People who've known me for a while, know that I am no fan of religion. I'm about as nonbelieving as one can be. It all strikes me as total bunk. Christianity. Hinduism. Islam. Judaism. Untruthful crap heap of lies, myths, and sometimes decent, but mostly despicable moral dogma.

Yet, often times when discussing my dearth of faith in faith with my more liberal friends, I'm urged to "be respectful" or "try and sympathize" with those who subscribe to a religion. And, being the pussyfooting liberal that I am, I do sometimes.

But, then some days I wake up and read a story like this in the paper: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/12/MNG8TMU1KQ1.DTL

Here, let me spoil it for you. Apparently, there is a violent video game out there based on the wildly popular Left Behind series where players are urged to go out and "convert" nonbelievers to Christianity. Failing that, they gun them down, because those infidels must be agents of the Anti-Christ.

Now, what bothers me most about this game is the fact that it's sure to be - like the book series it's based upon - a runaway bestseller. And not because it's a good game. (It got an abysmally bad 3.4 out 10 rating from GameSpot.com) But because millions and millions of Americans out there believe the ridiculous nonsense behind the game's concept. Millions of Christians didn't buy the Left Behind books to be entertained, but rather to steal a glance at the future they are absolutely positive is in store for humankind.

Many Christian and Jewish groups saw the invasion of Iraq as a necessary precursor for the Rapture as foretold in Revelations. Far from wanting to avoid war, death, and destruction, they see it as necessary to bring about the Apocalypse and send them to a life of eternal bliss while the rest of burn in Hell's fires.

It's unbelievably disturbing! To think that people who whole heartedly believe this crap are out there - Everywhere! Running businesses or nonprofits or our country! Reading Good Magazine!

This level of delusion is dangerous and disturbing. This is why we must not politely avoid challenging religious lies. These lies are shaping the minds of the people shaping our world, and no good can come of that. As Gunter Grass once wrote: "The job of a good citizen is to keep their mouth open."