Rise of the Madmen (3/3) By Lee Cassanell

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

There is even a theory to suggest that the rich adopted Christianity and encouraged its spread because it was an effective tool of social control. It kept the peasants in there place and made it easy for them to be used and exploited. It's funny how Jesus is supposed to have turned over the money lenders tables and became the poster boy for the poor and needy when those very same people were expected to fill the collection plates with what little they had and sacrifice themselves in wars fought in his name.

History is littered with religious wars, people fighting and dying for the glory of Christianity and the preservation of the faith and the more cynical minded person may suggest that if you say to a commoner that they are killing in the name of a higher power he will fight because he wants to assure his place in the afterlife but if you told that same commoner that he is putting his life at risk so his rich masters can gain more power, land and wealth he might not be so willing to drive a sword through a Saracen's head.

It's 2005 and we are playing the same old games, living with the same old lies and nobody is doing anything about it. Who knows maybe next week George Bush or Tony Blair will hear a voice saying that should invade Iran or Syria and we'll go along for the ride. You see as long as religion is immersed in politics...as long as the Catholic Church has power the world will forever be divided and it's not a divide that can be physically broken down, it's not a high wall or electric fence, it's a psychological barrier that is stronger than the hardest steel.

If you have been taught from day one yours is the one true God and you haven't taken the time to question that then you believe it, even die for it because that is all you know and you're either unequipped or unable to imagine life without that belief. People who have the power to make decisions for humanity should not have any fixed religious belief and especially a belief with the arrogance and ignorance of Christianity, a faith that has done far more bad then it has ever, EVER, done good.

Now I'm writing this because if the religious hatred laws are passed by the British Government everything I just said will be a criminal offence which will basically give lunatics protection against reality and allow them to say all kinds of nonsense safe in the knowledge that they have the right to preach and spread nonsense in whichever way they see fit and I strongly believe that is a massive triumph of stupidity over common sense. These issues should be addressed and it is the right of every single living person to question the motivation of any individual in power who has an affect on their daily lives and if that person happens to follow an organised religion then they should be able to give a balanced and reasonable argument based on facts, not based on quotations taken from whatever document their faith considers to be divinely inspired.

It's time for a change but that change won't come unless people start examining the roots of society's problems, many of which have been damaged by figures who claim to be acting on behalf of God. Think about it his way. In this time of a global AIDS epidemic, mass over-population and increased teenage pregnancy the Pope still decrees on behalf of the almighty that Catholics should not use contraception of any kind. Which just goes to show that even if the Christian God is the real deal...

He's a fucking idiot.

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