I am often told that I should not stop admiring the architecture of religious buildings, just because I no longer believe in any god.
Indeed, I do admire the exteriors of some of them - but when I look at the beautiful stonework and the towering spires, what I see is an immensely luminous beacon of mankind's complete and utter folly. These massive and ancient buildings, many of which were carefully crafted over decades - along with the loss of many lives - were built to "glorify" an imaginary supernatural being for whom not one shred of evidence exists.
While many may marvel at the overall beauty of a cathedral, I simply shudder at the gullibility of the human race for believing the weak and unsupportable nonsense which they represent. I look at them and wish that they were used to teach people science, instead of endlessly propagating religious pap.
That's my personal view and I am also too easily tempted to say so, which is why I now completely avoid commenting on the many religious photos which appear regularly on my photo gallery of choice, Panoramio. Better to avoid them rather than inflame them with cynical remarks.
I look at these places - chapels, churches, abbeys, cathedrals, mosques, temples and synagogues - and remind myself that a large proportion of the the world's problems emanate from inside those dark doors, where men in frocks spread their myths and lies and suck in the cash handed over by the gullible flock of sheep.
Religion is a dumbing down of humanity - but each to their own. I just won't be part of it.