"Our fight in this world is not against Islam; it is against religion. I can tell you this for sure: No one's head has ever been cut off in the name of atheism. No one has ever cut into human flesh and looked down a camera and said, 'In the name of nothing.'"Comedian Jim Jeffries

Ever since Omar Mateen walked into Pulse nightclub in Orlando and killed 49 people, I've been unable to write down my thoughts. The truth is that my thoughts are, most likely, not publishable. It's a fact that nobody is more censorial than the gay press. I've been writing for the gay press since 1983 and I've seen the "don't go there" topics come and go. At the moment, the two sacred cows are trans people and Muslims. I got into hot water for writing that Caitlyn Jenner is a white Republican man who needs to learn there's more to being a woman than wearing a designer dress. I received threats for writing that. You see, back in the old days, before Taylor Swift and Pokemon Go, it was called "having an opposing opinion" and you were allowed to have them.

I'm not a religious or spiritual person. I agree with Gore Vidal: Religion is something that should be practiced in private between consenting adults. I accept other people's religions or philosophies; just don't push them on me. Sadly, religion is pushed on me every day. I believe religion is a cancer. There: I've said it. To say that Omar Mateen's murderous rampage had nothing to do with religion is nonsense. I've read the Koran and the Bible, and both of them are violent homophobic and sexist texts. As literature, both contain some beautiful passages and stories, with the Lesson of the Widow's Mite ( Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4 ) being a favorite of mine.

However, I believe this trio of cultsChristianity, Islam and Judaismwere created by men to justify the subjugation and rape of women and children. There: I've said that, too. These cults are responsible for the KKK, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 9/11, the Nazi Holocaust, homophobia, transphobia … on and on and on. How many Roman Catholic child-raping priests have to be arrested before the Vatican is shut down? How many girls have to be kidnapped and raped by Boko Haram Islamists? How many boys have to suffer male genital mutilation? How many women have to shave their heads and wear sheitels? How many women will be denied education and forced to live under burqas, never to feel the sun on their faces? I'm sick of hearing the PC apologists say, "Oh, but that's just the fanatics." No, it's not. Homophobia and sexism are enshrined in their religious texts.

In the United States, Christianity is enshrined in the culture. "In God We Trust" we swear on the Bible in a courtroom. There's supposed to be a separation of church and State, which is a total myth. This country will never have a Muslim president or a Jewish one, orGod forbidan atheist. Stop kidding yourself.

On the day of the massacre in Orlando, Palm Springs held a candlelight vigil. I was there. There were speakers because a silent vigil can never be silent due to the fact that some people overestimate their own importance and like the sound of their own voice. Three religious leaders spokea pastor, a rabbi and an imam from the local mosque. Why? Those men should never have been allowed to co-opt that event. It's religious dogma that caused all this trouble in the first place. The three of them loaded Mateen's gun.

Mateen wasn't born a killer. He was born a beautiful child coming into a beautiful world. So was Yishai Schlissel, the Orthodox Jew who stabbed six people in the 2015 Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade. It was the religion they were born into that poured hatred into those two children.

Atheists don't have a book saying it's OK to rape children, own slaves or abuse women. And yet, it's this atheist who sits here waiting for the hate mail from writing this articlehate mail that I have no intention of reading.