A scourge lies upon the Land of the Free.
A disease is rampant, and has achieved induration upon the fundamental parts of our body politic. The fashion of violent anti-intellectualism. Religious fundamentalists have seized the megaphone of our Presidency through the manipulations of some of the least-capable clowns ever elevated to high office since the end of inbred monarchical rule. And these fools have sought to infuse into the very fabric of our daily life their ridiculous ideas with the notion of suppressing secular thought -- one assumes forever.
I was like all human beings born without religious beliefs. What separates me from most of Humanity is that I was also raised without them. Throughout my adolescence and adulthood it was frequently imparted to me that my ideas did not warrant popular approval.
At some point in my early adulthood, it dawned on me that I hadn't asked for approval. Or permission.
I styled myself agnostic for a very long time, because people seemed more receptive to the idea that I hadn't yet decided. This meant to them that I might be saved. But by my '20's I realized I had to shit or get off the pot. That was the late 1980's, when the current eruption of McReligion was just beginning.
I saw today's hyper-fundamentalism as utterly fake and crass commercialism. The faith of the modern fundamentalist is rooted in denying things that every other sane reasonable person accepts. I realized that in that context there was no point in entertaining the notion of a Creator. Everyone who was was doing so in order to get on a bandwagon of popular reality, not because it meant anything spiritual to them. Everyone who promulgated this story was doing so, in my opinion, out of intense dishonesty.
I've been told on more than one occasion that I'm viewed as a deeply spiritual person despite my atheism. I guess I take from that the notion that finding meaning in life comes not from Crackerjack (TM) Brand Religion Pops, but from swimming strongly away from the shores of the familiar in life.
I exist because I exist. I do not need the permission of the Moral Majority to fail to believe in God. I do not require the stamp of approval of Reverend Whatshisfuck to put a seal on the quality of my character. I am the sum of my actions and ideas and I have apologies for neither to date.
This blog will serve to narrate my journey as a literally unwashed heathen through the seas of narcissistic, pseudo-spiritualistic, self-aggrandistic hysteria that is modern religion. I am one of the many who view religion as the source of many of Mankind's deeply-rooted psychological and social issues. I do not believe it is ultimately a positive force, but rather an outmoded reflex that can be amputated with the same lack of detriment that an appendix can. And just like an appendix, one's religious belief can be infected with a toxin-spewing parasite that ultimately kills the host. Just ask the survivors of Jonestown . . .
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2 comments:
I would yell "FIRST!!!" but I fear that may be crass. I join you in your declaration, and applaud you in actively shedding your mask.
How's work? heard you got promoted some time back!!!
Well I'm not a downright DISbeliever, because there's always room for learning and new experiences, and it seems to me that there is a spiritual spectrum that people operate in whether they (we) are aware of it at all times or not. But I totally agree with you about the commercial, anti-rational McReligion aspect of it.
But mostly I was motivated to find you (saw your comment on Daily Kos, but I don't post there anymore because they keep throwing me off for asking the questions that arise from the kind of independent thinking you espouse)and say thanks for re-posting what I call the "Devil's Handshake." I remember the news that day so clearly- it still makes me want to jump up and down and scream at people (like I was yelling at the TV that night in Dec. 1983) "There- Look at that: America just sold her soul."
This image is soooo important to keep on showing, because when I tried to tell my fellow students (a generation younger than me, but gee, it was a Media Ethics class for Journalism students...)- in Feb 2003 that I was old enough and actually remembered seeing "Reagan's Envoy" and the handshake, instead of looking into it (at that time I could only find one teeny-tiny fuzzy still picture image to show them) they called ME a liar. If we can't crack open the minds of the future journalists of the world, how will we ever make it better? (And why are people so stubborn in misguided beliefs even when shown proper evidence that they are dead wrong?)
Anyway, thanks again.
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