A long rant

Uh oh, here we go. A rant on religion. It's probably not going to be very coherant but it's been brewing for a while now.

I was never brought up to be particularly religious, though the vast majority of my Mum's family is devoutly Christian. The way I saw Christianity when I was young was that it was a nice load of stories, and you believed in it the same way you believed in fairy tales. It's a free world, and you can believe whatever you like. Now I've grown up, I just find it incomprehensible that people can believe such things.

My personal view now is that that there is a lot of evidence to support the existence of a very big universe and that life evolved from a more basic form. You can grab a telescope and see other planets and stars and things. I think it is incredibly arrogant to believe that this planet exists solely for the benefit of humans. Religion is like a security blanket, people would rather believe that than face the harsh truth that humanity is a mere insignificance in a vast, uncaring universe. If I die and there is a God, and he asks me why I never believed in him, I'd say that there was no proof. I don't count a book that has been cobbled together and rewritten over 2000 years to be proof. I mean, who isn't to say that in 500 years, that the Lord of the Rings books might not be the next Bible?

The only religion I ever had any thought of joining was Buddhism, but even that has been regarded as a dangerous cult (Friends of the Western Buddhist Order). Don't even mention Scientology. I personally believe that all religions are cults, just some are more successful and long-lived than others. Having said that, I could form a group that aims to promote belief in evolution and the universe in general, but who is to say that isn't any different? (see the Flying Spaghetti Monster)

The thing is, if it was just a matter of people believing what they want, I wouldn't mind. But when they start to push their beliefs on others, that's too much. OK, the guy in the street shouting about the Bible isn't too bad, but when it affects people's rights or people use it as a an excuse to marginalise or commit violence on other people, it is going too far. Also there are far too many cases where people have used religion as a something to push their own agenda. Unfortunately I feel quite strongly about this. Once I was walking down the street in Chester, and a guy approached me from a group of people shouting about the bible. The exchange went something like this:

Him: 'Can I ask you a question?'
Me: 'Is it about religion?'
Him: 'Yes.'
Me: 'Fuck off,' before walking away.

Now, I am normally quite shy and retiring and wouldn't even think of speaking to a stranger like that so it just goes to show how I feel about this. Even now I feel a bit guilty about it to be honest. I don't know how he reacted - I didn't look back.

Anyway, enough of that. If I've offended anyone - sorry! The thing is, I get quite worked up and angry about this. Being intolerant of religion and it's followers is just as bad so I feel guilty about it.