Joe Hill on Religion

[MineralMan]

Practical lessons about theism and its victims:

[safeinOhio]

1. Great Union song

[MineralMan]

2. Yes, but it goes far beyond labor issues.

Pie in the sky is all that religion has to offer. Your reward comes after you're dead. How nice, eh? In the meantime, follow the rules and don't expect anything. When you're dead, things will be better. Now, empty your wallet onto this plate...

[safeinOhio]

3. Only if you work hard

and can only eat hay.

[Major Nikon]

5. Basically a rephrasing of "opium of the people"

Organized religion is and always has been a control mechanism. Once you convince someone you speak for a higher power, you can get them to do just about anything from hating people you hate to blowing themselves up on a crowded bus.

[Bretton Garcia]

6. Religion, Christianity, begins with terroristic threats

And false promises.

Then it moves on to actual terrorism, killings.

[Magoo48]

4. Sinnas, put yo han on yo radio! Put yo utha han on yo wallet....

First heard it when I was quite small. Thousands of variations, of course—but the objective hasn’t changed at all.

[safeinOhio]

8. From History dot com

onvicted of murder on meager evidence, the singing Wobbly Joe Hill is sentenced to be executed in Utah.

A native of Sweden who immigrated to the U.S. in 1879, Joe Hill joined the International Workers of the World (IWW) in 1910. The IWW was an industrial union that rejected the capitalist system and dreamed one day of leading a national workers’ revolution. Members of the IWW–known as Wobblies–were especially active in the western United States, where they enjoyed considerable success in organizing mistreated and exploited workers in the mining, logging, and shipping industries.

Beginning in 1908, the IWW began encouraging its membership to express their beliefs through song. The IWW published its Little Red Song Book, otherwise known as the I.W.W. Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent. A few years later, the witty and handsome Joe Hill became one of the Wobblies’ leading singers and songwriters. Hill composed many of the IWW’s best-loved anthems, including “The Preacher of the Slave” which introduced the phrase “pie in the sky.” By 1915, Hill was one of the most famous Wobblies in the

[guillaumeb]

9. What about the many victims of the Chinese totalitarians?

Or should we ignore them?

And then I explain to him how naïve we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.
When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.

http://eliewieselfoundation.org/elie-wiesel/nobelprizespeech/

[MineralMan]

10. What about what?

For pete's sake, Guy. This thread was about a specific thing. It is not an omnibus thread. You can look up the meaning of "omnibus" if you're unclear on that.