When it comes to reading words on a screen, it is often difficult to understand a person's true meaning because there is no intonation or body language.

Bear that in mind as you read on......

Religious people in general hate being asked questions about their belief or faith. The probable truth is that they themselves have no answer, preferring instead to adopt the blind faith attitude and the 'God Works In Mysterious Ways', stock-standard reply.

But let's pose a question. Let's pose a question that in reality has already been snubbed as being ridiculous, yet I would argue that with a little deeper thought, it would never qualify for the stock-standard answer.

Christianity teaches that if we are a good person, we will go to heaven. If we are evil and rotten and nasty, then we will go to hell where we will be punished by the devil, who we all know as being the most evil of all.

So my question is simple. If we are evil and rotten and nasty and we go to hell, why would the devil punish us? Surely we are one of his 'boys' - right?

At my granddaughter's christening party, the priest actually got up and left the room when I posed that question. I don't know to this day if he left in disgust, shame, or simply because the question was too difficult. I prefer to believe it was the latter, lol.

Then there is that talk of Islamic suicide bombers who 'martyr' themselves in order to be surrounded in heaven by 70 virgins. WTF?

If I was one of those guys then there's no way I would be causing inconvenience by blowing myself up unless I was guaranteed a couple of coke-snorting, big-titted whores. What the hell is one supposed to do with 70 virgins for the whole of eternity?

But therein lies the problem. We either accept religious teachings without question, or reject them on the basis of no proof.

I am certain that there are people reading this forum who are religious, and I genuinely don't want to insult their pea-brains.

But know this. Going to church on a Sunday morning to clap hands and sing a few songs does NOT make you a good person. It may make you feel good, and it may make you feel uplifted. For that, I am happy. In the sad, sad world in which we live, everyone should be encouraged to find happiness wherever they can. Just don't try to convince me to join you, that's all.

Either way, most of us are FT's so we are all going to end up stoking the fire with TC operators anyway.

Good reading that; food for thought. As for why should the devil punish us when we are one of his boys? I imagine that it doesn't cut any ice with him that we try and emulate him and that he gets pleasure inflicting pain on good and bad alike. No high-fives or slaps on the back from Satin I think.