1115.org

Regular readers of this site will know that we are rough on sanctimony and evangelism. Our most controversial piece to date featured Sam serving Passion of the Christ star James Caviezel’s ass back to him on a plate for saying (among other stupid things):

“I love Him more than I ever knew possible. I love Him more than my wife, my family.”

This spawned several interesting comments. One told us that it is a requirement of the Christian faith to love God more than your family. How convenient for them, really. After a few days for Google to index the post, the lunatics believers found us and took us to task for being scared of the truth and being “rude and just plain discussting [sic]”.

The best part was the next day when someone launched a Denial-of-Service attack on our server and knocked us offline for 45 minutes on the same day we went on the radio.

Of course, we can’t be deterred.

Maybe you’ve heard about Deanna Laney, the Texas woman who killed two of her children and permanently disabled a third by repeatedly smashing their skulls with a rock and used the defense that God told her to do it. Well, on Saturday a jury (a Texas jury no less) found her not guilty by reason of insanity. So, does hearing God talk to you make you insane? Does it make Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee insane? After all, Laney heard God in her head, Huckabee talked to him on a cell phone.

Does it mean that the President is insane when he says:

“God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East…”

Pat Robertson is insane, and we know that he gets election predictions directly from God (Bush in a walk, Shmobvs). And who could forget about our Attorney General John Ashcroft who is too busy covering up nude statues and annointing himself with Crisco (the same Crisco used by the gay men who Ashcroft hates so much to “anoint” themselves*) to, you know, protect this country from terrorists.
I’m having a really hard time seeing why Laney is found insane by a jury of her peers while Huckabee and Bush hold elected office, Ashcroft is the highest law enforcement official in the country, and it is hard to imagine a more powerful man outside of government than Robertson.

So where is the line between religion and insanity?

Throughout history, religion has caused an endless number of wars and strife. The Crusades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the current Islam vs. Christianity battle royale, and the Spanish Inquisition (which no one expected), are just a few examples of religion being used to justify bloodlust.

Currently, religious warriors are trying to spread their influence by cracking down on “indecency” and gay marriage while trying to remove the Constitutionally mandated separation of church and state. How long before they try to remove the word “tit” from “Constitution” anyway? I’m waiting for them to change it to the “Founding Fathers’ Guidelines for Government as Dictated by God” document.

What is the difference between talking to (and doing things in the name of) a Judeo-Christian God, and a god that someone just makes up? God tells a woman to murder, and she gets off, God tells the President to go to war and he is hailed as some kind of hero. Can I invent a God in the image of, say, my hero Lennox from the movie Belly and have him tell me to sell tons of drugs? If anyone with a law degree is reading, please let me know if this will protect me from jail time. Because if this defense isn’t viable, I’m going to have to find a new way to make the rent. Or do you only get off if your God has a southern drawl rather than a thick patois?

Obviously I don’t begrudge anyone the inalienable right to believe in whatever they want. But we are treading a very fine line when one religion receives preferential treatment over the others. And we cross a very bright line when religion is used as both a club to control people and a crutch to help the believers. Worse is when religion is allowed to seep into our laws as is now happening with the FCC, gay marriage, ten commandments monuments, and many others. I’m not suggesting atheism, just keeping religion in its place.

After all, a religion that condones some of these things has no business anywhere near our laws.

I’ll leave you with some words of wisdom:

Why me, Lord? Where have I gone wrong? I’ve always been nice to people. I don’t drink or dance or swear. I’ve even kept Kosher just to be on the safe side. I’ve done everything the bible says, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff. - Ned Flanders

*For government surveillance purposes, the Crisco quip was hatched by Jason.