ORGANIZED RELIGION IS EVIL THAT’S WHY SO MANY RELIGIOUS FANATICS SUPPORT TRUMP AND OTHER DEMAGOGUES
God works in mysterious ways. So maybe God did send Trump here, but he sent him here to warn us of the gross hypocrisy that the many so-called "Godologists" have brought into our lives. Look at all the misery, murder and mayhem going on around the world in the name of religion. One man in the Middle East even cut his wife’s lips off because she had the audacity to try putting on lipstick. Such people don't bring the love and goodness of God into our lives, they bring hatred and narrow-minded idiocy into our midst. . Thus, organized religion is nothing short of the pure ignorance and autocratic stupidity of man trying to shove his beliefs down the throats of other men through the use of dubious ancient scriptures. But God speaks to us through common sense, not the superstitious rantings of 3000-year-old dead men. Such men didn't know any more about God than we do - which is absolutely nothing. They were simply the Pat Robertsons of their time. .
You don’t have to be a part of a religious cult to love and worship God, so while I’m a firm believer in God, I have neither the superstitious nature, inclination, nor the desire to embrace any form of religious Voodoo. Through the simple use of the common sense that God bestowed upon me, it has always been clear to me that Jesus didn't die for our sins. Jesus died because he was stabbed, just like any other human being would. Case closed. . And not only that, why would God send his "only begotten son" through all that suffering? He's God - he could have simply forgiven us for our sins without sending his son through all that unnecessary suffering and mayhem, wouldn't you? So it sounds to me like the followers of Jesus had to come up with a justification for how the man they claimed was the son of God could be killed. So they waited 7 days, and then when nobody was looking, they stole his body from the tomb and claimed he got up and walked away (they must've been Republicans). Now, that makes much more sense, doesn't it? So don't be idiotic enough to buy into all the Voodoo. It'll only keep you blind and broke, while your preacher rides around in a Cadillac. . I was raised in church, and even as a child I didn’t like the gross hypocrisy I saw there. Some of the most evil and self-righteous people I've ever met I met in church. These people weren't interested in bringing the love of God into my life, they were control freaks, so they were more interested in trying to tell me how to live my life. And to accomplish that goal they tried to insult my intelligence with ridiculous stories of walking dead men and talking snakes to scare me into compliance. They should have simply been content to teach me to respect the wisdom of Jesus (which I do), instead of trying to convince me that he was a superhuman being who could walk on water, which is pure nonsense. So when it comes to religion I’ve been there, and done that, and I came away highly insulted by the experience. .
While I'm the product of one of the most religious families I know, and I'm extremely spiritual, even as a child I wasn't an idiot. I just couldn't get myself to believe all the supernatural nonsense they were trying to shove down my throat. So at 14 years old I shook the dust from my feet, left the church, and I haven't lightened their door since - and now, even as an adult, I've instructed my family not to let any preacher preach over my body upon my death. They've been instructed to simply cremate me and sprinkle my ashes in the ocean. . There are over 4200 different religions on Earth. If God had anything at all to do with any of them, there'd be only one. So religion is nothing more than a form of social manipulation to convince the people of a given society that they hold a favored place in the heart of God, and thus, the leaders of that society speaks for God, which is a blatant lie. . If Americans actually cared anything at all about Christianity, there never would have been either slavery, bigotry, or the genocide of over 200 million Native Americans. But as we currently see during this Trump era, religious fanatics only believe in "The Word of God" as long as it's convenient. When it becomes less than convenient, they toss it aside like a used Tampon, and instead of loving their neighbors, they put them in cages.
Organized religion is at the very root of 99% of all of the bigotry, evil, murder and mayhem in the world today. So those religious fanatics who support Trump, only support him because he promotes their brand of bigotry, greed, and hatred of all those who don’t look, think, and act like themselves. Clear evidence of that fact is their willingness to turn a blind eye to all of the ungodly flaws in Trump's character. Jesus Christ would undoubtedly condemn the man, but due to their own bigotry and self-interest many White Evangelists have chosen to overrule Jesus and give Trump a pass. . So whenever you see a "Christian for Trump", regardless to what their justification, you know you're looking at a hypocrite that's destined to burn in Hell. Because while they may be able to fool themselves, one another, and the gullible, they can't fool God.
BAD NEWS FOR REV. GRAHAM:
I HATE TO BREAK THIS TO YOU THIS REV. GRAHAM, BUT YOUR SON, FRANKLIN, HAS CHOSEN A SEXUAL PERVERT OVER JESUS CHRIST.
Eric L. Wattree Http://wattree.blogspot.com Ewattree@Gmail.com BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND
INDEPENDENT THINKERS . Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like
me - it's just that God does.
In spite of the fact that I was raised to be a Christian, I never go to church, because even as a kid I couldn’t buy into talkin’ snakes, and all of man's other attempts to introduce me to Mother Goose. I wanted to believe it, because I was taught that if I didn’t the Bogey Man was gonna get me. But try as I might, the common sense that God bestowed upon me wouldn't allow it. God would always whisper in my ear, “No, my child - you don't have to embrace nonsense to prove your love for my creation."
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So I was faced with a dilemma - was I going to have "faith" in the word of man, or follow the common sense that God was whispering in my ear? He then went on to whisper that if “Satan” didn’t need to write a book to get man to do his bidding, why would God? Was Satan more powerful than God? So when I began to think about these things, and then looked at the preacher standing there all decked out in his fancy sharkskin fugadoo suit, there was no contest. So at 14 years old I left the church, just like I left the sandbox when I was 7, and never looked back. And it was on that day I cut out the middleman. I completely dropped man as my translator of the will of God, and I establish my own relationship with the creator. And from that day until this, I've been free. I've been free to think clearly, and unencumbered by the shackles of stupidity.
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Yes, so, from that day forward it became just me and God, and without any ignorant translator trying to indoctrinate me into believing the ridiculously superstitions of 3000 year-old dead men. And I was freed in another way as well - I was freed from the selfishness and greed of man, because God doesn't beg. You see, God doesn't need money, so unlike man he doesn't have to lie to you to get it. Man uses religious books to try to put his own words in God's mouth. That's why there are so many of them. Again, there are over 4200 different religions on Earth, and they all claim to speak for God. Man will say, for example, "God wants you to give me 10% of everything you earn, plus a Love offering and a Building fund - See, he said it right here in chapter 5." But the fact is, God doesn't want your money, man does. It's right out of the book of "Trick Baby," written by Iceberg Slim.
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It's only man's tremendous ego that makes him think that God is fixated on him. In that regard he's a lot like Donald Trump - he thinks the entire universe revolves around him. But actually, in terms of the universe and creation as a whole, man is no more significant than a germ under a toilet seat in Uzbekistan. God made them both, and with equal precision.
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So today, many years later, I sit out in my backyard and worship the wonders of God in awe every single night. I look out at the night sky and gaze upon what seems to be a completely silent universe at complete rest. But due to my decision to follow knowledge instead of the word of man, I know better. I know that the Earth is rotating at 1000 MPH, and it’s orbiting around the Sun at 67,000 MPH. I also know that the Sun is orbiting the galaxy at 515,000 MPH, and it takes the Sun 230 million years to orbit just one time around our galaxy. And if that’s not amazing enough, it’s not the whole story. I know that our galaxy is hurling through the universe at 1.3 Million MPH, and it’s 100,000 light years across, so if I could travel at 186,000 miles per SECOND, it would take me 100,000 years to cross it. I also know that within the universe our galaxy represents only one grain of sand on all of the beaches and deserts on the planet Earth, and there are over 200 Billion galaxies just like our own in just that minuscule sliver of the universe that we can see with man’s weak and feeble technology.
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Yet, in spite of all that, I’m routinely insulted by delusional idiots who get all dressed up in flamboyant robes and try to insist that they know what’s on God’s mind, even as they molest thousands of children, rob the poor of a 10th of their earnings, and support every manner of bigotry, hatred and mayhem on Earth. And here’s the incredible part - because I refuse to embrace the superstitious cave-dwelling pronouncements of these cretins over the mind that the creator of the universe bestowed up me, they call ME a heathen!!! They insist that God wants me to ignore the mind that he took such great pains to bestow upon me, and believe in talkin' snakes instead. Go figure it.
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What such people fail to understand is much as man likes to think of himself as special, he’s not the center of the universe. He's simply drenched in delusional narcissism. In terms of the universe, what man considers the universe may be no more than a speck of dust under the toenail of some gigantic being who’s a part of an even greater universe. So in the larger scheme of reality, man is no more significant than a germ under a toilet seat in Uzbekistan. God created them both with equal precision. I know these things, so man can spare me his tales of walkin’ dead men, talkin’ snakes, and all of his other forms Voodoo.
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ABOUT GOD, FAITH, AND “ANOINTED” MEN
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Christians are always talking about how the Bible is “the word of God.” That’s ridiculous. God doesn’t write books, he doesn’t have to. When God speaks to you, he speaks to you directly, through your mind, your heart, and your conscience. That’s why he created you with these things, and he doesn’t make mistakes. He didn’t create you requiring a Users Guide any more than he created birds requiring a calendar and a compass to know when to fly south, or a text telling whales that they had to come up for air. God created all things with everything they needed to live a successful and Godly life - even plants. So why does man require a User's Guide? The fact is, he doesn't. And another thing, if Satan doesn't have to write a book to get you to do his will, why would God? Is Satan more powerful than God?
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So what Christians refer to as the "Word of God" is actually the word of man. He uses it to control other men. He uses it to say, "God wants you to give me a 10% cut out of everything you make; see, he says right here." The "Holy Bible" is a scam that was compiled by Pope Damasus I nearly 400 years after the death of Jesus, and they didn't put anything in it that the Pope disagreed with - In fact, back then you could be tortured and killed for even saying anything he disagreed with. If God wrote a book it would be filled with truth. It would tell you that snakes don't talk, dead men don't walk, and no woman has EVER had a baby without having sex. But God didn't have to say that, because he DEMONSTRATED it by what he has done. And consider this - according to the Bible God didn't even speak to anybody that wasn’t a White male. Open it up and try to find St. Willie, St. Debbie, or St. Chong. You won't find them, because the Bible is the word of the White man, and it was written to keep you in your place.
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GOD
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God has absolutely nothing to do with religion. Religion is the "word of man," not God. So anyone who chooses to believe in walking dead men and talking snakes over the common sense that was bestowed upon them by nature (God), has chosen to give the word of man priority over God.
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God is whatever force, entity, or process that’s responsible for what we refer to as existence. So if we exist, God exists, regardless of whether God is a he, she, it, or the universe itself. When the concept of God is viewed from that perspective, simple logic suggests that the mere fact that we’re here to even question God’s existence, proves God’s existence. That’s all we know about God, and that’s all we NEED to know.
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FAITH
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One doesn’t HAVE to have “faith” in God. Just look up at the night sky and you have an entire universe to attest to his existence. You only have to have “faith” in the words of man, because that’s all he has to bring to the table - words.
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Man can only know God by what God has done, and to show you just how meaningless the concept of faith is to God, try getting on your knees on a railroad track in front of an oncoming train and use your “faith” to pray that God stops the train before it hits you. If you test your faith in that manner you’ll end up dog food, because God made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man to THINK. So he did his part when he gave you a brain; the rest is up to you. The very same thing is true when you have “faith” in the words of ANY man. God didn’t bless you with your own mind so you can let another man think for you - or even tell you how to think. God didn’t “anoint” ANY man to speak for him. Such men anoint themselves to rip you off. Clear evidence of that is that it ALWAYS boils down to money with these men, but God doesn’t need money. When YOU are in need these so-called “anointed men” tell you to “pray on it,” but when THEY are in need, they pass you a collection plate.
ABOUT EXPLAINING AWAY MY COMMON SENSE
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A guy name Anthony contacted me after reading the above and said the following: . Eric, you are so lost. . You were raised in the Christian religion which is not the actual doctrine, philosophy, ideology nor practice of the Messiah. It is rather the watered down, white-washed, oppressive version with enough displaced, twisted and misplaced to control the masses. Just because you could not believe a serpent would talk, that did not mean it did not happen. If you are using your reasoning as a child to understand the mysteries of scripture, you were in fact lost from the word Go. . You have bits and pieces of data all lumped together and you are trying to make sense of it all but in doing so, you are missing the truth completely. I would love to answer and correct you point by point but I am not going to type all that tonight. Feel free to contact me via brainstormonline@yahoo.com for the facts and the truth that you are missing. You have not even scratched the surface in this article. And know this, I deal in hard evidence, facts and verifiable truth. You are very much in error throughout your article. I challenge you to contact me. Leave a phone number on my email and I will call you.
RESPONSE
Anthony, . The minute you said, “Just because you could not believe a serpent would talk, that did not mean it did not happen,” I wrote you off as a mindless lunatic. I can’t even begin to take anyone seriously who ignores common sense. If you have more “faith” in the word of man - that snakes can talk - than you do in the common sense that God (Nature) took great pains to bestow upon you, you believe in man, not God. . What kind of fool doesn’t have sense enough to realize that snakes don’t talk, dead men don’t walk, and you can’t get two of everything on Earth on one ship - everything from the smallest insects to largest elephants? The weight of the shit alone would sink the boat. And another thing - how long would it have taken Noah to gather up two of everything on Earth in the first place, and where in the hell is he gonna find two kangaroos in the Middle East!!!? The Bible said God brought them, but that’s nonsense; why don’t we see anything like that today? And why was God only focused on the Middle East - what about Africa, Asia, and other places around the world? So let's just call your brand of "enlightenment" that you're so anxious to "explain" to me just what it is - pure, unadulterated, bullshit. . So spare me your offer to “explain” away my common sense. I left the church to get away from people like you, because I was convinced, even as a child, that ignorance is contagious - and since I don’t believe in Mother Goose, I need my common sense to survive. . And finally, people like yourself are the very antithesis of my mission in life. I’ve dedicated my life to teaching Black people to distance themselves from people like you, because you’ve obviously been completely robbed of your mind, and as such, you play a major role in holding Black people down. Black people will only thrive through the pursuit of knowledge, not stupidity. So your offer to “instruct me” is not only grossly ridiculous, but laughable. Even Donald Trump has sense enough to know that snakes don’t talk, and they never did, no matter what the White man told you.
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God created us to love. Then man came right behind him and gave us religion, which taught us to hate everyone who doesn’t look, think, and act like ourselves. For that reason the very same man who is a devout Christian in Georgia would be a devout Jew if he'd been born in Israel, a devout Muslim if he’d been born in Iraq, or a Buddhist if he’d been born in China.
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This is a very important fact to take into account, because it clearly demonstrates that in spite of what the many self-serving preachers and theologians try to say, religion is not from God, it's merely a form of cultural indoctrination by man in order to control other men. Clear evidence of that is the fact that 81% of White evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in spite of the fact that he's been married three times and bragged about grabbing women's genitals, all of which is diametrically opposed to their professed Christian values. Yet, for years I've heard these so-called “anointed men of God" recite the mantra that “I was called by God to spread his word.” But obviously, as these polls suggest, they consider "God's word" whatever is convenient for them at the time.
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So I've always been suspect of such men, but unlike them, I've never considered myself to be a part of God's inner circle, so I never thought it my place to directly accuse them of lying - at least, out loud. But I think the world is currently in such dire straits that it's time to seriously examine the contention of these men. In that regard, every since I was a child I've always wanted to ask such people (generally men) two questions - first, what makes them think they're so special that God would choose them to speak on his behalf, and secondly, how did they know it was God calling and not simply their desire to make a dollar without having to go to work like everybody else?
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Thus, it has always been my view that most of these "men of God" share three things in common - they're arrogant, they're presumptuous, and they're less than trustworthy. They're arrogant to assume they know what's on God's mind; presumptuous to think he needs their help to carry out his will; and they're less than trustworthy to even make such claims. I mean, would God choose Pat Robertson to speak on his behalf? Somehow, I don't think so.
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WOULD GOD CHOOSE PAT ROBERTSON
TO SPEAK ON HIS BEHALF?
God doesn't need man's help to either spread his word, or to express his will, any more than he needed to anoint a "holy pigeon" to teach other pigeons that it's his will for them to fly. He incorporated both his will, and his word, into everything he created at the moment of creation just as he willed the Sun to shine and the billions of galaxies to hurl through space in search of the center of the universe. So if God didn't need man's help to create the universe or to send our galaxy of over 200 billion stars hurling through the emptiness of outer space, he certainly doesn't need the help of a mentally challenged preacher to teach us how to live our lives.
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The fact is, the so-called clergy is more of an impediment to living a Godly life than anything else. Just imagine how much more Godly this world would be if we didn’t have Christians, Muslims, and Jews killing one another over their varying interpretations of "God's will." When I was in the Marine Corps I found it completely ironic that we had military chaplains praying for God to help us kill more of "them" than they killed of us. Thus, these people are so delusional that they think they can actually draft God to help them in their fight to steal oil from the Middle East.
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BLESS YOU, MY CHILDREN
So what we often refer to as "the word of God" is nothing more than man's attempt to control the lives, votes, and bank accounts of other men. Therefore, if we take the time to look closely enough, we'll find religion at the very root of all of the murder, hatred, bigotry, and destructive mayhem on the face of the Earth. Think about it - virtually every war and act of terrorism throughout the world is based on religion, and there's a very good reason for that - because the very purpose of religion (ALL RELIGION) is to promote man's selfishness, greed, and false sense of superiority. That's why the primary pitch of these so-called "anointed men of God" is that they're God's best friend, so unless we want God to do something horrible to us, we have to pay homage to them with our money, loyalty, and through our absolute and unwavering "faith" in every form of idiocy that spews from their mouth.
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To the average person with common sense, the idiotic demands that these "men of God" make as a requirement for "everlasting life" is immediately recognized as complete lunacy, but what's so unbelievable about it is how effective preachers have been in convincing so many highly educated, and normally intelligent people, to embrace their nonsense. Even my own brother, who I've always considered a pretty smart guy, told me, "You're gonna be sorry about what you said when you have to face God." I couldn't believe it. Since when do we have to be sorry about speaking the truth and not being a fool? Do Christian values impose a moral obligation upon us to be absolute idiots? Unfortunately, they do - that's what they're designed to do. That's why Christians are often referred to as "sheep," and the Lord as their shepherd - but since the Lord is not around, the preacher steps in to take his place. There's a phrase to describe that technique - it's called "mind control," and that's why the word "faith" plays such an important role in Christianity. Christians are required to have unwavering faith, not in God, but in what they're being told about God.
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A perfect example of the hypocrisy inherent in this epidemic of backward-thinking can be seen in the fact that women are virtually NEVER allowed to lead any church or religious cult, because
"Will you get up off your knees and quit
beggin' - I did my part when I
gave you a brain, fool!"
as we all know, God doesn't speak to women - it's God's will that they just keep their mouths shut, stay in their place, and do what these "anointed" men tell them to do. In fact, in many Muslim countries it's against the law for women to even drive a car or rent an apartment without being sponsored by a male - even if that male is their own son. They're treated like children, in spite of the fact that women gave birth to, and raise these young men and boys who are require to "sponsor" them.
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But if you're a Christian, before you begin to smirk, you need to take a look at your own "faith." According to what we see in the Bible, the Whiteman reigns supreme in the eyes of God. In fact, he occupies a status just beneath that of God himself. The Bible says, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.” - Ephesians 6:5. In other words, when Black people allowed themselves to be freed from their "masters" after the Civil War, they committed a sin. Just like the Confederacy, the Bible considers the emancipation of Black people in the South the theft of private "property."
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Frederick Douglass had the following to say about Christianity and the jackleg preachers of his time:
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"The church of this country is not only indifferent to the . . . [bad treatment of] the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. It has made itself the . . . [defender] of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. Many of its most eloquent . . . [preachers], who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained of God; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; and this horrible blasphemy is palmed off upon the world . . . [as] Christianity."
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In addition, the Catholic church - which was responsible for compiling the "Holy Bible" under Pope Damasus I - refuses to allow women to become priests. That suggests that women are inferior to men. So if the pope is truly suppose to be advancing the will of God, somebody must be a bigot, either the pope, or God himself. So if we agree that God's not a bigot, that's prima facie evidence that the pope is lying about advancing God's will. What he's actually doing is perpetuating man's bigotry toward women, and if that's true, we then have to ask ourselves where else is God and the truth slipping through the cracks?
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IF IT WEREN'T SO SAD IT WOULD BE A JOKE
And yes, I referred to the world's greatest religions as cults, because anyone who believes in walkin' dead men and talkin' snakes is, by definition, a part of a cult. After all, how is what Pat Robertson and T.D. Jakes preaching any more credible than Voodoo? The fact is, it's not. They all believe in zombies, so they'll never be able to convince me that being stupid, ignorant, and superstitious is a part God's will - and, to my brother I'd like to say, I'm prepared and more than willing to argue my case before God himself in the hereafter.
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So while I'm a firm believer in God, it's for intellectual reasons that I can defend, not because I believe in Voodoo, talkin' snakes, and walkin' dead men as a matter of blind faith - and I neither require, nor expect, God to do magic tricks for me in order to prove his existence. In fact, why should God care whether or not man believes he exists? If we don't believe in God after observing this wondrous universe around us, it simply means we're stupid. So there's no reason for God to be fixated on us. In terms of just this galaxy alone, man is about as significant as a germ under a toilet seat in Ozbekistan, so I doubt very seriously that God's walking around worried about whether or not we believe in him. We're simply not that important, and the mere fact that we're under the delusion that we are clearly demonstrates that we're on the mother of all ego trips.
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So whenever I hear these preachers, witch doctors, and soothsayers talking about God like he's their next-door-neighbor, I have to scratch my head and ask myself, "What kind of idiot is this?" And what's even more amazing is how they can look you directly in the eye and spew the most outrageous kind of nonsense, and then act like you're crazy if you refuse to believe that Moses commanded the Red Sea to scoot over and get out of his way. So no wonder man is suffering. Many of us are just as backward and superstitious as we were when we were living in caves - yet, I'm suppose to have faith in these men as God's valued confidants!!!? I don't think so. Even if I was so "God fearing" that I tried, I'd be lying, and God would know it.
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FIND EARTH
And we're just looking in one direction of one galaxy in a universe that's filled with hundreds of billions of them just like it.
Our galaxy alone is over 100,000 light years across, and has over 200 billion stars that are light years apart - and there's over 10 TRILLION galaxies in the universe just like it. If you go and look out at the night sky (as I do every night as part of my personal spirituality) some of the light you see, just from stars near by, left its respective stars traveling through time and space at 186,000 MILES PER SECOND (7 1/2 times around the Earth in one second), for over 100,000 years before Jesus was born just to hit your eyeball, and our galaxy is just a dust particle in the universe. There are thousands of billions of galaxies just like it, and billions of times more distant - and the universe is still expanding in every direction at the speed of light. There are a billion times more galaxies in the universe than there are grains of sand on every beach, desert, and particles of sand beneath the sea - and yet, man claims to know what's on God's mind!!!? That's utterly ridiculous. So for me, "God" is simply whatever force that was responsible for creating what we refer to as "nature," "reality," and/or "the universe" - period, and case closed. It's not my place to try to read God's mind, or define his nature, and I'm not arrogant enough to think I can.
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THE “HOLY” BIBLE
THIS IS WHAT RELIGION IS ALL ABOUT, BUT SINCE GOD TOOK THE TIME TO BLESS ME WITH A BRAIN, DOESN'T THAT SUGGEST THAT IT WAS HIS WILL FOR ME TO USE IT, AND NOT SIMPLY HAVE "FAITH" IN THE WORDS OF OTHER MEN?
The word "faith" simply means that you've chosen to believe in what some other MAN has told you instead of what God has done. Nobody can speak for God, so your so-called "faith" is an agreement that you've entered into with man to ignore the common sense that God gave you and intended you to use, and replace it with what another man tells you. Thus, your "faith" is not in God, it's in man.
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The Bible that Christians Worship today was compiled and “blessed” by the Catholic Church, not God. At the time, any book that disagreed with the Catholic Church was banned. What Christians call "The Holy Bible," and what preachers run around thumping, wasn’t even compiled until almost 400 years after the death of Jesus. So everything in it is hearsay. In terms of years, at the time the Bible was compiled they were twice as far away from the life and times of Jesus Christ as we are away from the life and times of George Washington today. So in reality, they didn’t know fact from fiction any more than we know whether or not George Washington actually chopped down a cherry tree:
. "For the first 300 years of Christianity, there was no Bible as we know it today. Christians had the Old Testament Septuagint, and literally hundreds of other books from which to choose. The Catholic Church realized early on that it had to decide which of these books were inspired and which ones weren't. The debates raged between theologians, Bishops, and Church Fathers for several centuries as to which books were inspired and which ones weren't. In the meantime, several Church Councils or Synods, were convened to deal with the matter, notably, Rome in 382, Hippo in 393, and Carthage in 397 and 419. The debates sometimes became bitter on both sides. One of the most famous was between St. Jerome, who felt the seven books were not canonical, and St. Augustine who said they were. Protestants who write about this will invariably mention St. Jerome and his opposition, and conveniently omit the support of St. Augustine. I must point out here that Church Father's writings are not infallible statements, and their arguments are merely reflections of their own private opinions. When some say St. Jerome was against the inclusion of the seven books, they are merely showing his personal opinion of them. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion. However, A PERSON’S PRIVATE OPINION DOES NOT CHANGE THE TRUTH AT ALL. There are always three sides to every story, this side, that side, and the side of truth. Whether Jerome's position, or Augustine's position was the correct position, had to be settled by a third party, and that third party was the Catholic Church. . "Now the story had a dramatic change, as the Pope stepped in to settle the matter. In concurrence with the opinion of St. Augustine, and being prompted by the Holy Spirit, Pope St. Damasus I, at the Council of Rome in 382, issued a decree appropriately called, "The Decree of Damasus," in which he listed the canonical books of both the Old and New Testaments. He then asked St. Jerome to use this canon and to write a new Bible translation which included an Old Testament of 46 books, which were all in the Septuagint, and a New Testament of 27 books"
(http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080928064041AATOZUD).
. SO THE POPE HAD SPOKEN, AND THE ISSUE WAS SETTLED. THUS, WHAT CHRISTIANS REFER TO AS "THE HOLY BIBLE" IS NOT THE WORD OF GOD AT ALL, IT'S THE WORD OF POPE DAMASUS I.
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So if you're waiting around for Jesus to come back and "save" you, you can forget it. Dead men don’t come back. That’s why God blessed you with a mind, so you could handle your own problems. So believing in the Bible and believing in God are two different things. To believe in the Bible is to believe in the nonsense of man, where believing in God is to believe in the common sense that God bestowed upon you, which man claims is the Devil trying to mislead you. Therefore, going around worshiping man’s nonsense is the source of our misery, not our salvation. Just look around you! If God blesses those he loves, based on the suffering that Black people have endured for the past 400 years, one would think he must hate our guts. But that's not the case. We're suffering because we've been taught to fall on our knees instead of getting on our job. God blessed us with the most powerful computer of any species on Earth, but instead of using it to move forward, we're wasting it analyzing football games, worshipping other men, and writing rhymes calling the very womb of our culture "bitches" and "hoes" - and then, we don't understand why we can't get any respect. We're the only group on Earth who denigrate our own mothers, sisters, and daughters worse than we would any dog. That's the very definition of self-hatred, so why should anyone else respect us if we don't respect ourselves? And here's how we got that way:
.
The Conversion
"Come here nigga and let me teach yo crazy, animal ass about the Lord. The first thing you got to learn is to Love thy Neighbor . . . especially me."
.
"Yes sir, Massa. Why would anybody not love you, Sir? You so good to me, Massa. Anybody don't love you needs to have dey ass beat real good, Massa."
.
"Shut up, nigga. I'm talkin'."
.
"Listen, you been blessed already, and you don't even know the Lord. The Lord made it where you don't have to worry 'bout a thing. I feed you, I put clothes on yo nasty ass, and I give you a shed to sleep in, and all you have to do is whatever the hell I tell you to. Do you know how blessed you are?"
.
"Oh, indeed I do, Massa. You take good care of me. I's so happy."
.
"Now, listen real good 'cause dis impotant. God said, thou shalt not steal from me, thou shalt not kill (unless I tell you to), thou shalt not stick another coon's wife (unless we tryin' to make some mo niggas), and nigga, whatever you do, thou shalt not even look like you want to stick a white woman, or we gon lynch yo black ass. You here me, nigga?"
.
"Oh yes, Massa. We know dat! But Massa, I thought you said thou shalt not kill?"
.
"Dat means people, fool - real people! Dat don't go for niggas. God wants us to keep you in yo place."
.
"Dat's right, Massa. We sho gotta keep niggas in dey place. No tellin' what a happen if we let dese niggas git loose. God so smart."
.
"I said shut up, nigga, and listen to the word."
.
"The next thing you got to learn is, whatever happens on this plantation is God's will bein' done. And if you listen to me, you'll get to live like I do when you die and go to Heaven."
.
"Live like you, massa? A nigga ain't got no business livin' dat good. What a Po nigga like me gon do with all this? You know I ain't got sense enough to run nothin' like this."
.
"Just shut up, nigga!" When you dead you gon get some sense - the lord gon give it to you. The Lord can do anything, even give sense to a nigga. And he gon give you all the other niggas you gon need to help you in the fields, too."
.
"Massa, you so good to me! Thank you for tellin' me all dis. I'm gon be a good nigga - the best nigga you ever seened. Look, I'm gon pray for you right now, and thank the Lord for givin' me so good a massa."
.
"Shut up and get up off your knees, ya dumb nigga! The fields need tendin'! You pray to the Lord on your own time. God don't won't you talkin' to him when you s'pose to be workin'."
.
"A couse, Massa. What I been thinkin'? I's so dumb. I don't know why you put up with me, Sir."
.
"How many times I got to tell you to shut the hell up, nigga?"
.
"Yes Sir, I's a shuttin', Massa. I's a shuttin', right now."
.
"Now get yo ass out there in that field and let's get some work done around here . . . Oh, and Toby, have yo woman meet me in the barn. I need to tell her 'bout the Lord too."
.
"Yes sir, Massa."
.
"And another thing, Toby, if my momma come a lookin', tell her I'm playin' in my tree house."
.
"Why you gon go fibbin' to yo momma, Mr. Tommy? She knows you like to sit wit Lou Ann."
.
"Just shut up, nigga, and do what I said! And tell Lou Ann to wear that pretty dress I like, cause we gon be talkin' 'bout the Lord, so it's gon be like chuch."
.
"Yes Sir, Mr. Tommy." . . . . "Whaaaaaaat a friend we have in Jeeeeesus . . ."
.
So that's how Black people - and many poor White people - got where we are today, and we're gonna stay there until we learn to get off our knees and start thinking. God helps those who help themselves. That’s why your preacher has a much bigger house than you do - and he worked a whole lot less to get it.
.
.
Finally, there are only three commandments, and you don't have to read a "holy" user's manual to find them. You were born with this knowledge:
.
1). Live the best life you can.
2). Help others whenever you can.
And most importantly,
3). Mind your own damn business.
.
That came directly from God. It’s called common sense.
.
AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED. 81% OF WHITE EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP
.
Eric L. Wattree http://wattree.blogspot.com/ Ewattree@Gmail.com Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA) . Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
MY BIBLE IS ONLY ONE PAGE LONG, AND IT HAS ONLY THREE COMMANDMENTS
. 1). LIVE THE BEST LIFE YOU CAN.
2). HELP OTHERS WHENEVER YOU CAN.
AND
3). MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS.
.
BLACK PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT SLAVERY
IS A THING OF PAST, BUT OUR MINDS ARE FAR FROM FREE
African Americans were taught the Christian,'faith' while they were tied next to the mules and their mentors were actively engaged in the annihilation of as many as a 100 million Native Americans. So it's obvious that our persecutors didn't believe in their own teachings, and it's easy to understand why.
.
The Bible that Christians Worship today was compiled and “blessed” by the Catholic Church, not God. "The Holy" Pope Damasus I, at the Council of Rome in 382, issued a decree appropriately called, "The Decree of Damasus," in which he listed the canonical books of both the Old and New Testaments. He then asked St. Jerome to use this canon and to write a new Bible translation which included an Old Testament of 46 books, which were all in the Septuagint, and a New Testament of 27 books. During that time any book that disagreed with the teachings of the Catholic Church was banned, and anyone who challenged those teachings could be tortured and killed. It's almost as though man created God in man's own narrow-minded image instead of the reverse. And isn't it interesting that God tends to have all of the prejudices and shortcomings of man? For example, according to most religious teachings, God is a virulent sexist, just like man, even though he gave women - not man - the ability to create and nurture life. Man tries to explain all of that away to me, but it just doesn't make sense to the mind that I KNOW God gave me. So who and what am I supposed to believe, what man says, or what God has done?
.
So the fact is, what Christians call "The Holy Bible," and what Black preachers run around thumpin’ so passionately, wasn’t even put together until nearly 400 years after the death of Christ. Thus, everything in it is hearsay. In terms of years, when the Bible was compiled, they were nearly twice as far away from the life and times of Jesus Christ as we are away from the life and times of George Washington today. So in reality, they didn’t know fact from fiction, any more than we know whether or not George Washington actually chopped down a cherry tree. It was created as a political document, and it was "blessed" by bigoted White folks to promote their philosophy. And many of the stories in it could have been written by Mother Goose. For instance, if Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth and produced Cain and Abel, where did the people come from that Cain went to live with after he killed his brother? The Pope obviously didn't think that through very well. Nevertheless, Black people embrace these myths with such a fierce tenacity that it makes the "faith" of Pat Robertson, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump pale in comparison.
.
So Black people are in dire need of a thorough re-assessment of their attitudes and those things they take for granted. They also need to educate themselves in all areas of knowledge in order to gain confidence in their own ability to think, because they are worshiping a philosophy that is dedicated to the proposition that they are inferior. Just open your Bible and you won't see nothing but White folks - who were supposed to have been born in the desert. Are we so brain-drenched that, that doesn't tell us anything!!!?
.
As a direct result of that brainwashing, as I write, many of us are currently voting for continued White supremacy, because our "Christian" brain-drenching has taught us to believe that "The Lord" wants us too. We're falling all over one another to be the first to vote for a woman whose husband created the most draconian crime bill in the history of the United States and used prisons as an urban housing program for Black people - and, with her full support. So if Black people don’t come to their senses we’re going to end up with a choice between Zig and Zag. Zig is Donald Trump, and Zag is Hillary Clinton. To paraphrase Mort Sahl back in the sixties, the only difference between the two is if Donald ‘Zig’ Trump sees a Black child lying in the street, he’d simply order his chauffeur to run over him. If Hillary ‘Zag’ Clinton saw the kid, she’d also order her chauffeur to roll over him, but she’d weep, and go apologize to the NAACP, after she felt the bump. So where are our minds? I'll tell you where they are - they're still tied up next to that mule in the 18th Century.
.
So yes, I’ve developed my own Gospel, my own truth, and not a word of it comes from the mouth of another man, because I pay absolutely no attention to man. I determine God's will not by what man says, but by what God has done. And to atheists, yes, I do believe that God exists, because we exist. For me, God is whatever entity, or process, that is responsible for the existence of the universe, or what we call reality. So, since the universe does exist, that's evidence enough for me that God exists. Thus, if I exist, so does God, even if he, she, or it is simply the universe or nature itself. Now, that said, as we gaze upon this infinite universe, what evidence do you have that God is not nature itself, and that we are not a part of God?
.
So again, yes, I've created my own religion, but unlike the religions of the social manipulators, my religion allows you to stay in bed and hug your wife on Sunday mornings and then spend the rest of the day enjoying your children instead of being mandated to get up and suffer through a paid spoken-word concert by some guy who doesn't know any more about God than you do; and we have no rituals, nor 'Born Again' hypocrites to contend with - you know, those people who use religion as a God-approved pretext to hate or look down their noses at everybody who don't look, think, and act like they do. While we don't wish such people any harm, it is our belief that the world would be a lot better off if many of these 'Born Again' hypocrites (Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Ted Cruz, etc.) wouldn't have been born the first time, and we don't believe that the very human philosopher, Jesus of Nazareth, would approve of such people at all. And finally, there's absolutely no begging in my religion, so there's not a preacher in sight. Thus, my religion is Heaven right here on Earth. We simply focus on trying to become better people, help each other whenever we can, and leave each other alone - and it doesn't take a volume of scriptures to do that, nor a collection plate.
.
HOW A KID RAISED IN THE CHURCH CAME TO REJECT CHRISTIANITY
.
I was recently in a discussion with a gentlemen on religion and he asked me, "You say you believe in God, and you seem to have Christian values, so why do you say you're not a Christian?" My answer was very simple - because God blessed me with common sense, and while I do have values, they're nothing like those that I've seen from so-called Christians, or any other religious group. So while I believe in God, I make it a point to keep the word of man out of anything that has to do with my spirituality. Again, for me, God is whatever force is responsible for creating what we call reality - period. That's all I have to know, and that's all I have to contemplate.
.
An individual's organized religious beliefs are merely an accident of birth, and a form of socialization. The very same man who was born in Georgia, and who was raised to be a devout Christian, would more than likely be a devout Muslim if he'd been born in Iran, a devout Jew if he'd been born in Israel, or a devout Buddhist if he'd been born in China. So organized religion is nothing more, or nothing less, than a form of socialization, and it has absolutely nothing to do with God. In fact, religion is anti-God, because you can trace nearly every form of narrow-mindedness, hatred, and bigotry, directly back to man's religious beliefs. White supremacy is predicated on the belief that "God" sent a White Scandinavian to be born in the desert to lead mankind to the "Promise Land." That has a fundament impact on our thinking. It suggests that White skin is Godly. But the fact is, if Jesus had been White, they wouldn't have had to crucify him - he would have died of sunburn. But once you can get people to believe in walking dead men and talkin' snakes, you can get them to believe in anything - and they have.
.
Thus, man uses religion to try to make himself feel special, as though he has some special connection to God, so by its very nature organized religion is discriminatory, not only toward other groups, but other creatures. From their point of view, it's not that they hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like themselves - it's just that God does. So their religious beliefs are used to both make themselves feel superior, and also, to validate their hatred and distrust of others unlike themselves. But from my point of view, since God created all things, what makes man think that God loves him any more or less than he does a parakeet? Thus, religion is nothing more than a reflection of man's arrogance.
.
That's why a person's religious beliefs are nearly inseparable from his or her political beliefs. Many Christians don't believe in global warming, equality among people, that Jesus was Black (not that it matters, since he was just another insightful man, and nothing else), or that the Bible didn't prohibit the wholesale slaughter of up to 100 million native Americans, tying Black people up next to the mules, killing 6 million Jews, or dropping two atomic bombs on the innocent civilians of Japan. Christians claim that they did these things in the name of God - it was their "Manifest Destiny." What they do believe in, however, is quietly allowing, and even supporting, the ascent of a nasty, bigoted, and un-Godly man like Donald Trump. Many Christians believe that Trump came into our midst as a result of the will of God, which, of course, is complete nonsense, but their religious delusions and myths justify their hatred, anger, bigotry, and greed.
.
Thus, religion is invariably used to validate the most malevolent part of man's nature. It allows his hatred, selfishness, and greed to be written off as God-approved, and with respect to Black people, it allows our apathy to be written off as justified - "All we have to do is sit and wait, because God is coming to our rescue." That was the position taken by many in the Black clergy who criticized Martin Luther King. They said his activity was stirring up unnecessary animosity toward the Black community, and that all he had to do was be patient and things would work themselves out.
.
In that regard, what about Black people - why do they embrace this nonsense, and in many cases, even more passionately than Whites?
.
Black people tend to be such devout Christians because they've been taught, first by slave masters, and then by rich, slick-talking Black preachers, that God's going to deliver justice upon them "by-and-by." But what they don't understand is, God did his part when he gave us a brain, and "God helps those who help themselves." That's the way of nature - God made birds to fly, fish to swim, and man to think. So you either do what you were created to do, or you perish - period. That's a fundamental law throughout the universe for all things that exist. If a planet drifts to close to it's parent star, it's over, and that's it. So as Black people, we are not going to be able to pray ourselves out of our current condition; we're going to have to think our way out of it, or we're not going to survive, because God created man to think, not conjure up stories about a walking dead man coming to our rescue. Dead men don't walk, and snakes don't talk in this universe - at least in our part of it. That's just not the way things work, and if you believe that it does, or even can work that way, you have more faith in what man says, than what God has done.
.
HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET!!!?
But what makes people so passionate about their religion is it allows them to believe what's convenient for them to believe. That's why in spite of the atrocities that has been committed by this so-called "Christian nation" that have been listed above, we have Americans walking around with tears in their eyes talking about "God bless America." Such people represent a monument to man's capacity to delude himself. If we do an objective assessment of the atrocities committed by the United States in its relatively short existence, it will become immediately clear that this has been the most brutal and un-Godly nation in the history of humanity. Our historic record would make one think that the United States was founded by a cult of Devil worshipers - and this comes from a man who loves America. But I love what it can be, not what it is, or what it has been. So if we are ever to truly become the nation that our founding documents lie so eloquently about, it is a must that we begin to think clearly, and stop believing in talkin' snakes.
.
Ephesians 6:5-9 says, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ." Those are not my values - and for so-called "good Christians" to simply sit back and say, "We're praying on it" don't fly with me, because they’ve been "praying on it" for centuries now. That's one of the major reasons that Black people are in such dire straits - we're spending more time worshipping the philosophy of bigots than we are educating ourselves, and as a direct result, we've become "bligots" ourselves.
.
PORTRAIT OF AN IDIOT
.
THE CONVERSION
"Come here nigga and let me teach yo crazy, animal ass about the Lord. The first thing you got to learn is to Love thy Neighbor . . . especially me."
.
"Yes sir, Massa. Why would anybody not love you, Sir? You so good to me, Massa. Anybody don't love you needs to have dey ass beat real good, Massa."
.
"Shut up, nigga. I'm talkin'."
.
"Listen, you been blessed already, and you don't even know the Lord. The Lord made it where you don't have to worry 'bout a thing. I feed you, I put clothes on yo nasty ass, and I give you a shed to sleep in, and all you have to do is whatever the hell I tell you to. Do you know how blessed you are?"
.
"Oh, indeed I do, Massa. You take good care of me. I's so happy."
.
"Now, listen real good 'cause dis impotant. God said, thou shalt not steal from me, thou shalt not kill (unless I tell you to), thou shalt not stick another coon's wife (unless we tryin' to make some mo niggas), and nigga, whatever you do, thou shalt not even look like you want to stick a white woman, or we gon lynch yo black ass. You here me, nigga?"
.
"Oh yes, Massa. We know dat! But Massa, I thought you said thou shalt not kill?"
.
"Dat means people, fool - real people! Dat don't go for niggas. God wants us to keep you in yo place."
.
"Dat's right, Massa. We sho gotta keep niggas in dey place. No tellin' what a happen if we let dese niggas git loose. God so smart."
.
"I said shut up, nigga, and listen to the word."
.
"The next thing you got to learn is, whatever happens on this plantation is God's will bein' done. And if you listen to me, you'll get to live like I do when you die and go to Heaven."
.
"Live like you, massa? A nigga ain't got no business livin' dat good. What a Po nigga like me gon do with all this? You know I ain't got sense enough to run nothin' like this."
.
"Just shut up, nigga!" When you dead you gon get some sense - the lord gon give it to you. The Lord can do anything, even give sense to a nigga. And he gon give you all the other niggas you gon need to help you in the fields, too."
.
"Massa, you so good to me! Thank you for tellin' me all dis. I'm gon be a good nigga - the best nigga you ever seened. Look, I'm gon pray for you right now, and thank the Lord for givin' me so good a massa."
.
"Shut up and get up off your knees, ya dumb nigga! The fields need tendin'! You pray to the Lord on your own time. God don't won't you talkin' to him when you s'pose to be workin'."
.
"A couse, Massa. What I been thinkin'? I's so dumb. I don't know why you put up with me, Sir."
.
"How many times I got to tell you to shut the hell up, nigga?"
.
"Yes Sir, I's a shuttin', Massa. I's a shuttin', right now."
.
"Now get yo ass out there in that field and let's get some work done around here . . . Oh, and Toby, have yo woman meet me in the barn. I need to tell her 'bout the Lord too."
.
"Yes sir, Massa."
.
"And another thing, Toby, if my momma come a lookin', tell her I'm playin' in my tree house."
.
"Why you gon go fibbin' to yo momma, Mr. Tommy? She knows you like to sit wit Lou Ann."
.
"Just shut up, nigga, and do what I said! And tell Lou Ann to wear that pretty dress I like, cause we gon be talkin' 'bout the Lord, so it's gon be like chuch."
.
"Yes Sir, Mr. Tommy." . . . "Whaaaaaaat a friend we have in Jeeeeesus . . ."
.
I PUT A SPELL ON YOU
.
Eric L. Wattree Http://wattree.blogspot.com Ewattree@gmail.com
.
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
Strive To Become Your Own Hero... Then Let No One Remove Your Cape.
BIO
Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s been a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and is a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of "A Message From the Hood."
Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.
Am I a hater, you ask? You're damn right I'm a hater. I hate injustice. I hate hypocrisy. I also hate demagoguery, apathy, and the stupidity that allows it to exist. Hater? Absolutely. I'm a big time hater. I hate what I see happening to this country, and I hate watching the development of a culture that embraces ignorance with a stupid sense of pride. So yes, I am indeed a hater, but not only that - I'm a hater with a very low threshold for bullshit, so step off.
You don’t have to be a part of a religious cult to love and worship God, so while I’m a firm believer in God, I have neither the superstitious nature, inclination, nor the desire to embrace any form of religious Voodoo. Through the simple use of the common sense that God bestowed upon me, it has always been clear to me that Jesus didn't die for our sins. Jesus died because he was stabbed, just like any other human being would. Case closed.
While I'm the product of one of the most religious families I know, and I'm extremely spiritual, even as a child I wasn't an idiot. I just couldn't get myself to believe all the supernatural nonsense they were trying to shove down my throat. So at 14 years old I shook the dust from my feet, left the church, and I haven't lightened their door since - and now, even as an adult, I've instructed my family not to let any preacher preach over my body upon my death. They've been instructed to simply cremate me and sprinkle my ashes in the ocean. 
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