Text of a letter I wrote to the Sunday Herald newspaper in response to an article by Muriel Gray:
Sir
I congratulate Muriel Gray for her Enlightened article on the subject of religion. I, along with many others (probably the silent majority in Scotland) agree that it's time for an end to the "religious garbage" with which we are constantly force fed.
I am exasperated that so many 21st Century humans still cling to such misguided and wholly superstitious notions. Let's take the idea of original sin as an example. This is a favourite of the Free Presbyterian miscreants who have so adeptly scarred the minds of generations of my forebears. Original sin holds that you are damned from birth. I'm actually not quite sure at what specific point the damning begins. Is it from conception or is there an implicit damning of the upstart sperm and egg involved in the foul act? Regardless, what a cruel notion this is. To damn a child from birth. Just think about it. How could a child brought up with this belief live with it? Some choose not to.
I have sat through Free Presbyterian funerals and endured the frothing tirades of the "ministers" against the sinning deceased. The deceased is not even granted a name. This particular strand of religious belief has almost died out. I name it and welcome its passing.
Bringing a child up to believe in any form of god is child abuse because it is morally wrong and mentally damaging. State sanction of this through provision of "faith schools" is abhorrent. We should condemn all political parties that shamelessly curry favour with "faith communities" by promising them more of these institutions.
I actually like the the term "Brights" because it is a label that demands a reaction. The religious believe that they are also "enlightened", whereas a "Bright" knows that religion is a cloak of darkness smothering thought and knowledge.
We don't need schools of "Brightness" or "Enlightenism" or whatever we choose to call it; children have an inbuilt brightness and curiosity which we should cherish and foster. What we need is an end to religion, and we can begin the process in Scotland by ending the breeding grounds of intolerance we call faith schools.
