Wrong is wrong

Bill Maher made a comment the other day that I actually agreed with. Bill O'Reilly took great offense and called him out on it. I love watching the O'Reilly Factor. However, that does not mean that I agree with everything Bill O'Reilly says. I found O'Reilly's reaction to Bill Maher's comments about the difference between religion and cults very interesting.

Most of you know I don't believe. I call myself an Atheist. An Optimistic Agnostic might be a better description, but while I think it would be great if there was a God, at this point I really don't believe. That does NOT mean I worship or even believe in Satan. That does NOT mean I scoff at those who do believe. I was raised to be a Christian. I support the beliefs of my family and friends, even if I don't share them. I just got to a point where the contradictions overcame the blind faith, and I stopped believing.

For some people, their religion gives them great strength. No, I do not mean to say they are clinging to religion because they are disgruntled. There are a lot of good things about religion. Pray all you want if it makes you feel better. Sometimes it's all you can do. Prayer can't hurt you, unless you think that all you have to do is pray and your prayers will be answered. In that case, it isn't the praying that will hurt you - but your lack of action.

But back to Maher's comment. He was referring to the Morman Fundamentalist compound where they recently removed all of the kids for suspected abuse. He compared them to the Catholic Church and said that if you molest a few hundred children they call you a cult, if you molest a few hundred thousand they call you the Pope. Now, I don't think he should have called the Pope out like did. Referring directly to the Pope made it way to personal and put everyone on the defense. And once everyone started defending themselves and their beliefs, the original point got lost.

I think forcing underage girls into marriage with older men is wrong. I also think priests abusing alter boys is wrong. Just as I think female circumcision and stoning women for adultery is wrong. I don't see any real difference between the Morman Fundamentalists, the Catholic Church, or the Nation of Islam on these issues. They are all justifying their behavior in the name of their God. Why do we call some cults and others religions? In my opinion, ALL forms of organized religion and even Society in general uses some form of brainwashing to tame their masses into submission. We need to stop getting so defensive, and start actually seeing what is happening.

I'm not saying that everything about all of these groups is wrong - I don't know enough about any of them to say that. But some of the things they believe in and do are just not right, and when they are done in the name of God it just reinforces my opinion that the God the masses believe is just something made up to justify their behavior.

Wrong is wrong.