The Religious Right, Da Vinci, and the Cult of the Zombie Lord

The Religious Right, Da Vinci, and the Cult of the Zombie Lord


Okay, here goes another rant, so lets have some fun. I love words, and I think they are the magic that creates life, or destroys it. Words can heal, and they can hurt, and they can make a person love, and they can make a person hate. Words are beauty, and words are ugly. Words can lead to peace, and they can just as easily lead to war. So lets have some fun with words, and particular meanings. This is what the dictionary and encyclopedia have to say about the following:

Religious
Having or showing belief in and reverence for God or a deity.
Of, concerned with, or teaching religion: a religious text.
Right
In accordance with fact, reason, or truth; correct
That which is just, morally good, legal, proper, or fitting.
The people and groups who advocate the adoption of conservative or reactionary measures, especially in government and politics. Also called right wing.


Leonardo and the Da Vinci Code
Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist, responsible for works of art such as: Madonna of the Rocks, Mona Lisa, etc. If you are an artist, you know him. Hes a great artist. Lets just leave it at that.

Zombie
souls of the dead returned to earth and haunt the living.
One who looks or behaves like an automaton

Now, Im sure you are asking yourself, what do all these things have in common? Is he going to attack religion? No, I think not. To do that would be to go against the very fabric of society, and Im not prepared to do that. And let me just say for the record right now, yes, I am somewhat religious, but I dont think that my religion should be that of any other human being on this planet. What I say and how I feel are my ideas only. If you agree, beautiful. If you dont? oh well thats fine too. Whether you are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or worship the great Greek pantheon, if it works for you then that is great. I just wanted to get that out of the way before anyone started hitting that reply button to respond to this. Just read, youll see where Im coming from in a minute.
Okay, now, having said that, I object strongly to religion suddenly coming out in the way our political structure runs. Sure, its nice to say One nation under God, but are we really? I think not. The god I worship is all inclusive, forgiving, and loving. When I hear things like this, No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God. From a president of the United States, George H.W. Bush, I get a little concerned. Lately there has been a movement of ultra conservative bible thumping zealots out there like Pat Robertson, Don Wildmon, and others, to inject more and more religious theocratic laws into our government. While a lot of people take these guys as deranged lunatics, myself included, I fear that there are those out there who actually give these raving psychos money, time, and attention. Lets look at a few things from these gentlemen, and what they have said in the past, shall we? Pat Robertson once prayed, to God, for him to smite down the wicked liberal judges on the Supreme Court just so we could get more conservative judges on the bench to repeal the Roe V. Wade decision and outlaw abortion. Now, Im not going to go into the abortion discussion, because thats not my right as a man. Its a topic that has been debated enough, and Im not prepared to interject my opinions about it at all here.
But asking god to smite down people who dont share your views? Thats just fucking wrong on so many levels Im surprised god didnt come down and smite him just for having the balls to ask for such nonsense. And arent we as Christians supposed to follow his laws and be forgiving, kind to our neighbors, and love each other as ourselves? Or did I miss a meeting somewhere where all that was overturned? I dont think so. Ill keep to the worship of my loving god, thank you very much.
This brings me to my next word, Right. We all know what that word means, and there are several different definitions. But lets talk about the one above, the one that talks about the Right Wing. There has been a disturbing trend over the last several years to bring more and more religion into our governmental body. We have principals bringing the Ten Commandments into the Schools, religious groups advocating prayer in classrooms, and even the concept of Intelligent Design into the whole evolution/creation debate. Hey, all you Intelligent Design folks: Nice try on bringing a dumbed down version of creationism into the mix. Better luck next time. Now, whether you believe in evolution as a theory of our existence, or that a great creator made two people and had them go forth and multiply, thats up to you, and you only. Hell, you can go and believe aliens from the planet Gogosphere 9 came down and mated with the neanderthals, and thats why humanity is here. If it works for you, then great. Keep it to yourself, and dont try putting it out there as if it belongs in our schools. Schools should be teaching fact, mathematics, reading, writing, art, history, etc. We have more documented fact from science about the fundamental building blocks of life, the universe, and how we came to be than from the religious texts handed down by men and put into a book of myth and fantasy. It is amazing, with millions and billions of years of evolutionary evidence, that people can still look at the world and think that it was made in 6 days and is only 6000 years old. Simply fucking amazing how people can be so brainwashed and believe the fantasy to be truth.
Dont get me wrong, Im not attacking the bible. But just know, its a collection of stories, and myths, and fables, and songs and parables about how to live life. Genesis is a myth, and no one will ever have the answer to how we came to be. Ever. The world is a magical place, filled with wonder and mystery. However, I tend to think that scientists are probably getting the answer correct. Does this mean religion is wrong? That we shouldnt believe in God? No. What works for you doesnt necessarily work for the next guy. Nor should it. We all worship in our own ways. Just keep it to yourself and leave it out of our lives.
Which brings me to my next point. THE DA VINCI CODE IS FICTION!!! Sorry, I felt I had to yell that just to make a point. Its a good book, a good movie, and not an attack on the church at all. It is fiction, Dan Browns look at the quest for the holy grail. So you religious nutcakes out there want to make it out to be an attack on Christianity? Its not! Its a theory, an Idea, a possibility that may be truth, but dont attack the book please. So what if the idea of Jesus and Mary having a child is pointed out to be a possibility? You can still take the teachings of Jesus to be what you live by. So he knocked boots with a woman and sired a child? Does this make his teachings any less valid? NO! So just grow up already and grow a brain and shut the hell up already. No one wants to hear from you. Go back home, open up your bible and get to the self flagellation and leave us alone. Stay out of the media, and put the signs down.
And this brings me to the next idea. About Jesus, and why I pointed out the word Zombie. A zombie, by definition, is a creature that rises from the grave and haunts the world of the living, a revenant that comes back from the dead. Huh, kinda sounds like your Lord and Savior doesnt it? Didnt he die and three days later rise from the grave with great strength and come back to haunt the world? Oh my god, Jesus is a Zombie! So, if you want to follow that logic, you would have to say all you Christians out there worship a guy who came back from the dead to feast on the blood and flesh of the living. Hey, didnt he even say, eat of my flesh, drink of my blood? Welcome all ye of faith, to the Cult of the Zombie Lord!
Now, Im being sarcastic of course. I would never profane the works of our lord and savior, the martyr who died for our sins and the son of God. But you can see my point, however facetious I might be. All Im saying is that its about time for the religious right in this country to stay Right where they are and leave politics alone. Its time for them to stay away from our schools and let teachers do their jobs without interjecting your mythical belief structure on them. Its about time for you to put down the signs that say Dan Brown is a bad guy who is going to hell. Its about time to stop boycotting a movie for putting out a fictional account of bible doctrine (which is itself fiction to a certain degree). And, its about time to admit to yourselves that maybe, just maybe, the god you worship may in fact be a zombie. Here endeth the rant.