The one about prophecy.

One thing I am very grateful for living outside the asylum of America is that I don't have ready access to the Fox network.  What I see of Fox Noise is my own choice online, not what happens to pop up in my living room uninvited on the TV.  Recently, they have been harping that christian privilege is disappearing.  They don't like it, and even liberal christians whinge and moan about people not giving religious faith its "due respect".   Even here, without television, I am aware beyond my need to know of the so-called war Fox is waging to force the rest of us to acknowledge the insanity of religion as an integral element of our society.  Religious belief is widespread, yes, and it is popular, too, but constitutive?  No, it is not.  One of the creators on YouTube I subscribe to made a video recently about this subject, and at one point in his exasperation over christians crying for more favoritism from the State says,

"Like you need the government to give a thumbs up to your faith!"

That pretty much sums up what today's evangelicals and fundamentalists are up to.  They want the stamp and seal of approval from the State.  It's in perfect line with their triumphalist philosophy, but it's not in line with the needs of American society.  Christians are not the only religious group in the country.  However, christians demand the State acknowledge just one religion, and let's face it, only the conservative part of that one religion.  According to their religious faith, conservative christians are the only people chosen by god for salvation, and that, dare I say it?  Yes, that is the permission slip that allows them arrogance beyond the pale.  When a group of people believe with every molecule of their being that they are chosen by god, they are the only true children of god, that they alone are going to rule the new heaven and the new earth after their savior returns, and that their prophecies of the future are the only true prophecies, yes, that makes for hubris unmeasured and a danger to the rest of us lowly scum.

What about those prophecies?  When prophesies are not being fulfilled at the rate expected, why not help them along a little?  Why not sow discord in the Middle East where your prophesies say discord will result in the final showdown of god and satan and the triumph of your faith over unbelievers?  Why not reject arms treaties with Russia when your prophesies say Russia must be one of satan's pawns at the end times?  Prophecies have to come true or those who spouted them and those who believed them are wrong at best, malicious at worst.  The early christians said Jesus promised to return before the first generation of christians all died, and he did not.  From the very beginning, the christian religion has been proven a false religion by its own standards (Deuteronomy 18.22).

How many other prophecies are wrong?  Of course, I believe they are all wrong.  You cannot predict the future; you can only create it, a heart-stopping thought when religious nuts are in charge of armies and bombs.  But for the sake of argument, what if just one of the major christian prophecies is wrong and they are in charge of the State trying to force the prophecy to come true?  Think of the disaster that will follow in the wake.  The reason our founding fathers drew that heavy line between religion and government is to preserve the integrity of both.  If the State interferes with religion, you get the Spanish Inquisition.  If religion interferes with the State, you get the English Civil Wars.  Someday, I hope all people will recognize that religion has nothing to offer the world.  It's a relic of human existence that had its time and place but now is less than unnecessary.  Until then, it is best to keep religion and government within their particular and separate realms for the safety of us all.


YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/freethinker3161