Belief Systems - Each to their Own

OK...

We are all different and in my view each human being can believe what they wish to believe without persecution...

But I have to say, some people pray on people's gullibility and wish for hope for whatever ails them.  This week has brought all this in my head for a number of reasons and from a number of examples.

The Secret.  If you thought Religion was hocus-pocus and conditional brainwashing of the weak willed, then what do you think of The Secret.  A lady from suburban America is making millions by telling people to buy her Book / DVD and learn that you can get things by simply focusing on it.  Wishing is probably a better term.  People, wake up - you are being taken for a ride!!! Its a load of rubbish.

And I have said it before and I will say it again... Religion is the original gullibility complex and I have listened to this week's series of Podcasts from Triple M's Spoonman show (check out the podcast link on my right hand Nav bar ->) in which Spoonman questioned whether a person should or should not convert to another religion for love.  i.e. would you become Jewish to marry a Jewish person?  The subject started out well enough but degenerated into Creationism vs Evolution and Spoonman told his view that he thought religion as a whole was a crock of shit... then you should see the hate that comes down the phone lines and emails from "Good Christian Types"!  This turned into a bigger than Ben Hur subject which turned into the next nights show in which he invited listeners to prove to him that you dont need to be a person of Faith to have a good sense of moral decency.  Well you should listen to the podcast to see how many hateful things are said by "Good Christian Types".  Again I raise this to highlight how we seem today to be incapable of believing in something without having alternate views rammed down your throat...

Of course Spoonman refers to a number of biblical passages involving gang rape and incest and murder and asks the Christians why these things are in the Bible and why they should be the way for people to get their moral compass from.  Its a very interesting hour of radio.

Then another thing today is the death of Jerry Falwell... the evangelical preacher who has probably been responsible for more hate and vitriol against minorities than anyone else and who was the founder of the Zionist Christian movement which is the founder of what is the basis of today's US Government's Neo-Conservative movement... another example of religion leaching into the lives of everyone from you and me through to the poor people suffering in Baghdad because of US Foreign Policy.

If only we could all just believe in our own thing - and if religion is your thing thats fine too - and let others be who they want to be without trying to convert them and make them subservient to your belief system, the world would be a better place.

Maybe I can ask The Secret people why they cant wish for world peace...