Dogma

Interesting:

PITTSBURGH -- An evangelical Christian talk show host who questioned the beliefs of the Catholic church and entertained a caller's question about whether the late Pope John Paul II would go to heaven has been fired.

Last week, Minto questioned some of the Catholic church's beliefs, such as purgatory, and fielded a question from a caller who asked whether the pope would go to heaven. Many evangelical Christians believe that someone must be a "born-again" believer to enter heaven.
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"WORD-FM needs to function in this city in support of the entire church -- that means everybody -- and not focus on denominational issues," Gratner said.

So Congressman Cornyn "wonders" if violence on judges is related to politics, and he skates. A talk show host "wonders" if the pope went to heaven and he gets fired from his job. Does that not strike you as odd?

Clearly talk show hosts have a responsibility to be sensitive. For instance, I wouldn't give air time to a white supremacist. But, is discussing religious dogma out of bounds now?

If you're a "born again" Christian, you believe that the Pope did not go to heaven. If you're not born again, you probably think he did. Or - you may not believe there is a concept of heaven. There are thousands of different views on what happened to the Pope.

The thing is - none of them are provable. It's much different than talking about matters of race, or gender issues and so on. You can look at a person and say he's white, or he's black, or brown, or whatever. Those are tangible issues that have real world implications.

Religion is unprovable and now the Christians don't want us to even talk about or challenge any precepts of their made up beliefs. They don't want any challenge what-so-ever.

I'll say it again - religion is the bane of society. You don't need it. It doesn't matter regardless. It divides us. It is the antithesis of the rational. It is soaked in the blood of countless men and women throughout history.

We need a new religion. Call it the religion of man - where the focus of your "worship" is your family, your neighbors, your co-workers. Instead of going to a church on Sunday, and giving your money to some pastor wearing an Armani suit, find a charitable cause that helps a real person in need.

The only reason a person needs religion is because of fear. Don't be afraid. Life and death is what it is and there's nothing you can do about it anyway.