Greece is currently experiencing some of the worst fires it has ever seen and many people have been killed. The coverage on the TV news has only been fairly brief, but I did see a clip of two salt-shakers (well, that’s what Greek Orthodox Priests look like when they are wearing their funny hats) trying to fight the fire in their own unique way.
As the wall of flames swept towards them, they stood on the top of a hill, facing the fire, one brandishing a crucifix and the other a framed picture. Since the shot was from behind the priests, I could see what it was a picture of, but I reckon it was either Jesus, Mary, or Nana Mouskouri. Needless to say this futile gesture did nothing. Had Jesus been executed by water canon, than the brandishing of religious symbols might have been of use.
But what sought of superstitious nutter honestly believes that a) these fires are God’s wrath and b) waving a picture of a Jewish political activist is going to do any good. In terms of stupidity it ranks up there with believing that blowing yourself up in a bus in an immediate ticket to a cloud full of virgins.
If one person has a delusion it is called mental illness, when a thousand people have a delusion it is called a religion and is somehow legitimised. Of course it gets scary when these delusions interfere in other people’s lives, such as George Bush claiming God told him to invade Iraq. (No George, if God wanted the world to be a better place he would have told you to follow in Abe Lincoln’s footsteps and go to the theatre).
I have just finished reading “Letter to a Christian Nation” by Sam Harris. It is an open letter to the millions of God-botherers in the United States telling why they are all delusional. It seems a frightening number of then believe that the earth is only 6,000 years old, that the story of Noah’s Ark is literal and that God has such a low level of self esteem that he dedicates the most important commandments to using his name correcting and to not go flirting with other Gods.
One of the most powerful arguments, particularly for the laying-on-hands, faith-healing, happy-clappers is “If God cures blindness, cancer and other diseases, why doesn’t he ever cure an amputee”. Of course there are arguments as to why that might be the case, but none of them make any sense. Except the one that says, “Because he is not real”.
The book is only 90 pages long and well worth a read. Particularly if you are one of the delusional.
Tags: atheism, bushfires, George Bush
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