Christmas, Christianity, Atheists.

I got fed up seeing the cars driving around with their wee fish and the word Jesus or a cross inside it. So I got a wee fish of my own with wee legs and Darwin written inside it. I put this on the back door of my old pick up. It did not last a week. Some democratic minded Christian obviously decided that it had to go and ripped it off. My poor back door now has a nasty patch. So much for Christianity equalling democracy.

Christianity is a religion with a seriously savage side. Eye for and eye, burn in hell for ever, remember these? And unless you accept that the Christian god is the boss and knows everything then you are doomed. And then there are all the Christian splits that say you not only have to be a Christian but you have to belong to their particular sect or church to avoid burning in hell forever. It is a tough one. I always had a problem with that one when I was a kid. Burning in hell for ever? How could this work. Would you not just burn up to their was nothing left and so forever could not come? HHMMMMM. I guess I was just too stupid to get it.

Then there is the other one. See if you know the answer to this. Which religious book, the bible or the Koran, says that if a woman does not bleed sufficiently on her wedding bed where she is expected to be a virgin, then she had to be stoned to death. If you guess the Koran then you are wrong. It is of course the bible. Not much compassion there. And we also see here the very strong anti women aspect of Christianity.

There is a struggle going on these days between the Christians and the atheists here in the US. Some atheists in Fort Worth, Texas, have bought space on a bus and had their messages displayed. Were these some savage anti Christian messages? Not at all. Amongst others they included: "Millions of people are good without god." Another read: "Don't believe in God? - You are not alone." Another read: "This season - celebrate reason." The organizers of the atheist campaign say that Christmas can be a lonely time for atheists so they are reaching out. Surely a compassionate endeavor. But the reaction has been ferocious from sections of the Christian world. It is an indication of what society would be like if they were in charge. It would be either their way or the highway. Some bus companies pulled the atheist ads after being threatened, some ministers organized a boycott of the buses and some buses and bill boards have been destroyed.

The discrimination against atheists in the US is very real. Think of somebody running for top positions in the US and saying they were an atheist. He or she would be hunted by packs of crazed right wing journalists and the media. And just like my wee Darwin sign was ripped off the back door of my truck their atheist ideas and materials would be suppressed. Defend the right to believe there is no god.

Sean.