Fairytales and psychopaths
Can you believe fundamentalist Christians calling someone else a bigot? I suppose it’s convenient for them to forget such things as the crusades, witch burnings and, indeed, all holy wars. But then, fundamentalists rarely understand irony. Well done, Mandy, for calling them out on their attempts to inflict their fairy tales on everybody else. In fact, their religion instructs them to do that and it gets worse. Just last week, members of the Environment Centre in Railway Park were treated to a rant from a bored-again telling them the flags with the peace symbols were blasphemous. I don’t doubt the sincerity of most people involved but they’ve been sucked into a profoundly exploitive belief system.
I’d like to make a distinction between what we’re told are the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Christianity. Probably the central teaching of JC is love your neighbour as yourself, a teaching of self-love we can all relate to. The central teaching of Christianity, however, is: you are born in sin and must suffer for redemption. (Either you or the bloke on the cross.) That’s a teaching of self-hate, the exact opposite. Christianity appears to be the anti-Christ. Have you ever wondered why the label on the box – peace, goodwill, etc – doesn’t match the actions of the religion over the centuries?
Our cultural religion and every other religion in the world has two levels of teaching. A thoroughly disempowering one for the masses and an empowering one for the elite. Hardly surprising when we realise that our religions, like all our social operating systems, emerged from a patriarchal social system and there can be no doubt they developed to benefit the elite in that system. This is who they are.
It’s been shown that approximately 98 per cent of humans have what amounts to a genetic injunction against killing other humans. Only two per cent of us come without this feature and the completely ruthless among them have been running our patriarchal systems for the last few thousand years with one basic principle: this is mine or I’ll kill you. In the 21st century that’s ‘The Money’. If you’ve ever suspected the world was run by psychopaths, then you were right.
It’s time the world was run by the 98 per cent and it may not be that hard. While our current system has the advantage of longevity and entrenched fairy tales, what it doesn’t have is intelligence. The only intelligent response to the current state of affairs is towards a sustainable future and, clearly, ‘the money’ are only interested in business as usual. None of our current systems is carved in stone, we made it up. The environment, the biosphere we depend on for our health, wellbeing and survival is not something we made up. Maybe we can use the system they made up to create the system we want: our species living in co-operation with each other and our earth.
There’s an idea for a rapid, market-led, transition to our sustainable future at www.livingsystems.com.au. It’s just a start that needs engagement and development but it is a start and you might be surprised at the resources and knowledge we enjoy.
Here’s to a future of peace and goodwill, without the bullshit and guilt.
Robin Harrison
Binna Burra
I’ll have what she’s having
I nearly wrote in a letter after reading last week’s Echo while almost spitting cornflakes out my nose with mirth after Mandy’s (clearly) satirical piece on fundamentalists. What an amusing and refreshing piece it made to read, and such a lovely change from the self-important twaddle that is the Fast Buck$ column (sometimes cunningly called ‘letters to the editor’).
For those that don’t ‘get’ Mandy’s humour, I suggest you read her book. It’s a rollicking good read and shows the depths of her (mostly) self-deprecating humour and searing wit.
I did take some mild umbrage to the aptly-named Jim Nutter’s reply (Letters, January 17). I’m an atheist, Jim, but I would be the least fundamentalist, least emotional person on the subject there is (remember, it was mild umbrage). I just don’t believe in religion. I don’t see how that’s an untenable position, mate – I’ve done alright so far.
Was your point regarding blind chance upon blind chance directed at evolution? Alrighty then, if that’s how you’d like to name it. I do appreciate and support those that do believe, although it always amuses me how the whole my-god-is-better-than-your-god argument swells from time to time. Although, for the record, I do believe that your imaginary god is probably better than mine and I appreciate your getting me off the couch to write this letter.
Now, back to my pagan gardening.
Nick Mills
Eureka
