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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Commentary Home page  back Print  Send To friend Red Rag column - The Hater in Heaven - Yom Kippur By: Gideon Spiro 10 October 2016 (English translation 17 October 2017) The Hater in heaven The Haaretz supplement conducted a survey of Knesset Members to see which of them believe in God and which do not. Seventy of them believe in God, about 40 refused to answer, and 9 saintly MKs “confessed” that they do not believe in God. God is one of the most sophisticated inventions ever produced by a group of human beings, people with a macabre sense of humour. Since they invented him, they have succeeded in soaking humanity in myths about his unlimited power and his being the maker of the universe and the creator of human beings. Since his power is great and he is omnipotent, it is but natural that those immersed in religious faith pray to he who is also known as the Almighty, and believe that the prayers will be effective one way or another. Yom Kippur plays a supreme role in this brainwashing. This holiday is an ingenious invention that through trickery and self-deception has conquered even people who might have been expected to perceive the fraud. In my 81 years in this world I have never met one person who, as a result of the ceremony of forgiveness and the fast on Yom Kippur, underwent a purification process and became a better person. Those who beg forgiveness on Yom Kippur go right back to their old ways the next day. The thief continues to steal, the plunderer continues to plunder and the fraudster continues to defraud. The settler continues to steal the land of others, the banker continues to plunder depositors’ money, the human resources agencies continue to exploit their workers and the ministers of the government continue to deceive and mislead. God hates human beings. He did not stand by the Jewish and Roma victims of the Holocaust. He did not stand by the Cambodians who were murdered by the Khmer Rouge. He did not stand by the Vietnamese who were killed by the Americans. He has ignored the Palestinians for 50 years of Israeli rule. He is indifferent to the fate of the residents of Aleppo in Syria, who are being bombed every day. He has not put an end to war. He abhors Indigenous Americans. He has no mercy on the slaughtered residents of Darfur, he has shown indifference to the fate of the victims of the Armenian Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda. But he is very good to tycoons. The list is long and spreads over hundreds of years. And from this cruel creature we ask forgiveness? At the same time, Yom Kippur plays another significant role that is not connected to God. A first-rate ecological role of purifying the air of the poisons we breathe throughout the year. [1] I recommend implementing the ecological role of Yom Kippur once a month. What we do not do, God will not do for us. Translator’s note 1. Most Jews do not drive on Yom Kippur, and so the streets of Israel’s biggest cities are virtually empty of vehicles on that day. There are also no flights over Israel on Yom Kippur. Translated from Hebrew for Occupation Magazine by George Malent gm Links to the latest articles in this section Three weeks into the Gaza War - a somber and sober assessment, with some historical perspectives Israelis, Palestinians, Gaza, Hamas - trying to preserve sanity Gush Shalom: The UN decision is a very necessary message to Israel’s extreme right-wing government