troubling developments, and begun trying to distance themselves from this trend. The perpetrators are emboldened though. Speech and actions that they would not have considered are now being shown and performed without regret. The vile outpourings from the current occupant of the white house has inflamed the malcontents to behave as badly as they wish — after all, they only need say “sorry” and “ask for forgiveness” and they are once again cleared for heaven.
So many are lost in a brain fog of Christian dogma and hate of “them”, combined with political rhetoric taking advantage of their (often) lack of education and/or skills in a changing economy. These malcontents cannot or will not see the promise that change can bring. They demean and dismiss science while on their cell phones and computers. They are convinced they are doing “God’s work” and that “God is on their side” in this journey we call life. We must grow up and leave childish beliefs behind. The tyranny of religion is over. Religion is big business for its leaders. They have a stake in your continued patronage. Their interest is their own. Keep attending if you like for the companionship, the events, the friends, the socialization… but you’ll probably find much more if you completely break free of the shackles you’ve been in your entire life. Reality is amazing!
Think for yourself, you’ll find much more peace, joy, and happiness that way (paraphrasing Christopher Hitchens). Hitchens’ book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, 2007 is where I got the idea for the title of this piece. I enjoyed the read of Hitchens’ book. So anyway, think for yourself. Break free of the dogma and realize that the brave new world has much to offer and you can be a part of it. Science has provided information and technology to make our lives better and easier than ever. As a farmer you’re probably using geo satellites and data analysis to get a greater crop or herd yield on less land than ever before. As a manufacturing worker, you’re using high-tech machines and computers to program the robotics that reduce or eliminate repetitive motion stress injuries. As a miner or lumberjack, I hope your job safety is improved from what it was, but I really hope you get educated and enter a new line of work. Stripping the planet of resources then burning the coal or using the timber for construction for even more of us will not help the atmosphere our children and grandchildren will need to breathe. You have experience that can be utilized in a different way. All the equipment you used in your physical job needed maintenance, and I bet you did a lot of that directly on the job site. You can transfer that skill to other kinds of large equipment; no, I am not aware enough to say what kind, but you may be, if you escape your chains of indoctrination.
I remember one of my younger sisters when we were 5th and 6th grade. She had always been told she was dumb. A bit into the new school year, she cried for several days — when I asked what was wrong, all she’d say is Mr. Teacher (no, I don’t remember his name). So at a quiet time at lunch break, I privately asked Mr. Teacher to stop being mean to my sister because she’s kinda dumb and it’s not her fault. Mr. Teacher said “She’s not dumb. She just thinks she is.” I was surprised, but I watched my sister bloom that year; it was beautiful to observe. He somehow brought out her self-confidence and she applied her abilities. She didn’t struggle with the rest of her schooling, as far as I know. She still remembered him (and his name) as a grown woman when were visiting one time. She had confidence and will she would not have, had it not been for her breaking free of constraints and indoctrination imposed on her by authority figures in her younger years. She just learned to think for herself a little later than I did.
We can all break free of indoctrination if we so choose. We can all learn, experience, and grow. We can use our intellect, skills, and abilities for the good of all, not just our group. I notice there’s nothing in the bible (nor probably any other scripture) in praise of intelligence or reason. In fact, you are encouraged not to think, not to question, to instead take things “teachers” have told you “on faith”. Break free, think for yourself, become who you meant to be. Just because we *were* a tribal people doesn’t mean we must stagnate there. We can overcome the tendencies of “us” vs “them” if we don’t allow religiosity or politics to keep us separate. We are all one race, all children of the same universe.
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