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Sunday, August 13, 2006
Well, the votes are in.....all 12 of them. 75% of those polled feel that humanity would be better off without religion. I have to say, I'm one of them. I could go on and on and on about war, prejudice, forced conversion, jihad, book burnings, intolerance, and the like, but why open that can of worms? In a nutshell, history shows us that the promise of a sweet reward after death allows people to disregard the quality of life here on Earth. It allows people to rape the planet without regard, since this Earthly plane is just a temporary diorama, and allows people to, as Frank Zappa once said, "Fold, spindle and mutilate those non-believers from a neighboring state." God will thank you for doing His dirty work in the end.
And, no, I do not speak from ignorance. Astonishingly enough, I spent two years as an alter boy. And no, get that out of your head..... it didn't happen at my church. Probably because the priest was too old to get it up.
I noticed that this time there were more people using the comment feature on the poll, but only the majority folks. While people voted in support of religion, no one spoke up for it. You needn't worry, folks, you won't get slammed just for disagreeing. This blog doesn't have that sort of atmosphere. The only way you'll get treated like an asshole here is if you act like one. Scroll down and you'll see all sorts of civil disagreements.
Anyway, it's time for a new poll. It's to your right, and will be something a bit more frivolous this time. I'm certain Paula will want to weigh in this time. When you vote, please take a moment to write WHY you voted that way. You may have a reason that no one else thought of! And if anyone gets upset over THIS poll, well, that person is obviously very, VERY insane.
Go to it!
Posted at 07:45 am by Joe_the_Troll
 | | | Tim
August 13, 2006 12:37 PM PDT
I voted that religion is a good thing. Look, lots of things, when used for the correct purpose are a great aid to mankind. It's when peeps use them for something other than what they are intended for that they bite them in the ass. Bleach is a great way to get your clothes clean. It is not a good beverage. | |
| | | Mark
August 13, 2006 12:55 PM PDT
Good point, Tim. I do not think religion is the problem as much as ego and greed is. I'm not religious, in fact, I have lately come to regard atheism as a liberating philosophy. My support of Israel, forex, mirrors a lot of that of Israelis, many of whom are not religious at all. And yet many still lump Israelis together with radical Islamists under the heading of "It's A Religious War". It is most deinitely NOT a religious war for Israel. It is a war of survival.
Come to think of it, let me add ignorance to that short list. | |
| | | Paula
August 13, 2006 04:20 PM PDT
Poop, I missed the religion poll. I guess I just don't know. Religion has been used for both very very good things and incredibly horrible things. I have a feeling people will be people either way and religion itself (as a philosophy or whatever) actually doesn't matter all that much. | |
| | | nat
August 13, 2006 09:02 PM PDT
I'm a lapsed Catholic myself, Joe, although I still attend Mass with the family, mostly to keep the peace.
I feel that religion is something humans use as an excuse or reason to behave the way they do. Something conjured to give us a reason to behave the way we always seem to.
If there is a god, why does the god chose only some to be the blessed ones? Why do humans seem to matter more than other creatures? Why, WHY, WHY? Why would a god create creatures just to watch them argue, century upon century, about who is in the right? For his/her own entertainment? That is not a god I want to spend "eternity" with. Screw that. If I "burn in hell," so be it. | |
| | | Mark
August 13, 2006 09:56 PM PDT
Hell - What a quaint concept. Even as a religious Jew I was never taught that that was a possibility since Judaism, unlike some other rel;igions, teaches personal responsibility over priestly absolution of sins.
However, as a new Atheist, perhaps I'll see you there, Nat! | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 13, 2006 10:00 PM PDT
Man you guys have it made..... you fast one day out of the year and it's all right. I had to confess every week and do Hail Marys until my lips bled. Like the old Jewish man once said, "Oy! Even for SIN they pay retail!" | |
| | | Mark
August 14, 2006 06:27 AM PDT
Um, no Joe, that isn't how it works. Fasting one day doiesn't absolve us of sin. We must personally go to those wse've wronged and ask forgiveness.
Who has it made? | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 14, 2006 06:39 AM PDT
I meant Jews, not alcoholics. Anyway, that's how it was explained to me years ago by a not-very-devout Jewish guy I used to know. But then, in retrospect, he was kind of a shithead. | |
| | | Mark
August 14, 2006 07:00 AM PDT
I was talking about Jews too, Joe.
I don't know of any fasting rituals in AA.
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| | | Joe the Troll
August 14, 2006 07:03 AM PDT
I meant the apologizing to everyone thing. Yeesh. | |
| | | Mark
August 14, 2006 07:27 AM PDT
So Did I.
It's an integral part of Judaism.
Sheesh. | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 14, 2006 07:50 AM PDT
Well, then, so there!
Jeesh. | |
| | | hillbilly tim
August 14, 2006 09:04 AM PDT
i have no problem with people having faith in whatever they like but dont shove it down my throat or tell me i am a bad person if i dont have that same faith. personally i think religion is a scam. what a stroke of luck for christians that jesus died for their sins. now they can do anything and still get to heavan if they ask for forgiveness | |
| | | Jen
August 14, 2006 12:21 PM PDT
I missed the religion poll (neutral - it's not the religion any more than it's the guns, or the rock and roll, or the trench coats - it's the assholes), but I feel quite certain that Jeannie would totally kick Samantha's ass. Samantha is way too bound by convention to fight really dirty. | |
| | | jollykay
August 14, 2006 08:34 PM PDT
that's why i pick serena. | |
| | | funnygirl
August 15, 2006 05:37 AM PDT
I missed the poll as well. That's a hard one to answer, I think I 'll stay on the fence.
I have a lot of issues with organized religion and agree with anyone who thinks it is a lesson is mass manipulation, however, I do agree that the base intention of religion has something to do with attempting to avoid some of the "bad" things the human race likes to do. But then when it says you shouldn't kill people and then you turn around and kill people in the name of religion - there's really no hope for us. I just don't think that a book can save the human race. And as for faith - I've seen people who faith serves as a great gift and a comfort when all seems lost (such as their child dying), so to some extent I think religion and the faith a person can have in it may just have a place.
I could go on and on about this. But I really have to go make more coffee now. | |
| | | Lucyp
August 15, 2006 04:32 PM PDT
Oh bugga, i missed the vote. For what it is worth, what i would of said is that i am an atheist and believe that the World would be a more peaceful place without religion and that religion is just some sort of mass delusion that the Church used at the time to control the civilians. Of course nobody can be 100% certain either way until we die and then it's to late anyway. | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 15, 2006 05:47 PM PDT
I'm actually NOT an atheist..... I just don't think highly of organized religions.
"I guess I wouldn't believe in anything if it weren't for my lucky astrology mood watch." | |
| | | Kat
August 15, 2006 09:22 PM PDT
oooooo. What a time to be a new goat under the bridge. Religion eh? Everything is a cult. We humans need something to believe in: God, ourselves, the blogoshphere, McDonalds, Al Queda, Dreams, Demons and yes, even trolls. Culture and religion are synonymous. Just look at Scientology. Nuff said. | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 16, 2006 07:43 AM PDT
Just look at Scientology.
After seeing who's involved in it, I'd just as soon not.
yes, even trolls.
Hmm, I never though of starting my own cult. It's a thought. I could use all that money and real estate!!!! | |
| | | Tim
August 16, 2006 08:19 AM PDT
I used to go to church every Sunday. The week after I was baptised (at 30 ) the pastor was thrown out of the congregation for having an affair with one of the flock. I still went for another year, but there was political infighting between the church elders and the new pastor, who was eventually replaced. I was turned off by all of that and haven't been to church for about 13 years. About six years ago I tried atheism on for size. It didn't fit. It seemed that the more I denied the existance of God, the worse things became for me. Now I am not saying that God went out of his way to mess things up for me, I think his attitude was "okay, you said you don't need my help so you figure it out". Well, sometimes life throws things at you that you just can't handle by yourself. I know now that I can't handle it alone, and thank God everyday for coming back into my life. Will I ever set foot in a church? I don't know. What I do know is that there is something out there beyond the end of our lives. I don't know exactly what it is, but I am looking forward to finding out (hopefully after a long and happy life). Don't give up on God, because he won't give up on you. | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 16, 2006 08:33 AM PDT
I see your point, Tim, but for myself, anyway, this isn't about God. It's about religion, which I see as a different thing altogether. God is God. Religion, as I see it, is the use, or misuse, of God for the acquisition of money and power. I can do without the latter, and it seems that perhaps you can as well. | |
| | | Mark
August 16, 2006 08:43 AM PDT
"Religion, as I see it, is the use, or misuse, of God for the acquisition of money and power."
Some religions, yes. But not all. | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 16, 2006 08:51 AM PDT
You're right, Mark. Buddhists don't go bothering anybody.
I'd say just about all of the others have both good and bad eggs. I'll just avoid all the eggs, myself. Cholesterol, y'know. | |
| | | Mark
August 16, 2006 09:08 AM PDT
You're right, Mark. Buddhists don't go bothering anybody.
Pretty general, Joe. I've been bothered by some.
What I should ghave said was not all members of religions do so. So it goes back to peeps being thje prob, not religion.
Yer behind the timess on eggs. The myth that they are high in cholesterol wasd exploded years ago by the medical community. | |
| | | Tim
August 16, 2006 09:18 AM PDT
Marcus Aurilius, you are conspicuiously absent from the comments section of my blog! | |
| | | Joe The Troll
August 16, 2006 12:24 PM PDT
The medical community itself is high in cholesterol. At least here it is. | |
| | | Kat
August 16, 2006 12:27 PM PDT
Well if scientology can be bred out of sci fi then why not trollology? Works for me ;o) | |
| | | Dawn (webmiztrs)
August 16, 2006 12:33 PM PDT
where the heck did my comment go? oh well.
anyway, I totally agree with you. it should be about being a good person, and religion doesn't mean jack shit. my ex's family was super religious and they were a bunch of assholes. | |
| | | O' Tim
August 16, 2006 03:13 PM PDT
Joe - Say it ain't so that you have abandoned the tenets of His Noodliness! | |
| | | Joe the Troll
August 16, 2006 04:54 PM PDT
O'Tim-
He's still in my sidebar and on my wallpaper, but I haven't been to an italian restaurant or seen a pirate movie for several months now. I'll be breaking that when PotC II gets to the dollar theater, though. | |
| | | O\'Tim
August 16, 2006 08:04 PM PDT
Arr! Good sketti! | |
| | | Stef
August 20, 2006 01:01 AM PDT
Gutted I missed the poll!
I think there is a big difference between personally belief and faith and religion.
Everyone, including atheists like myself, have some sort of code or belief that they view the world through that helps them make sense of things. If it works for them then great, no harm done.
As Marx once said though I truly believe religion is the opium of the masses. For millennia it has kept the peasantry happily trapped in a life of drudgery with the promise of a better life and it has also driven people to terrible crimes and left many dead.
I'm happy to discuss someone's beliefs and actually enjoy finding out how others see the world. I do not enjoy hearing about anyone's religion. | |
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