Editorial Bear

I seem to be stealing a lot from Jenn of the Jungle recently, but this was an interesting site she discovered, the Gay Black Jew.

The Gay Black Jew is not gay, black or Jewish. However, he monikers himself as such to position his essay on why religion is bad.

Organised religion has a lot to answer for, I'll admit. But Gay Black Jew's final conclusions are all wrong and he finished off by playing that God-awful, overrated, overplayed John Lennon monstrosity: "Imagine."

According to Gay Black Jew, if religion was abolished:

1) Terrorism would NEVER happen
2) Iraq would quickly stabilize and troops would go home, leaving a democracy
3) The Middle East would be at peace!
4) Poor and elderly people would not give money to churches or televangelists that they cannot afford
5) Churches could be used 7 days/week as homeless shelters instead of a couple days a week for mass
6) Billions would not suffer psychological damage from unnecessary guilt about human behavior that is natural: masturbation, premarital sex, etc.
7) Abortion would not be the divisive issue that warps American politics
8) People could live in the moment instead of worrying about prospects for an after-life...think John Lennon's classic, "Imagine," which contains the lyric, "And no religion too..."
9) Homophobia would become rare and anti-Semitism as well
10) Considering that most black people go to black churches and white people to white churches, race relations would likely improve
12) Stem cell research wouldn't even be an issue and scientists would be closer to medical breakthroughs
13) I could go on and on...but John Lennon says it best in his song Imagine.

Well, Gay Black Jew. Here's what I say in response:

1) Terrorism would NEVER happen

Utter rubbish. Did you really buy the 'Catholics versus Protestant' explanation for the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland? Or was it actually a territorial dispute for ownership of the province? How about the Basque seperatist movement? That's not religiously inspired, either. In fact, religion is generally a smokescreen for terrorism, not it's root cause.

2) Iraq would quickly stabilize and troops would go home, leaving a democracy

Please. Are you delusional? Dictatorship is not a religious issue. Castro is dictator over in Cuba and he's a communist. If there was no religion... It would be the ethnicity of the various factions that caused the to fight, rather than their religion. Again, utter, utter rubbish.

3) The Middle East would be at peace!

Again, territorial disputes, fight for control of oil reserves and ethnic conflict would ensure that the Middle East would always be a war zone. You can't have such a divide between poverty and wealth and not expect friction. Utter, utter rubbish.

4) Poor and elderly people would not give money to churches or televangelists that they cannot afford

Instead, as is proven every single day, they'd be conned out of their money by unscrupulous roofing merchants, time share salesmen and people selling hockey, quack medical treatments. The poor and elderly are vulnerable to exploitation, not religion. Utter, utter rubbish.

5) Churches could be used 7 days/week as homeless shelters instead of a couple days a week for mass

It depends who owns them. They could equally become schools, offices, factories... Warehouses... Or pulled down to build car parks. Ending religion doesn't mean everybody suddenly becomes a community minded socialist. Total, utter rubbish.

6) Billions would not suffer psychological damage from unnecessary guilt about human behavior that is natural: masturbation, premarital sex, etc.

What about the billions who are permanently drugged on unnecessary mood altering prescriptions? Or the people who are forced to go experience fictional 'recovered memory' by unscrupulous quacks and lawyers in order to give evidence in court? It's the nature of humanity to manipulate and misinform - not religion.

7) Abortion would not be the divisive issue that warps American politics

I personally believe that life starts the moment a child is conceived. However, I am pro-choice and think that a woman has the right to have that child or not - but if she does decide to abort, she should be in no doubt that she is killing her child. That's the dilemma - life and death. Not religion. In fact, Christians who oppose abortion sometimes paradoxically support the death penalty (which possibly indicates that they're just stupid.) It's nothing to do with religion and if religion disappeared, people would still fight against the right to abort unborn children.

8) People could live in the moment instead of worrying about prospects for an after-life...think John Lennon's classic, "Imagine," which contains the lyric, "And no religion too..."

If there was no religion, do you think people would suddenly be any more accepting of death? Probably not. The opposite, in fact. They'd be fighting and clamouring to prevent the blackness and oblivion. If it all just 'ends' then surely the point of life is to hold off that moment as long as possible.

9) Homophobia would become rare and anti-Semitism as well

How can somebody be anti-Semitic if there's no religion? You can't suggest that abolishing religion is a solution to a problem if it's the very problem in the first place. But being Jewish is a race as well as a religion and if religion wasn't the reason for hatred, ethnicity might be.

10) Considering that most black people go to black churches and white people to white churches, race relations would likely improve.

What came first? Segregation or race? People live in 'black' parts of town or 'white' parts of town. Part of it's socio-economic. Part of it's just the desire to live with people 'like you.' I think you overestimate the influence church has on people's lives.

12) Stem cell research wouldn't even be an issue and scientists would be closer to medical breakthroughs

See what I said about abortion. It's an issue of life or death, not religion. You don't need to be religious to object to scientists 'playing God.' If you abolished God, wouldn't a scientist's desire to 'ct like one' be even more offensive.

13) I could go on and on...but John Lennon says it best...

When he shuts the hell up?

Gay Black Jew is a site ripe with contradictions. However, it's well written and amusing and many of the experiences that caused the author to create this site do show up the intolerance in modern society. I just think he's missing the point. It's not religion that causes the world's problems. It's people.

People are just horrible, horrible people.