I have a few days off and thought I should put this blog to use..after all, poor Tom went through so much trouble making them available for us :) it's a shame I'm not the sugar coating type of person though cause I'll probably get a lot of shit from my posts.

As amusing as blogging about my daily routine could be, I think I'll leave that for some other time and actually show there is a serious side under all the randomness.I thought I might address some of the common questions I receive like my decision to become agnostic.

My interest in religions begun at a young age, my grandma being the curious person she is, dragged me along into several religions, we started off as christians, moved on to Jehovah's witnesses, Hare Krishna's, Bahais Faith, Catholics and finally I decided to try Buddhism a few years ago. After experiencing most of their beliefs and following their rules I found religions aren't for me, why?, quite frankly most of them are ways to instigate fear into you.Ignoring the fact that nobody was actually there to witness god creating earth, and how religions magically started when we became more rational (humans saw men building tools and houses.. so they associate a bigger man or 'supreme being' had to 'build' this earth) theres tons of reasons I dont like nor believe in religions.I find them a safety net people seem to use to hide themselves from reality, your being told what to do and if you do what they say you should, your future is already planned and you will be safe so that way you don't have to worry about anything or have any responsibility, you dont have to think for yourself which is what scares people, they ask themselves, 'what if I make the wrong decision?', if you find yourself worrying about those questions then religions might be for you, do what they say and you will be okay :)...in theory.

Example, a young child is born into a family, does he have the option in choosing which one? no, do they ask him what religion he wants to follow? nope, the kid can only believe in what ever his/her parents believe in, now if the whole god thing is true that means theres only one true religion and the rest are all bull, so the people believing in the wrong religion are going to hell and dragging the poor innocent kid with them, if you ask me thats a form of child abuse lol your condemning your kid into believing something that most likely will send him to burn in hell (same way your parents did with you), what makes people so sure theirs is the right one and the hundreds of others are all wrong? We don't choose our parents so we should atleast be allowed to choose our religion.

Everyone seems to accept what they tell them without actually questioning it, according to Christians (and many other religions) Adam and Eve were the first people on earth, so basically they populated the world, ignoring the fact that their kids had to have incest sex (which i think goes against the bible in the first place) can someone explain why some came out white, black, yellow and brown?  maybe the food had fetus dye back then, who knows.. anyway back to paradise... The first time they told me the reason why Adam and Eve were kicked out of paradise I was astound, I was at catholic school and they said it was cause they ate a fruit from the 'Tree of the Knowledge', why would god forbid them from that tree? did he want them to be stupid? and why do we all have to inheit their sin? it was their mistake and we all have to pay for it :| we could be all be in paradise right now drinking pina coladas...god must be one resentful control freak...isn't he the one that says forgive and forget?

Then there is all the stories that seems out of a fairy tale book, Noah who got a pair of each animal...uh huh..lol I dont think thats possible even now with modern transportation and fit them into an ark.My favorite ones are from Jesus who has so much power and yet decided to do a simple task as is turning water into wine hahaha 'Hi, my name is Jesus...I'm an alcoholic...'

I never liked how Jesus is always portrayed in the cross, it's like their trying to constantly remind you he died for your sins :| work on your guilt, why isn't there many happy portrays of him? its so depressing.. crucified from the palms? a nail through your palms and feet wouldn't be able to hold a full grown man..it would rip the fragile cartilage there.

The banning of contraceptives, so many people in poor countries (seems like the poor still believe in God even if he isn't doing much for them...what else have they got I guess) dying from AIDS and STD's just because a religion condemns them use of a rubber is just wrong, having priests take votes of celibacy so they take out their sexual frustration on little boys, it won't hurt anyone letting the priest get laid heck it might even help him solve your problems better when you go to confession.The fact that there is no female priests is quite sexest, I'd be confessing sins all day if there was a chick in the box...but you can still have fun in there though: 'Forgive me father for I have sinned, I have had homosexual fantasies about you.' 'ermm ummmm pray ten ave maria's, I need to go nowww!...'

Sins are the best part, we are expected to behave and follow the ten commandments based on the idea there is a heaven, so what happens if there isn't? you have wasted the only real life you have had in hopes of expecting something from the future, I'd rather live in the present and enjoy what I know is a sure thing :P I should start praying though...In my early teens I prayed for a motorbike...nothing ever happened, so I called some friends we stole a few and I prayed for forgiveness instead...(if your going to do a crime do it big and make it worth it, the 300 pound biker in your cell won't care if your in for pick pocketing or bank robbing all he knows is he has someone to spoon tonight). It's funny how everyone prays and prays, I know its easy to dump your problems, hopes and dreams on someone else 'god' and pray he makes it all better or come true, but I'd  rather be more realistic and take matters into my own hands, after all... we all have to grow up and stop asking our parents for help at some stage, doesn't that apply to our 'father' as well? don't you think god is annoyed listening to so many selfish people asking for help and strength (then throwing in a 'oh and world peace' request every now and again even though religions were/are the cause of most wars in the first place).I think ideology is a very very risky thing, it's way worse than any drug...sure drugs can get you to steal or kill someone to feed your addiction but a religious or even political ideology is way worse, it can get people to put bombs in places and kill 5,000 of their fellow human beings just because someone had the idea to write that in a holy book :S.Ideologies are everywhere though not only in religions, I've tried to stop being an idealistic but it's very hard, to stop being an idealist you must first not have any ideas at all but that itself is a contradiction, your having the idea to tell yourself to not have any ideas at all, it's like a dog chasing it's tale.

I'm going to start a campaign to ban religious people from being incarcerated...I mean if they are going to suffer in hell when they die, why should we punish them in this life? let the serial killers and rapist go and the devil will take it from there.But no, cops do a good job, I'm not exactly the biggest rule follower but I respect policemen, I don't understand why everyone calls them pigs, filth ect...sure there's some bad apples but usually when your in a car accident or some axe murderer is decapitating your families heads, who are the ones helping you out? Besides...if you get caught its your own fault, may the best player of the cat and mouse game win, if there weren't any cops, doing rebellious things would lose its risk/thrill charm.

Don't get me started on the whole miracle thing, and the 'signs' hahaha, God is suppose to be like the supreme of everything yet to demonstrate his incredible abilities he makes the face of his son Jesus appear in a slice of bread? or an old wall..? or maybe your convinced more with the eye of Lady Of Guadalupe.... what is he like 12, isn't he a bit to old for practical jokes lol ? guess he has nothing better to do.
I know I'm being a bit cold here by analyzing everything with logic...us rationals sometimes diss religious people for their views and ideas of a God to feel they have some control over their lives and futures when they die, but we do the same thing, by analyzing everything rationally and trying to find a logical explanation about how or why things happen to feel somewhat more relieved/secure we trick ourselves into believe "know" why and therefore our minds stop asking.

I always wondered how the 72 virgins thing worked, Muslim terrorist believe they are motivated by the Koran to fight all the non believers, if they do and go to heaven, 72 virgins will be waiting for them (not in the koran but mentioned by Muhammad in a Hadith).My guess is that fathers of virgin girls tell them 'princess, you can never have sex for you must save your cherry so a terrorist can pop it (or blow it up, it's optional..)'.And what has started worrying me even more, if the bomber is a female, she would get 72 male virgins...should I be worried? :S
I'm afraid to answer the telephone now just in case they try and recruit me to be one of them virgins :.., actually I'm just generally afraid of telephones...I get all nervous and confused on them, for me it's like sea sickness...you get dizzy cause your inner eat feels movement but your eyes see nothing, on the phone I get anxious cause my ears hear someone but my ears see no one.

Sins remind me of Santa, 'be good sweety or you won't get any presents from Santa..' I was always told that, one day I thought to myself, 'lets see, 364 days a year of being good for one day of fun and pressies or be a naughty boy skip the presents but have a fun awesome time all year around...' decisions decisions...
I'm proud of my sins!, when Jesus was crucified there was a thief on each cross next to him, one thief started regretting everything that he had done and started asking Jesus for forgiveness, the other however didn't say word...he hang there and accepted his punishment like a man, whats the point of being a coward when you've already done the bad deeds? it's shameful really to start something with evil intentions and trying to take it back once you see its going wrong :S.
So then I started asking myself...why do people read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older? and it suddenly occured to me, they are cramming for their 'finals'. :)

Monks annoy me...what makes them any different from business men? They basically give up their lives, hair, clothing, processions and own will to behave like saints in exchange for enlightenment or to enter heaven...so it's basically a business transaction, I give you all this if you open the gates of heaven in return...
IM GOING TO HELL, yeah, I know, but rationally speaking, hell is a much more interesting place, who goes to heaven? most of them are goody two shoes who follow rules and lead a dull boring un adventurous life...I might be tortured bent over geting pineapples shoved up my ass (includes rotation) with Joseph Stalin next to me for hours, but just because they're bad and evil doesn't mean there not interesting characters...and if the whole 'God is watching' you thing is true, the least we owe our great creator is some entertainment worth for his money.I find it funny though that to go to heaven they actually bury your body 6 ft closer to hell :S.

Religion is spirituality for dummies, you're told what to do no questions asked.'Oh but Mr Matthew, I found the lord and he has showed me the way...' - 'did that drunk bastard get lost again? (thats the right word right? when your parents conceive you without getting married?)' You know what? I feel sorry for Jesuses 4 brothers (Matthew 13:55), can you imagine living under that shadow lol? 'mum mum I found a cure for cancer...' 'pfftt your brother was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities and died for our sins!' By the way, why does Jesus get so much glory, aren't we all gods children? oh wait wait thats right, he gets special treatment cause the rest of us are all his illegitimate kids..whoops! Wow this post is humongous,

I guess I should get to the point, we cannot mass change everybody, we can only change ourselves and hope others will come to the realization thats the right thing to do.I do respect peoples own beliefs and actually like most religious folks and get along with them really well cause some of them are the nicest and sweetest people I have ever met and have great moral values,  it's also nice to see the unity it creates (even if its just in between their own) but don't try and force your beliefs on me and I shall correspond in the same manner.

Thought of the day: I should smile more in pictures huh? it's not that I'm a sad or emo person lol clearly you can see that from all the quirkyness in my head but I never liked being hypocritical and smiling for no reason, I smile and laugh when I find something funny or amusing but if you put a camera in front of me just like that...my smile comes out looking forced and fake.

Matty

PS: For a fun time watch Life of Bryan if you haven't already ;)