No matter how much you believe that it's God's will... [1.0]

It's really not okay.


One Saturday morning, the Jehovahs came to my door. A man and his son.

Whenever the Jehovahs come knocking, I deal with them as politely and respectfully as time will allow. Because despite the fact that absolute disrespect of my spiritual beliefs is one of the core fundamentals of their spiritual beliefs, I still respect what they are doing. While it is inconvenient to deal with them, it seems that without causing any real harm to others, they are simply practicing the traditions of their faith. They are doing what they believe is necessary to save their souls. And they believe that they are trying to help me. I don't really like it. But in ways, I truly do respect their campaign of disrespect. I have the same respect for Mormon missionaries. Because, just as the idea of going around trying to convert people to my faith would be in sharp contrast to my beliefs; failing to respect the spiritual traditions of others would be an even more pronounced contradiction to my spiritual philosophy.
So, the man and his son...

The young boy was standing in front of his father, holding a copy of The Watchtower. He looked up at me and as a salutation he articulately delivered a clearly rehearsed question: "Do you know what is causing the wars in the world?"

The irony of this moment was so startling that I must have blacked out. I really can't remember what happened next. I can just look back on it and know what my immediate, honest answer would have been. I would have crouched down to meet his eye level and told him that most wars start with religious conflict. I would as plainly as possible, explain that from the dawn of civilization up to the present day, the majority of violent conflicts in the world have been at the hands of the religious and waged against opposing religions. I may have said that to him. And I may have just stood there silent until they walked away. I really don't know.

I'm talking about this stuff to illustrate the fact that I have mixed feelings about this issue. One thing that I'm sure of is this...

If you think that God wants you to hurt someone, you are seriously fucked up.

I saw a news cast about a 6 year old boy being brought to America to be treated for horrible burns. Men invaded his home, doused him with gasoline and set him on fire. In general, our species is not mentally or emotionally built for committing such acts of absolute sadistic horror. Sure: there is no shortage of mentally unstable sadistic fucks out there, who do some equally horrible things. But in this case - considering the circumstances of the attack, and where and when it took place... I doubt that this was a random act of unimaginable horror. It's more likely that these guys were on a mission. It's likely that these were loving, faithful men, perhaps with children of their own. Men who were only capable of dehumanizing their perception of that boy-- thoroughly enough to attack him so cruelly-- because of their core belief that this act was part of God's plan. You don't do shit like that because there was nothing to watch on TV that day. You do it because you have a chronic chemical imbalance and you're off your meds. Or you do it because of your absolute basic belief that the hand of God has led you down that path and to that end.

Now here's the thing. No matter how much you believe that it's God's will... It's really not okay to hurt children. In any circumstance, directly or indirectly, ever.

As a global society, we should establish a world police specifically for capturing people who hurt children. It should be the world's priority to man such an agency with the very best detectives and marshalls in the world. And for the captured and found guilty, a special torture chamber should be built. One which is designed, built and operated by the most disturbed, soulless and imaginative alchemists on Earth. People who make Hannibal Lector look like a nice date for your daughter. And this institution should have two very strict policies:
1- No one gets out alive.
2 - Everyone is kept alive and lucid for as long as possible.
Other than that...
Game on.

the solution 2.0

Not enough toes to print I G N O R A N T B I G O T

I wish that the phrase “member of the global community” did not sound so…
Activist-ish or treehuggery or however it sounds, which seems to get it dismissed as too fringy to hold equal merit to a phrase like Patriotic American. I wish that, because I think it actually means something very important. I think that it is a very large part of the solution.
You grow up hearing so much about “the spirit of competition”, placed in such a positive light, as if it’s a value, in the same class as honesty, work ethic and kindness.
Competition between schools, departments, geographic areas, and everything else…
How valuable is competition? Without it, do you truly lack the drive to rise above mediocrity? Are we actually so shallow, that we feel it’s not worth bothering to move forward, unless we’re trampling over someone to get there?
Is my potential measured by what I can do, or what I can prove you can’t do?

And why the fuck am I so damn proud to be a part of a fraction of something, rather than just being at harmony with the whole thing.
Fuck that faggot-ass harmony shit! I’m proud to be a part of my fraction!!!
Proud to be an American!
Proud Christian
Muslim Pride
Armenian Pride
Mexican Pride
Gay Pride
Jewish Pride
Ford vs. Chevy
Mac vs. PC
Suni vs. Sheite
Icelandic Pride
Tasmanian Pride
Ethiopian Pride
Russian Pride
Irish Pride
Cardasian Pride!
And now, to help bring it home with a timeless classic, This little tidbit...
The young mother in front of me, with her daughter on her hip, in the check out line at Wal-Mart, did not have enough toes to print out ignorant bigot. So she had WHITE PRIDE tattooed across the tops of her toes.
She is raising a child. A child that could have been a member of the global community. But will more likely be apart of a fraction. A very proud fraction.
Has their not been enough evidence to the fact that the prouder a fraction is, the more it contributes to the problem?

I have no doubt that if this young mother votes, she votes strictly for Republicans. We have a Republican president whom has famously boasted that he wanted to be a “uniter not a divider”. We have a saying in this country: United We Stand Divided We Fall. Many people who voted for Mr. “I want to be a uniter” have bumper stickers on their cars which read: United We Stand. Some inspiring words from the President and the bumper sticker… But just words. Words of absolute hypocrisy. Under the “leadership” of this self proclaimed “uniter” our country has become more divided than it has been since the civil war. Could he stop there? No. He had to go on to isolate our country from the global community so thoroughly, that our nation has practically become the enemy of Planet Earth. The phrase that has so conveniently been left off of the bumper sticker is: Divided We Fall. As we have fallen.

Bill Clinton never touted his intent to be “a uniter”. Instead, he took actions of actual unification. Like appointing a Republican to the office of Secretary of Defense. He took real action to make significant strides toward uniting the political parties. And how did the Republican congress react? They spent the entire Clinton presidency conducting a witch-hunt against him. And don’t forget that while the Republican congress squandered millions of our tax dollars on this relentless political persecution, Bill still managed to not only balance the Federal budget, but he actually elevated our nation's revenue to the largest surplus in history.

Getting back to the point. I am not a proud Democrat or a proud American. If you held a gun to my head and said that I had to pledge my pride to something, I’d tell you that I am a proud member of the global community. And I would not limit that statement to the community of Humans. I believe that if I fail to respect all life and all elements, it would be a failure to respect God. And that's something that I try not to fail at.

But I do talk about the political parties. And I clearly do favor the politicians in the Democratic Party. It's just logical. The only politicians (of the realistically viable parties) in this country whom seem to make real efforts to unite us as nation, as a people, and as a truly responsible member of the global community, happen to be Democrats.
Hopefully, they will have enough success to eventually abolish all political parties.


Is John Lennon’s “Imagine” starting to play in the back of your mind, or is that just me?