Saturday, September 6, 2014

And we wonder why religion exists

People will believe any stupid thing if it promises life after death. So it's not surprising that we're all going to be treated to a new show for idiots, called "Angels Among Us".
Forget the crystal ball and tarot cards.

All Rosie Cepero needs to communicate with someone's guardian angel is a message from beyond – even if it comes to her while shopping at a party store.

In an exclusive first look at Angels Among Us – a new TLC series premiering Sunday and focusing on Cepero's special ability to communicate with angels – the upstate New York wife and mother moves an employee to tears as she relays a message from the young staffer's beloved grandfather.

"He says, 'It's okay, you can indulge in ice cream,' " Cepero tells the employee, Caroline, while holding a package of plastic cups.

Caroline cried as she told Cepero how she recently found an old birthday card from her now-deceased grandfather that included that very message, nearly word for word.

Later, Cepero stroked Caroline's hand in a way the employee said was eerily reminiscent of her grandfather.

"It was almost like his spirit was in her body and he was trying to touch me and talk to me," Caroline told the cameras afterwards. 
And of course this gem is on the "Learning" Channel, where we, uh, learn things. Most of the things are incorrect -- but learning is learning. Amirite? Who cares if it's nonsense? It makes people feel good and that's all that matters. Life is just a big ice cream cone, and we get to slurp on it even after we're dead and rotting in the grave. Hallelujah!

Things like this tell us clearly why religion exists. People are so illogical, so prone to swallowing fairy tales whole, that they will literally believe anything. That there are demons all around us? Check. That there is a King of all Gods, living eternally in a really cool place that we can visit once we, you know, die? Check. That there is Someone watching everything we do or say or think -- and grading us on it? Check.

Ghosts are real, witches are real, the devil is real. Check, check, check. Even if you make up a new god, lots of people will rush on over and believe in it -- if it promises great Cracker Jack prizes after we, you know, die.

It's hopeless, it really is. The hairless monkeys of Earth aren't ready for prime time -- and apparently, they never will be. We've got this flaw, you see. And it's a big one.