Macklemore destroys our differences and brings world peace

Buried amid an unexpectedly fantastic and inspirational pop/rap song about tolerance and acceptance is this even more unexpectedly wise phrase that, when extracted from the whole of the text, really stands alone in its universal importance:

  

"Whatever god you believe in, we come from the same one. Strip away the fear, [and] underneath it's all the same love."

I don't know if rapper Macklemore realizes just how very deep this sentiment is. It's the first song lyric to ever jump out of a pop song, slap me in the face, and command me to spend time truly pondering it in a deeply personal manner. I wish that everyone in the world, believers and nonbelievers alike, could sit alone in a room and quietly ruminate over this lyric excerpt for a good 30 minutes. Maybe even up to an hour. It could be an attitude- and life-changing experience for many. It could be the first step down the road of understanding and enlightenment for all. That's how heavily this lyric impacted me. It's like a light went on where there was before only darkness.

Before you ask--no, I'm still an atheist.

"No matter what god you believe in... We come from the same one." >> We can't all be right. My god and your god might go by different names and have different methods of handing down their edicts or suggestions for a holy life, but must not their titles be but differing ways to refer to the same being? For as the bard suggested, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet," would it not? No matter who you believe your god is... if there is a creator, I think we can all agree that--much like the Highlander--there can be only one.

"Strip away the fear, underneath it's all the same love." >> In the end, if you distill each of our faiths down to their respective cores, aren't they all about loving your god, your fellow man and yourself? Let's put aside the differences and concentrate on the similarities. Let's do things that please our god and make this life on earth more bearable and pleasant for us. For despite who you think your god is, we are ALL his children, even those of us who believe he is someone else entirely or that he doesn't even exist. Why can't we just leave the judgment to him and just concentrate on helping our fellow man have a rich and rewarding experience here on this earth, where we have unquestioning control of our lives and our impact on the lives of others?

Heavy philosophical words bringing a very deep line of thought for a pop song ostensibly about the support of gay marriage--a topic not to be taken lightly, for sure. If you think about it, though, were we to simply worry about taking care of ourselves and loving others, all people would be equally included. No preferences based on race, sex, gender identity, age, color, religion (or lack thereof), class...

Respecting each man, woman and child as a beloved creation of the god of your choosing, (for I don't know about your god, but the one I grew up on loves ALL of his creations, even animals with no souls) erases our imaginary dividing lines. It brings us together like nothing else can, save the elimination of religion entirely from the face of the earth.

Hey, someone has to play the logician's advocate here. One aforementioned scenario is unfortunately no more likely than the other. The people of this world will never see eye to eye. There's a third possibility that has the potential to bring an unprecedented unity to the people of earth, and that is the discovery of intelligent alien life. Like a legitimate first contact situation. It could cause mass chaos, but my hope is that it will force people to at least think, "Wow. This universe just got smaller. Maybe I was wrong about EVERYTHING. Let's start over."

But knowing the people of this planet, it would be more like, "Hey, there is a whole universe of people-ish creatures we can turn our xenophobic disdain upon. There's no more reason to fight amongst ourselves. We're all humans here. The real threat is OUT THERE."

It's not perfect, and it could potentially destroy our entire planet, but at least, for that short period of time, we'd all be together focusing on our newly found solidarity. Sorry, Macklemore. I know you tried.

National Poetry Month #26

Today a fantastic item came through on my Facebook news feed from I Fucking Love Science. It's part poem, part riddle; part religion, part science. I thought it was pretty sweet, so I will share it with you:

He is everywhere, in the heavens and the earth.
He makes the stars shine, yet He cannot be seen.
He is noble, abundant, and fills the universe.
He can lift you into the sky and bring you gently back down.
He can take many forms.
He can help heal; He can help kill.
He can help create, and He can help destroy.

Praise be unto He,
Helium.

National Poetry Month #20

Today is 4/20, or kind of a national marijuana appreciation day within the ganja subculture--like they needed a specific day for it. Isn't every day 4/20 for the marijuana subculture?

But I'm sure there are still plenty of potheads out there. In your honor, today I present a short collection of even shorter poems--the kind that your average teenage-to-early-20s boy might think was kinda awesome when he wrote them under the influence of the devil's weed some 15 to 20 years ago.

Have a happy day, you stoners. Enjoy your youth, but do it responsibly. Those of you over the age of 30--grow up already. Those of you with children--shame on you. You're responsible for more lives than just your own. Act like it. Well, maybe except for today. Have fun today, but then join the real world tomorrow, will ya?

Club ded
Naked bodies floating
Inward poolside,
outward leaving.

-----------------------

The first words
he ever heard,
while digging around
his anus with a spoon,
were
Please, mama
Please, mama
Please don't let me burn.

-----------------------

THE VERGE OF SLEEP
35:09 forgot why I am writing--
Dead people
63 of them are not the murdered
And the rest of them be serviced out for bed
with my hand of steel.
Shit.
The Lincoln-bug shyness and filth--
The longest I try...
Think I fall asleep soon


-----------------------

Darkness permeates the cell
The criminal finds his hell
The innocent cry as well


-----------------------

Flip fuckin' flop.

Godless morality

In the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing earlier today, a coworker struck up a conversation with another coworker right next to my desk.

“All this reminds me of a man I heard speak recently. He brought up a very good point. In the last 20 or 30 years, since these mass shootings and all this garbage has escalated, what is the main thing that has changed in society?”

I knew where this was going, so I tried to steer it another way by chiming in. “A lot of things have changed in the last few decades.”

“Like what?” I was challenged.

“Technology has come leaps and bounds. Communication is almost instantaneous, and it’s worldwide. Civil rights and tolerance of others’ lifestyles are expanding…”

Not what she was fishing for. “The lack of morals and values,” she explained. “This country has suffered a serious decline in the presence of morals and values. And it’s because we’ve taken God out of everything. God is out of government. God is out of our schools. God is not number one in everyone’s lives. Only God and the church can bring those morals and values back to our kids. We have to educate them and guide them or we are in real trouble as a country and a world.”

Coworker number two nodded in agreement and voiced her approval, “I agree with you 100%. It’s a sad state we are in.”

...I had to say it: “Well, I disagree.”

Coworker number two, who knows me a bit better than number one, said, “I know you do." And I could tell she didn't really want to hear more.

But I continued. ”There is no way to pin the decline of civilization down to any one cause. Too much has changed. There’s no control to compare against. Even if you could, there is no one magical cure-all that is going to fix it. And religion isn’t a necessary prerequisite for morality.”

That shut the conversation completely down. That was probably a good thing. I am getting tired of hiding who I am simply because I have an unpopular opinion. If people want to engage in theological discussion, they need to be prepared to actually have a discussion rather than a one-sided kowtowing session.

I was always told that three discussions do not belong in the workplace: religion, politics and sex. Our own HR videos state as much. But if the door is opened (and it is opened a LOT in this place) I’m prepared to go through it and into the realm of discussion.

I’m tired of hearing that the only way to learn morals is through Christianity. The qualities of empathy, altruism, love, honesty, respect, charity, compassion and kindness do not derive solely from the teachings of any one book, no matter how popular that book might be. They are ingrained in the human psyche, obviously in some humans more so than others. Deep down on a primal social level we realize that these qualities create predictable rules for behavior that are necessary to make society function.

Granted, putting those rules in writing and giving them a voice is one way to emphasize them, but they are already there for most people. Some people simply have no moral compass, or it is broken. Those are the ones doing the shooting, whether in the name of atheism, Satan, Jodie Foster or God (though I’ll bet dollars to donuts that God is the one on the top of the “blame” list).

How you come upon your sense of morality, it matters not. As long as you use it to make the world a better place, who cares? I do not currently get my social cues from a nonexistent, magical man in the sky, but he did have a hand in educating me about morality from an early age. Well, at least his book did.

Of course, during that education they left out most of the horrible bits about fathers stoning their own sons and such, focusing only on the positive lessons. I guess that book, if read from the wrong perspective, could cause a reader to come away with a… less-than-tolerant… and “holier than thou” position, which could actually be counterproductive to the betterment of society.

A treasure of days long past and people forgotten

My grandmother's school autograph book from 1928

I was recently granted the privilege of examining an autograph book keepsake from 1928. The book belonged to my now deceased maternal grandmother, Doris Courson, née Foote, and it came into the possession of my mother after her passing. It is a quaint peek into early 20th Century schoolhouse life. I really enjoyed reading page after page of elementary & middle school writings.

The maturity level of some of these writings is very impressive, as is the overall spelling and penmanship. Unless otherwise noted, all entries were written by her schoolmates, children ranging from age 10 through age 12.

I don’t know which of these little witticisms and tributes are original works and which were commonplace elementary schoolboy platitudes of the era, so I’m going to give credit to the author of each just in case there’s an original, genuinely clever idea in here.

There are a few of these that I absolutely adore, but I felt compelled to share them all. Their original formatting has been kept intact as written. I have separated them into categories for my own reasons, which I assume will be obvious as you read them.

We start with some genuine well wishes from what I can only guess were very close friends:

Another friend made
May you ever be so good and pure as you are to-day
I will always remember you
as one of my friends
~Lila Blanche Goodell
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the golden sun is setting
and your mind from care is free
and o’er a thousand things you’re thinking
Will you sometimes think of me?
~Mary Weff
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When twilight draws its curtain
and pins it with a star
Remember that you have a friend
tho’ you may wander far.
~Verda Clive Dahler
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this corner I choose a spot
In which I write forget-me-not
Though it be cloudy
Or they be blue
Remember me as I do you.
~Bethol Paul

This moves us into the category of clever quips that make you stop and think:

This old world we’re livin’ in is mighty hard to beat.
We get a thorn with every rose,
But ain’t the roses sweet?
~Lois Miller
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Love everybody but trust few
And always paddle your own canoe
~Your sister, Leone Foote
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May your friends forever be
Numberless as the sands of the sea
~Aunt Rosa

The evolution of romance:

Happy may you live
Single in your station.
Happy be the little man
Who makes the alteration.
~Celia Lois Anderson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long may you live
Happy may you be
Sitting in the parlor
On your husband’s knee
~Vera Walker
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you get married and live upstairs,
Please don’t come down and borrow my chairs.
~Bernadine Pearl McFarland
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forget the moon,
Forget the stars,
Forget buzzing of the cars.
Forget your husband’s socks to mend,
But don’t forget your old true friend.
~Vera Schoonover
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you get married
And your old man gets cross
Come over to my house
And eat applesauce
~Dale Roberts
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you get married and
your old man gets mad and
hits you with a stove poker
Run away to your old friend.
~Vera Marie Varner
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May you forever be happy
and never get married.
~Uncle Aschel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sure as a grape vine grows
around a rafter
Woodrow Goodell is the
fellow you are after.
~Lorraine Wheeler

Funny stories:

We mortals have to swat and shoo
the flies from dawn ‘til dark—
‘cause Noah didn’t swat the two
that roosted in the ark.
~Irene Thompson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mary had a little lamb
She sat it on the shelf
And every time it would wag its tail
It spanked its little self.
~Mildred Goodell

Funny bits that are probably NOT original to the writer:

When you see a donkey
tied up to a tree
pull his tail and think
of
me
~Mary Lou Ellen Landon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you see a monkey
tied up to a tree
pull his tail and think of me
~Russell W.F.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I pity the baker
I pity the cook
I pity the one
who steals this book
~Gladys Hammond
~Your sister, Ruth Foote
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I pity the river
I pity the brook
I pity the one
that steals this book
~Mary Gebbetti
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Way out yonder upon a stump
Just think of me before you jump.
~Avo Ford
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here I stand upon a stump
Come and kiss me before I jump.
~Emmilou Nelson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roses are red, violets are blue
Sugar is sweet and so are you
~Hagel Horr
~Alberta Schoonover

Which leads me to the next one, a perfect segue into the "Say what?" category:

Roses are red
violets are blue
Coal is black
and so are you.
~Frances Young
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember me now.
Remember me late.
Remember your friend
Who writes up hill.
~Ruth Miller
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I bet  you a nickel,
I bet you a kiss,
You cannot guess
What little girl wrote this.
~Miss Mary Miller
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like bedbugs, I like fleas
I like you if you like me.
~Aunt Elma
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I stand up high, what do I only see?
But when I see it
It breaks my heart in to
Your friend
~Mary Margaret Marie

And the prize winner for biggest WTF moment goes to:

Pull in your neck
When you’re going through a town,
~Francis Roofner

And finally, since I couldn't end on that one, here's the best wish you can give someone:

I wish you health,
I wish you wealth,
I wish you gold in store.
I wish you Heaven when you die.
How could I wish you more?
~Aunt Pearl
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you enjoyed these relics of a bygone day as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. Happy holidays to you and yours.

Shane

Thankful

What am I thankful for this holiday season?

1. I am thankful that I have three healthy, talented and creative children to carry on my name into future generations. They have each made me proud in their own ways and I couldn't ask for a better set of youngsters to perpetuate the family name and genes into the future.
2. I am thankful for my parents and the upbringing they gave me. I was taught by example the difference between right and wrong and how to be a good person and a loving husband and father.
3. I am thankful that I have the love of a good woman who not only puts up with all my shit but also challenges me to be a better person than I was yesterday.
4. I am thankful that I have a steady job where I feel appreciated and the goal of the company is to help people. In this volatile climate I am fortunate to be celebrating my five-year anniversary at the same place of employment when many companies are downsizing.
5. I am thankful to have not only a family of my own that supports me but also a family of in-laws that have made me feel a welcomed member of the family from day one. I owe an enormous debt to the Saffords, as they have also helped shape who I am in these last 14 years. I would not be the person I am today were it not for their love and support.
6. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to send my children to a top-notch school where they are getting an education that will serve them well throughout their educational careers and put them in a category above most public school students.
7. I am thankful to be living in this wonderful (though sometimes frightening and occasionally terrifying) Information Age. Gaining new knowledge and insights has never been easier for any previous generation, and I feel fortunate to have entire libraries of knowledge at my fingertips whenever I want it.
8. I am thankful that there is so much left to learn, see and do in this life before I leave it behind. I grow more in my skin each day and I find that each year finds my outlook on life growing more and more positive. I am finally beginning to shed some of that angst that was so close to my heart for many years.
9. I am thankful for my ability to make others laugh. A sense of humor is important, and making others forget their worries, even for a moment, and blast out a healthy guffaw or two is a gift I cherish. Seriousness has its place, but it's good for the soul to be able to let your hair down now & then and to help others do the same.
10. I am thankful for the holidays such as the ones fast approaching, which bring family and friends together to celebrate their love and respect for one another while creating memories to not only last a lifetime but to pass down to future generations. Thanksgiving and Christmas are a wonderful way to end each year, in the company of the people you love, giving one another gifts and sharing warm & fuzzy feelings with one another.

I see an opportunity

I send my kids to what I guess you could consider a very enlightened and EXTREMELY diverse private school. Diversity is celebrated there, sometimes overly so in my opinion. Every little holiday that each culture at the school celebrates is noted in school emails, commons area decorations, and even sometimes it's reflected in the curriculum. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I recognize that it's *my* problem to deal with.
 
But this is one instance that put a special kind of bug up my ass. This is an excerpt from the latest school email. Let me preface this by saying that I realize the way I feel is not necessarily correct. It's a gut feeling that is being perpetuated every day in this country by well intended, god fearing, flag waving patriots with no intention of opening themselves up to the possibility that they could ever have been misinformed or misled with regards to their knowledge of other cultures.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Sacrifice
Some of our families will commemorate and celebrate sacrifice in very different ways this upcoming week.  
Eid-Al-Adha, one of the major holidays of Islam, will be celebrated on Sunday, November 6. According to Muslim tradition, it celebrates the sacrifice that Abraham was willing to make of his own son Ishmael when he was commanded to show his commitment to Allah. The name of the holiday, Eid Al-Adha, means "The Feast of the Sacrifice." Students celebrating will be excused from homework and no tests should be given on Monday to them.  
November 11 is, of course, Veterans Day (official celebration on November 12). We wish to honor all of you who have served our nation, and those grandparents who also served. I am reminded of the quote from journalist Elmer Davis, journalist, who wrote  

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My initial reaction to this section is one of disgust. My gut tells me that these two holidays are at odds with one another, and to remind us of a Muslim day of sacrifice immediately preceding a reminder of the honor we bestow upon our dedicated soldiers is a slap in the face to not only those soldiers of ours who sacrificed their lives in our most recent military confrontations, but also to our nation and each of its citizens.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here, though, and open myself up to the possibility that my gut is wrong. That makes me very uncomfortable, but I think that discomfort might be a growing pain of sorts.
 
Are the Russians evil? Are the Japanese evil? Are the Germans evil? Are Southerners evil? Are the English (British) evil? I say "no" to each of these, but over the last couple of centuries, I guarantee there was a time when the common answer in this part of the country would be a resounding "yes."
 
During the Cold War, all the propaganda was anti-communist. "Better Dead than Red." And I believe many Americans would have considered themselves enemies of the USSR. A Russian was a communist, therefore an enemy of the USA and its citizens. I don't think I'm far off in carrying these sentiments back in time through WWII ("Krauts" are evil), WWI ("Japs" are evil), Vietnam, etc., all the way back past the Civil War and even the American Revolution.
 
Today is no different. We have been engaged in a conflict for many years with an enemy who happens to be represented by people who claim the Muslim faith. To many of us, that translates to "Islam is evil." That's what my gut tells me. Perhaps my gut is caught up in the game just as many others are. Islam is the world's second-largest religion. It's not going anywhere so we might as well learn to tolerate it, maybe even welcome it as this country welcomes everyone.
 
Just as there are assholes in the world who claim Christianity as their faith, there are assholes in the world who claim to represent Islam. Assholes should be judged by their behavior as representing assholes, not as representing people of color or of a specific religion. By that standard, the IED-wearing asshole who blew up some military motorcade in the desert near Kabul would be a first-degree asshole rather than a lowlife Muslim.
 
I understand there are passages in the Quran which might demean women or represent them as lower-class people. I have news for you, there are similar sentiments shared in the Bible. Not to mention all the flogging, stoning and sacrifices endorsed by the Holy Bible. It's what we do with these words and the rest of them as a whole that is the issue.
 
The Bible directs its adherents to abide by the laws of the land in addition to the higher laws of God, as "the powers that be are ordained of God." (Romans 13:1). Does the Quran? I don't know. But there's always the possibility that some asshole is going to take the parts they identify with best and turn them into a holy crusade. Look at Fred Phelps. He's king of the Bible-twisting assholes in this country. Again, this makes  people like this ASSHOLES. When it's a government or an army, it's just a BUNCH OF ASSHOLES. Nothing more. We shouldn't judge and punish the normal folks who live by the virtuous parts of these writings by the actions of the rogue assholes.
 
I'm going to make a better effort to not become a slave to my gut, but to keep it in check with continued education and enlightenment.

A long walk

The kids & I took Daisy for a long walk last night. After about 15 minutes the conversation with my five-year-old daughter turned philosophical: "Dad, why are there people? How'd they get here?"
 
I took a deep breath and said, "There are a lot of ideas about that, but nobody here now was around then, to know for sure. Basically there are two main ideas: either God created people in one day, or people became what they are today by very slowly changing over millions of years from apes to apelike people to caveman-type people and eventually to us."
 
My eight-year-old son interrupted: "The first one is right. God created everybody. At least all Americans, but not people from other countries." D'oh! It was then I saw this was going to be a longer conversation than I'd originally anticipated. Good thing it was a LONG walk.
 
"Okay, why would you say that? Why didn't he create people from other countries?"
 
"Because they don't believe in God."
 
"Ash, if you believe God created people, then you have to believe that he created ALL people, not just the ones who believe in him. Whether THEY believe or not is immaterial."
 
Ash says, "I guess, but some people don't believe in our God. They believe in other stuff."
 
I agreed and reminded him of the poster at school that shows at least a dozen different versions of the Golden Rule from faiths around the world.
 
Calliope, quiet most of this time, chimed back in: "Dad, how many gods ARE there?"
 
"Well, most people will tell you there is only one. The problem is agreeing on WHICH one. Lots of faiths claim to worship what they call the true God, but as it turns out, they are not all the same God and each faith denies the existence of the other 'true' gods."
 
That's when Ash steered the conversation naturally toward the Greek pantheon. That was more solid ground for me. And soon the conversation was over. Whew. I should have just answered Calliope's original question with a simple "42" and quickly changed the subject to cartoons or something.

"Stairway to Hell" -- my final visit

Apparently, demons like to inhabit the bodies of roleplayers because they like to
drink Mountain Dew, eat Doritos and Totino's Party Pizzas, roll funny-shaped
dice and talk in cockney accents. Oh, and they HATE getting laid.

Okay, here we go. This is long overdue. Back into the trenches of paranoia and nonsense. Might wanna roll up your pant legs; it's gonna get pretty deep.

D&D: JUST A GAME? It's supposed to be just a board game, but kids play it for life and death on the street.

Mr. Rick Jones... No, you know what? His real name is probably Richard; I'm just gonna start referring to him as "Dick" from now on. As a matter of fact, he holds so little authority and importance in my life, that I'm not even going to bother capitalizing his name anymore. This author is now just another dick to me.

So this particular dick fills a couple of pages with stories from newspapers (wherein other Satanic Panic spreaders are quoted) about teens who play D&D killing others or themselves. Not DURING A GAME, mind you. Just that they happened to be players. Of course, the one MUST be causing the other. But to this dick it's not a mere story of kids losing touch with reality and playing the game in real life (which, of course, is also bullshit anyway), but here's his explanation:

Through D&D, demons entered his body and drove him to commit the murders. It was Satan's evil demons that were interested in killing those innocent children, not the boy. He was just a human vessel the demons used.

That's the purpose of the 'game.' When a player begins worshiping a new deity (Satan) and asking help of characters in the game (demons), they are doing exactly what Satan worshipers do.

I have to stop here to at least point out an easy-to-spot logical fallacy in all of these so-called "D&D-related murders and suicides." Anyone ever heard of the logical fallacy called questionable cause? It refers to when you have two unrelated happenings and you make the irrational conclusion that one caused the other. Like this: There are six cases of teen homicide or suicide in this folder. Each one of the killers was a known Dungeons and Dragons player. Obviously D&D caused them to behave this way. Case closed.

You know what? I bet they all brushed their teeth at least twice a day, too. Maybe that made them flip out and kill. Oh, you know what? They are all teens, after all; you know how that sex drive can be. I bet masturbation made them go nuts and start killing. Yeah, that could be it, too. Huh? What do you mean those things can't be the cause? Oh, how do I explain all the teenage masturbators with clean oral hygiene who DON'T kill? Well, the same way dick explains all those D&D players who haven't killed. They just haven't gotten around to it yet? It's bullshit, also known as the logical fallacy of questionable cause.

You say you don't think D&D has anything to do with Satan or religion? Then turn to page 25 of the 'Deities & Demigods Instruction Manual' and see what it says. > Surprise D&D player! Guess which deity you are serving? Satan!

Hello? It's called a "ROLE PLAYING" game, dick. It's your CHARACTER'S deity of worship. Use your imagination for something FUN for a change! And besides, I don't recall seeing "Satan" in the manual as a deity to choose from.

I remember talking with a boy who had played D&D for several years. It started as a game, but didn't stay that way for long. To progress in the game, he asked D&D 'creatures' to help him win battles. He had no idea, but those creatures were literal demons. When he asked them to help him, he was inviting demons into his body.

Really? Okay, what game is this kid playing? This is an argument dick uses a few times, about the premise of the game being "asking creatures for help to complete tasks or progress in the game." It's been many years, but I recall that my CHARACTER did most of the task completion either on his own or with the help of other characters. How goddamn BORING would every campaign be if the key to "progressing" was always asking an NPC for help??? These kids they were talking to needed some friends to play with, man.

To find out if D&D used authentic occult materials, the CBN television network assigned an investigator to study the question.

Nothing like an impartial jury, huh?

They concluded that D&D does contain authentic occult materials. Rituals, magic spells, charms, names of demons, etc. were all authentic.

Damn, wish I still had that book. I'd love to cast a few magic missiles at work. Perhaps I could enlist Pazuzu to do some copy editing for me next week. Dick should have done; his copy is ATROCIOUS. Also, tell me one D&D book that came with ANY magic charms, authentic or otherwise. And answer one more question: Why should Gary Gygax INVENT names for demons when there is a centuries-old public domain literary treasure trove of them to rip off?

Many teenagers have committed suicide when their D&D character died. Others have murdered friends, parents and others because they played the 'game.' Rapes, tortures and untold other sick and gruesome crimes have also been linked to D&D.

If they are untold crimes, how can they a) be defined as sick or gruesome, or b) be linked to D&D? And the suicides thing. The CDC, the American Association of Suicidology, and Canadian Center for Health & Welfare have all concluded that there is no causal link between fantasy gaming and suicide. See, they didn't fall into that questionable cause trap.

Okay, I think I've had enough of this drivel. It was fun while it lasted, but now it's just... not.

Logic is fine but hysteria's quicker: "Stairway to Hell" part three

Ooooo! This is some scary stuff! Better go burn my Ozzy CDs.

Evening, folks. I'm going to start tonight with the chapter on drugs. Mr. Jones begins this chapter with an alleged letter from an adult who claimed when he was 18 and tripping balls on LSD, he realized that, "the devil was inside of me and quite systematically taking over control of my will... A voice inside of me kept saying, 'This time I will have you fully!' I was completely terrified... I knew this was Satan."

Jones draws the conclusion: "Many drug abusers hear voices, but most don't know they are the voices of demons."

This poor kid was just having a BAD TRIP! Happens to every LSD user at some point or another. No demons but those of his own invention. But not if you ask Rick Jones, certified expert of... well, nothing really. Contributing to the Satanic Panic of the day, he claims,

"Experts are continually finding drug abuse linked to this growing demonic possession problem."

Ah, that's right. I remember seeing all those high profile DEMONIC POSSESSION cases in the paper that year. It was almost as big an epidemic as all those parents selling their children as homosexual sex slaves for "pot" money. Oh, wait. That was just in his head, too. I keep forgetting that the author continually creates his own facts and, I suspect, his own "experts," much like Mr. Van Impe's "scientists."

"Have you ever wondered why so many teens kill themselves while high on drugs? Now you know. Demons get them high, take control of their bodies, then drive them to kill themselves."

And here I thought it was because being a teenager is a difficult time in life, and some just don't know how to deal with it. Teens are constantly being judged, ordered around, pressured, and scrutinized. This all while they are trying to learn how to function independently in the world. Some turn to drugs, whether for recreation or as an escape from a world they feel is against them. Some of those searching for escape instead find that the world does not improve through drug use. it just gets worse, only now their mind is all screwed up & they can't think straight. Blammo.

And dipshit Jones blames it on song titles without even reading the lyrics or listening to the songs in question. Example:

"Ozzy Osbourne's song, 'Suicide Solution,' was not written by accident. Every word came directly from Ozzy's evil master. (Sharon?) A teenager blew his brains out after continuously listening to Ozzy's dangerously demonic death march. The song was still playing when police found the body."

Then maybe someone should have listened to or read the lyrics before blaming the Ozzman. This song is a cautionary tale of the dangers of The Drink (or as Ozzy will call it in a song many years later, "the Demon Alcohol"). The "solution" is not an answer to a problem, it's a homogenized liquid substance: liquor.

Do a little research before you write such an inflammatory book, for crying out loud. Stupid people are hanging on every word you say as legitimate advice for understanding the dangers faced by their teenage children.

Okay, I'm getting sleepy. I promise I'll get to the D&D chapter very soon. I kinda skipped past it in making a point tonight, but I'll backtrack to it tomorrow. It's too good to leave out. Here's a teaser:
"Literally millions of young people are unknowingly participating in genuine occult practices and opening the doors for demons to enter their bodies through this seemingly innocent game." HA!

See my review concluded here.

Once more into the fray - "Stairway to Hell" part two

"Satan's gonna get you, gonna drag you to hell. Hells Bells" - AC/DC

Among the "epidemic parent-related problems teens are facing today," the wise Mr. Jones lists:

- Children introduced to homosexuality and lesbianism by their parents

- Being forced into prostitution by their parents for the money

- UNTOLD THOUSANDS of youngsters are sold to Satan worship by depraved parents

---------------------------------------------

Yes, folks, this book is chock-a-block full of paranoid, conspiratorial ideas.

Remember how that last one in the list turned out to be almost completely unfounded? How many documented and corroborated instances were there of such activity? As far as those other two, what did this guy do- watch a single episode of 48 Hours or something and declare the investigative cover story AN EPIDEMIC?

Moving on...

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If you love rock music, the devil's bloody claws are already firmly wrapped around your neck. Look at these lyrics. The rock stars who sing them are sold-out servants of Satan, preaching to their master.

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We are then treated to several excerpts of early 1980s heavy metal songs, many taken completely out of context, to prove the point. Mostly from that horribly Satanic band AC/DC, which we all know stands for "Anti Christ/Devil's Child." HA!

I'll give him one, though. He did throw in a Mercyful Fate song. No secret there about the band's background. Not a record you'll be hearing played at the local daycare, you know. But then he goes on to this little gem: (LOL)

-----------------------------------------------------------

A former rock music worshipper once told me about an Ozzy Osbourne concert he went to. THOUGH HIS MIND WAS SIZZLED ON DRUGS (emphasis added), his heart nearly stopped when he turned around and saw a man wearing a black hooded robe, standing behind the crowd with his arms outstretched. This shocked teen suddenly realized he was in the middle of a Satanic service!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Okay, where is this kid's credibility? We've already established he was completely SIZZLED, so how can we believe what he "saw?" Hell, the dude in the robe was probably twice as fried as our witness. He thought he was LEADING a Satanic service!

My next beef with this chapter is that he actually wastes time discussing backmasking (this one is deliberate) on the Venom album "Welcome to Hell." HELLO? There's plenty of fuel for your argument on that album WITHOUT having to ruin your needle. Try playing the damn thing FORWARD. In his argument he calls Venom a "famous rock band." What a numbskull. I know exactly 4 people who have ever even HEARD of Venom. I am the only one I know who owns any of their albums (first 5 studios and double-live on vinyl, as well as a 12'' single, 33 rpm single and a picture disc, then the most recent 3 on CD - love me some Venom!)

He wraps up the chapter with several stories ("true accounts") of teenagers hacking their families up or committing suicide because they listened to violent, Satanic AC/DC or Iron Maiden songs. Classic Satanic Panic at work. I love this shit. It's like watching Reefer Madness.

Coming up: The chapter on Dungeons & Dragons. Oooooooh. Can't wait. This guy reminds me of that dumb-ass "expert" dude that testified at the WM3 trial. The one who got a mail-order degree. I wonder if the author has any Chick tracts listed in his bibliography?

See my review continued here.

LMAO: "Stairway to Hell" by Rick Jones

Got this book recently for the fun of it. It is just nuts to think that people bought this shit hook, line and sinker in 1988. I'm literally laughing out loud only three pages into the introduction.
----------------------------------
"The real message is heard when that part of the song is played backwards. Here are the devilish lyrics Led Zeppelin has been sneaking into your brain all these years:

'I sing because I live with Satan.
The Lord turns me off.
There's no escaping it.
No other made a path.
Here's to my sweet Satan.
Whose power is Satan.
He will give you 666.
I live for Satan'

Millions are deceived by this song. They don't know that every time they play it, two things are happening:
1. They are listening to servants of Satan pledge their allegiance to their master.
2. Listeners are being programmed to accept Satan as the master and destroyer of their own lives."
--------------------------------------
HAHAHA! The sad thing is, bullshit like this was EVERYWHERE in the mid- to late-'80s. And parents were SCARED. Remember bands on trial? Repressed memories of ritual abuse? Remember the PMRC? This whole stupid-ass "subliminal messages" idea? Incredible. What I want to know is, if we, the kids at that time, knew these nimrods were just spouting cockamamie theories, how the hell were the adults so easily duped?

Of course, we now know that perceived "messages" on records when played in reverse are probably in most cases nothing more than an auditory form of pareidolia, or the same property of the brain that lets us see clear pictures of things in cloud formations. Our minds crave order, like to see patterns in chaos. Even if the patterns aren't really there- we'll unconsciously make leaps and create connections where there are none.

And for those messages which were INTENTIONALLY placed... Who gives a crap? I've yet to see some proof that backs up the fact that behavior alteration is even possible through "subliminal" messages, particularly REVERSED ONES. All I know for sure is that the English language sounds effing creepy when you play it backwards. But is it sinister? No more so than the same thing said forward.

I can't wait to dig into this book some more. I need a good laugh.

By the way, if you're interested, they still sell this book at Chick.com for $10.95, in English or Español.

See my review continued here.

Jack Van Impe is a ruh-TARD

Heavens to Betsy! All three of them!

I was watching the Apprentice on DVR tonight, and when it ended, this ancient, Bible-thumping nitwit came on the television. Here's a direct quote:

"The astronomers now tell us that there are three heavens, and that agrees with the Bible. The first runs 600 miles into space, the second runs 187 trillion billions of miles into space. Unfad'nable! And then there's a third heaven where God rules."

--HUH? First, the atmosphere kinda trails off into space around 300 miles or so above the earth, so I'm not sure where the 600 comes into play. Second, I suppose he's just pulling numbers out of his bum for that second part. Third, just what the hell is, "unfad'nable?" I know the word, "unfathomable," but that isn't what he said. And, fourth, WHAT?? Exactly which, "the astronomers," are they who are now saying "there's a third heaven where God rules???" I must have missed that bit in my college astronomy class.

But there's more:

"Let's talk about that second heaven. Do you know that they now tell us that there are galaxies like our own, into the hundreds of thousands? And they've increased it to a million, and recently to a billion. A billion different galaxies! Each with 200 to 400 million stars. It's unlimited! And our God created it all. And for these people who can think it just happened through (claps) a big bang? ...You ...don't have much of an education."

--HUH? Which is it? Do they "now tell us" a few hundred thousand, a million, or a billion? If it's a billion, then why even mention hundreds of thousands? Say, "they now tell us there are a billion." It's more efficient; you can make your point sooner (or at least attempt to) and then get back to your silent prayer or whatever. As long as it's silent, it will be an improvement.

Also, WHICH IS IT? Is that second layer of space unlimited, as you just said, or is it "187 trillion billions of miles?" It can't be both! Or perhaps because it's so unfad'nable, it just SEEMS unlimited to your level of comprehension.

Additionally, I don't think anyone could argue against the thought that *technically* the Big Bang and a divine creator are not mutually exclusive. Even Stephen Hawking has said (or typed, as it were. INDICATED, anyway) that his belief in the Big Bang does not mean he doesn't believe in God. He could have been the one to cause the Big Bang, after all. (God, not Hawking.)

Finally, you should have seen the look in this guy's eyes when he said, "you... don't have much of an education." It even looked like he was going to swear during that stutter-pause: "You... gotta be effin' kidding me." Ooooh, was he heated up. Hee hee.

I've never seen this douche before, but I know he's been around quite a long time. I'm sure he could provide ammunition against himself like this all day long. He makes Pat Robertson look like Dan Rather. To quote a wise prophet named Bugs Bunny: "What a maroon!"

Cleanliness is next to godliness

My wife, Heather, called me at work today and said, "I'm at Target and this monk just walked in." Of course I asked her how the rest of the joke went; was he was alone, or did a priest and rabbi walk in with him?

I also asked if he was carrying around a wooden plank, and if so, how was he pushing his shopping cart. (pie jesu domine, dona eis requiem -SMACK-)

We determined on the phone that it was a legit monk and not a dude in a Ruby's Halloween costume, though we decided he could just as easily have been a friar because we don't know the difference. They seem to have the same uniform.

Then we wondered what exactly a monk would buy at Target, so she kept an eye out for him or followed him around or something. I don't know. We joked about the things he could buy that would be most entertaining, condoms being on the top of the list. Also, sneakers, sandals, razors, rope, a bell, a bookmark, candles, you get the idea.

How does a monk get to Target, anyway? Is there a monastery anywhere near Peoria? I pictured him thumbing a lift from some Amish folk in a wagon. LOL.

Heather called me back after a bit. "A mop, a toilet brush, and Pine-Sol." Well, whaddaya know. They have indoor plumbing at the dirty monkery.

Re: Vatican releases new list of sins

Those crazy fuckers at the Vatican are at it again:

__________________________________________________________________________________

Monday, Mar. 10, 2008 By AP

(VATICAN CITY) — A Vatican official has listed drugs, pollution, genetic manipulation and social and economic injustices as new areas of sinful behavior.

Sins increasingly manifest themselves as behavior that damages society as a whole, Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti said in an interview published Sunday by the Vatican's daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

"While sin used to concern mostly the individual, today it has mainly a social resonance, due to the phenomenon of globalization," said Girotti, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican body that issues decisions on matters of conscience and grants absolutions.

Catholic teaching distinguishes between lesser venial sins and mortal sins.

Listing the new areas of sinful behavior, Girotti denounced "certain violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments, genetic manipulations."

He also mentioned drugs — which "weaken the mind and obscure intelligence" — pollution, and the widening social and economic differences between the rich and the poor.

Girotti said the Catholic Church continued to be concerned by other sinful acts, including abortion and pedophilia.

He said Church authorities had reacted with "rigorous measures" to child abuse scandals within the clergy, but he also claimed that the issue had been excessively emphasized by the media. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

What? Drugs? Like... wine? Doesn't it "weaken the mind and obscure intelligence"? Yeah, right, I really believe the Cathoholic Church is going to admit that alcohol is a drug--the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world, in fact. That'll be the day. Yet again, the church shows us its hypocrisy and knack for inconsistency.

And, "thy shall not POLLUTE THY ATMOSPHERE???" What the hell?! These guys just keep on making shit up, don't they? If their book is so damned holy and perfect, why do they have to keep issuing addenda to it? They've even redefined the meaning of "sin." Here I always thought it meant "to fall short of the mark; miss; err." Now they tell me it has to do with global-social responsibilities. I'm sorry, was that the King James or NIV that says we need to reduce our carbon footprint to get into heaven?

Changing the Constitution?

At one point I had made a resolution to myself that I would post at least one new blog a week. My wife, Heather, always said I was a good writer, and what better way to improve than with practice. Well, I've fallen short of my goal recently, even going so far as to dig up old shit I can throw on here instead of coming up with something fresh, and still feel like I was keeping my promise. But I knew I was cheating. To that end, I will now renew my vow afresh.

I could blame my lack of blogging enthusiasm lately on all the shit that's been going on lately at home & work. Heather's been ill, we've made trips, big plans for the marriage vow renewal & all, taking on new responsibilities at work, etc. In fact, I will blame it on all that.

There's plenty of crap in the news going on to blog about. Good grief, the road to the White House alone is paved with idiocy and unconstitutional effrontery. Let's begin there.

Mike Huckabee... What can be said? In his own words, he said he wants the Constitution changed to reflect the laws of God. He was referring in particular to defining "marriage" in the Constitution as a bond between "one man and one woman." Did he forget about all the polygamy in the Bible? It was championed in the Old Testament! Howe many wives did King Solomon have? 1000? King David? At least 18. Good old "Father" Abraham? At least three. In its silence about such situations, which are NUMEROUS in the Bible, the Book endorses polygamy.

Not only does the Bible seem to support polygamy in the Old Testament, but Jesus made it clear in Matthew 5:17-18 that everything set forth in the Old Testament still stands in the New Testament. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

But that's not my problem with Mr. Huckabee. And of course he isn't railing against the rapid spread of polygamy either. He wants, of course, like Bush before him, to put an end once and for all in this country to the notion of gay marriage. But I'm sure there's a more broad intention as well, across all prevailing issues. I can't believe that someone aspiring to the highest seat in the nation would so blatantly voice his desire to violate the establishment clause. I know I don't need to explain the separation of church and state to my readers. "Congress shall make no law..." Mr. Huckabee needs to figure out how to reconcile his faith with the best interests of the "free" people of this country. Last I checked, we were free to make decisions in our own lives. My country cannot tell me who I can and can't love or choose to live my life with in a committed relationship.

And don't even get me started on that douchebag Alan Keyes. Glad he's not even a contender.

A rant regarding religion

OK, about the Teddy Bear teacher in Sudan... What the hell? These Islamic idiots are putting an innocent lady in a prison that's over 5 times its capacity? All for naming a toy Muhammad? Shouldn't the extreme overcrowding be an indicator that they JAIL way too many people for stupid shit like this? I'm sure that won't come off the way it's meant, cuz all they have to do in response is start killing moonshiners instead of jailing them. That's not what I mean. What I'm saying is: YOU HAVE TOO MANY STUPID LAWS!

So naming a Teddy Bear after your precious prophet is an insult? But it was good enough for President Roosevelt! He no doubt took great joy in being associated with a beloved childhood icon. You know what? SCREW your precious Muhammad! And I'm not talking about the stinkin' bear!

Now, I'm sure there are people of Muslim faith who are very sensible. But the problem is, when you think about it, the fundamentalists are really the ones in each religion who preach and practice the TRUE faith. The fundies are the ones that get all the bad press, but they are the ones who usually take EVERY WORD in their holy scriptures as LITERAL GOSPEL. Offshoots and watered-down versions of the faith are some of the people who take the positive parts and leave the negative. I know plenty of Christians who do not judge people, teach that God loves everyone, gay or straight, black or white, those who marry outside their race, powerful women who stand on equal ground with men, etc. But many of these things I was taught were abominations in the eyes of God. Or at least frowned upon.

If you're not going to buy into the whole book, why buy into any of it? You can't in one breath tell me that the Holy Bible is the word of almighty God and then turn around and ignore the parts you don't like. That's hypocritical. And it tells me that even YOU don't believe it! You can't honestly believe in the veracity of a document as a whole without believing wholeheartedly in each individual point contained therein, especially if it is the INFALLIBLE word of an INFALLIBLE God.

That is why, increasingly more every day, I am buying into the idea that organized religion as a whole is a very BAD THING. I don't give a damn WHICH religion. They all promote hate and intolerance. I know realistically we will never live on an Earth devoid of religion. For some reason, people are drawn to it like moths to a flame. Just remember, sometimes the moth THINKS it's a flame and it ends up zapping him to dust in a purple whiff of ultraviolence.

I also recognize that violent religious crusades and clashes help our planet maintain its balance by thinning out our numbers. Just as earthquakes, cancer, AIDS, etc. do the same. Everyone can't live forever. Dying is a fact of life, the last fact of life. If we all lived forever, we really WOULD be in danger of stripping our planet bare of its resources. If only there were some way to make sure it was the WICKED who were weeded out. Too often, the ones in power are corrupt and succeed in wiping out vast numbers of the innocent.

I guess the Earth doesn't care who she kills off, just that the numbers have got to be maintained as closely as possible. Just goes to show how cosmically unimportant we all REALLY are. And if THAT doesn't make you want to cling to some hope of cosmic significance, I don't know what will. That's why, deep down, man feels he needs a God who created him for a purpose. But He didn't. Because there isn't.

Illinois school prayer plan falls apart

Well that didn't last long, did it? What, four weeks or so? It seems there have been lawsuits filed (like we didn't know THAT was gonna happen) by free-thinking atheists who claim the "Silent Prayer and Reflection Act" is an endorsement of school prayer. A U.S. District judge, Robert Gettleman, has barred the moment of silence in a Chicago-area school district because the law is "too vague." He had no power to do so across the board, but it should be noted that there is no provision for punishment against districts who do not comply with the mandate.

School districts are being warned they should cease following the mandate, or they might inevitably face lawsuits from angry parents who don't want their children being forced to pray in public school. Two state representatives, one a democrat and one a republican, plan to announce today legislation that will strip the mandate from schools.

I think this might turn out as a victory for the secular side of society. If you ask me, it's a given that this mandate is going to be found unconstitutional. So, that means the state will likely revert to the original form of the law, which states educators "may" lead their students in a moment of silence for prayer or silent reflection at the start of every day. But wait a minute. If it's deemed unconstitutional for the state to require schools to participate, won't it be just as unconstitutional for schools to even participate once the law merely gives them "permission" to? If any district lets its teachers continue leading the moment of silence, that district is just BEGGING for lawsuits.

So we'll be back where we started, with the state of Illinois allowing teachers to lead a moment of silence in their classrooms, but everybody too chicken to actually take advantage of the law for fear of losing their job or facing a lawsuit. Why even have such a law? What made the lawmakers think the people were just going to take this kind of thing lying down? There is no purpose in passing laws that are this ridiculous. All they've succeeded in doing is drumming up controversy, pissing people off, further driving a wedge between atheistic and religious parents of children in the same schools, and igniting frivolous lawsuits that could have been avoided altogether.

Let's hope they see the error of their ways and get this law COMPLETELY stricken down as soon as possible, so we can go back to doing what we should be doing in school: TEACHING.

Part two: A theological quandary

Continuing my thoughts from the last entry...

Okay, after really writing it all down and thinking about it further, it started to click that maybe it's ALL a bunch of horseshit. I started thinking about this whole prayer, miracles and magic thing. I broke it down like this:

Either something is going to happen, or it's not going to happen. Any one thing that happens can be predicted. I can say right now, "Lord, please let my bus be a couple of minutes late today. I don't know if I can make it to the bus station on time today." There. My prayer has been sent to an imaginary man in the sky. Now, the bus will either (a) be late, as I'd prayed, or (b) not be late (that's either early or on time). Again, because we WANT SO BADLY as humans to believe in a higher power, if the bus is late, I thank the Lord for listening to my prayers and helping me in this time of need. If the prayer doesn't work, the failsafe kicks in. But what about this possibility: My prayer, magic spell, etc had NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on the outcome of whether the bus was late or not. If it was late, it was going to be late, no matter what I did.

How's this for an argument? Those failsafes are just our way to explain away the times when our predictions don't line up with the way things happen. THERE IS NO MAGIC and there is no real power in prayer. Shit's gonna happen the way it's gonna happen, and we can't do anything to influence it, aside from the physical things we can do as humans to influence physical outcomes. So what about the beloved aunt you saved from cancer with the power of prayer? Sometimes people have spontaneous recoveries for no explainable reason. Doesn't mean it's a miracle. Just means it's unexplained. Just like UFO's. Just because you might see an Unidentified Flying Object, doesn't mean you've witnessed an alien spacecraft. Just means you saw something you couldn't IDENTIFY.

The truth is, we don't want to feel alone. We are such an amazing species, the only one like it we know, that we can't STAND to believe that we all evolved by chance. And we hate to think that once we are dead, it's over. We are the only species with this high level of self-awareness, and so we MUST be special, right? As such, we must have been specifically CREATED as we are, right? So who created us? It could only have been an all-powerful, omniscient being who created us in his image. But guess what? Joke's on us. It is WE who created HIM (and all variations) to fit our needs.

I firmly believe that one must always be open to changing his mind. You are only as wise as the last time you revised your thinking. I've gone so long thinking that the human potential included things that might be dubbed "supernatural," that this is a BIG revision for me to think about implementing. That would mean I no longer consider myself an agnostic or even Satanist, but I officially go for the title of atheist and overall skeptic. But I can't go on using the power of magic once I've concluded it does not exist, any more than I could use prayer once I suspected it was to a God I doubted existed. Can I?

My theological evolution:

Ages 4-11: Baptist. Drilled into my head I must be baptized and saved to reach heaven. Afraid of the devil, but interested in such trappings. Intrigued by Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent Price, Alice Cooper & KISS on TV, and legendary stories of "satanic" rockers like Ozzy, Judas Priest & WASP. Got a thrill like I was doing something immoral or illegal and I was about to get caught, whenever I would listen to a "forbidden" record or read something "satanic."

Ages 12-16 No affiliation, raised Baptist. Delve further into forbidden literature, movies, music. Still get a bit of a thrill when I see or otherwise experience something blatantly satanic. Decide it is bad and still to say away from it. Remove music and books from my collection that I find satanic and disturbing.

Ages 17-32 Agnostic/Satanist. Do not personally believe that a God is likely to exist. Probably a creation of man to explain the things he doesn't understand. However, I do not rule out the existence of God as a possibility. I still believe literally ANYTHING is possible, but so many religions in the world throughout history, it's quite difficult for us to know which are genuine. All those who follow anything but the one true religion are likely condemned to hell (or some variation). So why bother? I research various forms of Christianity, attend churches with friends, etc. Read about other faiths, obtain a Book of Mormon, read a little Hubbard, Satanic Bible, take a philosophy class in college... The Church of Satan is the best fit for me. I believe I have always been a Satanist and not had a label to put on it.

Age 33-? atheist. God DOES NOT EXIST. Magic does not exist. It's all up to chance, but we can influence some things by the way we deal with people, using conversation skills, suggestion, etc. Humans exist on Earth as a result of chance and natural selection. There is likely another race similar to us somewhere in the universe. There are likely MANY. It's also likely, given the size of the universe, that we will never have contact with them to substantiate this fact (barring some currently unfathomable form of transportation or communication). However, I still believe we are not as unique as we once thought. We were not created on purpose. We just like to think so because we are egocentric beings. Revolution in thinking? Everything "supernatural" is bullshit? I don't know if I'm ready to concede that yet. I still hope for proof of ghosts, psychics, hauntings, unexplained forces and powers, magic, even the power of prayer or the existence of God. At least if it's proven, it'll give me SOMETHING to believe in. I have no faith; I require proof.

My friends, I am in the middle of a philosophical dilemma. I guess it's best to stay on course, progress from agnostic to atheist, and perhaps maintain my satanic leanings. It's not like I practice greater magic regularly... I can still look at its benefits as a cathartic psychodrama to purge distractions and emotional roadblocks from my path in life. There need be no "belief" in the actual power of magic to benefit from the exercise of ritual. The ritual chamber is, after all, an intellectual decompression chamber meant to induce suspension of disbelief for the purpose of uncensored self expression and emotional cleansing of a sort. Satanism stresses lesser magic as the more potent form of wizardry. And lesser magic is really just manipulation through interpersonal communication. Even LaVey said that "the amount of energy needed to levitate a teacup (genuinely) would be of sufficient force to place an idea in a group of people's heads half-way across the earth."

Perhaps the whole idea of magic or prayer only serves to fortify one's belief in its powers, and thus in the entire belief system entailed, when it "works." Anything that increases your level of belief in that philosophy and gives you more reassurance that what you're doing is genuine, increases the confidence you have while casting that spell or saying that prayer. And the more confident you are in the casting, the more comfort and relief you will feel afterward. It all serves a purpose to make man more comfortable in his own skin.

Holy (or unholy?) cow. Dear reader, you have journeyed with me on a first-of-its kind (for me, anyway) philosophical meandering that has served to coalesce and eventually solidify a core belief that I now hold. If you've actually made it this far, I applaud you. Thanks for taking the ride with me. I think this whole "blog" thing is actually a great thing. There is no better way to get to know someone than by reading what is essentially a public diary. I enjoy reading what my friends post to their blogs, especially if they do a little soul searching. There are some things that are best expressed in monologue form. Conversation is wonderful, but sometimes it takes a more free-form, stream of consciousness method to get to anything REALLY vital. Another participant in the conversation can muddle things and take you on tangents you didn't want to touch.

Magic and prayer

I just wanted to make a statement regarding my attitude toward Christianity. I have in my life several Christians whom I regard with great respect. My wife is one of them. Another is a good pastor friend of mine, a long-time true friend to my wife. I am of the opinion that, on the whole, most Christians have their heart in the right place. Your religious/spiritual/philosophical beliefs, however, should not completely define who you are. I recognize the similarities between different peoples and different religious leanings.

Imagine the scene:
A faithful Christian is worried about a friend or loved one who has been in a serious car accident, diagnosed with a terrible illness, something like that. He goes to a church, kneels at the altar, kneeling bench, whatever. The crucifix looms high above him. The stained glass around him shows images of birth, life, death and rebirth into the Kingdom of Glory. All around are trappings of holiness, inspiring him with the feelings he has associated with them throughout his life. He feels dwarfed by the power of Lord God Almighty. He prays to his God with tears in his eyes to come to the aid of his friend. He passes his prayer on to the pastor, adding his wishes to the prayer list. On Sunday, the congregation is presented with the plight of this friend of the church, along with the needs of many others. Much sympathy is felt and a mass prayer goes out.

Many Christians will swear that the power of prayer works. If, by chance, that friend pulls through fairly unscathed, "Praise Jesus, our prayers were with him." If, this time, it doesn't work and he dies or becomes a vegetable, "It was God's will. The Lord works in mysterious ways. We must now pray for God to help us understand and accept His will." It's a built-in failsafe.

Okay, now bear with me... I'm not writing this for the purpose of knocking Christians here. I do have a point, and I think it's a pretty good one.

Here's the next scene:
Same friend, same situation, only this time our subject is a Laveyan Satanist. He is filled with sorrow at the unjust blow his friend has suffered. This time, he enters his darkened, polygonal ritual chamber. The candles are lit. The altar stands, draped in a blood red satin cloth emblazoned with the Sigil of Baphomet. There sits a skull (probably a poly-resin model), next to a short sword and a chalice of wine (or any juice he finds pleasing to his palate). The room is full of the smell of his favorite incense & small trails of smoke from the black candles, tall and tapered as well as pillars. He strikes a gong, calls forth the names of Lucifer; his blood pounds. His body is flooded with adrenaline.

He brings forth a photo of his dear friend. He focuses his energy on the pain his friend must be feeling. He empathizes with his friend, feels the sorrow, lets himself weep and concentrate on his desired outcome. He gives himself totally to the working. He cries every last drop and uses all his energy to visualize his friend recovered, voicing his most sincere sympathetic wishes to the still, empty, darkened ritual chamber. Until he is worn out. The ritual is concluded, the gong is rung yet again. He finishes with a "Shemhamforash! Hail Satan!"

Now, if his friend pulls through, chances are, he's not going to tell his friend that it came as a direct result of his greater magic ceremony. But that's what he'll believe. If it doesn't appear to work, he can justify it by telling himself, "I must have diffused the working by not fully believing in it," or "Perhaps the power was diluted because I thought about it too much after the casting. Once the magic is out there, it's best not to think about it afterward." Another built-in failsafe.

Both these practices are based upon faith. The Christian relies on faith in a God he has never seen. The Laveyan Satanist relies on faith in his own magical abilities, as does a Wiccan. The difference is that a Satanist recognizes the ritual chamber for what it is--a place to suspend disbelief in the impossible. Because magic (or a prayer-related miracle, for that matter) really is impossible, right?

The Satanist is an atheist, a skeptic. He chooses to work his magic, or prayers, in an environment that most stimulates his senses and gives him a rise. Anton LaVey, for many years, used a live nude woman as the altar in his group rituals. It was meant to titillate & ignite the senses. It is this excitement and focus of emotions and thought that directs the power that I believe lies in every human.

I believe no matter what you call it: prayer, magic, creative visualization, empathy, self affirmation, suggestion, whatever... it's all the same damned thing. It's something we can all do, but we can't explain it, so the easiest thing to do is to attribute it to a higher power. "I'm not causing it to happen, I'm asking God to, and he's doing it."

That's why I don't make judgments on other people's beliefs too often. They do what works for them, what inspires them to get the results they need. In my understanding, the Christians are doing the same thing I do, only they take it a bit more seriously than I do. I'm so skeptical, it's a wonder I believe in anything.