Leave Atheists out of it, Verashni

I read an article titled "Leave God out of it, Zuma" on the Mail & Guardian website this morning. The article is written by a journalist with whom I studied and respect greatly. Verashni Pillay is an amazing writer and a gifted journalist and has been since our very first day at Rhodes University.I have said all these nice things about her because it just goes to show that no matter how talented you are there will always be complications when writing about religion and politics. Even the best of us [Verashni] will occasional battle.In the opening paragraph of the story Verashni manages to weaken her entire argument against Zuma by stating the following:

You know, it's difficult enough being a Christian these days. Not only are there the money-making quacks to avoid, we also have to put up with smug and ill-read atheists. A tough job, all in all.

I believe that the argument is weakened because Verashni singles out one group to take aim at another.Why is is that Verashni needed to firstly mention Atheists at all and secondly mention them in such a condescending and mocking tone? Hypocrisy? I think so. Verashni, how could you possibly consider writing an article criticising Zuma's opinion on religion while in the opening paragraph of that criticism take a jab at another group?There are a few things after the fact that bothered me a little bit more than the initial statement. In a reply to @gordonwells @michaelmeadon on Twitter Verashni believes she didn't make a generalization. I sort of agree but why single out the "smug Atheists"? Why not applaud the well-read ones? Here's that tweet: "True. Which is why I didn't make a generalization. I spoke about a small group of people called smug atheists."Then Verashni states that the comment was a throw-away: "Not sure i DID want that. It was just one throw-away line that they're ALL focusing on now. Sigh." If it was a throw-away comment then why put it in the opening paragraph or article at all? When not just leave it out? Why pick on Atheists of any kind?I agree with many of the comments in the original article but most of all what I'd like to add to the debate is that it's not OK to single out a group in a condescending way if you are an impartial journalist whether you are writing an opinion piece or not. If the shoe was on the other foot and I'd written an article and added in a throw-away: "I hate dealing with Cheats, murderers and cocky Christians". I imagine that the religious in the crowd would have a few things to say about that.It's the same thing. I don't like being bundled with "Money-making quacks" or "smug and ill-read Atheists". I am neither but now anyone who read her story thinks that Atheists are smug and ill-read.Verashni, if you think it's tough being a Christian in this world, walk a mile in my shoes.

Ex-HIV Positive. This man cured HIV! uhu.

This must be some sort of a joke?Now, let's go through the list of claims attached to this "banner":Ex-Transsexual - Uhu, that's possible. I think.Ex-Prisoner - Definitely credit for that one.Ex-Wizard - What exactly does a Wizard do? But well done for "Ex"ing that one.Ex-HIV positive - ABSOLUTELY FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE. THIS MAN HAS CURED HIV/AIDS!!!!!!!!Let's get this guy a white coat and a doctorate of some kind because he is certifiably (but ofcourse) a medical genius. But I wonder how he cured HIV? Never mind, they said it, it must be true.Next you'll notice that not only is this genius claiming to have ridden himself of HIV but he also claims that he has two children - which means he has been having sexual intercourse while being HIV positive (if you are logical and conclude that the moron didn't cure himself of HIV) which is not a good lesson to teach if you are a preacher.The most shocking of all of this stuff, which is debatable, is that he knocked up a woman without a uterus. This man is my hero. Hero I tell you, absolute hero. Tosser.sourced: The Inquisitor

Atheist Bus Campaign

This is the sort of campaign that makes me smile inside, deep down in my gut. It's guerilla tactics make me proud and laugh at how easy it can be when there are passionate people similar to yourself out there.I found the campaign through Girl with a one-track mind. She aptly put it: "Things I am doing today: repeatedly clicking 'reload page' here and grinning, widely, from ear to ear, as I watch the donations increase, and the silent majority finally speaking out.It's a brilliant campaign: I cannot wait to see the posters on the buses."The Atheist Bus Campaign is a reactionary campaign in the UK to the religious adverts being placed on Red Buses in London.

CAMPAIGN

The Atheist Bus Campaign launches today, Tuesday October 21 2008. With your support, we hope to raise £5,500 to run 30 buses across the capital for four weeks with the slogan: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."Professor Richard Dawkins, bestselling author of The God Delusion, is officially supporting the Atheist Bus Campaign, and has generously agreed to match all donations up to a maximum of £5,500, giving us a total of £11,000 if we reach the full amount - enough for a much bigger campaign. The British Humanist Association have kindly agreed to administer all donations.With your help, we can brighten people's days on the way to work, help raise awareness of atheism in the UK, and hopefully encourage more people to come out as atheists. We can also counter the religious adverts which are currently running on London buses, and help people think for themselves.As Richard Dawkins says: "This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think - and thinking is anathema to religion."http://www.atheistcampaign.org The goal was to raise £5,500 and Richard Dawkins would match the figure of £5,500. Well you'll never believe it, in the space of 3 days the Atheist Bus Campaign has made it all the way up to £ 93,096.00.That equates to R1 659 901 at the current Rand-Pound exchange rate.The silent majority in the UK is clearly beginning to speak out. Wow.Cannot wait to see images of the buses.If you missed the photo above, the banners are going to read:

THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD.NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE

Did Viral Marketing start with god?

The phrase "Viral Marketing" has become quite the buzz word of late. But I personally don't buy it. It might be fashionable and working for now but it most definitely isn't anything new. Even Wikipedia's definition refers to the use of existing social networks. Pah, as if the web can claim this form marketing.

Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.[1] Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.[2] Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages. The basic form of viral marketing is not infinitely sustainable.

The Hypothesis

I'm going to dive right in to my hypothesis. I think that if you go as far back as the birth of christianity you will find viral marketing. Maybe it appeared in different forms (godly or other) but it was present even then.Jesus was a man of old, but his story spread throughout the land back in the day. How? Very simply. He did something amazing, incredible, unbelievable even and word spread. He basically created his own viral video without the video. He did something that no one had done before or seen before and the word spread like wildfire. He created his own version of the Rayban, Evolution of Dance, Avril or Dead Terrorist Youtube video and then the public did the rest.

The Scale

Yes the scale of the word spreading might have been significantly less than the 2 Billion people worldwide who are online today but the principal was the same. Humans like to be astounded. On top of that human beings like to socialise, be the first, follow the group and participate in communities and all of this applied then as much as it did now.

The Message

What was being spoken of, spread around and "preached" back then is significantly different to the content that has become viral nowadays. Christianity and other religions spoke of a life-changing concept that was the word, a god, a set of laws, rules, beliefs and ideas that intended to change people and their way of life.Today content is funny, clever, different, advertising, movies, music videos and clever tricks that fascinate people and keep them occupied for just long enough to want to send on the video, blog post, article, website or concept to their friends and their friends and their friends. Yet again, the basic concept remains the same. I like it, I like to participate with people in what I like and thus I will send it on so I can discuss it with them, debate it with them and enjoy it with them. God, The Bible, a video, blogger or mp3, anything can go viral and has been going viral for centuries.

The crusades

The great era of the crusades which were so quickly forgotten by many people today is not necessarily an example of anything viral. It is an example of aggressively marketing a concept to a market that is possibly unwilling or isn't aware that they like the idea just yet. That is, until you shove it down their throats with a blade.Much like today's corporations. If you don't use Google you probably aren't getting the best results. However there are people who use ask.com, yahoo.com, cuil.com (are there people using Cuil?) or any slew of other options. Just as there were people believing in Allah or any number of other gods or demi-gods. If you aren't using Google however it is hard to get away from them, their spokespeople, their marketing - however subversive it may be - or their word of mouth presence. You will succumb to the Google Crusade if you haven't already.An estimated 2.1 billion christians exist in the world today. That is around and about 1/3 of the worlds population. Wouldn't you say that is the greatest viral campaign of all time? I would.

Preaching, Indoctrination, Propaganda and Sheep

Let's be frank about this, we are all sheep of one kind or another. The christian, muslim, hindu, agnostic, atheist, google, mozilla, microsoft, opensource, closed source or any other source out there. We all subscribe to opinions, likes, dislikes and beliefs. It is thanks to this wonder of humanity that viral marketing is and always will be the most phenomenal way to market a product or concept. People like to below, to prescribe and subscribe to something.Coca-Cola, Nike, Google, Apple, Honda, Toyota, Pepsi and Microsoft are all some of the most recognisable brands in the world because there are people sharing the brands and associated products amongst their friends, family and social groups. Viral marketing is not a web 2.0 revolution in marketing, it isn't even a web concept. It's a practice that has been used for millennia to make people money, spread a word or punt a product. Welcome to the wonders of history repeating itself.

An Example: FAIL

The recent "FAIL" trend that has swept the web is the perfect example of a viral concept shared amongst social groups. Everything is a FAIL. It has become a cult that is practiced offline as much as it is online. It started with one simple fail and expanded in to blogs, websites, videos, songs and more. It has transcended race, gender, age, culture, technology and platform. People can fail online, brands can fail with offices, products, articles or just about anything that exists.Viral marketing is most definitely not a FAIL but many have failed at viral marketing.

Death Metal, Rap-hop and the devil made me do it

Satan has been in the news a fair amount over the past few days.

Krugersdorp - A schoolboy who stabbed a fellow pupil to death with a sword in Krugersdorp on Monday morning was apparently high on drugs, saying Satan had told him to kill the children...Krugersdorp councillor Alex Raubenheimer said school children on the scene told him the boy was high on drugs and was dressed like Joey Jordison, a drummer of the band Slipknot.source

I really enjoyed Chris Roper's post on the topic.I'm not sure if you've seen the movie "Primal Fear"? If you haven't, you should. Ed Norton and Richard Gere are fantastic.The basic premise of the movie is that an alter boy kills some people and uses his innocent, god-fearing "nature" to defend himself. This coupled with his apparent schizophrenia gets him off. He walks free.This isn't the same thing as stating that "the devil made me do it" ofcourse, but the premise is the same. It's the same as saying I am incapable of making decisions on my own so I blame the devil. The devil is intangible and doesn't exist therefore I need to make the concept real so I tell you that heavy metal is the devil's music. I can therefore blame the heavy metal for my actions and by association, blame the devil.{The way I see it (and I think this might ruffle some feathers) is that the devil does not exist. So in theory this is where my article should end, but for the sake of debate, let me continue.}Is this some sort of twisted philosophical logic that I just don't grasp? Why don't we blame the parents, the school system, the child, the child's friends and their influence on the child's life and actions? Why do we have to make it about themusic and single the music out as violent, aggressive and possible of warping a perception so much so that the child becomes warped in action?Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that an under-age child should be listening to music or watching films that promote violence, sexual promiscuity or any other illegal or dangerous action. But that is for the parents to regulate, you can't tell the music to stop playing itself if it thinks the child is under-age. That's just ridiculous.Furthermore, music can be intense, aggressive, cutting edge, loud, banging and harsh but that doesn't mean the lyrical content reflects that. I am deep in to rock music, old, new, heavy, soft, refined and raw. I love it all. But it doesn't all dramatically influence my action, choices, decisions and life. It provides me with insight in to what other people perceive the world to be.Let's step back 50 years or 40 years or 30, 20, 10 years in our history. Think back to The Beatles, The Stones, Queen (is the name a reference to homosexuality possibly?) and heaven forbid Elvis the once banned rocker and now the king of rock 'n roll forever. These bands all faced adversity in their time. Why? Because parents, teachers, headmasters, religious pundits and many other groups couldn't take responsibility for their actions, their children or their children's actions. Basically, blame the music for the uncontrollable and rebellious nature of our children.I thought we were meant to learn from the mistakes of our past? Are we not just repeating the actions of the ignorant and blind from the past by condemning the music and inadvertently pushing our children towards the messages that we are trying to protect them from?When I was about 11 I got in to Skunk Anansie heavily. I loved them. The lead singer was a bald black woman by the name of Skin. Skin. Do you honestly think that my Greek Orthodox (then) father was going to tolerate it? Not a chance. The first song on the album featured the lyric "Yes it's fucking political". Ha! I didn't stand a chance. Or did I? I made sure that the first thing I did when my father stepped out of the house was play that song. I credit that song alone for my political interest and for my degree in politics from Rhodes University. That Damned music, it ruined my life.

Here's a Skunk Anansie cutaway:No wonder I'm so messed up. This is what I was listening to at 11/12 years old and I haven't killed, maimed, harmed anyone....yet...dum dum dum dum

All that my father's harsh actions, forced law and pushy intention did was make me crave the message, the content and the music more. Get real, kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Nothing you do is going to make them stop listening to that music.I'm not sure if you've looked around lately, picked your head up out of your bible, book, "reality" or life and noticed how liberal the world has become. Take your blinkers off. They are playing "the devil's music" in clubs nowadays, they are playing that rock-metal-death-rap-craziness on the radio. The world has moved on. So why don't you?One murder happens involving teenagers and it immediately becomes anti-religious (as if the only thing that can save our children is god/religion) and name and blame towards the musicians. I listen to Slipknot, I have 16 year old female cousins who listen to them too, they aren't suicidal, on a murderous rampage or intent on harming others. In spite of their personal lives they are actually very well balanced cousins who make me proud. The music they listen to gives them perspective on the world not insight in to the devil's mind. This was one incident that occurred amongst a sea of socially uncomfortable youths who do not choose to murder. Let's look at the one case, not clump the entire youth of SA and their music habits as satanistic.I am not saying the research doesn't oppose my argument, it might, I don't know. But to be honest I am more than satisfied with blaming myself for my actions, my societal influences, my friends, parents or experiences but not the devil and his (her) music.Last point, if you want violence, turn on Carte Blanche on a Sunday at 7pm, turn on SABC 1, 2, 3 and e-tv news at 7am or 7pm every day, listen to the radio broadcasts about war, dishonesty, crime, violence at home and abroad, cheating politicians world wide and more. Music, let me tell you, is a fraction of our problem today.

American Idol - a tool for promoting christianity

What a load of absolute bullshit.This has me going. I am blown down by the blatant christian attempts to take over a secular business show.When did American Idols become a christian show broadcast on a christian channel? It hasn't. I wonder how much the church paid for the "top 8" to play this song?Have a lovely listen:It pains me to place this sort of stuff on my blog but I just can't help but wonder how the hell this got on to TV??I know that the states is struggling with political independance, secularism in schools and "religious terrorists" but this video/situation strikes me as propaganda.It's as if they are saying, "Oh look how proud your American Idols are too sing about the lord, and only a good American Idol would sing about the lord and if you want to be an American Idol you must sing about the lord." Bollocks.What would've happened if one of them said no? What would've happened in the press if one of them was jewish or an atheist? I am dissapointed and am probably not going to watch this innuendo-pushing-program anymore. Done.

Funniest spam comment in my site yet

This is a spam comment I received today:

This website is very nice and colorful too. Its nice to have something to show others where you attend church and to show all the smiling people filled of the goodness of the Lord. You have a wonderful website here. May God rich bless you always.

Those of you who know me and read this blog will clearly understand the humour. If you don't understand it might be worth searching for religion in my archives and you'll get it.

Gareth Cliff's going to hell, I'll see him there

I cannot actually believe that I need to blog about this story, but I do.I just read this article, here's a snippet and then I'll continue:

Not my cup of tea. I am sorry to say that my estimation of Gareth Cliff has been lowered, for what it's worth, not for his views on religion - I am not surprised by uninformed and shallow approaches to a Universe filled with mystery! That happens every day! I am disappointed in the manner in which he dealt with this issue, and the ordinary listener who expressed her opinion in relation to his. Clearly he was dismissive of her, yet he wanted to have the right to have his opinion heard without challenge!

The irony of this comment is that Dion (the author) is doing precisely what he criticises Cliff for doing; being dismissive. What a load of rubbish.I have openly stated before that I am an atheist and have no issue with that. I am not ignorant, uninformed of shallow. In fact, I am well versed in christianity and have gone out of my way to educate myself. Why is it that in the eyes of a christian, any form of altering opinion is blasphemous and tantamount to condemning yourself to "hell".Get real, freedom of speech is the answer here and Cliff said and did nothing that should be considered bad. So he aired his views, would christians be pissed off he said god was great? If he said that christians were right? No, they wouldn't because it would agree with their view on the world. Obviously they are upset because his opinion is different to theirs. Simple.There is really no reason for them to send in hate mail and tell him that they are praying for something to happen to him to convert him to god. Please.So if Cliff is going to hell then so am I. We need to get over this religious elitism in the same way that we have overcome apartheid.Another post to read: Sarah Britten.

Ron Luce - an extremist rallying teenage workers to promote his agenda

I have been watching an incredible expose on christians and the extremist christian warriors forming in the USA. Christina Amanpour takes on the leaders of these sects in various religions, not only christianity.God's Warriors is the title of the series. If these little children, teenagers and cooked up parents are the warriors then I want to know who I am battling? Is it them?On to Ron Luce. I think that in the series it noted that he has a school, a bible school on 42hectares of land. His students pay $650 per month to be at this school.Ironic his name don't you think, Luce? Short for Lucifer? Interesting.Anyways, I digress. Luce, let's call him Luce, he charges these kids to attend his school where they can't listen to any secular music, watch any rated movies or programmes and cannot read anything that isn't approved. That is scary isn't it? I think so. I also think that it is shocking that Luce has provided each student at his school with a computer and headset and asks them to sit, everyday, and preach the word of his lord to anyone they can get hold of on the phone.That sounds incredibly to me like slave labour. Hell, it sounds worse than slave labour because at least slaves are paid. These kids are paying to be his slaves.Throughout the entire programme on CNN there was a distinct lack of parental presence. All that I saw was young children shouting about the word of the lord, angrily fighting with gay people in San Francisco, violently protesting for their beliefs. I think it's great that these kids are involved and believe in something. But I am vehemently against brainwashing of any sort. These kids looked brainwashed.I cannot believe that anything this propagated can be good for anyone, for children, teenagers or adults. In fact, religion has done nothing for our world other than to create wars that have lasted centuries. Palestinians and Jews, The Crusades, US war on Iraq and many others. All inherently religious based wars. Where is the good?Now we are roping in our youth without giving them a choice or an alternative. This scares me, the Battle Cry and God's Warriors scare me, it is all very worrying.

Atheism and Christianity - someone needs to be right

I have been very cautious about bloging on this topic. The reasons are obvious. But I feel that it is time.It is no secret that I am an Atheist. Anyone who reads this blog will know that and I have no problem with others knowing it either. It is not something that I am ashamed of, as much of society dictates people in my position need to feel.I have been reading Jarred Cinman's blog on ThoughtLeader recently and he has made some great arguments on the topic, see "Why atheists are just plain right".My stance on religion (or lack thereof) comes under fire on a daily basis just about. I have no problem with this as I enjoy the topic and enjoy rational, reasonable debate around the topic.Note my use of the words rational and reasonable. There are some arguments that I will never accept as final from a christian; "Just have faith" is one of them and, "I simply believe" is another. Let me put it to you this way, I don't have faith and I don't believe. That is that.In the same way, I want to express something to those that challenge atheism and feel that we are wrong: We (atheists and christians) suffer from basic but opposite assumptions, I believe there is no god, you believe there is. At the end of the day this is where the argument starts and this is where it will always end. We do not believe the same thing. Simple.In my mind there is a very obvious reason for the raging debate however and this is where my post really starts. The reason is this:By the very nature that christians believe in the bible - which states that you need preach the word of god - they must innately believe that anyone who does not believe in the bible or Jesus or god is wrong. That's me. I'm wrong.Now I am taking a very scientific and analytical stance here. When I argue, I argue by asking what the difference is between my "wrongness" and how I perceive your beliefs to be "wrong"? There is no difference. Christians ask me to disprove the existence of their god, I ask them to prove it to me. They ask me to disprove heaven and I ask them to prove hell. There is no solution here.Yet without a solution we are lost. Why? Because one of us are wrong according to our belief systems.I am not going to continue providing examples, explanations and justifications as I think this is a very circular argument that will ultimately take us back to the starting point of differing belief systems. But why, why must I be wrong? Take a second and think, is it possible, for a split second, that you could be wrong?

Facing the family when your an Atheist

Religion doesn't often feature on this blog, I am always very undecided about how people will receive my opinions on the topic.I battle enough getting people to buy in to my views on SA that religion is a fight I am not ready to have with most people. I say this because many people (mainly christians) are not willing to dicuss the matter rationally with me but instead choose to condemn me to an eternal hell.Just like this mom:

glumbert - Don't tell Mom you're an atheist

WOW this is one scary mother, literally. My mom is much more understanding about my religious choices or lack thereof.

Hoffmeyer Almost Backs Anti Religion Rock Concert

Hoffmeyer said, and I quote: he could "almost associate" with rock musicians wanting to hold a concert to warn people of the dangers of religion, according to a story at News24.That is an extremely brave statement from a man who's main audience are surely christians second to none. Steve really is loving the controversy these days!I have got to agree with this kind of concert and I am sure that Kevin will back me up here, if christians are allowed to hold concerts in the name of their cause and are allowed to have christmas concerts then why shouldn't there be a concert warning people against the effects of religion too? Don't get me wrong, I am not mudslinging the christians here, the concert will apparently speak of the dangers of all religions and religion in general.The only issue I have with the concert is that they are planning to have it on 7/7/7 (July 7th 2007). Now I am not bleak because this should be some sort of holy godly number with all the sevens or something like that, I am bleak because that is the day that Live Earth is coming to Jo'burg. That concert will rock.Back to the dangers of religion. There are so many opportunities for christians to help themselves look good (ok maybe not good, maybe just better) in the media but they don't. This guy didn't: "I believe the movement is demonic and inspired by Satan, but that Christians don't have to feel threatened, because God is stronger than Satan," Said Dr Isak Burger, president of the Apostolic Faith Mission. Do me a favour you moron. You think that because anyone is going against your prayer day that they must be demonic and satanistic. That is ignorance of the highest order you tosser.Is it not more ridiculous to actually believe that a day in a year (7/7/7) is going to convey your prayers to god more effectively than on any other day? if 'the big guy/girl' hasn't answered your prayers yet then 7/7/7 is not going to change that I'm afraid.The only praying that I will be doing on that day is that they turn up the volume at the Live Earth Rockathon baby!!

Religion Ends a Friendship

I have already linked to the Today Trip Religious banter but I am sad to report that some people just can't keep their shit together. The debate has ended in the termination of a friendship and that saddens me. It saddens me because I thought that religion preached tolerance and understanding not brash decisions that end in the loss of a friendship due to a debate. Ridiculous.I am of the school that believes that challenging yourself and the norm is the norm. I believe that without debate, challenging thought and progressive movement the wheel would never have been invented and Africans would still be slaves. If you do not agree with this and are still taking lessons from your preacher who was taught be another preacher who learnt from the same book that the same people have been studying for 2000+ years then I feel sorry for you. This is ignorance. Learn from the bible, that's cool, it's a great little book with some little gems hidden in there somewhere. But please, please do not tell me that it is the be all and end all of knowledge. That my friends is blatant disregard for common sense and a choice to remain ignorant due to fear.Rant over and I'm out.

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Religion day

Something strange is brewing. It seems as though it's bash/debate/laugh/movie/watch religion day today. Today Trip has a massive debate going on with a couple of religious zealots and me! While Kevin is bored apparently and loving the religious comics!Nice work everyone.A brief snippet from the debate going on at Today Trip:

Nic said...nikki: Very interesting and rational points. Good work. Lets put it this way: I have managed to review my options, my beliefs and my faiths. I made the CHOICE to walk away from religion because there are too many unanswered questions. Too much that is left to "Just have faith" and not enough that is telling my why, where, how, when. there are too many paradoxes and too much mystery and enigma surrounding it all. Religion is only a recent creation. +-2000 years old, and in +- 2000 years it might be gone. These are my reasons. I did not flakely walk away from religion it was a long and arduous process that I am happy with. And let's be honest, I was not born in to my choice, I made it by myself. Hetty, you have made no choices, you have challenged nothing and YOU are the sheep my friend. do not try and turn the argument around to push your fears and insecurities on to others. This is a personal choice and I do not condemn you for it. To each his/her own.With regard to Elle's comments, I think that if anyone is going to choose religion, Elle's approach is the best approach: Going to church doesn't make you a christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. Religion is a personal choice, a personal thing not a mass movement. Mob mentality is bad in any context, religion is no exception.

People are not loving my brash approach to this topic, but hey, ignorance is bliss and ignorance is comfortable. I like to be uncomfortable and challenge my life and lifestyle. To each his/her own. Simple as that.

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Same Sex Marriage Legalised

I think that South Africa is making great steps forward by legalising same sex marriages. We are the first country on our continent to do so. Brilliant. I personally believe in "To each his/her own" and if that happens to be a his or her of the same sex then so be it.What irritates me about this whole situation is the manner in which the religious groups have protested the decision. I am once again stating that to each his/her own is the way forward, so let the fanatics moan and bitch about the laws being passed. However I get extremely touchy when I read an article about this issue on the MG site that religious activists have branded the law "un-African".How on Earth is same sex marriage un-African? Who decides what is African (not starting that debate unless anyone is interested)? This is the kicker question right here: When did religious views become African views? Western ideas of religion have never been apart of the African culture. It is only in the recent history of the continent that Western ideals began infiltrating the African continent. It hacks me off to no end that religious freaks, fanatics or idiots are able to brand an apparent 'anti-christian' law as un-African.I will say this again: when did Western religion become dominant in Africa as an ideal? What makes these people think that they have the right to brand anything, anything at all as un-African? If that is what being African means you can keep it and I will continue to be me as an individual living in Africa.

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