I was listening to a talk show on television the other day and I heard one of the guest say, "Well ya' know, there are no atheist in a foxhole" and thought to myself, "Hmmm...there's proof God exists." In reality, that's not proof of anything, but in the world of talk shows, it was hardcore evidence.
For some reason, his words found their way into my conscious at 5:45 a.m. and I had to do something about it. I felt like the premise had to be analyzed-to be dismantled in order to uncover what existed under its hood. The more I thought about it, the more in my mind it reminded me of why religion has been so popular over the years and why so many people have a problem taking an educated look at the stories that make up the bible. Some of them can't really be possible. I have no intention of debating the bible, I believe people should be allowed to believe whatever they choose, as long as it does no one harm. To illustrate what I mean, I'll site one story that really bothers me, and then move on to make my point. In Genesis God created the heavens, the earth, Adam and Eve, the serpent thing happens, they get booted and have a couple of kids-Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel grow up and go out into the land and find wives-Errrrrrrrk!Pump the brakes! Wait a minute, God created Adam and Eve and they had two kids-that's only four people on the planet, remember? During the time Cain and Abel were growing up something miraculous occurred. Someone came out of no where and gave birth to some daughters because the very next thing the two brothers did when they got old enough was to go out into the land and find wives. Where did those wives come from?
I've had this discussion with many a religious person and I've heard answers that range from, "Well, there were other people, God just didn't mention them," to, "Well they were their sisters." I'll deal with the first one first-You know why God didn't mention those other people? Because the bible specifically states that there was nothing, a void, and then the whole shebang was thrown together in 7 days. Then came Adam and Eve, then Cain and Abel. Nothing about any other people. Then all of a sudden there were enough people available so that the brothers could have wives. There's something missing in the story and I can't find anyone who can give me a logical explanation. And don't get me started on the incest explanation. But I digress.
Let's get back to the atheist/foxhole statement. What I've deduced from this talk show guest is that you need fear to prove God's existence. What he's ultimately saying is, "You see, I know how to make a believer out of you atheists-SCARE THE DEVIL OUT OF YOU!" Stick you in a fox hole and, see, you're all fixed now. I can make you believe I'm the man from U.N.C.L.E. if I dangle you from a cliff. In fact, Shug Knight convinced Vanilla Ice that he didn't even write Ice Ice Baby by dangling his ass from the 12th story balcony of a Los Angeles hotel room (he may not have believed he didn't write it but he sure signed a contract stating otherwise). And it's that same fear that has created religious zealots who walk by faith, and not by sight. Incidentally, it was the same fear that made the people in the story, The Emperor's New Clothes see clothes that didn't exist. It took the courage of a little boy to break the ridiculous spell the Emperor's greatness had on his subjects.
It's the same fear that has people believing that Muslims are evil. The same fear that has forced people to keep their mouths shut while the rich in this country loot the coffers. Everyone's trying to hold on to a little bit of what they've had while the rich continue to bleed the line. They've gotten bold enough to ask for $700 billion from Congress and the President right before our very eyes. Why? Well because they know that we are more interested in holding on to a little house on a little plot of land, than taking back this entire country from them. John McCain has 7 houses people-7 houses! And people are losing their homes daily. How could he be so bold as to ask for your vote when he has 7 houses and at least 7 million Americans go hungry, or live on the street, or can't get decent medical coverage or afford healthcare. Incidentally, when he goes to Bethesda, or wherever he goes for medical care, YOU'RE PAYING FOR IT!! See he can get the best healthcare available in the nation at your expense, while you can't buy prescription drugs from the local Rite Aid because he's allowed pharmaceutical companies to increase the cost of your drugs beyond what you can afford to pay.
By now you're probably asking, "Where's the proof that God exists?" Here it is: They are your gods. Who? Them. Those who asked Congress for $700 billion-they are God. They are the merchants of life and death, and have been for quite some time. Think about it-they decide where your money is spent. They can throw it away on a worthless war saying they are looking for a guy that has been dead for god knows how long. Look, if they can find Sadaam in a foxhole out in the middle of the desert and he didn't have a damn thing to do with 9-11, why can't they find Bin Laden? Do they think he's hiding out in those houses in Iraq that troops have been kicking the doors in on now for the past 6 years? Come on people, they are your God. They decide that they are going to let a city of people-Americans-die in a stadium after the levies broke. They decide they are going to offer your asses up as slaves to China by borrowing ENORMOUS amounts of money that they have been lining their pockets with that you and your descendants will be paying back for generations to come. And if you don't, you'll end up speaking Chinese and changing your names, because no one turns their backs on loans that amount to over $1 billion a day for the past 5-6 years. The interest payments alone are enough to bring down a solvent country.
The rich are the gods and everybody knows it-that's why you can't get the common man to speak ill of them. First of all, he wants to be them. Secondly, he focuses his attention on those who are poor and downtrodden and condemns them for being lazy when they work just about as much as the rich. Don't get me wrong, if you work hard, I think you should benefit from the fruits of your labor. But the rich have tilted the game in their favor by taking control of this country's lawmakers and mandating that they create laws that protect their interest, and their interest alone. If an independent country threatens their interest, they send in the military to restore order. There-God exists. Who else is going to have you in a fucking foxhole? Hey, I know, I know, he's not what you expected-but neither was Santa Claus the first time you saw him at the mall.
I have a hard time understanding why God would need to stick you in a foxhole to convince you he exists-or why people who seem to be of decent intellect can't see the absurdity of such a thing. Everything God does to prove his existence has something to do with man doing something to you. Man creates a war, sticks you in a foxhole and you find God. Man throws you in jail for 20 years and in this squalid existence, you find God. I think I now understand God-he is the product of fear. If you're not afraid, you probably won't need him. But man, if you find yourself in a foxhole, you can't miss him. This explains why our nightly (and daily for that matter) news is wrought with things that scare the shit out of you. AIDS (man made), Africanized Honey Bees (I'm still awaiting their arrival), SARS, The British (as in The British are coming-oh wait, they came already...they called themselves The Beatles), Muslim Terrorists, The Russians, UFO's-etc. etc.
Look people, the bottom line is this: one day you'll die. There's nothing you can do about it except make sure you live a good and prosperous life, leave the planet in good working order so successive generation can live prosperous lives as well, and don't overstay your welcome. Death, although it has been vilified, is a good thing, (unless it comes in the form of a bomb dropped from 20,000 ft. or at the end of a bayonet). Death is part of the life cycle and the only way to avoid it is to have never been born. So there's nothing to fear. And if God is waiting on the other side, he'll want to know why you fell for every misconception and misinterpretation of his word introduced by man. He's going to want to know why he gave you a brain and you decided not to use it when you read stories of boys who found wives where there weren't supposed to be any. He's going to want to know why, if you believed so much in walking by faith and not by sight, you never started driving by faith and not by sight.
I've beat this thing to death-gotta go to work
TPOKW
EPILOGUE
Answer me this: Why is it that people give thanks to God on Thanksgiving when it was the Native-Americans that provided nourishment to those ungrateful settlers and who, through their charity, nurtured them through a tough winter and were repaid by being massacred and having their land stolen from them. Shouldn't they be giving thanks to the Native Americans?
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