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If ya don't say who ya are, I'll never know you were here......your call. Peace
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December 13 It must be The Holidays....K...yer gonna hafta bear with me, this is a gonna be a long one. Is everbody sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin.
Hang on.
First, I must provide a forwarded email I recieved this morning, to provide context, then I will provide my response to her.
FW: Ben Stein - worth while reading
A bit long, but good.
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary. My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?' In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards. Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein Now, my reply.
A few thoughts on that Ben Stein piece...(also a bit long I'm afraid, and worth the paper its printed on....ie nothing, unless YOU chose to print it
 )It seems to me Ben is saying Judaism and Christianity have a monopoly on God. Keeping the Bible an morning prayer out of schools isn't about keeping God (hereafter to be referred to as Dog !) out of schools, but because OTHER religions DON'T have their books or prayers in the schools. If you can't be ALL inclusive, then you MUST be ALL exclusive.
When Ben says "I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country.", it seems to me that he is saying, if you're not a Jew or a Christian, you're an Atheist. He complains about Jews and Christians being "pushed around", but it seems to me the strongest pushers of the lot are the "Christians"....'If you don't believe in MY Dog, then your soul is forfeit and you shall forever burn in hellfire.'
The whole paragraph on Billy Graham's daughter's response to the Katrina question is ludicrous, unless of course you believe that no hurricanes existed before Dog was ushered out of school, government, and "our lives". I'll bet it was a bunch of early Neo-cons who figured they could go against Dog's will in the first place by building their city BELOW SEA LEVEL !!!! (or at least the part that would house all the ex-slaves that were still working as more or less indentured people for the wealthy white, and therefore, at that time, Christian landowners, but that’s ANOTHER story, right ?)
He doesn't even has his facts completely straight...Spock's book "Baby and Childcare" was published in 1946, fourteen years before Maureen Murray's fight to get morning prayer removed from schools. I know its not a big thing, but research is research, and if its flawed in some parts, what else is ?
He goes on to infer that its because Dog is no longer "accepted" that the youth of today are so troubled, and have no conscience. Some of the nicest youth I know today, and most definitely the most well adjusted, are the ones who DON'T have religion forced upon them. I believe religion is a VERY personal and very INTELLECTUAL pursuit, and by forcing, or even exposing little people without the mental capacity for such intellectual reasoning to it, can only serve to confuse and alienate them from the REAL world in which we do live. "My mommy says that because you don’t believe in Dog you're going to hell, so you have no rights and get no respect." For an adult to say that, fine, that’s their own belief; but to foster that kind of contempt in a child, what kind of social ramifications can that have for the future ? A whole lot of persecution and intolerance methinks. "We reap what we sow" INDEED !!! (Ben needs better proof readers....heh heh....oooops, that’s gotta be embarasing)
There some other nonsense in there about what circulates on the Weeb, but whatever, media, ALL media has ALWAYS, ALWAYS catered to the basest members of our society. (LOL...the Bible was one of the very first published such examples. Thanks Mr. Gutenberg, its been a wild wild ride !) Just remember, as Marshall McLuhan said "The medium IS the message." Just so you know, I was actually laughing as I read it. Religious fanaticism just slays me.
Funny how I don't think you'll forward THIS message to as many people as you did the Benster's one !
(I was gonna "reply to all", but I don't know them and wouldn't wanna get you in trouble or cause you any grief or turmoil that may arise because of it, NOT because I'm scared of personal repercussions...bring it on.)
I stopped worrying about what other people thought of me DECADES ago, let alone Dog. I worry about what I think of me. We all, each and every one of us, knows what is moral and just, and what is not. We don't need some all omnipotent (or is that impotent) power "telling" us what to do through the distorted and biased writing of people who walked the earth hundreds of years ago. You going down into the valley of Canaan to slay them all this weekend Ben ? (Deuteronomy 20:16-17) (( this single passage is the greatest cause of human suffering and evil ever. This is the one Israel is still using as justification for what happens in Lebanon and Palestine every day, and its just plain FUCT ! Have you seen that fucking wall, you can see it from space fer Dog's sakes (so I've heard), cutting impoverished people off from the fields in which they try to grow food, not to mention water, in a region where its most needed. Nice, real nice.))
Finally, Ben says "Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it.....no one will know you did." Hmmm, not much room there for informed intelligent debate Ben, what's that all about ? Your Dog tell you that’s how to behave ? And if I do "discard this thought process"; which I DON'T, its far too important to ignore; I'm not allowed "to complain about what bad shape the world is in". SHIT ! Most of the problems in this world can be blamed on one person saying their religion is better than the other. How 'bout we just leave religion out of it for a while, then see where we end up. I'm not saying don't believe, just don't try to make me believe what you believe; stop trying to change things for the better by invoking some Dog's name, instead of just saying it's the right thing to do. Why can't we all just get along, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu's, Atheists, Agnostics, Nihilists (well okay, Nihilists are a little difficult to accommodate, but they do have some really neat ideas !), the lots of us. Why ? Because those damn workbooks (Bible, Koran, Talmud, et al), most of 'em anyways, say NOT to. Read your own damn religious text Ben, then you'll REALLY understand why there's so much conflict an intolerance in the world.
Me, ..I believe in ROBOTS !
Happy Holidays !
The Malevolent Nihilistic Leapy Machine, Technofreak
(I included "Leapy's Glossy" just to really freak out any religiousos whos she may have actually forwarded it to....FUN !)
So there ya go...my Early Holiday Message...or "ehm ?" I Blogged this 'cause I was wanting to do a piece on this subject anyhow. Thank's, Chick, for the inspiration.
Y'all come back now, yuh hear ? December 09 If that was my birthday.....
They even threw me a party ! Funny how they knew just what I wanted. So, I thought at first I was gonna be in for a helluva drive, as it was snowing and the roads were real messy when I headed out, but once I hit Kaladar, the sun came out and kept shinin' til it disappeared before my eyes behind the Hastings Hills. Blue (Powder Babyblue Brick that is) was awesome, getting over 500kms to 42L of lo-test for the most of the drive. At just over 750kms, it wasn't the longest SBD on record, maybe No. 3 or 4, behind 1990's 988km Brampton-Niagara Falls-Tobermory loop, and the still daunting to think of 1998(?) Markham-Sudbury-Timmins-Pembrooke loop...just over 1000kms that day. So ya, all in all...I'm gonna miss her when she goes. I just hope someone else gets to enjoy her before she goes to that great separator in the sky.
Still, it was a nice day so I I put $10 in the donation pot for placards, then got outta there before I made a complete ass of my self. Unfortunately, and due to my disposition for not liking to drive the same road twice in a day, there only a coupla ways outta Ottawa....South, and "Est". Ya gotta know I will always chose any direction but South, so ya...I had to go through another "country" Entering back into the civilized world, I came across a lad with a busted truck just outside Renfrew. I gave him a ride back into town, for which he tried to repay me, first with filthy lucre, then offering a meal. We settled on a Large Black 2 Sugars and were done with it. Nice guy that. From there on, it was just a low speed (I drive 88 anymore) cruise down through Dacre, Denbeigh, and Bancroft, some of the prettiest winter scenery you'll EVER see. I got home around 9pm after stopping for a nice feed of Liver and Onions in Bancroft, and hit the couch to watch my newly acquired re-mastered and widescreen version of Mad-Max. Way worth the $6.98. Then I hit the sack and started reading the seems-to-be-way-UN-worth $9.99 Variable Star, a "new" R.A.Heinlein Now why don't you all fuck off...I got work to do. December 05 3 Days 'til 40........and I still feel sixteen, what the %#&$ is that all about.
LOL, not that at sixteen I was particularily happy or carefree, I guess I mean the confused and alienated parts, definetley not the energetic and optomistic parts.
I had a coupla paragraphs here, but it was turning into more of a rant on society than any kind of reflection on reaching forty, so I deleted.
Why is it I feel any need to reflect on turning forty anyways, I don't even know if I do, but I get the distinct impression I should be doing SOMETHING...people keep telling me so. My Pop phoned this morning to see when I "would be down this weekend". HA. I haven't talked to my 'rents in like a month and a half, and he calls three days before "the big day" to see when they could expect me ? When I told him I already had plans (a lie !), he suggested "Well maybe we should come up and see you then." I said I wouldn't be here. I was thinking of taking a long drive, the way I always used to on my brithday, so I guess saying I had plans wasn't really a lie after all.
One friend called me last week to see what I had planned, and when I told her about taking a drive, she seemed quiet confused and concerned, as if she figured I was quiet depressed about the whole thing. Ditto for an online friend just this morning. It just doesn't really mean anything to me, and hasn't for a long long time. Hell, I do believe the last time I was excited about my birthday was when I turned sixteen, and then only for the obvious reason. Even nineteen was nothing, I don't even recall drinking on that one (not that I hadn't already been diagnosed as a borderline alcoholic by my doctor at eighteen). Last year I was looking forward to my birtday somewhat, just the notion of spending it with someone for whom I had much affection. I got dumped. That day ! Nice huh ?
I guess for me, birtdays are just another reminder that I've spent another year accomplishing sweet F.A. in the grand scheme of things, spinning round on this rock we call home. It wouldn't be so bad, but it seems that, in general, thats quiet unacceptable. |
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