The plain truth about the Resurrection

Dear Editor,

The action of a man who volunteers to die for his fellow creatures is universally regarded as noble. The extra claim not to have "really" died makes the whole sacrifice tricky and meretricious. (Thus, those who say Christ died for my sins; when he did not really "die" at all are making a statement that is false in its own terms.) Having no reliable or consistent witnesses to certify such an extraordinary claim, we are finally entitled to say that we have a right, if not an obligation, to respect ourselves enough to disbelieve the whole thing.

It was exceedingly dangerous to try to translate the good book into a language that the people could understand. The Bible was the possession of an inner-party elite, and its arcana were part of the stage management of priestcraft.

God: If we are indeed created in God's image, as the believers tell us on who knows what or whose authority, then that image must have room for a digestive tract with all that it entails, for erections (where applicable), for vile thoughts and dubious motives. Much more probable really, is the counter theory that man created God in his image. This would account for there being so many of him (more than a hundred dead ones).

Root of All Evil: Imagine, a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no Crusaders, no witch-hunts, no Israeli/Palestinian wars, no persecution of Jews as "Christ-killers," no Northern Ireland "Troubles," no "honor killings," no shiny-suited bouffant-hair televangelists fleecing gullible people of their money. (God wants you to give till it hurts.) Imagine no Taliban to blow up ancient statues, no public beheadings of blasphemers, no flogging of female skin for the crime of showing an inch of it. Imagine no more "preachers" who can get away with anything under the rubric of "Reverend." There is something frightening about "stupidity" in its mass organized form.

Are we "One Nation under Judaism, Christianity and Islam? Will this be our "New Pledge of Allegiance"?

Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion. Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

If you feel trapped in the religion of your upbringing, it would be worth asking yourself how this came about. The answer is usually some form of childhood indoctrination; and probably that your religion is that of your parents.

Being an atheist is nothing to be apologetic about. On the contrary, it is something to be proud of, standing tall to face the far horizon, for atheism nearly always indicates a healthy independence of mind and, indeed, a healthy mind.

I do "not" proselytize and I'm not attacking the particular qualities of Yahweh, or Jesus, or Allah or any other god.

My personal view: Any creative intelligence of sufficient complexity to design anything, comes into existence only as the end product of an extended process of gradual evolution. God is a delusion, a pernicious delusion.

Freethinker,

Joseph L. Koperna

Tamaqua