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LET THE RIGHTEOUS DO SOMETHING WRONG

Published by NiteMayr on November 3, 2009
THIS COUNTRY JUST PLAIN SUCKS FOR JUSTICE!
–4God
This comment was posted on an article about the bodies being dug up from the ground around a serial killer’s house:
Posted by 4God
November 03, 2009, 4:43PM

THE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THESE STUPID CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYERS WILL KEEP THIS SICK PERSON ALIVE LONGER THAN HE NEEDS TO BREATHE!

THIS COUNTRY JUST PLAIN SUCKS FOR JUSTICE! IT’S A SYSTEM AND IT DOES NOT WORK TOO GOOD WHEN IT COMES TO PENALIZING THE WRONG, BUT LET THE RIGHTEOUS DO SOMETHING WRONG AND YOU WILL SEE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN TIMING!

I HATE TO SAY THAT ‘MY’ COUNTRY IS GOING DOWNHILL, BUT IT IS AND CAN’T BLAME ANYONE BUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN IT AND NOT THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THE CONSTITUTION SAYS WHAT …

WE THE PEOPLE AND WE THE PEOPLE ARE NOT DOING WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING…PERIOD…SO I SUPPOSE WE WILL SUFFER FOR OUR WRONG DOINGS!

These comments seem to show up all the time when there is something that offends the Churchie peoples.   “If we were in control we’d do something about this abomination”  given what happened to George Tiller, I think I can imagine.  Talk about incontrovertible truth that a flawed secular system is leaps and bounds beyond a theocratic one.   Look at how the “Very Christian” Michelle Malkin talks about Sharia Law:

“Nope. No stampede to get in front of the cameras and condemn the bloody ravages of sharia law.”

It’s not a ringing endorsement of said Theocratic Law, is it?  This same person said of Doctors like George Tiller, however:

“Oh, what a drag it is on abortionists to detect movement and signs of life in a baby who survived attempted murder.”

That’s not at all like calling him a criminal deserving of a death sentence, is it?  Not at all, right?

And There’s  Bill O’reilly:

“In the unresolved problem segment tonight, the investigation continues into the activities of abortionist George Tiller, known as Tiller the Baby Killer”

It’s all about blooding up the water for the conservative and the religious.  Blood begats blood and in the blood you will be saved and all that.  Bullshit.

This is a serial killer, who is sick.  Simple and easy.  Murder is difficult if you are sane and death is forever.  However much the religiously deranged want to say otherwise, death is forever and killing for killing isn’t going to resolve the crime it only provides catharsis.  How did this person get away with so many killings?  How did he hid so many bodies in his yard?  These are questions that need answers.

I don’t imagine ubiquitous monitoring is the answer, it certainly didn’t solve street crime in the UK, nor murder.  So I can’t offer a constructive response here.  I can say this, screaming for state-sponsored murder makes this person no better than those screaming for public beheadings in the “medieval” middle east, and I can’t help but think that as a person in the “Enlightened West” we should be “better” than that.

Where did Cain find his wife?

Published by NiteMayr on August 10, 2009
If the people who purported to be such great believers were not such wetbrained morons so often; this question would be an easy softball:
“And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and he called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.”
The story of Adam and Eve is always mis-represented as the story of all humanity; which could not be further from the truth.  It is the story of the first followers of Judaism.  The origin of “God’s Chosen People”.  It stands to reason to think that a creation story about “the chosen people” would leave out the existence of people who live “just east of here” they weren’t chosen.  Only Adam and Eve were.
OR
The next time someone says “It’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve” you can reply “Sure, but it’s also Eve and Cain and Eve and Cains Son and all of Cain’s brothers too, right?” Then when they are freaked out you can point them to the passage above and say:
Look dummy, the Bible isn’t a literal telling of the origin of life on earth.  If anything the old testament is a Gentile-Friendly version of the Talmud minus the heavy thinking and the emphasis on waiting for the Jesus to come.  It’s a set of stories the describe the struggle of the Jewish People to live up to their Deity.

My little Christo-Fascist says God is Angry with you

Published by NiteMayr on March 20, 2009

I’ve written about my daughter’s nascent fundamentalism before; it finally erupted into real problems for me over the past month.

It seems that a discussion about the Lenten Fast (Chocolate for Her if you must know) at a friend’s house led a major arguement and a dream in which God told my little girl that he was angry with the world.  I was not privvy to this dream or the argument until I received a call from the school (Catholic School no less) about my Daughter.

It seems she was cursing the kids to hell in the name of God.

And my wife wonders why I discourage religousness.  Sigh.

When speaking to the Principal I had to speak in code to avoid insulting my wife; placing the blame for the fundamentalist leanings in my daughter squarely on the shoulders of the Evilution-Denying shoulders of my wife and mother-in-law.  I’m game to discuss religion, but I always ensure that I frame it as a social coping mechanism.  It seems this nuance is lost on my little Christo-Fascist in training.

I apologized to the Principal and told him that I would speak to my Daughter about her behavior; we comiserated about Fundamentalism of that stripe and it’s corrosive effects and ended the call.  I then called my parents and asked them to NEVER discuss religion with my daughter again; as reinforcing it was causing trouble at school.

I’ve asked my wife to do the same with her family, but as I have said before “they’ve got the Jesus”…

Two More Years… Just Two more…

Way to minimize the Human effort involved

Published by NiteMayr on January 19, 2009
McClatchy Newspapers says this of Usairways Cactus 1549, saved by the pilot
McClatchy Newspapers says this of US Airways Cactus 1549, saved by the pilot

This image boils my butt; the pilot landed the craft. It wasn’t some miracle; human effort save all those people.  It would have been a miracle if the plane had landed without any intervention on the part of the Pilot at all.  Why minimize Human Achievement like this?

In Defense of my Religious Upbringing

Published by NiteMayr on December 16, 2008

Frequent readers of this blog or people who just look at the preceeding post to this one might get the idea that I’m a firm anti-religious type, and you’d be wrong.

I’m still a big fan of the Catholic School Board I was educated by from 2-13 in Ontario and wouldn’t exchange it for an irreligious or secular school any day.  I was taught by (for the most part) dedicated people who handed the students the tools and means to make an informed decision about Church and Religion. They taught us about comparative religion and evolution and science and reasoning and problem solving and history.  It wasn’t “The Catholic” version of things, it was “the facts as they knew and understood them”  which prepared my class and some of the surrounding years for a future where we could choose for ourselves.  I like that and encourage it.  I was handed a bible and a measuring stick and told to find out the distance the words in it would go.  For a long time they went pretty far.

I still write Roman Catholic on Government forms when I’m asked to identify my Religious Affiliation; although I don’t practice anymore (I got it right and decided that I’d leave an open seat for others).  I’m an Agnostic, not an Atheist.  I don’t know if there is something more than me, I don’t think it is likely that the Christians, Jews  or Moslems or any of the other Religious groups are correct though.  I critique the “Religious” because they are the Rediculous, they just seem to want comfort from the Universe; comfort from a Parent that they can’t touch or see.  I’ll admit that the thought that this life is all I have is scary, shouldn’t it compel me to make the most of this life?

I imagine that where the Religious and My Agnostic classmates diverge is motivation.  I do good things to make others feel good, not for the rewards (well, not the rewards alone anyway) but I do good things in secret too, without anyone knowing.  I don’t need magical rewards that only show up when I die to motivate good deeds; I try to encourage this in my daughter.  However in the Religious, good deeds are motivated not by love for one another, but by fear of punishment beyond the grave.  If you are living in fear of Hell, please take this simple advice:

If you die and there IS a god and a heaven and you have been good according to their rules, WIN!

If you die and there IS a god and heaven and you have been bad and end up in hell, at least you have eternal life and take comfort in the fact that eventually god saves all the souls in hell once they have been redeemed.  Also, famous dead people! WIN!

If you die and that is it, what would you know about it?  You’re gone.  Win (for you)

Death, scary as it is, is only hard on the living, the dead don’t suffer from the heartache that the survivors feel.

My Dad (who knows everything) says that Hell is probably the Black Nothing of being without life, but if one was aware of said blackness, then isn’t that still eternal life?  This is why my Dad calls me a smart ass.

All of that aside, I was well-educated and prepared for life by my teachers, almost all of them religious people, good church going folk.  Only three of them ever made me feel in danger for either my physical well-being or my uh sexual well-being  (One time a Religion teacher growled at me as I walked by, he was a former Monk and I swear he was coming on to me in some clumsy way that still puzzles me. I’m tubby, hit on someone who wants it Mr. Beardy Former Monk).  My history teachers gave us a rich view of the world, spanning the centuries, putting into perspective the stories from the Bible as the work of Men who lived in fear of the Night.  Our Science teachers (biology, Chemistry and Physics) gave us the keys to the worlds workings, showing us the diversity and simple beauty of the math behind it all.  Our Social Studies and Technology teachers showed us how we interacted with the world and let us discover how our interactions affected it.  Our arts teachers let us appreciate the written word and visual arts for what they were (within a strict and often compellingly bad structure, at least we had creative writing!)

All of this aside, I was given a good Education at Catholic School and wouldn’t prevent my own daughter from experiencing it or discourage other parents from signing up their kids for the same district.  I can only speak for my own experience and would love to hear from my former classmates if they happen on this post.

Pray for a Lottery win and don't play

Published by NiteMayr on November 5, 2008

In the Pat Robertson Prayer Challenge I asserted that Pat could not lose when he compels his flock to pray for something.  All over the web; Christians took to the Deitic Airwaves to call for God to come down and press the lever on their behalf.

“There are millions of people around this world praying to their god—whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah—that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their God is bigger than you, if that happens,” said Arnold Conrad, the former pastor of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Davenport.

(at a McCain Rally)

Pray for Obama to lose election

Christians should stand united in prayer on Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. around the world for the coming election.

Have you done your research yet? What is leading you to vote — mammon (money) or what God says is right?

We are supposed to lead the blind. We are not supposed to tell them what is right in their eyes is right, because they cannot see.

Have you voted already? Why is Barack Hussein Obama pushing that you vote early? Is he hiding something?

Is Jesus going to ask you on Judgment Day why you voted for a president who is a Democrat in 2008 if you knew that he lies.

A lot of people say the politicians lie. Sometimes we believe what they say, because we hope for the best. We are supposed to hope for the best. When you know someone is lying you are not supposed to vote for that person.

If someone says they’re a Christian it doesn’t mean they are. If you sit in a garage it doesn’t make you a car, just like if you sit in church it doesn’t mean you’re a Christian. How do you know if someone is a Christian? You know by they’re works or deeds not just their words. A Christian means to be Christlike. Jesus says “Thou shalt not kill” Obama says, that it’s OK to kill babies. Even if the baby was supposed to be aborted, but lives, the nurses are supposed to put them in a laundry cart and let them starve to death, naked.

In Judges, it says that the men wanted to know ( to have sex with) the visitor (a man) who came to town and God said, “That is a vile thing and should not be found among his children”

Obama says that to be gay is OK and for homosexuals to marry their partners is OK. Take a look at the presidential report card at http://www.savecalifornia.com/PresidentialReportCard.pdf.

Dawn Poniente, Wisconsin Dells

It has occurred to me that this could mean our prayers for a McCain victory are going to be answered in the affirmative, and that somewhere inside me, I know better than to worry. On the other hand, it could be the result of a deep realization that I am becoming separate from the world, and that my security comes from God, not politicians.

Hog on Ice

And So on…

Now, the Pat Robertson’s of the world can say, “Well, God answered the prayers of those who Prayed FOR Obama to Win.”  or “Now we sit back and wait for God’s Punishment” whatever.

Those who truly believe in Prayer will never see it’s failure as an indictment against it; only that they didn’t pray correctly or that they didn’t do it hard enough.  The first Murder in the Bible was in part Inspired by this same fervor, Caine could not make an offering to God that he felt was “good enough” and so he sacrificed his brother.  Rather than take the advice of their own “book” the Fundamentalist overlooks the obvious lesson and just takes the punishment.

It’s this continued avoidance of learning and understanding that makes a Fundamentalist who they are and allows Cynics like Mr. Robertson to prey on them again and again.

These guys need to be found, arrested and punished

Published by NiteMayr on November 3, 2008

An Islamist rebel administration in Somalia has had a 13-year-old girl stoned to death for adultery after the child’s father reported that she was raped by three men.

Amnesty International said al-Shabab militia, which controls the southern city of Kismayo, arranged for 50 men to stone Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow in front of about 1,000 spectators. A lorry load of stones was brought to the stadium for the killing.

From “The guardian UK“

Dear Muslims,

Like the Christians, you have a great deal to answer for; not the least of which is your continual adherence to the desert god worship that justifies this kind of crap.  In Short, like said Desert Gods, dry up and blow away.

Signed,

The Twenty-First Century

Seriously?  This is simply unacceptable.  These people need a long thrashing with the clue stick, as much as the people in “Jesus Camp” are backwards idiots, these guys are the same.  Hiding behind a 2000 year old imported religious tradition to justify long-term terrorism, and terrorism this is, the 1,000 witnesses were not volunteers, they were there to “spread the word” that this “militia” are the hardest and most observant Muslims in the area.  Why don’t they just start a rap label and just sing about how hard they are?

Well, what is going to be done about this folks?

The Pat Robertson Prayer Challenge

Published by NiteMayr on October 2, 2008

In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control.  If there was ever a time for fervent prayer, it is now.  Prayer can change the course of history!  The Bible says, “Seek righteousness, seek humility. … that you may be hid in the day of the Lord’s wrath.”  “… the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

The believing prayers of tens of thousands of God’s people can change the hearts of the leaders of Russia and Iran.  God can cause situations to arise which will save Israel.  He is Almighty.  With God all things are possible!

With that in mind, I urge you to fervently seek God’s intervention in the following areas:

  • Pray that God’s mighty angels would surround and protect our nation in these perilous times;
  • Pray for unity among the body of Christ as we intercede for our nation and our world;
  • Pray that America’s leadership will seek godly wisdom as they face critical events in the weeks and months ahead;
  • Pray for the Holy Spirit to sweep across the globe, preparing hearts to accept Jesus and enter God’s Kingdom before tragic events unfold;
  • Pray for God to change the hearts of leaders in Russia, Iran, and other nations who wish to do harm to Israel.

Hopefully, our Lord will intervene and head off the disaster that seems to be approaching.  Let us pray together.  With God all things are possible!

http://www.patrobertson.com/pressreleases/PatRobertsonRegardingGeorgia.asp

Okay folks, here it is.  The Pat Robertson Prayer Challenge, this is where the rubber meets the road on Christianity, Prayer and the Intercession of Faith.

As a Celebrant, you can say to the flock, “Pray for X or if you don’t U will happen” if X happens you can say “You Prayed well and have been rewarded” and if Y happens you can say “You didn’t show enough faith, next time you will pray harder or give more of yourself”.  As long as X is easy “No Fire Demons come From the Sky” and Y is likely “Someone’s house will Burn Down” it means that the celebrant can effectively use statistics and basic common sense to look like a conduit for Gods words.  When in all likelihood they are just an astute observer of statistics and human behavior.

The Prayer Challenge

Between today and January 1st, Pat Robertson says that the Middle East will erupt in chaos and a limited nuclear exchange may occur unless his followers pray for Russian and Iran to “back down” if they don’t he can say “See, your prayers saved Israel” and if they do he can say “You didn’t Pray hard enough” or if Barack Obama is elected President and they do he can say “It’s your fault for electing that man, this is your Punishment”

What about a Third outcome?  What it American invades Iran and touches off a real war with Russia?

What if American forces step in among the Balkans?

What if Isreal bombs Iran?

Prayer against a massively negative outcome is easy, especially if it is unlikely.  Praying that a comet won’t hit the world is easy, and likely to come true.  Prayer that you won’t get wet on a rainy day is stupid, as you are going to get wet on a rainy day if you go out without rain gear on.  So to is this prayer easy, it’s highly unlikely that either Iran or Russia would provoke a nuclear war “Just because” and let’s face it, if the rhetoric of our politicians was enough to provoke a real war, Iran would have bombed Isreal years ago.

If Prayer is REAL and the world is on the edge of massive nuclear war, then it is likely that it WILL happen, because as you know, America has fallen to the forces of evil already:

We have insulted God at the highest level of our government.  Then, we say, “Why does this happen?”  It is happening because God Almighty is lifting His protection from us.
Once that protection is gone, we are vulnerable because we are a free society.

http://www.patrobertson.com/PressReleases/TerroristAttack.asp

My Little Christo-Fascist

Published by NiteMayr on October 1, 2008

Special Note: Yes, the title of this post is deliberately provocative.  Sometimes I just like to poke the bear and see if it really is asleep or just lying in wait.

I was raised Catholic and questions of faith and religion truly do enthuse me; I enjoy the debate and the conflict that surrounds religion. I willingly get into conflicts with my friends and family over religion and hope that my views on the matter have evolved over time in response to new information and my own personal growth as a person.  I also strongly believe that my brain wasn’t fully baked in place until my mid-twenties, and may still be cooling today.

Continue readingMy Little Christo-Fascist

You and your Flying Purple Pony can get stuffed

Published by NiteMayr on July 28, 2008

Did Muslims react so strongly because they did not understand or believe in freedom of speech? Gallup’s data, which demonstrate Muslim admiration for Western liberty and freedom of speech, indicate otherwise. The core issues of this apparent clash, or “culture war,” are not democracy and freedom of expression, but faith, identity, respect (or lack of it), and public humiliation. As France’s Grand Rabbi Joseph Sitruk observed in The Associated Press in the midst of the cartoon controversy: “We gain nothing by lowering religions, humiliating them and making caricatures of them. It’s a lack of honesty and respect.” He further noted that freedom of expression “is not a right without limits.”

Islam and the West: Clash or Coexistence?

I’m focusing on this last quote; from Grand Rabbi Joseph Sitruk; it’s fairly naive to ask a religious authority about how people should talk about religion in the public square.  What do you imagine the Grand Rabbi will say about religion;  that satire is satire and we should accept the clowns with the accolades?  No.  Simply no.  Like the Pope or the GRand Vizier, the religious authority is going to fall on the side of the religious without fail.  Therefore there opinion; however florid, is moot and accepted as supporting religion without inquiry.

The “Cartoon Debacle”  highlighted something that I hold dear; the ability (and lack thereof) to laugh at oneself.  It’s a hard pill to swallow when someone makes fun of your hero; it’s even harder when that hero is your personal savior.  This I get; but when someone lampoons my heroes (even the ones that I adore) I don’t feel compelled to violence (any more).  If it is funny; I laugh.  If not, I fume and maybe even give back an indignant remark; but that’s about it.  It seems that people can get very huffy about their heroes, personalizing anything about said heroes as an individual slight.  Not only does this show a shocking lack of character, but it demonstrates a lack of  development on par with serious emotional developmental issues.

Notice that (any more) I dropped in there?  That’s because it USED to be that one could goad me into a tear-stained fury just by making fun of the music I liked.  I hadn’t developed the emotional coping mechanisms that would allow me to separate myself from my interests.  This is probably the kind of lack of development that leads to violent reactions to parody.  I don’t know; I’m not a psychiatrist.  I’m just a Blogger.

That being said; it sucks that people (as a group) can be so easily led to outrage. We all have to just lighten up and tackle real issues and outrages when they come up.  Right?