My New Job

Before I told you that of all people, I ended up taking a job at a baptist company. Don't worry, it's not like a xtian tv network or anything, but it is a baptist-based company. I was originally quite worried because it just goes against everything I believe in. It's actually going ok though. So far the only thing religious I've really been exposed to is orientation started with a prayer.

That was actualy pretty offensive though because I don't even want to hear that offensive shit. Of course they just don't get it do they? I've talked to my mom about this and she doesn't get it either, but it really is bullshit. Here, let me show you what I mean.

Xtians have taken to trying to sneak prayer into places by saying that they're going to have a prayer, but those who don't choose to are welcome to observe a moment of silence instead. The only problem is it's not a moment of silence because there's some asshole asking an invisible man in the sky for favors. And with the shit religion usually stands for, it's just offensive to have to listen to that shit. And like I said, they don't get it. They think, why are you so upset? I said you don't have to pray, you can just sit there and keep to yourself until we're done. Yeah, I suppose I could, but let's put the shoe on the other foot for a minute and see how you like it.

Let's say that I'm the head of a very liberal company, perhaps a porn distributor and you take a job there knowing that it's likely you'll never have to actually see porn because there are gov't regulations protecting you from that kinda thing. Now, when you show up for orientation I announce that we're going to watch a short ass pounding video, but for those of you who don't want to you can just sit there and keep to yourself in silence. So let me ask you... is that moment of silence acceptable, or would you rather we keep our offensive material to ourselves? Because offensive is offensive, and frankly, I'm seriously offended when someone starts preaching that bullshit because religion is nothing but bad. It's an evil in this world and we have to crush it. Too many horrendous things are done in the name of somebody's god and it has to stop. So yeah, I actually get offended when these assholes make me sit there silently while they spew their poison in the air.

Frankly, I'd rather watch a good ass pounding.

Feeling the Pressure

Wow, I’m really starting to feel the pressure of being in the bible belt.  We decided to put a bid in on a house and it’s on the corner lot of 2 major streets.  And the other THREE corners have fucking churches on them.  So I’ll be completely surrounded by the enemy if I take this house.

As well, I just took a job that turns out to be for a southern baptist org.  Now, it’s a huge company so perhaps it won’t be that bad, but just being surrounded by all of that makes me sick to my stomach.

I’m just getting really sick of having to justify things to people who don’t want to do take certain actions because of an invisible man in the sky.

In the Same Breath

So I was talking to my mom today... you remember her, the strict baptist.

And she told me that she's finally given up on me. She no longer holds any belief that I will find the lord again. All that really means is that she'll stop bugging me about it because I'm sure she won't stop getting on her knees-clasping her hands- and talking to herself about it. And believe it or not, in the same breath she started telling me a story about the old testiment. I'm trying to remember now what her point was because it sparked the reason for this post and it just went out of my head. Oh wait, I remember now.

Yeah that's it... she was telling me about something they were studying in bible group last week. How all these people were screwing around sinning all over the place, having sex with relatives, etc. and how god gave them a chance to repent and they refused so he brought the flood. The baptists are a simple people aren't they?

Anyway though... so as she tells the story god doesn't make you do anything. He gives you the choice to do as he commands and to repent if you stray. Oh wait, that's what started all this... I asked her why god didn't just make us do what he wants if he wants us to do it so badly, why doesn't he just make it so that we always do what he wants. And she told me that story to demonstrate how he gives us free will.

And this is the point of my whole argument with her. If god gives us free will and we can choose as we like, then why does he kill us when we refuse to do as he wants? We're talking old bible here still right? But it's not free will if he says do it or I'll kill you. Free will is free will. And when you have free will you're welcome to do what you like. There may be consequences, but they shouldn't be at the hand of the person giving you permission to do what you like. In a free will environment you're free to make choices and live the the consequences of those choices as they happen. But you're not allowed to wave a steak in front of your dog and then beat him when he goes for it.

I had this same thing with a couple ex-girlfriends. We would be talking about some hot chick at a party or someone I worked with and they would always say something like... if you wanna sleep with her you're welcome to. No, really, go ahead. You can do whatever you want. And then when I would ask what would happen if I did, they would say... oh I'd leave you, but you're free to fuck her if you want. Well then, that's not really free now is it? It's understood that if I wanna fuck someone else it'll end the relationship. The way to approach that is no you can't go fuck that girl. That way it's understood that my girlfriend does not approve of me fucking someone else and should I choose to do it, things between us will be over. But to say I'm free to do it, go ahead... well, that's just misleading. I'm glad I never actually fell for that trap.

So in the old bible there really is no such thing as free will. You do what you're told or you're fucking dead. Which leads me into one of the god problems right? If the new testament takes care of that by him sending jesus to save us so he didn't have to kill all of us all the time, then that proves god can't exist at all. Because that proves that god made a mistake in the way he was dealing with us before and he had to change his method. And if the entire premise is that god is infallable, then that disproves the entire thing right there. Or maybe he didn't realize he would have to keep killing us and killing us because we never learn our lesson. Either way, god didn't see it coming so he's not perfect.

I really do believe all of this, but GOD I love fucking with my mother.

A Short Trip to Hate

It's really true that introducing a new idea is very difficult while altering an existing idea is easy.
Look at the IRS as an example. Back when it was formed, there were those who understood this very well, and rallied against us allowing our income to be taxed. The IRS made the point that it was only taking a very tiny percentage so nobody would really miss that money. And they were right. So under that premise, the IRS was formed and as you can see, the concept has changed quite a bit since then. They're not only taking money that you definitely miss, they've got the power to ruin your entire life.

Now let's transfer that to religion. The purpose of religion is to be exclusionary. It's a club where you exclude those who don't agree with you. And once you bite that apple it's really easy to expand your exclusions to all sorts of things/people that have nothing to do with your original intent.

A perfect example is my mother. We were talking this morning about this commercial on the internet we saw last night where this girl's parents ended up eating a cucumber that she had been jacking off with... it's actually pretty funny. And my mom said that they needed to take that kind of stuff off the internet because it feeds child porn. Fucking What? OK, I'll spare you the specifics, but let's just say I handled that in a way that set her straight.

Then we got to talking about child abuse... I'm not sure how exactly, but she said...
"Like there's this guy overhere, he was black of course, who they arrested because he threw he baby up against the wall for crying."

So why is that "of course"? Black people are predisposed to throwing babies? Why, are they shaped like spears or something? I thought they were only predisposed to liking fried chicken. I read that in an encyclopedia. (if you didn't get that, it's a Dave Chapelle routine... just fucking hilarious)...

But now that she's a mega-baptist she's used to excluding all kinds of things. She doesn't like porn on the internet, or people who throw babies, or apparently black people. Now, I happen to know she's not a outright racist, but there's definitely something going on there that wasn't going on before she started going to a country church every sunday. And thinking back, a lot of xtians are racist. And I don't know why because the original intent of their religion is to exclude people who don't believe in God... make that, THEIR God. But nobody is more religious than the coloreds. And they sing really well too. So what do the xtians have against them? Well of course I'm sure it's because they're not like them. Religion is giving them an excuse to hate and now it's much easier because they're already opened their minds to the fact that everybody's not as enlightened as they are. So now it's just a short trip to hating on race, or geography, or dress size, or even how they like their filet mignon or whether they can tell their shrimp fork from their escargot fork.

Star Wars hit it right on the head. When the emperor was trying to get Luke to hit him; to let his anger out. That's all it really takes is to give in to your anger. The rest is fairly easy. Those are some pretty small bridges to have to cross because you've already let your bad side get the best of you. It doesn't change with religion. They've already given in to their bad side, now choosing more people to hate is just a row of cotton away.

So inventing, designing, and building the gun was hard, but pointing it at different people is easy.