Given all the nutcases that give religion a bad name with rampant misogyny, oppressive man made rules, and all the killings in the name of God, I concluded the world would be better off without religion.

After further reflection, I saw a flaw in my logic. I saw religion with its promises of heavens and warnings of hells keeps legions of people in line who might otherwise behave badly with no carrot stick danging from the heavens, no imaginary devil awaiting them in hell.

But, I pondered, in spite of the rewards and punishments you have religious lunatics killing people in the names of their gods, and fundamentalists controlling people with unyielding legalism and underhanded guilt tactics. So I reached a damned if you do damned if you don't impasse in my conclusions. And still I wonder if a world without religions would behave any better than the one with religions we have now?

Though I know not the answer, I'd like to give it a try. I'd like to see humankind behaving at its best without having to be bribed with rewards and forced with fears. I'd like to see humankind evolve into what you glimpse in its highest and purest examples. The selfless acts of love and everyday kindnesses uncorrupted by scoring points and winning souls.

Heard on NPR today Al-Qaeda has wealthy funders who envision an Islamic super state. They believe God is on their side so no matter what they do it's kosher in the heavens. Thus they keep pumping a seemingly inexhaustible supply of money into the wholesale proliferation of global terror.

This got me thinking about the "God save me from your followers," and why so many of them have been so fucked up. What gives? Doesn't God care about bad public relations or wild-eyed, nut jobs claiming affiliations?

Excuse me, but if you were a vast business empire, a god compared to your competitors, and you hired a super jock to promote your goods and he screwed up, say he killed a couple of people, wouldn't you cut him lose and do damage control? Wouldn't that be the sensible thing to do?

So, I say, why doesn't the All Mighty cut loose all the deranged fanatics who have killed and oppressed people "in God's name"? A few lightning bolts would eliminate the crazies and save thousands of innocent lives. Or, how about a non-violent approach: God gets inside their heads, tweaks their violent ambitions, melts their bombs and retools them into Ghandis.

P.S. Of course you have the "humans have free will response," i.e,; God lets people screw up, blah, blah, blah. What about the free will of all the innocent victims from today stretching back to the Inquisition and, doubtlessly, to the beginnings of religions. Of course, if you don't believe in a God, it's all pointless. No power exists in the imaginary heavens to stop the nonsense, and that's why it continues unchecked and unstopped, and probably will until the hate mongers and the fanatics obliterate the planet and our species in a nuclear holocaust.

I recall after 9/11 when people expressed surprise the terrorists had college degrees, as if going to college made you street smart. Cults target college students because they are often easy prey to exotic dogma. Cults brainwash many college grads. Book smart. Street dumb. Fooled by flim flam, marinated in pretty words. Mesmerized by nonsense dressed in fancy clothes. In other words, dumbed down in spite of their higher learning. Just like the terrorists with their religion drilled into their heads, their reasoning fried in religious verbiage, baked in hate. Their minds dumbed down.

I don't believe in personal gods, per se. I believe in something like a Force. Maybe like the Taoist Tao.

It would not surprise me, however, if that Force could morph. Say sincere and devoted primitive people believed a mountain was lord of the universe. And, say, they prayed to that mountain day and night. I think the Force, if it thinks, would honor their devotions. I think it's possible the devotees would see their mountain god in dreams and visions, courtesy of the Force.

Of course, I could be wrong. The group belief of the primitive worshipers could conjure up imaginary experiences and imaginary beliefs working up to camp fire stories about the bogus mountain god. As the primitive people evolved and the stories became more embellished a holy book could be penned based on the stories which would be nothing more than fairy tales. Yet, those held sacred stories would probably be staunchly believed. I can envision wars fought over those beliefs with nonbelievers. And, perhaps a few heretics roasted in fires of condemnation for blasphemy.

Where have I heard this story before?