According to the annual Minority Rights Group report published a few days ago, “religious intolerance is the new racism”. What that means, in a nutshell, is that people are no longer hating other people on the grounds of the colour of their skin, but by the kind of scarves they wear, what day of the week they choose not to work, and what name they have for the Invisible presence supposedly responsible for creating the universe and all that is in it.
Will worldwide holy wars become the trademark of this century?
In the good old days of the 20th century, people of one religious persuasion who wished to persuade people of another religious persuasion to switch sides, mostly used rather gentle forms of coercion. They went out in the streets and handed out religious pamphlets. They pitched massive tents and invited folk in with megaphones and banners. They offered free coffee and pancakes. They showered sinners with love and sheer persistence. At their worst, these folk have been a source of mild irritation. They had the annoying habit of ringing your front door bell at all hours of the day just to remind you there is only room for 144 000 in the kingdom. Some of them had a fanatical gleam in their eyes, most of them dressed funny, and almost all of them lacked a sense of humour. Many demanded money for their services in spite of not performing any specific service that we could see. It was always a bit difficult to get rid of them.
But as I said, those were the good old days of the previous century.
Now, they strap explosives to their bodies and blow one another to bits. They pass laws forbidding the wear of certain pieces of clothing. They put bombs in cars, in synagogues, at bus stops. They forbid the building of minarets. They fly airplanes into buildings. And, if they can’t manage to destroy the opposition by means of violence or silly laws, they use insults, they judge and condemn, they buy advertising space on the outside of buses, they harass, they threaten, they throw rocks and launch missiles, they create general mayhem.
All for the sake of a God who loves mankind, whatever his or her name may be.
I don’t know at exactly what point religious fanatics started becoming as bad, or worse than soccer hooligans. I suspect it started happening round about the time — was it the late eighties? — when Jimmy Swaggart exposed a fellow TV evangelist who had been cheating on his wife. Fortunately, God was quick to intervene, and Swaggart was severely humiliated shortly afterwards when it came to the shocked public’s attention that he himself had been engaging the services of a prostitute. That was the first time in recent history, as far as I can recall, that religious competition got really ugly. It still wasn’t a patch on the witchhunts of the Middle Ages, of course, but it was definitely one of the most tasteless media scandals of the eighties.
However, things went downhill swiftly after that, so much so that these days, God no longer bothers to intervene. If God is doing anything at all, I suspect he is speechless with horror. Or maybe he is just plain sulking. Do you blame him? I would certainly be speechless with horror, or sulking, if people committed such atrocities in my name.
Okay, to be fair, at this point, not all religious folk have morphed into murderous anarchists. But the signs are worrying. Religious violence is exponentially increasing all over the globe at a most alarming rate.
Soon, even normally peaceful religious groups may be drawn into the battle. How soon before we hear about Anglicans blowing up shopping malls, Seventh-day Adventists armed with hand grenades, Catholic priests molesting choirboys?
Oops, sorry about that last one. It just sort of slipped out, I’m afraid. Which just goes to show, certain trends which would have been unimaginable and unthinkable as recent as 20 years ago, have suddenly become commonplace.
God save us from religious thuggery! If religious intolerance is to increase at the rate it is currently increasing, I see bad times ahead.
By the way, when I say “religious thuggery” I include thuggery committed by atheists. Yes! For lately, atheism is no longer the philosophy of the disinterested, the supposedly sophisticated, modern, urbane folk! It has become a religion as much as any other religion, and of late, atheists have become as intolerant as the best of them. No longer are these faithless fanatics prepared to sit smugly on the sidelines of religious warfare like they used to, pointing their fingers and making clever-sounding though inoffensive statements like “well, um, so what?” or “an uninvestigated life isn’t worth living”, etc. Lately, they have become positively evangelical! Lucky for the believers, they’re not killing anybody yet — they’re still in the phase of tweeting vehemently on Twitter, publishing angry books, arguing their points logically, verbally condemning the competition and generally being rude — but, believe me, this may only be the beginning. People usually start out that way before they turn violent.
I foresee a future in which all places of worship will have to be protected by barbed wire and armed soldiers!
Imagine the following scenario. It is the year 2014. You are attending a church bazaar in your local school hall, organised by the Presbyterians. Your wife has sent you there to pick up some homemade scones. It had been difficult to get into the school hall in the first place, and the gun-toting guards at the front door had to send you back home twice before you got the compulsory Presbyterian dress code just right (a striped gray cardigan and woolen socks). But now, thank God, you are inside at last. You are surrounded by merry throngs of Presbyterian nuclear families and their children. At the raffle table you stop to admire the plastic toys and trinkets on display. Suddenly, you are alarmed by an eerie ticking noise. You put your ear closer to a tin of cookies with a picture of the Royal Family on the front. It must be a bomb! You dive underneath a table laden with dried fruit and assorted snacks.
Just in time! The bomb goes off, scattering raffle objects, jam rolls and jars of pickled stuff everywhere. Pandemonium is in the air, everyone is screaming. You crawl, besmirched by dirt and bits of treacle, towards an emergency exit. In the foyer, you meet the Presbyterian vicar, who is ashen-faced and suffering from shock. “It’s the damned Congregationalists,” he whispers in a conspiratory tone. “They contributed some of the raffle stuff yesterday. I should have known they’d slip a bomb in there somewhere!”
Outside the school hall, you are confronted by a group of fanatical protestors bearing placards bearing slogans saying things like “DOWN WITH PROTESTANTS!”. By their weird accents, and the way they throw everyone with pieces of falafel, you recognise them instantly as feared members of the famous Greek Orthodox mafia!
But lo and behold! Another group of protesters arrives, and they attempt to disperse the Greeks with sheer numbers. All of them are men, and they are armed with large potatoes. Angus Buchan’s crowd! The Greek Orthodox crowd is no match for them, and they run away, scattering sandals, robes and pieces of matching cloth in their wake.
Just as you think it is safe to cross the street and go home, a fanatical group of well-dressed though grim-faced middle-aged ladies — some of them knitting — barges into the crowd in a reinforced Kombi. On the ride of the Kombi you read “METHODIST SOCIETY FOR WOMEN”. You run for your life! Methodists have been known for their ghastly suicide bombings all over town! They believe that every Methodist who gives his life for the cause will go to heaven instantly and receive a free game of Scrabble. They are utterly ruthless!
At the corner, you hear a loud “BANG!” behind you, and you dare to look back. The Methodist ladies have driven right into the foyer of the school hall, now crowded with Angus supporters, and set off an explosive device! Hats, coats, limbs and gore, mashed potatoes and knitting needles are flying through the air. It is sheer hell!
The next moment — as an eerie, shocked silence quiet descends upon the killing field — you hear a roar of mighty engines, and the rumbling of giant iron wheels, coming from another direction.
Tanks! Cannons! Loaded missiles! Weapons of mass destruction!
“Oh, my God,” you hear someone whimper. “We are done for! It’s the guys from Rhema!”
“Run!! Run!!! Rhema’s here!!!”
“These guys have government connections,” the Presbyterian vicar explains, with a hint of envy, “they can afford all the latest technology”.
Only then does the terrifying realisation start dawning on you that you might not survive this jihad …
And that, even if you do survive, you will face the even greater horror of returning home to your wife without the homemade scones she asked you to buy!!
PS: All the scenes depicted in this blog post have been based on an overactive imagination, and no deliberate offence to any group, religious or otherwise, is intended.
That is not just sadly funny but scarily becoming more of a reality by the day. I blame it on more and more people in closer proximity just rubbing each other the wrong way and finding an excuse to make more room.
Atheists normally smite with logic, in my experience. I suppose that is what you mean by being rude. It isn’t nice to think in public anymore, is it? Something to do with disadvantaging others.
Hahahaha, Nice Koos! Nevertheless, this is definitely something to consider seriously! I recon the question shouldn’t be what’s next? But where will it end? Although this is too bleak a question to be pondering about now. Maybe we should also look on the bright side…in this scenario racism will most probably be something of the past (per your suggestion). Not that this would help Koos from the bazaar’s survival statistics with those Rhematics on the loose….Lekker thought provoking thanks Koos!
It’s got nothing to do with religion itself, its all about numbers. It is happening everywhere, on our roads, in all public places, just observe the amount of anger that is going around. I’ve experienced what happens when a beehive became overcrowded, and I can tell you, it is not a pretty sight
.
When are we going to really see the problem for what it is, and start at least talking about it. We are simply too many!!!
Really enjoyed the piece!
This is the tragedy of the fight back from fanatics, destroying everything and everyone so that their point of view is honoured. They cannot prove the existence of ntheir god, whom ever he/she is. They just want to make everyone comply from fear and be patriarchs destroying women completely. Fortunately, in the long painful term, it will also destroy the human race and the planet will give a sigh of relief
@X Cepting – no, it’s more than “smiting” with logic. It’s starting to become a trend where atheist are almost starting to froth at the mouth spitting “You’re all unthinking sheeple! This is the only true way”… How’s that different to a religion?
Militant Islamists fly jets into skyscrapers. Militant Christians murder abortion doctors.
Militant atheists *gasp* “argu[e] their points logically” and act “rude.”
You’re grasping at straws.
I don’t care about being rude when some people are deeply offended merely by identifying ourselves as atheists. That’s only explanation for the repeated vandalism across the US of billboards which read “Don’t believe in God? You’re not alone” and whose only purpose is to inform atheists and offer them a chance to associate with people who think similarly.
Much of the interest in atheism this past decade was in response to 9/11. Sam Harris has explicitly said it motivated him to write his book. Don’t blame atheists for this until we actually, you know, do something even *remotely* militant.
When the Nats were in charge, all teacher-trainees had to take and to PASS a compulsory subject called Fundamental Pedagogics, a branch of philosophy. If you failed it, or refused to take this course, you would not get the diploma required to be a teacher.
A core tenet of FP was that you had to be a practising Christian to be an effective educator of the work-in-progress embodied in any child.
Note — a practising Christian.
Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and atheist teacher-trainees all had to play along in this academic-philosophical charade in order to get their coveted teaching ticket, say the right things in the exam and keep one’s own gnosticism or atheism to oneself. Once you had passed the test, you could “come out” and run your true religious colours up your mast.
Atheism was the skull-and-crossbones. Many schools would not hire an openly-declared atheist who had bluffed his/her way past that FP course.
And, I suspect, even today and long after the unlamented demise of FP, many schools’ governing boards will still not hire an atheist.
They have to keep their beliefs hidden in the closet, just as they had to do back in their student days of mandatory Fundamental Pedagogics, if they want to get a job.
Nice one – Koos!
What I like is the ‘subtle’ avoidance of even mentioning Muslims but by the deeds of other believers introducing their sort of irrationality.
Some days ago when a bomb exploded in a Pakistan Mosque I thought immediately – ‘That’s showing the Americans!” and lo-and-behold a day later some bearded entity blamed it on the aforesaid unmentionables.
As you suggest the ‘moral majority’ in ‘merica is no better, just a question of degree, the intellectual content is at the same level [showing my atheist credentials here - subtly].
For some brief moments in my youth I thought Buddhists were the exception but then they started pouring petrol over themselves and igniting a match – [oy vey - I thought, there goes the neighbourhood]
I am convinced that priests and mullahs and pastors and preachers are the least likely of the human lot to make it to heaven, there is too much arrogance there, too much hubris and yes – dare I say it – ignorance, for them to get into that exclusive club!
Needless to say MY place in paradise is already booked, which is only proper and fair for a staunch atheist – God LIKES us doubters and no wonder, I also would like the companionship of equals rather than fearful and stunned sheeple who sing at the drop of a hat!
Greetings
[and keep it up]
The problem is when what I believe more important or someone else has to agree to it too.if we can get over that,we’ll be fine.But I agree with the notion that atheist as well are heading in that direction,its normal though people want to be with like minded people that is why it is becoming more like a religion.
In thier defense,same with me if anyone comes to and tells me how I am living is wrong,blah!blah!blah! I get on the defense,I will ridicule them and thier faith and finally comes to an emotional arguments.It depends on how I am approached,The whole Islam and cristianity battle was created because of the approach issue
Lekker laugh, please keep blogging humour gets right down to the nitty gritty. Should be forced reading for all narrow minded people who think their way is the only way
Brent
Religious intolerance. is centuries old, people have been killing each other in the name of ‘God’ ‘Yahweh’, ‘Allah’ , Buddha , or what ever name you choose to call the divine force. there were always the Turks / Muhammadans / there where the Greeks/romans worshippers of the gods who killed Christians and where killed by Christians. there where of course Jews/ Israelites ordered to kill which ever religion encroached on them, and where intern killed by them , in biblical times, I could go on but i think you get the point. People have been ignoring God and going off on their own missions in his name for a long time. Take current history, we have American ( predominantly pentecostal Christians) killing Muslims , we have Muslims killing each other,over differences of reading , we have Jews killing Muslims, we have Muslims killing Hindus ….. that’s the news today. So you see in 4000 years not much has changed really people are still using God as a scape goat for their own evils. Of course there are also millions of followers of all the above mentioned faiths who are kind, loving and doing what their beliefs tell them to the betterment of the planet too. so to say region = all bad or all good just doesn’t cut it any more.
I’m always amazed how legitimate, robust criticism is suddenly branded as arrogant and intolerant whenever it happens to be directed at religion.
I am not much a fan of oom Koos but some of the things he said are true and those that are suffering the most are the true born again.
Cursed are those who advocates another Gospel as
Jesus Christ
Religion has been at the heart of numerous injustices in the 20th century. While we have reveled in our criticism of Islam (and at times even Catholicism) often we forget the role played by Protestant Churches in their support of irreconcilably violence and perverse political ideologies. The Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) or Dutch Reformed Church (sometimes called ‘the National Party at prayer’) was particularly involved in the supporting the apartheid policy of the Afrikaans Nationalist Party. The veteran journalist Allister Sparks once said of the NGK: “[the church] was a co-author of apartheid, some would say its initiator”. Indeed, the NGK laid down the spiritual basis for apartheid as early as 1943 and campaigned for the ban on “mix” marriages and for the establishment of Group Areas Act. I would argue that the role of religion in promoting violence is not a 21st century phenomena, although recent times have seen violent religious movements divest themselves from their traditional state-church relationships.
Nicely balanced piece koos, and I must agree about the atheists. They are getting just as bad as the rest.. wonder how long it will take them to start strapping bombs to themselves.
Makes one wonder whether it is religion that is in fact the problem… or does it have more to do with the fanatical nature of people when they believe they are right?
@X Cepting: Atheists smite with logic? You clearly have never argued with a fanatical atheist.
This would have been funny had you not forgotten the anti-apartheid murders that entered our churches. All church-going people feared for their lives when they attended services.
There have been several changes to churches over the years and I doubt that any other religions escaped them. Church doors were always left open for people to find succour until robbery became too much of a risk. People would take anything of value…succour of a different time. Nowadays, a woman alone won’t ‘dress’ the altar or do the flowers; priest lock all the doors when they are at work, the risks are too great. Countless cars are also stolen during church services. Sadly, these are the things all religions seem to have in common: fear.
Interesting to notice how all the religions in the amusing little skit are all Christian. What’s the matter Koos? What’s the matter Koos? Too afraid to lay into other religions?
What the above article does indicate is that Christians are a safe target. No one is afraid to criticize them because they do not as a rule go into a murderous rage if they feel slighted.
Perhaps the media as a whole should stop clumping religions together and begin dealing with religions as individual belief systems. To put peaceful religions on the same level as less peaceful ones is unjustified and simply feeds religious hatred.
@Secular Planet: Militant Islamists fly jets into skyscrapers. Militant Christians murder abortion doctors.
Militant atheists *gasp* Murder priests and burn down churches ala Russian, and French Revolutions
If you have no proof, but still want others to believe as you do, violence and bullying is inevitable.
The argument that ‘ atheist belief is no different to other religious beliefs’, is puerile.
The atheist does not believe in god or religion. They argue their reasons, not their religion (as do religionists and god worshipers); and they use logic as their tools and not faith.
Those atheists that choose to explain their reasons, do so on their own conscience, while those that choose not to, go about their lives completely free of any belief in religion and gods.
@carmen – Mmmm… you have a point. Not all atheists are logically minded, as not all logically minded people are atheist. I try not to deal with sheepels or fanatics even though some of my friends are religious, so the generalisation was taken on an average.
Once again proves that turning people into generalisations through statistics is the real evil. Thank you for pointing that out.
@Craig Jacobson – Most atheists that I know, myself included are rather fanatical about reality, facts, and that things should make logical sense. And yes, as admitted to Carmen, on second thoughts, it takes all kinds to make one organisation. Each person subscribe for his own personal selfish reasons and as you point out, it is the often the fanatical nature rather than the organisation that is to blame. I’ve read the Q’uran and have always thought that I would have liked to have the opportunity to talk with the prophet Mohamed who seemed to have an extraordinary mind and caring selfless nature.
The thing with logic is, it needs the backing of facts and holds no truck with belief. I must admit to frothing a bit when a factual statement is countered with blind belief. These days I simply walk away to spare my energy. Some atheists have not figured this out yet.
@X Cepting. That’s maybe where I have the biggest problem with most proponents of atheism – fact can also be dependant on personal experience. In the same way that truth is always filtered through the eyes of the beholder or if you prefer, filtered through the context of your experiences/culture/family/education etc. As humans we cannot be truly objective – ever. Logic is tainted by our personal context. Please bear in mind I am not referring to the abstract concept of logic, but rather how you and I experience and practice logic. Why? Because logic is still reliant on the human mind.
I believe you used the key word in your comment “blind belief”, no more dangerous than “blind logic”. Any person who does not examine their motives or understand why they believe (or think) what they do is dangerous, because then they become fanatical. Why? Because they are not confident in the things they base their life on.
FYI – I am Christian. Does it always make logical sense? No. Why do I believe? Because of the things that I have experienced that can’t be explained by logic.
Science flies people to the moon. Religion flies people into buildings.
I’ve never met an atheist who killed, maimed, indoctrinated, condemned or dismissed another person in the name of his or her beliefs. To say that they are ‘militant’ or that they are just as ‘bad’ as religious people is compltely unfair. Robust debate, and heavy criticism are the hallmarks of civilised people who are secure in their worldview. That is all I’ve ever witnessed coming from people who don’t subscribe to a religion.
Science is based on evidence. Most non-religious people are such because they see now reason to accept religious beliefs when there is no evidence to support them. In the same way that they wouldn’t accept that their flight to Joburg would actually fly if they were under the impression that research engineers had not found any evidence to support the fact that it will actually fly! This is not an unreasonable approach.
Religion is based on authority. Which is to say, religious people believe things without evidence because they have submitted to the authority of some church, movement, cult or what have you.
The difference is that this authority is claimed not earned. The authority which we give to the engineer who develops our planes is because he has been able to provide evidence to warrant that authority. Religious leaders are unable to match that.
@I’ve never met an atheist who killed, maimed, indoctrinated, condemned or dismissed another person in the name of his or her beliefs.
And I have never met a religious person who has killed, or maimed. But I HAVE met atheists who have indoctrinated, condemned and dismissed another person in the name of his or her belief.
Atheists are just as guilty as everyone else when it comes to intolerance, more so these days.
Militant atheists kill 60 million people during the tame twentieth century. Stalin? Mao? Poll Pot?
I don’t imagine it’s common knowledge that about 170 000 Christians were killed for their faith (the only reason for their murder) in 2009. In our secular world we wouldn’t want people to think that Christians continue to be victims of hate. It’s much easier to believe they are bigots because they present an argument that the only way to God is through Christ.
t will it get me into paradise?
@Carmen – I think we are reaching middle ground. If facts are tainted by personal experience they are no longer facts but a subjective viewpoint, something which scientists remind themself to watch out for all the time. You have heard of the experimenter influencing the outcome of the experiment? Very dangerous, it leads to false data and wrong decisions. Logic is, it does not change, it is just a tool. Facts do not change but our perceptions through faulty sensing instruments do. To borrow from Christian literature, if I may: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.” Those who use the logical, reality and fact based approach to live simply approach life differently from those who base their lifes from the point of view of belief. That is why I, as an atheist, can be friends with Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Mormons, etc. The ones I know never try to “prove” their beliefs to me and I do not pass my hypotheses (beliefs based on facts) off on to them as fact until I have proved (by scientific means) that it is indeed fact.
Some people need religion, others don’t. I don’t like beer and would not dream of converting the world to be wine drinkers since it would simply inflate the price of wine, neither do I look down on beer drinkers. Each to his own, I say. The things I cant explain I research until I can.
Thank you Koos!
“It’s the Congregationalists!”
This is outstanding.
Ja nee, in die begin was daar niks to ontplof dit, nou noem ons dit die Moerse Donderslag. Believe that? Ja right… I enjoyed your piece and was not remotely offended. Lekker gelag
Ag nee I missed X Cepting’s last comment. “I do not pass my hypotheses (beliefs based on facts) off on to them as fact until I have proved (by scientific means) that it is indeed fact. ” The Big Bang will always remain a theory, so when you hold on to that you start believing the theory… That is called religion. Science and religion is thus not mutualy exclusive. In fact for the modern atheist science has very much become a religion. Also there is no way that all knowledge can be gathered and known. I always ask my learned atheist friends (all of whom are intelectually my superior) where did the Big Bang come from. An answer to that was given by a Physic Professor here at UKZN “go next door there they teach religion…”
Oh please, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot didn’t kill people in the name of their non-belief in a god. How exactly does a person who doesn’t believe in a god, kill someone in the name of that lack of belief?! On the other hand, plenty of people have been killed in the name of someone or other’s god.
There are plenty of religious people who have killed and maimed – the catholic church during the inquisition, islamic jihadists now. We can argue over the use of ‘met,’ but trust me, people who kill and maim for their religion do exist. And all the good things which people do suposedly as a result of their religion, are things which plety of non-religious people do anyway.
All non-religious people do, is criticise and refuse to tolerate religious people because they never provide evidence. Apparently, this is akin to religious intolerance! Please. Theres a difference between not tolerating someone because they don’t share your religion, and not tolerating nonsense.
There’s a reason that the only people who suddenly find god are children who can’t think for themselves (hence the church’s insistence on sunday school and religious boarding schools) and emotional, vulnerable adults. In the absence of evidence and reason, the only thing left for the church is indoctrination.
@Doorboot – This is probably too late to comment and if it is I’ll answer you some other time, but must point out the difference between t-h-e-o-r-y and b-e-l-i-e-f. Theories are not accepted just because they are the only explanation we feel comfortable with, like beliefs. They always just remain theories until proved beyond a reason of a (scientific) doubt. I do not make the mistake of “believing” theories and would not in a million years counter the creationism story in debate with the big bang theory. Possibly why the Physics guy send you next door to where they do specialise in speculating with little proof. There simply is not enough evidence in support of the latter (yet) and no amount of reasonable, logical argument will in any case counter the former. Beliefs are not reasonable, they just are. To try and explain to someone that the likelihood of them jamming in the clouds with some harp-playing buddies for eternity, instead of simply, for example, ceasing to exist at death is pointless. Popular belief simply won’t go for the second (one amongst many) optional hypothesis about the end of life. In my particular case, I reserve my opinion until I have more evidence, i.e. dying myself or speaking to at least a 1000 people who have returned from the dead. I’ll deal with death when I die, sort of thing. Sorry to blow your bubble.
For the modern charlatan, science has very much become a career…
You forgot the crusades.
Avoid arguments and break the brains of fanatics by, instead of admitting to be an atheist, simply answer them with:” I am a non practicing atheist” you see a funny shudder, blank expression, and smoke from the ears, that is the end of religious conversations most of the time.
I really enjoyed the piece and I’m glad some one else sees the potato people as a religious cult.
Avoid a war and simply do not push your belief onto people who do not want to know. If we wanted to know about your religion we would Google it!
In the words of Achmed the dead terrorist (Jeff Burns: Silence, I kill you!!
Achmed was a skit by Jeff Dunnham?
je-fe-fe Done-Ham…