I'm Catholic, am I a good Catholic, actually no, I consider myself to be a bad one. I believe in God, and I believe that Jesus Christ was his son, but I don't believe or condone most of the things that are in the Bible, or the beliefs that Catholics and other Christians preach. I believe in God in the way that works best for me.
The parts of my religion that I focus on are the Ten Commandments, and Jesus' teachings. For one, how can any person call themselves a Christian, yet forget about one of Jesus' most basic teachings: Love Thy Neighbor?
This... rant, I suppose you could call it comes from a recent issue I was just informed of. The Westboro Baptist Church is protesting the funerals for the people who were killed this week at the assassination attempt of a United States Senator. I don't know all of the details, but what I was told is that the Church is protesting because it "is God's punishment of an idolatrous nation," or perhaps because the girl killed is Catholic and not Baptist.
That is why I bring up the Love Thy Neighbor teachings from Jesus. According to my Religion teacher in Seventh grade (And this was nine years ago, so I might not be completely accurate), Jesus came down to Earth because people's beliefs were, in a sense, wrong. People, supposedly, believed that if you believed in just this way, and did just this, then you would find your way into Heaven. When Jesus came down, he performed miracles, treated everybody equally, showed love to people who were outcasts in society. Whether you believe in God, or Jesus or not, his teachings are things that everybody should and could follow. He taught us to treat everybody equally, love your neighbors and you love the Church (for those Atheists out there, love your neighbors as you love yourself).
So why is it that there are people out there, supposedly preaching the word of God, when all they do is preach hate? How can these people, like the Westboro Baptist Church think that God wants them to picket a nine year old child's funeral because her beliefs are not to the T exactly as theirs? Why is it OK to hate homosexuals, thank God for AIDS, picket an actor's funeral because he played a homosexual in a single movie? And why is it ok to write picket signs that read "Thank God for DEAD soldiers" when these men and women lay down their lives to keep our country safe.
Voltaire said "I do not agre with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," and nobody exemplifies that quote better than the United States military, both past and present. I do not, under any circumstances, support war, but I will always, until the day that I die, support the troops, because they are out there, every day--away from their loved ones--fighting in a war, risking their lives, so that people like me, and my family, and my godchildren, can have a good life, where we can feel safe and secure in our own homes. There are people in this world who do not even have that luxery.
From the time I was old enough to understand my faith, I was taught to love, truly love and respect and accept, those around me who are different. And while I do not agree with everything in the Bible, that is the one thing I will always believe in. Now I will ask anybody who is reading this, who has a heart, and a conscience, please, do not let this hate continue to spread.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The Wonderful World of Writing
I just had an epiphany that I had to write down or I would forget and my anger would skyrocket. I know I should be reading Plato for my class, but... It's Plato. I'm 21 and deeply stupid. But moving on.
My biggest dream in this world is to be published. I love writing fiction and I love getting the chance to get people to react to my words. But today, in the exciting throes of reading Plato, I realized something;
I'm not a writer, I'm a commentator.
I'm the guy--or girl, in my case--who's describing a game on the radio for all its listeners. True, the stories are completely my own, but I don't write the idea to try and get a picture in my head. All I do is put down on paper something that's already in my head.
I write to my reader so they can see what's going on in my imagination. It's why when I write, I make so many grammatical mistakes. I don't see words fluttering around in this cramped head of mine. I see pictures. I feel emotions. And I have to write it down quickly because the movie is still playing and I'm afraid of falling behind. There's a narrator, sometimes, but more often than not I just have the movie playing and I use my words so others can watch it with me.
It makes sense, if you think about it. I always saw a good story as being one that pulls you out of reality and throws you wholeheartedly into the pages. When I read, I'm not reading words, I'm watching everything play out in my mind. I can't read stories of purple prose that just give me pages upon pages of pretty words and nice descriptions. I don't care about scenery, I care about characters.
This was something that I had to get off my chest. And who knows? Maybe other writers out there will have the same epiphany. Or you can say I'm completely crazy and I should never write another word of fiction again. I don't really care, I just had to say it.
My biggest dream in this world is to be published. I love writing fiction and I love getting the chance to get people to react to my words. But today, in the exciting throes of reading Plato, I realized something;
I'm not a writer, I'm a commentator.
I'm the guy--or girl, in my case--who's describing a game on the radio for all its listeners. True, the stories are completely my own, but I don't write the idea to try and get a picture in my head. All I do is put down on paper something that's already in my head.
I write to my reader so they can see what's going on in my imagination. It's why when I write, I make so many grammatical mistakes. I don't see words fluttering around in this cramped head of mine. I see pictures. I feel emotions. And I have to write it down quickly because the movie is still playing and I'm afraid of falling behind. There's a narrator, sometimes, but more often than not I just have the movie playing and I use my words so others can watch it with me.
It makes sense, if you think about it. I always saw a good story as being one that pulls you out of reality and throws you wholeheartedly into the pages. When I read, I'm not reading words, I'm watching everything play out in my mind. I can't read stories of purple prose that just give me pages upon pages of pretty words and nice descriptions. I don't care about scenery, I care about characters.
This was something that I had to get off my chest. And who knows? Maybe other writers out there will have the same epiphany. Or you can say I'm completely crazy and I should never write another word of fiction again. I don't really care, I just had to say it.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith to star in The Karate Kid remake
This is seriously been bugging me all night, so the point that I went to the internet movie database to read what other people had to say about the new Karate Kid movie. What I saw was about a hundred people deciding to boycott the movie, with a few saying that they need to grow up, it's just a movie and if they don't like it, then don't see it. Understandable claim. Personally I side with the boycotters. And why is that? Simple;
I'm old enough to remember good cinema.
I need to get this off my chest, but a boycott like this really does need to happen, and not just because I think that Jaden Smith is a terrible actor--he's a little boy, that's just mean--or the fact that this movie is about Kung Fu, not Karate--The argument I heard for why it's ok for it to be called Karate Kid is because the kid knows Karate at the beginning of the movie, and the Chinese kids mock him for it, so it's something to do with that. I think that person might be from Utah--it's more than that. It's the fact that Hollywood is remaking a classic film that shouldn't be remade. Plain and simple, some things should never be touched, and The Karate Kid is one of them. Not to mention, this movie pretty much bashes Karate. Jaden's character knows a little Karate at the beginning of the movie, and he gets his butt kicked by kung fu. He can't defend himself against these kids unless he uses Kung Fu to do it. I take Krav Maga classes, and I'm betting that my instructor could kick the crap out of Jackie Chan.
Really, the boycott isn't about this one movie, or this one remake. Look at the movies that are being made, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull, tell me those movies don't just make your eyes bleed. Hollywood thinks that it's ok to vomit up any old thing because they know that morons will pay to see them. I'm not an idiot, I know that there is no such thing as an original idea anymore. Trust me, I'm a writer, I already got that speech, but this isn't a new concept. The difference now is that Hollywood is just being lazy. They could make good movies, they could have made a Kung Fu movie without trying to scam off the Karate Kid. But this gets more money in their pockets faster.
What does this generation have to show when it comes to movies? We got High School Musical. Zac Ephron and Hannah Montana are our cultural icons. Now look back on the days with Bogie and Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, or Cary Grant. These are iconic figures. Or hell, even old slapstick comedy was better (Arsenic and Old Lace, Airplane! Young Frankenstein). I could go on, but by now, I'm hoping you get my point.
Well, to sum up in a very essay type way, if you wanna boycott the Karate Kid remake, boycott, hell, I'm joining you, but don't just do it because Jackie Chan cannot compare to Pat Morita, do it for the future of cinema.
I'm old enough to remember good cinema.
I need to get this off my chest, but a boycott like this really does need to happen, and not just because I think that Jaden Smith is a terrible actor--he's a little boy, that's just mean--or the fact that this movie is about Kung Fu, not Karate--The argument I heard for why it's ok for it to be called Karate Kid is because the kid knows Karate at the beginning of the movie, and the Chinese kids mock him for it, so it's something to do with that. I think that person might be from Utah--it's more than that. It's the fact that Hollywood is remaking a classic film that shouldn't be remade. Plain and simple, some things should never be touched, and The Karate Kid is one of them. Not to mention, this movie pretty much bashes Karate. Jaden's character knows a little Karate at the beginning of the movie, and he gets his butt kicked by kung fu. He can't defend himself against these kids unless he uses Kung Fu to do it. I take Krav Maga classes, and I'm betting that my instructor could kick the crap out of Jackie Chan.
Really, the boycott isn't about this one movie, or this one remake. Look at the movies that are being made, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull, tell me those movies don't just make your eyes bleed. Hollywood thinks that it's ok to vomit up any old thing because they know that morons will pay to see them. I'm not an idiot, I know that there is no such thing as an original idea anymore. Trust me, I'm a writer, I already got that speech, but this isn't a new concept. The difference now is that Hollywood is just being lazy. They could make good movies, they could have made a Kung Fu movie without trying to scam off the Karate Kid. But this gets more money in their pockets faster.
What does this generation have to show when it comes to movies? We got High School Musical. Zac Ephron and Hannah Montana are our cultural icons. Now look back on the days with Bogie and Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, or Cary Grant. These are iconic figures. Or hell, even old slapstick comedy was better (Arsenic and Old Lace, Airplane! Young Frankenstein). I could go on, but by now, I'm hoping you get my point.
Well, to sum up in a very essay type way, if you wanna boycott the Karate Kid remake, boycott, hell, I'm joining you, but don't just do it because Jackie Chan cannot compare to Pat Morita, do it for the future of cinema.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Utah becomes the most moronic state in the Union!
Well, I've seen some pretty stupid things in my life... I watched my best friend punch a wall six times in a row, I saw another friend walk into a phone booth. Hell, I saw Bush get re-elected and Sarah Palin become the vice presidential nominee. But I have to say in all honestly, this takes the case.
Utah passed a law making it illegal to miscarry.
I'm sure you've all heard of this by now, but when I heard that, I just thought, "oh my gosh, how is it possible for an entire state to be so stupid?" Most comments I've read so far are about how ridiculous this new law is. But then I saw two that actually supported it. "Oh, it's not a law that criminalizes miscarriage, its a law that criminalizes intentional miscarriage." Which is true, it is labeled all nice and pretty. However, if you actually look at the standard, it describes any type of "reckless" behavior that led to a miscarriage. I may agree--partly--with the seatbelt scenario (if a woman is in a car accident when she wasn't wearing her seatbelt and miscarries), but that's only because if a woman is driving a car, she should be wearing a seatbelt, if she's not, especially when she's pregnant, then she's just dumb. However, seeing as I'm a fat person, I can speak from experience that pulling a backseat seatbelt over a large belly is downright impossible. And a baby belly doesn't move. Sometimes, you don't really get a choice in the wearing a seat belt argument.
But the worst one that I saw definitely had to be the one "if a woman is in an abusive relationship and her husband/boyfriend/partner beats her and causes her to miscarry, she may be guilty of criminal homicide because she didn't leave him." Now, everyone, I want you to just let that fester for a moment.... Now that a deep breath and say with me;
ARE YOU F*&$ING INSANE?!
How anybody could support something like that is completely beyong me. I mean, its not like the woman hasn't already been through hell, first she's physically abused by someone she thought she loved, her baby was killed, but now, these idiots want to put her on trial for murder because she didn't leave the guy when she found out she was pregnant? Do they ever stop to think, maybe she couldn't? Anybody who's ever been in an abusive relationship could tell you that it isn't that easy to walk away. What if she left, but she didn't have any money? How is she supposed to take care of her child? What if she miscarried then? Is she criminally responsible because she recklessly let herself become destitute? Or what if she left, but he found her? He'd probably beat her a hell of a lot worse then. And of course, then it's her fault because she let herself be found.
I tell you, I would absolutely LOVE to see the trial of the first woman charged with Homicide for a miscarriage. I can just imagine any mediocre defense attorney just walking up and saying "My client is on trial for a miscarriage. A miscarriage.... The defense rests." I mean, how are you supposed to try somebody like that seriously? If I was on that jury I'd keep asking if it was some kind of practical joke or something, or if I was a contestant on some new reality show.
I was recently starting to get my faith back in the human race. But then Utah came and took it back. So congratulations to Utah, you have officially become the most moronic, idiotic and sexist state in the Union. I hope you are now proud!
Utah passed a law making it illegal to miscarry.
I'm sure you've all heard of this by now, but when I heard that, I just thought, "oh my gosh, how is it possible for an entire state to be so stupid?" Most comments I've read so far are about how ridiculous this new law is. But then I saw two that actually supported it. "Oh, it's not a law that criminalizes miscarriage, its a law that criminalizes intentional miscarriage." Which is true, it is labeled all nice and pretty. However, if you actually look at the standard, it describes any type of "reckless" behavior that led to a miscarriage. I may agree--partly--with the seatbelt scenario (if a woman is in a car accident when she wasn't wearing her seatbelt and miscarries), but that's only because if a woman is driving a car, she should be wearing a seatbelt, if she's not, especially when she's pregnant, then she's just dumb. However, seeing as I'm a fat person, I can speak from experience that pulling a backseat seatbelt over a large belly is downright impossible. And a baby belly doesn't move. Sometimes, you don't really get a choice in the wearing a seat belt argument.
But the worst one that I saw definitely had to be the one "if a woman is in an abusive relationship and her husband/boyfriend/partner beats her and causes her to miscarry, she may be guilty of criminal homicide because she didn't leave him." Now, everyone, I want you to just let that fester for a moment.... Now that a deep breath and say with me;
ARE YOU F*&$ING INSANE?!
How anybody could support something like that is completely beyong me. I mean, its not like the woman hasn't already been through hell, first she's physically abused by someone she thought she loved, her baby was killed, but now, these idiots want to put her on trial for murder because she didn't leave the guy when she found out she was pregnant? Do they ever stop to think, maybe she couldn't? Anybody who's ever been in an abusive relationship could tell you that it isn't that easy to walk away. What if she left, but she didn't have any money? How is she supposed to take care of her child? What if she miscarried then? Is she criminally responsible because she recklessly let herself become destitute? Or what if she left, but he found her? He'd probably beat her a hell of a lot worse then. And of course, then it's her fault because she let herself be found.
I tell you, I would absolutely LOVE to see the trial of the first woman charged with Homicide for a miscarriage. I can just imagine any mediocre defense attorney just walking up and saying "My client is on trial for a miscarriage. A miscarriage.... The defense rests." I mean, how are you supposed to try somebody like that seriously? If I was on that jury I'd keep asking if it was some kind of practical joke or something, or if I was a contestant on some new reality show.
I was recently starting to get my faith back in the human race. But then Utah came and took it back. So congratulations to Utah, you have officially become the most moronic, idiotic and sexist state in the Union. I hope you are now proud!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Importance of the Future
Ok, bear with me on this one, I'm still relatively young.
Do you ever notice that your family only ever wants to discuss your future with you? You do something good, "Oh that's great, what are you going to do with it?" "How are you supposed to make money like that?" The list goes on and on and on....
I recently told my parents that I wasn't going to law school, which was my initial plan. I'd rather be a writer. I'm good at it (I think), I like doing it. They hate it. How can I possibly make money as a writer? I'm an English major "Oh you have to become a teacher so you can pay bills." "What are you going to do with an English Major?" And the truth is, I don't know. And I'm happy not knowing.
I am sick and tired of having to always think about the future! I don't want to just survive in this world. I mean think about it, why do people get the jobs they have? To pay bills. To get a decent home. People don't *live* anymore, they exist. They settle for a job that they don't want because they feel like they have to. And when they're sitting on their death bed, what are they supposed to be proud of? "At least I got a good deal on that chicken at Tops the other day."
I don't want to do that. Excuse me if you think I'm being childish but it's the truth. If I'm going to die, then I want my life to mean something, even if it only means something to me. I don't want my parents existances. I want to live, and live for me. And why shouldn't I? I'm the one stuck in this damn body for the next eighty or so years. That way, by the end of my time, I can sit there and think, "well, at least I did something."
Do you ever notice that your family only ever wants to discuss your future with you? You do something good, "Oh that's great, what are you going to do with it?" "How are you supposed to make money like that?" The list goes on and on and on....
I recently told my parents that I wasn't going to law school, which was my initial plan. I'd rather be a writer. I'm good at it (I think), I like doing it. They hate it. How can I possibly make money as a writer? I'm an English major "Oh you have to become a teacher so you can pay bills." "What are you going to do with an English Major?" And the truth is, I don't know. And I'm happy not knowing.
I am sick and tired of having to always think about the future! I don't want to just survive in this world. I mean think about it, why do people get the jobs they have? To pay bills. To get a decent home. People don't *live* anymore, they exist. They settle for a job that they don't want because they feel like they have to. And when they're sitting on their death bed, what are they supposed to be proud of? "At least I got a good deal on that chicken at Tops the other day."
I don't want to do that. Excuse me if you think I'm being childish but it's the truth. If I'm going to die, then I want my life to mean something, even if it only means something to me. I don't want my parents existances. I want to live, and live for me. And why shouldn't I? I'm the one stuck in this damn body for the next eighty or so years. That way, by the end of my time, I can sit there and think, "well, at least I did something."
Monday, April 27, 2009
Ego
Every person in the world has an ego. Really, it's scientific fact. Every person wants to be praised for something. They love it, they yearn for it. They feed off it. Yeah, all that crap about needing food and water to survive, total bullcrap. People need compliments.
Now, I am fully ready to admit, my ego is... well to put it simply--if a little steriotypically--my ego is bigger than the average male's. I love to be told that I'm doing something amazing, it's one of the most incredible highs ever. Problem, they rarely come.
See, right now, I'm writing a blog. Why? Because I'm bored. Do I honestly expect anybody to read this? No, they never do. On this one website, for example, I posted two different stories that I had written on their forum. The one story got maybe... nine hits, and one review. I don't know, maybe I suck at titling things, or maybe people see my posts and are about to click on it when suddenly they get the urge to go make a pizza instead.
So here I am, rambling in a blog that nobody is ever going to read while everyone else out there is having a late night snack. And yeah, it blows. There is only ONE thing that I'm good at in this world, only I have no proof of that since nobody is willing to read what I have.
This has turned into a totally annoying whiny rant, and normally I'd apologize, but since nobody's going to read this anyways, it doesn't really matter. So, I say adieu, to, well... air.
Now, I am fully ready to admit, my ego is... well to put it simply--if a little steriotypically--my ego is bigger than the average male's. I love to be told that I'm doing something amazing, it's one of the most incredible highs ever. Problem, they rarely come.
See, right now, I'm writing a blog. Why? Because I'm bored. Do I honestly expect anybody to read this? No, they never do. On this one website, for example, I posted two different stories that I had written on their forum. The one story got maybe... nine hits, and one review. I don't know, maybe I suck at titling things, or maybe people see my posts and are about to click on it when suddenly they get the urge to go make a pizza instead.
So here I am, rambling in a blog that nobody is ever going to read while everyone else out there is having a late night snack. And yeah, it blows. There is only ONE thing that I'm good at in this world, only I have no proof of that since nobody is willing to read what I have.
This has turned into a totally annoying whiny rant, and normally I'd apologize, but since nobody's going to read this anyways, it doesn't really matter. So, I say adieu, to, well... air.
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