A Few Thoughts About Religion and Politics

These are two subjects that are always touted as bringing people together and solving problems. Yet the evidence is overwhelming that this rarely happens. The vast majority of wars and killing "en masse" are attributable to religion and politics. This is because both subjects involve people, and people (a) rarely agree on much, and (b) are too stupid to operate vehicles properly, yet are somehow expected to arrive at some sort of Utopia someday. Maybe when Elvis returns from his vacation at Burger King.

Religion

If you really feel sincere about your religion, the best thing for you to do to make it look worthy of others following is to shut up and let your actions speak for themselves.  Whenever someone starts preaching to me, or plastering bumper stickers on their cars and vans, or wears the slogan-rich t-shirts and ball caps, my first and strongest reaction is that they’re trying to compensate for something they feel guilty for.  Whether they’re a child molester or drug dealer or foreign agent, something’s wrong that they feel the need to over-impress hapless bystanders with just how incredibly devoted they are to whatever it is they’re devoted to.  I don’t care, shut up.

Reading your stupid, clever-less phrases on the back of your car does not drive me to pursue your beliefs.  It drives me away, and fast.  When you run your mouth about whatever YOU think God thinks, it drives me away.  I respect many friends and colleagues who are truly devoted to their religion.  Because they don’t waste time telling me, they show it by how they behave and what they do for those around them.

Here’s the facts:

• YOU are not God
• YOU have zero insight into what God believes, thinks or does
• YOU cannot say “I’m going to Heaven.” because that’s God’s decision, not yours

Politics

There was a time when politics existed for the benefit of society. That time ended a long time ago.  The last remnants of meaningful civil representation might have lingered on in desperation into the late 1960’s but only barely so.  The tentacles of corporate lobbyism began creeping into our government after WWI and have only ebbed and flowed since.  Today, it’s a complete blow-out, with absolute zero concern for the constituency at large.  We don’t fund their campaigns and pave the cushy path to a post-career job in the private sector.  Corporate interests do.

Party politics is brain candy for morons.  The platforms that set the stage for Democratic and Republican ideals have been recast so many times that it’s near impossible to honestly and comprehensively describe the respective platforms anymore.

I vote when I see someone on the ballot that convinces me they’re really trying to fix things, not break things, or prolong the broken.  I don’t care what party they claim.  But if nobody looks interesting on the ballot: I don’t vote.  If you feel you HAVE to vote just because your party needs your vote, you are a brainless idiot.  But that’s the kind of idiot they want following them.

What is a Republican?  Is it a “conservative”?  Nope.  Not anymore.  Is it “small government”? Hardly.  What is a Democrat?  A “liberal”?  Not really.  A protector of the environment and anti-nuclear?  Nope.   The truth now is that each party is whatever you are spoon-fed to believe, by whatever brainwashing, social engineering “news show” you watch.  Fox, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, whatever.  They are all corporate-owned and corporate-directed.  They script the daily news to support whatever agenda they need to prop up their shareholder interests.  Period.  And by watching and consuming that shlock, you are a disposable douche.

You have a brain.  Use it.

Whatever.