"Without God there would be no standard of right and wrong. The concepts of both "good" and "evil" are moral values or judgments that denote the existence of a moral governor (God). Without God, we would have come into existence by chance, and whatever we do would have no meaning or moral value, positive or negative. Some people claim to believe this is the case, but their responses to life often reveal inconsistencies in their own convictions. As soon as they complain about some "injustice" or "unfair" situation or claim that someone has "wronged" them, they are making moral judgments about what is "right" and "wrong." These judgments betray their belief in standards that are ultimately above us all - standards that come not from us but from God." - Darwin Dewar, Chaplain at the University of Alberta, Canada quoted in Charisma Magazine.

I found that in someone else�s diary. You have no idea how much things like this piss me off. Well, OK- you probably do, but in case you don�t, I�ll enlighten you. I am not saying everyone who is religious is this way, but it drives me absolutely bat-shit when they constantly equate religion with morality- as if the two were like Reese�s Peanut Butter Cups coming pre-wrapped side by side. Religion= Morality. And of course by religion, I mean Christianity. Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists= EVIL. The argument that religion IS morality is so completely asinine I find it difficult to fathom how anyone can say that with a straight face. People of faith- even people of the same religion- have a hard enough time deciding what is morally acceptable amongst themselves, let alone passing judgment on those who don�t share their particular religious views. Furthermore, I know for a fact that many �heathens� share several moral values with people who are religious, so this ass clown�s argument makes absolutely no sense. His belief that �good� and �evil� can�t exist without a moral governor is so na�ve I find it insulting. For starters, �good� and �evil� are relative. To some Christians, bombing an abortion clinic is �good�, because it helps rid the world of �evil�. So yeah, try to �morally� justify that with a straight face. Christians think that Muslims are �evil�, Muslims think that Christians are �evil�, and atheists think they�re all full of shit, so how do you reconcile the definition of �morality� when there so many people who view it differently? I would love to sit down with this guy and tear his argument to shreds. Why is it so hard for him to accept the notion that man is capable of deciphering what is morally just without some higher power to explain it to him? I don�t think we need a Deity to explain to us that slavery, rape, murder, stealing, torture and sexually molesting young cancer stricken boys in your Peter Pan wannabe house are wrong, do we? I have enough faith in mankind to be able to make these judgments on our own. We are intelligent, rational people (well, most of us), and I refuse to accept the notion that eternal damnation needs to be held over our heads to make us do the right thing. You should do the right thing because YOU know it�s the right thing to do and you try and take pride in being a good, fair person- not because you�re afraid of getting fucked in the ass by Lucifer after you kick the bucket. Religion in so many ways is like the epitome of the �no dessert� rule. �Be a good boy and don�t pull your sister�s hair or you won�t get any cookies.� �Be a good Christian and believe in Jesus or you won�t get into heaven.� If there is a God, do you really think he�s that much of a vindictive SOB that he�s going to let 90% of the world roast their balls off in hell simply because they weren�t born into a family who believed in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost? Most people take on the religious beliefs of their parents and those around them. I would like to believe that if there is a God, he would let people into heaven based on merit, not because that�s where their parents ended up.

In other news, I haven't taken a crap in over 36 hours. That may seem bad to you, but to someone who's been suffering from IBS for the better part of a year, I'm pretty happy about it.

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