Some years back I did an online course in religion on God – is there one?  I was struck by the venom in the discussion.  The worst came from the faithful.  God fearing doubters like me were more relaxed.  One episode caused great disquiet on all sides.  Pascal had suggested that doubters might pray to God just in case he was there.  That looks like offensive hypocritical nonsense to me.  To our horror, the tutor appeared to support the idea.  That brought to my mind the remark of Groucho Marx- he would want to join any club that would have him as a member.  And that is how I see the discussion about the Lord’s Prayer in parliament.  A leading Catholic apologist, Kevin Donnelly, supports retaining the ritual.  He says we do it for the blackfellas and we should do it for the most popular religious figure among the white people.  The problem is that most of those taking part do not believe one word of any of it.  For them it is bullshit.  For the rest of us it is pure hypocrisy.  For Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus, it is a sad colonial relic.  It is a mystery why the people who claim to front for God want so badly to defile him.