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Fear and Loathing of Christianity

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:13:53 -0700

Now I know the title has probably pissed a number of folks off. So let me preface this blog by proudly announcing that I have absolutely nothing against Christians or Christianity as a whole. I am proud to say that I have very near and dear friends that are what I believe to be true and sincere Christians and I have always felt truly blessed to have them as my friends. The same goes for some of my FaceBook and MySpace friends. I know how profoundly deep their religious views are and I have the utmost respect for them and their beliefs. I might also add that many of these people also practice what they preach (pardon the cliche), and it shows. There are ones who have blessed others through adoption, by their family ties and one member who works tirelessly with the Shriners on behalf of children and those in our society who are far less fortunate. This blog is not about you. In fact, to those of you who live by your faith and extend that through the charitable measures in your life (much as Jesus taught), may God continue to bless your lives as you continue to outreach and bless those around.

And now for something completely different. I have chosen my blog to write about the radical right-wing Christian fundamentalists. Some of you might cringe at this but I see very little difference between the right-wing fundamentalist Christians than I do right-wing fundamentalist Islamics. I once had an individual argue this point with me by advising me that you have never seen or heard of Christian fundamentalist suicide bombers. Well, you got me there. Unlike the Islamic fundamentalists, the Christian terrorists choose to plant bombs and blow up “abortion clinics, harass, beat and occasionally kill gays and murder doctors in cold blood all in the name of God and Justice. Sorry, kids, these are facts.

You’ll never hear the Bible thumpers calling it a Gihad, but they continue to swear that our men and women dying in Iran, Afghanistan and other parts of the world are doing so for GOD and country.

You see, they will blame those of us who have a more liberal view of society and refuse to fall into a dogmatic cult for the ills of the world. Why, we’ve taken God out of schools! Damn, and to think that all of this time I was under the misconception that this is why we had churches and private schools.

The Bible-pounding right has no use for those whose ideology differs from theirs and are far to convinced in their “faith” to let little things like facts get in their way. Case in point, my wife and I were at a couple’s home playing board games one evening. One of the questions was regarding women having one less rib than men. The woman quickly responded to this question proudly stating that it was correct since it stated so in the Bible. WRONG! Hell, I learned this back in grade school that both sexes have the same number of ribs. Even after an explanation of the facts, going so far as to google anatomy pictures, she still refused to believe otherwise. I laugh not at the fact that she did not know the correct answer, but at her ignorance in her refusal to accept what is a biological fact.

Another argument by this group pertains to the Constitution of the United States of America. Although we are inundated by their rhetoric on what seems to be a daily basis how God is the basis for our country. There are no religious references. This was done intentionally by the founding fathers in a attempt to avoid the religious persecution that was faced in Europe. Yet they seemingly fail to understand the gist of that reference. Let’s read it together, “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” It states further,”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It’s worth pointing out that “all men are created equal” is lost amongst the fundamentalists since I am sure we have all seen the images of two adorable little girls wearing t-shirts emblazoned with “God hates fags” across the front. We are all too aware that the KKK’s roots are deeply seeded in Christianity. Their levels of intolerance towards any beliefs different from their own narrow view is legendary and well documented. Oh, by the way, did I bother to mention that their actions are also a form of terrorism? Hmmmmm?

I have known people who will look me in the eye, write in their blogs and social pages extolling their virtues in the name of Jesus Christ. Yet, these same people know or at least understand so little of his teachings. Let me use the death penalty as an example. Christ taught nothing but peace, yet watch the news during an execution and see how many “Christians” stand around with signs that leave no question to their bloodlust towards the impending demise of another individual. Don’t get me wrong for I have no wish or desire to see these people spared. To the contrary, I would be happy to see them die in a manner as heinous as that which was used in their crime. I, however, do not profess to be a Christian. The funny thing is, I still believe in treating all who I come in contact with the way that I too wish to be treated. Respect, dignity, tolerance and the understanding that we all have differences. I’m sorry, kids, but I refuse to believe you can live like an asshole six days a week, blame it on Satan on Saturday and confess your love for Christ on Sunday and all is good. Can you spell H-I-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y?

Not long ago, my wife decided to unfriend the couple that I had mentioned earlier for just these reasons. This sparked numerous text messages, anger and vitriol from these good “Christian” folk and concluded with an e-mail from the wife calling us a number of very un-Christian-like names. In the text of her e-mail, she quoted me when I explained to her our dislike of hipocrites which she vehemently disagreed. Do you want to know the funny part? After spewing her vitriolic disdain for us and calling us a number of names, she closed by letting us know that she will continue to pray for us and expressed her hopes that we will someday allow Jesus into our hearts as she has hers. Now that’s what I call funny!

May God Bless you all, whether you are children of God, Islam, Buddha, Hindu, Jain or Christian.

Namaste and pass the biscuits!

WMK

And the Darwin Award Goes To...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:33:13 -0700

Bill Cosby once said, “A word to the wise ain’t necessary. It’s the stupid ones who need the advice.”

We are all aware of the Darwin Awards which honor those who improve the species by accidentally removing themselves from it. So in light of the recent events in Sedona, Arizona, that led to the deaths of two people and the hospitalization of a host of others who, along with about 58 others, crammed themselves into a 415 square foot, make-shift ‘sweat lodge.’

Now for the unfamiliar a sweat lodge, sweat house or medicine lodge is a ceremonial sauna which some Native American tribes consider to be an important part of ceremonial rituals. That’s all well and good but this wasn’t a ceremony or a ritual. Oh yeah, nor was it performed by a Native American tribe.

These were Spiritual Warriors lead by the well-known shaman James Arthur Ray. Actually he’s not a shaman. He is, however the author of ‘Harmonic Wealth,’ a best-selling, self-help book and describes himself as a “personal success strategist and visionary.” WOW! Damn shame he can’t add paramedic or EMT to his title. These folks were all part of a (God help me ‘cause I gotta say it), New Age, touchy-feely, no doubt HR and PC approved group awareness training, spiritual retreat, bogus, bullshit, thousands of dollars per head, following some goofy assed jack off who thinks he knows a better way (which he does, by the way. He knows the best and fastest way into your wallet) kind of thing. Of course, it’s only appropriate that it’s being held in Sedona which just so happens to be the land of astrology, vortexes, UFO’s, Kirlian photography and whatever other nonsense these loonytoons wish to gather together for.

Since this tragedy I have read daily reports in the news about the retreat, the people involved and Mr. Ray. I cannot help myself but as I read these articles, my thoughts tend bring up names like Koresh, Applewhite, Jones, Manson and other enigmatic characters who through their charisma and the promise of a better way, lead their followers to destruction. Now please don’t get me wrong. I don’t want you to think for a moment that I am lumping all motivational speakers in the same category as the criminally psychotic. If the truth be told, I don’t think Mr. Ray is guilty of having committed any crime whatsoever. But there is a strong similarity in how people like Mr. Ray get people to pay upwards of 9K to spend a week in the desert only to cap it off by crawling into a home-made sweat box and how others have grown their followings.

Look, we all have issues and problems. It’s been this way since the beginning of time and will continue as such until the end. As humans we all have our frailties, faults and foibles. For the most part, we are able to seek out our own solutions whether spiritual, personal, physical, mental and I can go on and on. Bottom line, kids, there is not one soul out there, especially one’s writing books, appearing on TV and charging damn near ten grand that can tell you the answers. And unless Mr. Ray held a gun on these people or drugged them somehow forcing them to stay inside and ignore the signs their bodies had to have been telling them until they had died, then I can see nothing criminal. After all, these were willing participants who were reportedly in excellent physical condition. Like HST says, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

Naivete could have been an issue but I find that hard to believe with people in their late thirties and early forties. Nope, you have a group of people who for whatever their own personal reason chose to follow the words of this man only to crawl into that cramped, crowded and hot sauna and remained there until they perished. The unfortunate and sad truth for those left behind is that these people were willing participants in their own demise (a statement that I shall gladly retract if proven otherwise). The only crime here is stupidity and desperation neither of which could be fixed even if you lined up all of the self-help gurus end to end. I’m sorry folks, it is what it is. After the retreat, after the ‘spiritual cleansing’ these two are still dead.

I do feel so very sorry for their loss for I am sure they were truly wonderful people. I also know that there will be years of litigation and people calling for the head of Mr. Ray. I know that my nominating them for the Darwin Award may appear to be crass and in poor taste and I am sorry for the loss of these lives. I extend my deepest and most heartfelt condolences to their families and friends. But if this is not an example of Darwinism at it’s ultimate best, then what is?

WMK

Max’s Lament

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:56:22 -0700

For whatever the reason, I find myself in a somewhat lugubrious mood this morning. Feeling like the Kris Kristofferson must have felt when he wrote “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Don’t get me wrong, my nature is usually about as far from melancholy as one can get. But sitting here early on a cool, crisp Sunday morning. Enjoying a freshly brewed cup of hazelnut coffee and watching the sunrise with my dogs has me in this pensive mood.

I am 51 years old or 10.5 celcius (which some might agree, at least mentally). Hell, I never thought that I would make it past 30, much less live beyond my forties only to get to a place in life I am the happiest that I have ever been.

But that doesn’t stop me from reflecting on the past. When I read things in the news, watch TV, see a movie, listen to music I realize just how much things have changed in the 51 years that I have been alive.

Like all Old Farts, I gotta start with, “I can remember when”:

Rolling Stone was cool, when it was cutting edge, when it’s writers felt not just the music, but the climate around the music as well and they conveyed this with a passion.

Celebrities actually had to have talent and be able to act or sing or dance or all of the above. There was much more to it than being able to crap out a bunch of kids or being rejected by a has-been rocker and/or rapper.

TV shows actually had plots, albeit they were occasionally stupid, but plots nonetheless.

Men were something more than pathetic, vacuous. whiney little airheads and women were...well, women were more than pathetic, whiney, vacuous little airheads too.

MTV stood for Music Television and yes, kids, the bilk of their programming was music.

Cars were made out of metal.

NASCAR actually raced “stock cars.”

Michael Jackson still had a flat nose and smart money was on Jermaine.

Feeling safe at school.

Howard Stern was actually funny and relevant.

The actually sang songs.

Live bands (glad to see more of them coming back).

Pong.

4 TV channels.

5 TV channels.

20 TV channels.

90 TV channels.

When satellite TV actually picked up transmissions from around the world.

8 track tapes.

Betamax!

Looking down and seeing my feet.

Family vacations.

Family dinners.

OK. I think I’ve gone far enough down memory lane this morning. Besides, I’m getting hungry so I think I’ll pop something in the microwave and watch football while I DVR Myth-Busters.

Yeah, so maybe some of the changes aren’t all bad.

when did things get so mean-spirited, anyways?

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:20:10 -0700

There is a lot of talk about how things have gotten out of hand on the political forefront. How all of the rules of decorum seem to have been thrown out of the window. Speaker Pelosi speaks, her voice cracking, choking back tears of a time in the 70’s where political violence ran rampant and conveys her fears of how that seems to be happening again.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks of a concerted “right-wing conspiracy” not unlike the one after him during his term.

Then you have Congressman Wilson calling the President a liar. Rush Limbaugh hopes that he will fail and Glenn Beck thinks he (the President) is a racist who hates white people.

WOW!

Well, my friends, I’m gonna call SHENANIGANS on all of this contrived nonsense. I mean that, kids. This is as contrived an effort on both sides as an episode of “The Hills.”

The posturing pledges of political partisanship gone putrid are nothing new on THE HILL. For as long as we have had politics, we have had disagreements and we have had hate.

We should take note of the rancorous rhetoric spewed from all sides in discussing the issues of slavery prior to our Civil War. Gonna give you a hint, the re-birthing of our Nation through antebellum was no love-fest in Washington.

Let’s move to a more recent time, in our 20th century, and look at FDR’s seemingly never-ending battle with Congress. JFK and the Bay of Pigs or Ted Kennedy and his tirade of hate towards then Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. Kindness, decorum, are you kidding me?

Oh yeah, does anybody want to talk about the campaigns?

Look, I’m not saying that the rhetoric at times does not get carried away. After all, you have extremists on both sides. I also think that since we now live in an age where you can see just about anything the moment it happens adds a bit of fuel to the fire.

For the most part, about everything that I write I leave for you to judge with regards to the veracity of my statements and I think it should be in that same vein that we listen to politicians and pundits alike.

You will notice a theme in my rants and writings, and that is for each of us to take matters into our own hands. We have the ability and hopefully good sense to not rely on so-called journalists, actors ands comedians to help us to decide who we place into office.

You have enough media available at your very fingertips that you do not have to believe a word that Mr. Limbaugh, Beck, Olbermann, Dobbs, Ms. Maddows or for that matter Mr. McCain, the Speaker of the President have to say. See, hear and judge for yourself and believe me, you can and will find the truth.

Dammit I’m gettin’ all political again!

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:23:50 -0700

Politics,
It seems to me,
For years,
Or all too long.
Has been concerned with right and left,
instead of right or wrong.

Richard Armour

Not that it’s anyones business, but I voted for Barack Obama. It might surprise some of you to know that I also voted for George Bush in 2004. I’ll take you back further and let you know that I voted for Al Gore, Bill Clinton (both times), George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. In 1972 I worked on Richard Nixon re-election stuffing envelopes. Now, I did this for extra credit in my government class, but I did it nonetheless.

I not ashamed of the fact that I am a bit of a CONSERVATIVE when it comes to my thoughts and feelings towards the Constitution of the United States of America. One of the definitions of Conservative as found in Webster’s is: tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions. I am good with that definition being used to describe me with regards to the sanctity of this precious document.

Nor am I ashamed of the fact that I also tend to be a bit LIBERAL in my beliefs about how this country should be governed. Again turning to my trusty old Webster’s, we find: of or constituting a political party in the United Kingdom associated with ideals of individual especially economic freedom, greater individual participation in government, and constitutional, political, and administrative reforms designed to secure these objectives. Very nice. Now do you see what I am trying to get at? Now of course there are more definitions of these two words but I think these both clarify my intent rather well.

Most people don’t realize that the very men who founded this great country and drafted our constitution shared both of these traits. They were LIBERAL in their determination to craft and establish a constitution based on the concept of liberal government. And what was this liberal government? It was one that allowed the government rule by consent of the governed (we’ve come a long way from that ideology, eh?). It allowed the freedom of man to work his land, to sell his goods, to worship his God on his terms, his way, his choice. And they were CONSERVATIVE in their dogged determination not only to accomplish this, but to ensure that what they had started would last for countless generations to come.

Now, here we are in the 21st Century and my how 232 years have changed things. Conservatives have us in a war in a country in which we have no business being in and really no chance of winning. I know, go ahead and call me unpatriotic but the last time that I checked a newspaper, Osama Bin Laden is not now, nor has he been in Iraq for quite some time. Then we have the Liberals who are looking to expand government control on just about every level imaginable.

I voted with my conscience since I have been able to vote. Although I was a member of the Republican Party for a number of years, I still voted for the candidate whom I felt was the best choice for my country. It is not a vote for Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal or Left or Right. It is, has been, and will always be a vote for what I think is right and that is the preservation of our great Democratic Republic.

I vote with the hope that at some point we can drop the party lines and work as a united and free people, much like those brave souls from two centuries ago.