your-god-is-too-small May. 2016 | Page 263

I may be wrong, but I think that addresses most of the arguments for believing in God. I will next attempt to make the case that theism is morally lacking. Morality The wooden picket sign was starting to splinter the young girl’s hands, but she dare not lower it. It reads, “God Hates Fags”. Though her hands bleed and ache, she has a smile on her face. She knows that her parents would be proud that she is spreading the word of God. In the distance she he---ars the shouts of blasphemers and sinners. But over all of them she hears her father bellowing, “Homosexuality is a sin!” As his voice becomes louder and more ferocious, so too does her love for him, and Jesus. How could someone brainwash a child into believing such abhorrent, insatiable, and vile beliefs? What would make a man so angry with a group of fellow primates who want nothing more than to love freely and openly? I want to engage in a conversation with you, and find out what is really causing this ignorance and hatred. Theists are always going on about their morality; however, I have trouble seeing it. Where was the morality in the Crusades, inquisition, witch-hunts, 9-11, or countless other religious transgressions? Theists often respond, “Well, of course, you would bring those up.” As Stephen Fry once elegantly put it, “It’s a bit like a burglar in court saying, “Well you would bring up that burglary, and that manslaughter. You never mention the fact that I gave my father a birthday present.” Religion has undoubtedly caused a great amount of harm in the world and I will not have it passed off with a shrug of the shoulders, as if it were some tired complaint. P a g e | 263