Some final thoughts on religion / politics and power

If science is the best thing we have to "logic" (although, come on now, some of the new science "branches" I'm not sure are always that logical), what's politics? Religion?

Religion - since for better or for worse, human beings are spiritual in nature. We wonder about an afterlife, we are the only "intelligent" beings on the earth (one could argue Dolphins are smarter, it happened in the Simpsons) , the world around is supernatural (although more is considered "natural" as we discover more.) So the concept of God, someone who ultimately created this world around us, is natural.

Religion is "organized" spirituality. Ideally, people should join a religion for a sense of community, spiritual fulfillment, etc. However, such is not the case in practice. In practice, "those people in power" seemingly more often than not, force their brainwashing upon their "followers" for pursuits of power. Examples: the Crusades, mass Muslim conversion by the sword, Muslim terrorist extremists, Christian extremists, etc etc.

That's why religion bugs me. I'm a spiritual guy, but religion it's just a tool that seemingly goes wrong more often than not, because well, most things are like that (politics, for example.). Humans are humans: some are greedy, some are perverts, pedophiles, assholes, all round nice people (we'd like to hope most fit this category), it doesn't matter if their priests, politicians, lawyers or janitors.

The problems in the world today are in part due to religion, but in the end, it's not really religion: it's religious people getting caught up in a power struggle.

For example,

The US

It's current leader clearly does things for religious regions, ie. stem cell research, that fucking retarded joke of a president. He also does things because him and all of his friends are oil gurus, but I won't get on to that.

Then there's the Muslim terrorist situation: in a largely poverty stricken region, where a group of wealthy rich oil tycoons live in prosperity, which situation the US makes better (and much worse) through it's foreign policies.

This situation is a breeding ground for "rebellion", and the Muslim religion is it's tool. Similarly, politics aren't the problem, it's the people in charge, and also, the systems themselves, and human nature.

It's hard for me to take organized religion serious when their leaders are so in denial of the world around them. Also, the Bible is the biggest "joke" ever when taken seriously, and woe to our world right now for the extremists who do (this also goes for the Koran,etc).

PEOPLE are blowing themselves up and raising people as Bush lovers, ultimately, based on what some people wrote 2000-6000 years ago and has been rewrote a zillion times in the world's biggest game of "phone tag". I've read some of the Bible, it's cool and all, but taking it "word for word" has got to be one of the most absurd things I've ever heard of.

Perhaps I'll become a buddhist -- I've never heard of buddhist name attached to terrorism; I can't say the same for "my" religion, or any of the other "Abraham God" religions: Jewish, Christian ("Catholicism" being a subbranch), Muslim.

Buddhists believe in balance in life, karma, etc etc.

The Bible is ridiculous:

Part 1: The vengeful God who zaps people with lightning and petrifies them for being gay, and then we're supposed to believe the same "God" wished the New Testament, Part 2, to be divinely written by the gospel people.

Part 2: Love is good, Jesus says so (much better message than the Old Testament.) Too bad some people read between the lines too much...

So, let me get this straight, the Divine God, creator of the 10 Billion + year old galaxy, 6 billion year old planet, whose natural laws make the world go round, made a big lapse in judgement in the Old Testament days, and then had a change of heart?


Anyway, I'm reminded of the song lyrics:

Mick Jagger:
"I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
I shouted out,
Who killed the Kennedy's?
When after all
It was you and me
"

The world is as it is because of people I mentioned before. Is Mick Jagger singing about the devil? Or the human result of many leaders conquest of power? Is this really any different than what's going on today? Somehow I don't think so.

I hate to use the US / middle east as examples: Our PM is not much better- Harper's an idiot who follows dumbass ideologies. Sure, he's going with the environment thing now, but only because he has to "go with the flow": those ice caps are a meltin', and people are taking notice. He didn't even have a plan and just borrowed the Liberals. I hope the Liberals get him kicked out early like he did to them (as it turns out, some people the Conversatives falsely accused of financial scandals.)