Opiates and so on
Hmmm. Hmmm, indeed.
It seems that various Islamic clerics have, as part of their condemnation of the bombings in London last week, decided to specifically start telling their "flock" (sheep is as apt a description of the religious as any I can think of) that killing people is bad, and results in going to hell.
Welcome as condemnation of bombing is from any human being claiming to be civilised, I can't help but wonder at the mindset that believes one can only not perform evil acts if one is threatened with eternal torment for doing so. This isn't an attack on Islam per se - all religions are guilty of it. As some portentous pop singer or other bellowed, "Is goodness hard to come by without lying?" And surely it's time to reflect on the harm that religion does to society. Not simply the suicide bombers (who are always religious - how could anyone who didn't believe in an afterlife - whatever that means, they're always a tad unclear on the subject - think that blowing themselves up to take down a few other people is a good thing?), but the whole "philosophy" of "We're god's chosen people, she's chosen to reveal her divine secrets to us, not you, so we're better than you..." It's from this starting point - the basis of all religion - that the idea of killing other people because they have different superstitions from you stems.
So what to do? Well, obviously, you can't outlaw religion. In a democracy nobody should be imprisoned simply for being wrong or stupid. But Mr Tony was very fond of promoting something he called "faith-based schools". Surely these must be abolished? The fact that my taxes go to pay for the propagation and promulgation of half-backed superstitious idiocy annoys me intensely. Indeed, banning religions from running schools, and thus protecting young, impressionable minds from being brainwashed, has to be a basic minimum. And rather than teaching RE - still compulsory in schools - perhaps we could teach Philosophical Studies, or some such.
Secular Humanism will maybe be the dominant world view one day. It's worth putting in the effort to make that day sooner rather than later, for all our sakes.
It seems that various Islamic clerics have, as part of their condemnation of the bombings in London last week, decided to specifically start telling their "flock" (sheep is as apt a description of the religious as any I can think of) that killing people is bad, and results in going to hell.
Welcome as condemnation of bombing is from any human being claiming to be civilised, I can't help but wonder at the mindset that believes one can only not perform evil acts if one is threatened with eternal torment for doing so. This isn't an attack on Islam per se - all religions are guilty of it. As some portentous pop singer or other bellowed, "Is goodness hard to come by without lying?" And surely it's time to reflect on the harm that religion does to society. Not simply the suicide bombers (who are always religious - how could anyone who didn't believe in an afterlife - whatever that means, they're always a tad unclear on the subject - think that blowing themselves up to take down a few other people is a good thing?), but the whole "philosophy" of "We're god's chosen people, she's chosen to reveal her divine secrets to us, not you, so we're better than you..." It's from this starting point - the basis of all religion - that the idea of killing other people because they have different superstitions from you stems.
So what to do? Well, obviously, you can't outlaw religion. In a democracy nobody should be imprisoned simply for being wrong or stupid. But Mr Tony was very fond of promoting something he called "faith-based schools". Surely these must be abolished? The fact that my taxes go to pay for the propagation and promulgation of half-backed superstitious idiocy annoys me intensely. Indeed, banning religions from running schools, and thus protecting young, impressionable minds from being brainwashed, has to be a basic minimum. And rather than teaching RE - still compulsory in schools - perhaps we could teach Philosophical Studies, or some such.
Secular Humanism will maybe be the dominant world view one day. It's worth putting in the effort to make that day sooner rather than later, for all our sakes.
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