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.