Raskolnikov Did It!

I can't think why but there seems to be a lot of religion in the news at the moment. The normal Christmas message of Peace and Love seems to have been shoved aside for this strangely-timed assertion that homosexuality is some sort of danger to the world; it is up there with the destruction of the Rain forests apparently. I suspect that there are still just enough people "doing it properly" to keep the world overpopulated. The sad thing is that just one person persuaded on the strength of this to beat up someone who does not quite conform is one too many. Is it too strong to say that this speech has condemned someone to die? Way to go. Homosexuality and Shellfish are both "abominations" in the Bible - which one does the Church go with these days?

Back in the real world we also have this poll regarding Creationism being taught in science lessons. All very well if you just want to mention it in context alongside the proper lesson but to actually teach it with proper text books is plain stupid. I cannot see a solution to this at all. I content myself with the probability that humans will evolve into two separate species - one called Homo Sapiens Rationalis (excuse what is obviously v.poor Latin) and another called Homo Sapiens Deludiensis. I realise of course that Sapiens means wise and therefore is not quite apt but hey - there will be a common ancestor. There is too much accommodation of obviously-ludicrous points of view simply to avoid offending anyone. The fact that the average moral standpoint has moved over the centuries since all major religions started, seems to suggest that this is independent of the religions which were once the arbiters of good and evil. Religion follows what is right because if it didn't it would fail - people would forsake it. All the conflicts between religions are I suppose simply disagreements over right and wrong. You can decide without any intervention from any religious standpoint what you feel is right and wrong - you can decide this based on your upbringing and what makes you unhappy - from fingernails being scraped down a blackboard to the horror at the most unspeakable acts of terrorism. You know what is wrong - enlightenment is the gradual consensus of human beings over what is the best way to behave. Unfortunately, the human mind is so complex and when multiplied by the seven billion of us on the planet, there is never going to be agreement. There will be no solutions, just more demonstrations and more taking up of arms simply because one group of people have convinced enough other people that their way of opening eggs is the correct one. That might sound glib but a great many of the causes for which people are prepared to die are just as ludicrous as the big/little-endian disagreement.

I've just realised that this entry is just one big truism - everyone who could be bothered to get past the first paragraph will probably already know this and give up reading, unless of course they are some sort of zealot looking for targets.

Och a vay.