On Religion (again)

A forewarning, this post can be really offensive, particularly to anyone of deep religious belief. I am becoming quite an atheist and this sort of expands on my notions. (Frankly I wish I had a private diary as well as a public blog.) I would ask any religious person not to read this, or read it and remember it’s just my ideas on religion and is not meant as a criticism of the next person’s belief structures. Actually if anything this is a critique of my own beliefs.

I was driving to work today when I had a bit of an epiphany, religion, as most humans (okay, more likely just me) view it, is incredibly arrogant.

An example of my slightly wacked beliefs is in order here. Some time ago I participated in the Montreal 24 hour inline relay race on the F-1 track in Montreal. Over the course of the evening Jacky Schu had the baton and would have to pass it off to me (I in turn passed it off to Daniel Dumbrill who passed it back to Jacky, one hand off per lap, each lap was just under 5km.)

Into the evening the rain started, at first it just made things unpleasant and somewhat dangerous. Around two in the morning I was to do a lap, I went out from the paddock and waited on a bleacher for Jacky, about a minute before Jacky arrived the rain started coming down in biblical proportions. (I.e. Genesis 6, This is the line of Noah, Noah was a righteous man, he was blameless in his age… – Sadly I did not need to consult The Plaut Commentary to write that quote, I’ve got it stuck, hard wired into my brain.)

Anyway I did my lap in the rain and just about a minute before completing my lap, the rain let up, a lot. Thus I developed two theories, God hates me, and God’s sense of timing needs work.

See the arrogance? Why on earth would a supreme deity give a damn about my rollerblading adventures? It is just like when I yell at the sky in the rain on Monday, imploring any almighty to keep the rain back until I get home. (If you want to find out the outcome of that particular prayer, see yesterday’s blog post.)

Or the epiphany? I got a bunch of green lights on the drive to work. Really I should be thanking the city traffic planners, there is no supreme deity involved.

Of course this brings me to the logical question, when is the almighty at work? When Osama Bin Laden’s minions smash airplanes into buildings and kill three thousand innocent people? When the Christian Crazies in Florida threaten to burn hundreds of Qurans? How about when other Christian Crazies protest a soldier’s funeral - he was gay. (Shortest definition of tasteless, crass and inhumane I have ever seen.) How about when the Jewish Crazies build homes in The West Bank?

I wonder, would say a cow view a human as the physical embodiment of the divine? (After all, look at the power a rancher has over the cow.) If so what is a cow thinking as it gets marched to the slaughter? Would the cow think, I have upset my master for my deviant beliefs or would it think I am going to a better place now? Either way, makes me wonder about God’s motivation, makes me also wonder if there is one.