Monday, September 28, 2009

I LUST FOR GOD

I lust for GOD like I lust for a sexy woman. Just one difference.  If I switch on the charm, I might be lucky - with the woman and forever cherish the wicked memory. As for GOD, I know he does not exist and I simply lust for him to prove a point. If he really does exist as all the religious people say he does and with all those powers - then even I would be a fool not to believe in him. But as he doesn’t, sometimes [just sometimes] I wish he did.

 

One of my most interesting early memories was when I was made to believe there was a GOD. Before then, my father was GOD. No other person had more power in my small world. That all changed as I grew up. I actually believed there was some man up there watching over our every move.  It was like that for a while till I realised bad people were getting away murder [figuratively]. I even saw more bad people get away with murder in the name of God. I knew then [in my late teens] that something was not right but did not have neither the guts to voice my concerns nor the words to articulate my position.

 

When I started looking at history I realised that as far back as one is prepared to go, the strong always trampled on the weak – just like in the school play grounds where the stronger kids always picked on the weaker kids. It matters little who is right or wrong. The only thing that mattered was who was stronger. So much for a fair God observing us from somewhere.The funny thing is that despite all this, we all still believe in God. I agree with Richard Hawkins - the famous Atheist - who says that God was defined into existence and that the whole concept of GOD is more of a fantasy than reality. We all attribute good things to God and bad things to the devil. If that were the case then the devil is just as powerful. On second thoughts – more powerful even. Why are we all amazed when someone actually does something nice? How many people follow their moral code to the letter? Why is it always more difficult to do good and to be good? Why does crime always pay? It took America and the allied forces to stop Hitler. It took Bush to topple Saddam. The Nigerian dictator – General Sani Abacha - died in office June 8th 1998. When he died, everyone was happy. Had he not died, he would have ruled till God knows when. My point is that shit happens, yet we all believe in an all-powerful, all-loving God. What all-powerful? What all-loving? I bet even Hitler, Sadam, Stalin thanked the same God when they made it to the top. It is not as if they walked into the post, they worked hard for it. Just as hard as Obama. Just as hard as JFK. If God helped Obama, just as much, he helped Hitler, Stalin, Sadam and even Mugabe.  It is funny how believers decide what constitutes God’s work and what doesn’t. Selective reasoning if you ask me.

 

I don’t see the need to complicate things by listening to Christians [or other religious people] who never seemed able to prove from first principles the authenticity of their religion or of God. I am yet to meet a Christian that has been able to explain the holy trinity. Christians, like all other religious people never want to accept that their religion is nothing but a set of beliefs. All peoples have a set of beliefs. Just like every people have their own unique language, attire, food, tradition etc so too do they have a set of beliefs. These set of beliefs explains [or tries to explain] their relationship with their creator and in their own words. This is what constitutes culture. Certain people’s beliefs have been replaced by other people’s beliefs just like languages and attire and certain traditions. In certain regions of Africa, the main belief there now is Christianity. What annoys me is that the traditional beliefs are looked upon as primitive. Isn’t Christianity just as primitive? It amazed me when a Christian friend of mine said that African traditionalists were idol worshippers. I asked what the crucifix was and he went silent. I have seen people bow in front of huge crucifixes in churches or statures of either Jesus or the Virgin Mary without question. Is that not an idol? In fact Christianity is sexist, racist and outdated. I am yet to see a Christian who believes in the gospel to the letter. If that is the case, do you approve of homosexuality? Most Christians I know are quite liberal in their views about homosexuality but still see the African traditional religion as primitive and Christianity as authentic. As I always remind my Christian friends, despite your modern and liberal views the bible does not approve of homosexuality. To point out what is primitive or backward about a belief without seeing the primitivism of Christianity is both prejudicial and stupid if you ask me. The spread of Christianity in Africa in particular had nothing to do with the good work of God but brutal and selfish force of man. Memories are short but Christianity spread with slavery and colonisation. What a way to spread the word of God! So much for all loving!! Need I say more? Back in the day all over Africa, when you convert to Christianity you adopt an English or Hebrew name and got rid of your original name. I am yet to see a more effective system of devaluation of a people. Stephen Jay Gould brought to our attention Scientific Racism. Early Christian practices in Africa were nothing but Religious Racism – racism in the name of God. I know a Christian will soon tell me that these are acts of men and not acts of God. Exactly my point!! Including the bible - there is nothing remotely Godly about it.      

 

 

Another thing is when religious people tell me to have faith. Why should I have faith in something I do not believe in? All through my adult life, I only have faith in things that make sense to me. If faith was all it took to believe, then I might as well have faith in a pig. Maybe one day [if I have enough faith] the pig will reveal to me how it is GOD. At least that is what I have been told to do by many Christians.  Just the other day, a woman handed me a leaflet. On it was the saying, “Children of Israel – Repent!” I stupidly told her that I was not from Israel.  She said that as long as I was a Christian that I was from Israel.  I told her that I was not a Christian. She told me that I should be. I asked why? And as she wanted to explain, I made my excuse and left. Why should I spend time with a woman only interested in children of Israel? That brings me to my other point – what is this obsession with Israel? I am from Enugwu Agidi – a little village in the eastern part of Nigeria. I don’t see this village mentioned in the bible whereas almost every town in Israel is mentioned in the bible from Nazareth to Bethlehem! Christianity and the Bible is meant for children of Israel. That is the problem.  That leaflet would only have meant something to me if it referred to children of Enugwu Agidi. What about the “chosen ones”? and the line of David? I sure as hell am not related to David so that rules me out - does it not? Christianity to me is meant for those from the line of David. I am not prepared to be a second class citizen and not even in heaven.

 

The only higher power out there is conscience. The thing that makes you feel guilt when you lie, cheat or steal. We all feel this to varying degrees. I try to eliminate guilt from my day to day living. By that I mean I don’t do anything that will make me feel guilty afterwards. Others carry on regardless. As we all know, they carry on like that because there is no God. You only suffer retribution if you get caught and what a big if. In my younger days I got away with not paying for my transport fares all over London for over a month and nothing happened. I am too old to even think of doing the same now and thank God for that. My point is you pay if and only if you get caught. If not, you live in peace – that is if your conscience allows you. By all measures it is not fair and that is why I lust for God.

 

Posted by Jobido at 12:55:53 | Permalink | No Comments »

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The Holy Trinity

I am sure I am not alone [for all those brave enough to admit it] in my failure to understand the concept above. According to Christians, the all powerful creator – GOD - exists as a trinity: the father, the son [Jesus Christ] and the Holy Ghost. I have never met a Christian who has been able to offer a logical explanation for this separation of powers. In fact if God was all powerful, is it that strange to ask why there is a Holy Spirit and a son as well? Instead, I have met scorn and somewhat surprise that I am even questioning the concept’s authenticity. As with all religions, you are expected to accept without asking “basic” questions. Does that not make you wonder what the world would have been like if we accepted “everything” without eliminating our initial doubts. Think about it – the world being flat, earth being at the centre of our universe, physical quantities and properties being absolute and loads more. As far as I am concerned, just as stupid is the belief in an all-powerful God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I speak for myself of course.

Still hot on the trinity trail is the concept – Mind, Body and Soul. Another example of accepting without questioning. I accept the existence of Body. I also accept the existence of Mind but I do not accept the existence of a Soul as well.  Body and Soul or Body and Mind is all there is. Stop and think about it, what is the difference between Mind and Soul?

Explanations will be highly cherished.

Posted by Jobido at 23:09:37 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, June 5, 2006

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia

For those of you that do not know, this is the fear of the number 666. This originates from the Christian belief that the number 666 is linked to Satan, the Devil or more logically the Anti-Christ. In the bible - King James Version - the number is referred to as The Number of the Beast.

In the bible book of Revelations, the last book of the bible, chapter 13, verse 18 - 19 has this to say…

“Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be

marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not

have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for

wisdom: let anyone with the understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is

the number of a person. Its number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

 

I am a non-believer so I have nothing to worry about but the fear - believe it or not - has had implications outside the Christian faith. Two that I recall…

  • The most prominent Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobic I can think of is the late Ronald Regan and his wife Nancy. They had their house number 666 St Cloud road, changed to 668 in 1989.
  • Intel - the world’s largest computer processor manufacturer - conveniently renamed their 666 MHz Pentium III in 1999 to 667. In their defence, they claimed that since the processor speed was actually 666.666…, that 667 was a better mathematical approximation. Me thinks they did not want people to assume they have made the devils processor. I might be wrong but is it not funny how they did not apply the same logic when naming the 866.666 MHz Pentium III simply as the 866!

So why do I go on about this if I am not bothered? Well, the film the OMEN is out on general release tomorrow -Tuesday - conveniently which happens to be 06/06/06. I watched the first one, the 1973 release and it was very scary. I have never since watched a scarier movie and seek such a thrill.

For any Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobics out there, do not bother venturing out to watch this film. But if you feel brave enough, like me, Shepherds Bush 20.00 hours.

 

Posted by Jobido at 17:20:15 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Monday, March 13, 2006

The Verbal Vicar - Reverend Julie Nicholson

 

I consider it narrow-minded, ignorant, and selfish to read from here  


 


 here

 and here

 that Reverend Julie Nicholson quit her post as vicar of the parish of St Aidan with St George, in Bristol following the death of her daughter at the hands of the London 7/7 terrorist bombers.
 “Exactly eight months since the London bombings on July 7 last year, Mrs Nicholson has given up her job as an inner-city vicar because she feels unable to preach a message of peace and reconciliation when she does not feel it in her heart.”
   As a human being, she has done nothing wrong. Her reaction was human. I completely understand. She lost a daughter in a way most horrid – my most sincere condolences. I will never want or wish such a thing to happen even to my worst enemy.
  But my point is this; she is a vicar – a Christian Priest at that. She should have been better prepared to deal with events like she experienced. She totally exposed herself to be a “verbal vicar” with no real-life experience. She has spent a considerable amount of time preaching forgiveness but quits at the first hurdle. She should have stood firm and “Practiced what she Preached”. She is in fact not a “true believer” and did the right thing to quit.
 I am not a Christian myself, but people like her do not do Christianity any favours. I have always told my critics that one Christian Priest I do admire is Martin Luther King. He led by example. He put himself on the firing line and knew what to expect. He was neither afraid or reluctant to speak his mind – true to his faith, and paid the ultimate price – willingly. He is what the average Priest should be.  Julie Nicholson is nothing but a “weekend warrior” who expected to preach to comfortable people in Bristol about Christianity without even expected to be tested in any way shape or form.
She says, “I rage that a human being could choose to take another human being’s life. I rage that someone should do this in the name of a God. I find that utterly offensive.”
What a very childish thing to say for someone in her position. What type of world has she been living on for the past how many years? I find her feelings above equally offensive. Is she not living in the same world as me and many others who almost weep each time we listen to the news to see how people are dying all over the world? For me to picture someone like her wearing those robes and preaching to other people about Christianity takes the biscuit. I cannot help but sense that she only felt bitter because she lost a daughter. What about all those innocent people killed in Iraq by British and American armed forces? What about Ken Bigley and all those westerners who had their heads chopped off by the insurgents? Not only that what about all those old age pensioners mugged and killed by some doped-up teenagers looking for loose change to feed a stupid cocaine habit.
 Surely she must have been aware of all these instances. She didn’t question her faith then. (If she did – I am not aware) She only quits when she loses her precious daughter. I am not saying she has no right to be angry with her daughters killers – far from it. I am saying that someone in her position should realise that we are living in a horrible world and mothers all over the world have been losing daughters and sons – even husbands – on a daily basis and that she should grieved for them as well. She just exploded when it happened to her – enough said!
 I repeat she is obviously not fit to be an ambassador of Christ and should not be missed at all. What I can say to her – as a woman of cloth – is to listen to the news more, travel more, read more, get off her high horse and start living in the real world.
    

 

Posted by Jobido at 15:54:45 | Permalink | Comments (15)

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Problems with Religion

Everyday, I stumble across yet another reason which further re-inforces my decision to cease to believe in any religion.

I grew up a Christian - an Anglican to be specific.

To those who do not know, Christians are those who believe Jesus Christ to be the only Son of God and the Anglicans are those Christians who follow the religious traditions developed by the Established Church of England. “Established” because this version of Christianity was the official religion in England and was imposed upon the English by the state at the time (16th Century).

The Church of England came into being in 1534 during the reign of King Henry the 8th (28th June 1491 – 28th January 1547). He broke ties with the Rome after the Pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. But underlying this was a Tudor nationalist belief - which became even more popular after the reformation - that authority over the English Church properly belonged to the English monarchy. Before then England adhered to the Roman Catholic Church for nearly a thousand years.

The Roman Catholic Church is the Christian Church that teaches that it is the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ and has been subsequently led by the Bishop of Rome or the Pope. The first one being St. Peter – one of the 12 disciples of Christ – and the current one being currently Pope Benedict XVI.

This mini-introduction already shows how our religion came into being. Allegedly from Jesus, to Peter, to the Bishops of Rome, to the reformation, to the Church of England – and the list goes on. All these are all under the umbrella of Christianity and all claiming to be the true faith. We all used to think it was this book of creeds or commandments laid down by God himself.

 

Sorry folks, this piece will be completed at a later date.

Posted by Jobido at 15:27:14 | Permalink | Comments (1) »