With Liberty and Intolerance to all.

It’s Sunday night.  Welcome back to Mad Dawg’s Mad Mad World.  As always  I’m your host, William “Mad Dawg” Berry.  For those that don’t know, you have entered my world.  A world where I do and say what I want because it’s my world.  Some of the topics and views may (and probably will) be disagreed with.  Now I know I should care, but I really don’t.  Does that make me a bad person?  Probably.  Am I going to change the way I feel about it?  Most likely not.

Which brings me to my topic for the evening.  As I watch tv, listen to the radio, read the newspaper, or check my Facebook, one thing always troubles me.  I am astounded and troubled by how intolerant people are of others’ beliefs.  No matter what, no matter who, no matter when, people should be allowed to believe whatever they want as long as they aren’t causing harm to someone else.

Let me start this off by calling out Athiests, Buddhists, and anyone else who doesn’t believe in God.  You choose to not believe in some mystical diety because, for whatever the reason, it is hard to wrap your brains around the POSSIBLITY of an all powerful being that controls or can control the fate of everything in this world.  Fine.  That’s your belief.  But let me point out (and this is for the Athiests) that just because you can’t see it, touch it, or prove it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.  Most of you believe in Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and aliens, yet there is no REAL proof that any of these things exist. (I don’t care what kind of picture you think you saw, unless that thing is clear on a gritty camcorder taken straight from the tape it was filmed on, it is not proof!) For all the others, you believe in everything from cows, to trees, to giant people with wolves’ heads.  You mean to tell me that it’s okay to pray and worship Bessie the milk cow, but not okay to believe in one person who was responsible for everything?  In the words of former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, COME ON MAN!

Now it’s time to call out the Christians, Catholics, and every other religion that believes in the “One True God.” (I put that in quotation marks because I’m not saying what I believe.  I am merely stating this because this is the basis of the religions.  And yes, I’m including Muslims.)  For years you all have been fighting, warring, feuding, and commiting all sorts of violence in the name of God.  You all believe in the ten commandments, yet you guys perpetuate bigotry in the name God, steal land in the name of God, and kill in the name of God.  Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t bible say not kill, steal, and to love thy neighbor?  Seriously people.  And THEN, on top of all of that, you want to press your beliefs on EVERYONE else INCLUDING people within your spilnter cell that don’t believe the way that you do.  Christians, Catholics, Mormons, you all believe in the same basic principles, but you argue over the details.  Again, I say unto you, COME ON MAN!

You know what all of these groups have in common?  Each of them have their own belief structure, and all of them are intolerant of the other.  You’ve got Athiests complaining about Buddhists, Buddhists complaining about Christians, Christians complaining about Catholics, and everyone complaining about the Muslims.  Each of these groups wants to be free of religious persecution, yet all of these groups perpetuate this persecution.  (Call it saving them, enlighting them, call it what you wan.  You’re still persecuting anyone that doesn’t believe in what you believe.)  It’s time you stop worrying about what everyone else is believing in, and focus on yourself.  No one knows what happens after we take that great big dirt nap (or that final barbecue if you’re creamated).  All we know is that we stop breathing, we lose brain function, and we die.  If people want to believe in an afterlife where the streets are paved with gold, jelly beans, ice cream, and gumdrops, and we’ll be met with 62 virgins, then so be it. (Seeing as how there’re aren’t even 62 virgins above the age of 18 in this day of age, good luck with that.)  If people want to believe that this is all there is and once we’re gone, we’re gone, then so be it. (And I’ll be sure to make sure to end it again when you turn into a mindless zombie.)  If you want to believe that each time we die, we come back as something else, then so be it. (And I don’t think zombies count, but if they do, then you might die SEVERAL times if I’m still alive during the zombie apocalypse.) Believe what you want.  You have that choice.  Stop judging others based on what they believe.

Thanks again for reading.  As always I hope your days are filled with love, peace, and chicken grease.