I hate religious people.
Well no that's not true. Some of them are OK when they're not talking about religion, but I hate it when they are asked their opinions about important issues and what they say is given equal, and sometimes extra weight to those who are just talking from a basis of fact or common sense.
The way I look at it, if religious people are correct then (for some of them at least) they have all of infinity once they are dead to go on about how right they are, so for the 70 years they are here I think they should just shut up. All I am asking is for 70 years out of infinity where they keep their thoughts to themselves. After that, when they are dead I am happy for them to pontificate for as long as they like. I only want them to keep quiet while they are alive. And 70 years is literally 0% of infinity years, so it's not that much to ask. In return I agree to only say what I think for the time I on earth, but when I am dead I will stay quiet forever, just lying in my grave or burning in Hell, whichever comes to pass.
The reason for my disdain today was BBC1's "Heaven and Earth" show in which Gloria Hunniford was discussing the idea that people who are living in terrible pain with incurable degenerative illnesses might be allowed to have a medically assisted death if they so choose. Now this is a tricky issue and something that should not be decided on lightly, but clearly there are cases (as was demonstrated on the programme) where it is more humane to allow someone to die at a time of their choosing and in as painless a way as possible. And this is a decision that should be made by doctors, not religious people with an agenda of absolutes. But on the panel was one doctor and two religious figures. The doctor was pro-assited dying in certain limited cases, whilst the religious people were predictably against it. But why ask them? If they are against it for religious reasons then that's up to them, but why should they have a say over whatever other people do?
I know that if I was in a hopeless situation and in pain and there was no cure I would want to die in as dignified a way as possible and to do it at home rather than having to travel to Switzerland (where assisted suicide is legal and where the man they featured had to travel to to die) and I would take my chances that I would be punished for my decision in some fantastical realm beyond this life. Of course restrictions need to be in place to stop people getting rid of inconvenient elderly relatives and no-one should be pressurised into this situation. It's a tiny minority of people who would be able to go through with this, but they should be allowed to if they want to. Ethical laws can not be absolute. Not in this world anyway. Save it for the next, religious-os.
On my way home from my gig tonight there were a couple of men who I think might have been gay. I don't like to make assumptions based on appearances, but they were both shaven-headed, were dressed in clothes that I associate with gay fashion and also they were embracing and kissing each other vociferously. So forgive me for automatically deciding they were gay based on the evidence. They looked so happy and in love and it made me smile to see them. Also quite glad that things have changed so much in the last decade or so. Whilst I am sure many gay people get aggrivation from idiots over such incidents, I don't think this could have happened twenty years ago on Oxford Street, without someone wading in. And some religious people would tell you that what these men were doing was immoral and against God and nature and yet how could two people making each other so happy be against God's wishes? And in any case, why is it anyone else's business? Keep your nose out religious people and if you're right you can laugh at those two men as they burn in Hell in front of you, shouting "See, I was right - God hated you. Even though he made you. And came up with the whole idea of homosexuality if you think about it."
Ah well, just rambling. Everyone should be free to do what they want. Except religious people who have to shut up. Until the afterlife, when they get to take over. Seems fair to me.
