Poetry – Prehistoric policing

Prehistoric policing

Put on your veil!

Pray each day

And obey without ceasing!

Or else

You’ll be subject to

Prehistoric policing!

Read the scripture!

Follow the dogma!

Not to do so is a sin!

If you do not

You’ll be hammered with

Prehistoric policing!

Do not question

The tenets of faith!

Throw all logic in the bin!

Faith is not rational.

It needs to be enforced

With prehistoric policing!

Opher – 2.11.2019

I was driven to write this poem by a video clip of a poor woman who was shot through the head for going to the market without her veil. The Nazi religious police stopped her, beat her and forced her to her knees. They recited verse, gathered a crowd, put a gun to her head and blew her brains out – all because her face was not covered.

Across the world millions of women and children are subject to prehistoric policing. They are forced to spend hours memorising scripture. They are forced to wear heavy robes and full face veils.

This is not religious freedom. This is slavery.

These religious fanatics create a fascist tyranny! Their misogynistic view of religion is draconian and prehistoric.

Religion should be a matter of choice – not coercion.

Angkor Wat – Wonders and fabulous art.

The details were amazing. Twenty square miles of art.

A Divine Wind

A Divine Wind

A divine wind blew the young man to oblivion

In pursuit of a dream,

A promise,

An ideal;

A sense of nationalism,

To protect the homeland.

A divine mission blew the young man to oblivion

In pursuit of a dogma,

A promise,

An archaic text,

A wish for eternal life,

A paradise with sex on tap.

A mission, a wind, a promise

Based on fear of oblivion,

As desperate young men dream

And sacrifice themselves

For ideals,

For desire,

For fake promises

And impossible dreams.

Opher – 29.9.2019

Kamikaze means divine wind. It seems that idealism can do terrible things. Nationalism, religious fanaticism and political extremism are often the cause of great misery.

How Religion has been and is being used to control people.

Rule number 1 – create tribal allegiance. Our god is right. Their god is wrong.

Rule number 2 – our god rewards us when we do things right and punishes us if we do wrong.

Rule number 3 – if you believe you will go to heaven. If you do not believe you will be tortured for eternity.

Rule number 4 – we need to punish the unbelievers.

Rule number 5 – our leaders are sanctioned by god. We must obey.

Rule number 6 – stealing from our leaders is a crime against god.

Rule number 7 – violence towards our leaders is a crime against god.

Rule number 8 – you may feel ill-treated, abused and exploited but you will get your rewards in heaven.

Rule number 9 – your bosses may be greedy, spiteful, cruel and oppressive but they will be punished at judgement. It is easier to get camels through needles, Karma and so on….. Leave it to god.

Rule number 10 – be meek and mild and you shall be rewarded.

Rule number 11 – your appointed leaders know what is best for you.

Rule number 12 – these wars, crusades, pogroms, purges, are sanctioned by god.

Rule number 13 – put on this suicide vest to show you really believe and you will wake up in paradise with all those virgins.

Rule number 14 – god sees all and will judge you.

Rule number 15 – we decide what god wants us to do. We alone can interpret the holy scripts – do as you are told!!

Poetry – Fundamental Control

Fundamental Control

Get your rosaries off our ovaries!

Keep your Kingdom Come away from my bum!

Keep your spirituality off my sexuality!

Keep your habits away from my habits!

Opher – 8.7.2019

Religion should be a personal experience. Unfortunately those with extreme views cannot help by try to impose their fundamentalism on everybody else. They are never content to keep it to themselves.

Imposition and restriction is the way of all fundamentalisms. We see it with every theocracy, every cult and fanatic.

This is what the ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ is all about.

I took my inspiration from a film of a march in which a group of women were marching to protect their sexual freedom. Extremist, fundamentalist religious groups were trying to prevent abortions, stop sex education in schools and prevent contraception. I could identify with the protesting women. It was a cause I could identify with. These conservative religious people were attempting to restrict our rights and put a stop to all the liberal gains we have made over the years. Their vision of the future is a regime of control and austerity. It’s all about power. They need opposing.

One of the women had a poster that read ‘KEEP YOUR ROSARIES OFF OUR OVARIES’. I thought that was great.

Two by two – the result. The Ark.

Some myths are so farcical.

Poetry – Kiddie Fiddlers

Kiddie Fiddlers

Kiddie fiddlers

In church and state

Covered up and protected

By the prelate.

Operating with impunity

To abuse the innocent;

Pretending to live a life

Most decent.

Those who should protect

Are the ones to betray.

They need hunting down

And putting away!

Opher- 23.6.2019

It’s in the news again – another Bishop covering up the deeds of a man of god. Paedophiles inveigling their way into churches, schools and youth services in order to get their hands on to young innocent boys and girls. That is bad enough – but what is worse are the hierarchy who, for various reasons, cover it up, move the abusers around and allow them to continue to abuse with impunity.

Science Vs Superstition

Science

Science has only really got on its feet these last two hundred years. Before that we were in the Dark Ages.

The enlightenment took place in the eighteenth century. Only then was superstition replaced by science; only then was science free to really investigate the natural world; only then were scientists able to reveal the truth without fear of being burnt at the stake for heresy.

So we were able to say that the Earth orbits the sun; that we are not the centre of the universe, below us was magma, not hell, above us were a trillion galaxies, not heaven.

In two hundred years we went from horse and cart and candle, to electric lights, Maserati’s, space stations and trips to Mars.

We understood evolution, genetics, DNA, atoms, viruses, black holes and quasars. We found out about quarks, nuclear energy and how to vaccinate against killer diseases. We invented telephones, satellites, TV, computers and instant communication.

Back in 1800, when people just had prayer and herbs, life expectancy at birth was 35 years. 25% were dead before the age of 5 years old.

Today life expectancy for men is 79 years and for women is 83 years.

That is due to science discovering bacteria and viruses leading to better sanitation; to science creating vaccinations that have eradicated killer diseases like smallpox, polio and tuberculosis; science creating better medicines and treatments and science creating better food and living conditions.

Prayer and herbs did not work. Science does!

The only way that 8 billion of us can survive on this planet is due to science – not prayer or herbs.

Unfortunately we have not rid ourselves of superstition. It still holds us back. The religious fanatics forsake science for belief. They mistakenly believe that you can banish covid with prayer, that vaccination is unnecessary, that social distancing and masks are not necessary.

That’s why they are dying in droves in the southern states of the USA. They refuse to believe in science. They don’t believe in evolution and many of them still think the Earth is flat.

Science has even studied stupidity – unfortunately it has not yet found a cure for it!

While certain people believe that truth and education are commie plots there is no hope for humanity!

Science is powerful but it can’t educate the profoundly stupid!

The famous historian A J P Taylor was asked when the Dark Ages ended. He replied that they hadn’t yet; we were still living in them.

Let’s hope that we don’t get another Trump undermining science and experts for his own ends and promoting superstition, fake news and propaganda in order to gain wealth and hold on to power.

Let’s hope science prevails over ignorance!! Even the Taliban use mobile phones and Kalashnikovs.

Science Versus Superstition!

Science

Science has only really got on its feet these last two hundred years. Before that we were in the Dark Ages.

The enlightenment took place in the eighteenth century. Only then was superstition replaced by science; only then was science free to really investigate the natural world; only then were scientists able to reveal the truth without fear of being burnt at the stake for heresy.

So we were able to say that the Earth orbits the sun; that we are not the centre of the universe, below us was magma, not hell, above us were a trillion galaxies, not heaven.

In two hundred years we went from horse and cart and candle, to electric lights, Maserati’s, space stations and trips to Mars.

We understood evolution, genetics, DNA, atoms, viruses, black holes and quasars. We found out about quarks, nuclear energy and how to vaccinate against killer diseases. We invented telephones, satellites, TV, computers and instant communication.

Back in 1800, when people just had prayer and herbs, life expectancy at birth was 35 years. 25% were dead before the age of 5 years old.

Today life expectancy for men is 79 years and for women is 83 years.

That is due to science discovering bacteria and viruses leading to better sanitation; to science creating vaccinations that have eradicated killer diseases like smallpox, polio and tuberculosis; science creating better medicines and treatments and science creating better food and living conditions.

Prayer and herbs did not work. Science does!

The only way that 8 billion of us can survive on this planet is due to science – not prayer or herbs.

Unfortunately we have not rid ourselves of superstition. It still holds us back. The religious fanatics forsake science for belief. They mistakenly believe that you can banish covid with prayer, that vaccination is unnecessary, that social distancing and masks are not necessary.

That’s why they are dying in droves in the southern states of the USA. They refuse to believe in science. They don’t believe in evolution and many of them still think the Earth is flat.

Science has even studied stupidity – unfortunately it has not yet found a cure for it!

While certain people believe that truth and education are commie plots there is no hope for humanity!

Science is powerful but it can’t educate the profoundly stupid!

The famous historian A J P Taylor was asked when the Dark Ages ended. He replied that they hadn’t yet; we were still living in them.

Let’s hope that we don’t get another Trump undermining science and experts for his own ends and promoting superstition, fake news and propaganda in order to gain wealth and hold on to power.

Let’s hope science prevails over ignorance!! Even the Taliban use mobile phones and Kalashnikovs.

The Evils of Fanatical Religion – The Taliban.

The Taliban

All extremism disturbs me – whether it’s religious or political! It is a disease!

Fanatics are not rational. We saw it with Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, St Paul, Christians, Muslims and Hindus. We even see it with Buddhists in Myanmar.

We see it with Trump, Bolsonaro and Johnson.

Fanaticism is evil. I oppose it fanatically.

I am a liberal. I believe in tolerance and freedom. I am an atheist. A person should be free to choose, not coerced or indoctrinated; free to practice their own religion or politics – but not free to impose it on others!!

What really pisses me off about these fanatical religious groups – and I include American Evangelicals, Hindu nationalists, Irish Catholics and Protestants, the Taliban, Boko Haram, A Qaeda, Wahhabis and all other religious sects who would impose and enforce, is their certainty, intolerance and viciousness. It’s arrogant beyond belief!

The Taliban are particularly pernicious. They, like other extreme Muslim groups, would not only impose their extreme beliefs on others but would torture and kill over minor infringements. They use barbaric practices of public beheadings, stonings and extreme whippings to induce fear and impose their strict laws.

Their extreme interpretation of religious texts results in a life that is sterile and abusive – worse than anything in medieval times. Some of their practices are obscene:

Beheadings

Stonings

Floggings

Insisting on prayer for men in the mosque 5 times a day

Insisting on beards

Banning females from public life

Banning female education

Forcing women into burkas in public

Forcing women to obey their husbands

Allowing abuse of women by husbands

Insisting on strict dress codes

Banning television

Banning music

Wanton destruction of all art and statues not conforming to their religious values………………..

This is a doctrine that does not go back to the stone-age. Our stone-age ancestors enjoyed music, art and had a rich culture.

This is so austere, such an infringement of human rights, that it requires opposing in every way possible.

I am personally opposed to violence and war, opposed to occupation and suppression, but I would be in favour of a strong UN force going in to protect the rights of women and all those who do not wish to abide to these strict religious mores.

And that throws into question all those other regions of the world where religious and political regimes inflict their strict rules on people and take away their human rights.

Saudi? Oman? Russia? China? The Maldives……….

The list is long.

The UN was set up to support human rights and freedoms across the planet!! I support those ideals!!