I relish hate mail. If anger and hatred are directed at me I know I made people think about something else than their day to day lives. I have inspired someone to become an active member of our society instead of accepting everything dictated to them by politicians or ministers. You must also understand that I don’t read comments, positive or negative, but I am happy to have encouraged some of the people in our nation to stop texting or playing video games and actually consider what is happening in our country and how they must become involved if our nation is to survive.

Everyone knows that I am not a fan of today’s GOP. The party which was once a force in our nation is now a weak and fractured group who have no positive ideas and no longer represent the great majority of America’s people. It is the party of special interests. To obtain success in the electoral process it uses the greatest weakness of humans; emotions. It has no substantive reason for existence today. Its supporters are the wealthy class, extremists, and the Christian religious right. There exists no independent thought. The GOP has become a cult.

A lot of this will be repetitious, but I will not apologize. We are products of our experience and our environment. If there is one single thing which angers me above all the injustices I see in our nation, it is the influence of religion which is being forced upon America’s people.

I am an agnostic. I am uncertain if a God exists. I have read the Bible but I don’t believe it. I cannot understand that if there is a supreme being why he or she would allow genocide, or abject poverty to happen every day in our world. This is against the fables of the Bible. Why do the sinners; the extremely wealthy, the dictators, and the false prophets live lives of convenience and luxury while those who live lives of spirituality and moral significance live in fear for their family’s daily existence? How can those who profess to be Christians continually deny the teachings of Jesus Christ?

The history of Christianity as revealed in the Bible is not unique. The prophecy and events which are told in Christian’s most sacred document were exactly the same as those of religions which existed long before the birth of the Christ child. I am doubtful that Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God. He may have been a great prophet, and a messenger sent from a deity to relieve man’s doubt and suffering, but the description of his life is repetitious.

Let me state something here which I believe is important. I am not insisting that there is now God, no supreme being, and I am in no way suggesting that any individual who chooses to worship that God. My complaint is church leaders and televangelists who tell men women and children how to live their lives. Free thought is mandatory for a free society.

The founding fathers of the United States had a unique and logical view of a God. They called themselves ‘Deists.’ They had a common belief that some type of Supreme Being created the solar system and all that it encompassed, but that if he or she continued to exist, this God was not concerned with the daily lives of humans, and did not speak directly to them.

Several GOP presidential candidates are devoted to making Christianity our nation’s religion. This is directly opposed to the beliefs of our founding fathers, and is unconstitutional. The most egregious defenders of religion vs the Constitution are the party’s leader Ben Carson, the junior Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, and ordained preacher Mike Huckabee. Jeb Bush has attempted to join them, but as usual he made a weak effort.

I was raised as a Catholic. When I questioned tales relayed to me by the priests and nuns, they said that ‘they were a matter of faith.’ I still don’t believe in magic or miracles.

Contrary to what today’s politicians would like you to believe, the majority of wars fought in the history of the world did not involve political ideology. No one cared about democracy or freedom; religious extremism and the desire for a single woman dominated ancient history.

Today religion remains the greatest danger to world peace. Christians and Muslims remain the culprits as they were centuries ago. Neither of them can convince me that they are the ‘true religion,’ and must dominate the world.

All religions are the creation of men. There is no proof that any God every deigned a single religion as the ‘true religion’ for all mankind.

When religion dominates a nation, that nation experiences a decline in civility, freedom, compassion, respect, equality, and human rights for those who are not ‘true believers.’ Men control religions, and men seek power over one another. Man created religion; there is no proven history, including Christianity, where a god made the declaration that man must follow his law.

Man has always sought dominance over other men. This is the nature of the beast. Men need other men to control their lives; they are unable to make decisions for themselves.

Nearly every incarcerated individual has turned to religion. They seek to convince the authorities that they have evolved and become aware of their evils in a past life. When released the majority renew their former lifestyle, or use their false assimilation of religion for personal gain.

The GOP uses religion to win elections. Most recently Matt Bevin was elected as the Governor of Kentucky based on his support of elected official Kim Davis who refused to perform the job for which she was elected. This is the fallacy which has dominated the GOP. This is the weakness and lack of intellect that represents America today.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Photo Courtesy of f/orme Pet Photograph

Author’s Page http://www.amazon.com/By-James-turnage/e/B00LOCJ2Z2