Another opinionated and preachy diatribe, brought to you by M. Sneed, the world's foremost expert (self-anointed)

My definition of hell would be having to sit though a Celine Dion performance every night for eternity. Burning in a sea of fire can't compare.



Watching Cheryl Burke dance, now that's heaven.





















A couple of days ago, May 30th, marked the 576th anniversary of Joan of Arc's execution at the hands of the religious right of the 15th century. I may not know enough history to confidently make a parallel between today's religious conservatives and Joan of Arc's tormentors, but a lack of information has never stopped me from forming an opinion.

The reason I bring this us is because in hindsight I think we can all agree that Joan got a raw deal. Joan of Arc's execution was politically motivated, but the religious norms of the day provided the pretext for it. The fact that Joan of Arc was obviously delusional and ran around telling people that she was on a mission from God didn't help her case. Further explaining that her mission from God was to kick the English the hell out of France really cinched the deal. She got jobbed by church officials who were steeped in corruption and in tight with whoever had the political power. In fairness some sold her out to avoid the same fate she suffered.

Joan of Arc was charged with heresy, more or less not maintaining the orthodoxy of the day. Heresy was punishable by death, if the alleged heretic didn't recant the heresy. Joan's heretical behavior included wearing men's clothing and declaring herself to be in God's grace. Neither of those would qualify as heresies these days. As a matter of fact the fundamentalist Christians I know proudly declare that they are saved by grace. That would have gotten them offed in the 15th century.

I offer Joan's posthumous promotion to saint as evidence of the inexact nature of religious judgment. Today's sinner is tomorrow's saint.

This is the reason that the separation of church and state is important. When left to their own devices, religious people and the institutions they form, have an inclination to use temporal power to crush those who they find spiritually lacking.

But who burns people at the stake over religious differences or even heresy these days? Well actually, I guess a sizable group of people still would, were it not so much less efficient than hanging or hacking off a head.

Of course in the West we don't kill people for not sharing our religious tenets. Instead, modern western religious adherents use shunning, shaming and threats of eternal hellfire and damnation to make their point.

As an example, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Our Fair City, has been in the news recently for trying to open a dialog within the local Catholic Church regarding the Church's traditional anti-gay attitude and teachings. He wants to find a way to make gay persons feel more welcome in the churches of the local diocese. Here's a clue, stop teaching that they are hell-bound sinners and denying them full inclusion in church rituals. That would go a long way. The Bishop is a decent man and has sincere motives, but he is limited in his ability to change much really, since he gets his marching orders from Church higher-ups, not the most progressive bunch.

Question: What do you call the Bishop of Our Fair City if he openly bucks the Church leaders? Answer: The former Bishop of Our Fair City.

The Churches' message to gay people and to women and the divorced, for that matter, has been "just be someone other than who you are and we will get along fine and dandy". They are fond of the slogan, hate the sin but love the sinner, which clear-thinking people will recognize as a load of malarkey. It is exclusionary and shaming, not to mention condescending.

As a heterosexual male atheist, I don't really have a direct stake in the workings of the Catholic Church, or any church for that matter. What I do have is an opinion and my opinion is that human dignity trumps some dubious shell game of who gets into heaven and who doesn't.

Muslim radicals believe that killing you and me, will get them an express elevator to paradise, complete with a boatload of virgins. Christians disagree with them on that matter, hoping instead that by admitting that God had quality control issues when he created them, He will see the error of his ways and take them away to heaven. Sort of an eternal product recall. I disagree with both of those notions. Since I am the only one not relying on 2000-year old information to form my opinion, I'm sticking with it.

Of course, since churches are voluntary and private organizations, they are free to exclude whomever they please. I would however remind them that not so long ago black people were excluded from many white churches because of who they were. Those actions are now universally understood to have been wrong.

Most of the religious dogma that the faithful cling to today, will seem totally incomprehensible to future generations. Maybe it would be worth examining what we hold to be true, both religious and non-religious people alike. It would help us to decide if we really understand why we believe what we believe.

I will now take a minute to reflect on what I believe..........nope, I'm good. I crack myself up.












Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky


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