______ ______ ______________ | | | | \ | \ / \ / ____ \ ______| | |________| | / \ | |____ | ________ | ( {} ) | _____) /~~~~~~~~~~~ | | | | \____/ | |______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ | |~~~~~~~ / \ / \ / | ~~~~~~~~~| | | | |______| |______| /_____________| | | | | | | | | ...Hogs of Entropy Text Files Present... | | | | | | | | "Thou Shalt Not Think" | | | | | | | | By: Thalassocracy | | | | | | \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before I get bashed out off my soap box for this file, I'd like to say something in my defense. This is simply a "persuasive" article. The key word being "persuade." My goal, so to speak, is to convince you that my viewpoint is correct, even though I may agree with the flip-side slightly on some accounts. Yet, it would be incredibly stupid to mention them here, as this would turn into a rambling of massiveness, an argument with myself. Contrasting viewpoints are for just that - "contrast." I'll leave it up to other people to bring up them. I should probably carry a copy of this around with me so when someone asks me about religion I'll just hand it to them. I often try to get into religious discussions, but fail horribly because I talk before I think (that -is- one the of the main reasons for stuttering, you know) and end up sounding like a fool. This is simply a way to organize my ideas and get them across. In any case, what I'm trying to say is, don't hate me because I'm beautiful. What is the Bible? It depends on who you ask. If you ask your local English teacher (speaking as strictly an English teacher, that is) he'll say it's the one of the works that are the basis for Western literature. If you ask your local priest, he'll say it's the "word of God" and is how we should live our lives. Your local rabbi will give you the same answer as a priest would, except he would add a note to ignore that little thing called the "New Testament." And there are 47643745 Christian variations, as well. Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, you get the idea. Taken word for word, the Bible is a well written piece of literature and is filled with countless moral and entertaining stories. I doubt anyone would be able to get through high school and college without studying the Bible, even in public school. In fact, probably more so in public school, since if you were to study the Bible, as a piece of literature, in a Catholic school, the conversation would get bogged down by the religious aspects of it. But, then again, what about the Greek and Roman myths? The stories of Native Americans? Hinduism? Buddhism? Islam? Neavisism?! They are all comparable, if not superior to the Christian Bible, literally. How can we simply disregard their credibility and worship Christianity as the "right" religion. And, if so, -which- Christian flavor is best? What kind of egos do we have, especially religious authorities, to deny entire countries of any truthfulness to their entire religious existence? What is different, though, is the complexity of the religion as a whole. Christianity is "modern." It is the most popular religion in most (I would say "all," but I'm sure someone will come up with some third world country that has an Apple ][ in one of every five homes) "modern" countries. And don't tell me that Middle Eastern countries are "modern." Sure they have enough weapons to destroy downtown East Bumblefuck, but the common man still lives like shit. And the common man is what's important. It's the common man (er.. fuck.. I hope too many women don't get offended when I "accidentally" use the word "man" meaning "all men and women" or use the male pronoun when referring to both sexes... I care, really.) that matters here. He (did it again) is the one that makes the religion. It's what he (teehee) believes that matters. An undebatable fact is that all religions explain the unexplainable. Keeping this in mind, think about the ancient Greek myths. They had gods to control many aspects of the workings of the Earth. For example, there was a god of fire, a god of water, a god of warez, etc. These were all things that the common Greek person could not understand. They did not understand how man discovered fire, nor where water came from, nor how my warez m0ve so damn fast.. well.. bad example. So, stories began to be told, and people believed them. As scientific knowledge began to advance, the people of Greece, most notably Socrates and his followers, began to question the truth in these stories. Many of these unknowns had become known, but they did still not understand where the Universe came from, for example, so there had to be a God to have created the Earth on which they lived. The other gods, the ones that explained, like, how people learned how to use fire, became outdated. The singular God frame of mind did not gain mass appeal until much later, though. Another function of religion is to give morals. The morals in any religion are obvious. These morals were followed out of fear. Fear that they would be punished if the morals were broken. And many laws are still followed out of fear. That is why many people believe in the death penalty, as a deterrent. Punishment in the Bible holds the same purpose as punishment in the democratic countries of today. To avoid having crimes committed in the first place. It does no good to society to punish. Here comes a quote to which I forget who to credit. I think it's Plato. "In a society with crime, there is no justice." If that statement hit the tall person behind you, it means if there is crime not everyone is following the law (duh) and people are not getting justice. For example, if someone is murdered his (did it again, wowee zowee) right to live is taken away. There is no justice in a society with murdering. My point (yes, there is one) is that the laws of the Bible, and our laws of today are for the same purpose. They were laws to preserve justice (prevent crime, not punish those who commit them). The punishment is for those too stupid to follow the laws for the common good and must be made fearful of God (which was a majority of people). Oh, yeah, my point is that the laws were written by humans! Not some blasted god. These laws are not that complex. I'm sure the common man (ha ha ha ho!) understood that killing is "bad." It reminds me of the Simpsons episode in which Homer is in some kind of flashback just before the Ten Commandments were given. Homer's "job" was to steal, another's was to create idols (there were other people, but I forget and such). Once Moses comes they say to each other "uh-oh, it's Moses, look busy!" So, the one person starts to make idols, and Homer steals them as he makes them. As he hears "Thou shalt not make false idols," he stops making them, cartoon-cursing on the way. When Homer hears "Thou shalt not steal," he obviously says "Doh!" and puts the idols back. In any case, this is a great comedic bashing of how the Bible portrayed people. As stupid idiots who will follow any law given to them, and this is how the religious authorities of today want -us- to act. They only followed those laws out of fear. Fear, I say, damnit. Not until people began to have democratic governments were laws openly known to have been created by humans. The twelve tablets of Roman code and the Constitution are good examples of this. People, today are more willing to follow the laws of the Constitution than the Ten Commandments of the Bible only because they fear life in prison more than damnation in hell. Except for those idiotic pro-lifers who kill abortion doctors in the "name of God." Give me a fucking break. I've got a motto for you (sure, I stole it from someone else, but I can't remember right now, sooo.. uh.. thanks.) "Life begins at conception and ends at birth." Oh, I crack myself up. Our modern scientists are the Socrates' of today. More and more the of unknowns explained in the Bible are being known by work in science. Yet, just as happened to Socrates, the masses will not convert to the religion of science any time soon. Even after the discovery of the actual origin of the Universe (and we are coming close) it will be years, decades, even centuries before Christianity is abolished. There is nothing inherently wrong with religion, as churches do many wonderful things. But, it is simply false. It hurts me when I hear people say things like "It was God's will," when someone is murdered. I assume it gives them comfort, but it is also showing their ignorance. People kill people. There is no uncontrollable, supernatural force that creates a murderer. Murderers are the result of bad parenting, insanity, etc. Money is also taken from people for the church. There is nothing wrong with this when used for a good cause (feeding the hungry, etc.), but it becomes a waste when used to build bigger churches or to pay church employees. Even worse is when it goes directly into a preacher's pocket like those guys on TV. Programs to feed the hungry could be easily organized without a physical church. If you really want to help people, do it efficiently. Another thing I heard/read the other day was someone say "If 1/10 (referring to tithe) is good enough for God, why isn't it for government?" Well, lady (I'm sure it was a woman who said this) let's see God magically make schools, roads, public transportation, college funds, welfare, military with your fucking 10%! And, even more hilarious is that she says that it's "for God" and "for the government." Hahahah.. ow.. hah! It's for -you-you-you-, you fucking bitch. Where do you think your money goes when you pay taxes?! To some little pot that the President uses for prostitutes and plastic surgery!?!? NO! That's probably where it goes when you give it to the church, though. Now, go fuck yourself with a cross. "Do not bow down to any idol or worship it," is one of the Ten Commandments. The false god, the idol is "God." The democratic way is the true "God" to worship. And, I'll bet you do that every day. "I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America." Point being that the government (science being part of the government. I mean, government being the moral half of religion, and science being the unknown part of it) is our "religion," today. The Constitution is our "Bible." Democratic government is simply another evolution in religion. It won't be the last, either. Standard religion and democratic government have co-existed for quite awhile now, but eventually, one will have to go. There are too many things that conflict. And, I'll bet it won't be the American government that we go without. |=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=| | _____ Call Goat Blowers Anonymous for the LATEST HoE! _____ | | 6/ ^..^ (215) 750 - 0392 ^..^ \9 | | \_____(oo) This Issues Featured Support Board is: (oo)_____/ | | WW WW Dead Letter Office WW WW | | (309) 556 - 2579 | | ...the kings of modern goofiness... | |=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=| Copyright (c) 1995 HoE Publications and Thalassocracy. #84 -> 06/16/95 All rights Reserved.