Just recently another horrific Terrorist attack – this time in Pakistan as a Terrorist blew himself up killing innocent people. Is there a method behind this madness? Is there a rational explanation for this behavior?
I believe there is and it has to do with the harshness of life. Most people on this planet are unlucky to be born in poor countries with corrupt governments that are more intent on winning elections than on improving a lot of their citizens or saddled with Dictators more intent on waging wars and showing how mighty they are to everyone!
Such people naturally gravitate to religions promising an eternal life of joy and happiness in the afterlife – obtained the easy, lazy way – “Just believe” – that’s it! So easy, so simple and the pleased God will reward us with an eternal life of ease and comfort! God is their ticket to the grand life of comfort! Amazingly few stop to ask why this “God” is acting like any old King or Dictator like Putin of today! Kings, in a violent world, naturally had room in their Kingdom for only those who believed and supported them. Dictators like Putin also reward their sycophants, the Oligarchs, who, thanks to their benefactor, live a rich life. And these sycophants have no problem raping, torturing, and killing anyone who is deemed a threat to their benefactor.
And we see religions use the same language – those who believe and support this Dictator God will be rewarded with an eternal life of comfort in Heaven and woe to anyone who does not! And just like the sycophants of Putin and other Dictators, these religious fanatics also have mass murdered many innocents and continue to do so in many countries, Atheists and Gays live in fear for their lives!
These “religions” and “cults” like Heaven’s Gate (I put religions and cults in quotes because I simply do not see any difference between them but except for the number of followers, they both make cheap promises with zero evidence) pump up the afterlife so much, “an eternal life of pure joy and happiness, so wonderful, so joyful”. It is no wonder that few want to continue their lives here on earth! No one mentions any work being done in these Heavens, no one even asks! The problem is obvious: Why would an all-mighty being who created this huge Universe need to do some work and that also needs our help? You can see why the religious leaders do not encourage such pesky questions and the followers blindly obey. What is sad is to see bright, educated people in the media, philosophers, teachers and students of morals and ethics and even Atheists fail to ask such questions!
And then we have mass suicides like from the followers of Heaven’s Gate. In fact, the top two religions of the day should be called Death Cults, for they make Death (Heaven) more enticing than real life! Of course, the afterlife sounds so much better – after all, down here no one GIVES us anything – we WORK for a living, we PAY for what we eat, where we live, we EARN what we desire and we have not yet gotten to the problems of life that all people face – some people are lucky to live in the first world, but most live in the third world, in countries like Pakistan. No wonder these religions had to come up with an injunction against Suicide! Calling it sin! But won’t God forgive all our sins if we just repent? After all, with suicide, we have harmed no one except ourselves! But then again, such pesky questions remain unasked!
Another question I would ask is: Are mass murderers like Stalin, Hitler heroes in Heaven? After all, look at the millions of people they freed from the drudgery of life and gave them a ticket to Heaven! These people are right now enjoying God’s hospitality and living the good life! Yay for Hitler? Again and again, we see a biased media shielding religions from tough questions, letting them continue to prey on innocent people with their cheap promises of an eternal life of comfort in their Ponzi Heaven! And we live in the 21st century! That is hard to take.
Christianity and Islam cheat their followers by promising that they can remain eternal children! Helpless dependents forever! God, the Nanny, needs to feed, protect, shelter and take care of them forever! And of course, keep them away from the big, bad real Adult world! “And they lived happily ever after” we read in children’s fantasy tales, but sadly, these are Adults giving in to fantasies!