Friday, December 16, 2011

RIP Christopher Hitchens/The Rebellion Against Mental Slavery


1949-2011

Though he was born in Portsmouth, England, Christopher Hitchens came to America and became one its most patriotic citizens. Averse to the idea that his homeland still maintained a royal ruler who also headed the Church of England, Hitchens saw the brilliance of our Constitution, based on secular humanism and not antiquated ideas of superstition. Few people could speak so eloquently, so incisively, and so correctly about such an overriding and broad aspect of civilization: religion. Fearlessly he opposed the evils of religion, striking down with words those who promote the vile nonsense still espoused by theists worldwide. Not only was he a great American, but a great human being, a universal hero who still stands as an object of malevolence for the lost people still clinging to the fleeting concept of religion. Perhaps one day, a good majority of humanity will look upon the man with respect for his bold statements and attempts to combat the most destructive and backwards element of our various societies. His legacy shall not and should not ever be forgotten.



Fight theocratic Fascism in all its forms. Fight the rebellion of mental slavery.



There seems to be many people (many that I know) who don't claim any particular faith, but fall back on Pascal's Wager. They are intelligent enough to realize that religion is nonsense, but it's been bred in their blood for so many generations to be fearful of the consequences of not following a belief. And so often it's put into the heads of children to fear the master they also need to love. It's became an inescapable atavism that people believe in gOD "just in case". Hitchens drew the line (and boldly) where belief in the supernatural and mental freedom divide. One can't be partially faithful to one and to the other as well. Too many nonbelievers cannot surmount the obstruction religion has placed in all our lives, so they defer to it still while claiming nonbelief, or worse, agnosticism. I have heard with my own ears people say "I want all my bases covered" while practicing no tenets of a given religion. To me, this is a sign of cowardice, an unwillingness to stand up for what you truly believe in for fear of a possible deity's reprisal.

Of course we can never really know the absolute truth of the divine, but we can observe the reality of religion's barbarism, wish-thinking, and atavism and how it's plagued our world for so long. Of course many of us are in the process of figuring out religion's validity (or lack thereof) and they would certainly be "agnostic" in that sense. My message is for those who claim to know by not claiming to know, as though that solves the problem. We need people who are willing to use the extraordinary ability of the evolved human consciousness to fight that which attempts to keep it obscured and regressed by divine mandate. We don't need more people who straddle the fence, who pretend that there is no danger to religion, that even though they don't believe it they still treat it with respect and reverence; who claim that it's only institutionalized, organized religion that poses a threat, that religion is pure and good and then corrupted by humans. We need those who know and who aren't afraid to talk of religion being innately immoral and dangerous to the advancement of humanity. The sources of religion are all denigrating to us. When a majority of humanity could not discern the fictitious from the real (just scared mammals ourselves) religion was the element of control. As long as people were kept fearful of their death (and whether or not they would suffer or thrive for ALL ETERNITY), they accepted their own slavery, and still do today, though now religion comes with a much softer, more genial face to its lies. We don't need more cherry-picking, soft religions types who claim to only follow the "good" parts of their religion, creating an even more delusional affront. The leash and chain must be cut for those who realize that religion is baseless. All it takes is the courage to do it for one's self, to stand defiant against thousands of years of dishonesty, mind control, terrorism, bigotry, and mass murder. Shame those who judge others based on an invisible deity who also claim that said deity's "mind cannot be known", yet they instantly presume to speak for it and know its desires.

I always hear statements along the lines of "Well, people need something to believe in, something to comfort them". But they don't. Existence doesn't owe you a need for belief or hope that there is more than life itself. The world doesn't owe you any sense of comfort or that there are divine rules and that a deity will make all things right in an unfair world. So many have simply checked out of life on earth for the delusional prospect of a perfect, unchanging and never-ending afterlife (if they've followed the rules).

I should note that, by and large, I don't hate religious people, for that is your choice. There are those people who do things because of their belief in gOD that make them abominations of human beings as even religious people could agree with. But I don't hate the majority of them, I just want them to think about what they hold true in their head, and to see the insanity of it all. We only have each other. For too long has superstition and unachievable moral absolutism based on outright lies have stifled and strangled the advancement of all humanity towards a better world. We need more people like Hitchens who are courageous enough to fight back against the fear-mongering tide of religion as it tries to crash down and suppress us in the very core of our being. Be well, my friends, and remember, not even the divine can control your mind; use it for the reason it evolved, to ponder our condition. Be well, and choose well.