I’m sick of these people. I’m supposed to show them “respect”, just because they go all dreamy-eyed and reverent on me, and celestial choirs sing in the background while they contemplate how I will writhe in hell for all eternity because I can’t sign on to their bullshit. They all demand I kiss god’s ass, and get very upset when I point out that’s all they’re doing; trading their dignity for salvation.

All religions eventually devolve to this final state of sycophancy and spiritual fellatio. And I hope our Christian and Jewish friends don’t get too upset if I point out its not just the Muslims that do this, they all do.

And, while we’re on the subject, I hope our Republican friends get their head out of their ass long enough to realize that there are very strong PRACTICAL, military and political, reasons for not turning our domestic dialog about ISIS into a Christian harangue against Mohamed. Not only are most American Muslims loyal citizens, we need world Islam as an ally, just like we once needed the Communists to defeat the Nazis. That means you, Rudy. Can’t you cretins stop hating long enough to think?

I’m not absolutely sure there is no god. No one can say that for certain. Maybe there is. But I am absolutely certain that if he does exist, this kind of self-debasing groveling is hateful in his eyes and merits a one-way ticket straight to hell.

Its not just that mindless faith is stupid. Its also in bad taste.

This was a thing. A Big Theologic Thing: Triclavianism Seriously? Arguments about how many nails were used to crucify Christ?

Sigh.

“What fools these mortals…”

I can understand spirituality, I actually consider myself a spiritual person, but for me the essence of spirituality is the understanding of the vastness of the question, the wonder, the mystery of it all, the universe is unknowable, yet beautiful. These people (and Muslims aren’t the only fools we’re talking about here, similar diagrams could be constructed around all the world’s religions) aren’t interested in questions or answers. They already know it all.

Religion, ideology, its all the same. Concentrated and distilled self-delusion. I have no use for those people. I have nothing but contempt for them and their faith.

The apocalyptic mind sees utopia through dystopia and a supernatural intervention. It seems that they want to prove the existence of God by forcing prophesy’s hand. God’s book says he’ll show up when X happens, so lets go ahead and make X happen, and hope he shows up as promised and rescue us from our stupidity. Show us your cards, God. In the meantime, so much is killed, destroyed, wasted.

Imagine a world where the New Testament ended not with a tale of destruction but of construction. An edict to explore, construct, cooperate? That we should get our act together and find God out in the universe. Instead of being told he’d drop in and fix our problems once we really got really, really good at killing each other.

Fuck the final battle, we’ve got better things to do.

PS:
I have found this infographic helpful in understanding the sects of Islam, ’cause I’m always getting them confused:

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/islamic-sects/

(minor edits have occurred to this comment)

The success of ISIS/ISIL has inspired other apocalyptic Islamists in other parts of the Muslim world, and the movement has metastasized, but these splinter groups are coat-tailing on ISIS’ reputation, they were not deliberately and systematically created by ISIS.

Come to think of it, the fundamentalist theme that runs through middle eastern politics (both Sunni and Shia) is analogous to the fundamentalist Christian core lodged in American Conservative thought. Evangelical fanaticism does not cause, or control, Right wing politics in the USA, but it plays a major role in it. In fact, you really can’t understand one without the other. Are there Christians who are not fundamentalists? Sure. Christians who are not Conservative? Certainly. Conservative Christians who are not fundamentalists? Of course there are. There are even Conservative Jews, Muslims and atheists, too. But Conservatives are rather intimidated by their fundamentalists, and are not likely to stand up to them. Not only are they afraid of them, they need them.