On Religion

Okay, before I get to my rant on one Religious belief structure, let me start by pointing out there is a new survey, which is religious in a way too. Now come on people, what is your favourite bike/skate boot? The answer to one is pretty obvious for me, the other, well I am not so sure.

In other news, Cor (see my readings) was asking how to train in the winter. He said, "I hate cycling with a passion", I want to stress, Cor hates cycling, I on the other hand think Cor is deranged! Sorry Cor, but you really must be to have such a bizare attitude about the greatest way to get around ever since the invention of the human foot! Anyway I would just like to point out Cor works for the Governement... of Canada no less! And he finds riding boring! Maybe in Ottawa the word boring means exciting to us normal people and exciting means boring? Sort of like Bill Clinton's line "it depends on what your definition of is, is."

I tried to work for the Government of Ontario once, it was so dull I quit the job within six months. Looking busy without actually having anything to do is really teadious work.

Anyway here is a rant I wrote last night that is sure to offend, but hey when has that ever stopped me from publishing something?

My sister-in-law's grandfather passed away recently. I hardly knew him but in the 1990s he seemed like a decent guy. I went to the shiva last night, not because I knew the man - I hardly did, but because you do these things for the living, except neither my brother nor sister-in-law were there. Question, why the hell did I go to the shiva then? Clearly my presence, or lack thereof would not have hurt anyone - sometimes family obligations go too far and this was one of those times.

Anyway I mention all this because it was a Jewish funeral, now understand I am - a born but non practicing - Jew. I have a lot of trouble rationalizing this god person with the horrors that we humans inflict on each other and on "god's" little planet. But what is relevant is at the prayers I did something I was never mature enough to do before, I deconstructed the language and discovered - to my way of thinking - an agonizingly rightist mentality. All that Israel does is good, all that we believe is good and dear god please put an end to our enemies. Now let's see Jesus was a Jew who had followers who started a new nearly identical belief system, except they believe god should put an end to their enemies, Muhammad was an Arab inspired by Jews and Christians who started his own religion in a manner nearly identical to the Christians. Little wonder everyone in the Middle East seems to be at each other's throat all the time.

I would not dare to pretend to know right from wrong in these matters but it does seem to me that a good place to start is by kicking this god person out of our long term planning process and accept the fact that we need to come to terms with our enemies because short of nuking them they won't be smited any time soon.

Here is another random thought on religion. Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Well god smote the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and changed the flow of the red sea. We humans have smote Hiroshima and Nagasaki (have the ability to wipe out pretty much all human life on Earth) and have changed the geography of rivers, lakes even major seas - does that destructive potential give me any divine powers?

In the BBC radio comedy "A Hitch-hikers guide to the Galaxy" Douglas Adams describes a set of books, a theological blockbuster, "A Few of God's Mistakes", "Some more of God's Greatest Mistakes" and "Who Is This God Person Anyway?" I wonder if those books would be any good?