Caught Like Monkeys

The Canadian Atheist, Quarterly Newsletter, Issue 9, Winter 1996/97, Page 6

There was program on TV recently showing how people in Africa catch monkeys with a wire cage and some bananas. The wire grid of the cage is just large enough for the monkeys to get their hands through. The cage is placed upside-down on the ground with the bananas inside. When a monkey reaches in and takes hold of a banana, it cannot get its hand back out again while holding onto the banana. At this point the trappers can walk right up to the dumbfounded monkey and throw a sack over it. The monkey will not let go of the banana in order to escape capture.

Well, we just couldn't resist making this analogy: The monkeys are theists and the bananas are life-after-death, all the-answers-in-one-book, an imaginary super-father companion. The cage is the place of worship and the captors are the priests and mullahs who stand to profit from their catch.

Like those ill-fated monkeys, theists refuse to let go of the bait and they have lost their freedom.