A friend PM'd me wondering whether my apparent bias against religion, deduced from my previous posting and something I'd written a few weeks ago, was perhaps because my mother had received bad treatment at the hands of the Catholic church (infering thereby, perhaps, that I was a bastard).:D Just a bit, perhaps.

No, not at all, my mother was a lovely lady, a committed christian and a church goer (CofE), active in the church and community and who, to the best of my knowledge, carried her belief with her until she died a pretty horrible & somewhat protracted death. Se married my father several years before my birth :D I was brought up a christian, choir member etc. And so deep is the hold that my upbringing has on me that I still feel an emotional tug when certain hymns are heard. And I bear no malice towards a god that allowed one of his most gentle and committed followers - my mum - to die a rather nasty death - how can I feel anger towards a mythical figure? I might as well direct anger towards Odin or Wotan. I feel some frustration, however, with regard to people who brush criticism of their faith aside because it is just that, faith, therefore rational discussion isn't possible. I'm also angry about the awful things that have been done in the name of god, as I wrote to my friend:

" .. when did you ever hear of people fighting wars on the basis they thought people should have the right NOT to believe in any religion? and compare that with the number of people who have died "in the name of God".

Doctors who are serving the needs of pregnant and scared women are being killed in the USA "in the name of god". Women raped in India are then raped again by a gang of village elders, then expelled from the village "in the name of god". Men blow themselves, and innocents, to smithereens, in gods name.

Many people will bend themselves to the needs and dictates of their religion, some people will bend religion to suit their own needs, to serve their own ends."

Last night I bought a book by Richard Dawkins "The God Delusion". I've only just started to read it, but I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who dares to have an open mind about religion (which, of course by definition rules out those who have a faith). The book is dedicated, in memoriam, to Douglas Adams and uses a lovely quote from him "Isn't it enough to see that the garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too!".

The book makes the point that religious belief seems to have a unique place in man's life ... it is the one thing that shouldn't be questioned, shouldn't be subject to rigourous examination. It quotes the journalist and writer, H.L. Menken "We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart".

Without proper, rigourous examination, religious faith is merely theory.

The world is beautiful, people are beautiful, especially once they are liberated from the chains of fear and superstition. The evil, and the good, that humankind does is down to people, not gods, or devils ... or fairies.

If you really need a god, look within. We all carry godness within us. Make of that what you will! its not for me to say what such godness is, its for you to determine what your own godness is. But its there, just look and recognise it for what it is, its yours to own and utilise, it isn't down to some outside agency.

Gosh, wasn't that deep? :)