Friday, June 19, 2009

Priest labeled a hero after pulling a man from a burning-car.


I’m a stipler for manners with my children.

They are taught manners, to respect their elders, to admire achievers in society and ignore the knockers – above all ‘make their own decisions’ in life.


The other day as I passed my local church on the way to the pool, I got to wondering, why is it a priest or any other man of God, deserves anymore adulation than say a school-teacher, or for that matter a rubbish collector?

For the record, my first job was the later.

So, why should anyone give respect to a ‘man of the cloth’?

We don’t see people postulate in front of school-teachers do we?

Businessmen normally, don’t beg for mercy amongst their peers.

The vast majority of the public respect police-staff, but when you analyse their anointed positions, a policeman is merely a civilian with more rights.

Police in this country often have to put themselves at risk.

Just last month one constable was labeled a hero for dragging two people from a burning-car, under high-risk of injury and even death.

We don’t see teachers or any other professionals as free physiologists – but, apparently priests and ministers of the cloth are automatically qualified to act in this fashion?

Given these individuals have no more powers than a witch-doctor, and by & large less life-experiences than your generic bone-thrower or entrail reader – they are frankly far less deserving of any adulation based on merit, than say a fireman.

So when someone dies, do we go looking for answers from say a fireman?

Does The Head of The Fire Brigade issue a statement on sex-education in school?

Who gives a minister, pastor etc the right to not just hear peoples ‘issues’, but to treat them as if they were qualified to perform this duty?

From a believers perspective, is there any evidence a priest/minister/pastor/mullah etc has ‘magic’ that is some-how stronger than any other person, who can pray & believes in suppositious intervention?

I for one fail to see why normally intelligent people, ‘go weak at the knees’ in the company of ‘men of the cloth’ – it’s cringe worthy and pathetic in the extreme.

Adults acting like 13 year old girls at a Boy-Band Concert.

It’s a public admission that person is weak and easily lead.

Anyone who thinks a minister of the church is by rights worthy of umbrage - suffers some sort of character-flaw or is brainwashed.

Wake-up!

These ‘men of the cloth’ are not worthy of any social status, yet our papers are full of their demands every-time they feel they have been aggrieved by secular life.

Ministers/Priests/Mullahs/Bishops/Pastors etc are all leeches, who hide behind the broad-brush term ‘respect’ as some sort of automatic shield against criticism.

Despite the fact they serve no real function in modern-society – some-how we should all respect them - believers and un-believers alike.

These bludgers exploit on the benevolence of the week-willed and gullible.

They are added by a tax-system which gives them historic privileges that are demeaning to anyone with a grasp of reality.

It’s time they got a real job.




3 comments:

Efrique said...

Interesting post.

however, there's a typo at the start:

Unless you literally speckle your children with dots of paint, you probably meant "I'm a stickler for manners" rather than "I'm a stipler for manners"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stippling

vs

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stickler

Canterbury Atheists said...

Hi therem

Cripes, what is it - Paul’s Day for literary criticism?

I’ve just had another guy tell me, I’ve put one too may commas in a 250 word blog, which breaks the continuity of one sentence!

Bloody-hell, are all the English teachers home today from school, due to pig-flu?

This isn’t exactly the front page of The New York Times.

For the record, I’m dyslexic and proud of it!

Expect more spellos, which I’ve long since given-up worrying-about.

As it happens I’m writing a book, so I’ll know where to send the proof for checking.

Gotta go.

Paul

BeamStalk said...

Hey Paul,

Ignore the English majors.

I play basketball with a guy I would consider a friend. He does not know I am an atheist though, most people I know don't know my religious beliefs because I live in the Bible Belt. His "job" is Youth Pastor at a local church. I constantly ask him when he is going to get a real job. He just laughs and thinks I am joking.