SHATNER: I can't get behind the Gods, who are more vengeful, angry, and dangerous if you don't believe in them!
ROLLINS: Why can't all these Gods just get along? I mean, they're omnipotent and omnipresent, what's the problem?
SHATNER: What's the problem? What about the men who say 'Do as I do. Believe in what I say, for your own good, or I'll kill you!' I can't get behind that!

First of all, Happy Belated Birthdays to kpram (who I miss gaming with) and jpantalleresco Joshua Pants, who I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet. (Maybe CAPE this year? Bring coppervale.)

As promised lo so many moons ago, my first taboo topic discussed. The future topics, determined by the use of a 1d6, will be:

Death Penalty
Suicide
Politics

So prepare to ignore or de-friend me as you wish.

As for today's topic, feel free to ignore it. Just don't click the link if you get wound easily. Read below it for a "regular" type posting

Religion: What do God, Santa Claus, and President Hillary Clinton all have in common?




Funny...as I write this, I see in the background a PBS special talking about chimpanzees and how close they are to humans.

Perfect!

So what do God, Santa Claus, and President Hillary Clinton all have in common? They are all damn unlikely to occur.

Religion.

A simple word that has caused much strife, pain, death, and destruction. And one of the few things that the more you believe in it, then more likely you are to do something insane.


I am going to stick with Christianity, as I know the most about it. I will touch on others, though.

A few years ago, I posted about it here:
http://mattdocmartin.livejournal.com/17394.html

Let me repeat a salient point:

Overly-religious Christians are the same, if not worse, than Islamic terrorists.

How?

1) They do whatever they feel is right.
2) They believe they are backed up by God
3) They interpret their bibles to fit their beliefs
4) They don’t care what effect they have on others
5) They both go too far


I find it hard to deal with ultra-religious people. I am not talking about going to church, or being Christian. I am discussing fanaticism.
I still believe this. Imagine I tell you that an invisible man whispered in my brain that we need to attack and overthrow another nation.

You would say I was nuts. (Granted, I DO suffer from depression, but as my sister suggested that it was caused by “sin”, I had my Lexapro blessed.)

Now, if I tell you GOD told me to do that, it makes more sense to the average Christian. Ask President Bush and all his boosters in the televangelist’s ranks.

But that is too easy, and too open to interpretation. So let’s approach this in a rational, scientific way.

I ask any Christian who dares answer: Is the Bible the inspired word of “god”. If so, is it all true? If you do not believe the Bible is the infallible, inspired word of “God”, how can you call yourself a Christian? What do you base your beliefs on? You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe, or are you better than God?

If you do believe that it is the infallible, inspired word of God, how do you reconcile written words with the facts of science? Explain for me, if you would, how:

1) The world was created in 7 days.
2) That human life spans once were upwards of 900 years long
3) That God destroyed the world with a flood
4) That during said flood, every animal on earth was represented in a boat
5) That Moses led the tribe of Israel around for 40 years in the desert, yet no archaeological evidence has been found to support it
6) That Jesus was born of a virgin
7) That he died and came back to life, yet few saw him and no big deal was made of this
8) That he has been “coming back soon” for 2000 years

Honestly, I can offer more concrete evidence of Bigfoot existing than any one can of “God”. Yet religious people claim that it takes “faith”. Well, science kicks faith’s ass any day of the week and twice on Sundays. But if someone wants to believe that the everything was created fully formed in 7 days, that man lived alongside dinosaurs, that the whore of Babylon is due any day now, or that the world is flat, knock yourself out. The day you try to foist those beliefs on me or replace scientific reasoning with delusional dreams, we need to talk.

Quick breather:




As proof some Christians have no sense of humor:

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070913/29287_Kathy_Griffin's_Jesus_Remark_Draws_Fire_from_Christians.htm

Griffin’s remarks immediately drew harsh criticism Monday from Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who called on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to denounce what he called “vulgar in-your-face brand of hate speech.”
“It is incumbent upon Dick Askin, chairman and chief executive officer of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, to denounce Griffin’s obscene and blasphemous comment,” said Donohue.
He went on to suggest that the situation would have received due attention if it were Islam as the target instead of Christianity.
“It is sure bet that if Griffin had said, ‘Suck it, Muhammad,’ there would have been a very different reaction from the crowd and from the media who covered this event. To say nothing of the Muslim reaction,” continued Donohue.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement Monday that it will censor Griffin’s “offensive remarks” when the event will be broadcasted this Saturday on the E! channel. The remarks will also be edited from official Emmy Awards broadcast the next day on Fox.
While Donahue was pleased that TV Academy “reacted responsibly,” he still called on Griffin to apologize for her “verbal assault on 85 percent of the U.S. population.”
“The ball is now in Griffin’s court,” he said. “The self-described ‘complete militant atheist’ needs to make a swift and unequivocal apology to Christians. If she does, she will get this issue behind her. If she does not, she will be remembered as a foul-mouthed bigot for the rest of her life.”
But an apology from Griffin appears unlikely. Griffin, who has made her career from raucous remarks at celebrities, reacted to the situation lightly, according to Reuters, saying, "Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?"
Jesus apparently had no comment. But I implore him to respond here.



Of course, since I moved to the lower part of the Bible belt I cannot seem to escape all the judgmentals. Almost every person I work with (and at my last job) are all vocal Christians. I get at least one chain email per week to “make more time” for God or some such. When I made a joke on a lunch run about telling my sister how “Jesus had one bad day”, I thought one woman would have a stroke, or that she would step away from me if we were not all in the same car for fear a lightning bolt would strike me down from the clear blue sky.


I am not saying Christianity is wrong, even if I think it is silly. In fact, some of the tenets are good. I am all about not stealing, no murder, etc. My motto for any religion, from Christianity to Judaism, to Islam, to Pastafarianism is “First, do no harm” (Scientologists, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses can kiss my ass twice. Their beliefs make the wildest claims of Christians look sound and logical)

I despise any religion that decides that gays are sinful or that they should die. Any religion that allows people like Pat Robertson or Mark Haggard to speak for them. And any religion that defines morality for the unwashed masses while they treat themselves to Lexus automobiles and expensive lifestyles. (I will try to post pictures of Victory Baptist or the “Without Walls” church. It is sick how much money that was “given to the Lord” ended up being spent on overly opulent buildings. )

I guess what I hate most is how easily some Christians believe that they are “free” when all they are is brainwashed. I was one of them, so I know of what I speak. (Ask Jake and Eva. When I was most into Christianity, I was at my most dickish)


Believe what you want. Don’t shove it down other’s throats. And keep an open mind. If God exists, he has a sense of humor. Look at me!

When God makes a declaration about a man, it's true. When a man makes a declaration about God, he's assuming. I'm sure that God's word is fine. It's what human beings have done to it since they got it that worries me.
-Solomon Short

EDIT:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071005/ap_on_re_us/oral_roberts_scandal_7;_ylt=AoIXH5XyZylKDhLoJmF2WH8E1vAI

TULSA, Okla. - Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."
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Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.

Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.

She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."

At a chapel service this week on the 5,300-student campus known for its 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of praying hands, Roberts said God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."

San Antonio televangelist John Hagee, a member of the ORU board of regents, said the university's executive board "is conducting a full and thorough investigation."

Colleagues fear for the reputation of the university and the future of the Roberts' ministry, which grew from Southern tent revivals to one of the most successful evangelical empires in the country, hauling in tens of millions of dollars in contributions a year. The university reported nearly $76 million in revenue in 2005, according to the IRS.

Oral Roberts is 89 and lives in California. He holds the title of chancellor, but the university describes him as semi-retired, and his son presides over day-to-day operations on the campus, which had a modern, space-age design when it was built in the early 1960s but now looks dated, like Disney's Tomorrowland.

Cornell Cross II, a senior from Burlington, Vt., said he is looking to transfer to another school because the scandal has "severely devalued and hurt the reputation of my degree."

"We have asked and asked and asked to see the finances of our school and what they're doing with our money, and we've been told no," said, Cross who is majoring in government. "Now we know why. As a student, I'm not going to stand for it any longer."

The allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by three former professors. They sued ORU and Roberts, alleging they were wrongfully dismissed after reporting the school's involvement in a local political race.

Richard Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to use his students and university resources to aid a county commissioner's bid for Tulsa mayor. Such involvement would violate state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. Up to 50 students are alleged to have worked on the campaign.

The professors also said their dismissals came after they turned over to the board of regents a copy of a report documenting moral and ethical lapses on the part of Roberts and his family. The internal document was prepared by Stephanie Cantese, Richard Roberts' sister-in-law, according to the lawsuit.

An ORU student repairing Cantese's laptop discovered the document and later provided a copy to one of the professors.

It details dozens of alleged instances of misconduct. Among them:

• A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.

• Mrs. Roberts — who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site — frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at university expense."

• The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president."

• Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.

• Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors.

• University and ministry employees are regularly summoned to the Roberts' home to do the daughters' homework.

• The university and ministry maintain a stable of horses for exclusive use by the Roberts' children.

• The Roberts' home has been remodeled 11 times in the past 14 years.

Tim Brooker, one of the professors who sued, said he fears for the university's survival if certain changes aren't made.

"All over that campus, there are signs up that say, `And God said, build me a university, build it on my authority, and build it on the Holy Spirit,'" Brooker said. "Unfortunately, ownership has shifted."

Where is the "Christian" leadership decrying such avarice and greed? If God exists, he should call Oral and "Dick" home. Painfully.



So where have I been lately? Working and sleeping. In that order. I have worked late, and worked on weekends. It pays off, as my company had a record month in collections. Sadly, I get no part of that action, but a lunch is promised. A nice lunch.


Oh, yeah...dining with the KING!



The serious good news is I am still kicking ass at my job. I reduced one account from $300,000 severely past due to $89,000 with a wee bit of effort. The results of my efforts were clearly visible. (And hopefully keep the investors happy)

I do need a raise, though.

I also took one day to go to SeaWorld, though I went alone.



Aquaman goes for a swim. He is still a git, though.


Whale attempts to escape Aquaman's "attentions". Gravity nixes that plan, though.


A "photo spot". So, I took a photo.

I also fed stingrays for the first time. And attempted to scare guests there with stories of lost fingers.


Debonair?

You better believe it.

(Beard or no beard. I keep changing.)

More posts soon.


EDIT: Article added behind the cut. You can't make this shit up, people.

Current Mood: contemplative
What's playing now: "I Can't Behind That" -William Shatner + Henry Rollins