Brutally Honest Rant - 02/07/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: Unacceptable Truths – On Religion
Audio Transcripts
02/07/07

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(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – “American Idiot Remix” – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

Well, as promised, tonight is the start of what I think will be a pretty good series here on the audio rants. This one may ruffle up a few egos and may even cause some of you to engage in something called deep thinking. Dangerous thing, deep thinking. The last time a bunch of people engaged in some really good deep thinking they ended up inventing what our president likes to call “the Internets”.

Anyway, this series is called “Unacceptable Truths”, and the title sort of gives the whole thing away. This series will take a look at certain truths in our world that most of us simply REFUSE to accept. Why we refuse to accept these things depends entirely on what those truths are and how they interact with our lives and the world we live in. Sometimes the truth goes against what we’ve been brought up to believe in. Sometimes it causes ripples that force other unacceptable truths to come to the surface. Or sometimes accepting or even acknowledging these truths can threaten relationships, destroy families, or affect how we make a living.

And tonight’s “Unacceptable Truth” is certainly a doozey! I’m starting this series off with one of the biggest unacceptable truths. This is one that affects pretty much every single one of us around the world.

There’s an organization out there called the Council on American-Islamic Relations… otherwise known as CAIR. And these guys pretty much have a disgust for anything in our society that paints Islam in a bad light. You find a movie with bad guys who are Muslims and they’ll be the first ones at your doorstep bitching about it. Even if it is based on reality, even when historically accurate, they will complain that somehow it is “demeaning Islam”.

Strangely enough, though, these people are also the FIRST ones you will not find when the very REAL instances of violence committed by Muslims happen. Oh, they’ll denounce “all forms of zealotry and violence in the name of fundamentalism”, but try to pin them down on a SPECIFIC condemnation for a SPECIFIC act of REAL violence. Go ahead. Just don’t hold your breath.

It’s not that they don’t WANT to do it, mind you. They can’t! They cannot because it is written that as a Muslim, you are NOT allowed to criticize the actions of other Muslims around non-believers! You can do so in private. You can do so amongst other Muslims. But you can’t do it in public and you certainly cannot do it in the presence of non-Muslims.

Now you’re probably frowning on that idea, but it’s really not unique! You start digging through the other dominant religious beliefs in the world and you’ll find they have quite a few skeletons in their closets. The Catholic Church alone would probably have enough skeletons to fill Arlington Park Cemetery five times over. We’re talking about closet skeletons that demand a code of silence for those within the institution to prevent outsiders from knowing about them. Muslims just had the courage to actually put that code of silence in writing and enforce it with punitive measures.

So here’s the question of the moment: WHY would anyone who can claim that their belief to be peace and love not have the courage to stand up and speak out against their own brothers and sisters who corrupt and profane that belief? Why put in a code of silence in the first place?

And the answer to THAT question lies with the unacceptable truth about religion.

You see, for most people, religion is seen as a guide… a mentor for those in need of help, structure where there needs to be order, a path for people to follow. And it is true that religion can be used for those things. It can be a GREAT source of inspiration and dedication and philanthropy.

But there is one other thing that religion is… one thing that stands above all the others… and that is the unacceptable truth…

RELIGION IS POWER!

I’m serious! Religion is power! It doesn’t matter what kind of religion… mainstream or minority, religion is a huge source of POWER for people.

I want you to think for a moment about the person on the pulpit. Doesn’t matter if this person is a priest, a rabbi, a cleric, a wizard, a shaman, or what-have-you. That person holds POWER over the others. They know that these people will show up time and time again and will do whatever it is that you tell them to do! They will believe whatever it is that you want them to believe, and they’ll do so regardless of facts, reason, science, or even what their friends and family members think!

For instance, as the person on the pulpit, you can tell those masses that the sky has always been purple and that only the “truly faithful” will see the sky is purple, and you’ll find plenty of people who will actually claim to see that purple hue in the sky. Oh, but you tell them that they have to keep it a secret… because only the truly faithful are supposed to know this. Non-believers will try to convince them that the sky is really blue and they’ll try to use things like science and reason to turn them away from their faith. That’s why they need to keep this a secret from the non-believers, even from their friends and family members. If their loved ones aren’t believers, then they can never see the purple color in the sky and they won’t be saved.

It’s about POWER. The whole thing about the purple hue is a sign that you have these people right where you want them. And it doesn’t have to be that the sky is purple. It can be that the Earth is only a couple of thousand of years old, or that it is the real center of the whole universe. It can be telling people that humanity was EXCLUSIVELY created by some divine being for the sole purpose of ruling over it. It can even be telling people what not to eat, or what not to eat on certain days. All of these things are used to demonstrate that you as a religious leader have POWER over the masses.

Keeping secrets is just another way to hold power over the masses. So is the use of FEAR. It’s not enough to guide people down a certain path. They have to be given some kind of ultimate reward for following that path. You do what we tell you to do and you’ll get rewarded when you die. Your spirit will go to a great place full of plenty and pleasure. You will never have to want or need anything ever again. You can even get LAID in this great afterlife of plenty. But if you don’t do what we tell you to do, then your spirit will go to this other place full of pain and misery and torment. You’ll suffer like you’ve never suffered before.

Plus, how can you rest peacefully in the afterlife while knowing that your loved ones who haven’t been “saved” are suffering because of it? And then, even IF you have your whole family converted and as many friends as possible, it’s STILL not enough because there are OTHER people who also need to be “saved”, and it’s YOUR responsibility to do it, or else you will never get that reward, no matter how devout you are!

Any of that sounding a little familiar to you? It should. Not only is that the obligation spelled out in the Muslim world, but also in Christianity. Read up on the letters from the phony apostle and zealot known as Paul and you’ll see that SAME message.

And if the afterlife doesn’t really scare you too much, then you can be exposed to the FEARS of the here-and-now! If you don’t follow this path that we lay out for you, then you can be exposed to sickness and disease, misery and torment, pain and suffering in the here and now like you’ve never thought possible. You’ll lose your job. You’ll lose your house. You’ll lose your marriage and your children. You’ll be left alone, ready to be preyed on by the scum of the earth. And the only way back from this depth of despair and torment is to go back to our path and believe what we tell you to believe.

BUT of course, if these things do happen to the faithful – and they DO - then you can always claim that it must be done for some higher purpose. Perhaps it is for some great lesson that must be learned. Or maybe that person is being “punished” because they just don’t believe ENOUGH, or because they haven’t brought over ENOUGH people to the faith. And of course if all else fails you can claim that the misery and torment that they incurred could have been “even worse” if they WEREN’T believers.

Suppression of knowledge, the condemnation of education, of science and technology, of reason and rational thought, and even of progress itself… it is all done to ensure POWER over the masses. You don’t need medicine if you’re sick, you just need faith. The only book that you need to read is the book that WE provide, and that’s if we even LET you read that book. And if science and technology do not back up and support what we believe in, then it is wrong and it must be condemned, because WE hold the EXCLUSIVE rights to what is real and true in both this world and the next!

The U.S. Park Service is under strict orders – from the White House no less – to NOT TELL PEOPLE about the true age of the Grand Canyon! Why? Because that answer brings to doubt two books that are sold in the park that claim that the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood. It questions the dominant religion, and the preferred religion of the White House, therefore it MUST be suppressed!

It’s all about POWER!

That’s why criticism of certain actions of those within the faith is condemned or even prohibited. That’s why Muslims are forbidden to condemn the fanatical actions of their brethren. That’s why the Catholic Church shuffled their pedophile priests about and kept their crimes a secret all these decades. They know that these things take power AWAY from their institutions because they cause doubt and uncertainty, and they cannot allow that! It is all about the preservation of THEIR POWER over the masses!

Well that’s good for the pulpit, but what about the pews?

Well religion is a good source of POWER for those who are just regular believers as well. It gives them the POWER of the masses… the same kind of POWER enjoyed by those on the pulpit, for you don’t have to be a preacher or a priest or a cleric or a wizard to wield that kind of power. You just have to know how to harness it and use it to your advantage.

Wouldn’t it be nice, suggests the 43-year old housewife, if our local government had some sort of display to recognize our religious domination? A plaque, or a monument, or perhaps a symbol of our faith, strategically positioned so that everyone would see it and KNOW that OUR beliefs rule this area! The local religious leader would never openly suggest that course of action, but he or she wouldn’t have to. They’ll just support the idea and go along with it because it further gives their belief POWER.

And if someone objects to it, then that 43-year old housewife knows that she has the POWER of the masses on her side! All she has to do is show up with enough of her friends and supporters to DROWN OUT the objections. And they’ll eagerly do that and then some! They’ll challenge the personal lives of the objectors. They’ll question their religious beliefs, their sanity, their patriotism… they will brand the objectors as “haters” and accuse the objectors of “imposing their religious beliefs on others” when in fact it is the 43-year old housewife and her supporters that would be truly guilty of that particular sin.

That brings us to the other power that religion affords the faithful, which is to give the masses this belief that no matter what they do, all will be forgiven as long as it’s done on behalf of that religion. Lie, cheat, steal… perfectly fine as long as it’s for the cause of that particular religion. Destroy property? Torture people? Kill them? If it’s in the name of THEIR religion, then it’s okay in their minds. Even if their religion says it is wrong, they still believe that all will be eventually forgiven because it’s DONE on behalf of that religion.

The people who tortured and killed all of the accused witches in Europe and the American Colonies certainly believed that no matter what, they were going to heaven for what they did; even when they were in the wrong, and even when their own faith told them that what they were doing was wrong, it didn’t matter! It was on behalf of their religion, therefore all would be forgiven.

Even today, in a very modest form, that same sentiment allows people to engage in bias and discrimination against those who do not believe like they do. If we’re Christian, then we’ll be quick to point out EVERY SINGLE instance of Muslim terrorism, and we’ll smear that whole faith with those actions, but we’ll stay stone silent about the Christian terrorists, and we certainly would NEVER entertain the thought that such actions would likewise smear THAT faith. Oh no! That’s just plain UNTHINKABLE!

Again, it’s all done to maintain POWER in society. There’s no other legitimate way to explain it.

Now let’s get brutally honest here… if this unacceptable truth that religion is power WAS accepted in society, or if it didn’t actually exist, then we would NEVER have such a problem with religion! Religion would be EXACTLY what they claim it to be… a benevolent guide for those in need of one. You wouldn’t have the bias and the bigotry and the hypocrisy and the extremism. That simply would not be tolerated. There wouldn’t be a “code of silence”, because there wouldn’t be a NEED for it. People would be encouraged to speak out against such abuses and that would be it. And if the truth that religion is power WAS acknowledged and accepted in society, then religion itself would be seen as nothing more than a hoax.

That’s why this is one of the BIGGEST unacceptable truths in society. As long as we refuse to accept it, then we don’t have to do anything about it. Sure it profanes the faith, but that’s okay… you’ll figure something out when you get to the afterlife, right?

(Computer – as always some timely stuff that you have to tune in to appreciate)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

Someone once said that the difference between a religion and a cult is that a cult has no political power. I find that to be somewhat sad, and yet strangely quite true once you put this particular unacceptable truth into play. We are always quick to define religion by our jaded perspectives and our personal biases, and we will be quick to point to these other faiths as being lesser than our own, or even “illegitimate”.

And yet, what a shock it would be if we were to shuffle off this mortal coil only to find that it was WE who were in the wrong all this time. All of a sudden all of those arguments and sound bytes and chest-beatings would be utterly meaningless, wouldn’t it? Heck they might even be a little embarrassing.

By the way, folks, I’m interested in knowing what you think about this new series called “Unacceptable Truths”. Please visit the Brutally Honest weblog page and check out the transcripts of this show and leave a message in the comment section.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production, all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/“End of Recording”)

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