Cretins in expensive jogging outfits.

One woman in a $50 jogging top and bra ensemble and expensive shorts, both designed to “wick away” the sweat from her wet skin.

She was jogging the day the bridge fell down. She and a group of others had just run underneath the bridge when she heard the” boom” of the collapse. She said it sounded like an explosion. She figured maybe it had something to do with fixing the bridge. So she turned around and saw a 1,000 feet of concrete and steel plunge into the Mississippi River. She saw cars tilted face down and trucks flipping thru the air, landing on other vehicles. A school bus dangled over the edge of the mess, just a hundred yards away.

So what did this brave, civic-minded athlete do to help save those whose lives hung by a slim piece of supportive re-bar? She formed a prayer group. As men and women and children screamed, Little Miss Religious Nitwit asked those around her to come together in prayer. Some of those near her took off immediately, leaping onto the busted concrete to reach out to anyone who could grab their hand or arm and be pulled to safety. One kid on board the school bus helped the kids get out the back door and off the bridge. Several weeks prior to this he had to drop out of school because he couldn’t afford the tuition. He got a job driving school buses. Now there’s a fund being put together to help him complete his education. He was a hero. He could have jumped from the driver’s seat as the bus wagged back and forth over the river. Instead he helped all the kids to safety.

Meanwhile, Little Miss Prayer Group had gathered a few of the faithful and while others unselfishly put their mortality on the line helping survivors off the bridge, these dutiful, cowardly righteous folk held hands and prayed to Jesus. “Oh Jesus, please let these people live even though we stand here in thy presence doing nothing.”

That’s why religion sickens me. It’s the refuge of the cowardly and the fearful and the guilt ridden. And when it comes to actually saving lives, reaching out and arm or a hand to help someone from a sudden and unexpected rush hour into hell, they’d rather stand around and show the Lord how faithful they are by doing nothing except muttering prayerful gibberish.

The idea that there are no atheists in a foxhole is true. They’re out there on the battlefield. The only ones in the foxhole are the religious cowards making their so-called “peace with their maker” a priority before they’re blown to bits. I don’t know if the skateboarder in the slip on Van skateboarding shoes believes in God, but I do know that this kid put his life on the line and surfed down the side of a steep section of highway sticking up in the air to help pull several people up the incline.

But I do know this. Jesus wouldn’t stand around and form a prayer group. He’d rush in and start getting people out of cars that were about to go under. He wouldn’t bother asking his “Father in Heaven” for help when he knew he could extend the grace of the Lord by doing the right thing himself. He wouldn’t waste his time placing his hands on the heads of the injured in a mystical attempt to suture their wounds. And He wouldn’t be asking for “personal redemption” as the leader of the prayer group did. For what purpose that phrase was inserted, I have no idea. Maybe it was a plea for the redemption of not doing a goddamned thing to help those in need of a joggers fitness to climb around on the debris and help those whose lives slipped away under the murk of the Mississippi.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Stuff I know. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.