It's Time Again for: Duping Young Women, with Hellbound Alleee

Dear Internet Diary,

It looks like I've been living in a different world than everyone else.

I've been playing podcasts about libertarian and market anarchy issues on my station,, and the last few days, the podcasts were about feminism, and how it has duped the modern woman into thiking she can "have it all, and that she doesn't need men.

Now, I respect the hell out of Stephan Molyneux, of Freedomain Radio, "The logic of personal and political liberty," and I have to admit I was not able to listen to the entirety of his 4 podcasts about this, and I haven't even discussed it with him. But this blog is all about writing what has been bothering me, so off I go.

I don't know what he's talking about. Women entering the workforce in the seventies? Women being fooled into thinking they can have it all by "feminism?" Who is this feminism person, and why did she lie to me? And how come I can't find any women in my family tree who weren't part of the workforce? Bothmy grandmothers worked outside of the home, and once you get beyond that, they worked their tails off plowing and pitching hay. And, where were the women in my life who knew nothing about their own reproductive systems and weren't aware that babymaking time is prime when you're still young and stupid? What planet do I live on?

If you heard my last entry, you may have noted that the pastor of my church said women should "never go to college, because that would make them think, and we don't want women who think." My mother was discovering 2nd-wave feminism in those years. I wish she had made a tougher stand against our pastor, but it seems the social pressures were too much for her. In 1979, my family needed a new car. They wanted in to be my mom's car, but the dealership did not allow her to be the name on the title. Of course, everything had to be in my father's name. Just thinking the thought that this was unjust made a person a "women's libber" back then.

I never read the literature. I never took women's studies. But this is what that imaginary "feminism monster" taught me: that I could make independent choices. I could take birth control. I could be in charge of my own sex life. Silly things, like I could go to a restaurant alone, or play the electric guitar. But the important fact is that if you don't want your greatest achievement to be making babies, you don't have to. If you want to do the family thing, you can do that to, but most importantly, if you want to be a bachelor, you have every right to be one, and it doesn't make you a terrible, low-quality person. Fact is, having a baby because you're "not getting any younger" seems like a pretty stupid reason to me. I'm glad more women are waiting until they are older. Science is adapting, and people are adapting. More people are deciding not to have children at all, and if you've been to a warehouse store lately, you'd be thankful. How many babies do we really need to be having right now? Please don't think it's your duty to poop puppies because the smarter people are opting out and dumber people are populating the earth. We're talking about a human being here, people, not a cause.

I think my problem is that I am allergic to people talking about "finding quality men while there's still time." This was not much of an issue for me. I was a bachelor until I was 37 years old. I never wanted children. I married a man 11 years younger than me. (And no, I was not an "eagle," lying in wait to entrap a younger man to harvest his sperm. Where do people come up with these things?) Anyway, we might have never officially married had it not been for the border issues. I am still waiting to find out what my greatest achievement is. But regardless of what everyone else is apparently doing, according to what I'm hearing, roles are for plays, and I'm not playing. I have a feeling there are more of us in the audience than people think

And that's no lie.

Thanks for listening.

Call Your Mother

Dear Internet Diary,

I talked to my mother on the phone for an hour the other day. She's a really intelligent woman, and we always have a good time talking. For some reason, we seem to end up talking about Christianity a lot. Lately, thoguh, I have taken these opportunities to find out some things about my childhood, to put the pieces back together, as I think sometimes I can't trust my own memories. Sometimes I hesitate to ask, because I'm not sure I'm ready to process information like she gave me the other day.

"I stopped going to the Mother's Day sermons," she told me, when I was asking about some incidents in the seventies. "He would say that women shouldn't be allowed to go to college, because then they would think, and we can't have women who think."

This is strange to me, because they left that church a few years later because the minister who replaced him was "too conservative." How much more conservative can you get than this man, a friend of my family. We used to go to their house a lot and have dinner. My brother was friends with his son, I'll call "Greg." I remember my brother, greg, and his other friend Joey playing vibration football on the floor. You know, the seventies equivalent of an electronic game.

"He got his later, though," my mom said.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"His son committed suicide. He was gay, and they never accepted it. Then his wife went out and got a job."

"Which was worse?" I heard myself saying. I thought about the afternoons in their house, with the aqua blue shag carpeting, and the pastor's wife, her elegant 60's clothes and hair. I tried to remember Greg. I don't remember what he looked like. I can only hear my brother saying his name, the way he always said his first and last name together. There were a lot of Gregs back then.

"Why did you stay there, in that church, for all those years?" I asked.

"Because we had friends, and because you dad was directing the choir" she said. I think there's more to it than that. I want there to be more to it than that. To make my brother and me stay there in that church and that school. I wanted to say something about how that church affected me and my brother, but I remembered we already had that conversation. About how it affected our friends, who were children of the friends she was referring to. About how they were so bitter, she said, that they would never darken the door of a church again. I had tried to explain that there was more to it than that, but I couldn't bring myself to go into it. We had talked for an hour already. Besides, I thought, my mom was reading a Humanist magazine. She's smart enough to figure those things out herself.

Thanks for listening, diary.

Losing My Religion

I thought this might merit another look. It's been a few years, but I think it holds up nicely.

Watch Some Bullshit on My Blog!

Dominoes Pizza Land: Making More Unwed Marys?

Dear Internet Diary,

A recent CNN online article reports that Dominoes Pizza founderm Thomas S. Monaghan, wants to build a Roman Catholic community to be called "Ave Maria," around the Catholic Universtity of the same name. With "God's Will" and $250 million, the community would allow no abortions, no pornography, no birth control and no free, independant, normal adult life.

Of course, civil libertarians are making the right call that this is unconstitutional. Asinine is what I'd call it. Not that people shouldn't be able to live lives free of joy. The biggest problem I have is that it will never work. Marias they want? Marias they will get. Experience has shown that repressive, religious communities are not only great at producing guilt, they are even better at producing sin.

There's a little part of me that wants this Catholic Disneyland City of Tomorrow to come true, because Las Vegas would have nothing on Ave Maria. This little town could be much better than Garden Grove from Dangerous Housewives. Pregnant teenaged girls. Gay teen suicides. Furtive, shameful gay sexual liasons in parks, stds, a great big black market in birth control, porn, sex toys and worst of all, do-it-yourself abortions.

I know--slippery slope naysaying. But this kind of thing, a little town that forbids these wicked sins, is not new. Remember the middle ages? The Puritans of old and the Amish of today don't have such a great track record in abstinence-only "education" and rates of teen pregnancy. In the closet gay persons tend to engage in riskier behaviors in repressive communities. When gay people were coerced into heterosexual marriages, of course they become adulterous "sinners." Will adults stop having sex, and will adult women stop trying to avoid having litters of children? Ask Catholic priests.

The upside of all this is that pornography and sex toys will increase in value. That's good for business, and it makes the stuff much sexier. But just as prohibition and the drug wars did nothing but create criminals, these prohibitions will create a lot of sinners. This community had better raise enough money to build a great, big Ave Maria jail. It had better have a nursery.

Thanks for listening.

It's Time For Plagues!

I got this in my junk mail this afternoon:

Hello Archie McPhee Shopper,

Bag O' Plagues
If you're a fan of the Old Testament, you'll be familiar with the
ten plagues of Egypt. Well, it's the time of year when we remember God's
wrath with the Archie McPhee Bag O' Passover Plagues! From locusts to
boils to diseased livestock, this sack contains an object to represent
each one of the top ten plagues on God's hit parade. It's not really
Passover until somebody opens a Bag O' Plagues.

Shop McPhee!

Support Nudity on the Web!

The idea is from an article over at Boing Boing.

What happens when the blogosphere uses so much tasteful nudity that the web is unusable for SmartFilter users? What happens when SmartFilter blocks so much content that the web is crippled for its users?

Christianity: The Religion of Moral Relativism

Sorry for my absense lately: I have succumbed to something not unlike seasonal affective disorder--if it's real. I don't know. But it's been so dark and gloomy around here, and I've been craving some photosynthesis in my life. If I can't get into some woods, or at least a flower and garden show, I'll go crazy. That's what you get for moving from the Pacific Northwest to the frozen tundra.

So here is a recording of The Way of the Master Radio, with guest Reggie Finley, The Infidelguy. Listen at your own risk.

First of all, let me sayTodd Friel is an absolute, raving lunatic. I don't even have to tell you if you listen. But something struck me almost at the beginning of the show. At the heart of this brand of christianity, and I dare say, all christianity, is Moral Fucking Relativism.

If you don't already know, I'll say it briefly. Moral relativism is retarded.

If there are any mentally disabled people reading this, I apologize for comparing you to this concept. It's not you.

Take a number of individuals that for some reason define themselves or others (through no fault of their own, sometimes) as a "group." Maybe they live within certain imaginary boundaries. Maybe they like the same amateur pop singer on tv. Makes no difference to me. There is a general consensus to most people that a majority of members of this "group" feel that little girls should be mutilated at 9 years old and/or killed in the event of a family feud (there again, some of the individuals are placed in a group through no fault of their own. But I digress). Therefore, some retards think, mutilating and murdering little girls is "their culture," so you can't judge it; it's moral "to them." So you say. There are also several individuals, imagined to be the minority, that rightly declare this to be evil and disgusting and so on. We don't include the little girls because they have no choice in the matter and don't count. They can't even make the decision that what's happening to them is bad or good because they are completely enslaved. Moving along, the imagined minority is therefore immoral, and "counter-culture."

Remember that term? Moral relativists can't call themselves counter-culture anymore, unless they want to be immoral. I suppose that's possible. You better go along with it, just to be safe. I suppose you can "enter a group" of people called "counter-culture," but then you're not counter-culture anymore, because you're not counter to that culture. Unless you make a concerted effort to dissent from the counter-culture group. But then you're not counter to the culture you countered in the first place. Perhaps it makes more sense to remember you're an individual, and stop basing your morality on majority consensus of a socially constructed imaginary entity called "group."

So how does christianity fall into this nonsense? (How doesn't it?)
The simple answer is that if you believe in this religion, all morality is subject to the will (or whim) of God. here can be no morality that is objective, or based on reality.

The longer, and more entertaining argument is one made by many fundamentalists (and moderates) to justfy torture (I mean, Hell):

Todd: You see, if I squash a bug...just, just stomp on a cockroach, it's no big deal. The police aren't gonna come and arrest me. Now, if I kill a bum on the street, I'm gonna get into a lot of trouble.But if I assassinate a head of state, I am in serious trouble. Why is that? Same crime, but it's against whom it is committed; the offense becomes more serious. You can think that lusting is no big deal; telling a lie years ago is no big deal, but because it is against a holy, righteous, infinite creator-god, your offense is infinitely sinful, and deserving of the highest punishment.

Reggie: Oo, it sounds like God has some sensitivity issues.

Todd: Yes, He does. It's called Holiness, righteousness.

I added that last part because it was funny.

It is true that governments apply this sort of thinking to the law. Punishment is applied based upon the power of the victim. Juries punish based upon the perceived morality of the victim. Make the punishment fit the crime, right? Is this right? We should judge crimes based upon the popularity of the victim? If someone sues, his reward is based upon his likeability factor? A rapist should be punished based upon the sexual habits of the victim? What if she does everything right, but smokes? If we are really going to apply this law, let's do it right. Lets put the victims on trial. If you agree with this, then christianity should be all the more comfortable concept for you.

If we want to present a coherent argument to anyone; if we want to be correct, we must remember: if it is moral, it must apply to everyone in the same way, regardless of their power, their popularity, or their morality (sense the paradox). Otherwise, you're just hitting your head against a brick wall.

Freedom of the press, or Freedom Period?

Here is a great new article from The Stranger:

All the Rage

Islamic Fundamentalists Don't Just Have a Problem with Cartoons, They Have a Problem with Freedom

BY BRUCE BAWER

It began last September.

Danish author Kaare Bluitgen couldn’t find an illustrator for his biography of Muhammad. Fundamentalist Muslims frown on depictions of the prophet and—in one of many European cases of self-censorship since the November 2004 murder of Dutch filmmaker and Islam critic Theo van Gogh—artists feared a reaction.

And there was a counterpoint:

If I, a well-dressed white guy, were to walk into certain black neighborhoods carrying offensive depictions of blacks and jokingly calling people niggers, I would almost certainly be hit, or worse. And the feeling of most Americans (and myself), would probably be that I deserved what I got for being so insensitive. It would not matter if I had only been joking, or if I had been trying to make some high-minded point about race being a social construct. The fact that I had trampled on the understandable sensitivities of black Americans in order to make a provocative statement would be seen as poor judgment, at best.

Is this person serious? apparently, those who criticize wacko violent fundamentalism, even in extremely mild ways, "deserve what they get!"

From what I understand here, fundie Muslims cannot oppress us (especially people like me, people who have vaginas, who might want to,wear shorts, or show their faces in public), so therefore they are oppressed. We should understand their rage at their inability to insinuate their immoral and false religion/theocrasy on us, as an oppressed minority, so we should be sensitive and not criticize them. At least, in their neighborhood.

This is no longer about a couple of bad cartoons. This started well before the murder of Theo Van Gogh. Feel compassion all you want for young men who are not allowed to stone me to death, but don't feel sorry for them. Otherwise, why aren't we feeling the same compassion for the racists who cannot yell Nigger in a black neighborhood? This, the internet, my blog, is not a fundamentalist theocratic neighborhood, and I will freely criticize religion. This is also not a moral relativist neighborhood, and I'm not going to pretend that it's moral to be a racist, or a fundy, or a violent protector of an evil system.

And the neighborhood that stops allowing free criticism of oppressive systems has fallen. And thery sure as hell won't be allowing point-counterpoint, or free weekly alternative newspapers.

More Cartoon Thoughts: Cultural Slavery

"You can't print something that offends a whole nation." That is not true. "Nations" cannot get offended. They do not exist--the word is a description of a group of individuals that are subject to the laws of a government through no fault of their own. As individuals, we have a choice how to respond to stuff that offends us. We should not let ourselves respond dishonestly or unnaturally because of a tribe we belong to (by choice or by force). We should not think "what would my group think?" when making moral choices. That would not be a choice--that is slavery.

I noticed that the UN, Bill Clinton and several other high-ups have made appeasing--and dishonest--statements in this enslaved sort of way. "We share your outrage over these offensive images," etc. "We." Officially, this group pretends to think this in order to aid a system of oppression, when the truth, that the images are not offensive at all , must be stifled. The cartoons are clearly making the only moral statements in this whole fiasco.

If this cartoonist is killed or injured, the governments that lied to appease terrorists will be complicit, and the people of their nations will be poorer for it.

Maybe it's Time Normal Bob Smith Made a Muhammad Dressup

Taken from Religion News Blog:

Danish lawyer shot as fury of Muslims sweeps world
The Scotsman, UK

A Danish lawyer was shot and several Muslim demonstrators died as protests against the publication of cartoons showing the Prophet Muhammad continued around the world yesterday.

The lawyer was wounded in an incident in a Moscow cafe by a man from the Muslim Caucasus region of southern Russia.

Meanwhile, the prime minister of Chechnya announced that Danish humanitarian organisations would be expelled.

Danish troops also came under fire in southern Iraq. Shots were fired at a patrol as it helped children who had been hit by a car near Qurnah. None of the soldiers was injured.

The worst trouble yesterday came in Afghanistan, where hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police and soldiers. Four people were killed and at least 19 wounded, officials said.

The worst violence was outside Bagram, the main US base in Afghanistan, although the US has not been involved in the controversy over the publication of the cartoons. Afghan police fired on some 2,000 protesters as they tried to break into the heavily guarded facility.

Kabir Ahmed, the local government chief, said two of the demonstrators were killed and five wounded, while eight police were hurt. The protesters threw stones at the base and smashed a guard post.

Some of those in the crowd then shot at the base with assault rifles, prompting the police to return fire, he said.

In Tehran, a crowd of about 200 people pelted the Austrian embassy with fire-bombs and stones, and Palestinian demonstrators hurled stones at EU offices in Gaza and pulled down the EU flag. Protesters in four Indonesian cities demanded that Denmark apologise. Police fired warning shots to disperse 300 hardline Muslims protesting outside the Danish consulate in Indonesia's second city, Surabaya.

In France, police evacuated offices of a newspaper which had published the cartoons after it received a bomb threat.

What Muslims Should Be Outraged Over:

Lebanon apologised to Denmark for the burning of its consulate during a weekend protest, and some Lebanese politicians accused Syria of using the furore to stir sectarian tension.

The prime ministers of Turkey and Spain made a joint plea for respect and calm. But Muslims in the Gulf Arab region intensified their boycott of Danish goods.

Iran said it was cutting all trade ties with Denmark.

Danish flags, however, remain in demand. An enterprising shopkeeper in Gaza, Ahmed Abu Dayya, said he had ordered 100 Danish and Norwegian flags when he heard that the cartoons were being reprinted.

"I knew there would be a demand for the flags because of the angry reaction of people over the offence to the Prophet Muhammad," he said.

Angry Muslims have been setting the flags ablaze or tearing them to pieces.

Question For Believers: Noah's Ark

Dear Believers:

What was the use of the worldwide flood, if it happened, or if it's a metaphorical lesson? How did it all work out for God?

Second Part: How does its outcome bode for the Apocalypse and New Jerusalem?

You Can't Just Go Around OFFENDING People!

I heard a Muslim woman saying that "free speech has its limits. You just can't print something that offends a whole nation of people."

First of all, lets dispense with theis "nation" bull. No such thing. There are people. SO, how many individuals is it ok to offend before you have to censor? I want a real number here.]

Nothing is above criticism. Especially not figureheads of religion. Those are exactly the things that should be criticized: after all, people are pretending to base their lives and all their decisions on them. We don't want that basis to be a lie, do we? If your belief system cannot stand strong while being criticized, if you have to use violence to force people to never criticize it, then your system is crap and must be thrown out in the trash--a cartoon is nothing..

It's time to show everyone Muhammad's "face." Lets pull that mask off.

The HORROR!

...the horror...


Use the mouse to experience this abomination: but only at your own risk. I recommend just swiping it over his forehead a few times. If this truly is relevant to Christianity, then the religion is worse than I thought.

New Mixup: Bugs Bunny Vs Elisabeth Claire Prophet

Since we will be interviewing a member of the Prophet family, and a former member of the Church Universal and triumphant, I thought I'd give this little mixup a try. I mixed a holy sacred chant with Bugs Bunny calling a square dance. Hope you don't mind.
Shake Like a hound dog, shake again,
`till I AM one with the Violet flame

You should look up Church Universal and Triumphant in Google. Or you could just listen to our interview with Sean Prophet on Saturday evening on The Hellbound Alleee show

Thanks,
Alleee

Insignificance: the short answer

Secular Capitalist writes:

dOES ANY ONE ELSE HAVE a problem with insignificance?? we are all just one individual out of 6 BILLION. and that's the .. of people who r alive. imagine how many more have lived and died. also imagine how smal we r when compared to the solar system, universe etc.... It bothers the shit out of me. it's probably why i was hostile to the idea of "god" even at a young age, way before i understood evolution, big bang etc...

My Answer:

It's been said that the man who can stare into the abyss and learn his true insignificance in the world and not go crazy, he is truly enlightened. This idea, of course, appears in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I don't knwo how insignificant I am, but I don't generally "live" in the cosmos. I live in the world, and in my own world. All I can do is all I can do. There is no reason for this to make anyone depressed. It could make someone appreciate the fact that he is even alive--something that Dawkins wrote about. Since the chances were astronomical that you even exist, that should make you proud to be here. You, not trillions upon trillions of other people. That's better than being voted American Idol, Canadian Idol, Armenian Idol and all the other Idols all at once.

Christians think that without God, atheists must be depressed all the time. How could we be when we know that there is only one life we get in this big old universe, and we're too busy getting all we can out of it to worry about it--at least, that's what we should be doing. Getting our asses in gear and living--and laughing at those poor sons of bitches who don't know what they're missing.

Show # 88: What is Calvinism?

This week on the Hellbound Alleee show, we talk with Zachary Moore, molecular Biologist, host of Evolution 101, and a former Calvinist.

I used to think that the weird sects of Christianity were groups like the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses; the smaller groups. But aftre speaking with Zach, and reading more , I've come to the conclusion that they have nothing on my own former religion, Presbyterianism. When you're there in the church, singing the hymns, staring at the minister's new purple robe for Christmas, gazing at the organ--the pipe organ--you sort of tune out the minister, who probably isn't talking about the real weirdness of Calvinism anyway. The Calvinism we talk about on our show. Be sure to tune in.

Download Now

For more download and listening options, visit our archive page. Or you can listen on the Hellbound Alleee Station this week at 7 and 11 pm eastern time.

Thanks,
Hellbound Alleee

Log Yer Junk!

I posted this stuff in Junklog. You can list all of the stuff you're reading and watching, and put it in your blog. It's sort of distracting.

• The Bookman's Wake (Cliff Janeway Novels (Paperback)) by John Dunning
  
  
  For a casual read, this one is pretty satisfying. Cliff Janeway is both cop and book geek, so you are sure to learn more about the world of book dealing than you ever wanted--in a hard-boiled sort of way. This should be fun for book collectors, Seattleites and fans of hard-boiled detective fiction.
  (tags: mystery detective)


• Kung Fu - The Complete First Three Seasons
  
  
  This series shows us concepts and cinematography unlike anything else on television. I am always really pleased with the creativity and intelligence of each episode. Both excellent AND campy--how could you beat that?
  (tags: Shaolin Western Carradine)

Response to "Hellfire," and my Answer

From: HeavyHeart
Date: Jan 19, 2006 2:28 AM

Aha. You said that almost exactly as I would have. Although I'm a bit wary of your real reasoning on the subject of christianity but I agree in general with the problem you are presenting. The only reason I'm wary of your reasoning is simply that from what I've read you seem more on the side of simply hating christianity which is usually for other reasons, rather than making real premises and conclusions. But whatever, don't take that personally lol. I'm really interested in what you think on other subjects now though! Mind if I ask you some other basic philosophical questions? I've been "searching" for a long time now for many conclusions on philosophical and religious concepts. Anyway, let me know. :)
-Ben

You need not be wary! What I "seem" to be is not. I do not simply hate christianity for these "other" reasons you speak of. I have been writing and making shows for years now, and have given, many times, reasons to hate christianity. It's not a simple matter of hating christianity. The problem is that christianity is immoral. It is directly opposed to my values. Is that reason enough? Christianity is based on a false concept: Original Sin. It claims that all humans are born evil, (starting with two humans that could not have possibly existed).and that the only way to attain God's "grace" is to accept that an innocent man, executed, can magically absorb that evil. Otherwise, we are going to hell.

The concept of hell, introduced the way we are familiar with it, was introduced by the character Jesus. It is assumed that eternal torture (or this twilight zone torture) is actuall just. For finite "crimes," like being in the wrong religion.

These are just two reasons to "hate" christianity. The religion itself is contradictory, inconsistent, and teaches as truth terrible horrors and plain-as-day falsehoods. It is considered moral--no, essential, that we bring children up with these false and immoral beliefs.

I attack christianity, not because of what you seem to think are "the usual reasons." I don't know what those are--is it childhood trauma? I believe that to be a myth perpetuated by Christians who know darn well that there is plenty of trauma in many christian childhoods, yet most remain christian anyway. Sure, there exist atheists who are not really atheists-but "mad-at-God-ists." I had a happy christian childhood, thanks to parents who were sane and kind. I was not abused by a christian, but abused by the religion. My parents constantly reinforced my "shield" against immoral christian concepts by giving me a moral compass of curiosity, independance, and reason. Too bad most kids don't have the privilege.

Sorry for the long response. I just had the time today.

I'm a Crusader that Attacks Everything That Moves

I really enjoy the J-Walk blog. But I have this problem. See, when I see stupidity, I have this compulsion to point it out. Yes, I have a gigantic mouth on me. But when you're looking at a fucking Fascist Totalitarian monument on someone's front lawn and think, "aww. That harmless and kind of cute," you can't help but throw up a little, in your mouth.

The difference between me and the others is that I attack religion. They attack people. I don't know how I got from a joke about the Ten Commandments monument to being a jihadist, but what do you expect from Christians?

(Check the Comments.)

UPDATE
I was so irked by this that we decided to put out another podcast replacement for our regular Sunday live show. It;s a two-hour deal, so enjoy. It may not be 100% work-safe, so be warned. And don't turn your speakers all the way up. I also included some real abomidable songs to listen to. I think it was good. I sure as hell feel better!

Archive Page

America is Educated Stupid

If you didn`t get a chance to see the excellent 20/20 special with John Stossel Last night, you can read his article in Reason Online:

Stupid in America

Why your kids are probably dumber than Belgians

John Stossel

In Belgium, for example, the government funds education—at any school—but if the school can't attract students, it goes out of business. Belgian school principal Kaat Vandensavel told us she works hard to impress parents. "If we don't offer them what they want for their child, they won't come to our school." She constantly improves the teaching, "You can't afford ten teachers out of 160 that don't do their work, because the clients will know, and won't come to you again."

"That's normal in Western Europe," Harvard economist Caroline Hoxby told me. "If schools don't perform well, a parent would never be trapped in that school in the same way you could be trapped in the U.S."

The God Delusion

The first episode of Richard Dawkins' series on the danger of religion -- even when it seems nice, sweet and benign.


The God Delusion

(Quicktime file)

Once you have watched the file, you can read my comments below.


The conversation with the Jewish-turned-Muslim guy was quite enlightening. It shows the pure moral relativism that Muslims like him practice, even if they would be quite offended by that notion.

If you asked them, "are women human?" they would say certainly. (They might even claim that women are "treated better." Sure thing.) If you asked them "is it good to own human beings," they would either say "no," or "only women." Which is called moral relativism. If it is bad to own human beings, then it is bad to own any human being.

I'm not accusing this of all men--I love men--but I don't know if many of them understand the feeling that many women get when they hear people speak like this man did. When I hear this stuff, it's like a tightening in my throat.

When religion becomes law, the first thing to happen is guys like this sound reasonable. "You have to get your women off the street and into modest clothing." They relinquish all responsibility for their sexual morality and claim that "dressing like Brittney Spears" will cause them to rape. It has nothing at all to do with morality, and everything to do with what I've been calling "religious hedonism." What a delicious, prurient thought, that one could lose all sexual control because of someone else, someone "wicked." It's right out of fifties erotica.

The good news is that the "American bitches" I hear some men talk about would never allow this sort of crap to happen to them. They would be able to take a moral stand on this. And if it's moral for us, it is moral for the women there, too. It doesn't matter what "people think." This truth, that humans are not to be owned, comes from reality, from nature, not from a cultural cowpath. The religious always claim there is one law: God's law. So why is it so full of exceptions? (Because many worship a God that is not subject to its own laws.)

Hellfire: The Lynchpin of Christianity

And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. Everyone will be salted with fire. --Jesus Christ

Many Christians are extremely offended if they are accused of believing that people are going to burn forever in hell. "I'm a true Christian," they say, "I would never believe that God would do such a cruel thing."

Some even go so far as to reject the concept of Hell altogether. They are not like those Christian fundamentalists, and You are "just as bad as them" for suggesting such a thing.

What we have is a case of a christian doing a BIG Christian no-no by using their own worldly moral judgement--something that, of course, people cannot have for themselves. Morality is put into our hearts by God.

I say, if you don't believe in hell, you're not really a Christian.

What does one need, minimally, to be a Christian? Without specific recommendations from individual sects, one must believe in and follow Jesus Christ. In other words, one must believe Jesus is the Christ. That means one must believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God (and/or is God) and died to be the Savior--the Christian, through this belief, is saved. Salvation is the act of delivering one from sin.

That definition seems to beg one big, fat muthuh of a question:

Delivered from sin for what? Saved from what? Saved from Original Sin, or all the bad things we do of course. But why do we need to be delivered from the bad things we do?

...

If the only answer to this is "we are saved from death," we need to examine just exactly one believes about death itself. Some who reject hell as a bad place to go will answer "eternal separation from god." But, either eternal separation is a punishment all atheists are going through right now--which is certainly no punishement, or this "eternal separation" is something of a Twilight Zone Hell. Remember the first episode of the Twilight Zone, "Where is Everybody?" A man wakes up in a town that is normal in every way, except that there are no people? He goes insane within a half-hour. Well. That's kind of cruel. God makes all non-believers live in insanity for eternity.

In one of my earlier shows, I quoted a young man's idea about what "eternal separation from god" was. He said that it was like your worst pain in your life, only multiplied a hundred times. Twilight Zone Hell. You believe in hell.

Some who say we are saved from death believe that death is lying or floating in the dark for eternity, doing nothing.. Well, that's not death. Any conscious person (ignoring the fact that consciousness requires eating and getting rid of waste, etc) would go insane after awhile. Twilight Zone Hell.

Supposing a Christian really knows what death is. In that case, they are saved form nothing, becasue death is nothing. Again, they can only be saved from my fate, which would be ridiculous. Why would someone have to endure three days of torture on a cross to save people from a life like mine? I've had a great life--much better as an atheist than as a believer, by the way. Did Jesus endure the crown of thorns to save people from being overweight with a minor dental problem? If so, why are there so many fat, toothless Christians (and so many dead ones, too)?

To be a nice, fair, moderate, non-violence Christian, you are going to have to reject one of the main tenets of Christianity. Without salvation, there is no need for a Jesus. Without Jesus, well, you ain't no Christian.

Some Christians have managed to ask themselves the question: "If believe God is good and omnibenevolent, how can I possibly believe in Hell?" Maybe those Christians ought to look at what Jesus said in the above quote as well and ask themselves: "if I have decided that the concept of eternal torture is immoral, why do I worship someone that said it was?"

Now to do away with Original Sin.

Our Sermon Today is "What Pat Said."

Today, ladies and gentlemen, we discuss Pat Robertson's remark that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke is divine retribution for giving up the Israeli settlements in Gaza.

From The Y Files: Pat May Be A Loon, But He's Our Loon

But tonight, I was pretty stunned myself when former Congressman-turned-Fox News talk show host John Kasich, subbing for Bill O'Reilly on "The O'Reilly Factor," offered a sort-of defense of Robertson, whom he judged to be guilty only of poor timing.

....

Paul Levinson: I have an enormous amount of respect for the scripture, but when people in our modern age try to apply it literally in a fanatical way, it leads to graceless, absurd statements such as Pat Robertson made. If you think about the fact -- the only other public figure who' commented about Sharon's dying being appropriate in any way is the President of Iran, who's a fundamentalist Islamic nutcase.

John Kasich: (chuckles) You're not trying to compare Pat Robertson to the--this lunatic over in Iran, are you?

Janet Folger: I hope not.

Paul Levinson: I'm comparing two people who are fundamentalists and who don't seem to have a modern view of the world -- who don't seem to understand that the Prime Minister shouldn't be judged according to scripture when he's on his deathbed.

Not be judged according to scripture when he's on his deathbed? Isn't that---doesn't it say---? Damn Christians don't know no damn thing about they bible.

Be sure to check out the entire transcript on the blog. They almost-but-not-quite have something, they've almost made it to the terrible, yet true conclusion: that the Old Testament should never be applied to anything in "modern life." Pat Robertson is being who he is--a findamentalist, applying scripture to modern life. What he says is perfectly logical in a biblical context. At least, in a context where the people of the US are God's Chosen, instead of some middle eastern nomads, Of course, one thing they said is correct. In the Old Testament stories, Pat Roberson would probably be turned into something by God for daring to assume the mind of God. It would probably be exceedingly gory, and would be ignored by modern Christians, for its goriness.

Top Hellbound Alleee Search Terms (today)

Stephen Turroff
Troy's Mixtape of Love
Naked Jigsaw Puzzles (???)
Naked Girl Bound (same page)
Stealing my Church Lady image from Insolitology
Ted Jesus Christ God
White Jade Blogspot
Naked Girls


OK: so, next time I want to get a lot of hits, I'll be sure to use words like "naked" and "bound," and "girls" a lot. Because, you know, I really want to have a lot of porn surfers reading my blog. Who wouldn't?

Seriously, though, welcome, porn surfers. I hope stumbling upon this blog has been better than frustrating, but I fear it is. My advice is to try using quotes around what you want to search for, like "naked jigsaw" or "bound girls" or whatever you think the porn sites might actually phrase it. Also, don't bother with crap searches like MSN . Go google. Always google it.

P.S.:
Sex
Young
Horses (well, it takes all kinds)
Gay
Handcuffs
Strap-on
Octopus (see above)

New Currency

Angels: the Collector Plate Belief

I believe in angels because I had experienced in being pinned underneath a car and was immobiled while my jacket get caught in the hind wheel and could have been sucked into and underneath the car any minute; but fortunately, the driver, for some strange and unknown reasons had decided to go forward instead of continuing on to go backward that very moment, so the back of my jacket was free and I TOO was free...When the car moved forward and I stood up from the ground, everyone was so surprised. The only thing that was broken was my jade bangle, it was broken in half; but my body was saved from harm.

I believe I have met angel on that day.

May Lu a.k.a. Sandie Angel :o)

I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give
To guide us with the light of love --Macgyver


I believe in angels because I've seen them. They first appeared to me last month just before school ended. Leaning out the upstairs bathroom window brushing my teeth, I looked down on their heads. Three naked black girls with creamy white wings, throwing stones on my hopscotch board. They had long braided hair that reached to their bottoms. They carried translucent disks that looked like halos under their arms. They giggled to one another and rose up into the crab apple tree, picked blossoms for their hair and flew away. -- From the book Black Angels by Rita Murphy

Aren't angels cute? Don't you just want to take them in your arms and squeeze and squeeze until there isn't a breath of air left in their little tiny bodies?

Angel belief is a kind of belief you find in Parade Magazine among the collector plates and Precious Moments figurines It's like a belief in elves, or fairies, or that your toys come to life when you're not looking. It doesn't seem dangerous, until it interferes with your ability to tell fantasy from reality. When it stops being a belief in a child's representation of good and turns into a child's representation of evil--directed at your neighbor. Sorry, Goodie Goodwyfe.

But, since I am somewhat cynical, my biggest problem is not that angel-believers might stone me to death. I'm more concerned with the inconsistency of these beliefs. Sure, you might be able to find endless websites about angel encounters and go to seminars that teach you how to recognize your guardian angel in palm readings. But angels in scripture are not shoulder-buddies, ragdolls, or Anne Geddes posters. They are giant, terrifying soldiers of death.

The best look of angels we get is from an apocryphal book of the bible: The Book of Enoch. The Watchers. This is only mentioned in a very short passage in Genesis, but these angels, the Sons of God, were atracted sexually by women on earth, and took them for their wives. In other words, raped them. *

* How many rape paintings are there? A few thousand, give or take a few hundred.

These angels, including one that was mistaken for Satan, Azazel, made giant babies with humans, then proceeded to teach mankind to do evil things like put on makeup and paint houses, thereby daming them to hell and causing god to have to drown babies and cute animals, because He loves us. Unfortunately for Yahweh, it didn't work, because it seems that His Best Children have managed to remember all that Azazel taught, flood or not..

But it wasn't Yahweh Himself that took care (or will take care, depending on your church) of these lecherous angels. It was another non-cuddly angel, The Angel of Death. (It's a shame this book didn't make it into the Show. It would have been more interesting than the Book of Revelation. It wasn't even a mushroom dream! ) Michael would never make it as a Precious Moments figurine, and certainly doesn't have time to help you cross the street! He's much too busy, killing heretics, Egyptian firstborn, and checking doorways for lambs blood at Passover.

But wait! you say, I know that there are avenging angels, but it's those Cherubim that look so good in framed posters. Cherubim certainly don't hurt people. Cherubim are sweet and represent all that's innocent and good in the world!
Unfortunatley, according to the rules, Cherubim don't give a shit about any of us. Cheruubim are really nothing more than the Harem of Jehovah. Have you looked at the Adam/God painitng by Michelangelo recently? Those cherubs aren't just picking nits out of God's beard. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:

The word cherub (cherubim is the Hebrew masculine plural) is a word borrowed from the Assyrian kirubu, from karâbu, "to be near", hence it means near ones, familiars, personal servants, bodyguards, courtiers. It was commonly used of those heavenly spirits, who closely surrounded the Majesty of God and paid Him intimate service.

Is that where we get the pedophilia from?

My feeling about the angels-as-pets beliefs is somewhat the same as my feelings about Christmas and Santa Claus: the creatures are simply not christian, but come from somewhere much deeper in the past. Obviously, the aunties and Grandmas with their calico angels and cherub figurines don't need scripture to get their beliefs. It comes from the same place where we got our beliefs in beneficient and malevolent spirits, ghosts and animal guides--between the ears. Too bad for Christianity, though. Nature wins again.

Christmas 2005

We spent Christmas with my mother-in-law in Saint Cèsaire. She lives in a house in the country next to a river.


We also had Francois' uncle and aunt there. We got a digi cam!




Those are the cookies I made. Of course, most of them are here again. They're good, but there was just so much damn food. We had all the regular stuff, then a big slice of salmon pie. On Christmas day, we had the leftovers au Vol au Vent. Always love that. And, of course, a big slice of pate au saumon. Just eat, eat, eat.

Huguette, my mother-in-law, is moving in a few days, so when we left, she loaded us up with food from the freezer. Filet Mignon, whole chickens, a Tourtiere, and, of course, a Salmon Pie. Not to mention the appliances she gave me for christmas.

I really enjoyed seeing the family home movies from the eighties. I got to see Francois at 10 (and I was in college!) playing the piano, in his little pajamas, big glasses, curly red hair, same mannerisms. Very cute. Mostly it was to see his dad when he was alive. That family really let loose at Christmas. I saw Francois as an 18 year-old with another family christmas (I felt like Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas Past), working a karaoke machine. His uncle Bob tied his shirt in front with his uncle Yves and they did the Macarena. I saw his Grandma, who just passed away last year, singing a particularly baudy french song that everyone seemed to know. It's really something when an eighty-year-old sings "GODDAMN SONOFABITCH!" When that happens. profanity becomes cute. (Well, I think there's no such thing as profanity, but what are you gonna do?)

Nice. When we got home, we had a pile of presents to open from my family. My brother bought Francois a pair of converse hi-tops. I've never seen him in those. I hope they fit. He must wear them!

Oy am I fat.

But happy.

:)

Your Christmas Memory

From J-Walk Blog

You can read mine, probably at the bottom, and add your own.

And another one!

The Strangest Prayer

Stacy - Silverton, OR
Comments: Before a softball game, one team member prayed, ''please let the other team win...and let us win, too.'' Both teams win? Like a tie, perhaps? Except nobody wants to tie...somebody's gotta win. It was hard to not laugh out loud when I heard this prayer.
THO's Response: Stacy, it's good that you didn't laugh out loud; you did what is right. A big part of being a Christian is knowing when to laugh and when to laugh behind someone's back. The good thing is even though the latter takes patience and willpower, those times are usually way funnier so you can have an even bigger laugh at someone else's expense—an expense that they don't even know exists. The "cost" of laughing out loud in front of them is often paid by you, and sometimes comes in the form of the pastor stopping his sermon, claiming he's doing the best he can, crying, and later kicking you off the worship band, which was made up of a bunch of no-talent clowns and had a horrible keytarist, anyway!

THO's Response #2: Also, insiders tell us this is exactly what Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball, prayed for before the 2002 All-Star Game.

Another one for our side!

Fuck Christmas

I know, I know. But read it anyway.

Let’s back up even fucking further, shall we? Can anyone tell me how old Christmas is? Anyone? Two thousand years, give or take, right? Gee, who’s been reading their No Child Left Behind History Textbooks? Try fucking four thousand years. Huh. Twice as fucking long as your little baby king has been around. How could that possibly be, unless. . . waitaminute. . .

Christmas isn’t fucking Christian. Ok, now we’re talking.

A blog survey? Now she's desperate.

No, actually, I'm just feeling a tad apathetic. Probably because I got a lot of exercise today trudging through snow up to my knees through a football field. It took all the energy away from my brain. All that to buy my husband's uncle a tiny little outhouse for his Christmas Village. It's battery-operated, so it's got to be cool/ And no, I didn't just buy "just anything" because it's the 19th. It...uh..it symbolizes my uncle as a Bon Vivant and a Christmas enthusiast, and one with a ribald sense of humour.

1. First thing you did this morning?
Peed. Then blew my nose a whole bunch. This place is really dusty in the morning.

2. Last thing you ate?
A piece of fresh french bread. Franc's decided he's crazy about fresh bread, where he couldn't care less before. Now he can't get enough of it. It's very good with cream cheese and confit.

3. Is your cell phone a piece of crap?
Why do people assume everyone has a cell phone? I prefer to be away from communication for at least a few minutes each day.

4. What's the thing you look forward to most in the next 6 months?
Christmas, obviously. Getting some legal stuff taken care of. And many, many good meals.

5. What's annoying you right now?
Some bread crust in my teeth, and people who gripe about how "christmas is too commercial." What they mean is "I don't like that YOUR christmas is too commercial, thereby making me a victim of the way you have oppressed me with your personal style of celebrating. Now I am forced to be crass, because I'm too damned uncreative and wussy to celebrate the way I want."

6. What's the last movie you saw in a theater?
I honsetly don't remember! It may very well have been "The Two Towers." Oh--but I did see some home movies made by John Waters at his art exhibit in Manhattan.

7. Do you believe in long distance relationships?
Sheesh. They exist, don't they? But if by "believe," you mean do I think I could enjoy one, obviously not. Otherwise I wouldn't have moved 3000 miles to marry Francois.

9. Is there someone you miss?
Just reading that sentence makes me tear up. There is one, and I don't even want to think about it. So I won't tell you.

10. What inspires you?
People who have passion and work hard at it. People who will stay up all night working on a project.

11. If you could put together a concert of 5 bands or artists who would you choose?
"Bands?" I don't know...Le Tigre, White Stripes....Sonic Youth....Kiki and Herb....Esquivel. That would unfortunately be a cacophony. That actually might be nice.

12. Song that sums up your love life?
"Large people dancing the polka."

13. What are a few things you wish you were better at doing?
The things I am good at now. Drawing, playing the violin, painting. And things I am bad at, like maintaining friendships over long periods of time.


14. If you could be anywhere this second, where would it be?
In a jacuzzi.

15. What's your most vivid memory from 6th grade?
I was reading a really nutty story I wrote to the class, and I couln't stop laughing at how funny I was. Everyone in class was staring at me. It was some dumb story about alien abductions and people turning into aliens, with my schoolmates as the characters. It was perverted.


16. Latest addiction?
Carmex.

17. Have you ever had the slight urge to kill someone?
I'm married, aren't I?

18.How many people would you say are interested in you?
I hope a couple dozen. But probably maybe a dozen .

19. What do you love doing?
Cooking, writing, sculpting with clay, recording and editing, wrapping christmas presents, decorating for christmas, watching tv (yes, watching fucking tv), surfing the net, acting, simging, playing music.

20. Do you think someone thinks about you dailly?
Absolutely. Maybe that's why I'm generally happy. A nice number of people still do.

21. Who was the last person you saw or talked to?
Duhh.

22. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A Renaissance Man...Woman.

23. What is your favorite food?
Garlicy stir-fried chicken with 5-spice sauce and rice. Chocolate. Ice cream. Barbecue. Chili. Poached rainbow trout with garlic and herb sauce. Hot french fries from a greek restaurant with spicy gravy. Subway sandwiches. Chips and black bean and corn salsa. spicy bean soup with roasted red peppers. Sweet bell peppers and onions sauteed in butter and olive oil over pasta with parmesan cheese. Broccoli. asparagus. Shepherd's Pie. Salmon pie. Chicken Pot pie. Pizza.
Hungry yet?

24. How many people do you know with the same name as you?
Two. One was a girl in college, who was so strong and vibrant, that I wanted to be her. She was sort of round and Norwegian, and drew comics like Robert Crumb. She liked to walk around naked. Once, a German bakery owner set out the Stamptisch table for us. We think he was flirting with the sturdy, Germanic girls. Allison drew a picture of us wearing yolks and wooden shoes. The other girl was a lithe, ethereal little girl who worked for me for about 6 months at the children's theatre. She laughed a lot and went to an arts conservatory to study acting.

25. What was the last thing you spilled?
French bread crumbs on the floor. Then there was the spill I took today out on the football field!

Who is creepier?

Make them go away, Mommy, make them go!

Shouldn't she stop with this perversion and simply find solace in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Another perspective on The War on Christmas

Check it out here.

But I will tell you this, as we wage the war on the war on the war on the war on Christmas on our radio show. News Corp., Fox News, those people who have started this entire war on Christmas mean, fake war, they're having a holiday party.

President Bush saying "Happy Holidays." Tokyo Rose, Laura Bush, saying "Happy Holidays" to her dogs in the video, I'm sure you've seen it. I mean, these are the things that we should be talking about when we are waging this war in Iraq, we should be equating it to the war on Christmas.
...
KINGHT: This would be funny except it is serious to a lot of people who have seen their faith cleansed from the public square systemically.

But since when were we supposed to assume that Christianity should be in the public square? So fucking what, if Christianity is "systematically cleansed" from the public square? Cleanse the hell out of it. And while you're at it, cleanse it from the addled minds. Sounds good to me. What is it that makes everyone so goddamned apologetic if someone uses that phrase? "Oh, no, we would never do that. We believe in this and that." Grow some ovaries, people.

Anyway, it was a cool clip. You can watch the clip from the blog, btw.

Satan Claus Tree

Here are 2 pics of a Satan head Christmas tree-topper I made. I think this is about as traditional as you can get, considering trees of 3000 years ago had images of Baal and such.

hair, eh? Eh?

I don't get my hair done more than about once a year, as I am a lazy ass. But here I am on our street in Anjou.

> It's like Streisand in "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever."

In the War for Christmas, I am its Champion

Dear Billy O'Reilly,

Your words are strong, sir. I have taken up the challenge to fight against you and your ilk in your War Against Christmas.

I'm gonna use all the power that I have on radio and television to bring horror into the world of people who are trying to do that.

That's right--you and Falwell, John Gibson who wrote that libelous rag, The War on Christmas. You want to destroy Christmas. I will take up that fight.

I am the atheist Champion for Christmas

Enough of this fancy schmancy talk.

History has proven that every time Christians like you have won your war against Christmas. you have banned it.Prohibited Christmas.

You do not own Christmas. Christmas owns you.. Christmas has you hornswaggled into performing pagan rites and using pagan symbolism. Christmas has you going against your religion, violating very important tenets--like not having anything to do with pagan activities, such as putting up trees, kissing under the mistletoe, decking the halls with boughs of holly, and burning yule logs.

And celebrating the solstice.

(Which is at the very root of your religion, by the way.)

Now, this information is more and more available to everyone. The Christians who can acknowledge that may be able to say "I can celebrate this season AND acknowledge my God's official arbitrary birthday, even though I know it's not his birthday at all," are the ones who are mature enough to loosen their grip on this imaginary thing and share the fucking month of December with everyone else.

Look--we don't even get any sass from Muslims about this. It can be done.

I'd like to hold you, Billy, to your promise. Along with the the horror and that nonsense,
you must now expose me, say my name and put my picture on Fox. But you won't, because I am on to your evil, diabolical plans.

I know, it won't happen. Besides--I am not opposed to Christmas. He is.

Witnessing Non-Belief: Christmas Special

"I believe in Santa Claus because..."

Believing in Santa Claus
I believe Santa Claus was a real person, and one who testified to and demonstrated the love of God poured out to us in the person of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. A study of Nicholas of Myra (or Bari), who was a "saint" by reason of his faith in Christ, and was titled "Saint Nicholas" by reason of the traditional Church's recognition of his love and good works, reveals a true believer and a genuine servant to mankind. All myth and legend evolving from this man, which is flavored with good and godly ideas of love, giving, caring, and helping, is well-grounded in fact; facts I believe in.

There is no good evidence that saint Nicholas existed. Even if he did, the legends that grew up around these mythical bones discovered in the 12th century come from the smae places that the Santa Claus legends come from. Religious Tolerance reports that

He is alleged to have attended the first council of Nicea; however, his name does not appear on lists of attending bishops.
...
Most religious historians and experts in folklore believe that there is no valid evidence to indicate that St. Nicholas ever existed as a human. In fact, there are quite a few indicators that his life story was simply recycled from those of Pagan gods.

Father Madden says,
"I believe in Santa Claus because I believe in God," he said. "The spirit of Christmas is a loving, kind and giving one, and I think that's the spirit of Christ. He came to earth to do that very thing. Once a year the Lord puts aside the garments of the Israeli person he was and puts on a red Santa Claus suit — and I think Christ is Santa Claus and Santa Claus is Christ."

Well, ok. Santa Claus is Christ, only he doesn't ask children if they are dirty Caananites, or if they believe in Jesus. at least, the real Santa CLaus would never do that. He's not an asshole. Strangely enough, German kids get their presents from the Christ Child, who is a blonde girl in a dress. But they are crazy, so it's ok.

But people who believe in Santa Claus because he is supposedly the spirit of good will and generosity tend to believe in carnal representations of other emotions--like the Spirit of Evil. Those folks should be avoided, and children should be shielded from them. Who knows when they might decide your child is possessed by the spirit of greed and violence or something?

Jaded Aspiring Lawyer says
Okay, just so we are clear. Maybe I'll define my point one more time just so everyone gets it. I believe in God, because it's nice to believe in, I believe in Santa Claus, because it's nice to believe in, I believe in the easter bunny. You get where I'm going with this.

Do you think I believe it with all my head? Would I not sound like everyone else who believed in these things if I did? I believe these things in my heart. Entirely different storage capacity. This is how I can be on both sides. Maybe it will, only time will tell.

As far as the claims of the heart--well, that's just stupid and there's not much more to say there. Storage capacity? Where in the heart does one store belief? Is believing in stupid things a prerequisite for having emotion? It's good she decided to become a lawyer and not a doctor.

God is not nice to believe in. It is not nice to believe that something is all-powerful, yet allows disfiguring diseases for children. It's not nice to believe in an all-knowing God that allows people to be drowned in sea-water and sewage, leaving thousands of children orphaned, and imprisoned sex-offenders free to "help" them.
But it is indeed "nicer to believe that all of those children will be fine, and all of those sex-offenders will reform. Is it nicer to sit back and be happy with unfounded beliefs when you could do something about it?

Is it "nicer" to tell your children to hang their stockings and wake up to find nothing? It's not nice to believe in Santa Claus and then doubt his existence by going out and buying presents, is it? Maybe it's "nicer" to discourage your children from questioning Santa's existence when they get NOTHING.

The Greatest Christmas Decorations, EVER

Jesus Flogging Lights
(animated pic)

Check out the rest of them here.

An Oddball Misfit's Christmas

I've always felt apart from any given group. Even when I briefly found the drama clique in school to be friends with for about a year and a half after my entire school life of being a loner, I felt apart from them. I never went along for the sake of going along. The wheels in my head were alwys turning apart from the group. Besides experiencing any event as it happened, my brain was writing an essay about it: how did I feel about what was going on? How would this look to me a year from now? How would I have felt about this last year? If only they could see me now.

As a kid, I cleaved to my small family because of this. we generally got along, and home was a place where I could express myself, unlike the outseide world. I was mt normal, loud and boisterous self at home, polite and passive at school.

Maybe that's part of why I like Christmas. My folks didn't have any money, as my dad was a teacher, and my mom was always going to school to be one.But they always managed to make Christmas shine for us. Mostly, it's because my mother loved it so much. She decorated the entire house. We always had a big, real tree. Or two or three, when they brought home the one from school. We always had music playing--actually, it wasn't bad stuff. We're all musicians, so we had jazz music and classical music on the Magnavox console. Mom was a great cook, so we had great food. Plus, I always felt her taste was above normal, so the decorations weren't schlocky. Mom was the one who taught me what schlock was, and Christian art was always the target of her derision. The Praying Hands was always one of our jokes.

One could assume that the only reason one might love christmas is because one had wonderful christmases as a kid. I don't know. My mother lived in a home with a terribly abusive, probably partly crazy father. They were really poor, too. What would make her love christmas? Well, her mother probably tried her best to make a christmas too. They were all musical, they probably had good music. They were all performers as well. They all did concerts and plays, just like we did. In fact, it was a Chrstmas Opera where my Mom and Dad got together.

There are so many things that come back each year that remind me of really good times. So I love christmas. I love the music, the decorations, wrapping presents, sending cards, and especially the food. But I'm not a christian, and I especially hate crowds, and I really hate dishonesty.

I have been to my big, extended family get together at christmas once in 15 years. I don't hate them. When I did go last year, I had a good time. They are christians, and prefer a christian celebration. They pray. I have to be careful not to offend. The thing is, they've changed. They used to sit and talk about how gays were disgusting. That was the last time I showed up in years, except to bring my gay partner to the Thanksgiving dinner. I've opened my mouth and offended a couple of times. I didn't mean to. I mentioned something I learned in college abotu comparative religion--the Egyptian creation myth. I didn't think it would offend. After all, my dead sainted grandmother was a mythology teacher. How I wished she had been there. One of my uncles said something like "well they learned their lesson in hell."

After that, I would go for vacation to my parents' house, but I would stay home with my brother for the reunion, or go back to school. It was nice.

I hate malls with a passion. I hate crowds, and I hate all the stores for young, tiny women. I hate the kiosks with stuff with your name on it. Or pseudoscientific nonsense. I developed my own way of shopping, before the internet. I found Christmas to be a great excuse to enjoy shopping in downtown seattle. And go by bus or train--NEVER my car in such traffic! I shopped in antique stores and boutiques. But the best was by catalogue. Why kill your spirit at a place liek the mall, unless absolutely necessary? The internet is the best thing to happen to christmas. Who needs to go to a mall?

But the one thing that made shopping fun was a tradition my brother and I developed one year. We decided to make shopping for Mom and dad a yearly event after one shopping trip that left us rolling on the floor. We shopped at Stan's Merry Mart.

You might know a place like this. Merchandise from 1980, still on the shelp, still with its original price. Shellacked log cookies with a semi-truck and a clock. Dolphin figurines as ugly as you can imagine. Velvet Elvii. Year after year we would find something so unimaginable I'd hurt myself laughing. My folks love their jigsaw puzzles. What better puzzle than Jock Ewing of Dallas, holding a Scotch? From there we would go to the mexican grocery, and buy strange fruits and candy: creamy jello. And what better stocking stuffer than a trout? It couldn't have been better if we had shooped at Archie McPhee and got them Famous Rabbi Trading Cards--which I did. They looked good wrapped in the green paper festooned with bacon strips (pictures, not real)

Voila! No more shopping hassle, no more unpleasant family dysfunction.

Things have changed for me quite a bit. I don't really know what the traditions are here, but I like my in-laws, so that's helpful. I miss my folks, so I have to travel out there at great expense. I have to create my own traditions now. But it doesn't have anything to do with what I think I'm supposed to do. Even though I still like some of the s'posed tos. I program my radio station with songs and Old Time Radio tales. I don't really want much. Just some room for a tree and a table for Smorgasbord. The rest of it I can shut out. Turn off the depressing Christmas specials. Go to a movie. Make a tradition out of whatever.

I think the better you arrange your situation, the better you can tolerate things you find distasteful of other people. Sure, we fight against Christianity. But that doesn't have much to do with Christmas, anyway. Why fight it? It's like trying to stop the sun from rising. And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Question of the Day for December 6, the Feast of St Nicholas

What is the "True Meaning of Christmas?"

Since we know that not only was Christ not born on December 25th--he was not born, this cannot be the answer. So I'm asking you.

I have been searching on the internet, and I cannot find even an opinion beyond Christ. I read people complaining that what Christmas is "nowadays" has killed the True Meaning tm of Christmas, but no one tells me what it really is, Charlie Brown, now that we have established that it is ours, not Jesus'.



Later, I will ask how it has been killed by 100 years and counting by buying things from stores.

Put Christ Back into Christmas--the third or fourth time

From the music sharity, Music You (Probably) Won't Hear Anywhere Else

"Put Christ Back Into Christmas" (A)

"But Christ was never in Christmas to begin with!" (B) is the standard response to this standard sentiment. Let's try to figure out what this interesting claim actually means, prior to dealing with the "Put Christ back in(to) Christmas" plea (A).

When people say (B), they mean that Christmas is not mentioned in the Bible, nor is Christ's Birthday given a date (you'd think the Bible-writers would have had the courtesy to give the hour, minute, and second, too). Nor was Christ's Birthday important to Christians at first. Plus, the whole December 25th bit has more to do with the Winter Solstice and Saturnalia and Mithra than the Baby Jesus. And the Puritans didn't care for Christmas. Etc. All true.

Includes a lot of great christmas mp3's, (including a track "Put Christ Back into Christmas" 1950) so go check it out

The War on Christmas waged by Christians part 2

Rampant, secularist commercialism is destroying Christmas, rage prominent Christians in the media. Did I read it in World Net Daily? Was it Pat Robertson on The 700 Club? Are they talking about the latest challenge to publicly displayed Creches by unfeeling Atheist Scrooges? Think again.

A Christmas Carol without Christ

The Carol was first published in a time of great religious controversy, and its absence of babes, wisemen,
stars, mangers and other icons* of the Chritsian Nativity inspired a multitude of sermons and pamphlets. Some religious leaders believed that any story fo Christmas without references to the birth of Jesus was self-indulgent and un-christian, and that the ritualistic celebrations in the story were pagan and sinful.

Although A Christmas Carol is generally associated with the Christian holiday season, for it does contain references to the Christian Jesus, its themes are not exclusive to Christianity and it inspired a tradition for decades in Christmas books and celebrations that appealed to many non-christians.

In other words, the traditional, seemingly meaningful (non-commercial) christmas of Dickens (published in magazines because Dickens was broke) was thought to be crass and heretical. This story was part of a general campaign to bring back Ye Olde Christmas which went out of favour in England after the Cromwellian Recolt in the mid 17th-century abolished it.

* The manger, wisemen, star, Frankincense and myrrh were elements of the birth of Mithra, a much older god than Jesus.

Kristians Korraling Kristmas

From a message board thread regarding the recent actions of another big Jingle-Bully, Jerry Falwell;

It's like this: Christmas is a celebration of Christ's birthday. If someone doesn't like that..sorry. But that's what it is.

I am not opposed to any other group celebrating any other religious holiday. Someone could celebrate Buddhas birthday for example. No problem.

Christmas is a celebration of "Christ's Birthday" in name only. As I have stated many times, the origin of the Christ's mass being placed on the day is in Rome (Constantius II), where Christ's Birth was officially placed on the day of the Birth of the sun, Sol Invictus, for obvious and completely unhidden reasons.

A star cult, sun-worship, became (in the third century A.D.) the dominant official creed, paving the road for the ultimate triumph of Judaeo-Christian monotheism. So strong was the belief in the Invincible Sun (Sol Invictus) that for example Constantine I (d. 337), himself at first a devotee of the sun cult, found it, indeed perfectly compatible with his pro-Christian sympathies to authorize his own portrayal as Helios. And in 354 the ascendant Christian church in the reign of his pious but unsavory son, Constantius II, found it prudent to change the celebration of the birth of Jesus from the traditional date (January 6) to December 25, in order to combat the pagan Sun god’s popularity—his “birthday” being December 25.

So December 25th was not Christmas, and Christians did not have any particular reign over the month of December, as they feel they do today. Everything we know about the holiday, from the tree to the frankinscence and myrrh, belonged to another religion before. Christmas may be known as the celebration of Christ's birthday, but the actual celebration is not christian, but pagan, secular, and of course the observance of other major holidays of major religions.

I must emphasize the point that the celebrations can be interpreted as not only unchristian, but anti-christian. The rituals and symbols and the celebration itself often go blatantly against scripture. The bible and christian liturgy do not advocate the celebration of birthdays. Obviously, if it did, Jesus' birthday would be a clear and important date, a day for all to see in the book of Luke--or even prophesied in earlier books. But chritsianity, a religion that rejects life in the world and instead glorifies death, instructed its followers to do so. In old world christina communities, for instance, folks did not celebrate birthdays. They tended to be named for Saints. On the Death Day of a particular saint, a feast was traditionally given, and a little attention might be paid to the one, perhaps a child, whose name corresponds to the dead saint. Jesus has his feast. It's called Easter.

Christmas as a christian holiday is rather modern, and Americans who complai abotu consumerism have conumerism to thank for the religious celebration of their god's honourary "birthday." Americans did not see this celebration of bounty tempered by piety until a group of capitalists in England and New York campaigned for it, with such actions as the St Nicholas campaign and the Happy Christmas campaign. Business could simply not run as usual, with the pagan Season of Misrule ruling over the cities. In New York City for instance, people shut themselves in their homes in fear of aggressive wassailing, begging, protesting, Callithumpian Bands...

With the development of cities and industries "peasants weren't going to their local patron to feast-it was an emerging proletariat or working class. These were strangers from across town And the festivities became expressions of class and ethnic hatreds. In 1819 in St. Augustine, Texas, for example, merrymakers visited every house in town "kicking in doors and pulling down fences. As late as the 1850's gangs of young men called "Callithumpian bands" wandered New York, playing and singing, demanding money, smashing windows and beating people.

... and very drunk young men. This was Christmas. The Christmas that was not popular or widely celebrated in Americs--even outlawed in New England for a time.Not until Chritsmas became an opportunity for more wealth in communities -- as long as it was toned down -- was Christmas able to become a fun holiday for children and an opportunity to get lapsed christians back in the pews for the second time in a year.

"I am not opposed to any other group celebrating any other religious holiday. Someone could celebrate Buddhas birthday for example. No problem."

So, what if Buddha's birthday is on December 25th? (Forgetting the fact that Buddhists say, if you see Buddha, kill him, not celebrate his birthday.) If someone were to say "Happy Holidays," to a group of people that included Buddhists and Christians (such as...."shoppers"), would you boycott?

If you did, you would be ignorant, not only of the other religious and secular traditions that share in this yearly festival of the Sun, but of the history and scripture of your own damned religion.

This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. 5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk.--Jeremiah 10

The tree was a tradition of Saturnalia, of Solstice, of Yule, and of Chritsmas.

Don't you just love a Holiday tree?