[thou shalt not] with hellfire and brimstone

It’s All Souls Day, the day for the ordinary person, the day we remember the souls of our grandparents, those who fought for us - anyone who died.

Who knows if this would be efficacious or not? But if we didn't remember, it would certainly not be efficacious.

As for faith, follow the supposed logic here and tell me this is wrong. Susie Bright was speaking of her Catholic upbringing, recalling such things as the eternal question:

"If there is a God, why doesn't He stop the killing?"

She wrote of her oppressive Catholic upbringing and emerging desire to break out, rebelling inwardly against the Thou Shalt Not nuns:

If they were what "Godliness" was about, I wanted nothing to do with it.

I replied:

They weren't. They were the main reason people turn the other way and with all their ritualistic clothing and mumbo jumbo they certainly weren't promoting their supposed boss. Looks like they were promoting the other guy.

Why do people insist on misrepresenting and acting in weird and unnatural ways whenever they come near the Christian faith? Church is an association of people, not a building. What’s with the mitres and regalia, the thundering pipe organs with their manic welcome to vaulted cathedrals, impressive though they are – what have they to do with simple faith?

And it’s a voluntary faith. You can say the disciples were press-ganged but you could also say “invited”. It is voluntary and there is nowhere in His lifetime where that wasn’t so. If you choose to go that way, good luck to you because I know the overwhelming benefits which come to you upon joining.

The evangelistic weapon was always meant to be persuasion, not the sword, not the convent, not the locking of bibles in Latin in churches, which the common man could never access, not dire threats of fire and brimstone.

All that was a later, human embellishment. But I haven’t answered the question:

"If there is a God, why doesn't He stop the killing?"

How the hell should I know? I have my ideas though.

I think somewhere in the mists of time, great power was vested in humans [even the humanists acknowledge the amazingness of man] and this might explain the puzzling "ye are gods" reference.

But above all was vested Free Will, the thing the whole blogosphere is up in arms about right now, as governments continually turn the screws. Seems to me you can't offer Free Will with one hand then take it away with the other.

There's been a lot of talk lately about Freedom of Speech in the sphere. One point of view is that however much we might not like it, we have to allow it, otherwise the road to loss of freedom is embarked on.

Seems to me that the analogy holds water. And how to ensure the happy day to day lives we'd fight for?

I think it comes down to faith, hope and charity and if everyone did one little bit of this every day, it would kill off any warring madness which possesses our supposed leaders. We could block this stupidity.

Though I'm right behind our armed forces - the men and women who serve - this doesn't alter the fact that they are being used and deployed by cynical people who simply don't care for their welfare or that of the nation.

If all people were continually shown, by repeated example, that a kind act a day was the way, it would starve the warmongers of the oxygen they need to continue.

My little contribution to All Souls Day today.