Religion and Killing: A Long and Illustrious Relationship

Killing is dreadfully important to religious people. This seems ironic, when one considers their injunctions against murder and their calls to peace and harmony.

When you really stop to think about it and look around you, though, you’ll find that religion and killing go hand in hand. From ancient human and animal sacrifices to modern-day suicide bombers and Mel Gibson fantasies, faith thirsts for blood.

In the latest installment of this not-so-venerable tradition, 21-year-old American student Amanda Knox has been accused by Italian authorities of having murdered her British housemate in a satanic ritual. Prosecutors paint a grisly and macabre scenario, “with Amanda […] first touching Meredith with the point of a knife, then slitting her throat”, while some guy pinned her down and “tried to sexually penetrate her.”

Happy Good Friday! Is this Filipino devout or deranged?

I can just see good Christians the world over shaking their heads at this news and lamenting the ills of satanism. Oh, gee. Another one bites the dust.

Satanism per se is not the problem here. It is Religion in General. No one should tisk what Knox has allegedly done in the name of her religion, without recalling the ritual human sacrifice allegedly performed by no less upstanding a citizen than Yahweh himself (on his own son, remember). And this is a murder that is celebrated around the world every Good Friday!

So give Amanda a break. As Jesus said, “Be bloodthirsty, as your father in heaven is bloodthirsy.” Or something like that.