Forgiveness is a religion-contrived notion designed to further the well-being of...religion.
Like it or not, the past cannot be changed. What was, was. And if what was per se, naturally, carried implications and consequences, nothing we do today can change that. Sorry. You broke the vase. It was broken.
Religions do not recognize that fact of life. Forgive, they preach, and you will be forgiven. By whom? The ultimate judge. God.
Well, to avoid God's not forgiving you for your sin with heaven knows what penalties in store for you, say these prayers, be contrite, ask for absolution, give of your wealth to the religion...for only religion can save you. Aka, you need religion and it is in your interest to further its well-being. The ultimate penalty awaiting you sinner? Eternity in hell. Better to pay now, no?
The necessary precursor to this fundraising charade is religion's setting standards of behavior for every facet of your life, and denoting your failures to abide by those standards as mortal sins. At last count, there were over 630 of them in the Old and New Testaments. Hard to keep all of them in mind, isn't it?
To reinforce the benefits of contributing to the religion, it came up with another bit of folderol: "It's better to give than receive". No, it's not, and we've all known that since we were infants. It's better to receive, to have more than you had before, to feel loved. If it's better to give, why don't religions give away, rather than horde, their wealth?
And perhaps the biggest religion-promoted nonsense is that sex is dirty and should be experienced only for the purpose of having children (thus more people to contribute), only after marriage (thus more fees for marital services), and never for pleasure (thus making almost all of us sinners needing religious cleansing).
Heaven help us.
Like it or not, the past cannot be changed. What was, was. And if what was per se, naturally, carried implications and consequences, nothing we do today can change that. Sorry. You broke the vase. It was broken.
Religions do not recognize that fact of life. Forgive, they preach, and you will be forgiven. By whom? The ultimate judge. God.
Well, to avoid God's not forgiving you for your sin with heaven knows what penalties in store for you, say these prayers, be contrite, ask for absolution, give of your wealth to the religion...for only religion can save you. Aka, you need religion and it is in your interest to further its well-being. The ultimate penalty awaiting you sinner? Eternity in hell. Better to pay now, no?
The necessary precursor to this fundraising charade is religion's setting standards of behavior for every facet of your life, and denoting your failures to abide by those standards as mortal sins. At last count, there were over 630 of them in the Old and New Testaments. Hard to keep all of them in mind, isn't it?
To reinforce the benefits of contributing to the religion, it came up with another bit of folderol: "It's better to give than receive". No, it's not, and we've all known that since we were infants. It's better to receive, to have more than you had before, to feel loved. If it's better to give, why don't religions give away, rather than horde, their wealth?
And perhaps the biggest religion-promoted nonsense is that sex is dirty and should be experienced only for the purpose of having children (thus more people to contribute), only after marriage (thus more fees for marital services), and never for pleasure (thus making almost all of us sinners needing religious cleansing).
Heaven help us.
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