An Open Letter To All The Angels With Dirty Faces.
Well, Sikhism, you finally made it. In a nation that boasts the birthplace of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism you were always the odd faith out. Yes, the religion my parents subscribe to and I was brought up in, which only started in the 1400s always appeared to be the Ringo Starr of dogmatic belief. But no longer.
With news of three Sikh priests charged with sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching of a young boy you’ve finally joined rank with the big boys. Catholicism ain’t got shit on you, brother. I mean, forget the archaic notion of morality, or the downright fraudulent causes of tolerance and brotherhood, the real common ground between all religions worth their salt is their predilection toward – nay – their love affair with child molestation.
Jeez, what took you so long, Sikhs? Tripped on your turbans on the way to the boy toucher seminar? I will give you credit on one thing, though. Kudos to your bureaucracy on keeping your criminality a secret for over a decade and your sly use of the fear of god and adherence to scripture to keep your child victim doubly scared and ashamed of telling anyone about being your plaything. Good call on that one!
Shock of all shocks, it has been reported on cbc.ca that your particular sect existed outside of mainstream Sikhism and that your priests were sworn to celibacy. Hmmm…just like Catholic vicars. Perhaps this might be a good time for your pal Jesus or Guru Nanak Dev to descended on his blessed Segway made out of virgin skin and suggest that maybe, just maybe, celibacy is the greatest perversion and this denial of a basic and enjoyable human desire can lead to deviant behavior. But, hey, what do I know? I’m just a stupid, sane atheist…you guys have God on your side.
What is it about kids that appeals to you guys, anyway? It is just that they're easier to manipulate and control? Or maybe you think its keeping them pure or your illusion of them pure at least? By killing everything that makes them kids, by raping the innocence out of them and destroying who they are as people before the world really gets to know them you get to keep them perfect. You were privy to the wonder-lust and gregariousness of them, and yes, you stole it from them and everyone else who will meet them, but you can keep the memory of this person (before and after you’ve ruined them) with you. Like a picture of Marilyn Monroe – forever falsely portrayed as a one dimensional sex object. No real person there to worry about, right fellas of the cloth? I wonder how you reconcile that with your belief in some fantastic, invisible deity you’ve pledged to represent and serve. Kinda hypocritical ain’t it?
But, hey, I suppose hypocrisy (unlike fucking little kids) is something we're all guilty of sometimes. Myself, included. For, before my head hits pillow tonight, I will, on bended knee, say a little prayer. A wistful little entreaty that, for one glorious instant, I am wrong. That there is actually a hell and you and your ersatz sacrosanct cronies burn in it forever and ever and that justice is served. Justice that myself and my fellow non-believers, in our dreamless sleep, feel is a more and more spurious notion.
With news of three Sikh priests charged with sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching of a young boy you’ve finally joined rank with the big boys. Catholicism ain’t got shit on you, brother. I mean, forget the archaic notion of morality, or the downright fraudulent causes of tolerance and brotherhood, the real common ground between all religions worth their salt is their predilection toward – nay – their love affair with child molestation.
Jeez, what took you so long, Sikhs? Tripped on your turbans on the way to the boy toucher seminar? I will give you credit on one thing, though. Kudos to your bureaucracy on keeping your criminality a secret for over a decade and your sly use of the fear of god and adherence to scripture to keep your child victim doubly scared and ashamed of telling anyone about being your plaything. Good call on that one!
Shock of all shocks, it has been reported on cbc.ca that your particular sect existed outside of mainstream Sikhism and that your priests were sworn to celibacy. Hmmm…just like Catholic vicars. Perhaps this might be a good time for your pal Jesus or Guru Nanak Dev to descended on his blessed Segway made out of virgin skin and suggest that maybe, just maybe, celibacy is the greatest perversion and this denial of a basic and enjoyable human desire can lead to deviant behavior. But, hey, what do I know? I’m just a stupid, sane atheist…you guys have God on your side.
What is it about kids that appeals to you guys, anyway? It is just that they're easier to manipulate and control? Or maybe you think its keeping them pure or your illusion of them pure at least? By killing everything that makes them kids, by raping the innocence out of them and destroying who they are as people before the world really gets to know them you get to keep them perfect. You were privy to the wonder-lust and gregariousness of them, and yes, you stole it from them and everyone else who will meet them, but you can keep the memory of this person (before and after you’ve ruined them) with you. Like a picture of Marilyn Monroe – forever falsely portrayed as a one dimensional sex object. No real person there to worry about, right fellas of the cloth? I wonder how you reconcile that with your belief in some fantastic, invisible deity you’ve pledged to represent and serve. Kinda hypocritical ain’t it?
But, hey, I suppose hypocrisy (unlike fucking little kids) is something we're all guilty of sometimes. Myself, included. For, before my head hits pillow tonight, I will, on bended knee, say a little prayer. A wistful little entreaty that, for one glorious instant, I am wrong. That there is actually a hell and you and your ersatz sacrosanct cronies burn in it forever and ever and that justice is served. Justice that myself and my fellow non-believers, in our dreamless sleep, feel is a more and more spurious notion.
posted by Jag at 8:05 PM
2 Comments:
Hey man,
As someone who battles on and off with spirituality-both in my constant fuck ups in day-to-day life and in the stuff I see at the hospital-I found your article interesting, to say the least. And while I don't necessarily agree with your equation that atheism necessarily goes along with sanity, (I would venture a guess that most "spiritual" people, regardless of faith, are at the core decent dudes, not emotionally unstable molesters), you raised several good points, particularly the hypocrisy of organized religion.
For me, I try and realize that the Catholic priests and their equivalents from the other religions were people drawn from the same lot as the rest of us. The celibacy issue may promote deviancy, but no more so than does the access to morphine promote addiction in doctors, or the long hours often leading to alcoholism in lawyers. There is hypocrisy in every field that attempts to prop itself up using ideals.
I think it's important to realize that the human institutions of organized religion, and all of the crap that is associated with them, does not necessarily preclude the existence of God. Whether to believe or not to believe is a personal choice that we all make, and the presence of loser molesters amongst the ranks of organized faith should not be the factor that tips the scales. Frankly, I'm not going to let the actions of those pricks make such an important decision for me.
Anyways, I gotta run. Really good article Jag, and it was nice seeing you for awhile when you were back in Edmonton. It's unfortunate that family commitments kind of preculded me from hanging out with the Whitecourt boys more, but those are the breaks, I guess.
Later,
John
Hey Johnny,
Yeah, I feel this is something you and I will never fully agree on. I guess I feel that it really never made the decision for me - but it does add fuel to the fire along with war, homophobia, sexism, violence, terrible television programming and other things that are often related to religion.
I've always respected you and the points you raise are valid. It just kills me when the Massachusetts priests simply got relocated after the church learned of their transgressions. It doubly enrages because, unlike medicine or the law, I feel being a clergyman is a pretty useless profession.
It's true - nothing about these people's actions denote the absence of God. I do feel the lack of evidence does, however. I know you and others feel this belief can aid you. But I don't see it. And any positive effect one can glean from such an abstract notion is far, far outweighed by the drawbacks of the actions undertaken by 'spiritual' people. Who, of course, are not often molesters or terrorists, but I do feel are clinging to some pretty silly notions that I feel will always be antiquated, childish and have the potential to be dangerous and illogically hindering if said people get into a position of authority.
I suppose that's where our difference lies. This ISN'T a big decision for me, John. It's an obvious one, yes, but (to me) not believing in God is as sane and natural as not believing in Unicorns, Santa Claus or the Calgary Flames' talent. There's no struggle for me.
Anyways, I love you buddy. Glad to see you over the break as well, mon frere as brief as it was. Take it easy on Julie and we will talk again soon, player.
Your friend,
Jag.
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