I recently drove past a rural church and read their marquee:
“Members only. Trespassers will be baptized!”
The quasi-harmless message of active recruitment into the faith disturbs me. Let me explain. The fact that the congregation is actively recruiting does not actually bother me in the least. Religions throughout time have survived by spreading their faith by different means. The message that disturbs me is that the church is saying, “You’re welcome to come in, but if you do, we’ve got you.” If I were in the market for a new religion, I would not enter through their doors. I’m imagining a trap door hidden below a gaudy mat in the vestibule next to a coffee pot leading to a vat of “holy” water. Ok, that’s a bit extreme, I admit. Instead, why not send a more welcoming message that says, “Come by, check us out. If you like us, hang around.” This way, people wouldn’t feel pressured to join their membership rosters just by visiting. Granted, if this approach were taken, some religious gathering spots may begin to resemble retail outlets instead — flashing lights, soothing music, comfortable pews, etc. all vying for fresh meat and wallets.
Is it any wonder why attendance in many organized religions has slumped in the last decade? Continuing into the future beating Fire and Brimstone in Hell 1 into the heads of today’s population will drive them away in droves. With so many other belief systems existing, it’s simply a matter of time before such religions will become the lonely minority in this country.
“An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry.”- T.S. Eliot
I was asked the question today why I was so consumed with politics and why I was so interested in the “horrid” news stories that are thrown at us constantly. It shocked me for a moment; until I realized that most people would rather avoid hearing about the bad. They want to hear that it’s all getting better. They want to believe that we all are safe and cozy inside our beds. They delude themselves into thinking that we have the best people possible running our nation and assisting our world.
Now, call me Captain Obvious if you must, but that isn’t and will never be the case. We will never be safe, happy, or cozy. Even if the politicians and American leaders change drastically, we will always have bigots and extremists contradicting the things they claim to stand for; they will continue to degrade anyone who doesn’t follow the same path that they do.
So, why fight, comment, learn, and grieve if it will never change? It’s who I am… I can’t stand to see people hurting and fighting for something that they should have without question. I have to hope that any small changes made will help those that I love. Mostly, I am trying to understand. I’m trying to make sense of it all. Supposedly we are the greatest nation in the world; yet, those that should lead us and try to make us better cut us off at the knees and leave us to bleed?
For example, read some of these quotes. These men and women are our past, present, and (Goddess forbid) our future. They are harsh and disgusting….
“Not all Muslims may be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.”- Ann Coulter, from her syndicated column on 9-28-2001
“Not only is homosexuality a sin, but anyone who supports fags is just as guilty as they are. You are both worthy of death.” Fred Phelps, quoted by State Press (Arizona State University, 03-11-1998
“The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church’s public marks of the covenant– baptism and holy communion — must be denied citizenship, just as they were in ancient Isarel.” – Gary North, Political Polytheism: The Myth of Pluralism. 1989
“I don’t think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision.” George W. Bush, on the military recognizing Wicca as a valid religion, to ABC news, 06-1999
“I’m an old-fashioned woman. Men should take care of women, and if men were taking care of women today, we wouldn’t have to vote.”- Kay O’Conner (Kansas Senate), quoted by the Kansas City Star, 2001
“Why is this man in the White House? The majority of Americans did not vote for him. Why is he there? And I tell you this morning that he’s in the White House because God put him there for a time such as this.”- Lt Gen William Boykin, speaking of G. W. Bush, New York Times, 17 October 2003
“Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It’s no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history.”- Pat Robertson, 1993 interview with Molly Ivin
“Unless we get medically lucky, in three or four years, on of the options discussed will be the extermination of homosexuals.”- Paul Cameron
“Oh, you’re one of the sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How’s that? Why don’t you see if you can sue me, you pig. You got nothing better than to put me down, you piece of garbage. You have got nothing to do today, go eat a sausage and choke on it.” – Michael Savage, comment made on national television show Savage Nation, 07-05-2003
I know that several of those quoted are wack jobs and few take them seriously. However, several people do take their words to heart. That is what saddens me the most. Needless to ask but, how can I not focus on politics, civil rights, and news stories seriously after that? How can I not try to get my word out and try to educate and communicate with people? So if that means I read a lot of news sites, and talk about it at length that’s ok with me. I’ll continue to be Captain Obvious.
Until next time, I’ll start sewing my super suit,
autumn
“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?” –Mark Twain
In case you haven’t heard, we here at BeShameless would like to tell you the end is near. Again. Apparently as we speak, God has sent his son to come to Earth in a golden chariot with hordes of angels, trumpet blowers and all. But don’t worry, you have a few days to get your affairs in order. Make sure you get the atheist neighbor to take care of your cat.
The newest end of the world is August 22, 2006. The day that Iran gives its answer to the U.S. about its nuclear development. And why, you ask, does that mean the end of the world? Damned if I really know, but the general consensus is that Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s answer is going to be less than friendly. In other words, duck and cover your ass Israel.
So, why August 22? Well August 21 is considered a holy night by many people of the Islamic faith. It is the “Flight Night”, Night of the Sira’a and Miira’aj. Which is the anniversary of the night Muhammad rode the Buraq (a horse with a human head) from Mecca to Jerusalem and then ascended into heaven while a great light lit up the night sky. Farid Ghadry, the president of the Reform Party of Syria, offers this as an explanation, the Iranian President is planning to illuminate the sky over Jerusalem to rival the light that Muhammad received on his trip to heaven. Let’s not forget that Ahmadinejad is also a believer in a Shi’ite tradition of the 12th imam, Imam Mahdi, who disappeared in 847 AD, but was kept alive by Allah. Supposedly, Imam Mahdi will reappear during the time of great global chaos, oppression and bloodshed. He is to bring about an era of Islamic justice. The Iranian President sees himself as the instrument to bring about the return for Imam Mahdi, and often reminds his countrymen to be prepared to back him up in this task. One more note of interest is that August 22nd is the equivalent of Rajab 28, the day Saladin conquered and entered Jerusalem.
Many have taken this as a sign of the events leading up to the 2nd coming. After all God will protect his children from impending doom, right? Right… In fact so many are sure of this that they have taken to celebrating on message boards and in churches around the world. Rapture Ready being one of the thousands of examples. Some are even so zealous that they are celebrating the death and destruction of hundreds of innocent people. Have to get the body count up, I suppose.
I love doomsday prophecies. It astounds me to no end that so many people KNOW when the world is going to end. Nevermind the fact that man has been predicting his demise since he stood upright. “Society is deteriorating. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer respect their parents and everyone thinks they have a book or story to tell. It is clear that the collapse or end of the world is at hand.” That quote is supposedly from an Assyrian tablet dated 3000 BC (cited: 10 questions- will the world end?). Also, nevermind the fact that the Bible says “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).
Of course many have already argued with me that he said “day or hour” and said nothing about month or year. That the Bible is a code to tell us the timeline, and it is our responsibility to figure it out. Ok, fair enough, I know that everything comes down to the details. But in that case it’s also said “If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (Mark 13:36-37). So when do we start sleeping in shifts and have the phone tree ready? “Here HE comes, wake the fuck up and call Cindy.”
What it all comes down to is, I don’t know when and if the world will end. I don’t place my faith in the supposed timeline set by any book. I don’t plan on biting my nails while watching the sky. And, no matter what, I will not celebrate death of any kind just because it’s believed that it was set in motion by a God in order come collect “his children”.
Until next time, doing my part to piss off the religious right,
autumn
“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” — Blaise Pascal
Today seems to be a day for protesting. As many of you know, today was “A day without immigrants”, and while I won’t go into to my thoughts on the matter. For that would be a long and tedious subject, I want to send my acknowledgement to those who took a stand today, no matter how they said it.
However, its been brought to my attention, a less than warranted protest took place today. One that received no media coverage, yet discouraged many people. I received a letter from one of my pagan friends, and she told me how local churches came to protest their ritual of Beltane.
Now without boring you with the details of what exactly Beltane is, I would just like to say it is a very intense religious ritual and deserves the utmost respect.
Yet, that was disrupted by people who are closed minded to the possibilities that there are other paths to the Divine. I find this totally uncalled for! I am outraged by the rudeness that this church displayed. That would be like that same group of pagans protesting a Christmas or Easter Service.
While, I support free speech and protesting this went beyond the limits. To actively seek out this group, to shout obscenities at them, and to belittle them?? That’s just plain malice. It really breaks my heart, because I thought such strides had been made in religious tolerance. I suppose that no matter how much a minority (be it religious or otherwise) is accepted, there will still be those who seek to discount, belittle, or persecute them.
Until next time, when hopefully compassion with our neighbors has grown,
autumn
