And The Lord Said---!

      As those who know me will be well aware, I am not a God fan, I have no time for those supposedly grown ups, who have an invisible friend in the sky, who they talk to, and they say talks back to them. However, I think this particular "Lord" hit it on the head away back in 1906.

[The Lord says:] The time will come when the poor man will say that he has nothing to eat and work will be shut down . . . That is going to cause the  poor man to go to these places and break in to get food. This will cause the rich man to come out with his gun to make war with the labouring man. . . . blood will be in the streets like an outpouring rain from heaven.

A prophecy from the 1906 ‘Azusa Street Awakening

https://www.academia.edu/12300651/Planet_of_Slums Mike Davis

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The Toxins In Our Society.

 

       I suppose I'm like lots of other people in believing we have left the age of rationalism, and are now deep into the age of impulse, emotion and irrational actions. Forget evidence, that takes thinking, and thinking and debate can be slow, much better to jump in on some idiotic unfounded belief. Now more than ever, as our society seems to fragment, we the ordinary people have to calmly sit down and rationally examine the evidence of what is the best road for all our people. We, have to do it, for believe me, those in power don't give a shit about you and your society. They're all fine in their security surround mansions, their, multi-million dollar yachts and private jets. It suits their privileged position if we the "plebs" squabble and kill each other, that let's them get on with their life of pillage and plunder. 

        At the base of irrationality is religion, the belief in myths and invisible men, of super men, who live in the sky and watch over you personally, who demand obedience to their weird and irrational dogma, come what may, and fierce retribution on those who don't accept these fairy tales.

        Our society is poisoned by some deadly toxins, religion, capitalism and the state, all of these prevent our drive for equality, justice and co-operation. Religion, a dangerous hotchpotch of beliefs in magic and miracles, has to be replaced with evidence based rational thought, capitalism, a greed driven system of destructive competition, replaced with co-operation and mutual aid, the state, a power based hierarchical structure of domination and control, demolished, and in its place a system of a community based society, founded on sustainability, free association, and the needs of all our people.

     Of course we could continue to allow our lives to be dominated by brutal squabbles over whose powerful god is the purest and most powerful. We could continue to have our lives shaped by a greed driven system that allows the rich and powerful to become more rich and powerful, at the expense of the many. We could continue to walk that narrow road of total surveillance, control and a divided powerless existence. That choice is ours to make, but time is running out, the options may disappear from the menu.

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Believe Or Die!!

          Nation states, all of them, are morally corrupt authoritarian institutions, that will make bedfellows of any other state, no matter its record on human rights, as long as it is advantageous to the power mongers in charge. Here in the UK, our lords and masters always spout about our high moral values and our respect for human life, but have no problem cosying up to such regimes as Saudi Arabia. A state that is harshly governed by a bunch of intolerant religious fundamentalist psychotic nut-cases. A state that is  so barbaric that it still carries out public beatings, as well as public beheading. In our dear friend, Saudi Arabia's land, a woman who is raped and reports it to the police, is usually charged with having sex out with marriage. In the developed world there are those who believe they have a friend in the sky, who they can talk to and who will personally look after them, and there are those who consider this as a rather stupid idea. Normally there is no real danger in holding the view that the man in sky is an illusion and should be dismissed. However in that land of our dear friend, Saudi Arabia, to speak of atheism, can imperial your life. The late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia introduced laws defining atheists as terrorists, and recently the "justice system" in Saudi Arabia saw fit to sentence a young man to 2,000 lashes and ten years in prison for expressing his atheism on twitter. Of course the lashing was carried out in public, just to bring home to others, that in that country you are not allowed to express your personal view on the man in the sky, you must kneel before authority. I suppose, in that land of sadistic barbarity, you could say that he may have been lucky, there is the case of the poet who renounced Islam and was sentenced to death. Such cases abound in that "holy Land" of a loving god, our bosom buddy in the Middle East.

        Members of the club for deranged young men, know locally as Members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice of Saudi Arabia, or religious police.

         We can go through nation state after nation state, and they will all be found wanting in a greater or lesser degree, in the way they treat human rights. All states consider human rights expendable, when it come to the safeguarding of the power of the cabal at the top of the festering mess that is the established state.

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Religion, That Poisonous Snake.

       One of the many poisonous snakes in our society is religion. It slithers its way into all aspects of our life, seeking to control our thoughts and actions, based on weird and bizarre fairy tales from a bygone age. Because, through the generations, religion has been the handmaiden of established power, it is gifted a badge of special privileges, by that power, so it sees itself beyond criticism, and the guarantors of morality, despite its own litany of centuries of scandals, corruption and frauds. It will always attempt to capture our children and soak their forming minds with their man in the sky bullshit, distorting their value structure to suit the church's aims of control, and to stifle their ability to think for themselves.
       Recently, in Glasgow, there has been another case of the Catholic church surreptitiously feeding its anti-abortion dictate into the minds of young pupils.

“The really concerning thing is that the pupils in question weren't told the nature of the Mass - a ‘gathering’ to condemn the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act - until they were en route to the Mass.” St. Benedict's High School pupil.

Read the full article HERE:

(I call that lying and cheating)

        The purpose of education is to try to teach our kids to think for themselves and come to rational decisions based on evidence. No where in that is there any room for trammelled thinking based on magic, miracles and myths. There is no way that religion should be allowed to interfere with the forming minds of young children. If their invisible man in the sky, is so powerful and all seeing, why do his minions on earth need to indoctrinate the minds of children? Can't he sort it all out by himself? Or does he always need the assistance weak, confused mortal earthlings, who can't even agree among them selves what is really the true interpretation of their invisible leader in the sky's words.
        If you love kids, and you want to see them grow into happy and freethinking individuals, then you must fight to remove religion from contaminating their education.

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The Rebirth Of Christian Fundamentalism.

         While the new face of the establishment in America spews out bile about fundamental Islam, that other disease that destroys thinking, Christian fundamentalism, is being cemented in that country by Emperor Trump. The power base of those dangerous, blinkered deluded people, who talk to their friend in the sky, god, are being handed the levers of power, and though an atheist, because of this, I am now beginning to conjure up visions of hell. This US victory by the god people has emboldened their equally dangerous, deluded feeble minded members over here. They now crawl out of the cracks in the altars of the established church, to spread their own brand of trammelled thinking. Because established power has, for centuries, used religion to bolster its control over the people, religion is handed special protections, powers and privileges by the establishment. We must not let this prevent us from taking, head on, the battle for freedom of thought, and the right to make our own decisions, without threat, coercion or consultations to some mythological story book. The moment someone comes to you and says that they were called by god to some action or other, you should remove them for any form of decision making, and gently guide them to a psychiatrist. 

        Here in Scotland this Christian fundamentalism psychological problem, is now planning a concerted attack on the right of a woman to make her own decision over her own body. They have found a messiah on earth, Emperor Trump, and they are on another crusade to banish all alternative thinking. They are extremely dangerous and they must be stopped, before the become dizzy and even more crazy with the power of their new found banner carrier, Emperor Trump and his Christian fundamentalist entourage. Scotland has had enough of the misery and bloodshed caused by the various Christian religious factions, that have done nothing but divide or cities for generations, don't let another form of this poison spread through our country.  

       The images here might be accurate but humorous, but there is nothing humorous about religion, it is enslaving, dangerous, and has a history of brutality and savagery.  

This from The Herald:

        CONTRAVERSIAL US-style anti-abortion protests will be staged at four of Scotland’s busiest hospitals in an escalation of the pickets first staged last year in Glasgow.
        Pro-life group Forty Days For Life will target the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow to Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and Ninewells Hospital, Dundee across three months as part of a worldwide campaign running during the Christian season of Lent.
         The group, founded in Texas in 2004, launched its first Scottish campaign last year, insists it will be conducting prayer vigils and would not harass women seeking abortions but has sparked allegations of intimidation being compared with practices outside many US clinics.

Read the full article HERE:

 

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God's Failures Means That He Should Be Sacked.

        Christians are strange animals, they talk to an invisible man in the sky, and claim he is all seeing, all powerful, and a loving god, yet they accept that he didn't intervene to prevent the slaughter of the first world war, but will somehow intervene when they ask him to heal their aching back. He didn't prevent the genocide of the native Americans, but will respond to their call for him to help them through their daily problems. Though he sat idly through the holocaust, they will claim that with god's help they will solve their daily problems. Considering his track record on these major events, and other natural tragedies, I think he is sleeping at his post. If he did exist, I would see him as a very selfish, and extremely stupid god. To get through this life, I would rather rely on my fellow humans, with all their failings, than trust a so called, all powerful, loving invisible man, that has so miserable failed to show his love fairly across the globe. 

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The Malignant Power Of Invisible Holy Men.

        Too often religion in Western society gets an easy ride, well at least the Christian variety. In mainstream politics religion is almost taboo territory, a place you don’t go. So many of the mainstream politicians hold deeply religious views, and this is passed over as if it had no bearing on their decisions. However, a devout Catholic will have very strong views on things like abortion, family planning, education etc. but this will not be taken as a conflict of interests when they find themselves sitting on committees shaping legislation on these matters for others of no religion. Apart from this, the institution of religion is dressed in a gown of peace, love and charity, when in fact it is a very rich and powerful authoritarian pillar of the capitalist society. The church has blessed wars, spread the snake oil of submissiveness on poverty, and supported inequality, as it holds the hands of monarchs, prime ministers and presidents, suffers amnesia regarding is centuries old litany of physical and sexual abuse, maintains that lying position of not getting involved in politics, but manoeuvres its devout followers into positions of power. Our present Prime minister is a devout Christian and seeks the advice of her invisible friend in the sky. Religion is at the heart of the repressive system under which we live. There can be no freedom as long as religion and state are intertwined with their cheating hands on the levers off power. Religion must be seen for what it is, a power hungry, homophobic repressive authoritarian regime, the enemy of free choice, with a history of savage brutality, a control system that seeks world wide domination, based on the fairy tales and myths of some long gone ancient tribes.

         Of course there are those who don't see religion as an innocent bystander to the repression of the individuals freedom.

This from Contra Info:

Thessaloniki, Greece:
Church attacked in solidarity with Mónica and Francisco.

    In the early hours of December 8th 2016, we decided to attack the Church of Prophet Elijah at Olympiados Street in Thessaloniki, setting fire to its entrance and interiors. This act was in solidarity with anarchist prisoners Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar, accused of an explosive attack at El Pilar cathedral in Zaragoza on October 2nd 2013. In fact, during that period the Catholic Church in Spain had been struck by a series of attacks because of its willingness to limit access to abortions.
         Every religion is our enemy. It sustains the status quo, pacifying the society with norms that later become laws. It bases its power on believers’ hopes of a future afterlife, stifling any desire for insurgency today, in the here and now. It justifies war based on cultural differences that religion itself has created.
        This is also the role of the church in Greece’s contemporary reality, and beyond. Its all-powerful political role is exercised by its fascist, patriotic, xenophobic rhetoric, always in tandem and direct relation with politicians, cops, judges and journalists.
         At the same time it is well-known that the church is constantly trying to expand its economic hegemony and immeasurable wealth, which rests on the possession of huge tracts of land, buildings, etc. With a view to obtaining profits by means of speculation, it sets up a charitable façade which has nothing to do with reality.
         Finally, it has a huge social and cultural influence, being a pillar of the patriarchal system. It promotes (both externally and internally) heteronormativity, homophobia, and rape culture in its entirety. Its position on the place of women, sexuality or abortion is indicative of its stance on many such issues.

Solidarity with anarchists held captive in prisons.

 

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Freedom From Religion.

       Why does religion get special treatment in our society? We are always hearing that in a free society you should be free to indulge in the religion of your choice. However freedom and religion stand on opposite sides of a chasm. Religion is an authoritarian institution, and in most cases, is interwoven with the power strands of the state. In almost all the countries on this planet, religion and state stand side by side holding hands in their attempt to control the people. All religions have a heritage of brutal violence against other religions, and more venomous brutality against those who disbelieve their particular fantasy. Religion must be seen for what it is, a control system, a system that demands obedience to a set of dogmas handed down from higher authority, therefore the enemy of freedom.
 

     If we seek freedom to live our lives in free association, and voluntary co-operation, then religion and all its authoritarian bullshit has to be our enemy. It is not, as it would have you believe, an innocent bystander that hands out charity, it is part and parcel of an authoritarian system that demands obedience. By constant struggle from ordinary people we have, to a degree, put a muzzle on the brutality of religion, but it is still inherent within the beast, they still have the desire to punish disbelievers. 

     To fight for freedom means that the gloves should be off in regard to all authority, state, judiciary, religion, and the rest. Authority comes in many guises, sometimes with a smile, sometimes with a helping hand, but behind its back, it always, but always, carries a thick stick. Religion is no different, it must be grouped with all the other authoritarians.

 

A to Z of Religions

Acclaim Arrogant Absolutes.

Bellow Bygone Beliefs.

Casuist Cackling Cabal.

Deadly Divine Dogma.

Embellish Earlier Errors.

Form Fearful Fundamentalists.

Gaily Gabble Gehenna.

Hype Holy Hate.

Ignorantly Idolise Illusion.

Justify Judgmental Jargon.

Knowingly Kindle Kulturkampf.

Lambaste Liberal Learning.

Machiavellian Mind Moulding.

Narrate Nescient Nostrum.

Obligatory Obnoxious Obfuscation.

Peremptory Pestiferous Panjandrum.

Quickly Quell Querists.

Redundant Reactionary Rants.

Suppress Scholastic Scepticism.

Totally Trammel Tolerance.

Ululate Useless Utterances.

Vaticinate Vicious Vengeance.

Wailing Wearisome Waffle.

Extol Excessive Exaltation.

Y? Y? Y?

Zany Zealous Zealots.

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A Future Thought.

        A poem, and why not? This one I found in an old newspaper, Free Society. An American paper, published in Chicago, with the sub heading, A Periodical of Anarchist Thought, Work and Literature, Vol.IX, No. 30, dated November 30th, 1902. It states that the author is unknown, so if you think you can throw some light on this, I'd be delighted to hear from you. After all, the poet deserves some recognition.

A Future Thought.

When o’er my cold and lifeless clay

The parting words of love are said,

And friends and kindred meet to pay

Their last fond tribute to the dead,

Let no stern priests with solemn drone

A formal liturgy intone-----

Whose creed is foreign to my own.

Let not a word be whispered there

In pit for my unbelief,

Or sorrow that I could not share

The views that gave their souls relief.

My faith to me is no less dear,

Nor less convincing and sincere

Than theirs, so rigid and austere.

Let no stale words of Church-born song,

Float out upon the silent air

To prove my implication wrong

The soul of her then lying there----

Why should such words be glibly sung

O’er one whose lively tongue

such empty phrases never hung.

But rather let the faithful few

Whose hearts so close were knit to mine

That they with time the dearer grew,

Assemble at the day’s decline.

And while the golden sunbeams fall

In floods of light upon my pall

Let them in softened tones recall,

Some tender memory of the dead----

Some virtuous act, some word of power

Which I, perchance, have done or said,

By loved ones treasured to that hour,

Recount the deeds which I admired,

The motives which my soul inspired,

The hopes by which my heart was fired.

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Polite, Well Dressed, Enemies Of Freedom.

        I don't know about others, but I can't quite get my head round  those who seem to think they have the right to tell other people what and what they can, and can't do, with their body. One type of individual that really screws my mind is the male, who decides he has the right to tell a woman, what control, or lack of control, she has over her body. John Deigan is such a man, he is CEO of SPUC, Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, his previous position was The Parliamentary Officer for the Bishops' Conference of Scotland. Therefore, we are to assume that he got the details of his mission from that male chauvinist guy in the sky. So John is a holy Joe, a devout Catholic, a man of God, this, he believes gives him the right to control the lives of others who may, or may not, share his beliefs. He has made the statement, "There is no evidence that abortion has ever saved one woman’s life and we’ve now had 8.2 million of them in the UK." His ultimate position is: "There is never any reason for an abortion."  This, in my book, puts him in the category of a dangerous authoritarian control freak. 

        John's SPUC, is one of a coalition of religious fundamentalist groups, behind the Don't Stop A Beating Heart campaign, who are banding together to push harder for turning the clock back to the days when abortions were band outright, where the fundamentalist Catholic church view is law. These people are dangerous, the have the wealth of the church behind them, they worm their way into positions of influence and authority, they are the enemies of democracy and freedom of choice. No gods, no masters.

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Quran V Bible.

      It is weird how the accepted religion is good, but other people's religion is backward, out of step with human nature, and in cases downright cruel. However I personally put all of them in the one rat-bag that has plagued humanity for countless centuries. The religious cherry pick their religion, quoting the parts from their holy-of-holy books they like, but ignoring the parts that are unpalatable. I just loved this little experiment carried by a couple of individuals. A video well worth the watch.

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Rojava, What Is Going On.

       It is extremely difficult to know what exactly is going on in Rojava, we can't rely on that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, they will spew out what ever misinformation bolsters the ideology of their corporate masters, with a complete disregard for truth, people, society or humanity. There has been lots of verbal support from "left" thinking people in the West, but where do we gather the pearls of reliable data on which to base our opinions?

        The following is an extract from one stating to be an anarchist eyewitness on the ground in Rojava.

 From Autistici.org

-------Yet, in positions of power, there are many revolutionary people with a strong anti-state philosophy. [7] So there is an opportunity here. We have a unique space where we can organise, carve out our own projects and implement our ideas. We are at an advantage in this space with access to a lot of resources (think oil fields and country of three million people) rather than your little commune or squat.
        Maybe that’s cool for you and you like the lifestyle but don’t call yourself a revolutionary. I’m disappointed that there’s less than a dozen libertarian type revolutionaries here. They are desperate for solutions here and if we don’t give them, they will go to the corporations rather than allowing their people to starve.
      ISIS became strong when they announced to the world their project for a revolutionary caliphate. Revolutionary Muslims came from all over the world with the strength of their conviction and made ISIS powerful. If Rojava fails it will be because of the lack of international solidarity and I will personally disown the anarchist movement as a joke movement incapable of practical change. Now the revolution has happened but people don’t seem to want to know about it. Cool.
        Here are some excuses I’ve heard from friends I’ve invited:
“I have to look after my dog.”
“I can do more from here advocating and protesting.”
“I don’t know if Rojava is real” (i.e. I will stay comfy in a capitalist state rather than risk a revolution).
“I have important work here” (maybe your work is more useful in Rojava).
        History is made by people that leap into unknowns. If you are satisfied with the status quo, stay where you are. But this revolution is the biggest libertarian project of this century. This is a chance to be a better person that swum against the tide. The more of us that do this, the stronger we become. And we don’t even need to be that great in number.
The time of theory is over. Now is the time of action.
– from Rojava Reality

Additional Notes

1. It has been claimed that the PKK executed 1,500 of its own members.† This may be an exaggeration but one former member insists that Abdullah Ocalan “demanded absolute submission to his person from the people in his surrounding and unrelentingly pushed this through”. Another has said that “you’re not allowed to question Ocalan’s orders. You’re not free. … If there was Kurdish state it would be like the PKK.” Yet another PKK dissident has said: “One man decides everything, nobody else can say what they think. … To become a member of the PKK is like joining a religion.”

2. This claim is backed up by Abdullah Ocalan’s brother, Osman, who says that the PKK still has a Stalinist ideology of ‘one party, one leader’ and that the PKK “orchestrates 90% of what is happening in Syrian Kurdistan.” The Rojava regime, apparently, has even tried to ban the display of pictures of politicians other than those from the PKK such as Abdullah Ocalan.† They have also banned overly critical journalists.†

3. Workers’ “uncooperative” attitude is hardly surprising considering that selling your labour to a cooperative in a market economy gives you no real control of your life anyway.--------

Read the full article HERE: 

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Lord, You Must Be Joking.

        You can tell from the names mentioned, I wrote this a few years ago, but the situation is just the same today.

Lord,  You Must Be Joking. 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth,

Burundi, Rwanda,     nothing to date.

Ye shall love thy neighbour s thyself,

Cuban people,     don't appreciate.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,

San Salvador mothers,    patiently wait.

We thank thee for thy gracious mercy,

"Desert Storm"    Iraqi people's fate.

Is your church gratified when victory claimed

by young lives stolen, town ethnic cleansed?

Does a Christian God's eyes see a better world

when life brutally stolen from a Muslim child?

Does God of peace and compassion bless his flock,

bathed in the blood of Sarajevo, Vitez Glamoc?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth,

Ethiopia, Angola,    still struggling.

Ye shall love thy neighbour as thyself,

Third world resources,    West plundering.

Blessed are they that mourn, for thy shall be comforted,

Australian Aborigine,    rapidly disappearing.

We thank thee for thy gracious mercy,

Guatemala Natives,    mortally bleeding.

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The World Needs The Full Potential Of All Its Peopele.

      March 8th. International Women's Day, a day when we honour the achievements of women across the world, a day when the other half of the world's population should rise up, join women, and once and for all, end the domination of one half of the species by the other. Women's fight for full equality can only exist because those rights are refused by men. There is no grounds for any law, natural or otherwise, that states one half of the species shouldn't have the same rights and opportunities as the other.

      We are all born as children, it is unacceptable that we should structure our society so that one half of those children will not have the right to develop to their full potential. Any institution that furthers or defends this inequality of opportunity must be destroyed, be it religious or political.

     By seeing that every human on this planet has equal rights to develop to their full potential, will release an explosion of creativity that will enhance the quality of life across the globe. We as a species, cheat ourselves and humanity, if we deny half our population the right to add their full worth to our combined effort to build that better world. There can be no better world when half its population is denied equality.

     I thought it fitting that on this day, International Women's Day to post a cutting from an old copy of The Word, held in the Spirit of Revolt Archive. We all should honour and respect those who stand up in the face of the state, in time of war, and say, "I am are a conscientious objector". However we tend to think of them as men, this case, from WWII, is the UK's first women conscientious objector.

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