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Filtering the Truth
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Topic Started: Jun 24 2009, 08:32 AM (89 Views)
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Gwen
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Jun 24 2009, 08:32 AM
Post #1
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I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed.
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http://suicidegirls.com/news/politics/23393/
Don't ask why it's on that site, I honestly don't know. He chose that site, I just reposted it.
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Spirituality is a wonderful thing. I have my reservations about religion though. Although some think it's one in the same, I do not. In fact, I think we'd be better off if we all thought that way. Who's to say whose God is the right one to worship? If you pick the wrong one, are you going to be damned even if you live a good life? And what if your deity tells you to do one thing while another tells someone else that you are misguided? With all the strife in the world and all the conflict it causes, I have to wonder... at what point does religion hinder us?
For the last 10 years of my life, I've been pretty non-religious in my personal life. I have spoken out in subtle ways, putting deliberate lyrics out on my albums Short Bus, Title of Record and The Amalgamut that hinted at the beliefs and questions I have on the topic. Something that has always comforted me, as an American, was that the United States was founded on the ideals of FREEDOM: Freedom of religion and freedom of speech. But the reality is, if we do not adhere to the mainstream ideals of religion, we might not feel free to speak our minds.
When I am talking openly about my thoughts on the subject, some people roll their eyes in disgust, like I'm some kind of an asshole because I don't believe like they do. In times of trouble, I turn to what I consider to be my Higher Power-not a higher BEING but a higher POWER...which is the incredible power of nature. So I understand this need to believe in something greater than oneself. But THEIR religion is not MY answer. What's wrong with that?
Now why is this guy brining up THIS topic on the Suicide Girls site, you may be asking yourself right about now... and the reason is: Bill Maher's Religulous and the movie W. Two great new films, which moved me to speak my mind about religion, its unfortunate place in our government, and how -- depending on your perspective -- it might not be such a good thing for the planet.
Many years ago, peasants were stealing from each other and murderers were running rampant throughout the world. To deal with the mayhem, rulers came to the conclusion that putting the fear of God in the masses would keep them in line. Organized religion started as a way for those in power to get what they needed from the people. It's true to this day. Barack Obama was right on when he said that people on the outskirts of society, in rural areas, cling to their guns and religion. And I think that's a scary thing.
Modern organized religion just seems like a lot of hypocrisy to me. Not one religion can prove that they alone are right. Similarly none are blameless –– I mean, how many deaths have been caused by religion? Can you name one religion where people haven't died in its name?
The 19 hijackers on 9/11 read something in the Koran, declared Jihad and decided that Americans should die. Their religion was the catalyst for them to do something insane. When a right-to-lifer blows up an abortion clinic, they do it in the name of God. Save a life by taking lives? In the name of religion? Hitler killed the Jews (and other people who weren't like him, for that matter), and Christians killed people who were Christian –– but weren't the right kind –– during the Spanish Inquisition. I think religion is clouding everyone's thinking. When George W. Bush started saying, "God has spoken to me," and used this belief as an excuse to go to war with Iraq, many Christians in this country were nodding their heads and saying, "YES!"
If someone I knew said that God told him to pick a fight with someone, I would smack him in the face to snap him out of it. That's the same reason why I wouldn't make big decisions based on the advice of someone who uses an Ouija board or who believes in astrology, because it's dangerous.
I have a religious Christian friend who says the world is 6000 years old, and carbon dating is fake and unreliable –– faked by thousands of scientists and universities all over the world. He chooses to ignore the geological proof of evolution and the fact that this planet is billions of years old, scientifically speaking, because it's so overwhelmingly against the Christian version of the story. This friend of mine says that God created man out of sand in seven days... and this is coming from a 26-year-old man.
Religion blinds to the point of irrationality. It also conveniently dehumanizes. In California, we have a bill on the ballot known as Proposition 8, which deals with whether or not gay people can marry. I get calls daily from different people who have different opinions on the subject. The religious people seem to have a problem with homosexuality –– same-sex people in love –– though Jesus supposedly preached love above all else. Just because some people interpret a book to say that it's wrong for two same-sex people to be in love, our government tries to deny those people's fundamental rights to live peacefully and equally.
And then we have a religious book, the Koran, that says women should be treated like second-class citizens. They should have to cover themselves from head to toe with burkas. They should only be wives and mothers. They can't drive a car. They can't vote. In most Arab countries, they have no voice at all. It's like they don't exist. All in the name of religion. The same religion that inspires the Jihadists to bring down big, bad America.
I mean, what is all of this saying to our youth? I have a daughter. I want her to grow up knowing she can be who she is -- whoever she turns out to be -- and can do whatever she wants to do in life. Can't we put these religious texts in CONTEXT?
At times, I find myself on my knees, begging for something good to happen but wondering whom to beg. I would be really happy if there was a paradise after we die, but I don't think any of us should have to wait. My family, my friends, my planet, this should be our paradise NOW. This ain't the dress rehearsal people. This is the SHOW! We need to stop waiting for the man in the sky to take care of everything, let's do it OURSELVES. Let's do it NOW!
Richard Patrick is the frontman for the rock band Filter. Their latest album, Anthems for the Damned, which features the single "Soldiers of Misfortune," is in stores now.
I can't agree more. I've been saying this for the longest time, and he put it into the perfect words.
SIDENOTE: Filter is one of the best bands in the entire world, you have no right to question it. Free speech ends at Filter.
Spoiler: click to toggle THE ABOVE WAS MEANT AS A SEMI-JOKE. DO NOT GO BATSHIT INSANE OVER A JOKE. THX : D
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Virgil
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Jun 24 2009, 09:07 AM
Post #2
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I solemnly agree. I really hate the fact that the United States is dominated by religious fanatics. I mean, religion flourished here because it was spread here during the colonization of America and was accelerated during the Cold War to combat the "godless communists", but there has to be an end. Humanity have evolved from simple primate-like animals to the most complex creature on this planet and yet we're still stuck with the primal-like tradition of worshiping shamans and looking for the future in animal entrails. Evolution has allowed us to build wondrous things but has failed to allow us to move beyond the spiritual.
I think, in some ways, people cling to their God because it makes sense to them. This world is complicate, the information highway that is the internet has connected more people than any other medium, mails, travel, phone call, can ever do. Technology and the strive for money has accelerated the pace of life on this planet dramatically. Current studies show that the pace of human progress and the evolution rate of technology is currently 15% annually. In less than two years, we went from the Razor to the iPhone. With such a fast moving society, some people living in a modern society can often tend to feel fear of this change. This is often true in older people, who tends to be more conservative. Older people often do not fit in this high pace society so they would often stick with what they're used to; God. They were raised to worship God and worship this man of love and of peace Jesus and they continue to do so despite the fact that it is an outdated concept that no longer fits here in the modern world of science because it offers them security, that somewhere in this vast, unforgiving world, that there is someone who cares about them and that the world is less complicate than it seems and that Jesus' message is all you need to survive in this world. The Catholic Church, which is the oldest relic of a by-gone era, still attempts to preach love and forgiveness when, in their full bloom of hypocrisy and ludicrous ideology, had a history of starting some of the bloodiest wars in human history. It was as if Adolf Hitler himself was to come back and preach about acceptance of the Jews. They just can't seem to realize that there is no place for them anymore, that science has won and their God will one day die a mortal death just like us all.
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Gwen
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Jun 24 2009, 09:56 AM
Post #3
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I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed.
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- QuantumInteger
- Jun 24 2009, 09:07 AM
I solemnly agree. I really hate the fact that the United States is dominated by religious fanatics. I mean, religion flourished here because it was spread here during the colonization of America and was accelerated during the Cold War to combat the "godless communists", but there has to be an end. Humanity have evolved from simple primate-like animals to the most complex creature on this planet and yet we're still stuck with the primal-like tradition of worshiping shamans and looking for the future in animal entrails. Evolution has allowed us to build wondrous things but has failed to allow us to move beyond the spiritual.
I think, in some ways, people cling to their God because it makes sense to them. This world is complicate, the information highway that is the internet has connected more people than any other medium, mails, travel, phone call, can ever do. Technology and the strive for money has accelerated the pace of life on this planet dramatically. Current studies show that the pace of human progress and the evolution rate of technology is currently 15% annually. In less than two years, we went from the Razor to the iPhone. With such a fast moving society, some people living in a modern society can often tend to feel fear of this change. This is often true in older people, who tends to be more conservative. Older people often do not fit in this high pace society so they would often stick with what they're used to; God. They were raised to worship God and worship this man of love and of peace Jesus and they continue to do so despite the fact that it is an outdated concept that no longer fits here in the modern world of science because it offers them security, that somewhere in this vast, unforgiving world, that there is someone who cares about them and that the world is less complicate than it seems and that Jesus' message is all you need to survive in this world. The Catholic Church, which is the oldest relic of a by-gone era, still attempts to preach love and forgiveness when, in their full bloom of hypocrisy and ludicrous ideology, had a history of starting some of the bloodiest wars in human history. It was as if Adolf Hitler himself was to come back and preach about acceptance of the Jews. They just can't seem to realize that there is no place for them anymore, that science has won and their God will one day die a mortal death just like us all. Aside from typos, I agree completely.
Obama's religious and firearms comment was mega-insightful and he may not even realize just how deep it goes.
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Matto
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Jun 28 2009, 01:13 PM
Post #4
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figures this is semi related
- Lag
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Deuteronomy, Chapter 14 verse 2: For thou art an holy people unto the lord thy God and the lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
^ Now if that’s not the most arrogant thing I’ve read, I’m not sure what is, what makes Christians or Hebrews better than anyone? Except having a greater arrogance, nothing.
Exodus Chapter 20 verse 15: Thou shalt not kill
^ Okay, sounds a fair enough rule, but get this little tidbit from the story of Jerico
Joshua Chapter 6 verse 21: And they utterly destoryed all that was in the city, both men and woman, young and old. And ox. And sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword
^ Ooooookaaay, So, the people who said they followed the Commandments were also Child killers, and merciless murders. Hmmm, Can God make up his mind, Don’t kill, do kill? Well, I think it pretty scary people base their lives on something that has what should be called genocide.
Honestly, God is a murdering bigot, Look at the flood, look at Sodom and Gomorra, look at the Genocide of the Canaanites. If you had even bother to actually read the bible with a questioning mind you’d notice the sheer amount of hypocrisies within it.
God has no right to take someone’s life, even if according to you he made us. Do you gives you sibling a Christmas gift and say its your to take as you please? NO. So God can’t give life and take it before its life is lives.
Also, look at the followers of this corrupt religion. The crusades? The Spanish inquisitions? The Salem witch trials? If you choose to follow this Blood stained religion I count the innocent lives lost to your religion’s ignorance on your hands and are just as much a murder as the Israelites who committed genocide against the Canaanites or the Inquisitor who tortured an innocent the brink of death to then get a false confession, then execute the innocent. To me, your just the same and just as guilty.
Quoted from a topic on another site. Totally awesome post imo.
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Gwen
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Jun 28 2009, 01:20 PM
Post #5
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I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed.
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Lots. Of. TYPOS. But I agree with the general message.
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Matto
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Jun 28 2009, 01:33 PM
Post #6
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- Gwen
- Jun 28 2009, 01:20 PM
Lots. Of. TYPOS. But I agree with the general message. stfu abot u an ur tyos.
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