One Difference

"There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad." --Salvador Dali

The Conscience of God

Man is the conscience of God. Through man's existence, God is able to feel guilt.

Terrible Beauty

Ahh...but sadness and suffering are beautiful. "Why," you ask. Because they are so indicative of life, so true to the nature of reality. Now, certainly I do not discount other forms of beauty; love, joy, bliss and peace within are all quite lovely aspects of being a human being. The problem comes when we posit these aspects of life as a goal, in opposition to the "darker" side of the human condition. To exclude from our existence suffering, boredom, stress, heart-ache, and all the other things that people spend so much of their lives trying to avoid, is to do away with half of what makes life so great. To take suffering out of existence is to take away the challenge to mankind. It is to take away the intensity of life. Life essentialy becomes lifeless.

Life is not a test. It is simply a matter of learning to enjoy the scenery on your journey to nowhere.

God as Artist

If God does in fact exist, then it seems he must be viewed in the form of an artist. The artist concerns himself with every hair on the heads of his creations. He concerns himself with whether or not his creations are happy, sad, angry, depressed, blissful or wretched. Yet his concern is not that of wanting all his creations to feel only joy and love all the time. Many times he will make his creations in a manner which portrays the utmost suffering and torment. It is not that he doesn't care about his creation, but rather he wants to highlight some aspect of himself in that particular creation. He wants to give his creations all the fullness of life that is within himself. One does not look at Picasso's Blue Period and decide that Picasso must not exist, or that if he does he is somehow mean and malevolant for making his people so sad. In fact it is while looking at his saddest works that one is filled with the greatest sense of beauty and awe. It is here that one sees the mastery of his art.

Peter Pan Syndrome

I could very well be wrong (as it seems I often am), but in my own personal opinion Americans today are incapable of maturing past the age of twelve. This seems especially true of the men in our society. They just can't seem to grow beyond their desire for cool toys and the comfort of motherly love. Virtually every man seems incapable of truely making decisions for himself, or of taking on accountability for his actions once those decisions are made.

Television not only plays on this aspect of the modern American character, but even encourages it. Often times I'll see commercials portraying the grown man as nothing more than an overgrown child. Now one might expect this from an advertisement aiming at the wives and mothers of our fair society, but too often we find this even in ads geared towards men. Commercials for things such as trucks, four wheelers, stereo systems, deodorant, etc., try to convince men, not only that they deserve some reward for their day to day struggle, but that they deserve the biggest, baddest toys on the block. Sorry to burst your bubble guys, but you deserve nothing; if you have alot, so be it, if you have little, so be it--either way you don't deserve it. Nobody deserves what they get, good or bad.

Commercials aimed at women are even worse. They tend to portray men as weak, pathetic, little boys who are totally incapable of taking care of themselves. If it wasn't for the motherly touch they would surely die in a week's time. Now I don't know about the rest of the guys around here, but when I was sixteen I moved 1500 miles away from my family and have lived entirely alone most of the time since then (explains quite a bit, doesn't it). I'm still alive and in pretty damned good shape I must say. So...

Advertisers, please quit treating us like imbecillic toddlers. Many of us are just as clever as you and don't apreciate people thinking they need to dumb down the message for us to understand. Men, please quit proving the advertisers right. You do us all a great disservice. If you really are that stupid and childish, then please do the entire world a favor and kill yourself--though if you're too weak to live, you're probably too weak to die.

Even When I'm Wrong--I'm Right

I stand partially corrected. It seems the pope did not call the muslims violent, but rather he said that some of Muhammad's teachings were "vile and inhuman." Tsk tsk, your holiness. You should have known that these words would produce a negative reaction--nobody really likes being called vile or inhuman. But then again, have you ever actually read the Quran? It doesn't exactly exude compassion and understanding to christians and jews. Of course the christians and the jews have been hostile to one antother for thousands of years and both have always been hostile to pagans. Really the pope's mistake consisted in ascribing "vile and inhuman" doctrines only to muslims. A slightly more honest man would tell you that all religious doctrine is "vile and inhuman."

Can You Say Irony?

Generally speaking, I am loathe to step forward and defend any religious leader for any reason. Why? You ask. Because the ones who are not simply lying to gain power over the idiot masses, tend to be fanatical madmen. That said, it seems like somebody should stick up for poor old Pope Benidect. As you all probably know already the pope read from a certain text earlier this week which referred to Islam as a violent religion. "well, now that's the pot calling the kettle black," you guffaw (well that was my initial reaction at least). So how does Islam react to being called a violent religion? Do they practice restraint and and voice their displeasure in a peaceful manner, showing that in fact they are a civilized people capable of acting in an adult manner and that the pope was wrong? No. Instead they prove that the pope was right. They burn effagies, they threaten death to all non-muslims, they shoot nuns in the street. I mean, seriously now, can a single one of them possibly expect the west to take them more seriously now after that little tantrum? If you want people to stop calling you violent, then stop being so violent. It's really a simple rule that most of us had learned before we were eight: either you learn to ignore the name calling, or you fix whatever your problem is and grow the hell up.

Theological Views of a Militant Agnostic

I would like to take a moment and explain in a little more detail my veiws on God and religion. Religion when taken in moderation (much like any poison) can actually be quite healthy. The belief in a all powerful, benevolent being can often be enough to help get many people through points in their lives that might otherwise be too much to bear. But beyond taking religion in moderation, one has to take it in context. The religious scriptures of any religion should be looked at as a means for gaining spiritual insight and clearity; it should never be looked to as a historically accurate textbook on how life and the universe came to be. Adam was not literally made of dust; the entire face of the earth was never actually flooded--wiping out everything that was not on the ark; Jesus was not resurrected three days after dying on the cross. That intelligent men and women throughout history have believed that these events actually occurred is a testement to the power of human stupidity.

Faith makes blessed. Blessedness, however, does not make truth. No matter how intensly you believe in something, or how much it may benefit you to beleive it, there is and can never be any certainty that what you believe is true. This is especialy the case if what you beleive is based on some gut feeling (faith) rather than on emperical evidence. That said, God, if accepted at all, must be accepted on faith. There is a popular argument that God's existence can be proven by the complexity and the appearant design of nature. This argument however has been made obsolete by evolution. Evolution on the other hand proves only that God is not necessary, not that God does not exist. In the end, there is only one honest position concerning the question of God: "I don't know, and you don't either."

Now, with belief in God being based on nothing more than a gut feeling, and what God demands of us being nothing more than a gut feeling about a gut feeling, where does anyone get off trying to force their religion on others. Imposing your views of God on others amounts to religious fanatacism. It doesn't matter if your passing out phamplets about loving your neighbor or blowing up cafes in order to carry out God's commandment of destroying the infedels; trying to make converts (or eradicate those who disagree) is an infringment upon humanity. If you believe in God that is fine, but you have no right to impose that belief on others.

As concerns revelation, my veiws are far simpler than with other aspects of religion. Anybody who tells you they speak to God is either lying or they're schizophrenic.

An Argumnet Against Pure Materialism

Would you try to apply psychology to the field of physics? (If so, then you're about four centuries behind modern science, and should probably be exterminated for the betterment of the human race.) Why then try to apply physics to the field of psychology?

I understand that certain emotions corrolate to certain physical processes and that our thoughts in general are influenced by our emotions (if I haven't eaten all day I get irritated; when irritated my thoughts turn dark). My question is: how do these two entirely seperate ideas mutate into a single idea of every single thought being the direct result of some charge being shot off in the brain? I can understand the influence played, but not the direct law of causality being involved.

Ready the Lions

It seems that every time I happen to have the misfortune of accidently witnessing that atrocity known as Fox News, there is inevitably someone talking about how the atheists and liberals are in cahoots and trying desperately to expell God from America. If you've not yet seen this, just wait till Christmas, as this is one of their favorite times of year to exploit the Martyrdom Complex of the religious zealots. Well I say if they want so bad to feel persecuted, then by all means let's persecute them. Open the Coloseum and ready the lions and by all means let's show them what persecution really is.

All these damned religious fanatics (I'm talking about ALL religious fanatics, not just Christians) should be hung in the streets before a jeering mob for all the suffering they have inflicted on man throughout the ages, and still inflict today. Not just the physical torture and slaughter of millions of people during the crusades, the inquisition, the witch hunts and the jihads; but the so-called "virtues" they set upon us like a plague.

So to all you conservatives out there who are desperately trying to save God, my advice is that you give up. It's a war that you lost long, long ago. We're taking over now and there's not a damned thing you can do about it.

Bright New Sun

The ominous clouds of nihilism
Give way and let show
The bright new sun of existence.

Actuality of Existence

Life is the the ultimate reality. All our ideals and beliefs, however beautiful and sublime, remain secondary to the actuality of existence.

Impatiently Awaiting the Apocolypse

Brotherly love, non-resistance, turning the other cheek? No, no and no. If one wants to understand the mind of the modern American Evangelical Christian, one needs only look to the book of Revelations. It is from this book that all our would-be martyrs develop their sense of justice and retribution. It is here that they find some relevance to our own turbulent times--the morbid imagery portayed in this book is the only imagery that many of us can relate to. But it is not only that. Here we find an ending and a new beginning. Here this world of suffering comes to an end, and we are given in its stead the eternal reward of singing God's hosannas; at least for those who worshipped God in the proper manner. As for the rest of us, we can look forward to an eternity of torment and hell fire for our egregious mistakes.

In all likelihood, however, mankind will simply flicker and fade out of existence, like a flame gasping for air. No monumental destruction, no great climactic ending--just a pathetic little spiecies that has outlived its ability to adapt.

Six Years of Pent-up Aggression

After venting about how much I hate Bush last night, I realized that I actually had quite a great deal to say on this subject. For that reason the next few posts will likely be about the subject of how much I despise this administration. If you happen to be one of the 33% of Americans who still like Bush, then I highly recommend you not read any further.

Tonight's rant: those who Bush surrounds himself with.

Nearly everybody in this administration is an active member of a group called The Project for a New American Century. I intend to give a brief overview of this group's goals, as well as why they are entirely assinine; however, for a more detailed understanding, I suggest looking them up on wikipedia. Hell, just go to thier website, it's not like their in any way secretive about what they intend. The PNAC desires nothing short of world domination, which they state in their manifesto. This is to be gotten through military strength. They see the Middle-East as a territory which must be taken over by America in order to ensure proper oil production, as well as keeping tabs on anybody who has thier own intrests in mind as opposed to ours. These guys have wanted to invade Iraq since 1997; probably longer, but that's when the group wrote its manifesto. If one were to look at all the reasons we invaded Iraq, beginning with the whole WMD's scandal and moving down the list to "promoting democracy," it quickly becomes obvious that they are simply following the game plan they had written up for years. But enough about the PNAC, let us take a look at the individuals who make up the administration.

Dick Cheney: Vice President; PNAC founder--Here is a man so evil that he simply could not resist the temptation to shoot an eighty year old man in the face with a shotgun. Prior to deciding that ol' W. couldn't possibly find a better running mate than himself, Dick was the head of a multi-billion dollar company called Halliburton. How does Halliburton make its millions? Why through oil, of course. Dick has been, single-handedly, the biggest proponent of the war in Iraq. His best arguments for going to war have consisted in either his trademark smirk at whatever his opponents have to say, or simply telling senetors to go fuck themselves. (Yes, he literally told a senator who was asking too many questions about Iraq, prior to the invasion, to go fuck himself.)

Donald Rumsfeld: Secretary of Defence; PNAC founder--This is the callous son of a bitch who decided to send our troops into Iraq with little armor and far too few men. When questioned about why he would do such a thing his response was that you go to war with the army you have, not the army you want. Well yes, that's true. My question then would be why the hell did he want to pretty much dismantle the army before sending them to fight on two fronts? Oh yeah, because he wanted to prove that less is more, militarily speaking.

Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove: Deputy Chief of Staff-- How much does it say for a man when even those who depend upon him for their political careers refer to him as Turd Blossom? This man is a real work of art. In order to dodge the draft during the Vietnam War (a seemingly favorite pass-time for all these new-found war-hawks), he joined the University of Utah--but only part-time. It should also be noted that as soon as the threat of being drafted had ended, he promptly dropped out. As the "architect" of Bush's administration he has commited offenses from leaking the name of a covert CIA agent, to using racist inuenndo against political opponets.

The list of shit-heads that Dubbya employs could go on for several pages, however I've neither the time nor the patience for such an undertaking. The list of all the shit-head maneuvers commited by even the few men I have listed, would take several thousand pages.

Tomorrow's post: Domestic Policies Gone Awry.

An Anniversary

Today marks the five year anniversary since the attacks on the World Trade Center. I'm certain, however, that this has slipped no one's attention, being as all the major news organizations have been harping on that subject since you awoke this morning. Well, now it's my turn to harp on it for a bit.

To begin with, my deepest sympathies and condolences go out to all who lost loved one's on that fateful day. That being said, I would like to take a quick look at what we as a nation have done over the last five years in response.

First we went to Afghanistan, where we toppled the Taliban and scattered al-Qaeda. This was done with international support, and a firm sense of justice felt by nearly everyone here in the U.S. If only we could have stayed focused on that task...but alas, our fearless (thoughtless?) leader had other fish that he was looking to fry.

(Just as a side note--am I the only one who heard him tell reporters that he wasn't concerned about Osama just a couple of years ago? And now all the rehtoric has come round full circle and the whole reason we're in Iraq, strangely enough, is because of Osama. Does anybody actually buy this shit? If so, it's probably the same people who buy Toby Keith records.)

Next we began to initiate a number of security measures, most of which destroy the very civil liberties that we are trying to protect--unauthorized wiretapping, secret prisons, the use of torture to secure confessions (can you say Salem witch trials?) and these are just the tactics that have been admitted to. All that's left is to start using chemical weapons on our own people...oh wait, we already installed Mike Leavitt as head of the E.P.A.

(Another quick sidenote: after his short tenure as head of the E.P.A. Leavitt switched over to head of Health and Human Services. To those of you who are not absolutely terrified by the prospect of this, this is the same man who unleashed whirrling disease upon all the lakes and streams in Utah so that his family business could stay going. Let us hope that he doesn't regard humans with the same disdain he has for wildlife.)

After that we proceeded to make the most monumental mistake in the history of America. We invaded Iraq. Not only was this completely pointless, but it was done in such a haphazard way that one would suspect the war plans had been drawn up by a half-retarded three year old. I apologize to all the half-retarded three year olds who may be reading this and taking offense at being compared to Rumsfield.

But alas, I feel I am becoming quite inebriated, and so I must bide my time and wait 'til I can further elucidate upon the particulars of why the Iraq war is so incredibly stupid. Until then...

Pascal's Wager Revised

Regardless of one's metaphysical believes, whether it be life eternal, reincarnation, or simply materialistic atheism, one should treat this life as though it is the only thing one has. Why? Because as far as you know, it is. Maybe there's an afterlife, maybe there isn't; but to forsake this life in hope of some reward in the next is not only a waste of time, it is entirely detrimental to yourself as well as all those around you.

Blaise Pascal put forth an argument in the seventeenth century, saying basically that belief in God and an afterlife is a kind of wager. Either you believe in God, or you don't. Either God exists, or he doesn't. If you believe in God and he doesn't exist, you've lost nothing; if on the other hand you don't believe in God and he does exist, you've lost everything. As for myself, I would put forth the exact opposite argument.

Either there is etenal life, or there isn't. If you put off this life, waiting for the next and it doesn't exist, you've lost the only thing you have. If, on the other hand, you get everything you can out of this life at the expense of the next, and there is an afterlife, then what exactly have you lost? Not a damned thing.


Quit waiting for God to save you, and save yourself.

Defining God

Many men today seem to think that whatever is beyond our current understanding and comprehension must be labled God or divinity. Why is it so hard to simply say I do not know?

Major Barbara

Stephen: I know the difference btween right and wrong.

Undershaft: You don't say so! What! no capacity for business, no knowledge of law, no sympathy with art, no pretention to philosophy; only a simple knowledge of the secret that has puzzled all the philosophers, baffled all the lawyers, muddled all the men of business, and ruined most of the artists: the secret of right and wrong. Why, man, your a genius, a master of masters, a god! At twenty-four too...You are all alike, you respectable people...You daren't handle high explosives; but you're all too ready to handle honesty and truth and justice and the whole duty of man, and kill one another at that game.

--Major Barbara;
George Bernard Shaw

Face Value

Why do we find it so impossible to accept a man at face value--to take what he offers without expecting what he cannot give? Some look for a wise man from whom they may be advised as to how they should live their lives, others want a passionate lover that they can gain comfort from in their moments of need. The advice part is easy to fulfill; in fact I can give you the best advice for everything from where to get new tires to what you should do with your life, all right here in a single well packaged sentence: "How the fuck should I know, it's your fucking life, man up and start making your own goddamn choices!" Anyone who tries to give any advice other than that is simply feeding you full of shit. As for those who seek love and comfort, no simple answer may ever be forthcoming.

This Too

"Life, however it may be is good." --J. W. Goethe

"Not an allegory, simply a leaf, one leaf. A leaf is good. Everything is good." --Ivan Kirillov

"And even if it were ridiculous, it still wouldn't matter, because it's good." --Alyosha Karamazov

This too is good...

British Understatements

"Sometimes the truth is a bit unpalitable." --A euphamism for the ages

Consequence and Culpability

What does it mean to say you're sorry? Begging the forgiveness of a dead man will not bring him back to life; it will not put breath back into his lungs nor thoughts into his head. Why then, bother with telling him you're sorry once you've already smashed his skull?

This analogy extends into all aspects of life.

Is the pain from the wrong I have dealt you in any way assuaged by knowing that I recognize my culpability?

Dealers of Ghosts and Phantoms

Beware any man who would sell you your soul. These rouge businessmen, these dealers of ghosts and phantoms, these theologians! These are the whores of the earth; nay they are worse than whores, for a whore is at least honest enough to sell a tangible good, where these men sell only lies.

Man's Needs

A little childish security--someone to hold us and soothe us, whispering in our ears, reassuring us that everything will be okay. Thus the lonely individual needs be lied to.

In Life

In life, it is the wolves alone who are left to tend the flock.

A Profound Quote From A Profane Medium

"There are no answers, only choices."

The Blissful Idiot

Man cannot live on ideals alone. He needs substance; a physical reality with which he may interact. Do you believe that God can fill the empty belly? Well then, what answer would you dare to put forth in explaining to the millions of starving children in the world why God puts no nourishment in their bellies. Could you tell them, to their inoccent faces--full of fear and suffering, that they worship the wrong God, or simply don't pray in quite the right manner? If so, then you are a bastard worthy of the cross.

Man needs physical nouishment as well as spiritual. To this end he pushes God aside and becomes, for a time, a purely animalistic being; he is ignorant of his own ideals of right and wrong. He is like Adam before partaking of the fruit; he lives in a perfact state of naturalism. He is a blissful idiot.

On the Virtues of a Prospective Third World War

A mass thinning of the human population might just serve both ourselves and the world at large quite well.

Plumbing the Depths of Human Stupidity

"To fight against stupidity, in the long run, makes even the fairest and gentlest men brutal." --Friedrich Nietzsche

To plumb the depths of human stupidity one would require a near endless supply of resources. One is far better off trying to understand everything man has ever learned throughout our existence than trying to understand the vast reaches of man's capacity for stupidity.

Mere Wealth

"Of all the forms of tyranny, the least attractive and most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth." --Theodore Roosevelt