Talking To God

I write about religion on this blog about as much as I write about politics. As I've mentioned in the past, the reason for that is the profound impact that religion is having on the political scene in the U.S. these days, and the impact that religion is having on our government as well. I say all of this in explanation of why I include this stuff here.

The point of a "religion" (not a belief in God, but the organizations themselves) is to perpetuate themselves. This is done (since people die off) by constantly working to recruit new members - children of members or other converts. In order to recruit new members, they must convince their "targets"of the rightness of their beliefs in spite of the fact that there is no real evidence that either their belief in God is justified or that their particular brand of religion is the "chosen" one.

One way in which church leaders convince others (members of the church and potential converts) of their holiness is to tell the "followers" that they communicate directly with God. These "Holy Men" then pass along their interpretations of the Bible or the Quran or whatever the Holy Book du jour is, and the suckers (the flock?) decide if this is what they want to hear. If they like the story being told, they either stay with or join the church. If they don't like the story being told, there's another church just down the road with a slightly different story.

Not all of those who talk to God hear the same thing. At the bottom of this post, I'll host a video in which Pat Condell discusses some of the things that Pat Robertson has been discussing with God. Some of the people who talk to God hear things about love, turning the other cheek, and helping one's fellow man. Others who talk to God hear stories about hellfire, retribution, war and torture. Who's to say who's right? Unless you also talk to God.

Here's story number 1 today of a man who spoke to God. Some might call him crazy - but who's to say? Maybe he should have a church, not a trial. From the UK Guardian.

A Texas man who told emergency services he killed his girlfriend and cooked parts of her body later described his actions as being compelled by God, police said.

Christopher Lee McCuin, 25, made his initial court appearance on Monday facing a capital murder charge. He was arrested on Saturday after police said they found an ear boiling in a pot on a hob and a piece of flesh impaled on a fork on the kitchen table at his mother's house in the town of Tyler.

And here's a video of a man speaking with God. Why is he any more or less insane than the man in the story above - or your local neighborhood priest/minister/rabbi? It's a nutty, nutty world.



And here's that video I mentioned above - Pat Condell discusses the crazy world that is the religion we are all forced to bear witness to...