WELL, I ALMOST GOT RELIGION

But the stories that they told
Were too unreal.

And so begins a song from my past, by a band called Paris. It was Bob Welch ( ex Fleetwood Mac ) , Glenn Cornick from Tull and Thom Moon ( I think). Lest you think I am a Fleetwood Mac fan, I am not, decidedly, but I once was. In as much as the hyper sexualized reaction to Stevie Nicks hyper sexualized wood nymph- please fuck me into a coma- I'm spinning- imagine what I could be spinning on big boy-buy our records influenced my appreciation of the music.
But I'm not here tonight to talk about shagging Stevie into a coma...although that would have been fun, with all the cocaine and the ovation guitars.
I'm here to talk about god.

Bob continues:

Well I almost joined the priesthood
But I ran into Don Juan...And dropped the cloth.

This is all from memory. I had this Paris album when it was a album, meaning a 12 inch long player on vinyl...I think it was in 1976. It might have been 1975. At any rate I was 17 or 18 years old, but the lyrics of this particular song have stayed with me and played out in my head over and over again. I tried to search the internet for the lyrics, but they just aren't there. I can find the cover of the record, but no track list,and this is where it gets a bit fuzzy.

Bob continues:

Lord lord
Each day I'm a little less lost
Lord lord

And with that, lets talk about god.
From the age of 12 I have had an adversarial relationship with god and organized religion. As a result I have lived a largely secular life. No, check that. If you asked any religious person about me, they would undoubtedly say I was destined to burn. But I disagree. It is they who will burn.
Religion, as a concept, in my opinion, has been usurped by a variety of groups that have twisted and turned the concepts of christianity to meet their own ends. Catholics have turned a blind eye to the clergy giving the one eye to children of the flock for at least a generation. The sexual abuse of children in the catholic faith has been ignored or pushed aside for years. I ask you, what god would allow the sucking of so many dicks in the name of religion? I hate to be blunt, but that's what it is...clergy smoking the pole of parishioner kids and getting away with it. Is god a homosexual pedophile?
I don't think so.
And then you have Baptists...Why don't baptists make love standing up? They are afraid people will think they are dancing. It's another old joke, I know. But it shows us something.
Certain sectors of the baptist church believe dancing is a sin. DANCING. Certain sectors of the baptist church believe that the handling of snakes is an integral part of the fellowship.
venomous snakes. They dance with them and are bitten by them, and by surviving they prove faith in jesus. Anti-venom be damned. It's faith. Sure, but in rural areas, I'm sure some of these snake handling miscreants die, believing they are bound for heaven. But if the point is avoiding the bite of the fang as a testament to faith, doesn't that make the victims dupes of a sham? A joke? Religion taken to the extreme?
What are you're thoughts about religion?
I want to know.
I'm not near done yet...BTW.
The religion of Bush is the end of this line,but we have a long road to tow before we get there.
Bear with me.