Submit an Article | Bookmarked Articles

Viewing Articles About All - Page 23

just an essay i did for engl 112 about me and a friend i owe alot to	December 7, 2006, 11:38PM
by: crow
It was a September night two years ago I was going threw a very bad depression at the time. I was invited to go to the Rocky Horror Picture Show by Amber. Little did I know that night I would meet the best friend of my life Brittany. First thing that day when I woke up I knew that I didn’t want to be alive anymore. I went threw my day as I normally do hanging out with my friend James running around the city like we normally do. We were over walking around the park and he asked me how life had been going for me over the last few weeks. I told him that things were the same as they had been. That I was still depressed and didn’t want to be here anymore and that was thinking of trying to take my life again. He told me that it’s not worth it that I have plenty to stay alive for but I didn’t believe him. Then he told me he had to get back to his place because he had a friend coming over and told me not to do anything stupid to stop in later that night. I told him id stop by and I walked off the other direction further into the park. The trees where losing there leaves as the wind was blowing the park smelled of roses for some odd reason. I walked over to the fallen tree that sat over a small crick and climbed up on it and sat down in the middle of it. I was completely surrounded by trees and brush no one would be able to see me there. I took a razor blade out of my pocket that I had with me the whole time as I put it up to my wrist I heard some one walking threw the park close to where I was sitting. I wasn’t going to let that stop me from doing it. Then my cell phone rang it was my mom wondering were I was, I told her I was at the park and would be home soon. I put my cell phone and the razor blade back in my pocket and laid back on the tree and looked up at the sky riddled with clouds. I asked myself why I didn’t do it why I didn’t just let the phone ring and just make the cut. I really didn’t know at that point in time but I new I told James I would stop in. Now I had decided to go ahead and go over to James’s house. As I walked back threw the park towards are neighborhood I seen a few familiar faces but didn’t say anything to them I just kept walking. I came up on the busy street and wasn’t paying much attention I was almost hit by a car but I didn’t really care. I finally made my way to his house and knocked on the door Amber answered it to let me in. I said hi to Amber and walked threw his messy front room there was trash and dishes were every where and it didn’t smell too great either. I sat down on the chair that was empty and rested my head on my lap Amber asked if I was ok and I just said yes I normally didn’t tell people about my problems because they where mine and mine alone. We all sat around listening to slipknot for a few hours no one really talked much. I still couldn’t stand the smell so I decided to go outside and sit on the porch. Soon after everyone was outside with me talking about things that they had been doing during the day I just sat there silent and listened to every one talk like I normally do. Then I got up to leave I wanted to be alone for a while I started walking away and Amber came up to me and asked if I wanted to go to Rocky Horror with her and some of her friends that night I said sure why not. She told me to be at her house by eight o’clock that night I said I would be. I started walking again threw the streets of my neighborhood listening to the dogs bark like crazy at me as I walked by. I decided to take the scenic route back to my house so I walked up and jumped down into the dry creek that runs threw are neighborhood. My mother called me again and asked for me to come back to the house to help out with the dishes so I told her I would be there in a few minutes. I then tripped over a rock and almost hurt myself again. I knew that I needed to get home so I climbed up the steep dirt hill so I could walk threw the small area of woods to get back to the street. The trees and brush were thick threw this area and I got cut up a little bit from the branches. Soon I was at home again doing dishes for my mother. I asked her for a little money and some help getting ready for Rocky that night she agreed to it so I finished up the dishes and took a shower. I came back upstairs after I got dressed and sat down with my mom and we got started on spiking my hair all eight inches of it. It was funny to see how my mom was trying to do it. When she realized it wouldn’t work. I showed her how she could spike it which was to make a larger base instead of it being thin so that it would be able to stand on its own. My mom asked me why I was doing it and I told her just for fun because I was going out with some friends for the night. We finally got it finished around seven thirty so I had to leave to get to Ambers. Next I show up at Ambers house and we finish getting ready for ocky. We used black eyeliner to do my makeup which was really creepy that night it looked as if I had black blood flowing in thin lines from my eyes and mouth. Amber was still getting ready after I was done she finally finished and are ride showed up. This is when I finally met Brittany she came up to the house to get us. When I walked out the door and seen her I was amazed she was so beautiful. I had the razor blade in my hand at that point and I tossed it off to the side when I seen her. I knew that I wanted to be with her I’m not sure how but I did. We got in the car and Amber introduced me to every one which was Brittany her sister Devin and Brittany’s boyfriend Jason. All I said was bibaty ba everyone laughed as Jason drove to pick up another friend. Brittany wore a pink corset with blank panties and black fishnet stocking. She turned around and looked at me after I said the same thing about five times and asked if I could say anything else and I said yes and that’s when her sister Devin realized she already knew me. I turned and looked out the window when we were close to were we where going t pick up the other person. Now were at Karla’s apartment to get her its on the outside of downtown I gave Brittany my coat to ware because she was cold when we got back in the car after we got Emily I looked at Brittany and told her she was beautiful she blushed and turned away. Karla asked me if I was a virgin and I said no seeing as I didn’t know that she meant that if I was a virgin to seeing the show or not. She then took out her red lipstick and put a red v on my forehead meaning virgin. Jason then continued to drive to Rocky as the rest of us barked and yelled at the preps and other people we passed for the fun of it. Last we finally reach Rocky where I get to hang out with Brittany more than I was. At the beginning of the movie we all ordered a chocolate milkshake to drink. They are so good there. We all sat around joking talking about what we done during the course of the day. Brittany turned to me and started tickling me for no reason probably because I wasn’t talking all that much. I tickled her back it was a blast. Then it was time to do the time warp which is a dance in the movie we all ran up to the front of the theater and started dancing with and humping each other in large groups it was funny to me. We finished the dance and went back to are seats and continued to yell things at the screen as this was part of the movie. Its now the end of the night and were at my house there dropping me off Brittany got out of the car and I gave her a hug and told her thanks for the great night and to give me a call some time she said that should would. She whispered in my ear before she left that I would always have a friend in her and if I ever needed to talk to let her know. She got back in the car and they drove away I stood out side for a while wishing I could go back to being with them and realized I had gained the best friend of my life. It’s now the begging of October Brittany had called me and asked if I wanted to go bowling. I told her I didn’t have the money but she told me I was going anyways. They came and picked me up to go to the bowling ally I was happy to see her again we had talked a few times before this night she would call and check on me. She knew I was going threw a bad depression it was nice to know someone cared. We finally get to the bowling ally everyone else in the group is already there. We go inside and get are lane and start to bowl. I was sitting up away from the group and Brittany came up behind me and pulled me over backwards in my chair. I hit the ground and started laughing as she stood above me and asked if I was going to get up and have any fun. I got up and chased her around I finally caught her and started tickling her it was he first time I had smiled in so long. Truly it felt good to smile again I couldn’t believe it. I was actually happy for once in a long time. It felt good better than trying to off myself in a more pleasant way to put it. We bowled and ran around the place all night I had a blast we couldn’t stop laughing. Towards the end of the night Brittany and Amber were trying to pants me it was so funny they never where able to. Brittany and I are still friends have been for a long time now. She showed me that I do have something to live for and helped me to get where I am today. We don’t talk as much but we do stay in contact as often as we can. Brittany was my therapy you could say she came into my life when I needed someone the most. Brittany helped me get threw my depression and supported me to get into college. I owe her my life to be honest ill never be able to repay her for all she’s done for me so to her I say, thank you for everything. So now my outlook on life isn’t so grim anymore I’m happy to be here.
topic: Essays
[reply] [0 comments]

No one likes the freaks anymore.	December 6, 2006, 2:01AM
by: Drkmtl
i have noticed that now days no one likes the freaks. freaks used to be liked by most people because they thought we were interesting. why, i guess because we dress weird and think different. or maybe its that we are usally calm and collected. we dont really talk shit unless we just really dont like you. or at least i dont. i remember last year at school us "freaks" as everybody loved to call us would stand out side the lunch room in the morning. nobody got in the school without passing by us. you might have noticed before that the shit kickers start shit with mexicans alot. well not last year. i honestly dont know why but they stared shit with the freaks. at first it started out small. then the shit kickers started jumping the freaks. that shit isnt right. i dont give a fuck if i dont know the person if theyre getting jumped i step up. if you cant do it yourself then dont fucking do it at all. it wasnt just two on one it was more like five or six on one. us freaks are close. it started escalating and getting worse and worse. there were fights every day. then this also pissed us off. they started threatening the girls. that dont happen at fucking all. guys saying they were going to beat the hell out of them or even say they were going to kill them. there was one day that was the worst of them all. me josh casey ryan and shaylee went to go smoke behind the baseball feilds and we had to pass the shit kickers group in the parking lot to get there. well we go and light up our smokes look back and there they were all the shit kickers. my friend josh had said something about a kid named vance stephens. a short little fat shit kicker. and mika holder noah campfeild cody gailbreath and the others that were there started trying to get josh to fight them and he would because there was five of us and somewhere close to thirty of them. so we finished our smokes and went to leave and mika holder took a little pussy shot at josh and hit him in the back of his head. then all of them were there throwing punches. we backed them up and they left well josh went into the lunch room with us and all the freaks saw josh and we told them what happened and every freak in there stood up at the same time even some people that we didnt know and every one of us headed out to the parking lot that they sat in. everyone in the lunch room poured out the doors and followed they knew what was fixing to happen. we all went straight up to the shit kickers and all they did was fucking talk. that was the only time we had just as many people as them. and all they did was talk until they cops teachers and adminisrators came out there. the cops showed and everybody scattered. then it was like that for the rest of the year. weatherford high school had threats of the shit kickers bringing guns and killing the freaks. what a pussy way to deal with a problem. well its not like that this year. but that was a year to remember. i will never forget that year. but i still have one shit kicker that i have a problem with chisum smith. THE BIGGEST BITCH IN WEATHERFORD!!!! hes a narc. thats a thing you just dont do. he denies it but he was the only one that knew about the drugs other than the person they were for. if the cops would have busted me ten minutes later i would of been clear and they wouldnt of found nothing. so i still hate chisum for that shit. thats not something that you just let go. well i hope everybody enjoyed that history on the weatherford high school. and i still dont know why that shit started but it did and there was more but its too much to fit on here. lets see there was the time shane maconahay hit a pregnant girl in the stomache and when those two shit kickers said they were going to beat my best friend christina hale up. so ill post more when i get a chance.
topic: Rants
[reply] [0 comments]

Jehovah's Witnesses	December 3, 2006, 4:52PM
by: Darkestcorner
Alright, I've read from being to end all af the current articles pertaining to people beliefs surrounding this religion. I also an expanse knowledge of it from my mother who is currently a Jehovah's Witness herself. I do understand that people are entitled to their own opinions, but honestly if you choose to express your opinion on something get your facts straight. I have attended meetings with my mother so i know first hand what happens at these gatherings, and have an expanse knowledge of the things that are taught. It is true that there are many differences between Christianity and The Religion Of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is indeed taught in TROJW that the trinity does not exist and that Christ is the Son of God. However, the idea that the religion was created by a single man is proved ridiculous by looking in both the bible of Jehovah's witnesses and that of Christianity. Where the idea that a man created this religion comes from I do not personaly know, and I have never heard of it before now. But how could that be true? How could one man have created the bible, the bible that holds predictions consisistent to our times? How could one man have known so many years ago that in these current times the world would be at war with itself? Many just put this off to human nature to realize the world is imperfect. On the subject of TROJW refering to god as Jehovah, you need only to refer to the ancient hebrew testaments. In the testaments god is refered to as Yaweh which is defined literally as a name of God, transliterated by scholars from the Tetragrammaton and commonly rendered Jehovah. And in many Christian bible it is written in subscript that the name Jehovah has been excluded from the writings. Then there is the question of why Jehovah's Witnesses do no celebrate holidays. The two examples I will refer to are birthdays and Christmas. The reason that JW do not celebrate birthdays is simply that at the two earliest recorded birthdays that were celebrated two of Christ's apostles were executed. One being John The Baptist at the birthday celebration of Herod Antipas, shortly before the passover of 32 C.E.. During Herod's party Salome, his non-biological daughter with Herodias (who hated John), was sent in to dance for the quests. Herod was so pleased that declared to her in front of all his guest that he would give her anything she wanted up to half of his kingdom. Salome consulted with her mother over what to ask for. Herodias saw this as a chance to kill Jn, and told her daughter to ask for John's head on a plate. Herod was greatly distressed for he knew John was innocent, but he also didn't want to be considered weak by his companions so he consented. Jehovah's witnesses therefore do not celebrate this holiday, as it would be as if they were condoning the unjust death of an innocent man. Then there is Christmas. I'm sure most people have been told JW don't celebrate this holiday because Christ could not have been born in the winter since there were sheperds with there flocks. Although this is quite likely true it is not the reason. JW believe in celebrating Christ's death because that is what forgave our sins, not his birth. So, at the first full moon every April, JW congregate to celebrate his death that forgave our sins. Although many churches also celebrate this occasion, many of them also feed the wine and bread to all of the members, whereas in the ROJW only special people are allowed too. These people are refered to as the annointed. The annointed are a group 144,000 men and women dead, living, and yet to be born that are chosen to reign with God in heaven after their deaths. Which leads on to the fact that unlike Christians, JW do not believe that you go to Heaven when you die. Rather, you go into a deep sleep from which you will awaken after Armageddon(or Judgement day). For JW also believe that when you die all of your sins are forgiven because you have made the ultimate sacrifice which is your very life. Then there is also the reaction to the door to door service JW partake in. Even if you refuse to take what their saying to heart at least be civil. I mean they're just people who believe in this way and want to spread this knowledge to other people. And its not like I haven't had Christians come to my door( every sunday morning as a matter of fact) but even though I've brought up believing different things I still take the time to see their views of things. If nothing else just pretend your're not home and just leave the people alone. They themselves are civil even in the face of rejection so why waste your breathe trying to upset or scare them? Finally, there's the subject of JW being a brainwashing cult. If you've read up till now you probably think I'm brainwashed myself. Though truthfully I have a lot against it myself, and constantly I question its validity. No one forces me to believe every word, and very often I don't. How would I be allowed to think individually if I was truly brainwashed? Would I not go around screaming what I believed to be the truth? More than one person knows I probably won't become baptised including my mom, and she is yet to disown me for it. I myself have never met or heard of someone who was kicked out of the religion and was thus disowned by their family. My grandfather never went to meetings and my grandmother loved him just the same till the day she died. If any family has disowned a member who left the religion it was for some deeper reason. Once again I do understand that every one is entitled to their opinion, and I'm not saying everyone should become a JW. I'm simply shedding some light on why they do or do not do certain things.
topic: Rants
[reply] [1 comment]

Please please please, just think a bit while reading this..	December 1, 2006, 11:51PM
by: Mynd-Phyx
Now I'm going to rant about quite a few things, but don't worry it will be orderly and I hope as precise as I can make it. Please, the only thing I ask is for your strongest criticism. First off, religion. Which has apparently been a bit of a hot topic in the articles page. I'm taking side of religion, since of course I am Christian. And for every person who ever doubted religion. I dare you, I honestly dare you. Go to your nearest church, ask the pastor or reverend to go into depth with you about the true horrors of the world, demonology. Either one of two things will happen. 1. He tells you what he knows, which may not always be much. Since, deep knowledge of demonology holds true power. Honest knowledge of demons and devils may openly expose one to demonic horrors. Instead of teaching the use and summoning of demons the seminary teaches the defense against them. {Also note: a Christian minister is not allowed to know the full extent of demonology, it is known to be dangerous to the minister. And so the synod does not teach it all} 2. Or, the minister will look you in the eye for a few seconds. And simply say no. And explain to you the torment demons can inflict on a person with full knowledge of their existence. {The only people who were trained fully in demonology, were the exorcists of the Catholic church. But due to modern views of the world and the known, and constant, danger to the exorcists led to the disbandment of the teachings and the order of exorcists.} Even people who have little knowledge of demons can be afflicted by their torment, temptation, and sometimes horrific dreams, that often involve the demon appearing to the person. And when you know about it, there is little you can do to defend yourself against it. So, I urge you to try it honestly, if you don't believe in God now. A demon in the form of a red boar, moldy and rotten. Pulsing with the grotesque things of hell whose mere presence is torment to your mind and has often led men and women, tampering in the art of summoning, to lose their mind in terror, might just convince you. Secondly, school and their stance on teaching languages. Now I and 100% for mandatory school. It's just the system our nation uses, is so stupid it makes not want to be a part of it. It's fact that students learn languages faster, the younger they start the study of them. So then why is it that public schools do not start languages until 6th grade? Thirdly, it seems as though people have forgotten what war is. Now I'm sure you've heard this at least once. Or a dozen times, but the war in Iraq is only considered a major war, because it's pretty much the only war. And for a war, it's a pathetic one. I mean it's obvious that modern day war fare is pretty much way more than any Middle Eastern country can handle. And yes, the U.S. army is pretty much at the lowest it's been in a long time. But that's because millions troops are not necessary. The fact that we lost less than 6,000 troops in Iraq is a huge military success. Since the last time the U.S. was involved in what's considered to be a major war. We lost tens of thousands of troops. Hundreds per day. And just before that in World War II, it was common news that 6,000 some soldiers died per day. People are just forgetting the fact that war is a dirty, filthy thing. But it is absolutely necessary. Any person that says that the U.S. can pull out of Iraq and not expect a terrorist attack in the following month can shove their democratic anti-war efforts up their ass, because it's not gunna’ happen. America pulling out of Iraq, to the Middle East, would mark a HUGE victory. And series upon series of attacks would be made all over the world. With no pressure in the Middle East, terrorist cells would flourish. Which brings me to my fourth thing, the Islamic religion. Which has proven to be the only religion in the world that is bound to constant and everlasting war. Their Holy Book pretty much says to convert or kill anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe. And a Muslim who doesn’t believe that, really isn’t any Muslim at all. Thanks to Islam, it’s hard to point out a decade of solid peace in the Middle East. The last thing I want to touch on is something I really cannot stand. And that is America's stance on communism. When the most powerful nation in the world pretty much takes a stance against communism, a nation that supports equality. What do you say? Now, to break communism down, it's the idea that people work in collective groups and give all of their products to the government. And according to the economy are paid back evenly. Everyone makes the same amount of money. A major divider of equality in our country is money. When the rich can get away with murder, due to their world renowned attorneys. Where is the judicial system to create balance? In my opinion, the government is only against communism, because it throws a huge block in the way of them making money in that country. Due to the typical communist trade policy and a communist nations ability to have cheap labor. And, the only reason the average U.S. citizen thinks communism is bad, is because their government told them so. Which, is so terribly sad, and pathetic. But it's okay! The O.C. is on! Here to wash away all of your problems, as you try to relate your life to the dramatic scripted lives so cunningly written during the off season. Just like God was originally intended to do!
topic: Life
[reply] [7 comments]

Taking The Oath	December 1, 2006, 11:03PM
by: life_on_1st_and_7th
There has been some controversy here in Minnesota, and I'm sure it has reached national media by this time. Democrat Keith Ellison won the vote in Minnesota district 5, and will be sworn in to the U.S. House of representatives on January 4th. Why is this history, is it because he is the first black representative from Minnesota? No, Minnesota has seen a wave of very effective black public officials and the people here don't seem to vote on race . Why then? Keith Ellison is the first Muslim U.S. Representative in history. Given today's propaganda based, ignorant, media induced patriotic fear of Muslims, that is a big step. Having a muslim voted into the house of representatives today is near the equivalent of a Nazi in the 1940's, a communist in the 1950's or an African American in the 1960s. Why is it a big deal though? We have in the House Of Representatives today Jews, Agnostics, Atheists, even a self proclaimed Socialist. Once again, why is it a big deal? Here is why; Keith Ellison is planning to take his oath on the Qur'an instead of the Bible. Conservatives around the nation are in an uproar, Republicans are cringing at the idea of where this new Democratic majority are taking America, just after they worked so hard to make us afraid of our own shadows. "Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath," is what radio talk show host and author Dennis Prager wrote in his column this past week. The problem with all of this is that the constitution gives the right to take the oath for any sworn in position on any book someone prefers. In all reality, even a president could be sworn in on "Clifford the Big Red Dog" if he was so inclined. How is it so many are in such an uproar over the Qur'an? Do Muslims not deserve the same rights as an Agnostic or Atheist? Where is it these conservatives feel there is a right to make it mandatory to swear on the Holy Bible when the first amendment says congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or to establish a national church, yet the government dwells constantly on Christian values, inherently making it wrong to be a Non-Christian, makes it wrong to be a Non-White Anglo Saxan. If it is made mandatory to swear on the Holy Bible, then the oath will mean nothing to people who don't believe in the Bible. Keith Ellison choosing to swear on the Qur'an is a way for him to show his faith, to show his dedication to the US Constitution. If Every elected official must swear on a document, it cannot fairly be the Bible. The only fair document that could be made mandatory to swear on is the Constitution.
topic: Essays
[reply] [0 comments]

Wasting away	November 29, 2006, 2:46PM
by: inhuman
America. The single most powerful country in the world. Almost unthought-of of to most kids my age is that my generation, friends and foes alike will soon be in control of were we are heading in the future. But will our youth be ready to take on this challenge? Although I am guilty of not caring probably as much as I should, I pride my self in having a little concern about how our country is running. I don’t like the current way it is being run and unlike the majority of teenagers, I belong to a small group of people who can provide arguments as to why I don’t like it. The averaged Sunday to a teenager would start by waking up at noon. Then “primping” or spending time making sure that you look your best for the mall. And wasting away you time going into store you’ve been in dozens of times and buying cloths that are over priced and improperly fitting, with the money you didn’t earn. Then going home and watching reality TV or shows like Laguna beach or The O.C. this group of people will lead our country one day, although I’m pretty sure they don’t know it yet. I, proudly, am different. I do treat my self to an extra hour or so of sleep, never sleeping past 8. I’ll read the Sunday paper, often to my disliking finding out this month has topped the last deadliest month in Iraq. Or find out that local business are closing because the store down the street has cheaper workers. And most of them are probably not even legal. But these problems are seemingly invisible to the average teens. And what I find the saddest is when teenagers attempt to be in a serious conversation with me. Say the situation in Iraq comes up. I will disagree with the reason we are fighting, and they will throw in a comment like “fighting over oil is pretty dumb”. For my amusement alone I like to ask why they think we are fighting over oil. The response is silence and frustration. Although I admire their general concern about the topic, I am dumbfounded at how their information gets to them, and how little of it sticks. Maybe I’m just not your normal teenager. But I see something wrong with a country run by people who grew up in a country influenced more by rappers rapping about rape and murder than politicians. I see something wrong with a generations who’s more concerned about who’s dating who in the celebrity world, than people that are starving in a third world country. I’m not saying that teens should care about every problem in this world, but some concern would make me feel better about our future. ”Apathy is leaving most of America’s youth sorely nearsighted, and that fact makes me nervous” Aimee Garcia. Age 17 That is a quote from a friend of mine just a year older than myself, so I have not given up hope all together. I admire her for her energy in caring about our country and her intelligence, and she feels the same way as I do. Maybe it’s me who is mistaken. Maybe the people who care outnumber the ones who don’t. Maybe this is just a stage in a young persons life, and it will pass with age. If that’s the case or not I think that our nation’s destined to fail without a dramatic change. If our youth doesn’t open their eyes, if they don’t start caring then we will be left in a very bad situation. When it comes out turn to run this powerful country, will we be ready? Written by: Kevin Kimball 11-29-06
topic: Current Events
[reply] [0 comments]

God's Existance? A Reexamination.	November 24, 2006, 7:53PM
by: trigger.happy.jack
What is God? How do you define God? What does God look like? Does God exist? Who created God? Can we become God? All these questions and more have been wracking the brains of humanity for the longest time. It is acceptable in society to contimplate more than one opinion on a matter of diverse and controversial importance. I hope to find answers by further analyzing facts, fictions, and presumptions of both fact and fiction. Please read on. It is said, that the christian Lord, God All-mighty, Jahova;Yawy;Allah, and whatever other name you can think of to call him, is known as Alpha-Omega. This meaning The Begining and The End. To or in what way you can even define such a mind numbing assumption is completely up to the perception of the individual. But to me, asking who created God, is equaly as fruitless as asking who created man. People don't really know indefinately, they just say they know or defy common belief with theory. All in all it is likely safe to assume evolution didn't evolve from itself, that would be ludacris. Somthing spun it along, nurtured it, and experimented with it. In my opinion, if there is indeed a "God", it seems to me that his/her character is more suited toward the charisma of a scientist, and the passion and intricate care of a gardener. When we speak of sciences and technologies such as cloneing human beings in the present time, perhaps that is all we are to begin with. The clone of a greater being of higher power with infinate knowledge and understanding, an alien perhaps? But perfection? Well, perfection to me is alot like what they say about beauty. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but even that is imperfect. Rather the imperfections is the beauty itself, or one's view of it. It is still less than absolute on any scale. There is also a story within the biblical scriptures, (though which one I am abored to attempt to recall), saying that he did infact appear to whole villages of man, and that his prescence was so terrifying and grand that the people died just by looking at him. In which case, he was so saddened by this that he swore not to appear in his full form ever again. That, is indeed just a story. It seems to me, that if man was created in the image, though not the divine sense, of the likeness of God, and by observing the various imperfections and flaws of man that it is safe to assume God is imperfect as well. That is, IF you believe there is a God at all. Should the bible be used as a historical tool? As you'll come to find out and discover on your own, likely by watching the history channel and other such sources of information. Not every story in the bible is complete bullshit. There is actual tangible evidence of things and occurences, and places written that coincide with actual historical findings and objects dug from the earth. If you do not believe me, you may look here. http://www.biblicalarcheology.net/ Or dig up whatever you can find here. http://www.history.com/ Either way, I hope those of you reading do your own research to help formulate your own opinion on the matter. The truth is, it is equaly foolish to deny God's existance as it is to believe every single word of a scientist equally skepticle as you or I in the affairs of human condition and religion. In fact, there are alot of seemingly ridiclous beliefs in the world. At one time, people thought the earth was flat but it wasn't. At one time, people thought the moon could speak to you through dreams and help grow crops, but they were wrong. People thought that superstitions of all kinds were acceptable, and yet humanity out grew them. The one, and only thing that has neither been confirmed or denied as truth or fiction is the belief of God, and yet, it is older than any other superstition, falsehood, or ridiclous theory that have all been broken long before now and up to this present day. That in itself says somthing to me, it says that if it can't be dismissed as a falsehood, and it can't be labeled as a 100% truth, than it is an enigma and shouldn't be labeled, altered, or missinterpreted by opinion, imperfection, or otherwise. You know the sun is not made of ice unless you're on crack. You know there's no oxygen in outerspace unless you're wearing a space hemlet. You know that there are 365 days in a year accept on leap year...because those are the acceptions to the rules. Therefor, it is safe to conclude that though nothing is indefinate, there is likely an acception to most solid occurences, including belief and the assumption of belief. The only thing that will dictate our direction as a civalisation entirely is time and momentum. As is the same to the individual, not just the whole. Everything else is interchangable. Everything else is subject to categorization, opinion, and absolution. "a work of (whatever) art can be either 'received' or 'used'. ...'Using' is inferior to 'reception' because art, if used rather than received, merely facilitates, brightens, relieves or palliates our life, and does not add to it ... When the art in question is literature a complication arises, for to 'receive' significant words is always, in one sense, to 'use' them, to go through and beyond them to an imagined something which is not itself verbal" -CS Lewis
topic: Philosophy
[reply] [9 comments]

War on Christmas! - Understanding the Conspiracy Theory	November 16, 2006, 6:17PM
by: Saturnalia
There is a war on Christmas! The secular left of America are trying to eradicate any suggestion of Christianity and the baby Jesus from department store ads, public schools and public holiday displays! They are banning children from wearing red and green to school, forbidding store employees from saying the phrase "Merry Christmas" and excluding Christians from making public displays on community property! America is a Christian nation and we won't stand for this kind of oppression! Sounds scary, doesn't it? Believe it or not, there are actually people out there that believe this nonsense and are going around demanding that places like Wal-Mart change all their "Holiday" displays to "Christmas" displays. Despite the fact that Macy's department stores have been an icon for Christmas ever since Miracle on 34th Street and have been using all inclusive phrases such as "Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings" for decades now, there are still people boycotting them for being anti-Christmas. But why all the uproar? What got people's panties all in a twist? Why now? It might actually surprise you to find out how this conspiracy theory has made it's way into popular culture. Well, if you've been watching Fox News, you might have noticed that this whole controversy seems to center around this one news channel, and particularly around one talk show host, Bill O'Reilly. It all started about 2 years ago, and it's back again this season for a third year of crazy conspiracy fun. On December 3rd, 2004, O'Reilly began a recurring segment on his show, The O'Reilly Factor, called "Christmas Under Siege." In this segment of his show, he presented "undeniable" proof that the secular progressives in this country were trying to push out Christmas all together. Here's a few of the anecdotes that he used: ---"city of Denver refuses to let Christian float into Holiday Parade" Every year, Denver holds a "Festival of Lights" around December 4th. it is true that they decided not to include the Faith Bible Church's religious float. What O'Reilly failed to mention was that, because of the small size of the parade and the limited time, the group that organizes the parade has to turn down many submissions each year simply because there isn't enough room for them. Furthermore, they have policies in place designed to keep them from making value judgements such as which religions get in. ---"Christian symbols are being banned in New York public schools" This is simply not true. The schools' public policy permits what it calls secular holiday decorations, including "Christmas trees, menorahs and the star and crescent," according to a memorandum that the schools chancellor's general counsel distributed 2 years ago. "If one symbol is displayed, so should those of other beliefs or customs," it said. So they were never excluding Christian symbols, but making an effort to incorporate symbols of other religions alongside the Christian ones. ---"Macy's department store replaces the phrase 'Merry Christmas' with 'Happy Holidays'" While it's true that Federated Department Stores, the company that own Macy's and Bloomingdales, has replaced one phrase with the other, this issue received very little attention before FOX's "War on Christmas." O'Reilly devoted an entire segment to this issue and to the so-called "Committee to Save Merry Christmas," which actually just turned out to be one man, Manuel Zammarano, and his website. ---"New York City mayor Bloomburg calls the Rockefeller Center tree a 'Holiday Tree'" Never mind the fact that the tree isn't even a Christian symbol, but a pagan one. Never mind that everyone else in the city calls it the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. While he did refer to it as a Holiday Tree at the lighting ceremony last year, he has equally referred to it as a Christmas tree. Even so, why does it matter? Not only has O'Reilly and FOX News been bold enough to grossly exaggerate stories to hype up their War on Christmas, but they're also incredibly hypocritical. Last year, amid all the controversy, Bill O'Reilly was selling "Holiday" ornaments on his website. Wouldn't someone so concerned with the War on Christmas have made damn sure that his website were advertising "Christmas Ornaments"? This year, FOX News Corporation has announced it's "Holiday Party" in the same hypocritical fashion. I guess this War on Christmas just isn't as important to them as they make it out to be. Unfortunately for the sane ones among us, the War on Christmas has come back this year. O'Reilly is claiming a victory in this battle as Wal-Mart makes its announcement that it's changing 60% or it's "Holiday" ads to "Christmas" ads. O'Reilly praises them and even goes as far as to call them the "Christmas guy." I doubt they have so much of a concern with religion as they do with making an extra buck. As if that wasn't enough, the whole controversy seems to have become popular and spread beyond FOX News, so now we have to hear about it from many other conservative media people and some of those in the general public. This is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. There really is no "War on Christmas." Before this whole thing started on FOX, nobody really noticed or cared how they were greeted at a department store. In the past, the concern with Christmas was that it was becoming too commercialized and shallow. Gerald L.K. Smith, in the 1960s, also went as far as to say that Santa Claus was introduced by the Jews to suppress the New Testament accounts of Jesus and that the United Nations at the behest of "world Jewry" had "outlawed the name of Christ." Of course, these claims were absurd, much like the claims that secular progressives today are trying to kill Christmas, and that's what many people took them as. Now it seems like this is one of the biggest issues to the conservative right. But instead of politely requesting that Christmas be included with all the other winter holidays (as it already is anyways) as other minority religions have done in the past, they are demanding that Christmas be the only publicly observed holiday. If you're that concerned with preserving traditional Christmas, then you shouldn't even be stepping foot in a department. During the last "War on Christmas" in the 1950s, some Christians were becoming concerned that Christmas was becoming way too commercialized. Buying gifts became more important than the Nativity. Back then, the emphasis was on spending the day with your family worshipping Jesus and celebrating his birth. Many of the symbols that are "under attack" in the "War on Christmas" were never even Christian to begin with. When America was just starting out as a new country, almost nobody ever celebrated Christmas because they considered it to be a pagan holiday. Reindeer, wreaths, holly, red and green decorations, trees, gifts, yule logs; these are all traditions that came from paganism. Yet, we still hear complaints about people not calling it a "Christmas tree," which only shows how uneducated and gullible these people are. What exactly is wrong with saying "Happy Holidays?" First off, there is nothing secular about it, as these right wing weirdos like to suggest. If you break up the word "Holiday" you get "Holy-Day," noting that it is a day which is holy. There are, in fact, many religious Holy Days to many different religions during the winter months. If that's not enough for you, you could also consider that by saying "Happy Holidays" you are incorporating Christmas and New Years, which fall within a week of each other. Saying "Happy Holidays" is including all religions; yes, even Christianity. It's not an attack on anyone, it's just simply being thoughtful. The interesting part about this controversy is that nobody really cared before FOX News made this whole thing up. There weren't any Christian groups protesting. There weren't even any secular groups actively campaigning to eradicate the word "Christmas" in public advertisements. Nobody cared. Everyone just went along their merry way wishing each other a "Happy Holiday," "Merry Christmas," "Happy Chanukah" or "Happy Kwanzaa" without ever caring if it offended anyone because it never did. Some Christians in this country just cannot get over the fact that not everyone is Christian and more and more people are turning to other religions or secularism. They can rant all they want about the horrors of extremist Muslims forcing their religion onto others, but see nothing wrong with forcing their own morals on people. What's wrong with a cultural move toward inclusion? What's so bad about trying to be nice to everyone? Isn't that a Christian moral? Seriously, people... there are much more important things in this world to worry about, such as the War on Terror, our grossly incompetent and greedy Congress, our failing economy and the war in Iraq. This whole thing has been blown WAY out of proportion, all to give FOX News boosted ratings, make Bill O'Reilly more popular with the Evangelical right wingers of this country and distract us from what's really important. So until the holidays are over and the religious right gets back to complaining about fags and abortion, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Eid al-Adha Saeed, Merry Solstice and Happy New Year. Fuck that, it's too long. Happy Holidays. You're smart enough to know what I mean. May you all realize what is most important in your life and in this world and may your God, whichever one you choose to worship, bless you with happiness and good fortune.
topic: Current Events
[reply] [34 comments]

Censorship in the US	November 15, 2006, 10:44PM
by: crazy_rocker_chick
Censorship is definitely not as big of a problem as it once was. But it still exists and it is still there to take away rights and freedoms guaranteed to us by our government and our official documents written by our founders. What is censorship? Censorship is the prohibiting of certain material, whether it is music or literature, because of sexual, religious, or political ideas that the government may find inappropriate. According to the Bill of Rights, the first amendment especially, we have the freedom to write whatever we want and read whatever we want. Censorship therefore is going against our Constitution as the Bill of Rights clearly states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” So how should we react? If all of a sudden, a writer that you enjoyed was being censored because of the contents of their books, would you just sit back and say nothing? Our government states that Congress can make no law prohibiting the free exercise of freedom of the press, and censoring books is undoubtedly going against that. In a way, I can understand the reasoning for why you would want certain books restricted. But shouldn’t that be the parent’s decision? It is a parent’s job to take of their child and set down the ground rules. If a parent is ok with their child reading that material or they just don’t care, then I say let them read it. It is a parent’s job, not the government’s, to choose what their child can and cannot do. The government needs to stop focusing in on our private lives and start worrying about bigger things, such as the war going on, laws that keep us safe from other people- not ourselves, and things of that sort. Lately they have been getting their panties in a bunch over whether gays should be allowed to marry, whether abortion should be made illegal or not, and what we can read. So therefore, I say read what you want. If the government has a problem with it, (personally I’d tell them to shove it but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be too happy about that) throw the first amendment at them. Stick up for your rights as an American before our government tries taking away more of them.
topic: Rants
[reply] [31 comments]

Thanksgiving, Columbus and Modern Imperialism	November 11, 2006, 1:28AM
by: life_on_1st_and_7th
Thanksgiving- another part of history that needs to be exposed to students for the lie it is. I think that this is an appropriate time of year to present this article. I think most everyone has heard before of how the story of Christopher Columbus was a lie, but what about how that the nobel reasons for american conquest were lies and all based in economy and making people and nations richer? Manifest Destiny yhey say. It seems America likes to celebrate the worst parts of its history. The first thanksgiving dinner, which we all celebrate is a huge lie. Nothing is said about how the natives involved were actually poisoned by the meal. Moving past the pilgrims, say nothing about the fact that columbus came to the caribbean for profit. Say nothing about how within a short time The spanish had those people enslaved and would even make them carry the spanish around on their backs. Don't even try presenting a picture of columbus in a textbook as a non-anglo person. Never do the pictures show him as hispanic. Even as a spaniard he was drawn as a white character. White superiority prevalent even before the african slave trade. Now back to the pilgrims. The first british american settlers right? Wrong. There was already a booming slave trade and tobacco based economy in Virginia documented at least a year before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1619. The pilgrims were nowehere near the thankful, peace loving quakers who fled persecution as the textbooks say. They used the Native americans and their hospitality for everything they had. They killed the natives and took their land as soon as they had learned the techniques of farming the rough land. Try and say so around thanksgiving and everyone pipes in about the “good” values it promotes, in effect telling everyone to just wipe history under the rug. So many things are going on today that ruins other cultures. Everyone seems to try and say nowadays, that America is no longer an imperialist country. Explain to me why it is we feel the need to "bring democracy" to other countries? What other country has asked us for our form of goverment? Why are we so high and mighty as to honestly beleive that out form of government even works? One thing to look at how we destroy other cultures is tourism. Americans are the most destructive tourists on the planet. Other people travel to other countries, but they go to another country with the idea of experiencing their culture. Americans go to another country, and bring with them resorts, fast food, pollution, and in effect completely wipe out the cultures of the places americans bring theirselves to. An american will go another country and expect natives to speak english. The first thing an american will expect is something american. An american will get a kick out of the differences between McDonalds in different countries. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that america's effect on non-anglo saxon cultures and people needs to change. Starting all the way back in elementary school, we are taught lies, we are taught that not being a patriot is a horrible thing. We are made to feel like a criminal for not standing for the pledge of allegiance. We are given looks of horror if we say things like "I beleive in the idea of communism" or "Hitler had good ideas at first" or "Politically, I feel myself relating most to socialism." In the end, americans for the most part are just as ignorant as they were back in the 1600s. The terrible thing is, our education system and media make no efforts to change anything at all.
topic: Essays
[reply] [0 comments]

pages: back 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 next