This Sweet Hereafter with Every Dead Pet

I know I'm supposed to be finishing Demon's Souls, but I was distracted by a story of Jessica "EvilLittleThing" Alquist receiving another death threat. That sidetracked me into further Christian love research.

I've added pictures of impossibly adorable animals to lighten the mood, as the tone is unremittingly violent, sadistic, intolerant, and somewhere between delusional psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia. Normal religious, in other words.

Just as a reminder: That letter was sent to a 16 year old girl whose only crime was defending her Constitutional right not to have religion shoved down her throat by her public high school. So think real fucking carefully if you choose to defend your religion at this point.

Some other examples of the all-embracing Love of Christ:

Spelling not corrected for hilarity purposes.

Guns don't kill people. People with guns kill people

If only there was a word for attempting to kill an entire subsection of humanity.

This secular country founded on the separation of Church and State!!!

Conquering a country in the name of God. Didn't that happen once?

voting rights=divorce=child murder=witchcraft=treason=gay

To be fair, this guy was just as likely to be right about God as anyone.

So that, basically, is my problem with people that believe in God, that make decisions by faith instead of reason, that pray for answers instead of asking questions, that respect magic more than logic. And as bad as all those above statements are, those that attempt to separate themselves by making excuses like "well, they're not real Christians," or "I can't believe how some people pervert the word of God," are no different. Just because a lie is nice doesn't make it true.

If there is a God, as unlikely as that is, then there is no possible way to know what He or She or It wants from us. Saying "God wants us to love each other and just be real nice all the time," is just as vapid and empty as "God demands obedience, fear and sacrifice." Hell, they're just as valid as me saying that the unicorn that lives in your septic tank will rectally impale you if you don't amputate your pinky toe. It's nonsense that goes against every law of logic and can only be maintained by constant denial of the reality of nature.

We are small, and we are weak, and we live in a big, cold, uncaring universe. And I understand how much nicer it would be if something as big and strong as the entire universe were to care about us and tell us that we are important. But it's just not true. You will not see your loved ones when they die. You will not live forever. When you die all that will remain, for better or for worse, will be the memories you left and the lives you touched and the stories you leave behind.

And while I'm as guilty as anyone of divisiveness, I would like it so very much if humanity could learn to live with itself, if we could stop seeing ourselves as collections of in-groups and out-groups, if we could all just wake up some happy day in the future and realize that we really are just one big in-group, regardless of belief or race or sexual identity or nationality or, hell, even religion.

And like I said, I'm not better. But goddammit, at least I'm willing to try to see beyond my own beliefs and superstitions and biases and ingrained bigotries and maybe catch a glimpse of the reality that we are all more the same than we are different and we are all in this together and we are all that each other has in the Universe. That is something to live for. Not fairy tales. Not crosses and holy water and the dead words of dead men. Not wishful thinking. Not some sweet Hereafter with all of your dead pets.

And I'm not gonna do any of that "Challenge to Theists" bullshit or argue that my stance is superior to anyone else's, and I'm not gonna expect anyone to give half a shit about what I say I'd like. But I have faith in humanity. Despite everything. Despite Gallileo. Despite Alquist. I have faith that we can truly be united. But not so long as grown up motherfuckers are given a pass for deluding themselves with their ridiculous, divisive fantasies.

I would never advocate killing anyone. Not for any reason. Certainly not for being different. Hell, I'm quite capable of loving people because of their differences. But I will not give bullshit a pass just because someone declares the topic off limits. Not when death threats are being mailed to teenagers because of it.