Ahhh yes, RELIGION!!

One reads and hears about the current carnage in the middle east. We know of the awful events in Afghanistan and Iraq. We feel the rage emanating from North Korea and Iran. We are all too aware of the hatred and violence which simply engulfs the world. What is obvious to most is that so much of what contributes to this enormous pustule on the face of human kind is driven by misguided religious fervor. It's a mentality driven beyond the edge by blind unquestioning faith in some non existent vengeful god, often coupled with the myth that this god has chosen a particular group to meet him in heaven or supplanted them as masters of a section of earthbound real estate. I do not hold that all of mankind should become non-believers. There is so much good that can come of the preachments of love and tolerance that are also part of so much organized religion. Whether coming from a true or false faith, the benefit of that "philosophical" orientation can only serve for the betterment of mankind. What scares me is that in a recent REUTERS article posted on the net about the MEGACHURCHES and their support of the republican party, it was a reminder that these are believers in the "literal bible". The fact that they do not believe in evolution is for me enough to show that they are not capable of any kind of rational thinking. Yet, this is a very powerful base which is growing and growing and exercising political might that could (even though constitutionally it should not) affect all our lives. One cannot help but make the correlation between current world events, and the mind set that has precipitated most of them, and the irrational and dangerous segment of America's population which is allowing itself to be drawn over to ignorance. THOM