Jesus, Christianity and the Spaghetti Monster

Has anyone ever wondered why there is so much hatred in a nation where the majority of the citizens are so-called Christians? You know the kind, those that are constantly quoting the Bible and have the name of Jesus, God or Amen in almost all their sentences. The nuttier they are, the more Christian they turn out to be and usually, the most hateful.

They hate almost everything: health care for all, equal rights, women’s rights, lesbian and gay rights and almost everything that has a right in it except, of course, their political party (Republican) which is typically called the Right and, their religious rights; theirs not everyone else. These people that are always with Jesus on their lips are the first ones to trash and bash a guy named Jesus because he is an immigrant. They are the first ones to cry that the rest of the people that do not share their faith or people of no faith, are imposing their beliefs or opinions on them. However, they see nothing wrong with forcing kids in a public school, a school that is funded by the taxes of all Americans regardless of their religious, sexual orientation, gender or race, to have prayers as part of their education. These are the ones that reject science and would prefer not to have evolution taught in schools and have demanded, on several occasions, to have creationism taught as well if they are to accept evolution to be imparted. The same people that today are trying, and in many States succeeding, to reverse Roe vs. Wade and forcing their opinion regarding what a woman can do with her uterus. This group is attacking all the advances women have acquired through years of fighting against a male chauvinistic society that has obstructed them every step of the way. Now, these people want to go back to the dark ages and take every one of us with them!

Ever since the first Mega-church was erected back in the 1980s we have seen an increasing number of fanatics. I am beginning to think that all the “wild and crazy” stuff that took place in the ‘60s and ‘70s yielded as a result a bunch of fried-brained, morally depleted, spiritually empty group of people that, once the hippie communes were dismantled, had no place to go for guidance. Having always followed the herd, they flocked like turkeys to churches in search of solace, sort of a spiritual dry-cleaning. These people fell prey of some group of men that saw the opportunity and grabbed it. These ministries created shows where they fooled the followers by arranging for people to be healed by the “minister” and if paraplegic, they walked for the first time in front of the congregation; or by having people tell stories of how a terminally ill family member or themselves were miraculously cured by the “minister.” With these tricks-of-the-trade, these congregations amassed millions of dollars and with the power that money generates, they grew bigger by venturing into radio, television, building bigger churches, building schools and Universities, hospitals and almost every other type of institution where they had the upper hand to indoctrinate the people… especially when they were very young and therefore, more moldable. Oral Roberts and Bill Graham were the pioneers of this new religious trend; it is them we should thank for converting this country into the religious craze we are witnessing now. These two men claimed to have a direct connection with God; God would speak directly to them and instructed them on what needed to be done, it seems that God changed the gospels for them so that being filthy rich was a good thing and not a sin. Out the window went the famous teachings: “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24.

Conveniently, God told these two men and others that followed that it was OK to be rich and being as pious as they are, they followed God’s instructions. Billy Graham lives in his own private mountain, behind huge gates and has a huge fortune. No one knows for certain because Graham has never made his income tax public, I guess it is a source of embarrassment to have so much wealth and still be asking the congregation for money. Oral Roberts also amassed great wealth; he even had his own private jet. It pays to preach!

It was men such as Oral Roberts and Billy Graham that during a span of over 50 years they indoctrinated the masses through radio, television, Universities and at the Mega Churches to hate everything and anything that it was not in accordance to their Ministries. This country went from austerity to liberalism and now is back to austerity in less than 50 years. These opposed and contradicting views, one after the other, is not a common occurrence and it can only happen with indoctrination.

It is sad that today these people hate everything that not long ago they defended and fought for: civil rights, women rights and freedom. The same people that in the 60s proudly carried signs claiming “Make Love not War” or “Peace and Love” are now the same that proudly display their guns, bomb a clinic or kill a doctor, of course, they claim they are doing God’s work. These people want to see Jesus, the poor Mexican farmer, be deported to Mexico. They are very humane and loving!

Which brings me to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. That is a God I can believe in. He is not judgmental and you can have him anyway you like: al dente, soft and even raw, white, green, red or pink. Can have Him cold or hot, spicy or not. Does not cost much to have it in your pantry and it will feed the masses for almost nothing and He will accept you regardless of race, gender, age or financial status. He serves to the rich and the poor and belongs to the world. He doesn’t judge you, you judge him. That is my kind of God… Hail to the FSM!

To be or not to be

Today, when I heard the news that President Obama had compromised with the Catholic Church I was appalled! Without listening to the President, I assumed – and I know one never must do that – that Catholic women were going to be denied that very important coverage and I couldn’t believe it! As it turned out to be, the Catholic Church managed to save a few dollars, as well as their employees, since the new mandate requires for insurance companies to ‘pick-up’ the tab. I am glad for the women employed by the Catholic Church but… there’s always a but, that means that the Catholic Church not only pays no taxes, but that the insurance premium that they will pay will be cheaper too. Once again, the wealthiest of institutions get away with not spending a dime and someone else paying for it, or do you honestly think that the insurance companies will pay for this? Of course not! They will distribute that expense onto the paying individuals and companies enrolled with them.

I am so fed up with religion institutions, particularly the Catholic Church, getting away with murder! From influencing in politics, not only in the United States but worldwide to hiding pedophiles, from not paying taxes and contributing like any other corporation – which is what they truly are – to picking and choosing who deserves their help in the form of charity. Thus far, the Catholic Church has enough money to help all the children from being killed in Somalia, but they don’t. We only need to look at the luxury in the Vatican; one of the gems in any of the jewels in the Vatican could save those children… One of the paintings stored in the Vatican could save those children but no, it is guarded and cherished while children are being murdered. And now, through their manipulation and false indignation they have, once more, got their way.

I call for action. Action to demand for all religious institutions that take part in making a political comment, whether these comments are made from the pulpit or publicly, or openly criticizing any political party, rule, law or leader – to nullify their 501c3 application. Churches receive that special treatment of no paying any taxes thanks to that application in exchange, they (the church) can’t openly speak out, organize in opposition to, anything that the government declares “legal,” even if it is immoral (e.g. abortion, homosexuality, contraception, etc.), a church that openly express their opinion and instigate their congregation against a political figure or against a law or mandate jeopardizes their tax exempt status. So, when on earth are we going to remove their free ride? Let’s pull the rug from under their feet – talk all they want but PAY for it!

The Religious Right

Let me begin by saying that I grew up Catholic. Ever since I was a little girl, I was an avid reader, I would read anything that was intellectually nourishing and in particular I loved philosophy. Many things happened in my life by the time I turned 11 that made me reject Catholicism and almost all form of organized religion, to the astonishment of my family, whom to this day are deeply concerned that I will burn in hell for all eternity.

For the last 10 years or so, I’ve been appalled at the extremist religious people that you read about in the news. Religious people that is willing to kill and “burn in hell for all eternity” in order to prevent another person from killing an unborn child. I wonder many times, if “murdering” a fetus is so bad… Why is it that for them murdering a family man or woman, who has a spouse, children, who is a doctor and a useful member of society isn’t just as bad? Oh yes, in their minds, they’re doing God’s work!  

The religious right wants the rest of America to practice their religion, to worship their God and pray to Jesus. They want to make it mandatory for public schools to pray, of course, their prayers God forbid if the school decides to consent to prayers and allows for a prayer from other religions to be taught and prayed a different one each day so kids can learn from others, then we will be stepping over our boundaries and their religious views deserve respect! 

The religious right of this country and those that proudly represent the Bible belt are extremists. They are the most hateful group of people that you can find in this great country; they are the ones that keep the breaks in any scientific advances, social advances, technological advances and even moral advances. Always shielding themselves by claiming that it’s God’s will, as if they have a direct line to that God! 

They hate anything, everything and any one that do not profess the same views as them, all of America have to accept everything they do, in return, they will not allow you the same respect. I am not talking about Christians, don’t get me wrong, I am just referring to the extreme religious right. Those that believe that evolution isn’t real, many of whom have claimed that the prehistoric bones of dinosaurs from million of years ago are fake and refuse for evolution to be taught in school. I am talking about those that still to this day, block scientific advances such as stem cell research because it uses discarded fetuses in their experiments… they prefer for those fetuses to be thrown away, making their ‘death’ a complete waste – they seem to forget that the soul, what is supposed to be precious, is no longer in those fetuses; they’re just a carcass who no one wants or is going to give them ‘proper burial’ such is their selfishness and irrationality! 

Then, the subject has to be mentioned about the sanctity of marriage. While more and more religious right leaders are being caught practicing extramarital affairs, and not always with the opposite sex, they are relentless in their fight against same sex marriages, even when these marriages are not to be ‘blessed’ by a church but strictly through a civil ceremony. It is as if they don’t want others to experience any type of happiness since their own lives are so full of misery. They use every trick to block any advances in society to finally accept and institute throughout this land gay marriage. So far, they’ve succeeded. 

Race is another issue. While the ‘righteous right’ claim to be followers of Jesus, they have learned to tolerate other races, but only superficially and it doesn’t take much for them to show the ugly face of racism. We all saw it when Obama was elected. Up to a point, it’s understandable. It wasn’t long ago when the Ku Klux Klan terrorized the non-white South, cowardly hiding under sheets bearing crosses near their heart. The KKK was so “Christian” that they murdered hundreds if not thousands of people – mostly blacks. So when Obama was elected, it was really no surprise to see the religious right go into the streets carrying signs depicting the President of the United States of America as a witch doctor, a monkey or the Joker from Batman. I must admit, the signs showing Obama resembling Hitler, it was a bit confusing, I never knew if they were praising him or bashing him after all most Neo-nazis belong to the KKK. 

Now this same religious right is once more confabulating against Obama. They represent a serious threat to Democracy and most of all a huge threat to Liberals and Progressives. They will not back up Obama, that is well known and Mitt Romney for sure is not getting their endorsement, after all, he is a Mormon. They have offered their support to one of the most retrograde candidates running in this election, Ron Paul. Ron Paul is against everything a true Democracy stands for. Help is only for those who can afford it, so is education, health care, love and everything else. It’s no wonder why the religious right is endorsing him they’re a perfect match! 

Today more than ever, it's imperative that we show support for our president.  We must show up in masses to help him win, without a doubt, a second term.  The religious right will take this country back to the days were racism was acceptable, where there was 'second class' citizens, where the right to pursue happiness was only for those lucky enough to be wealthy.  In today's economy, with Corporations being considered 'persons' it is easy to see who will have the exclusive right to that happiness, the sad thing is, the religious right is not a corporation and they're so stupid they don't know it!