There's profits in prophets

Why were all prophets invented/created in the Dark Ages?

Or, to put it in historical context, between 1,500 and 5,000 years ago.

The answer, I suspect, may lie in the word "Dark".

How strange that prophets were created by the very few people who were able to read and write back in the dark days. It is estimated that only a small percentage of the populace were literate.

So, say if 90% or so of people were illiterate and possessed the intelligence and wherewithal akin to present-day chimps, what does that make of present-day believers?

Are they just shaven chimps?

Depilated chimp descendants?

Or are they just plain lazy and unimaginative people with no mind of their own?

I believe the latter.

And prophets were conveniently created at a time when human rights were virtually non-existent. When women's importance in society ranked just bellow that of cattle (as in present-day Islam) and children were seen as a burden and vulnerable prey (as in present-day Catholic Institutions and Sharia Law).

Oh yes, it could only have happened back in the days. A time when gullibility reigned supreme. A time when the uneducated revered the few who could speak and write, and the eloquent were instantly deemed as divine.

In all, the Dark Ages were the perfect time to create Gods and Prophets. It simply couldn't happen today.

Can you image a news flash on BBC proclaiming "Important announcement, a Prophet has just emerged in the Middle-East village of Bethlehem, south of  Jerusalem..."

It just wouldn't happen. And for a very good reason. We've come a long way since. At least some of us.

Now, in the Enlightened Era, prophets are used to generate profits...and war...and prejudice...and bigotry...and divisiveness...and suffering to name but a few, but at least no more are being invented.

Phew!

:)

'Follow me' the blind man said - but he walked behind

I had a customer in the other day for a test-drive; Mohammed from Iraq, a twenty-something year-old chap hell-bent on test-driving as many different cars as possible without committing to buying any.

I decided to ask how the situation is in Iraq and whether he still had relatives in Baghdad. He explained that although the insurgents are still carrying out atrocities on a daily basis, the security forces appear to be gaining control.

Mohammed was dressed in a style best described as Western-Chic. Immaculately groomed, he would not have looked out of place in any of the trendy hot-spots of  London, Milan, Paris or New York.

I admit to jumping to conclusions by asking him if he was a Sunni Muslim.

'NOoooo', came the anguished reply.

'I am a Shi'a Muslim, praise be to Allah'

Oh..OK, sorry I just thought you were...by...um...you know...the way you're dressed and all..

'No no, and by the way, the Sunni aren't very nice people, you know...'

'...they don't respect women like we do and they don't live by the rules of the Koran'.

I think you are hoping I don't know enough about the subject, Mohammed. I know that Sunni women are allowed to integrate in all levels of society, are educated to the highest levels and are free to dress as they like. That smacks of equality as far as I'm concerned. The opposite rules apply to the Shi'a.

The Sunni don't live by the barbaric ancient Sharia Laws that shackle the Shi'a to the distant past either, so how can you tell me the Shi'a respect their women? 

Respecting women means freeing them from slavery, allowing them free-will to marry (or not marry) whoever they choose.

Respecting women means making education and work opportunities available to them all, as it is for men.

Respecting women means not stoning them to death but helping them if they chose to leave their enforced arranged marriages to seek love elsewhere.

Respecting women means allowing them the freedom to dress as they like, just like their men-folk.

Respecting women means allowing them to drive cars, just as you like driving them and can't get enough of test-drives.

Respecting women means ending the evil practices of female circumcision and child-brides...

...and, Mohammed, who are you trying to fool?

Needless to say, Mohammed left the showroom without buying the car he had no intention of buying in the first place and... with no intention to return.

If young Shi'a men like Mohammed continue to tolerate things as they are and turn a blind-eye, nothing will ever change.

Praise be to Atheism

 :(

Justin Bieber and The Koran

I have to comment on today's news regarding the two most searched for topics in cyberworld;

Justin Bieber and The Koran!  What a combo!

What on earth is "red-neck" pastor Terry, the conservative  mid-west bigot, trying to do?  Why is he so keen to spread hatred and divisiveness by wanting to burn The Koran in public? Who is this freak? Who's order does he think he is following? And who the f_ _k does he think he is speaking for?
And he calls himself a man of God!  An idiot old fart with the brain of a gnat, comes to mind.

He should repent and be forced to burn "The Dreadful Trilogy" - the Christian Bible, Hebrew Bible and the Koran - and then return to hill-billy land, to his wife and sister (probably the same woman)... and have his gonads ripped to shreds by a pack of hungry coyotes (he'd probably enjoy that, but poor coyotes).

No no, seriously, I do not condone violence, especially the religiously inspired kind :)

Justin Bieber;  Popular fresh-faced young singer, brings unity and happiness to millions across the globe.

The Koran;   Popular old-world  myth, can bring violence subjugation and prejudice when misinterpreted - just like the Hebrew and Christian Bibles!

It's scary to think that two thirds of humanity still live by and believe in, ancient man-made scriptures.

Why don't the masses believe in the greatest human minds - the scientists?  Those same scientists who have laboured tirelessly to enlightened us with knowledge and understanding...
...who have invented medicines that prolong life
...and technology that keeps us warm and entertained
...and have proved the evolution of all species
...and decoded the human genome
...and took man to the moon and beyond
...and have explained life and carbon dated the planet
...and are desperately trying to discover cures to all illnesses!

And what good is religion doing?  I rest my case.

Why oh why do the masses believe in the nameless ancient scribes but not the named and famed scientists? Is it because most (if not all) scientists are Atheists?   If so, why do they think that is so? Is it not obvious?

The greatest thinkers in history were Atheists - FACT


Rant over... I feel better now, but not much

.

Religiously Inspired Terror...

...these are the powerful words used in the recent TV documentary “The God Delusion” by Prof. Richard Dawkins that have prompted me to put pen to paper, once again, on this most destructive and enduring human disease we call religion.

Those of you who watched this program will no doubt be more enlightened by the awe-inspiring view on this very human 'cancer' we call Faith. I certainly am, both enlightened and more determined than ever to expose the fallacy and superstitious dogma of religion.

Faith is belief without reason; belief in Bronze Age myths and superstitions created by man’s need for meaning and used to control others through conformity. Religion has survived by keeping its followers in a state of permanent infancy while destroying its opponents in the process. Faith is, not questioning the Devine. Faith is acceptance of the myth as fact when scientific evidence exists to the contrary. That is so anti-learning and anti-knowledge that it defies reason!

The three ‘great’ religions of Islam Christianity and Judaism continue to dismiss the theory of evolution, even though there is evidence that evolution is a fact and indeed still taking place! They also continue to believe that the world is 5000 years old, when science has proved, by carbon-dating technology, that the earth is 4.5 billion years old! Religion continues to believe that high intelligence and empathy are strictly human characteristics! But most dangerous of all, extremist religion continues to victimise and vilify other religions, homosexuality, and all women, with a blind fervour and hatred that knows no bounds! Religion is the ultimate control-freak.

What good has come from religion, I ask? Morals, you may say? I say no. Definitely not. What is moral about encouraging the murder of non-believers such as the ‘fatwa’s’ of Islam or the Christian Crusades? Morals are not religious edicts but simply evolutionary processes to strengthen social groups. Moral codes exist in animal groups such as chimpanzees, elephants, dolphins, meerkats and many others. Different to our morals may be, but morals nonetheless.

Would there have been a 9/11 without religion? Or even the Holocaust? Or the Spanish Inquisition? How about the other countless atrocities and genocides - too many to mention - that stain human history with the blood of innocents? I very much doubt it. Scientific studies by the World Health Organisation state that the humble mosquito is responsible for more human deaths, through malaria, than any other illness or war, but I dispute that. I say religion is the biggest killer and anyone who wants to argue that fact, please forward me your statistics and I will reply with mine.

As the American physicist and Nobel Prize Winner Steven Weinberg once said, and I quote;

"With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil—that takes religion”

Accurate and simple, and yet describes the illogical motives for the atrocities committed under the guise of religion. It is disturbing to think that murderous actions are still taking place under the false guise of holy war.

“March on secular soldiers” - humanity needs you more than ever.

Religion is...smug as a bug in a rug...

I don't like smugness, I don't do 'smug'. It is a characteristic I detest, more than any other!


Has anyone noticed how smug religious people are when discussing this topic with non-believers? They tend to wear the look on their faces that depicts "I know something you don't". Moreover, it implies people like me, who are of a scientific disposition and not at all religious, don't know the 'truth' - and at worst, influenced by satanic forces!!!

Is prejudice not a sin anymore? Is intolerance not a sin?...how about arrogance?.. they are in my book anyway and I don't even have a book.


The truth is, the Darwinists of this world (and other enlightened minds) are a lot closer to the truth than the 'lambs-to-slaughter' followers of people (yes, just ordinary people, not saints!) like Joseph Smith (Mormons) and Charles Russell/Joseph Rutherford (Jehovah's W) and many other self-proclaimed leaders of countless splinter groups.


The above mentioned men must have possessed great powers of persuasion in order to steer their flock away from their original churches and beliefs ! How did they do it? Well, just like all other great 'earthly' leaders throughout history, they realised how gullible some people can be and set to work on them, that's how. Am I the only sceptic here??

Just imagine some charismatic figure appearing nowadays, re-interpreting the Holy Book and re-converting the previously re-converted!?! Would they be taken seriously???

Actually, there is a characteristic I detest and pity more than smugness - GULLIBILITY