Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2000 4:05 PM

Subject: Shhhhh! Do you smell something?

As you may well have noticed, I am a bitter, angry person. I do not apologise for this, in fact I am quite proud of it. My cynicism keeps me going. So, today I am going to ramble about something that I find totally hypocritical, insulting, and offensive: Christians. Please stop reading if you are going to be offended by this rant. I merely offer an analytical opinion on the preachings and practices of this religious sect. So please, if you feel that this may offend you, stop reading. If you don't, do not come complaining to me about my insulting your religious beliefs. Thank you.

What is wrong with all of these christian loons out there? Have they never read the bible? I have. Do they not understand that reading the words and spending an hour a week in homage to their overlord means absolutely nothing if they don't at least follow some of the teachings in their good book? Do they not even have enough faith to examine their faith? Now don't get me wrong, but christians are the most hypocritical, narcissistic, egomaniacs out there. I should know, I am stuck eight hours a day surrounded by them, and they feel they must help me to see the darkness that is my life. Why do they think my life is dark? How dare they?

Let's start this off simply. Good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell. Why? I thought god was supposed to be all forgiving. If he is, why does he not forgive all? If someone is going to hell, someone must not have been forgiven. And why is it always someone else who is going to hell? I am told that my lack of faith will send me there, but I am being told this by a smug, self-centered wacko who needs to know that someone else is going there instead of them. Why is this? Am I a bad person? Have I ever condemned someone to a fiery fate of eternal torture for not thinking as I see fit? No, I have not and never will. How dare they condemn my without even knowing me. Just because I don't think the way they think, is no reason for eternal damnation.

And how about their denial of basic common sense? A few years ago the Vatican admitted than the Earth is round and that man can make machines that fly. About damned time for them to wake up and smell yesterday's coffee. There are some things that can't be proven as readily as the Earth not being the center of the universe. Evolution for instance. Why are they so against any thought along this path? Is it that we came from lesser beings? (Lesser being their term) Is their god not powerful enough to plan a future so far away that critters evolve into man? If he is as powerful as they claim, he should have no trouble planning the evolution of his critters. And what is wrong with coming from animals anyways? Animals are more peaceful. They do not wage wars like we do. They do not create weapons like we do. They do not have psycho-toddlers who carry semi-automatic weapons to kindergarten. If anything, our evolution from animals is insulting to the animals. But try and discuss this with a jesus-crispie and see what it gets you. A big fat denial.

Let us compare the two belief systems regarding evolution. Scientists collect data, analyse it, and put forth an hypothesis. Crispies collect bible verses, do not analyse them, and put down any and all who don't believe what they do. Scientists refine their data, compare it with other's data, refine their theories, and put forth new hypothesis. Crispies already told you that you were wrong, so why are you asking again? Scientists gather their hypothesis together, collate them into documented, well researched papers for publishing in the scientific communities. Crispies don't know how to document or research, and they already told you that you were wrong so leave them alone and believe what they told you to! Any scientific document with reference to only one paper that only uses one source (the bible) is NEVER going to be accurate. If you don't believe me, go to hell. If I'm going, I'm going to need some of you dimwits to torture me.

Now let us look at the crux of the problem: the bible. The first thing that my priest taught me was not to believe the bible. It was written by men, a long time after the characters in the story died. The book may have been divinely inspired, but it was written by man. It was rewritten by man. It was edited by man. It was re-rewritten by man. And so on... This continued for an incredibly long time. People decided what the lord must have meant, and what the lord would have wanted to say if he had considered the problems of seventh century Europe. It was also translated from the original languages it was written in, to Latin and other languages. In these translations, the text has moved further and further away from the original words. The stories were changed. The messages were changed. The whole darned book was changed from what it was into what we have today.

When you consider that the book is not what it was originally, it brings one to question all those people who quote only the bible as sources for their "scientific" discourses. How can they quote a book as being the final word of truth, when it isn't even that close to the original? Were the original authors so errant in their ways that they had to be corrected? If so, the whole basis of the book comes into question. Were the later authors errant in their writings to take away from the original? If so, every bible quote used to back anything up is a crock. Were the original and subsequent authors both wrong? If so, there is no true basis to the faith. Were they both right? How could they be so different if that is the case?

I don't know what the real "Truth" may or may not be, but you can't say it is the truth when you don't even know what it is. Why do virtually all crispies get angry when you address these issues in a rational manner? I am not trying to undermine their faith, but rather to help them understand where they are coming from. They view this as a threat. It is not a threat, but one of those little things that make you think. Only by questioning your beliefs, can you believe. If you never asked "Why?", you would never know why. If you blindly accept, without any investigation or inspection, you are allowing yourself to be abused by those who tell you what you believe.

I am a good person. I am nice to people. I do not harm people. I give of myself unto others. All I ask in return is for a smile. I guess that's not good enough for some deities. ho hum. See you in hell..

P.S.If you are upset with this rant, I told you not to read it, so cram it with walnuts.

-Dave at the SSC Call Center