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| Jesus was not the son of god, but that doesn’t make him any less interesting or his teachings any less important. Honestly the fact that divinity is modernly synonymous with perfection and the fact that he embodied divine qualities as just another man makes him a truly interesting person. The real, underlying problem with the current view of Jesus and Christianity, aside from their current massive schism in message and practice, is their level of absolution. 1-Jesus WAS the son of god. 2-Jesus TURNED water into wine. 3-Jesus DID walk on water. Perhaps, instead of taking the literal translation of the bible as we ourselves would never do with modern books since they, too are filled with metaphor, should begin looking at it in the more realistic sense. For one moment, think of Jesus as a normal man of flesh and instinct and tell me if this still makes sense. 1-Jesus was truly a child of the lord (in the same sense that we all are, just a true embodiment of the caricatures). 2-Jesus seemed capable of things no man could bear to do. 3-Jesus was of a heart so light one might think he could walk on water. Note that these all make sense, and only help to metaphorically personify the traits of a kind man. The passages I have real issues with are the ones relating to Leviticus, among many others. The followers of Leviticus are somewhat more barbaric than the others, in a lot of ways, but more specifically in their despise of gays and anyone of a different religion than them. Let’s keep in mind two things: 1 Neither Jesus nor God had anything to do with the actual transcription of the bible. 2 None of the wise men had anything to do with the actual transcription of the bible. Yeah, the followers of the wise men, who followed the son of god wrote the bible. We are talking at least a generation after the death of Jesus. Oh, and if you don’t think one generation of verbal storytelling matters, imagine if nothing in World War 2 had been written down until 1975. I am sure that the story would look remarkably different than the actual events. I know a lot of Christians believe that the United States is a Christian nation, built on Christian beliefs, but the Treaty of Tripoli, signed by President John Adams and sent to the US Senate on May 26, 1797 stated, “As the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of Mussulmen, and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.” I do admit, there is a level of fear that the majority of atheists have pertaining to the religious establishments, given that we are the most distrusted minority in the United States. It bothers me that the American people are more scared of atheists than they are of Islamic extremists, the very people whom they are willing to go to war with. I fear we are only a few years away from some politician using the term, “War on Atheism” and follows up by putting a cross on the US flag. My main fear is another Holocaust is on the rise. | | |
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There I was just staring the clock down. That bastard hates me.
Yeah, I like the BDU's way more than the blues. The BDU's kick ass. | | |
| Well, I am in the US Air Force and am doing well. I miss the good old days with the crew back in Korea, but those great moments have been replaced with a sense of unity among a few other airmen that are just as dedicated to the job as I am.
Anyone who has ever read on this blog knows for a fact that I don't agree with the "War in Iraq" and am against the idea of fighting countries for oil. That has not and will not change, regardless of the circumstances I am placed in. But I do feel a certain sense of protectiveness about those in uniform. I feel that I have a duty not only to protect the rights of the average American, but also to ensure the constant safety and well being to all airmen, soldiers, sailors, and marines. The good news is that I am now capable of doing so, since I have recovered from the crap basic gave me (I lost 12lbs) and have regained most of my strength and speed. I have regained the ability to defend.
I have been asked if my feelings towards civilians has changed. Honestly, a little bit. I get up in the mornings at 4:15 and am in formation having eaten breakfast, gotten dressed and am prepared to head out to class by 5:10 (yes AM). I guess you could say I am slightly annoyed when people talk about how they are so tired during the day when they aren't doing that. I am also a stickler for time now, so when civilians start moving slow, I get pissed off really easily. I have actually found myself telling them to hurry up. My expectations of their response to me haven't changed, though. I don't expect people to thank me for serving (I am getting a paycheck as a thanks, anyways), I don't expect people to treat me better, and I don't think that I can get away with asking for favors from people. So I guess you could say that I have become really short tempered with some civilians, and thats about it.
As an overall, I don't dislike the military, and there is the promise that it will get better. I hope that comes through for me. I will be at my first duty station in three weeks and will be on my way to learning and mastering my craft. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress. | | |
| The Average Unconventionals
Okay, so these days we are taught that the only way to succeed in life is to go to school, graduate high school, go to a good college, keep good grades and graduate from college, to get a job working for a conventional company. Alright, well some of that does make it easier to succeed, but let’s ask some of the most influential minds in history if they were conventionalists or if they were true oddballs.
Let’s start with Da Vinci. Now he was a very strange and secluded person whose methods of working were not highly regarded by colleagues or higher classmen. He wrote in mirror image (possibly due to being left handed) and had a strong tendency to not finish many of the things he started.
Moving on to Galileo, who defied the conventional thinking of the times and rewrote astronomy by discovering other planets and galaxies. He was put under house arrest for his later years in life for speaking the truth.
Now Newton was an undoubted weirdo. He had a great difficulty dealing with people, and claimed to have died a virgin. He, too, defied the church’s and Greek thinking by proving that objects did not, in fact, fall to earth because it was their desire to once again become part of the mother earth (that was what the church defined gravity as) and proved that heavier objects did not fall faster than lighter ones. What unconventional thinking, huh? Newton was also known to go days or weeks with very little food or sleep if there was a problem that he couldn’t solve. Oh yeah, by the way, the only reason Sir Isaac Newton was sent to university was because he was a shitty farmer.
Look at Edgar Allen Poe, who could barely get much of his work into local newspapers. He had a severe drinking problem and most of his writings were banned in smaller conservative towns.
How about Ben Franklin, who argued that lightning wasn’t God’s wrath being brought down upon nonbelievers, but large electrical discharge? He was a strange person in general, given his methods of work and seeming disregard for safety.
What about Einstein, who didn’t comb his hair, wear socks, speak much until he was 9 years old, and failed the 5th grade? He was also a shitty physicist in college and nearly flunked out. His highly regarded teacher blackballed the hell out of him so badly Einstein couldn’t get any jobs as a professor. He was working as a patent clerk when he completed his work on relativity.
What about Steven Hawking, who was a major slack off during most of his college years until he developed his health issues? He can’t even write down his work, so every equation is being done inside of his head. And he is the guy who may very well link quantum mechanics and conventional physics.
Bringing it closer to home for many people, take a short look at Bill Gates. He flunked out of Harvard, was considered a crappy programmer, and only got picked up because his competitor was out surfing when a company representative came by, who then went to Gates’ office and got his software. Yeah, Gates does not have a degree. Wow, the richest man on earth was a college dropout. How interesting.
I know a guy named Chris who Is working on theoretical physics in the field of energy and he is (no offense) a weird mofo. But thats part of the reason why I don't doubt he has the potential to make a splash in the world. Go for it man.
None of the greatest minds or people on earth have been conventional, in thinking or lifestyle. They always had their own method, which made their ideas and work somewhat out of the ordinary. Remember that the next time someone is telling you the way to REALLY succeed.
So to all of you weirdo's, geeks, nerds, freaks, outcasts, and so on, this is my post to you. Go far and enjoy your strange nature, because unconventional thinking leads to revolutionary ideas. | | |
| Hey, I have some great news. The Bush Administration just annouced recently that the economy is growing rapidly and that trade is going extremely well. This was announced on CNN, just as the scrolling bar on the bottom stated that we have hit an all time hight for the trade deficit and the stocks were just about all showing a drop of about 5-11 points. Congratulations to the Republicans for their outstanding mathematical feats including the inability to work with simple addition and subtraction work. Simply stunning.
This is just another form of propoganda. Yes, I said it, the US government is very guilty of propoganda. Just like in the Cold War when the US and Russia were throwing out propoganda a mile a minute. That helps explain the way American families were depicted in the media until the early eighties when people started calming down about the whole thing. During that time period you didn't see anything but essentially utopian families on TV (Brady Bunch, Partridge Family). It explains much of the conformity during the 50's and early sixties. Now it is explaining why people are so damn hesitant to say anything bad about the "War on Terror". If you are a newscastor and a celebrity says anything against the war (including things like, "We need to bring the American troops out of Iraq and back to where they are safe") you are highly obligated to speak out against them.
This "economic growth" is limited to a very slim number of companies and the so called "success of the No Child Left Behind" is limited to upper middle class citizens. Think about it, inner city schools are losing the most money and the suburban schools are constantly gaining wealth from it. To me, it looks like an effort to get minorities back into what will essentially be slavery. It'll be a good "White America". That is some fucked up shit. Let me ask everyone this: If the NCLB stats were publicized and the results were really bad or counterproductive, would Bush repeal it? Or would he just try to blame it on something else, because admitting he was wrong would be like saying the bible was mistranslated (which it was at several parts).
People blindly accepting what the government says without looking at the numbers is a big step towards monarchy or communism. | | |
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