Deon Barnard

When you write an article entitled “Why Religion should be opposed”, and you know that almost your entire audience is religious, you know that you’re going to get a few responses. I started replying to these responses individually but, realizing that many of them were similar in form, I thought it best to write a reply article dealing with each ‘type’ of response with a paragraph so that we can formalize the conversation and avoid repetition.

Yesterday I had more visitors on my site than I’ve ever had before, and almost all to the article in question. I find it amazing that you can write challenging articles about sex, love, relationships, parenting etc and no one takes personal offence, but mess with someone’s religion and all ‘hell’ breaks loose, which is exactly the nature of religion, and why I oppose it. Thank you to everyone who has read my article – you were not so closed minded that you applied the “Thou shalt not read articles written by vile heathen” philosophy. Thank you to all those who shared an opinion and responded in some way – please share your thoughts on my other articles too.

I am now going to speak to each ‘type’ of response I received. I have no doubt that I will offend people all over again with this, but fortunately I’m not one of those Methodist-don’t-rock-the-boat-keep-your-opinions-to-yourself kinds of people who care about the word ‘offend’. “You offended me!” is not an argument in itself. If you wrote to me then you will find your reply in these words somewhere.

To the people who responded without taking the trouble to actually read the article

I was tempted to just copy and paste your thoughtless text with references following every unintelligent sentence saying “see paragraph 2″ or “did you skip paragraph 4?!” but I won’t. Feel free to read the article again, actually understanding the words I carefully strung together and then feel free to write an intelligent response.

To the bible bashers

These are the people who insist on using circular logic or Circulus in Probando, arguing that the Bible says that God exists, and the Bible is always right (because it was inspired by God), so God must exist. The problem with this is that the premises are circular in nature because each premise assumes the validity of the other. I have read the bible many times end to end, not to mention an equivalent number of times via piecemeal reading of scripture as required for sermons, devotions etc. There was a time I simply ‘believed’ that it was all true because (and please don’t skip over this): I was born and brought up in a Christian society; I was scared of hell and offending God; I was convinced by everyone around me that belief was better than intellect; I had a notion (because of conditioning) that to question the Bible’s absolute truth and perfection was ‘blasphemous’ and ‘rebellious’ (manipulative words used by religion to control). Bible bashers interpret scripture as it suits them for any particular cause or going church trend. 1000 years ago the scripture about women needing to cover their heads was taken very literally, but today most Christians choose to apply some rational thought to the subject, yet these same Christians will use other scriptures very literally when it suits them to do so. This also changes from congregation to congregation and denomination to denomination – so who makes the rules? Who’s interpretational methods are correct? It stands to reason that if one of them were ‘correct’ in the eyes of God then all the others would be wrong – if not, then God and all his followers are confused and God is not perfect. Telling me that something is true because the Bible says so is a fallacial argument. Feel free however to quote a particular argument, found in the Bible, that appeals to some sense of reason or logic and I’ll consider it with as much respect as anything Einstein or Hitchens has to say. So far I have had nothing like this. C’mon Christians!! You can do better than that. I myself could put forward some valid biblical arguments – I offer an open invitation to reasonable debate.

To those who have ‘personal experiences’ with God    

These are the people who claimed they had ‘heard’ from God personally or had an ‘experience’ somehow involving God. This is probably the most difficult response to respond to. I remember (with a cold chill) the days of being an assistant pastor in a charismatic church in Benoni, times when we (the elders) would get together to discuss something, and in the middle of heated debate the senior pastor would say something like, “God told me we have to do it so let’s get started.” Well, who could argue with that? If God said it, who are we to question it? The result being that anything this particular man wanted, happened. You can’t argue with someone who has God in their corner. I could just as easily say, “I saw a unicorn at the bottom of my garden this morning – prove me wrong!” You know I am wrong because you know there are no unicorns, because if there were unicorns we’d have photos of them, and their discovery would be published in every newspaper in the world with probably a specimen in The Hague for testing and so forth. In this you use reason, so you would roll your eyes and say, “I’m sure you thought you saw a unicorn…” and pat me on the back condescendingly. So my response to you is, “I’m sure you thought you heard God – pity you don’t have any evidence (pat pat). If I were to believe all the ‘personal testimonies’ of people who claim God did something ‘good’ for them I’d also have to believe the suicide bombers of 9/11′s claims that God instructed them in their mission, or all the people who claim to have been abducted by aliens somewhere in the Midwest of the USA. You yourselves use rational thinking in all areas except this! I have, many times, wished that I could walk through my closet and end up in Narnia, but no amount of staring at the closet is going to help me understand the truth of my world. There are coats in the closet. Santa does not exist. God does not exist.

To the condescending self righteous

Ah, my favourite group! I wish there were fish like you in the water the last five times I went unsuccessfully fishing in dams and rivers around South Africa. The damn fish just stare at my bait and never bite. You however, are the most predictable and toothache inducing group of the lot. The people I refer to here are those who don’t bother showing my articles an ounce of respect by responding to the propositions put forward, but instead choose to take the: “you’re sick and in need of help from someone like me” approach. I refer to statements like, “Are you free my friend?” or “…but are you happy?” or “you are clearly speaking out of a place of hurt…” Spare me your noxious, patronizing, dripping, putrid self righteousness and amateur psycho-analysis! I pity you for needing to feel accepted or acceptable in society above truth; and thinking that anyone who doesn’t share your view must be somehow broken, un-whole or lost. Read my article on being a Salmon vs. a Sheep. Let me say this once, and never again: I am free! I am happy! I am fulfilled! I am not lonely! I am all these things more than I have ever been and that is precisely why I share my life with the world online. I’d gladly accept loneliness and suffering over oppression and mysticism any day, and if I was unhappy or lonely it would have nothing to do with you anyway – but that is not my fate – so respond to apples with apples and stop throwing lemons at me.

To the fence sitters

In some ways, this group irks me the most. These are the people who respond with paragraphs about how they believe in everything and nothing at all. My article is as much an argument against faith as it is against religion. People who say, “I agree with you that religion is wrong, but I still believe that a god or gods or some spiritual entity exists…” are religious, plain and simple. To sit on the fence is to avoid confrontation with society without having to conform particularly. It is at best a spineless agnosticism and at worst, closet atheism. Get out of the closet! You either believe, which requires the suppression of your reasoning; or you reason, and therefore have no need of faith. I don’t have to sit and philosophically ponder the weight, colour, acidity or molecular structure of an apple because the knowledge is already revealed through scientific means. All I need do is pick up a few books on the matter and the evidence presented simply removes any need for faith, or confusion about the apple. Sure, there are things we’re only beginning to understand in the realms of sub-atomic and quantum physics, but the key word is ‘understand’ – we’re not seeking to ‘believe’, we’re seeking to understand! We KNOW how the Earth was formed – we don’t need to BELIEVE some ancient myth about 7 days, or turtles holding up a flat earth etc. I have to confess that in my journey (like a pendulum swing) from belief to reasoning, I took a short stop at universalism and agnosticism, but only a short one – my mind could never be satisfied with believing in belief, or believing that anything was ‘unknowable’. Join me on the other side – it’s incredibly liberating!

To those who engaged in enlightened conversation!

You were a breath of fresh air!! These were the Christians, Muslims and Atheists who responded to my propositions with reasonable counter arguments – who did not ‘hide’ behind “God exists and that’s all there is to it” – but instead, spent a little time thinking about their position and responding with facts and sound reasoning, with respect for the subject. Although our views may be a universe apart, I welcome your comments and hope to engage with many more of you out there in the virtual universe.

This article has been a long time in coming and is the result of many hours of internal struggle, research, comparison and discussion. Four years ago I physically left the church – about four years before that I was already putting aside faith for reason. During these last four years I have tried not to categorize my religious views with any labels, partly because I needed to assimilate the full depth of understanding what terms like ‘Atheist’ actually meant and partly because I still carried an aversion, implanted by the system, to many of these labels – after all, I had always thought that being an Atheist was synonymous with being allied with Satan (as do most religious folk) – and when you’ve been led to believe your whole life that something is “bad” it’s pretty hard to throw off that conviction. Until now I’ve stuck with the safe categorization of “Agnostic” (someone who doesn’t believe there is enough evidence to prove the existence of God), and I took the safe and simple approach of, “you worry about your life and I’ll worry about mine”, i.e.: Let’s agree to disagree – or – You go ahead and do your religious thing and leave me in peace. I no longer hold this view. I will now actively oppose religion and am relieved to be able to call myself an Atheist, or Anti-Theist. I will discuss why this approach is necessary after I give a better understanding of a few terms and concepts that will help readers digest what I am saying.

Let’s start with defining the terms Theist, Atheist, Agnostic and Faith.

• A Theist is someone who believes in a god or gods, i.e. God exists in reality.
• An Atheist is someone who does not believe that a god or gods exists, i.e. God is not real and does not exist.
• An Agnostic is someone who thinks that God cannot be proven or that we cannot know God, i.e. there is no evidence for God.
• Faith is the act of believing without any requirement for evidence or proof. With evidence or proof there is no need for Faith because we have Knowledge – so Faith can be substituted for Knowledge in the absence of evidence.

It is not uncommon for people to be Agnostic-Theists, i.e. someone who doesn’t really claim to be able to prove God but believes in God anyway for reasons other than evidence and faith. It also makes sense that you could be an Agnostic-Atheist, i.e. someone who does not believe in God because of the lack of evidence. In all my travels and dealings with Christians and other religious people around the world I have noticed two main distinctions; I will call them True-Theists (Believers) and Agnostic-Theists (Religious by convenience). My opinion is that the majority (more than half) of all Christians are Agnostic-Theists rather than True-Theists. These are people who attend church and adhere to all the trappings of their religion because of the personal benefits like: a sense of belonging; acceptance; acceptability; community support, comfort, friendship, financial aid, status, opportunities etc. – all good attributes of the church, but none of which make it true, or right. These people don’t really believe that all Earthly languages originated from the tower of Babel; or that every species of animal lived in walking distance from Noah’s house; or that Daniel really stayed overnight in a pit of wild, untamed and hungry Lions and survived – in fact they don’t really think much about God at all; they simply choose to adopt the mantle of Christian because it’s working for them, and being anything else would damage their reputations, relationships and other aspects of their lives. If you’re one of these people, this article is for you! On the upside you already think rationally and suspect that everything you stand for is based on mythology and superstition – on the downside you think that all the good stuff about church adds enormous value to your life and is irreplaceable – hopefully I can convince you otherwise.

To the other group, the True-Theists, there is little I can do to change your minds, mainly because you’re not using your minds. No amount of evidence or science or history will convince you that your belief is misplaced. You believe through sheer blind faith, (faith is blind by definition), that: there is an invisible being in a place called Heaven; which we can’t see or find until we die; who has declared you sinful from birth; and will throw you into hell if you don’t acknowledge him unquestioningly; and yet who loves you “unconditionally”; and who is somehow influenced by your particular choice of words in prayer; who allows confusion and faithlessness and hunger and disaster on the Earth for reasons you don’t fully understand; and who cares who you have sex with and how; and who judges your sin even in your mind and while you sleep; and “came to earth” on an arbitrary day in history to a dry Roman province via a virgin, so that in dying, somehow getting to heaven would be easier than it was before… hmmm.

I was a believer for many years – passionate about my Faith, as I am passionate about everything I do. I remember ridiculing Jehovah’s Witnesses for being closed minded and not open to rational conversation – armed with their nonsensical “proofs” from their nonsensical “Bible”. I now understand that I was exactly the same! Think about it; if I were to ask the average believer what would convince them that God does not exist, they would say, “Nothing! I’ll never stop believing.” and yet they have the cheek to call Atheists stubborn and closed-minded, when in fact most Atheists could easily give a list of things that would make them convert on the spot if they were to occur. I’ll write another article on this point. I can only hope you come to your senses before you’ve wasted your whole life avoiding the freedom of truth and causing further carnage in the world… which brings me to the crux of this article – why religion should be opposed.

I’m speaking again to those that feel, “Why do Atheists get so hung up about people’s religious choices? Just live and let live. Some well meaning person who attends church every Sunday and gives to the poor isn’t hurting anyone, so let them follow their religion of choice!” This is a view I have shared for some time but I have come to realize that it is naïve and irresponsible to think this way. Religious belief on a micro scale (if it were confined to a handful of people on a deserted Island) may not have any great negative impact on the world other than the personal self deception involved, but we don’t all live on our own island – each individual believer supports a system of control and manipulation which, on a macro scale, becomes an extremely negative force in the World. Let’s look at a few simple examples:

A kind-hearted and conscientious Muslim man goes to Mosque and says his prayers as required. He never hurts anyone and always gives to the poor and supports his local Islamic initiatives, believing that he is pleasing God in doing so. Him and millions of others feed energy and finances into a system which advocates violence and the killing of infidels in its core scriptures; and although they are not personally involved in such matters and prefer to interpret their scriptures more figuratively; their church is involved in a holy war against Christians which results in flying jet planes into civilian buildings in New York killing thousands. Is our man innocent in this? Can he claim that he had nothing to do with it? All this for a myth of a myth that doesn’t exist.

A devout German Christian believes in a loving god in heaven and wants to please him. He has come to understand that to please god you have to please your leaders in Christ. He loves his God and his country and is willing to defend both from any unbeliever that would dare challenge the status quo. The new leader of his country, Adolf Hitler, a man of passion and faith has inspired him to join the army to do just that. He comes to realize that Germany is a holy nation surrounded by unclean nations that must be brought into the fold and tamed. He says goodbye to his wife and kids who he loves dearly to go and do his duty for God and country in the concentration camps where they are making sure that the evil influence of Jews and other unclean races is controlled and quelled. He knows that he will be rewarded for his loyalty in the afterlife if not in this life. He is a “good” man. The kind of “good” man you see in churches everywhere.

Religions on a macro scale (which are the accumulation of millions of individuals believing), have been responsible for:

• Countless wars, including the Muslim/Christian Crusades; the Catholic/Protestant wars of Ireland, the U.K., France, Sweden and Poland; the Taiping rebellion in China; Islamic violence in the name of Jihad; the Muslim/Hindu wars of India; the Buddhist/Tamil war in Sri Lanka; the countless wars between the Jews and everyone else; and the list goes on ad nauseum.
• Religious genocide in Europe (Jews), Rwanda, Bosnia, Iraq, U.S.S.R and many other places.
• The repression of women everywhere.
• Resisting (often violently) scientific progress, as well as the persecution of great thinkers for thousands of years.
• Witch hunts and inquisitions resulting in the torture and deaths of thousands of innocent people in Europe.
• The dilution of quality education in schools everywhere to make space for meaningless religious activities that promote mysticism and superstition instead of enlightenment and human solidarity.
• Human sacrifice, slavery and mutilation such as female circumcisions in initiation ceremonies.
• The distortion of historical facts and our place in the universe.

… to name a few!

So you still think religions are good for the world? Or maybe you think that your happy clappy Christian church feeds the poor and teaches people how to be good citizens, so you have nothing to do with the above list? Well here’s a news break – if all that carnage above didn’t exist, neither would your church; and if all your churches didn’t exist, neither would the carnage on the list. Christopher Hitchens is right when he says, “Religion poisons everything”. It’s time for humanity to wake up, throw off the ancient myths of our infancy and grow into the evolved, awake and conscious species that we can be. If we direct the energy and resources that we currently use to maintain our meaningless religious structures and use them for science and progress we could be travelling to the stars in our lifetime. Every good thing you’re doing in your churches in the name of “God” can be done without needing to believe in nonsense at the same time. “But what about fellowship and belonging” you ask? Well join a gym; a golf club; a neighborhood board game group… whatever – there are a million ways to make friends with people who share interests in the real world instead of a shared belief in an invisible friend in the sky.

I look forward to your comments and abuse.

At about age 35 (or thereabouts) you start to see the world differently; you don’t feel any different in your core personality, but you’ve banged your head enough times and been dealt enough crappy cards to start questioning a few things and even start regretting some of the decisions of your youth – in a word you grow up. Ok, so that’s two words… Melancholics!

One of the things that changed for me was that I finally realized I wasn’t Superman. Yes, I used to believe I could jump tall buildings in a single bound, and almost could; or win every argument through sheer force of character, without knowledge; or cure cancer, in Jesus name! Now I’m happy if I can get through a day without taking Voltaren for my back or finding a letter from a creditor in the post box. Things aren’t as simple now as they were at age 18, and although that doesn’t make life any less worth living, it does sometimes make me wish I could go back in time and give myself some advice or at least a klap across the head. So here are some of the things I would tell myself – some of them I worked out early on my own and others… well, I wish I had.

1.    Travel. There is a huge difference between those that have left the caves of their miniscule existence in their home, their suburb, their local McDonalds, and those who haven’t. People who travel develop a balanced world view and a level of tolerance that you don’t find in insular communities.

2.    Get a degree. It really doesn’t matter what degree, just do the three to five years required to get the certificate. This develops the habit for reading and study in your adult years, but most importantly it opens vital career opportunities. On the flip side if you’re well into your twenties or more and don’t have a degree then start one now – it’s never too late.

3.    Learn how to use a computer. I can’t stress this enough. It won’t be long before most of our activities are virtual. You need to enter the working world with I.T. competency – right now that means knowing your way around Microsoft Office and the Internet as a minimum standard.

4.    Turn off the TV. Read my two articles on the matter. ‘Nuff said.

5.    Learn about accounting and tax. Whether you’re going to spontaneously launch your own small business or just keep your personal affairs in order, you’re going to need to know how these things work. Save yourself a lot of trouble and heartache and learn this young!

6.    Think twice about getting married young… or even at all. Sure, society has been promoting this way of life since the beginning of time, but the facts are overwhelming against marital success, especially for those who marry young. I know the religious among us gasp in astonishment at this notion, but let them gasp, and you live your life with your eyes wide open. Love because you want to love, not because you’re looking to find a slave you can control forever, or become a slave to a religious or legal contract. Love, intimacy and commitment have nothing to do with contracts. If you are married, chill – I’m not speaking a death sentence over your relationship, but many of you, if you were honest enough to admit it, would agree that it may not have been the best idea ever.

7.    Have sex. If you have a (consensual) lover or spouse, don’t deny each other; pleasure each other; give each other plenty of orgasms; spend tons of time being naked together; and liberate your sexuality. Society in general and religion in particular make us deny our sexuality, relegating it to embarrassing conversations in private corners; or dingy downtown porn shops; or to the purpose of procreation alone (in the missionary position of course). This is insane! People who don’t have regular sex are usually miserable and uptight. Be safe of course!

8.    Live according to your means. I see thousands of young people living someone else’s dream for their lives, which generally involves buying a house in a suburb; and a luxury car; and a swimming pool; and the latest in technology; and… and… and! If you want to be an artist then you should go ahead and pursue your dream, but understand that it will mean being real about how you live and what you have. At the end of the day it really doesn’t matter if you’re living in a one bedroom flat in the middle of the city if you’re doing what you’re passionate about. You can always swim in someone else’s pool.

9.    Learn another language. The joke goes, “What do you call someone who speaks three languages?” (Trilingual), “Good, and what do you call someone who speaks two languages?” (Bilingual), “Good, then what do you call someone who speaks one language?” (American). One of the most useful things you will ever do is learn another language. It will open your mind and improve your capacity for understanding the world you live.

10.    Don’t always follow the rules. Some rules make sense and following them is wisdom. Some rules make no sense at all and are designed to control you or keep you from inconveniencing someone else at your expense. Some rules have been there for hundreds of years and no one can remember who made them or why we’re still following them. Some rules are worthy and yet at times it is still wisdom to break them for a worthier purpose. Question the rules you live by, ask yourself why they’re there and whether those reasons make sense. The greatest men (and women) in history became great because they broke a rule, not because they were sheep who blindly followed. See my article on being a salmon, not a sheep. There are worse things in life than getting into trouble – living without passion is one of them.

Hmmm… I think this needs another post.

Do yourself a favor and spend a few hours sitting at a busy intersection in a mall or a market, and watch the people pass by. Notice all the trends as they roll past like waves. The hairstyles, the clothing, the stuff people buy and the food people eat. These are the superficial things of course, but look deeper; consider how sheep-like we have all become in so many areas of our lives. I am horrified when I talk to intelligent, educated people who view the world with the same arrogance as the Romans or the Byzantines did, as though there culture or religion somehow makes them superior to all the other “barbarian” people that infest the earth; and yet these same people don’t seem to recognize the fact that they’re just behaving and thinking in the way they were trained to do since birth – just like everyone else. Anyone that voices an opinion contrary to the bleating of the masses is immediately criticized and demonized for their views by people who don’t seem to have any original views of their own. Anyone that chooses an unpopular career, academic, religious, spiritual, sexual or social path is frowned upon by a mass of anemic white sheep, many of which, no doubt, wish that they had the courage to be true to themselves too, if only they had an idea of who they really are in the first place.

I spoke to a shepherd of sheep, or possibly just a really big sheep, some time back and we were talking about what we would do if we had the power to change the world; his response was that he would institute world peace. He said that if everyone just followed the rules and got on with their jobs and families there would be no more war and the world would be a happy place. I’m sure my jaw dropped at the astounding illogic of his argument. I said, “Ok, whose rules would we have to follow?” He said, “All the normal rules and laws of state and Christianity.” I said, “Well why not institute the laws of Iran and Islam? I’m sure they think if everyone just fell in line with their way, the world would be a better place too.” Our conversation went back and forth for some time, but I realized that while someone thinks that their view is ‘morally’ superior and backed by their community, they seldom allow themselves the opportunity to see things from a different perspective – their paradigms are set.

Why are people so terrified of someone who does things differently? Is it because they’re unpredictable? There are those who think, “OK, you’re not part of my system, but tell me which system you are part of so I know which box to put you into.” When people ask me which church I go to and I say “none”, and then they ask if I’m a Christian and I say “no”, and then they ask what religion I am and I say “none”, they seem to take personal offense to it, as though somehow my views on God and religion will contaminate theirs; they look for some psychological problem because of course I must be hurt or in need of fixing if I don’t share their views. To try and convince them that I’m happy and free is an impossible task because their paradigm simply can’t reconcile the information; instead they must change me, they must convince me to return to the flock so that… they can sleep better or something. Sheep just don’t do salmon. I wonder how many Christians would remain Christian if the overwhelming majority of their churches converted to Shinto, or how many Muslims would remain Muslim if all but a handful converted to Christianity… just a thought. Someone recently told me that I have “retreated” into Atheism – I laughed out loud when I read it, firstly because I’m not really an Atheist, but mainly because Atheism is certainly no “retreat” in the third most churched country in the world – Atheism is the wrong end of a firing squad. I admire Atheists in the world of WASPs.

Of course sheepism and salmonism doesn’t apply only to religion, but all aspects of life and world view, although certainly religion influences all aspects of life. It applies to education, choice of career, the way we deal with money, kids, health, technology, cars, homes etc. Please note that being peace-loving and gentle doesn’t make you a sheep by default, nor does being aggressive and contrary make you a salmon. A salmon in the context of this article is someone who has questioned their own views and paradigms; who has crossed the line and engaged with people of other cultures and beliefs with a desire to understand and learn; who has wrestled with the texts of their culture that set out the rules; who has withheld judgment and listened to the enemy; and who has formulated their own opinion with no regard to its acceptability to anyone else. Here are some questions that sheep and salmon ask themselves:

Sheep ask

• Will my pastor agree with me?
• Will my parents agree with me?
• Will my friends agree with me?
• Will I be rejected?
• Will I be humiliated?
• Will I be punished?
• Will I get into trouble?
• Is everyone pleased with me?

Salmon ask

• Is it true?
• Is it real?
• Is it valid?
• Is it important?
• Is it necessary?
• Is it harmful?
• Do I understand it?
• Am I being true to myself?

Are you a Sheep or a Salmon?

If you’ve read my article ’3 reasons to turn off the TV’ then you know that I don’t watch much TV, in fact if I’ve watched 10 episodes of anything this whole year it’s a lot. I do however love movies. I try watching them on the big screen where possible so as not to miss out on all the size and sound as envisioned by the directors and producers. I love movies for many reasons; firstly because I’m a story teller myself, and messages are often easier to accept when you’re looking at them portrayed in the lives of others rather than being directly preached at. As with T.V. there is a pile of mindless nonsense being spewed out of Hollywood, Nollywood and Bollywood, but every so often something powerful, meaningful or true comes along that moves my heart and quite literally changes my mind or life in the process. These are not movies designed for the entertainment value of explosions or high speed car chases alone, but rather movies that say something about the human condition in a special way. I’ll start with five movies, and if there’s a request for more I’ll do another article. Maybe you enjoyed these as much as I did:

The Village (M.Night Shayamalin: starring Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver)

I think anything by Shayamalin is brilliant. His stories twist and turn and leave you with a sense of, “hmm, not quite what I expected, but wow!” This is not a horror despite the picture they used to advertise with. The Village is a wonderful story about how humans come together to form safe and loving communities but then fall into the trap of control and deception. It looks at censorship, leadership, culture, society, religion and a host of other human traits like courage and love. Shayamalin casts all his movies superbly.

Michael Collins (Neil Jordan: starring Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn and Julia Roberts)

This movie inspired me! It is an historical look (back to 1920) at the early days of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and one of its leader’s, Michael Collins (played by Liam Neeson who instantly became one of my favorite actors). I was particularly impressed with how effectively this man organized and communicated to an underground resistance army almost entirely without the use of technology using a small group structure. As with all movies of this type (Brave heart, Rob Roy etc.), I was also moved by his personal bravery and determination.

Taare Zameen Par (Aamir Khan: starring Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary)

I had not seen many Bollywood movies and incorrectly assumed they were all musical action-love stories with repetitive plots – boy was I wrong!! Every time I see this movie I cry my eyes out. It is a moving story (brilliantly acted) about a boy with dyslexia (and possibly HDD) who is misunderstood by everyone at school and at home and finally, on the brink of suicide, is rescued by an incredible (and also dyslexic) teacher. There are so many kids in this type of situation today – this movie should be mandatory viewing for all parents and teachers. A must see.

The Matrix (Andy & Larry Wachowski: starring Keanu Reaves and Laurence Fishburne)

Don’t watch this movie for the great acting, because there is none. I loved this movie because it was a revolution in the way movies did special effects, but most importantly it was the first movie that really tackled the question, “What if everything we know is wrong?” It also stirs up philosophical questions like, “Can we be sure that what our senses tell us is true?” and presents the concept of an ‘online’ existence separate from our physical self, which we’re now starting to see with apps like 2^nd Life.

Luther (Eric Till: starring Joseph Fiennes)

The dramatic story of the German priest, Martin Luther (date 1520), who all but single handedly stood against the Roman Catholic Church which ruled the western world through fear and manipulation. His actions resulted in the formation of the Protestant Church and eventually led to political reforms that have changed the world forever. I was deeply moved by his conviction and bravery. There are many other themes that come through in this movie like how one group can see the actions of a man as divisive rebellion and another group sees those same actions as positive reform – often only time can tell.

What movies changed your life? Leave comments!

Are we destroying the world? Are our natural resources about to run out? Has technology brought us to the brink of destruction? Should we be going green; using solar and wind power; becoming vegetarians; planting forests; etc? This post is a bit of a ramble about, well read it and see.

I have been struggling with these issues over the past two years or so and I am really grappling with both sides of the GREEN coin. Firstly, I am a technology addict. I LOVE gadgets of every kind. I own a Blackberry; Notebook; Netbook; Desktop PC; Ipod… and the list goes on. I don’t ever read user manuals because I love the challenge of discovering how things work and what to use them for. I make complicated excel formulas just for fun and love linking up multiple devices to create an audio/visual explosion. If I had more money my house would look like a Hi-Fi Corporation store. An interest in technology is part of my personality makeup.

On the flip side, I love the Earth. I was a boy scout for 7 years and couldn’t get enough of camping, hiking, abseiling, rowing, fishing and the like. If I don’t get into the outdoors at least twice a year I feel like I’m losing my mind. I love the sea; I love rivers; I love mountains; I love trees. My favorite part of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy has always been when the fellowship enters the forest of Lothlórien, home of the elves, the most beautiful place I could ever imagine living. Even now, watching that scene from the movie (Part 1: Fellowship of the Rings) gives me a sense that we’re doing life all wrong and that we should be more like those elves, living in harmony with nature.

I have seen Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” a few times already, and I feel that every human on the planet should watch it at least once – in fact, go check it out right now at http://www.climatecrisis.net. The message here is that our actions and lifestyles are having a serious effect on world climate and could result pretty soon in the extinction of millions of species of animals and the deaths of millions of human beings as heat and water levels continue to rise significantly. Having said that, I have also spoken to intelligent people that disagree with many of Gore’s views on things, including my most recent chat with a geography teacher… hmmm. As it turns out, many of the images on the movie were emotionally manipulative and completely unassociated with the claimed effects. These people also counter Gore’s arguments with other scientific studies, which don’t have a motivational movie, but do apparently demonstrate that global temperatures have been rising and falling for thousands of years with or without our help, and things like natural disasters, extinctions and ice ages happen all the time quite apart from our carbon emissions… and yet life goes on and people have a marvelous propensity for survival despite it all.

Let’s look at some of the dynamics of this whole debate.

Firstly, there is money involved, and money tends to have an impact on what we choose to be aware of – the quote from the movie is scary but true, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it”, amen to that brother! I think there are lots of very negative things happening in the world in the name of progress and industry that are being kept very quiet by those who make billions through these endeavors. Why invest in solar powered vehicles if we’re making a fortune off oil powered vehicles?

Then there is the issue of consequence. Ok, so we’re running out of oil and gas fast – then what? Well I guess the fear is that cars stop driving; trucks, trains and planes stop carrying goods and passengers around the world; the economy crashes and people are plunged back into a pre-industry subsistence type of life. So what? Is the idea of going back to a simple rural lifestyle that bad? My greatest dream in life is to move to the sea, grow my own vegetables, get out of the corporate carnage and write books while I catch fish. I’m not convinced that all our “progress” had made any significant improvement on our quality of life; our lives consist of nothing more than grasping for money so that we can afford all the trappings that help us achieve more money in a vicious never ending circle. I think that nature is like a market – when individual elements of the market don’t obey the rules, the market pushes those elements out or crashes and pushes everyone out and starts all over again. If the world can’t sustain humanity in its current state it might just crash all over humanity and force us to consider a different state of being. If Al Gore is right, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

Then there’s the issue of truth and opinion. How many times have you gone on a diet because a convincing TV commercial said that ingredients X, Y and Z are bad for you and that ingredients A, B or C should immediately be introduced into your diet instead; only to find a year later that scientists have discovered that ingredients X and Y are not harmful at all and that not eating X or Y could lead to condition D; only for the whole theory to be turned on its head again three years later. Not everything you hear is true, whether Al Gore’s saying it, the president of America, Oprah or even this great blog… we need to learn to investigate truth from more than one angle. My personal view on this is that whether Al is right or wrong or somewhere in-between, it would be a great world to live in if we all changed our habits and became more Earth-friendly – I don’t want to live in a sterile concrete jungle, whatever the fate of the world.

I’m one of those that, like Al, hope we get our S#!T sorted out before the crash. I have to admit that for me it’s not about cuddly polar bears or disappearing Islands in the pacific – it’s about becoming great as a species; it’s about John Lennon’s dream of a brotherhood of man; it’s about evolving; it’s about having a place to go hiking and fishing on my holidays; it’s about discovering perpetual motion and human teleportation; it’s about looking out my lounge window at grass and trees; it’s about living in harmony with nature because that would be an amazing and healing way to live; it’s about not being a redneck; and it’s about a whole bunch of other things I might write a book about one day.

Would love to hear your views, please post comments.

We live noisy, demanding, stressful, complicated lives – and most of it is our own fault. Let’s start with demands on our time. The phenomenal explosion of communication technologies in the last 50 years has radically changed the way human beings do life. One hundred years ago if you wanted to do business with someone in another country you may have sent a proposal, having written it in ink, on paper, and sent it via a long and slow system of horseback courier, ship and train. You might have expected to receive a response after a month, and then business would only get started a year later. During the times of waiting you might be chilling on your farm and considering the state of your crops. Today you can send a proposal instantly, to multiple parties, via e-mail, sms and social networks and get a response within minutes or even seconds. If you’re a day too late, someone else gets the job. Most of us are involved in multiple conversations with multitudes of people across a variety of networks around the world – all the time! We’re maintaining jobs; relationships; Facebook, Twitter and My Space profiles; hobbies; families; gym memberships; brainwashing sessions church attendance; and the list goes on.

On top of the social demands on our time (virtual and otherwise), we complicate things further with possessions. We collect stuff: DVDs; books; clothes; ornaments; gadgets; cars; phones; computers; pets; toys; and a list of other things we accumulate for purposes nobody can fathom. Then because we’ve got the stuff, we feel obliged to protect it with all our might, so we get it all insured and hire someone to babysit all the crap when we go on holiday. We’re constantly multitasking, but never really doing any one thing properly. We go to a friend’s home for dinner only to spend half the time on the phone with someone who is not even present. We eat fast foods and add health issues to our list of challenges. We get involved in organizations that manipulate our time and resources towards their own ends. We waste precious recovery hours in front of the television and yet never seem to recover. We run to doctors, therapists, religion, diets and supplements to find relief – but they just add to the complication.

Is it any wonder that we’re exhausted, stressed and depressed? It’s time to uncomplicated your life! So here are (you guessed it) three tips (I may have been Baptist in a previous life) for achieving a simpler life.

1. Stop buying stuff!!

You really don’t need it. Buying things might make you happy for about three minutes and afterwards you’ll be left with a hole in your pocket and a hole in your heart. You cannot spend your way to happiness. In fact, it may be time for you to assess all the crap you own and start giving stuff away. Your kids probably have enough toys to support a small village in Africa. All those books you own that you’ll never read, or never read again, can be given to someone who will read them. Get rid of your duplicate stuff. Make space in your home and simplify your lifestyle. Get rid of those old hi-fi systems and irons that don’t work. Stop buying pets! Animals are not grateful for the confinement of your home, and the irresponsible breeding of animals won’t cease until people stop buying them.

2. Learn how to use technology

You might be asking, “Huh?” I am a firm believer that skilled use of good technology can simplify your life and save hours of time. The reason computers can seem like time wasters is because people don’t understand them and aren’t familiar with the software they’re using. A small investment of a few hours or days learning how to use your computer properly will make you ten times more effective in the long run. You need to know how to use at least these tools at an intermediate level:

• Microsoft Office: specifically Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
• PDF: how to read and create PDF files
• Email: Outlook as well as alternative apps like Outlook express, Hotmail, Gmail, Thunderbird
• Graphics: How to find, view, download, capture and edit pictures inside apps like Word as well as more advanced apps like Photoshop and Fireworks
• Browsing: How to find exactly what you’re looking for on the web in less than 20 seconds
• Social Networking: get yourself set up on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks and improve your online savvy
• Messaging software: email is on the decline – use instant messaging to communicate with clients, family and friends on the fly like Skype, MS Messenger or Google Talk

3. Slow down

A lot of our busyness is nothing more than frenetic energy. We’re so used to moving and talking all the time that we feel uncomfortable just being quiet. I enjoy a cigar and a scotch under the tree in my garden in the late afternoon. During these times of stillness I consider my life and my opportunities and my relationships. I listen to the sound of birds and crickets in the grass and I fill my spirit with the wonder of life that is so easily stolen in the carnage of the day. I also believe in holidays. Everyone has to get out of the city as often as they can and soak up the calm and healing splendor of the country. One of my favorite hobbies is fishing, and although I have to admit that I seldom catch any, I love sitting for hours on the banks of a river or the shore of the sea and just being… quiet. Bring on December!

What is a redneck?

Wikipedia says: “Redneck is a disparaging term that refers to a person who is stereotypically Caucasian and of lower social-economic status in the United States and Canada, particularly referring to those living in rural areas. Originally limited to the Southern United States, and then to Appalachia, the term has become widely used throughout North America.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy says: “A slang term, usually for a rural white southerner who is politically conservative, racist, and a religious fundamentalist (see fundamentalism).”

Jeff Foxworthy says: You might be a redneck if; you think God looks a lot like Hank Williams, Jr., and heaven looks a lot like Daytona Beach; OR the people on Jerry Springer’s show remind you of your neighbors; OR a seven course meal is a bucket of KFC and a six-pack.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that rednecks are some strange version of humanity in the U.S. we conveniently like to poke fun at. In fact, if you like redneck jokes you’re probably one yourself. I have found that the defining traits of the cliché redneck can be found in the majority of people I meet everywhere in the world, and it’s a little frightening. The attributes that make up the redneck phenomena are not endearing to human greatness or global enlightenment, and don’t think that because you’re a democrat or wealthy or speak in an understandable English accent that you’re immune to red-necked-ness. Here are three reasons why YOU may actually be a redneck yourself.

1. You think your religion is the only way…

You are convinced that your particular view on God, spiritual traditions and the afterlife is the only way. Everyone else is wrong. In fact, the other poor sods are all going to hell and that’s just the way it is. Sure, only 100 000 others see things exactly the way you do, but that just confirms that you’re a special child of God and you’ve secured your place on Daytona beach… I mean heaven. Your brain seems to have no problem with the fact that you’ve simply adopted the religion of your parents and culture, like everyone else, or that there are thousands of religions, all doing effectively the same stuff and calling it by different names, or that at least five billion people disagree with you. You also don’t seem to see how religious self righteousness has alienated you from loving and tolerant relationships with anyone who is not like you, neither have you been enriched by these cultures which you fear.

2. You think your culture/country/race is superior.

When asked if you’re a racist you reply, “Definitely not! I work with black people every day”; OR “No way man, white people are fine, they must just stay on their side of town”; OR “I’ve never been a racist in my life! What, a Zimbabwean is moving in next door? Oh… I see… well that’s different”. Everywhere I go people make some other race the butt of their jokes. The English look down on the Irish (well, the Scottish too… and the welsh… and, well everyone really). The Americans look down on the Mexicans. The Mexicans look down on the Cubans. The whites look down on the Asians. The Asians look down on the blacks. It’s a never ending circle of fear, judgment and hatred, but most of all – ignorance. We hate what we fear, because the hate gives us a reason to stay within the safety of our own communities where we don’t have to be inconvenienced or challenged to see the world differently. We fear what we do not understand. In my training I challenge people to make friends with people of other cultures, to eat in their homes and invite them into their own homes and to take in interest in how and why other people do things the way they do. Your culture is not superior because it has bigger weapons or more wealth or is more spiritual or literary or scientific. Every culture adds something beneficial to the world and gives us a glimpse of truth from another perspective. On the other hand, no culture will benefit from wallowing in self pity or sulking about historical unfairness.

3. You are scared of successful and learned people.

A true redneck trait is to avoid meaningful interaction with philosophical, academic, intellectual, wealthy or successful people, mainly because they scare you. Instead, a redneck will be derisive, sarcastic and contemptuous in the presence of such people in an effort to hide their own perceived deficiencies in these areas. Rednecks live by a standard of “KISS” (keep it simple stupid), and in the process miss out on the richness and opportunities that life offers those who are brave and curious enough to overcome their own fears and inhibitions and take responsibility for their lives. Next time you find yourself at a social event of the intellectually proficient, be clever enough to have a real conversation with someone, ask a few questions and take phone numbers. Oh, and it also helps to overcome yourself enough to smile, be friendly, be diplomatic and refrain from rude and antisocial behavior like compulsive swearing, antagonism or burping – just a thought.

A Redneck’s life is ruled by fear and low self esteem, but there is hope. Even though we haven’t found the evolutionary missing link between redneck-man and enlightened-man, it is my belief that with a bit of effort, all homo-sapien species have the potential to evolve into tolerant, gracious, intelligent and responsible creatures. I can only hope.

This is a little allegory that has been developing in my head over the past couple of years. It’s a bit like religion and a bit like organised society and a bit like… well, you decide.

There once was an island, cut off from the rest of the world on which a large group of simple people lived. The island only had one source of food, the pigs that lived in the forest in the middle of the island. As people became hungry they would go into the forest in small groups to find and kill a pig to sustain themselves for a while. However, there was a growing crisis on the island. People were starting to notice that it was becoming more and more difficult to find pigs in the forest, and they started to fear that some day their food would run out and they would all starve.

The leaders of the island community got together and said, ‘Let us place around the forest a boundary, and let us prevent people from catching pigs any time they please. Let us place guards in the forest and give them authority to prevent people from catching pigs – we will call these guards Pleece. Let us hold a monthly feast where we kill a pig and all eat sparingly so that the pigs will have an opportunity to recover their numbers. Let us call the feast Pigoween. Let us make a sacred law that nobody may catch or kill pigs except those that are nominated to do so for the monthly feast. We will call these people Sivelserfs.

So the leaders gathered the people together and decreed the sacred law and inducted the Pleece and the Sivilserfs into service. They showed the people where the boundary was and made it very clear that no one was to cross it. For a while people only ate at the feast of Pigoween but one day while the Pleece were roaming through the forest they noticed blood on the floor, and after doing a survey of all the pigs they realised that someone had come into the forest at night and killed a pig without permission. The leaders decided to enroll more Pleece and arm them with bigger clubs and sharper swords for the protection of the pigs, but still from time to time pigs went missing. Sometimes the offenders were caught and punished and sometimes they evaded the Pleece and got away without punishment.

The leaders gathered again to discuss the problem. They realised that enforcing the sacred law through threat of force was not stopping the people. If they were hungry enough they would be willing to confront the Pleece who guarded the pigs. They needed the people to ‘want’ to obey without the need for physical barriers. So they invented a myth. They decided that they needed to instill inside the people a genuine fear of the pigs and the forest. They gathered the people together and told them a story. They told the people that there was a creature in the forest called the great Spreet. They told the people that the great Spreet was a fearsome being that could tear a man apart with just a thought, and that the great Spreet had told the leaders what he required. The Spreet told them that the pig was a sacred beast that should not be eaten without the required rituals. In fact the Spreet would destroy any man that came into the forest at any time other than the time of the Pigoween feast, and even then, only Spreet priests would be permitted to kill the holy pig, chosen by the great Spreet himself. The leaders consecrated one among themselves who was to be the Spreet priest on behalf of the people. The leaders went on to say that the great Spreet would utter mysterious and fantastical secrets to the priest and that the people should come together each week to worship the great Spreet and hear the mysteries that had been passed on to the priest. Anyone found not attending the fellowship of Spreet would be disappointing the great Spreet and should fear for his life; however, those that honoured the great Spreet would be prosperous and never go hungry.

A temple was built for the weekly gathering of Spreet worshippers and the priest spoke to the people each week of the great Spreet. He told them many mysteries that they could not understand and warned them of the dire consequences of disobeying the great Spreet and crossing the pig line. The people feared the great Spreet and they feared the priest of the Spreet. Those that did not believe the story were beaten publically, and those few that crossed the pig line anyway were killed by the Pleece who patrolled the pig line or the servants of the priest of Spreet inside the forest who believed they would be rewarded by Spreet for their great service. The plan worked and the people only ate pig at Pigoween. People restrained themselves because of the fear of Spreet. The pigs in the forest began to multiply and the crisis was averted.

Years went by, the leaders died, and the people of the Island passed the pig myth down to their children and they in turn to their own children. The worship of Spreet became known as Pygdom. As the years passed, the stories changed and became more complex. The weekly gathering of Spreet became the central tradition of the island. A great book was created in which all the many stories and laws of Spreet were written so that future generations would understand how to live and be prosperous on the island. The most holy symbol of the worshippers of Spreet was the pig. The forest pigs grew exponentially in number and were worshipped by the people, who had stopped eating pigs altogether and found other sources of food on the Island.

The people felt they were happy and understood the meaning of life and the mysteries of Spreet, the great and unseen one.

To be continued soon…

The average westernized, modern, city-dwelling person has bought into a myth which I like to call the timeline. The timeline is so all encompassing that most people don’t have a clue they’re on it. Some believe it’s the “right” way to live and some know there’s something wrong but can’t put their finger on it. We’re groomed and prepared for the timeline from birth. Our parents get the ball of indoctrination rolling and the systems take over. At school we’re told that following the timeline makes us “good citizens”. At church we’re told that following the timeline makes us “good Christians”. The media reinforces the timeline 24 hours per day as the masses stare in a zombie-like state at the colourful and convincing messages that scream out, “You NEED this car”; “Buy this product”; “Don’t let your loved ones down – get life insurance”; “Retire in style – open a policy now”; “Don’t be left destitute when thieves break into your home – insure with us”; “You can’t get a job without a degree – enrol now”.

The timeline is the spoken and unspoken social requirement that everyone should get registered, schooled, graduate from college, get married (forever), have two and a half kids, buy a home, have two dogs, go to church, get a safe job with a regular income, start saving for retirement and death, get promoted, buy a fancy car, teach your kids to live the timeline, retire and die – and by the way, through all of this try not to look for trouble, don’t challenge the system, fear God, fear your government and don’t take any risks.

We are programmed to be acceptable, fearful and amiable. The only ambition that is taken seriously is the ambition to make more and more money. We are driven, practically foaming at the mouth, to make more money, all with the end goal in mind of “retiring” in comfort and having nothing to “worry” about. We earn and earn at the expense of our families, our relationships, our health and mental and spiritual wellbeing. We give up our own personal and meaningful dreams to adopt the myth in the understanding that one day we’ll be happy if we just follow all the rules.

Here are some reasons why the timeline is a myth:

1. Money is a means, not an end

Money can certainly relieve some immediate stresses, like paying off debt or hiring domestic help etc. However the real problems in our lives are caused by the way we think, not the lack of money. Often we have no money because we’re too fearful or depressed to attract any. When you have a real and meaningful personal vision for your life, and you pursue the vision rather than the money to make it happen, the money starts finding its way to you. People with a dream attract likeminded people and resources to make the dream happen. Money becomes a side issue, secondary to the main event. If you’re working “for money” and waiting for you “ship to come in” you’ll probably be waiting a long, long time. My advice: Focus on your dream, not all the things you “don’t have”. The more you fear money (or the lack of it), the less you’ll have. You need energy and positivity to be productive and achieve worthwhile goals – fear will steal all that away from you. Project your vision and attract the resources to you.

2. Retirement helps you die quicker

People have this surreal image in their heads of what retirement is. They see themselves sitting on the beach from age 55 through to uh… 120, sunbathing and doing crossword puzzles or other such arbitrary and apparently pleasant things. They have a sense that this will be complete bliss and that they’ll never have to “work” again. This is such fantastical nonsense. Firstly, we all have an innate desire – need – to work and be productive. Yes, you may hate your current job, but that’s because you’re on the timeline, your attitude is wrong and you’re doing something someone else told you to do instead of what you were born to do. If you’re living your dream you’ll be “working” and therefore earning until you die or your body shuts down, which should be long after fifty five. Secondly, if you’ve ever tried to do “nothing” for a few months you’ll realize how brain deadening and dull it is. Sure, the first few weeks can be great stress relief and recovery time, but soon you start to feel like you’re wasting your time and your internal urge to “make a difference” kicks in. People who retire to nothing start to deteriorate and eventually give up on life altogether. What’s the point of working and saving for retirement for the sole purpose of breathing and existing till you die? My advice: discover your dream and start working at it. In time your passion and ability will make way for you and you can live the rest of your life doing what you enjoy without the need for retirement.

3. Life without risk is no life at all

A careful look at the timeline and the clichés and rhetoric that support it reveals a few interesting themes. The two that stand out most obviously for me are “make more money” and “be safe!” Everything we learn from childhood reinforces the notion that we must reject risk at all costs and set up our lives for maximum security and minimal personal discomfort. Think about it, we live in prisons behind high walls and burglar bars. We insure everything we own just in case we lose it – heaven forbid. We medicate ourselves and our children into a coma. We get any job we can find to secure that all-important monthly pay cheque (for what its worth). In the process we have lost our sense of adventure, our creativity, our imagination, our pioneering spirit, our individuality, our sense of excitement and freedom, and most of all – our joy. People live lives of quiet desperation behind their physical and emotional fortifications, secretly hoping that something great will happen but always disappointed. They say the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. If you want something great to happen, you’re going to have to step out and take a few risks. My advice: create your “bucket list”. Write down three or five or ten things you want to do before you die… then do them! You’re probably going to have to face all sorts of fears and obstacles, but that’s exactly what makes life worth living. Take a risk, swim out to sea, go get your ship and bring it in. Yes, there’s a chance you’ll drown in the waves, but it’s no more risk than dying in the desert you’re waiting in.

PS: I’d love to see your bucket lists. Please post them as comments on this article J