Who F#@!ing Cares About Will and Kate?!

Okay, I have to address something because this honestly just pisses me off.  This is so annoying that it hurts.  It is a part of our society that is so distorted and so pathetically shallow that every time I am exposed to it in large amounts,  I feel the overwhelming urge to stike a dog.  For real, it s that bad.  And anybody who is part of this crowd, and thinks the way that they do, are just plain dumb.  The fact is that the crowd that I am about to talk about just loves to no end to talk about Prince William and Kate’s wedding.  I have seen article after article about this stupid-ass occasion, and every article that I read makes me hate the human race just a little bit more.  I’m going to feed you some examples of what I am talking about, and you can see for yourself. 

The first article is talking about all the different dresses that were seen at the wedding.  The first picture is of Kate and William, hand in hand.  To some, that’s romantic.  To me, that’s retarded.  There are 19 of these photos!  Queen Elizabeth is next.  That’s the only person on this list of photos who I respect, and whose image is being tarnished by the voting system of the internet to determine how much you like her photo.  It’s almost too disrespectful to me to think that way.  Then of course, there are those Beckham people, who I have had to suffer hearing about so much.  After a few more photos of people who mean nothing to the public at large (or should mean nothing), it showed a bunch of kids.  This is all so tragic that it hurts.  I will give, Prince Felipe lookes kind of cool, but moving on.  And Prince Charles looks kind of cool.  All people in royal almost military outfits look cool (I watch a lot of anime, forgive me for that one).  And that is just one of the stupid stories.

The next is asking a very important question.  This question willl change all of human history!  I’m not kidding you, people.  When I heard it, and when heard all the theories, I felt my heart begin to quicken.  I felt my pulse start to go wild.  It was…it was….what did William whisper to Kate at the alter?!  Oh my God!  Oh my freaking God!  Has anything else in human history been this…RETARDED!  Has there ever been something so stupid in the history of existence?  And people went nuts over this!  I mean, read some of these comments-

It’s so nice to hear she blushed when they kissed on the balcony. It gives us a glimpse of how she really is just a women marrying a man she loves.

It doesn’t get any better than that…Fairytale come true and without the “frog” this time…Wish both all the happines this world has to offer…the world is better because of them at least we had a lot of love in hearts watching…Thanks and God Speed!!!

Wow a fairtale wedding for sure. He is a handsome prince and her a beautiful princess.
My they live long and and be happyly ever after

Ladies and gentlemen, the above comments are called stupidity.  It is stupidity from people who have so little lives and so little going on in their world, and are so ignorant of what is happening in the world, that they only care about a wedding of two people who are part of the remains of England’s aristocracy which no longer means anything other than a symbol.  Queen Elizabeth I have respect for, because she has done things to make the world a better place.  She actually made a difference in her country.  But it’s the precident. 

The pièce de résistance of all the stupidity that is coming up around this is another article that I found.  All of these are from Yahoo, but believe me when I tell you it is all over the internet media-sphere- this stupid-ass marriage of two pointless people.  Again, I was on the edge of my seat.  There was a dark conspiracy about this wedding!  I didn’t want to believe it.  I felt fear grip my heart.  I didn’t know what was going to happen.  It could be anything!  This was a foreboding thought that entered my mind- what could possibly be a giant mystery surrounding the royal wedding?  Turns out, there were many!  It is a dark web of conspiracy!  Let me regale you with several of these solved mysteries.  They were things like (and I am quoting directly here, so don’t blame the language on me)- who is the adorable little girl frowning and covering her ears on the balcony during the big kiss?  What music did Kate walk in to?  Why didn’t Prince William watch his bride walk down the aisle?  What was in the bride’s bouquet? 

Are you fucking kidding me?!  Here’s a link to the article if you want to see the rest of this intellectually void weapon of mass distraction.  This is what I’m talking about.  This is the point that I am getting at.  I hate modern pop culture.  I hate it so much.  My favorite YouTuber, TheAmazingAtheist made a video about teenage pop culture, specifically focusing on teen girl magazines.  The points that he made in his article are going to be the same as the ones that I make in my blog about teenage media.  But now that I have talked about teenage media, I have decided to take a smash at adult media.

Shit like Vogue, Elle, People, The National Enquirer, they all make money based on a model that the common public is so stupid that they are completely transfixed by the thought of who Beckham is banging, or a royal wedding.  A wedding that, by the way, the English taxpayers are financing!  Yeah, let’s not think about all the money that is being spent at this shindig, let’s all get hung up on the fact that there was a wedding dress and a girl who was frowning.

There are a lot of important things happening in this world right now.  Japan is still a mess, and will be for years to come.  There are new potential oil problems in the Gulf of Mexico here in America.  Tornadoes have killed what some have estimated to be over 300 people in the Midwest.  This is a lot of crazy shit, and people should actually be paying attention to this!  Not to some English royal, who means nothing in the broad scheme of things getting married.

But what pisses me off the most is the fact that these people are rich!  The people who publish this intellectually void garabage are making millions upon millions of dollars on people who basically believe- if I get a magazine with this person on it, I am somehow closer to them.  People read articles like the one about all the “mysteries” that took place at the royal wedding and think they actually learned something!  This socially degrading bullshit, and it needs to stop!  Get a brain, people!  And to Prince William and Kate, congratulations.  Modern divorce rates aren’t looking in you all’s favor, but I still wish you all the best.

Until next time, a quote,

“I’m mad at the system that thinks that its acceptable to exploit this and make money off of it!  And to propagate this world view!  Because it’s fucking stupid!  It’s dangerously stupid!  It’s culturally corrosive and it fucking pisses me off!”  -TJ Kincaid, Thrusting Into Teenage Girls’ Minds 

Peace out,

Maverick

The Christian Misconception of Jesus

I love this video made by Pat Condell on YouTube.  He talks about the fact that we all have our own concept of Jesus.  The problem is that most of Christianity claims to be all behind the guy, and yet, they seem to completely ignore his teachings.  I find it kind of interesting how Jesus can be whoever a person wants him to be.  He can be against abortion (even though there isn’t a single word in the Gospels about abortion), he can be against homosexuality (even though there isn’t a word in the Gospels about homosexuality), and he can be against taxing the rich (even though he hated the rich in every single way).  Granted, he can also be for the concept of hell, but ignoring that, there is something very strange about the Jesus of the bible, and the Jesus if the faith.

Let’s start with the simplest concept- Jesus hated the rich.  “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (proper noun, don’t read into it).” -Mark 10:25.  When the pharisees heard him talk about how it was not good to be rich, they were a mix of disheartened, and often, very angry.  The fact is that the Jesus hated wealth of any kind.  One might say that he was among the first big-time socialists.  And he was.  He believed that with wealth came greed.  He’s right about that, by the way, but that’s not the point.  I cannot count the number of times I have heard somebody say, “thank you Jesus for all this money.”  If that guy was real (which I do doubt, by the way, given how many other stories there are floating around hundreds to a thousand years before his time which are incredibly similar to his), he is spitting in his grave.

Jesus hated anybody who was into taking money.  It is ironic how that works, and seems to contradict itself.  Truthfully, modern religious people have no idea what they are doing.  Jesus told people repeatedly to throw away worldly possession and to follow him.  He was like Mother Theresa in how he believe in poverty being the means to understand God, not wealth.  When a woman was chastised for not giving more money at the church, he replied, “verily, I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury.  For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” -Luke 21:43-44  Jesus believed that true giving came from the heart, not from ego.

And then there was how he helped people.  The fact is, all the big-wig conservative Christians in this country are dead wrong when they defend the amoung of money we charge people for healthcare in this country.  Not one time did he ever ask for a cent when it came to healing people.  He would seek out people.  He would seek them out no matter what nationality or faith they were.  He asked nothing of them.  He truly asked nothing of anybody.  He gave out free healthcare!  Oh now, he’s a socialist monster!  Let’s all run away from the crazy man!  Put him in jail!  He’s against freedom and…well, they are all stupid conservative bumblers, so let’s not get too hung up on them.  The fact is that the biblical Jesus was all for free healthcare.  He gave it out all the time, and never asked a single thing from any of the people he gave the free healthcare to.

And you want to know what else Jesus hated?  He hated RELIGION!  He hated religion with all of his heart.  It is said in the Gospel, “the Kingdom of God cometh not with oberservation: neither shall they say, lo here!  or, lo there!  For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” -Luke 17″ 20-21  The fact is that Jesus despise all organized religion.  He never once said that finding salvation was something that was done with churches.  Jesus spent all of his time telling poeple not to feel small and powerless, as most faiths do (does original sin ring a bell?), but instead chose to empower all people. 

I find it interesting how the modern church seems to work so hard to make people feel wrong, and twisted, and not correct.  They do everything in their power to make people feel weak and helpless.  Not one time did this savior fellow they all go on about talk this way.  He worked to empower people, to make them feel whole inside.  Of course, he did talk about the concept of hellfire, but I like what Thomas Jefferson did, and ignored the superstitious bullshit, and instead decided to look at his message- that humanity should look out for other humanity. 

What I also find interesting is that Christianity takes credit for Jesus.  Jesus was a Jew.  That’s a fact.  If he was a real person, he was a Jewish man.  The Last Supper was a Passover seder.  But the Christian community, like Christmas, and so many other dates, have taken it for themselves.  Honestly, if Jesus came back today, I think he would be appalled by the Vatican.  A giant fortress was the last thing that he was interested in.  And it is interesting how the collection plate concept came up.  While Jesus admired the widow for giving so much, he didn’t admire it for the money’s sake.  He admired her gift because of the heart it took her to give it, not the amount of money, or the giving of money at all.  The Christian community is beyond dumb.

What’s interesting is that the wealthy of that day didn’t do what the wealthy of today do.  They didn’t exploit the man’s name and message.  Instead, they had him killed for it.  He said that all groups and all faiths could come together and live as one people, and he was killed for his message.

It was interesting to watch this big-time preacher on Bill Maher’s movie, Religulous trying to talk about how into wealth Jesus was.  It was beautiful to watch him stumble as Maher presented him with evidence of how much he was against wealth.  The fact is that all Christians don’t seem to get it.  Here is the truth- Jesus was a long-haired, homeless, anti-war, anti-capitalism, brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew.  That is the truth.  But all I ever see of Jesus are pictures of a white guy with a beard.  But in modern religion, that’s not the case.  Now, Jesus is a brand name, like KFC.  He is a brand name, and he is making the church tens of billions of dollars annually.  Man, he must be spitting in his grave, if he is a real guy.

Until next time, a quote,

“Not one of those people had medical insurance.  Can you believe the irresponsibility of those people?  But Jesus didn’t care, he healed them anyway, absolutely free.”  -Pan Condell, The great Jesus swindle 

Peace out,

Maverick

The Tea Party Aren’t Racists – Pwnage

Okay, so, I have finally gotten the perfect video to prove, once and for all, that the Tea Party is nothing more than a bunch of racist assholes.  I’ve finally got it.  I feel so unbelievably proud that I finally have document (and proudly given) proof that the Tea Party are nothing more than a bunch of bigots who just want to get rid of the black, hispanic, and Muslim people.  They talk with pride about how their bigoted ways are completely not racist.  Apparently, this guy, by the name of Grady Warren made a whole video talking about why the Tea Party aren’t racists.  In the interest of fairness, let’s take an objective look.

Grady opens his video by saying “Barack Hussein Obama” as clearly as his voice allowed him, with sweet relish, like he was already enjoying himself.  Then he made the sound of somebody who is really enjoying sorbet, which is a little creepy, and kind of makes him sound gay, but let’s not be nit-picky.  I mean, there is nothing wrong with him being gay for Obama, but he seems to not like black people anyway, so that is a little bit strange.  He then goes on to list quite a few black political figures.  Apparently, they are all “criminals in the black caucus” to Grady.  He is apparently to “not racist” to say the word that he is really looking for.  It begins with N, I can tell you that much (although he does say negroes often in his little speech, so I guess that says something).  They are all “negro race pimps out there.”

Grady then says that the Tea Party is sick and tired of being called racists (even though that is exactly what they are).  Apparently, their mission is to educate “legal American voters” (as Richard Coughlin put it- “white people.”).  They only want to educate people about who the conservative candidates are.  If only I could believe that.  Grady goes on to say that they are good and moral Americans.  Apparently, there are both religious and non-religious people involved with the Tea Party (I find it hard to believe that the people from my side of the fence are with the Tea Party, but if any of you are, please speak up).  Grady’s people are civl to their neighbors, and good people (unless they are black, of course).

“The Tea Party is tired of blacks, negroes, Muslims, and hispanics, especially the illegals,” Grady goes on to say.  I can tell so well how not-racist this guy is.  He is making his case in the best way possible.  But remember everybody, he is not racist!  According to this fantasy world that Grady lives in, they are “trying to save the America that we love!”  And he is a little late.  You see, Grady wants to declare at “Teahad” (I am not kidding, he called it a Teahad) against everybody who calls the Tea Party racists, and is of a different ethnicity than white people.

You see, according to Grady, the Muslims have a history of immigrating, fucking a lot, producing offspring, and then using their offspring to kill people (remember, the Tea Party is not racist).  Never mind that it would be all-too-easy to take any group and make the same statements about them.  The brilliant idea that Grady has is to get rid of all Muslims from this country.  Even those who are born here, he wants to get rid of them all.  Of course, he doesn’t suggest killing them, just deporting them…all of them.  Remember kids, they aren’t racists.

After finishing his tirade against the Muslim community in this country, Grady decides that he will address the black community in America.  According to him, they make up 13% of the total population of this country (I don’t know where Grady is getting his facts from), and occupy 45% of all federal jobs.  “And we wonder why the government doesn’t work.”  Yes, there is nothing racist about that at all.  “And we wonder why blacks cause more crime than all other races combined.”  Again, don’t know where this fucktard is getting his facts from, but he is an idiot.  And never mind the fact that drug possession is illegal, which is so stupid.  Never mind that the system is clearly bigoted against them.  Never mind any of the factors, let’s just look at the numbers.  Grady, you are too retarded for words.

“Is it racist if I say – that every other minority group that has come to America, no matter how they got here, have succeeded?”  Yes, Grady, it is.  He goes on about how the different ethnic groups have succeeded, where the black community has failed.  You know, apart from all the black politicans, businessmen and women, the President of the United States, big-time preachers, and all those people, they have completely failed. 

According to Grady, “blacks are still, pretty much where they were 50 years ago.  Is that being racist when I ask that question?  Well them I’m sorry, but that’s a fact.”  Don’t worry, I’ll answer this question- yes, man, it is racist.  It is horribly racist. 

“Or when the President puts devout Muslims in charge of Homeland Security, are we racist because we do not want to kill babies? (What?) Or because we love Christmas? (What is this dumbass banging on about?!)”  Apparently, this guy’s racism knowns no limits. 

“Or is it racist because we love Sarah Palin?  Because she is a female version of Ronald Reagan (I agree, post-alzheimer’s), and to millions of men, she is their fantasy wife. (yes she is.  She is stupid, against homosexuality, all for white people, and thinks that abortion is wrong.  I can get how millions of people love her)  Sarah is all about what is great in America (stupidity and loyalty, while hating intelligence and critical thinking).” 

Grady goes on to falsely accust the president, whose name he had to recite again, just because he could, of telling a group of “college students” that the Tea Party didn’t want them “of color” to vote.  What is interesting is that after this false accusation, he goes right on to say that that is the absolute truth.  The Tea Party doesn’t want any of the black community to vote.  This dumbass is basically coming right out and screaming to the hills about how much he hates democracy, by telling people to not have the freedom to vote.  More proof of how full of shit the Tea Party actually is.  Grady finishes his video by saying, up front – “This huckleberry’s a racist.”  Thank you for the confirmation, Mike, I mean Grady (sorry, I get Grady confused with Mike Voris, the guy on Real Catholic TV)

This is what I love about the Tea Party – they want to believe so badly that they are good people.  They are desperate to believe that they are not the villainous lot that the American public makes them out to be.  But the fact is that they are racists.  They are bigots.  They compare the democratically elected president of this country of being Hitler, and then turn around and tell them to not call them racists.  Guess what, you Tea Party bastards, you are racists, and I am going to be the first to tell you that.  Now get lost and leave the actually decent people in this country alone.

Until next time, a quote,

“…but here’s the good bit – he’s outraged that Barack Obama say that ‘white people and conservatives don’t want you to vote, but listen to what he says next -”  -Richard Coughlin
“You are correct sir!  The 91% of blacks that approve of you- you damn right!  We don’t want them anywhere near the polls!”  -Grady Warren  (not racist at all)

Peace out,

Maverick

Am I Taking Your Outdated Religious Book Out of Context?

I recently got to listen to a guy rant at me about how I was taking the passages out of his holy book (hint: it’s the Bible) out of context.  He said that I wasn’t looking at all the facts and all the things that were said.  After thinking about it for a while, I have come to the conclusion that this man is an idiot.  He had this friend who was nodding dumbly the whole time that he spoke, not wanting to think too deeply.  When I asked these guys to quote me passages of scripture that retorted what I said as being totally wrong, both of them said that it was “in there.”  That’s it.  That was their proof that I was completely misquoting them.  What stories, you ask?  Well, I’ll tell you.

These guys originally decided (without knowing who I am and what I am about.  They were missionaries, so to speak) to get in my face and talk to me about how great God is.  Without thinking, I just laughed when they said he was a loving character who treats all of his “children” right.  His is apparently this loving father figure who holds us all and cradles us all in his arms.  I listened and then asked them to explain why God did all the genocidal rampages in the Old Testament.  This tripped them up.  They asked me, “what genocidal rampages?  All God has ever done is good things.” 

I retorted with a couple of simple stories- like how God killed all the first-born children of the Egyptians, or how he destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, or how he killed every single human being on the face of the Earth with a flood.  This got them rather upset.  They said that the people deserved what happened to them.  I will admit, I was about to get equally upset with how quickly and how readily they defended genocide.  They seemed genuinely pissed off that I would even infer that the genocidal actions of a holy being are nothing less than what those people deserved.

Then, today, I got a comment that understanding the Bible requires an understanding of the original language it was written (Hebrew) and understanding the original language in context.  I am DYING to know how exactly genocide can be put in context.  For real, please, put it into context for me.  The same guy used the example that to analyze Shakespeare, you have to consider the context of the time period in which it was written, which is absolutely right.  But there is no possible way you can make that argument successfully about the Bible.  And I hate the people do that and think that they have tripped me up. 

Even if you consider the fact that yes, the Bible is never completely correctly translated from Hebrew to English, the stories DON’T change in any radical because of the translation.  God still commits genocide.  God still does horrible things and justifies it with “follow me or I will destroy you!”  That’s pretty much the ENTIRE Old Testament.  It is a man who is a giant child flexing his power over weaker people. 

You know what your God sounds like to me?  He sounds like a pimp, and everybody else are his whores.  And if you don’t bring him the amount of money (metaphorically speaking) that he wants, he’s gonna cut your face.  And not to mention the fact that not only does God do plenty of evil on his own, but he also does next to nothing to stop it.  All of his “solutions” to the sinning problem are insane.  Yes, all the people of the world are wicked, I’m going flood it!  I will kill every man, woman, child, and baby on the face of the fucking planet to cleanse it of sin!  Riddle me something, guy who commented, how, contextually, does that make sense?  If you’re going to argue for a language lexicon problem between English and Hebrew, tell me how the Hebrew makes that better?  It doesn’t!

It doesn’t make it better how God killed a bunch of kids by sending a bear to rip them apart after they insulted one of his prophets.  It doesn’t make it better when he killed a man for letting his “seed” (that’s cum in common vernacular) touch the earth.  It doesn’t make it better that he killed the first-born children of the Egyptians for not letting his people go.  He didn’t even go after the ones responsible for enslaving his people, he killed their children.  It doesn’t make it better that he completely wrought two cities to the ground, killing all the men, women, children, and babies there too.  Not to mention the fact that he killed Lot’s wife for watching him do it!  There is no way you can contextualize something like that.

Now, if you are going to make a language barrier argument (which in some instances, you can, there is a lot of naunce in the Bible) don’t try and make a context argument about stories which depict genocide.  Or how God is very lenient and open to the concept of torture, or how he is very lax in how he punishes rape.  But the greatest proof of what I am talking about is the fact that it seems to be, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, God almost seems to grow up a little.  Granted, he introduces that concept of eternal torture, which is heartless and something no real loving parent would do, but he does seem to calm down and grow a little maturity.  But that makes no sense.

If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and has bee naround since the beginning of the universe, then why exactly would he grow up?  Why exactly would he change his position on things?  Not to mention, why would an all-powerful being need to do ANY of the absolutely insane things that he has done.  Now, I will give to the man who commented, there is a nuance in the scripture, but the fact is is that it doesn’t read that way.  It reads that if you don’t follow what God says, and do what he wants, he is going to fucking destroy you.  I HAVE read through the Bible, cover to cover.  It is one of the main reasons that I have given up religion.

And my question to all of you who think I’m taking you out of context- why would listen to that?  Even symbolically or metaphorically, why would you listen to a book that says, “if you don’t do what I (God) say, I am going to fucking destroy you”?  Why would you listen to that?  I don’t get it.  What comfort does it bring knowing that you are going to either face eternal paradise, or absolute torture for all eternity?  Not to mention the fact that all of us mortals are just too stupid to completely comprehend the concept of eternity, but that means little. 

The guy I was talking to, and the guy who commented angrily on my last blog are both wrong.  I’m not taking anything out of context.  The point I am trying to make with bringing up Bible verses that show this kind of insanity is that this doesn’t read like an enlightened viewpoint.  It reads like God is going to FUCK YOU UP!  No truly supreme being would be this way.  I genuinely refuse to believe it.  No being capable of creating this universe would be so petty.  And God is is petty.  He is a child.  I guess you all want to believe it becaue imagining a world without God is just too hard to do.  I’m sorry you all feel that way.  It’s not a lexicon problem, it’s a decency problem.

Until next time, a quote,

” For me, when I’ve pointed out a lot of the fucked-up shit that God has done, it’s always to make the point- why would you listen to this?”  -TJ Kincaid, Atheist Fundamentalism? 

Peace out,

Maverick

Most Days…

Most days, when I think about what I have done with my life, how far I have come, I think that it all isn’t great, but it could be worse.  But then there are days like today, when I realize just how bad things actually are.  I am 22 years old.  I have a hardcore condition in both of my legs that is not going away.  I wear compression stockings, but they aren’t a cure.  They are a stop-gap measure, to keep the condition from getting worse.  I am 30 years too young for this condition.  I shouldn’t have to bear this burden.  I have a heart condition that is slowly but surely working against me.  I have a brain malformation that means that if I get hit in the head hard enough, I am either a vegetable, or dead.  Life has never really given me anything worthwhile.

But the worst part of the fact that life seems to always give me the raw deal is that whenever something really good comes along in my life, it never lasts.  Just once, I wish that there was something decent in my life that wasn’t going away.  I have lost a friendship.  Only today did I realize how things actually are.  What hurts me most about this is that I don’t know why she decided to throw what we had away.  She told me that losing my friendship would hurt her more than me.  Guess that was a lie.  Of course, she had lied to me before, so I guess I’m not all that surprised.  And she is just one of the many good things in my life that goes away, and never come back.

Death doesn’t scare me, not a bit.  Sally once said that somebody who isn’t afraid to die isn’t living.  Maybe there is something to that.  I have never been afraid.  Since I have visited death’s doorway on more than one occasion, I have always had death as my constant companion.  Given that I am one bad hit in the head away from death, I suppose I really have no reason to fear it.  It is something that will travel with me down life’s road for as long as I am going down life’s road.  I really shouldn’t fear it.

I have lost so many people.  Most of those that I have lost aren’t dead, but there are days when I wish they were.  If they were dead, I wouldn’t hope to see them again.  When Mary died, I knew that her and I would never speak again.  It was easy to move ahead, because she was gone, and my young mind understood that.  However, with most of the people who have abandoned me, I know that they are still out there, somewhere.  I know that Griffin is out there somewhere.  I know that Emily…no, Valentine is out there somewhere.  I know now that she is not Emily.  Emily is an evil person.  Emily is a person who tells lies and manipulates people.  The person I met last summer, Valentine, she is the friend that I will never see again.  The friend who gave the sunshine back to my life, and who meant so much to me.  The friend who I loved.

Most days I tend to believe that I am doing good with my life.  I tend to believe that if I can make a difference to one person, reach out to one group of people and if I can make a difference, then all the pain and heartache in my life means something.  But more often than not, my desire to do good only ever does wrong by people.  I only ever seem to make the lives of the people who matter to me worse for the fact that I am in their lives.  I try my best not to hurt people, so why is it that that is all that I ever seem to be able to do?  For real, it is something that seems to be all that I am capable of.

I have noticed a rather unsettling pattern throughout my life that whenever I try to do right by people, I only ever end up making things worse.  No matter what I do, I just only seem able to hurt people.  Why?  Why do all my efforts to help people just end up hurting them?  I seem made to only be able to destroy what I try and create.  I am one of many people who does everything that I can to make people happy, to help the people that I care about.  But my life has been nothing but bad luck from the beginning.  It only makes sense that the bad luck is passing on to those that I try and get close to.  Maybe it would be best if I just kept to myself.  Maybe that is the best option, for a bad-tiding bringer like myself.

I listen to a diddy from Porgy and Bess, and I think about what is to come in my future.  My usual melancholy attitude goes completely unnoticed by the public at large.  I would bet that a good 90% of people have no idea how I am.  I can completely change gears in a public situation, become a totally different person.  It is a good defense mechanism, to keep the world at large unaware of who I really am.

So I continue to do what I do.  I keep writing, keep breathing, keep living.  It isn’t much of a life, but then again, what is?  You all go out and have crazy sex, is that life?  You get drunk and you pass out, is that life?  Is it life when you go hang out with people you barely know?  I chill with the people I like.  I listen to good music.  I read interesting books, blogs, news reports.  Is my life of less merit?  If you believe that it is, then I guess that there is nothing that I can do for you.  Life, to me, is how you pass the days, until the day that you don’t have to do that anymore.  Sure, it isn’t the happiest thing in the world, but then again, who are you to judge me?

I hope that someday I will get to see Valentine again.  I hope that someday I will get to see Griffin again – On second thought, never mind.  I don’t want to see him again.  But maybe I will.  Someday, somewhere.

Until next time, a quote,

“You’re gonna carry that weight,” -End phrase, Cowboy Bebop 

Peace out,

Maverick

The Marvelous World of Animation: Lucien’s Review

I have gotten to grow up watching animated films.  I have never gotten how people can believe that anything that is animated is just for kids and not worth respect.  I have seen a lot of animated films that were made for all audiences, and I have seen many that are not made for kids.  I have seen every kind of animation, and it is all very incredible, when you get beyond what you see on the screen and looks closely at the marvels that unfold before you.  When you think about how much work goes into it, you start to truly respect what unfolds in front of you, and have a deep respect for those who did the work.  It is something that should be respected more in this country, but isn’t. 

The history of animation is truly remarkable.  When you think about it, animation truly combines every form of artwork that has been done throughout history.  The theories of where it began were in ancient cave drawings that depicted moving scenes.  There are also depictions of scenes in murals in burial chambers in Egypt.  For years, humanity has used the power of animation in a very basic way.  It has always been used in the same way for the same purpose- to tell stories.  But animation has had many place of innovation from all over the world.

First there was the zoetrope, which has moving pictures inside of a cylinder which a person can observe through slits in the cylinder.  Then there was the magic lantern.  Many consider that to be the predecessor of the modern projector.  It would use a simple image that would be sent through a lamp and appear bigger on a flat surface.  Later on there was the flip book, which told a story through the flipping of pages as the images on each page were animated.  The first truly animated film was done in 1892.  It used loops of about 500 frames.  The first animated feature length film was done in 1917.

There are many different kinds of animation, all of which take an enormous amount of time to create, and those who create them should be given more respect.  There is the traditional style of animation, where a person hand-draws different cells, each altering ever so slightly with different frames.  It takes 10 frames to depict a second of time.  The kind that old-school disney movies utilized was called full animation.  This held to a higher standard of pictures quality and detail with plausible movement being depicted.  Hayao Miyazaki has also used this kind of animation in many of his films.  While he does have a history of combining CG effects with his films, for his most recent film Ponyo, he did it all by hand-drawn cels.

Miyazaki has been rightly canonized (metaphorically speaking) for his level of depth with his animation.  Of course, it escapes people who depth has been pioneered by the company that has partnered with Studio Ghibli- Disney.  I got to see a rather remarkable video recently demonstrating the level of depth that was able to be acheived by the use of his invention- the MultiPlane Camera.  This gave a remarkable level of depth to the picture that you don’t think about until you see it in action.  In the video linked beside this sentence, it shows the opening of the film Bambi, where you can see the MultiPlane camera in action.  The Disney studios have contributed greatly to the art of animation.

Disney’s animated short, Steamboat Willy, was the first film which introduced the first syncronized sound in an animated film.  Snow White was the first usage of the MultiPlane Camera in a full-length film.  Fantasia, my second favorite movie, introduced a soundtrack with the film.  Disney has a very long history of creating great effects.  The first full-length feature that used CGI animation was Toy Story.  It changed the scene of animation, and opened the door for a filmmaking company that has revolutionized how we view a kid’s movie.  Pixar has a gift at being able to create a film that is for all audiences, often with themes that kids won’t understand, but the older crowd does.  I remember watching WALL-E and thinking that I was seeing a pure expression of so many great themes- our overdependence on technology, the human spirit, love conquering all, and love conquering barriers.

However, one thing that does not get taken into account is the fact that this process takes forever!  The stop motion animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas took three years to make!  The average animated film takes years to make.  To give another example- it can take up to six months to create a single episode of Seth MacFarlane’s brilliant show Family Guy.  This is not something that can be done in a split.  So people’s lack of respect for the genre and the amount of skill that it involves is kind of disheartening.

To give a different example of how hard this is, examine several of Hayao Miyazaki’s films.  This guy has a reputation for incredibly detailed worlds that use bright colors and vivid images.  The fact that quite a bit of his animation is done with hand-drawn cels proves that this is not something that you can just pick up and do.  After watching films like Howl’s Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be the guy doing that.  What kind of credentials do you have to have to get into a job like that? 

The fact is that it is also not only a world for kids.  The series Cowboy Bebop, probably my favorite animated series (although tied evenly with Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion) is definitely not made for kids.  The amount of violence in the series alone take it out of that running.  Plus, the themes are not things that kids would understand.  The main character- Spike Spiegel, is a character who is haunted by his past.  He is trying to run away from it, but it always manages to find him.  The depth of the characters, and their emotional journey through a universe that makes no sense, traveling between planets and asteriods tracking bounties, is something that a kid just wouldn’t get.  Plus, the sometimes insane level of violence would scare some little kids.

Plus, there are some movies that are truly beyond a kid’s ability to understand.  The themes and pains of the characters in my favorite movie The Sky Crawlers just wouldn’t be understood.  Plus, the emotional depth of character like Shinji Ikari in the series and new movies Neon Genesis Evangelion and the films Rebuild of Evangelion wouldn’t interest little kids.  People don’t think about it, but that is how it is. 

But animation is something that deserves to be respected, and needs more interest from people, because as we head further into making CGI animation the only kind we use often, we should never forget how much work goes into this, and how far we have come.

Until next time, a quote,

“Walt Disney once described animation as ‘a voyage of discovery.’”  -Angela Lansbury, Fantasia 2000 

Peace out,

Maverick

America Breaks the Law

There has been a recent leaking of documents to the greatest group that holds those in this world accountable- WikiLeaks.  It has detailed the interrogations of more than 700 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.  There has also been a rather disturbing revelation showing how many innocent people have been detained as well.  Of all the potential “terror suspects” that have been detained at Guantanamo, only 220 are known to be dangerous international terrorists.  A further 380 are known to be low-level footsoldiers who mean nothing at all in the broad scheme of things.  And over 150 of those detained are confirmed to be innocent people, not involved with any terrorist organizations.  Over 150 innocent people have been tortured by this country.

This is another reason that I am convinced the people in this country don’t care if they break the law.  None of these people have been charged or tried.  They have not been convicted of anything, yet they are being held without reason.  This is wrong, and nobody is speaking up about it.  And what’s more, it is another sign of Obama’s incompetance.  He pledged right off the bat that he would close down this affront to freedom.  He said that open trials would be held for those who were found to have actually committed crimes.  Of course, the evidence that was obtained during the torture sessions has come up as being inadmissable due to how it has been gotten.

Not to mention that several documents that were seized show that a lot of the information that our government has gotten isn’t worth what has been done to obtain it.  Granted, we have gotten a couple major players in Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, but honestly, in my mind, that isn’t even worth it.  That isn’t even close to worth what has been done in order to obtain this kind of information.  We have committed war crimes that that place.  We have done things that are immoral and outright wrong to obtain information which gets us nowhere.  A lot of the claims that some of the torture sessions have gotten haven’t been proved in any way. 

What’s more, among those we have kept there- there have been elderly people and children there as well.  We are torturing the elderly and kids.  Riddle me something, pro-torture conservatives- how do you justify this?  How do you rationalize it to yourself that you are doing the right thing?  How does it make sense to have a 14 year old kid being waterboarded?  If you all can give me a good answer to that, then I would love to hear it.

This is just like what has been happening with Bradley Manning.  For nearly a year, he was kept in pretrial solitary confinement and abused.  He wasn’t charged, he wasn’t tried, he wasn’t found guilty.  His rights to due process were ignored, and people in this country were saying that it was a great thing.  The great conservative Demagogue, Bill O’Reilly said that he should be executed, or at least have life in prison (thanks for leaving a choice, Bill).  What’s more, the President of the United States seems to be in favor of this. 

There is a rather disturbing trend in this country of how we can break the law rather consistently and not have to suffer any consequences.  The Patriot Act has been a strike freedom in this country.  Everybody who thinks that freedom is being stripped away (do I hear the libertarian bell ringing?) now that Obama is in office is an idiot.  It was going away long before that.  The Patriot Act was the first strike.  It was a strike at the 4th Amendment.  However, when it was up for reinstatement, there were a lot of people who were completely silent.  Why is that?  It’s a mystery, isn’t it? 

It’s ironic to me that the liberal community, who has taken so much pleasure in lashing out at Bush, has been completely silent toward Obama.  Bradley Manning had been held for a year without being charged or tried, and nobody decided to lash out at the President.  People were all content to silent their criticism and didn’t even try and make an effort.  Sure, Ron and Rand Paul were talking, but they are both so ignorant that it hurts.  The Tea Party is a farce that exists not to work against the powers that be, but for the powers that be.  They are fighting for the system, for the greedy, for the powerful.

But to me, all of this proves something- either Obama is part of the system, or he is too much of a coward to stand up and fight against it.  Sure, he seems to be grabbing his balls now that the election year is coming up, but honestly, in my mind, that doesn’t make up for two years of complete incompetance and complete indifference to the ideals that this nation was supposed to have been based on.  I wonder what the Founding Fathers would think of our country torturing people for no good reason.  I wonder what they would think of us holding a man prisoner and doing psychological torture against him for a year without trying or charging him.  Or even doing it at all!  We aren’t supposed to torture other people!

This is what is supposed to seperate America from the rest of the world.  We are supposed to be the nation that does not cater to the weak and the scared.  Thomas Jefferson, during his time as President, was repeatedly asked to go to war with the British, because of their oppression of America.  But he didn’t do that.  He didn’t do what was popular, and decided not to go against the British, because he knew that America didn’t have the power to defeat them.  America is supposed to be above going against the desire to do bad things in order to achieve ends.  We are supposed to be against doing deplorable things for deplorable ends.  That is supposed to be what other countries do.  Where did those morals go?  What happened to those morals?  I wonder…

Until next time, a quote,

“Bradley Manning, a US citizen, is being held in a military prison right now!  He’s not been charged.  He’s not been tried.  This didn’t happen under Bush.  This is happening under Obama!”  -TJ Kincaid, The “Patriots” Don’t Act 

Peace out,

Maverick

Why Atheism Will Win The War

I recently had a revelation last night.  It was when I was watching a video on YouTube telling the tragic story about the user GrapplingIgnorance, and how he got the raw deal due to religious intolerance.  His identity is a secret now, and it is unfair.  He was a friend to so many, but when they found out that he is an atheist, so many friends abandoned him.  His students who treated him right started treating him wrong.  Religious intolerance became his world.  So, under pressure, the man deleted the YouTube account that could have made him lose his job.  He has a new account, in which he cannot show his face.  It’s not right, and it’s unfair.  And after hearing his story, I am now convinced that the outdated concept of religion is going to lose the war between rationality and faith.

Here in America, we are starting to see a growing trend, the way it has happened in Europe.  People are starting to realize that religion is just an outdated concept.  It was created long ago to police the world when people were unable to be policed the way that they are now.  It was a concept that was meant to control people, while giving them hope at the same time.  It is horribly contradictory, with passages from the holy book going against itself.  Many European countries have become quite secular.  Here in this country, it is happening as well.  With more science and knowledge and people’s fingertips, it is easier and easier to get information and be able understand.

And people are understanding.  People are getting that it is an archaic invention of long ago (and not so long ago with some religions) and is not the way.  However, the religious community isn’t going to go down without a fight.  I cannot count the number of times that I have been told that I am going to burn in hell.  The glee in people as they say this time, the passion, the rage, the hatred, it is something that I think says something about religion overall- that while there are those who are completely decent people, the book that they worship is filled with bigotry, and evil that a supposedly “loving” God does on a daily basis.

The human race is no longer mostly uneducated.  Back when religion first became big, it was easy to control people because most of the people who you were controlling had no way of checking your facts.  That’s all changed now.  It is very easy to check the preacher-man’s facts.  It is very simple to prove that the loving God that he talks about a jealous and petty bastard who kills with impunity and who condemns people to burn for all eternity (a fate that no loving parent would EVER do.  No parent who loves their child would punish them for all time.  It is sick).  The reason that that Catholic church’s claws were pried off the entire world’s lever of power is because somebody named Martin Luther questioned what they were doing, and what they were telling him.

But the ignorance and bigotry that religion has inspired in people continues every day.  The story of GrapplingIgnorance (I urge you to watch the video that I have linked towards the top.  His story is so tragic) is a perfect example.  His students who respected him turned on him.  They defaced his classroom, and screamed threats of hell to him every day.  The students and faculty were harassing him for what he did in the privacy of his home, and on his own time.  This guy is a great teacher, who has busted his ass to work for his students, and after finding out that he doesn’t believe like they do, these kids turned on him.  He tried to help them, and they turned away.

It is this kind of attitude, in my mind, that is the reason that atheism, or non-belief, if you are so inclined, is going to win this war with faith.  In order to keep their congregations coming, the threats of hellfire are rampant in modern society.  Here in America, religious zealots see the writing on the wall.  They see that their world of ignorant belief in something that cannot be proven in any way, and their hardcore defense of it, is starting to fall on deaf ears.  The ears of people are turning away, because the message IS unpleasant.  The message IS evil.  And while the message continues, the number of non-believers grows.

Personally, it is my opinion that if religion is going to survive in the modern world, it is going to have to do what Thomas Jefferson did- take out all the supernatural bullshit and simply stick to the better message.  Become an ideal of looking toward humanity, and protecting humanity.  But I hate to break it to you, that isn’t what’s happening.  If religion could focus on the nice aspects, the good ones, it would have a chance, but here in this country, and all around the world, it isn’t that way.  We have Muslims who want an American pastor brought to justice in accordance with Islamic law because he burned their book.  We have people who want the Ten Commandments (if you look at how many soldiers there are in this country, I think it is more like the Ten Recommendations That American Doesn’t Follow) in courthouses.

We have people who are against gay rights simply because they believe that their faith tells them that it is wrong.  We have good people who actually want to believe that there is a guy out there who can tear down the world, and is going to, because it gives them hope.

But you see, the real reason that religion is going to lose is because of the intolerance.  I love how another YouTuber put it, rationalwarrior.  If two people have different views, they should be allowed to challenge those views, and to debate.  But that isn’t how it is going.  The religious are denying people the right to challenge, and in the long run, that is going to lose out to rationality.  And it is losing.  The coffers are drying up.  The money isn’t flowing in the way it used to.  This is a great time to live, because we are finally washing away a stain that has existed for thousands of years.  Sure, it will be a long time before people forget about it completely, but they will, and that is the reason that I will keep doing this.  It is the reason that I will pwn Real Catholic TV whenever I can, and take down religious bigots and creationist fools.

I am going to keep going.  People ask why I do this, thinking that it has been beat to death, here is why- I’ll let rationalwarrior say it best. 

Until next time, a quote,

“It seems that those who were once fed to the lions have become the lions.”  -DarkMatter2525, Grappling Ignorance 

Peace out,

Maverick

Why I Call Myself an Atheist

I recently had a very interesting series of dicussions with my good buddy Nic.  He and I do not see eye-to-eye on the issue of how one can view non-belief in a deity.  I’ve rather enjoyed our discussions on the topic of non-belief, if you can believe that.  Nic believes that if you are truly skeptical, you cannot be an atheist.  If you are skeptical, then you acknowledge that there could be a god, while it is unlikely that it is the Christian God.  Nic believes that believing there isn’t a God is a contention of belief itself.  I disagree with this.  I think agnosticism and atheism are so close on the non-religious scale that truly there is little to no difference.

In my mind, it breaks down like this- I contend that there is no God.  I like how Penn Jillette put it- that by saying he doesn’t believe there is a God, he can be proven wrong, and therefore, can learn something.  Nic put it that atheism is a belief, same as any religious belief, and defended like one too.  I disagree.  Atheism, in my mind, is just a rejection.  It is a rejection of a point of view that has not met the burden of proof.  This is something that religious people need to understand, and don’t see to- the burden of proof of the existence of a supreme being is on the religious.  It has never been, and will never be on the non-believers to prove there is or is not a supreme being.  And I’m sorry, religious people, but you haven’t met your burder of proof.  Not really.  Atheism is merely a statement.

And I think that it is actually kind of wrong for people to classify an entire group based on a statement.  Atheism is only a statement, in my mind- the statement that we do not accept the religious reasoning behind a supreme being.  And to be honest, there is no reasoning.  The religious justify their belief by saying things like- “I can’t imagine a world without God,” or “where do morals come from if not God?” or “look at all the wonders of the universe, it had to be from God.”  There is no proof in these statments, because science has caught up with them.  It used to be, back before the days of modern science, that people were so unclear about what the world was and how it works, that believing in something bigger made sense, even if the thing they believed in was an evil creature.

This is where I talk about the actions of the Christian God.  When a person who rejects religious claims of belief, ie. an atheist, points out how archaic and often draconian religious beliefs are, religious people tend to believe that they are claiming that take a different look at the Bible.  However, this isn’t true.  The fact is that we are pointing out that there has been a lot of horrible things done by God himself.  Truthfully, the evidence from the Old Testament clearly shows that God is the more nefarious of the two main characters- God and Satan.  And the non-religious point out that no loving God who cares about his people would do the things that the Christian God does.  And even if we should be proven wrong, I refuse to worship that creature.

Of course, the counter-argument from the religious crowd is that Jesus came about in the New Testament and his message was one of love and peace.  Right and wrong.  He did espouse a lot of good things, but he also talked about a lot of ugly things.  The concept of Hell was a rather recent concept.  Jesus talked about it at length.  However, the Old Testament didn’t talk about it especially much.  I guess when you have an all-powerful psychopath who kills other people at will, and often en masse, there is no real need for one.  So, the concept of eternal torture was brought about, and talked about, by this peaceful savior who was all about love.  I find this interesting.  His father was no longer psychotically killing people, instead, he was talking about eternal torture.  Not exactly something a good parent does.

In my mind, atheism is a statement.  Nic said that those who call themselves atheists are just kids rebelling against their parents.  I disagree here as well.  Granted, there are those who do feel that way, but I would put a heavy wager that most of my breed is not that way.  For me, I take another cue from Penn.  He says that he starts with non-belief, or atheism, and allows his mind to be open to all concepts, as long as they fit into his moral compass, which is a good thing.  The fact is that a lot of religious groups follow holy text and holy books that are often very unpleasant, and are not particularly moral.  God destroyed two cities, killing every man, woman and child inside, and then kill Lot’s wife for watching him do it.  That’s not moral behavior, in my opinion, and it isn’t acceptable.

I love how a YouTuber that I have come across, GrapplingIgnorance, talked about it.  Atheism is also a different statement.  It is a statement that none of us have any reason to believe that a celestial being with the power to create the universe is petty, hateful, bigoted, sociopathic, and childish like the Christian God is.  That’s really as simple as what it is.  Maybe Nic does have a bit of a point that atheism is given a grand view, even though it is pretty simple, and not that involved.  I do find it interesting when atheist groups come together, because there seems to be no point in doing that.  To me, atheism is something that we all have on our own.  Religion is a concept of community.  In my mind, atheism is not.

Here’s the facts- atheism is a rejection of a concept that has not met its burden of proof.  We do not claim to believe in something ourselves.  We are content not to believe.  The burden of proof for a god is on the ones who believe in it, not those who don’t.  Atheism is also the statement that we refuse to believe that a celestial being powerful enough to create the universe is as petty and childish as the Christian God.  Agnosticism is much the same way.  Truthfully, I think that being agnostic means that you are keeping the concept of a holy being with you in order to embrace the message that you got from one or the other, and still keep an open mind.  It’s that simple.  Truthfully, people want to make these concepts more complicated than they actually are.

The reason I am an atheist is that I have no reason to be religious, and I don’t need a holy book to give me any ideas of what good behavior is.  I keep an open mind, but honestly, I just have absolutely no reason to actively believe in the concept of a God, and therefore, do not require a supreme being.  That’s what it all is to me.  Simple, no?

Until next time, a quote,

“Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.”  -Penn Jillette, This I Believe 

Peace out,

Maverick

Outlawing Homosexuality

You know, every once and a while I get to see up close why America has such a bad reputation overseas.  Every time that I do see it, I always end up wishing that I was living in a different country.  There are days when I wonder how the news reports on the endless stream of bullshit that comes out of this country.  I genuinely wonder what they say, but then I listen to one of the BBC broadcasts, and it all becomes pretty clear.  The fact that this country is a loathed joke to the rest of the world is one thing, but when I sit down and think about it, it all becomes so much more depressing.

There has been a recent piece of legislation known as the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill.  This bill says that students from kindergarten to 8th grade cannot talk about homosexuality, can’t have homosexuality talked to them about by their teachers.  Basically, it can’t be part of the education world of Tennessee in any way.  This piece of legislation is absolutely fascinating, and completely bigoted, and what’s more, so unbelievably heartless that it has gotten me very riled up.  I am a big fan of education.  I believe that public education is an absolute necessity (if I hear one more libertarian say that it should be privatized, I am going to punch them in the face).  Granted, I think that it is hopelessly screwed up (we can all thank No Child Left Behind), but it needs to be around anyway.

In any case, this just pisses me off.  The LGBTQ (did I get the initial right this time, you crybabies?) community is still being oppressed in this country.  And for those of you who think that it isn’t, think again.  I think that the Don’t Say Gay Bill is proof of this.  A lecturer here at UAA, John Corvino, talked about it at length during his lecture “Is Homosexuality Immoral?”  I have another blog talking about that, if you want to look it up.  And this legislation is clearly a war against the LGBTQ community.  Read through the article about it linked above, and you can see just how far the government of Tennesse is willing to take this.  What’s more, they aren’t the only ones.

Some time ago, there was legislation in Texas to re-criminalize sodomy and make gay marriage a felony.  Yes, we want to put people in prison, potentially for their whole lives, for being able to marry the one that they love, or for having sex with the only that they love.  This is so unbelievably sick that it actually does make me feel a little bit sick.  The bigotry that is on display here is absolutely disgusting.  What’s more, I have seen this kind of thinking in my own neighborhood.

Here in Anchorage, and I know that I have talked about this before, but I feel the rehashing a little, there was a debate around a concept called Ordinance 64.  It was a pretty simple concept, but around it, and the right for the homosexual community to be treated equally, I got to see an endless series of bigotry around it.  People were proud of their bigotry, what’s more.  People were proud to say that these people should not be treated equally.  They were very happy to make an example out of members of the LGBTQ community and say that they are not worthy of being treated with a little dignity.  A girl that I have talked about at length was involved.  Her name is Natalia, and she is the most bigoted person that I have ever met.

The problem with these people is that they are driven by faith.  I remember there was a clip in Bill Maher’s movie, Religulous where a young woman was holding up a sign that says “Thank God for AIDS.”  When asked why she hates homosexuals, she replied, “I don’t hate them.  God hates them.”  (apparently, that was enough to feed her bigotry, though).  This says something.  It say that people find it acceptable to believe that homosexuality is a sin, and that these people need to burn for all eternity.  How fucked up in the head do you have to be, to believe that a person deserve to suffer for all time, and be proud of your belief?  I have a friend who is of the mindset that there will be people burning in Hell, but apparently, only evil people.  I think that this is wrong.

Faith has deluded people.  But what’s more, there are greater implications involved with all of this.  These people who are for “traditional marriage” are people who want to strip away all the progress that our country has made over the last thirty years or so.  They would like nothing better than to go back to the time when the wife had no say, the black people were second-class citizens, and you could throw somebody in prison for their entire life for loving a person of the same sex.  That is what these people want.  They want us to go back to that magical time, when the economy was great, being white was great, and being a Christian was great. 

Here is where the real problem, at least in my eyes, lies- these people don’t want to face reality.  Rather than work with the world, and to deal with what is, and to try and learn from history, these people want to back to it.  They want this country to go back in time, and to become a monster that means nothing.  They want this nation to lord over the Earth and to be able to tell people- your love is wrong, and if you act on it, we will throw your ass in jail.  They want to censor free speech now.  That is basically what this new law in Tennessee does- it outlaws freedom of speech on the subject of homosexuality.  My friend Ceezar said that free speech should sometimes be limited, if there is a danger.  Now I realize that he is dead wrong.  Speech that causes harm is sometimes exactly what is needed.

Speech that causes harm has been what has changed this country.  Speech that causes harm has gotten the black community rights.  It has given women the right to vote.  It has gotten the LGBTQ community the right to marry in some states.  Real harm has come to real people on behest of saying what needs to be said- that bigotry is uncool, and we will not sit back and accept bigoted policies, no matter how you dress them up!  We need people to speak up about this, because if these people are not stopped, this nation will sink back into the manhole from the morality sewers that we were in, and revel in our bigoted filth again.

Until next time, a quote,

“Ever once and a while in America, some state proves why America really does deserve it’s bad reputation around the rest of the world.”  -TJ Kincaid, Tennessee Outlaws Gay 

Peace out,

Maverick