Don�t get me wrong, I am not trying to cause offence or tarring all religious people with the same brush here. Plenty of religious people are lovely, I have no doubt. Hell, some of my best friends are religious.

But when a rabid Christian lobbying organisation intimidates a cancer charity into refusing a �10,000 donation, that�s the point when I really start to wonder about the whole bloody thing. (This is, you�ll be unsurprised to hear, the same maniacs who kicked up such a fuss over the broadcast of Jerry Springer: The Opera that BBC executives ended up receiving death threats, and who also have links to Robert Kilroy-Silk�s Veritas party.) Hat tip to Harry�s Place.

I really don�t understand the attraction of religion. I mean, most of us have given up on the idea of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny by the time we�ve hit double figures, right? As nice an idea as they no doubt are, they�re simply not very believable, when you get down to it.

�Behave yourself and Santa will give you pressies; be naughty, you won�t get any.� After a few years, you start to think � hang on, I�ve never actually SEEN this Santa chap, have I? This is all a scam, isn�t it? Yet so many of us still maintain our faith in that other great scam: �behave yourself and God will let you into Heaven; be naughty and you�ll go to Hell.� Yeah. Riiiiight. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Etc.

Anyway, the point is, what�s so wonderful about this God chap that so many people are prepared to cause so many other people so much grief and hassle in His name? And if He does exist, do they really think He�d approve of all their self-righteous bullshit? If the old beardy bloke is knocking around up there somewhere, I think it’s time for a few of those old thunderbolts we used to hear so much about. Time to get all Old Testament on their arses – they’re taking Thy name in vain, old son. (Oh, and while you’re at it, a cure to all diseases and a spot of World Peace wouldn’t go amiss – you are all-powerful, after all… It’s about bloody time, don’t you think? Cheers.)

Enter the Comments section, stage right, hoards of offended Christians utterly missing the point and asking me whether I seriously think this is worse than Islamic suicide bombers, no doubt�