RELIGION

My neighbor died. Howard tinkered in his garage across the street until his wife called him back inside. He was always upbeat and bright-eyed til his dying day. A gathering was held at his church in Pacific Beach and that event marked a rarity indeed, since church never much interested me.
But this gathering of loved ones remembering my kind neighbor was the very best side of religion. A higher meaning, and such deep, loving fellowship created a spirit to usher Howard away and into the next realm. To meet death with beauty and peace is a commodity that's not easily concocted.
So even though religion is utter bullshit, I totally get it. I've FELT the power. But enriching people's souls seems not near enough return for the terrible cost wrought by millions of people steadfastly ignoring earthly realities. Many religious critics cite the bloody legacy of wars between faiths through the centuries however, my memory sucks so i can crucify religion using ONLY the Iraq War. An alcoholic turned born-again Christian surrounded by corrupt advisers were only half the disaster. Let's not forget that to con our nation into a needless war that cost more lives than the attack Iraq had nothing to do with . . a dim public was equally important (and therefore, equally responsible).
It's not a stretch to compare our acceptance of deities without any evidence with oh, our blind acceptance of weapons of mass destruction without any evidence. Critical reasoning would have saved, get this, a civilization, thousands of American soldiers, and (Repubs will like this one) a couple TRILLION dollars! Religion extinguishes critical thought. And our responsibility as humans who want to progress our species OR as Americans groping for guidance on policy is to employ this awesome power of thought. Only with this weapon can we ever figure shit out. As a commodity, reason actually trumps spirituality.