It's the End of the World on August 22...

My computer is slowly dying, and hopefully I'll have a new one coming by the end of the week. I've not been blogging very much because it's such a pain with a dying computer, plus some other things have been going on, I didn't have the funds, blah, blah, blah. I've had to liquidate some funds to buy a new computer, as I still haven't been able to pay my bills down to the point where I can save a little bit... but that's coming soon, and I'm very happy about it!

However, it may not matter that I need a new computer, or that I'll pay down my bills, or that the world will continue after August 22, 2006. Since I don't know that much about the inner workings of Shite/Sunni politics or the Koran, who would have thought that the "foot-in-mouth-disease" leader of Iran, Ahmed Ahmadinejad, is alledgedly planning something big on August 22 in order to bring about the 12th Imam and lead the Muslims into glorious... well... whatever glorious something that they want. The 12th Imam, as far as I can tell, is the Islamic version of the 2nd coming of Christ, and I guess if they both show up at the same time, there's going to be a showdown, which will not resemble a hootenanny. (Disclaimer: as far as I can tell, I made the whole thing up about the Battle of the 12th Imam and the Christ. Hootenannys, unfortunately, are very real.)

According to the "Armageddon Cocktail Hour"

August 22 is at the very least an auspicious day for the Shi’ite Ahmadinejad: in that it is the day that Muhammad’s power to create a new Islamic society became manifest, it can be analogized with the beginning of the putative new era of Islamic justice to be ushered in by the Mahdi. As Iran comes out of its period of isolation — its time in the cave — Ahmadinejad’s public statements indicate that he sees himself as an agent of change in the next phase of Islamic development, one in which “the world is standing on the threshold of great development and the Muslims are expected to overcome their aggressive enemies.” Symbolically, it may be that Ahmadinejad sees August 22, the day on which he has promised to respond to Western nations regarding their offer of incentives to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program, as the day on which he begins his own transforming mission.

While Armageddon Cocktail Hour goes on to note the wee differences between the Islamic and Persian calendars as to the possible date in question, a goodly portion of the blogosphere (as pointed out by Boing Boing), predicts that Iran has something up its sleeve for August 22. Some predict a nuclear attack on Israel; others a snub to America. Whatever does or doesn't happen, we are all amping up the rhetoric, and in my opinion, bringing Armageddon on ourselves.

I grew up in Pentacostal Christianity, and the End Times prophecies almost caused me to loose my mind back in the day. I'm convinced there will be no second coming of any Imam or Christ, but that our own mouths and beliefs and headbutting will lead to any sort of Armageddon that may be in store for us.

It's all quite sad, the entire bloody mess we've gotten ourselves into all because a good portion of the world hates the other half and has God on their side to prove it. If the Chosen People are Jews, Christians, or Muslims who are determined to kill each other in the name of their God, then have at it. Personally, I think the Jews have been pretty much just leave us the fuck alone, but Christians keep egging them on and Muslims keep wanting to rid them off the face of the planet.

It's hard out there for a radical when you're trying to prove how great your God is. I came to the conclusion long ago that if God where as vindictive and jealous as was written about him, then I didn't want any part of him. And I've stuck to that, with the occassional dip into the Buddhist pool, which clearly states that it's WE who are full of ego, and our surroundings are reflections of our own egomanical fantasy worlds, like say for instance, making Gods out of our own images. Get rid of the ego, and you'll see the connections of us all. Blow up a Buddha, though, and you can pretend that your God is greater after all.

Alrighty, I'll acknowledge that I'm getting a tad ranty, but I've had it. Whatever the President of Iran does on August 22, if anything in the shape of an explosion, well, have at it. But just remember: the consequences of your action may not bring about the 12th Imam, but it just may bring about your complete and total annihilation. All in the name of "Whose God is Bigger."

I'm sick of this game where absolutely no one wins.

Cartoony Jihady

So... how messed up is the Cartoon Jihad currently going on between Denmark and the entire Muslim and Arab world? Mightily messed up. I'm hoping that there will be cooler heads prevailing somewhere, somehow, but I fear it's just escalating with no end in sight.

I was hopping mad the other night when the Danish and Norwegian embassies were burned in Syria, and the Danish embassy in Lebanon. In fact, I agreed with a rightwinger on the Franken blog, and I did a Reaganesque, "There they go again" move as well. Until, that is, I stepped back and actually learned more about this tragic episode and I spoke with a friend from the Czech Republic who firmly put the blame on the Danes.

Did you know that the paper that originally published the cartoony jihady mess actually rejected a series of cartoons three years ago that depicted Jesus Christ in a negative light because they felt that their readers would be offended and that they were not funny in the first place?

Hmm... I guess it's ok for JC but not Mohammed?

Though at the same time, don't buy the argument that Mohammed isn't portrayed in art... 'cause that doesn't wash, either. (Hattip to Buckeye, though the worldwide traffic to the site has jammed it up right now.)

And now for something completely different, Iran has sponsored a contest to 'test' the boundaries of free speech by focusing on Jews, because of course, all Jews are Danes... or at least two of them, as Jon Stewart said the other night. Why is Iran dragging Israel into this? Your answer is as good as mine because mine is non-existent. (OK, not really, but it's late and this post is not becoming incoherent.) I've seen a few cartoons (hattip, Duncan!) from an Islamic point of view that depicts Jews as babykillers and blood drinkers, but I don't see the Syrian embassy in Tel Aviv being burned to the ground... if, of course, there were a Syrian embassy in Tel Aviv, that is.

In a nutshell, people are pissed off not at the stupid cartoons (only one of which is actually remotely funny and thought-provoking is stretching it, too), like Danish racism (yes, it exists); provocation on the part of the original conservative newspaper publishing the cartoons; political wrangling by Syria and Iran (most Arab countries had peaceful boycotts and protests, the pressure currently on these two countries exploded into violence); hot-blooded rhetoric and yes, the U.S. stirring up the hornet's nest with the war. There's a few other things, too, but I can't think of them and it's late. Time to sleep.

I applaud the effective boycotts of Danish products by many Arab and Muslim countries in protest, though if they are waiting for the Danish government to apologize for something that technically they can't apologize for, Denmark is in big economic trouble. I deplore the rioting violence, as I hate riots and I'm not a fan of violence, either, unless it's a big chase car scene on celluloid. I am sorry that the newspaper elected to run the cartoons in September, and wish that they hadn't been brought back up into the limelight now, but hell, they never should have run in the first place. What's good for JC should be good for Mohammed, too, yes?

This insanity has all got to stop. Christians, Jews, and Muslims better learn how to sit down and get along with each other again, or I fear we're headed into a horrible phase... brought on by a Cartoony Jihady (among other things).

Since I'm a believer in thinking for oneself (no matter if I do it or not), here's a link to the cartoons. Come to your own conclusions, but unlike me when this first broke, please know the facts before, like me, jumping up and down.

Oy... does this need work.. too late, must sleep... will fix later...

The Experience of Life: Death

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream --
Lingering in the golden dream --
Life, what is it but a dream?
--Lewis Carroll, "A Boat beneath a Sunny Sky"

I remember, as a kid, my first nightmare about being dead. I was laying in a casket, under the earth, and I couldn't get out. I knew I was still alive, that I shouldn't have been in that casket, and there was no way out.

I woke up screaming, in my bed, alive.

Now, I'm not sure why I had this dream. I may have read one too many Edgar Allan Poe stories by that time, and I do remember watching a very terrifying movie, the name of which escapes me right now. It was about a person who was kidnapped, and then buried alive with a water tube, light, and no means of communication with the outside, above-ground world. The air supply was limited, and tied into the time that the ransom had to be paid. I'm sure someone remembers the name of this movie!

A friend of mine's dad died recently, and I went to the funeral. It was a beautiful goodbye. I haven't had anyone really close to me pass away yet. Now that I face the impending passing of my cat (she's still strong, but the heart disease is irreversible and I have a feeling that it's going to be within the next six months), as well as the aging of my parents, and hell, even myself, the life experience of death is inevitable.

Kitties and people don't live forever. But life is so damned short that I don't understand why people are continually at each other's throats with war, hatred, and a myriad of other social ills and complaints that put us on a blood rage against each other.

Life. Is. Too. Damned. Short.

When I was growing up, my mother found Pentacostal religion and took me to church every Sunday for five-hour services for about 12 years. Most of what I got out of the sessions was that I was bad, gospel music was good, and everyone thought way too much about the afterlife and not this life. It was all about the future, what happens when you die, if you're not right by God. There's so much focus on death that it's hard to actually live life.

Life. Is. Too. Damned. Short.

As I approach a close experience of death (the first of what will be many) I'm going to try my best to remember that life, though not good, is here and should be lived to the fullest. I hope that somehow, we all learn one lesson: life is too damn short to kill each other.

Pastafarianism: Or, How I learned to believe

venganza.org

I have been touched by His Noodly Appendage.

And it was good.

a WoRd aBout ReLigioN

I hang a lot at the Air America Radio Al Franken blog. We have some crazy fun conversations, some wrong-wing trolls pop in for a little rough and tumble, and occasionally we talk about the serious issues of the day, usually riffing off of what Al or Katherine or what Randi Rhodes talks about later in the day on her show. Today (and yesterday) we started in on a conversation about religion, which seems to rule the roost of our government these days.

Of course, it got me thinking about my own religious past life, and of course, any discussion like that begins in the year of 1964.

I don't remember having any recollection of religion when I was born. In fact, I had no recollection of anything, but religion? Hell, I don't think so. Of course, in Buddhism, a child brings his baggage with him. In Christianity, we are all born sinners, each and every little bundle of joy that arrives in the world. In Christianity, you have to be baptized to help in the first stage of being rescued from the grip of hell, the sooner the better, so your soul can be safe in the hands of Jesus, just in case you happen to die at the age of day one.

Whatever.

It's a bit of a toss-up in life as to which religion you happen to be born into. It depends on where you born and into what family you were born into. Each family believes something different, each culture worships their own icons.

I was conceived in Pakistan in 1963, sometime in July. My birth parents were in the Peace Corps. Things happened, and here I am. Both were, I am assuming, of the Christian faith. She maybe Roman Catholic, he maybe Episcopalian. But still, if they had been Pakistani, they would more than likely have been Muslims. My adoptive mother was the daughter of a Baptist minister. My adoptive father didn't really give a care about religion. Family legend has it that at the time I came home, Dad hadn't been in a church since the pastor locked the door and wouldn't let people leave until they gave a donation. I don't know if it's true or not, but it makes a good story.

So here were five chances to be of two different strains of religion; Islamic or Christian. Within these strains the chances are that I could have been Sunni, Shite, or maybe even Sufi; I could have been Baptist, Roman Catholic or Episcopalian. Or I could have been somewhat agnostic, like my father.

So, six different possibilities within two different religious strains and one "what, you want me to give money? Open the damn door" possibility.

Who can really say that any of the six are the right or the wrong way to have been born, to have been brought into the world of religion, of faith, for a little bundle of mewling baby who doesn't even know that there is such a thing called "God"?

It's a crap shoot, my friends. All a crap shoot. The dice of birth is rolled and "poof," you have a religion.

It's like magic, don't you think?

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