THE GULLIBILITY OF PEOPLE FEEDS RELIGION

I was channel checking this morning (Sunday) waiting for Meet the Press and happened to pause to marvel at a megachurch in the frenzy of religious mania.   It looked as though there could have been a thousand people packed into this massive auditorium, three tiers deep.   The preacher was shouting and pointing up in the air, and the congregation was all standing and waving their arms and pointing their fingers toward the ceiling.

What the hell is this pointing toward the sky?   Do they really think that the cosmos doesn’t exist and that somewhere above them is a physical second story housing all of their dead relatives – the home of God?

My grandmother told me that when she was a young bride and living in western Kentucky there had been the unusual occurrence of a northern lights display.   People in that part of Kentucky had never seen the aurora and many were crying in their yards or out in the road praying – they were sure it was the end of the world – the Rapture.   That was in the 1920’s.

After my wife and I left Alaska we moved to Kentucky – the town of my earliest memories – the town of my grandfather’s people.  We ended up leaving because the religious fanaticism was smothering.   We were there during the millennium and the people were actually preparing for and expecting the Rapture and the return of Christ (I was worried about my computer dumping.) 

All the pictures of the Rapture show everyone clothed – often in white robes; but what if you are necked and in the shower; or drawing a piece of ass; or in the middle of a good crap?   Are you snatched up as you are, or does Jesus give you a chance to wipe your ass and pull your pants up?   I am sure the answer must be someplace in the Bible.   If I am ever around one of those megachurch-preachers I think I’ll ask him.

the Ol’Buzzard