The list could be so long, but it has to include arrogance, delusion, dishonesty, ego, envy, greed, hatred, hunger for authority and power, ignorance, lack of common sense, selfishness, superiority, and violence.
All of these obscene traits can be used in any belief system, often with a refusal to back down if views are proven wrong, a refusal to question those beliefs at any time, and a complete rejection of listening to opposing views. Of course, this completely irrational behaviour has its roots in fear; fear of death, or rather, what happens after death.
Yes, dear reader, I give you humanity’s worst: Religion.
In case you think I am going over the top here, let me give you a few examples of the devastating harm done by religion.
Let’s start with going back in time. How about the constant Holy Wars, the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the horrendous way of dealing with non-believers. Throw in a shedload of animal and human sacrifice. Ah, but that’s how it used to be, say the theists. OK, let’s get up-to-date.
Child indoctrination, protecting paedophile clergy, anti-abortion, anti-women, anti-LGBT rights; intolerance at all levels; feminine genital mutilation; denial of scientific facts in favour of dogma, and that’s just for starters.
You know I am not having a go at the gentle folk who attend their place of worship around the globe, (a worship of some 4,000 gods last time I checked), who en
joy the company and the routine. But how many of these really decent chaps and chapesses are being “holy” just to make sure they get to the promised land? Another words, are they just locked in fear of frying for ever in some kind of hell? Is that right and proper in this day and age?
The vast majority of us are born without evil intent, (and we are born atheist of course) and most of us are extremely capable of remaining decent human beings during our entire lifetime.
At least my country of birth doesn’t have multi-millionaire pastors conning the truly frightened and ignorant masses in the U.S.A., but don’t worry, we have our fair share of church scandals.
I suppose I should now write a masterpiece on how humanity would have evolved without religion. But that seems a great subject for another blog. Maybe next week??
The worst thing about humanity
Yeah, lots not to love here. I mean seriously, India is on the verge of committing genocide and the West is all good with it – as long as they keep hating on China we don’t care. Although it would be nice if they would cut back on that extra-cheap Russian oil.
But genocide is not the one thing I would change about humanity. I think if we could get rid, my nomination for the worst thing, genocide, would just disappear on its own.
Before I tell you my nomination, please allow me to show you how caustic a trait this is. I know two Russian women. They used to call each other Sisters. The very best of friends… BFFs in the truest sense of the word: then – Ukraine.
One is very much in favor of de-nazifying the child killers and the other says it’s an unprovoked attack on the very cradle of Russian civilization. Today they nearly don’t speak and nobody is going to visit anybody’s home. They hold their views so tightly that nothing, nothing is of higher importance than their totally subjective opinions.
I nominate Confirmation as my pox on humanity. Yes, I know all about the Seven Deadly Sins and Confirmation is nowhere on the list. Let me be clear: I don’t care how much fired chicken you eat. If that makes you happy, get all gluttonous up in the house.
So, what the hell do I mean by Confirmation? In my country, America, we have the pox of Fox News. People don’t have their first taste of that Kool-Aid because they want to know the news, they start watching because it confirms their prior feelings. The country is sliding off the edge of the cliff and the lib-tards are to blame.
Fox Entertainment shows confirm what the new viewer suspected, but the viewer didn’t know how bad it really is. They want to take your guns and kill your unborn babies. They want to replace you with brown people and they want your daughter to have sex. The more you learn, the angrier you become.
Humans look for confirmation of our beliefs. We need to be right, we need our beliefs confirmed and we need to know that it’s not all in our imagination; we are smart. Facts can get a little awkward; they get in the way so we invent alternative facts and don’t listen to those with facts we don’t like. Remember my two Russian women who almost don’t speak? They both have their news sources and cannot imagine how the other got so stupid. I have also been called stupid in the last few weeks for non-confirmation of the “correct” belief.
I have read both Gorbachov & William F. Buckley (Buckley is the better writer). I like AlJazeera. but I also like ABC News. I no longer watch Fox or RT, I really am over their weak-assed propaganda. General Mark Milley (Heads all US Military Forces) has his future officers read Karl Marx at some of the various military academies. He wants them to know what the hell is going on. If you do the same and listen to lots of different, impartial, authoritative, voices, Fox News and Russia Today become just goofy.
This leads me to why I consider Confirmation the most insidious cancer on modern humanity: It promotes ignorance. Consider this: in the last few decades, the US Republican Party has replaced Regan & Buckley with Trump & Carlson. Deep thought and serious intellect are no longer welcomed, smash mouth politics rule.
Before most readers get too smug about how dumb Americans are, may I remind you that Replacement Theory originated in France? In Turkey, a Democracy, it’s against the law to speak ill of the President. I could easily make this into a long list but perhaps my point is taken. Confirmation around the world has led to willful ignorance and the rise of illiberal democracy. The so-called Press is used to making money and keep certain politicians in power by means of confirming the worst fears of the viewer. Don’t give me facts, confirm what I already know.
The worst thing about humanity….
The worst thing about us as humans, to me, is the inability to learn from our own mistakes. In fact, this relates to every single human being… strange creatures we are…
This feature, however bad it could be, is both a universal and individual one. We make mistakes as countries, as societies, and, of course, as individuals.
Such mistakes cost us millions of lives or, to say the least, a universe of ruined plans.
The absence of understanding of what to do with defeated Germany and how to incorporate it into the world order led to the chain of events in 1933, 1939, and 1941 . It finally led to even more victims during World War II till May 1945, and, September 2, 1945, compared to 1914-1918.
The inability to deal with Putin has sparked the current war in Ukraine. Hopefully, another worst mistake (as we already hear voices in the West) won’t happen and Vladimir Vladimirovich won’t be the kick-starter World War 3; I mean, it is unfolding now but he will escalate pretty soon if not stopped and defeated by the Western-Ukrainian alliance now.
I have made – and still making – numerous mistakes in my own life. The coolest thing about it is that sometimes I understand that I’m on the wrong way but…
This is why I am not too optimistic about us, as humanity, not repeating our mistakes from the past.
On the other hand, sometimes we both, on a personal level and as the race that lives on the third stone from the Sun, learn from past mistakes. This is why I’m kind of crossing the street towards the sunny side…