Merry FAKmas

Unfortunately, religion will probably always exist. Even if we're to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no God, there'll be some unreasonable character who will doubt the proof based on faith. Tis all a matter of faith after all. How I detest that as a pillar of argument!

Religion thrives for various reasons but probably most strongly because humans - even the dumbest ones - search for answers to questions for which there are no answers. What is the meaning of life? What is the point of all of this if we're only to die and go nowhere else? Why should I be good if there's no one to answer to in the ‘next life' because there is no ‘next life'? How could something so bad happen to someone so good?

The list goes on and on. I've heard all presented as ‘reasons' for subscribing to religion or, at the very least, the belief in God. It's human nature - people don't like the reality that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, there is no tunnel, and there is no light. People don't want to accept that the show's over when the show's over. Bad things happen to good people. No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus but there will be plenty of Visa and Mastercard bills in January.

The church - any church - fears reason because reason is what negates that which supports its argument of being. Maybe instead of fighting so hard to interfere with the advance of science and progress, the church should simply modernize its marketing plan as a ‘fictional escape from reality' because as Hollywood and Disney World have proven: fantasy is a profitable business. Perhaps religion should jump on the consumerism/tourism band wagon. Vatican Land for instance where kids can ride the Pope's train, buy Pope hats instead of mouse ears, pose for pics in front of the life-sized Popemobile, eat ice cream in the shape of a cross, and queue for hours for the most popular ride: Journey through the Fires of Hell. It'd be Vatican Land's answer to Space Mountain. Upon departure, visitors could sign the Great Big Holy Book and enter a contest to have Easter breakfast with the crusty little creepy old dude in the funny shoes.

Intellectual atheist scientists take their kids to Disney World to indulge in a world they very well know not to be real. These same logical minds flock to films based purely on fiction. They're able to separate real life from fantasy without it interfering in their daily work. No one fears Mickey Mouse will strike them dead if they fail to visit him annually to spend lots of money on his overpriced food and merchandise to decorate the kids' rooms in all Disney. No physicist leaps out a window on the 40^th floor of a skyscraper fully expecting to float or land safely on one's feet because some character in a film viewed over the weekend defied the laws of gravity and lived happily ever after.

People visit character-based amusement parks and engage with Mickey, Minnie, and friends in the moment as an escape from the reality outside the gates. When the holiday ends, no one starts praying to Pluto(the dog, not the planet) or giving thanks to Piglet for this ham they are about to receive. Some may leave a horror film slightly frightened by a particular scene and may not want to be alone in a dark room soon after, but then the logical mind kicks in and assures the person that it was just a film and monsters don't really live in your closet waiting to spring to life when you turn off the lights and go to bed. No one's asking Dumbo to run the country. We had that for 8 years and see where we are as a result?

Why can't people separate reality from religion in the same way they do the aforementioned examples? Why can we leave Goofy behind in Orlando to entertain the next bunch of kids passing through the gates yet some can't leave the goofy fakin ideas religion's put into their heads in the church on Sunday and go to work on Monday to be a senator or a doctor or a responsible, logical human being - one who completely comprehends that what they hear on Sunday in church is just fantasy? I guess I wouldn't take such issue with religion if I didn't fear the potential damage it can do because I've already seen the damage it's done(again, refer to countless wars and preventable deaths caused by religion). If I am to credit religion with one thing: it's most definitely faked up a lot of people's lives based on its bullshit. It should be charged with crimes against humanity for brainwashing people into believing that simply which never was true, never will be true, and should be attributed to what it is: bullshit fantasy that makes reality an even bigger mess once the nonsensical buzz wears off.

Why do people take their fantasies to work like these lunatic senators do? I mean, if you watch this video, you'd think this was a meeting of escaped patients from an insane asylum rather than senators responsible for voting on crucial pieces of legislation that affect the lives of millions(domestically) when it comes to such issues as health care reform and billions(domestically and internationally collectively) when it comes to such issues as, oh, I don't know, like declaring war! Why are we allowing the lunatics to interfere and destroy lives based on their fanatical fantastical beliefs? But they're not lunatics because they have proof they're speaking the word and promoting ‘his' work.

What is their proof? The holy book of their choice! Oh yes, how I love when religiwhacks quote the Bible, Koran, Torah, etc as ‘proof' that some God exists and he/she/it has said so in this fictional piece of literature. Quoting the Bible as proof of God's existence is like quoting Dr. Seuss to prove the existence of the Grinch or the Cat in the Hat. Scientifically and logically, this argument wouldn't hold vapor let alone liquid water.

Yet, we're entrusting lunatics who base their ‘proof' on fiction to call the shots, to interfere with finding cures to CURABLE diseases, to making the world a safer, healthier, stronger place because that would piss off God and deny them their place in heaven. Let's not worry about improving the lives of those actually living here in an actual life here on earth we can see as true because people are living around us as that proof. No, instead, let's play pretend and worry about the life some fictional book promises and fak this one up for as many people as possible because you believe the fantasy and choose to force everyone else to be damned on earth so you can be rewarded in a heaven that doesn't really exist. What the fak gives you that right? How about faking off and letting me enjoy the advancements provided by science and I won't force you to have an abortion? It's just too bad your mother didn't believe in abortion.

How about you read your holy book and let the blind see via the cures for blindness stem cell research may make possible? 

Wouldn't that be good for business? Curing the blind so they too can read your holy books? Why the fak are Americans, desperate for medical answers, forced to go to India for help?

Isn't that faked up? Citizens of the allegedly most advanced nation in the world seeking medical help in what is perceived in America as the ‘third world' but it happens because the religiwhacks in the U.S. believe God wants people to suffer needlessly. Such a kind and merciful deity indeed!

Perhaps the lunatic senators on the Hellth Care Reform Prevention Squad led by none other than Lou Engle of Jesus Camp fame(he's the rocking nutjob who truly missed his calling as a World Wrestling Federation announcer) should watch the opening scene of  the controversial black comedy Postal in which the two Muslim hijackers on their way to ram into the World Trade Center are debating the number of virgins awaiting them in heaven after their martyrdom since they were both promised a different number during their recruitment. They ring Osama bin Laden to confirm the actual number, learn they were lied to, and decide to abort the mission. So, what if it's like that and you're sacrificing this life on earth through your stupidity for an afterlife that ain't as grand as the advertisement claimed? How many of those ‘as seen on TV' products actually do what the commercial promises? Shouldn't we focus on what we know to be real? Are we truly to believe that this hand job is going to be as satisfying as the ad teases?

As much as I dream of the day everyone lives logically, ethically, and considerately simply for the sake of doing so rather than because they fear the big invisible man in the sky whom they should fear and bribe, despite the fact he loves them, I'm realistic enough to realize religion will always exist or will so through my lifetime. However, with that thought in mind, I realistically dream of the day people keep it in perspective for what religion is: a fictional explanation for things we cannot yet or may never be able to explain; a comfort that soothes some through the harsh realities of an often cruel world; something that gives ‘reason' and meaning to our otherwise meaningless lives.

However, I think it's crucial to keep it in perspective. Let's acknowledge religion for what it is - a fantasy or an escape from reality. Like Disney World where people go for an escape from reality, church does much the same. The church - any church - has nothing to fear. Even if we were to undoubtedly prove everything it peddles is a load of shit, there'll still be people lined up to kiss the ring, take the tour, drop some change in the collection plate, and buy the bullshit because of the comfort and answers it provides when logic and reason cannot. Some people need the comfort of knowing there's more after this life in order to get through today and tomorrow. I understand that as I understand why some people must pop anti-depressants to ‘happy up' because they can't deal with reality head-on. However, let's realize that both are colored by a form of fantasy. Neither should be perceived as real because neither is real or true or really the answer to the problems we face. Anti-depressants are abused in the same way religion is. It gives a false sense of reality but is dangerous in many ways because eventually we still must face reality - a reality that could be better if we let those who could handle it do what they need to do to improve reality overall. No one's going to tell me that the Pope would reject a cure for cancer based on stem cell research if he were diagnosed with otherwise terminal cancer. Granted, I'd sort of hope he did for my own reasons but I doubt he would.

If we could contain religion within those parameters, the world would be a better place. It becomes a very dangerous commodity when it interferes in everyday life as it so often does(see history for the brutality unleashed in the name of religion). While a seemingly innocent comfort to some, religion has proven itself an absolute horror to others but then again, I'd expect nothing less of a contradiction.