Tonight on Facebook there was a little commentary going back and forth about a flat earth, Christianity, and someone posted a response about the world on the back of a turtle... which got me thinking about the creation myths.
Now, each ancient culture had its own guess as to how the earth had come about, and to hear them today, they all seem ludicrously outlandish (and yes, I include the one in the Bible among those.) So why do SO many Americans (specifically) and many people in many other parts of the world hold so steadfastly to the Jewish creation myth? They're not Jews, after all... and most Jews don't even believe (or especially not take literally) their ancestors' verbally-handed-down stories.
It's because of the Romans. The Romans saw the power of religion, and harnessed it. Because when you try to enslave a people with only the sword, all you enslave is their body. With religion as your weapon, you enslave their mind. Then you have countless armies at your disposal with no dissent, and your kingdom can grow exponentially while still maintaining complete control.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Something I'll bet you didn't know (and certainly wouldn't expect) Mormons to believe
Mormons, like most other "Christians," are overwhelmingly Republican. In fact, when the Tea Party came about - a LOT of Mormons jumped proudly on that bandwagon. Now that Tea Party candidates have been elected and are creating tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy while eliminating tax cuts and services for the poor and elderly, as well as education in general - these Mormon tea-partiers are celebrating their victory and gladly trumpeting the implementation of the "virtues" promised by said tea-party politicians.
So it might surprise you to hear what the Mormon church has taught since the very earliest days of its existence:
"The time must come when we must obey that which has been revealed to us as the Order of Enoch, when there shall be no rich and no poor among the Latter-day Saints; when wealth will not be a temptation; when every man will love his neighbor as he does himself; when every man and woman will labor for the good of all as much as for self. That day must come, and we may as well prepare our hearts for it, brethren, for as wealth increases I see more and more a necessity for the institution of such an order. As wealth increases, luxury and extravagance have more power over us. The necessity for such an order is very great, and God, undoubtedly, in his own time and way, will inspire his servant [the prophet] to introduce it among the people." -George Q. Cannon - Journal of Discourses, 15:207.
Hmmm... that doesn't sound like the Tea Party virtues, at all. Sounds a lot more like Socialism. This also isn't one of those things the Church likes to pretend never existed (like polygamy,) either. In fact, it's included as one of the aspects of the Temple Ceremony - where Mormons are reminded of their covenants. It's called "The Law of Consecration" and it basically means you are required to give up anything and everything for the Church if they should ask for it. Of course, they're not asking for it now... just the usual 10% tithing like most other churches. But they COULD...
So it might surprise you to hear what the Mormon church has taught since the very earliest days of its existence:
"The time must come when we must obey that which has been revealed to us as the Order of Enoch, when there shall be no rich and no poor among the Latter-day Saints; when wealth will not be a temptation; when every man will love his neighbor as he does himself; when every man and woman will labor for the good of all as much as for self. That day must come, and we may as well prepare our hearts for it, brethren, for as wealth increases I see more and more a necessity for the institution of such an order. As wealth increases, luxury and extravagance have more power over us. The necessity for such an order is very great, and God, undoubtedly, in his own time and way, will inspire his servant [the prophet] to introduce it among the people." -George Q. Cannon - Journal of Discourses, 15:207.
Hmmm... that doesn't sound like the Tea Party virtues, at all. Sounds a lot more like Socialism. This also isn't one of those things the Church likes to pretend never existed (like polygamy,) either. In fact, it's included as one of the aspects of the Temple Ceremony - where Mormons are reminded of their covenants. It's called "The Law of Consecration" and it basically means you are required to give up anything and everything for the Church if they should ask for it. Of course, they're not asking for it now... just the usual 10% tithing like most other churches. But they COULD...
Saturday, April 4, 2009
delusional?
OK - so, if I didn't already sound like a snobby bitch before this post, I will now, but when I saw this I just couldn't let it go unnoticed.
So I was browsing around on one of the very numerous gay meat-market websites - not actually looking for anything really, just on the off-chance that I might find some unexpected diamond in the rough [yea, right] when I ran across this profile, which I clicked on. This individual had marked his body type as "Muscular." Uhhhmmmm... take a look at the picture he provided and see if you agree with him on that assessment of his physique:
I'm gonna put that down in my book as 'definitely NOT muscular'
So I was browsing around on one of the very numerous gay meat-market websites - not actually looking for anything really, just on the off-chance that I might find some unexpected diamond in the rough [yea, right] when I ran across this profile, which I clicked on. This individual had marked his body type as "Muscular." Uhhhmmmm... take a look at the picture he provided and see if you agree with him on that assessment of his physique:
I'm gonna put that down in my book as 'definitely NOT muscular'
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
that's what I get for hoping...
I, of all people, should certainly know better than to get my hopes up in regard to a guy. Of course as soon as I did they were swiftly dashed.
In the course of any visit to the gym I see a great number of guys who I would love to get to know better, and would love to date - but of course, the ones I'm checking out are never checking me out so I just assume they are all straight. The ones I do see obviously checking me out are all fat and/or ugly. So one night I was out at the gay bars with my friends and I happen to notice a guy standing next to me [who is quite hunky] who seems familiar for some reason, but I can't quite put my finger on it... so I ask him "do you work out at 24Hr Fitness?" Yep. I had seen him at the gym. He hung out with me and my friends for most of the rest of that night, went dancing with us and everything. So I foolishly think there might be something there. Well, I gave him my card that night but he never called or emailed. I saw him at the gym here and there and we chatted [small talk.] He went on a business trip and I didn't see him for a few weeks. Then last night I saw him and chatted with him for a bit - and asked what he had going on. He was free, so I suggested we meet for coffee.
We met and the coversation was ok at first, but then as it went on there was a lot of awkward silence. I was trying to come up with stuff to talk about, but he wasn't really helping much. Finally he just said "well, thanks for meeting me" and as we walked out (in silence) he said "I'm sure I'll see you at the gym." I couldn't even think of anything to say. He was completely uninterested in me. It was basically a cold, hard, reject smackdown. I guess he only agreed to meet me to be polite. It probably would have been easier on me if he had just said, "no thanks, I'm really not that interested." Then at least I wouldn't have dared to hope that a date would turn out well...
So, after the super high of a great weekend with my travel group, there was this super low. I guess my only consolation is that I'm still able to feel sad and rejected. At least I can still feel that and know that I'm not completely dead inside. I guess if I felt nothing then that would mean I am basically just a zombie. Somehow I don't think that's far off, though... since I've never felt actual love, and any hope I might have had of ever finding any is long dead...
In the course of any visit to the gym I see a great number of guys who I would love to get to know better, and would love to date - but of course, the ones I'm checking out are never checking me out so I just assume they are all straight. The ones I do see obviously checking me out are all fat and/or ugly. So one night I was out at the gay bars with my friends and I happen to notice a guy standing next to me [who is quite hunky] who seems familiar for some reason, but I can't quite put my finger on it... so I ask him "do you work out at 24Hr Fitness?" Yep. I had seen him at the gym. He hung out with me and my friends for most of the rest of that night, went dancing with us and everything. So I foolishly think there might be something there. Well, I gave him my card that night but he never called or emailed. I saw him at the gym here and there and we chatted [small talk.] He went on a business trip and I didn't see him for a few weeks. Then last night I saw him and chatted with him for a bit - and asked what he had going on. He was free, so I suggested we meet for coffee.
We met and the coversation was ok at first, but then as it went on there was a lot of awkward silence. I was trying to come up with stuff to talk about, but he wasn't really helping much. Finally he just said "well, thanks for meeting me" and as we walked out (in silence) he said "I'm sure I'll see you at the gym." I couldn't even think of anything to say. He was completely uninterested in me. It was basically a cold, hard, reject smackdown. I guess he only agreed to meet me to be polite. It probably would have been easier on me if he had just said, "no thanks, I'm really not that interested." Then at least I wouldn't have dared to hope that a date would turn out well...
So, after the super high of a great weekend with my travel group, there was this super low. I guess my only consolation is that I'm still able to feel sad and rejected. At least I can still feel that and know that I'm not completely dead inside. I guess if I felt nothing then that would mean I am basically just a zombie. Somehow I don't think that's far off, though... since I've never felt actual love, and any hope I might have had of ever finding any is long dead...
Monday, January 5, 2009
weekend adventures
This past weekend was a good one. Approaching it, I had absolutely nothing at all planned, but ended up staying busy every day, all day.
It started Friday night, when I took my co-worker Alicia out to dinner for her birthday. Although her birthday was the day after Xmas, she was sick that day so we postponed it. It finally worked out for Friday, and we went to Chaucer's in Addison, where I had previously gone with my travel group. They've got a sushi happy hour, where everything is 1/2 price or cheaper. We tried quite a few different things, and learned which ones we liked and which ones we didn't. I was having a rough time with the chopsticks that night for some reason, too. [My previous chopstick use there was actually pretty good - couldn't figure out why I was failing.] Anyway, after eating sushi and talking for a while we headed out, contemplated the movies at the theater, but when there was nothing we wanted to see at a decent time, we ended up going down to the West Village. We got ice cream at Paciugo, and then wandered around the shops there. I got a cute and sassy T-Shirt for 1/2 off from the Lucky Jeans Store. I put it on right then and wore it the rest of the night. I also got a much needed 2009 wall calendar at Barnes & Noble [also 1/2 off there, score!] From there we went out to the gay clubs. We started off at Round-Up, where I ran into my friend Jeff. Alicia was dead-set on finding us both boyfriends right there. I found a worthy candidate, but he turned out to be in a relationship [the good ones are always taken.] Later on we went to S4, and went to watch the drag show. While waiting for it to start I saw a really cute guy, who I naturally assumed was straight [since that's how my gaydar works - if I like a guy, he's straight.] Alicia wouldn't agree with me - she maintained that he was gay, so I finally went over and asked him. Alicia was right. But if I am really attracted to a guy who IS gay, then he is invariably not interested in me. This was no exception. The guy made conversation to be polite, but after his friends came back from dancing he didn't feel compelled to talk to me again. Whateva...
The drag show was fun. The emcee was really on her game. I also ran into Vincent as I was going to the bathroom, and since I hadn't seen him for a while and Alicia needed to get going anyway we snuck out of the drag show early and chatted with Vincent on the balcony for a minute. He had a song he had been working on which he played for me on his mp3 player. It was a rough-cut, work-in-progress. Very 'Joy Division' and 'Bloc Party'. When I mentioned 'Bloc Party' Vincent was impishly indignant. He hadn't wanted his main influence to show through, but it did.
Saturday was a beautiful summer day. Literally. Even though it was January 3rd, the temperature got up into the high 70's [like 78] - some even said 83 degrees in the sun, so I went on a bike ride around White Rock Lake with Danny. I took my shirt off halfway. Afterward, Danny, Craig and I all went to lunch at Chipotle. Then I went home and took a nap for a while. In the evening I met Tony and Jayson at Cyclone Anaya's for dinner. The food was ok, but the service wasn't great.
From there we went to Round Up, and then on to JR's. It was on the balcony at JR's that the night got a lot more interesting for me. Tony, Jayson and I were all sitting/standing around talking when I notice in my peripheral vision a really cute guy with very nice arms come stand next to me and look out over the balcony to the street below. Now, whether he had seen me and came and stood there purposely, or if it was just a mere coincidence - remains to be seen, but he seemed somewhat familiar to me [the subconscious mind knew him from somewhere] so I turned to him and asked: "Do you work out at 24Hr Fitness?" "Yes," he says "at Preston and NW Hwy on the weekends and 635/MacArthur on the weekdays." That was it. I had seen him there, and I'm sure, lusted after him. We talked for a while there on the balcony, and when it came time to get in free at S4, he went with me, and continued hanging out and talking with me. Now, it's not often that a seemingly nice gay guy hangs out an talks to me, so this was really nice. He even went out and danced with me and Tony. Andy texted me from Round Up and told me to go over there. I was conflicted because the cute guy was at S4, but I eventually told Andy I'd be over, and I gave cute guy my card. As I gave it to him he said "I'm sure I'll see you at the gym" which meant he wasn't interested enough to use any of the contact information I had just given him, but I guess there was something similar to interest there... maybe? I mean, there had to be, right? Why else would he keep hanging out with me and even dance with me? We'll see, I guess. I know better than to get my hopes up.
Anyway, I went back over to Round Up and found Andy and Misty there, who had gone to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert earlier. We had fun dancing and Misty and Andy had a flirty thing going on. Long about 2am I decided my body had had enough and I headed home.
Sunday Bryan and I went down to Sam's place in Uptown and hung out naked. We watched south park for a little while, then we all got dressed and went to Village Burger for lunch. It was busy enough that we had to wait for a table. After we got back we watched the movie "Running With Scissors." It was fun, weird, and interesting. I had traded messages with Andy somewhat and Bryan and I went over to Andy's and we soaked and chatted in the hot tub there for a while.
In the eveing I went to my parents' house for our monthly family dinner get-together. It was fun hanging with the family for a little while. Then I went to pick up Chris from the airport after his holiday trip to Germany. It was fun to hear the stories from his trip... ripped pants [with no underwear] in the airport... lusting after the super-hot German boys... etc.
It started Friday night, when I took my co-worker Alicia out to dinner for her birthday. Although her birthday was the day after Xmas, she was sick that day so we postponed it. It finally worked out for Friday, and we went to Chaucer's in Addison, where I had previously gone with my travel group. They've got a sushi happy hour, where everything is 1/2 price or cheaper. We tried quite a few different things, and learned which ones we liked and which ones we didn't. I was having a rough time with the chopsticks that night for some reason, too. [My previous chopstick use there was actually pretty good - couldn't figure out why I was failing.] Anyway, after eating sushi and talking for a while we headed out, contemplated the movies at the theater, but when there was nothing we wanted to see at a decent time, we ended up going down to the West Village. We got ice cream at Paciugo, and then wandered around the shops there. I got a cute and sassy T-Shirt for 1/2 off from the Lucky Jeans Store. I put it on right then and wore it the rest of the night. I also got a much needed 2009 wall calendar at Barnes & Noble [also 1/2 off there, score!] From there we went out to the gay clubs. We started off at Round-Up, where I ran into my friend Jeff. Alicia was dead-set on finding us both boyfriends right there. I found a worthy candidate, but he turned out to be in a relationship [the good ones are always taken.] Later on we went to S4, and went to watch the drag show. While waiting for it to start I saw a really cute guy, who I naturally assumed was straight [since that's how my gaydar works - if I like a guy, he's straight.] Alicia wouldn't agree with me - she maintained that he was gay, so I finally went over and asked him. Alicia was right. But if I am really attracted to a guy who IS gay, then he is invariably not interested in me. This was no exception. The guy made conversation to be polite, but after his friends came back from dancing he didn't feel compelled to talk to me again. Whateva...
The drag show was fun. The emcee was really on her game. I also ran into Vincent as I was going to the bathroom, and since I hadn't seen him for a while and Alicia needed to get going anyway we snuck out of the drag show early and chatted with Vincent on the balcony for a minute. He had a song he had been working on which he played for me on his mp3 player. It was a rough-cut, work-in-progress. Very 'Joy Division' and 'Bloc Party'. When I mentioned 'Bloc Party' Vincent was impishly indignant. He hadn't wanted his main influence to show through, but it did.
Saturday was a beautiful summer day. Literally. Even though it was January 3rd, the temperature got up into the high 70's [like 78] - some even said 83 degrees in the sun, so I went on a bike ride around White Rock Lake with Danny. I took my shirt off halfway. Afterward, Danny, Craig and I all went to lunch at Chipotle. Then I went home and took a nap for a while. In the evening I met Tony and Jayson at Cyclone Anaya's for dinner. The food was ok, but the service wasn't great.
From there we went to Round Up, and then on to JR's. It was on the balcony at JR's that the night got a lot more interesting for me. Tony, Jayson and I were all sitting/standing around talking when I notice in my peripheral vision a really cute guy with very nice arms come stand next to me and look out over the balcony to the street below. Now, whether he had seen me and came and stood there purposely, or if it was just a mere coincidence - remains to be seen, but he seemed somewhat familiar to me [the subconscious mind knew him from somewhere] so I turned to him and asked: "Do you work out at 24Hr Fitness?" "Yes," he says "at Preston and NW Hwy on the weekends and 635/MacArthur on the weekdays." That was it. I had seen him there, and I'm sure, lusted after him. We talked for a while there on the balcony, and when it came time to get in free at S4, he went with me, and continued hanging out and talking with me. Now, it's not often that a seemingly nice gay guy hangs out an talks to me, so this was really nice. He even went out and danced with me and Tony. Andy texted me from Round Up and told me to go over there. I was conflicted because the cute guy was at S4, but I eventually told Andy I'd be over, and I gave cute guy my card. As I gave it to him he said "I'm sure I'll see you at the gym" which meant he wasn't interested enough to use any of the contact information I had just given him, but I guess there was something similar to interest there... maybe? I mean, there had to be, right? Why else would he keep hanging out with me and even dance with me? We'll see, I guess. I know better than to get my hopes up.
Anyway, I went back over to Round Up and found Andy and Misty there, who had gone to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert earlier. We had fun dancing and Misty and Andy had a flirty thing going on. Long about 2am I decided my body had had enough and I headed home.
Sunday Bryan and I went down to Sam's place in Uptown and hung out naked. We watched south park for a little while, then we all got dressed and went to Village Burger for lunch. It was busy enough that we had to wait for a table. After we got back we watched the movie "Running With Scissors." It was fun, weird, and interesting. I had traded messages with Andy somewhat and Bryan and I went over to Andy's and we soaked and chatted in the hot tub there for a while.
In the eveing I went to my parents' house for our monthly family dinner get-together. It was fun hanging with the family for a little while. Then I went to pick up Chris from the airport after his holiday trip to Germany. It was fun to hear the stories from his trip... ripped pants [with no underwear] in the airport... lusting after the super-hot German boys... etc.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
something I need to learn
I saw this quote today and it's definitely something I need to learn and apply to myself:
If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.
-Robert Fritz
If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise.
-Robert Fritz
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Pope? More like poop. lol
Not that I would ever give two shits about anything the Pope ever said, but this is a good article.
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