Wow. Whenever I read the news online (including the SG news stories), it just makes my head hurt seeing just how fucked up things really are, or can be, or will be... Sigh...
So Anne Rice converted back (is it possible to "convert back" to something?) to Catholicism, and now all her books are going to be in praise of "Him" in one way or another. It really doesn't matter to me what belief system one subscribes to, personally, but this still made me laugh out to myself as I was reading it. The woman behind what is possibly the sluttiest (not that that's a bad thing) version of "Sleeping Beauty" is all about God now, and apparently in a big way. That's just hilarious to me somehow.
Then again, the whole religion thing has never made sense to me anyway. I mean, when I was a little kid, I went to the church with my parents and got baptized and all, went to some Sunday School classes here and there, but once I hit a certain age and found out about ancient civilizations, widely varying philosophies throughout the ages, and scientific method, I guess I perked up and was able to see through the bullshit, the convenient web of self-deception that organized religion has built for itself, and the people who feel that they should be included as a part therein. If it makes you feel good about yourself, and it gives you a reason to wake up in the morning, then fine. Who am I to make fun of the way things have been for thousands of years? Keep in mind, though... On the timeline of the human race, it wasn't so long that people were singing the praises of huge, mythological beings seated atop Mount Olympus, slaughtering animals and people alike to stay in favor with the gods... Native (original) Americans dancing and chanting to their own versions of the otherworldy beings, in hopes for valor and luck in battle, good harvests, and personal fertility? The Druids? Egyptians? Brahmans (Brahmins? I can never remember how to spell that correctly)? Ancestor worship, Shinto, and Taoism? Buddhism?
And let's not forget Islam...
The way it looks to me, is that you have a bunch of people who mean well, but have it all wrong. Who cares where everything came from? If you know where everything came from, is it going to make trees spontaneously start producing more oxygen, thereby reversing how we have fucked up the atmosphere over so many years? Is it going to change the current wave of (sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant) worldwide globalization through business and industry? Is it going to make Nazi kids start getting along with the "Goth" kids and the "thugs"? Most likely not...
I wish all the really militant religious people in this world would shut the fuck up for a second and realize all the people who have made some sort of difference in the world, bucking current trends in the process. Pasteur. Einstein. Leeuwenhoek (the man who invented the microscope). Joseph Lister, the guy who came up with the crazy notions of antiseptic surgical procedures.
And on a semi-related note, lets not forget who else has been kinda put down and set upon throughout the ages because of religion, Christianity in patricular: Women. Eve persuaded Adam to eat the apple. Who cares. It's a fucking story. Why has there never been a female Pope? Is it simply because of a vagina? That just seems silly, like little kids not allowing someone into their club because they have a big nose or funny-looking ears. It's stupid elitism. Sadly, it's more or less here to stay. I do recall something about people being burned at stakes because of funny moles and strange birthmarks... There were apparently a lot of people like this in old Massachusetts, way back in the day. People thought they were witches, apparently. Just as stupid...
And let's not forget about the Protestants in Northern Ireland who just can't seem to let the native Catholics do their own thing, without any persecution of any kind... That shit is still going on today... Easter Uprising, 1916?
And no, I'm not really much of a history buff. I just tend to soak up everything I read like a sponge...
More later, maybe... See ya.
So Anne Rice converted back (is it possible to "convert back" to something?) to Catholicism, and now all her books are going to be in praise of "Him" in one way or another. It really doesn't matter to me what belief system one subscribes to, personally, but this still made me laugh out to myself as I was reading it. The woman behind what is possibly the sluttiest (not that that's a bad thing) version of "Sleeping Beauty" is all about God now, and apparently in a big way. That's just hilarious to me somehow.
Then again, the whole religion thing has never made sense to me anyway. I mean, when I was a little kid, I went to the church with my parents and got baptized and all, went to some Sunday School classes here and there, but once I hit a certain age and found out about ancient civilizations, widely varying philosophies throughout the ages, and scientific method, I guess I perked up and was able to see through the bullshit, the convenient web of self-deception that organized religion has built for itself, and the people who feel that they should be included as a part therein. If it makes you feel good about yourself, and it gives you a reason to wake up in the morning, then fine. Who am I to make fun of the way things have been for thousands of years? Keep in mind, though... On the timeline of the human race, it wasn't so long that people were singing the praises of huge, mythological beings seated atop Mount Olympus, slaughtering animals and people alike to stay in favor with the gods... Native (original) Americans dancing and chanting to their own versions of the otherworldy beings, in hopes for valor and luck in battle, good harvests, and personal fertility? The Druids? Egyptians? Brahmans (Brahmins? I can never remember how to spell that correctly)? Ancestor worship, Shinto, and Taoism? Buddhism?
And let's not forget Islam...
The way it looks to me, is that you have a bunch of people who mean well, but have it all wrong. Who cares where everything came from? If you know where everything came from, is it going to make trees spontaneously start producing more oxygen, thereby reversing how we have fucked up the atmosphere over so many years? Is it going to change the current wave of (sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant) worldwide globalization through business and industry? Is it going to make Nazi kids start getting along with the "Goth" kids and the "thugs"? Most likely not...
I wish all the really militant religious people in this world would shut the fuck up for a second and realize all the people who have made some sort of difference in the world, bucking current trends in the process. Pasteur. Einstein. Leeuwenhoek (the man who invented the microscope). Joseph Lister, the guy who came up with the crazy notions of antiseptic surgical procedures.
And on a semi-related note, lets not forget who else has been kinda put down and set upon throughout the ages because of religion, Christianity in patricular: Women. Eve persuaded Adam to eat the apple. Who cares. It's a fucking story. Why has there never been a female Pope? Is it simply because of a vagina? That just seems silly, like little kids not allowing someone into their club because they have a big nose or funny-looking ears. It's stupid elitism. Sadly, it's more or less here to stay. I do recall something about people being burned at stakes because of funny moles and strange birthmarks... There were apparently a lot of people like this in old Massachusetts, way back in the day. People thought they were witches, apparently. Just as stupid...
And let's not forget about the Protestants in Northern Ireland who just can't seem to let the native Catholics do their own thing, without any persecution of any kind... That shit is still going on today... Easter Uprising, 1916?
And no, I'm not really much of a history buff. I just tend to soak up everything I read like a sponge...
More later, maybe... See ya.
arden:
thank you very much sweetie