Words by me

To a child, a church’s pointed steeple can look a lot like a rocket. I know this because my son excitedly points them out, shouting, “ROCKIT!”.

I thought this was very sweet, and I gently explained that the ‘rocket’ was actually a building, a building called a ‘church’.

Then it occurred to me how very different churches are from rockets.

Rockets are used to power our exploration of space, to seek out new frontiers and to answer the mysteries of our world.

Churches, and the religions they house, are relics of fear and superstition. Religions are places to hide from the big questions as well as systems for dodging our fear of death.

Of course, rockets are also used to carry warheads. But we all know religion’s chequered past when it comes to making war.