Why I’m Not Afraid of Allah
Or Zeus, or Vishnu, or Krishna…
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Anyone who knows me well knows that Supernatural is one of my favorite shows. I’ve watched the entire series enough times that I feel a little sheepish about the whole thing. I made some kind of Supernatural reference the other day, and a friend said, “How can you watch that? Isn’t it scary?”
Well, not really. I mean, the entire premise of the show is fighting monsters and fighting “evil.” But I don’t get scared because I’m not concerned about wraiths or rugarus or “Jefferson Starships” — that’s a Supernatural reference. I’m not angry about djin or Osiris or Bloody Mary. I am not committed to making sure children never read about The Woman in White or leviathan posing as surgeons.
It’s not exactly the same thing, but I am also not afraid of Allah or Vishnu or Zeus…I’m not angry at Krishna for wasting all those free flowers. I don’t really think about Anubis or Odin.
I’m also not afraid of or angry at people who worship Allah…or Vishnu or Set or even their own intangible inner enlightenment. Do I believe that there are dangerous radicals who sometimes do violence? Of course. I remember 9/11. I was a child when Jim Jones’ followers committed mass suicide. I even remember the identical tennis shoes sticking out from under the coverings over the Heaven’s Gate members.
But because I am a thinking person, I do not ascribe the works of those who flew planes into the WTC as general to all Muslims any more than to ascribe the idiocy of Westboro “Baptist Church” as general to all Christians. And, further, because I actually don’t believe that Osiris and Anubis and Odin exist, there is no reason for me to be afraid, angry, or up in arms about them.
There’s a prolific Medium writer who churns out frequent stories through his own publication, and most of them center on how to make the world more atheist. I knew there was something amiss when I noticed one of the articles focused on how dangerous it is that Biden is Catholic. I mean, let’s get real. Biden is the least Catholic Catholic on earth and the least religious person who has likely ever been in office. You really have to have a “God chip” on your shoulder to be afraid of Biden’s brand of religion. And yes, Trump was gross too, and his so-called…