he date is July 31st 1987, my book is almost finished. I think it certain I shall be arrested and charged with blasphemous libel and I find that prospect quite frightening. I'm not someone who could easily cope with prison. It occurs to me that my lawyer might suggest a line of defence, such as insanity, which would invalidate much of what I've written. And in the fear of the moment I might agree to it. It will of course be nonsense, a lie. I know exactly what I'm doing and I'm well aware of the risks involved. It further occurs to me that there might be some court protocol that precludes me from speaking my mind. So I shall address myself to the jury now:
I am charged with blasphemy against the Judeao/Christian deities and a book which the church claims is "divinely inspired". It is your job to decide whether or not I'm guilty. That I detest the Hebrew god and his demonic son Jesus (or more precisely, I detest the myths of...) I make no attempt to hide.
So my defence pivots around the question of whether or not those two creatures are "gods" or impostors, and whether the bible was divinely inspired or entirely fabricated by mortals. I hope that having read my submission you'll realise that if there is a god — a creator of the universe — there is no way it would debase itself with such a vile book as the bible.
Here for you is the dilemma; if you insist that the bible is the "word of god" then you must accept that "god" is as described in that book, for there's no way that "god" would tell lies about himself, is there? So what you're saying is that god is a bloodthirsty, sadistic monster.
Providing you're comfortable with that, no problem. If however you insist that "god" is wise and merciful, then who is that ghoulish vampire in the Old Testament — the "man of war" as Moses describes him? And who is that demented creature cursing fig trees to death, wallowing in fantasies of searing flesh and urging men to mutilate themselves? If those two objects of contempt are not gods, then the bible, not I, blasphemes.
If you are a bible-believer then you have been deceived. At your age you should be capable of sifting fiction from fact; shit from Shakespeare. When "god" drowns thousands of children, does your mind tell you that it's OK because they were "sinners"? Does it really? Would you stand by and watch a baby drown because "god" said it had sinned? Would you? Or would you say, "Sorry god, I can't stand this cruelty. No child that young could be guilty of a sin."?
I pity you because today you have to make a difficult decision. Was "god" — creator of the entire universe — a vicious, brutal child killer, a poisoner of women, a slave-trading murdering tyrant, an ignorant, stupid imbecile? Or does the book which describes him thus, lie?
Until today, you had convinced yourself that because the bible is ancient it must therefore contain wisdom. The two words are synonymous — ancient/wisdom. See how nicely they fit together? And it hadn't occurred to you that men from ancient times were just as gullible, just as dishonest, and just as prone to fabricate stories as they are today. And that by keeping the fabrication alive, the church has always controlled the minds and lives of the masses. Including yours.
I submit to you that the bible is a fraud; a hotch-potch of lies and butchers' tales, with maybe just a smattering of semi-truths tossed in for good measure. The bible keeps women in their place. It keeps "inferior" races down. It keeps intelligent people in check. It keeps priests powerful and the rest of us powerless.
Look up at the judge. He and his ilk are the ones who have benefited most from bible disciplines; the privileged class of christian parasite. Christianity is for the rich and the wretched; the one living off the back of the other.
The bible was written by men not only ignorant by today's standards, but ignorant in comparison with contemporary scholars from Greece, Persia and China. The bible was fabricated, forged and then adulterated by men devoid of any "divine guidance" whatsoever. It is the result of blind superstition, rampant sadism and unbridled lust for power. By attributing to "god" the atrocities of man the writers committed gross blasphemy against any supreme being that there may be.
Furthermore, the church, schools and parents commit blasphemy against said supreme being for encouraging children to read such a fraudulent and disgusting document. This court commits blasphemy for inviting witnesses to swear an oath on it.
Finally I submit to you that if something isn't done soon to bury it, the bible will bury this planet beneath mountains of nuclear dust. Jesus insisted he had come to spread fire upon the earth and there's every indication he'll succeed. This report is a desperate attempt by a father to bury Jehovah and Jesus before they bury us.
| "We have witnessed in the notorious Jonestown disaster the tragedy that can follow from the blind following of a false myth. Yet that could be quite infinitessimal in comparison with a nuclear war which people's commitment to an Armageddon theology had led us into. It is not too much to say that Armageddon theology is a more serious threat to our human future than Soviet foreign policy. "
Professor Lloyd Geering, 1984
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Injurious to the Public Good
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