One or two of you have noticed that I use derogatory terms when talking about matters religion. I offer no apology. You do, however, deserve an explanation.
My father, bless him and now dead, was a survivor of Belsen, the German concentration camp. It was liberated by the British army after the war. The BBC's Richard Dimbleby was with the army that day. Here's what he said of Belsen.
" ...Here over an acre of ground lay dead and dying people. You could not see which was which... The living lay with their heads against the corpses and around them moved the awful, ghostly procession of emaciated, aimless people, with nothing to do and with no hope of life, unable to move out of your way, unable to look at the terrible sights around them ... Babies had been born here, tiny wizened things that could not live ... A mother, driven mad, screamed at a British sentry to give her milk for her child, and thrust the tiny mite into his arms, then ran off, crying terribly. He opened the bundle and found the baby had been dead for days.
This day at Belsen was the most horrible of my life."
Some of the people responsible for Belsen were tried for war crimes and hanged as were some people who were responsible for similar crimes at other concentration camps. Most, however, escaped with the help of the catholic church to South America.
My father suffered both mentally and physically for most of his life. For a religious organisation to actually assist the perpetrators of such crimes to evade punishment is unacceptable.
After the war, my father began attending a Cof E church where he met my mother. Mum lost her first husband in the war. When the vicar of the church that they attended found out that my father wanted to marry my mother, he did his best to split them apart pointing out that mum had been married before. He failed but refused to marry them in his church. They were forced to marry in a Registry Office, even though they desperately wanted a church wedding.
I was about 10 years old. My teacher said "hands up boys and girls those of you who believe in god". My hand stayed down. "You boy, fetch me the cane and stand in front of the class with your hand out." I was given 'six of the best' as they say. So much so that I ended up with nerve damage in my hand.
We were brought up to care by Mum and Dad. I guess that's why both of my sisters became nurses. Both have had to sit and watch helplessly whilst jehovas witnesses died in their care through the lack of a blood transfusion.
At University, I went to a seance in the halls of residence. I went because I'd never been to one. I didn't actually take part but I did look on. One of the girls that took part started freaking out. My feeling was that it was probably due the fact that the acid that she'd dropped earlier hadn't mixed well with all of the booze she'd drunk. Hell, what did I know? I was only studying chemistry. The college chaplain requested that the participants meet up with him a few days later. At the meeting, he asked why we'd decided to have a seance. No one answered because there was no leader and it was a spur of the moment thing. For whatever reason, he then asked me. One thing slowly led to another, we had a frank exchange of views. Eventually, I was thrown out of halls and had to live off campus. Apparently, I was seen as the ring leader.
My wife and I had a whirlwind romance. It was love at first sight. We were soul mates. I just ignored the fact that both her parents were CofE clergy. They were also divorced but who isn't these days. She hadn't seen her father since she was a child. Her mum was at the wedding but her father wasn't. Over time, it became apparent that there were issues in my wife's past that needed resolving and she got some professional help. She then told me that she had been physically and mentally abused as a child by her father who was a CofE vicar.. Last Mother's day, she became very upset when her mother, also a CofE vicar told her that she could only see her between 2 pm and 4 pm on Mother's day because of her commitments to the church which, we later found out, she could have declined without issue. My wife gets better, slowly, by the day, in spite of her mother and father.
I could go on. There's far worse to tell than the above but I can't prove any of it.
One could say that people are people and this could apply to anyone.
You know what?
These are religious folk who should know better and pretend to do so. Guess what? They don't.
I haven't had many encounters with religion. That said, the encounters that I've had haven't been pleasant.
I think that religion is the scourge of mankind. It is illogical. It is unnecessary. We do not need to pass on the superstitious nonsense to the next generation.
I can forgive people almost anything. I was brought up that way. EXCEPT RELIGION.
Stupidity on that level cannot be forgiven and ridicule should be mandatory.
I've tried to be otherwise but it's not within me.
