i hate religious people who won't leave me alone. the worst ones are those who keep pressing the topic of going to hell. hell is a part of believing in the christian/catholic, etc. religion and, if one does not believe in the existence of hell, then it does not apply. this section of raves and rants is from personal experience.

FANATICS
religious fanatics both scare the hell out of me and piss me the fuck off. let me define religious fanatic versus religious person. a religious fanatic believes whole-heartedly in their beliefs in god/christ/jehova and devotes every waking moment to worship and the CONVERSION of all other humans who are weak enough to convert into their system of belief. a religious person will worship on their own time and respect everyone else no matter what their beliefs. they will not actively pursue conversion of other people to their beliefs.

a fanatic will briefly listen (impatiently) to a person who tries to explain that they believe differently and then will cut that person off, saying that he is wrong and that if he does not convert to save his soul immediately, that he will forever be damned to some hell of flames and torture. i have been approached many times while working and on the sidewalks while riding my bike to or from work by religious fanatics. they walk up to me at work and i sk them if i could help them and they say something like, "would you like to come to our bible study group this wednesday? we would really like you to be there." THIS IS THE PISSER-OFFER! first of all, i do not know this person and secondly, i do not believe as they do. to me the bible is a horrible remake of the sumerian texts of gods and miracles and visits from aliens who are worshiped as gods. but what can i do? if i am working on the clock, i represent my employer in anything and everything that i do and say. if i tell the fanatic off, i might get yelled at or lose my job... my retail job is located in a store that is one of two cornerstone base stores in a outdoor strip mall. on the entrance doors of every store are small white stickers about three inches square with fine print that says "NO SOLICITATION IN THE MALL" and then the penalties of solicitation, which range from fines to prosecution. my usual response to a fanatic when approached in my store on the job is "there is no solicitation allowed in this store." the problem is how people define "solicitation."

solicitation is the invitation to attend or buy or donate time or money to some cause that the solicitor is partial to in one way or another. this encompases selling of something or requesting someone to go somewhere at a certain time or place, as well as requests to join a certin sect of religion. i call it a sect for two reasons: calling it a cult is not exactly accurate, even though i occasionally call it that, and the word sect is merely another sysnonym/abbreviation of section.

anyway, there are religious fanatics throughout the world, from jehovas witnesses to mormons to the everyday southern baptist. these people really need to get a clue as to the laws of this country. article one of the constitution of the united states quotes: "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." truly this means that the untied states government cannot recognise any specific religion nor prohibit any beliefs that are freely exercised. most of the religious groups out there are always looking for methods to recruit more members into their sect. more than fifty percent of all wars in the history of human life on earth were fought over who was right in the religious truths. i say that they're all a bunch of raving loonies!