Back form a hiatus of sorts....

It's been quite some time since I've posted on my blog, as with most things affected by time, the one thing that's certain, is, of course, CHANGE! And, OH, THINGS have CHANGED!

Since my last post, I've found myself in a new job, a new career, a new mindset, and, even some new friends. Working, in what one could only describe as a mid-to-late thirty's office where we're surrounded by everything from HL7 to DICOM (if you got those two terms, awesome!) and of course the usual clusters to customers who seem to be mentally <span style="font-style: italic;">clustered</span>. But, like I said, I've also found myself spearheading down a new career path. One that appears to be full of rewards not just in terms of financial, but also knowledge!

However, of all the changes that have come to pass, both enjoyable, and not, I've have also found myself in a mix of new friends. People who I truly believe that could change the world if they choose to act upon it.

I'd guess this is where my new mindset comes into play. I've found myself listening to different types of music from the Beatles to the Mamas and the papas ( of course the usual Techno and Trance are still there). More so, I find myself tapering off when it comes to getting into heated debates about religion. In days of old, I'd overreach myself to emphasize my point of view.

Above all, I've found it necessary to start blogging again. To share my points of view; express what concerns me, excites me, dulls me, and gets my fires of thought started.

Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites--oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others--work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported. Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context--the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one. The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel's PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics.

THE WORLD NEEDS TO COME TO AN END


TOO MUCH SHIT GOING ON THAT JUST ISN'T RIGHT

THE END.

Demanding objective analysis

A few days back, I came home from yet another tiring day at work and decided to watch a bit of television. Now, granted, most of what's on there is nonsense mixed with a bit of truth and cooked in a pot of lies, but nonetheless, my mind had to unwind from the days work, and, TV, seemed a start.

Flipping through the channels, I came across a number of people who had been scheduled for the hour on CNN's Larry King. From time to time, his show has had some substance, and at most warrants a few minutes before changing the channel. What immediately caught my attention was a sobbing mother who sat there proclaiming that her young daughter had been tragically raped and killed, and whether or not a person like that can and should be rehabilitated into society. Among her were a few others who had similar situations and their answers varied.

What really caught my attention, and sort of forced me to add another post to my blog was an all-too familiar answer given by her, to a question from Larry. The jest of the question was how do you deal with the pain and suffering on a daily basis. Her answer came in the form of praising GOD for giving her the strength to go on and cope with the tragedy. And with out GOD she would certainly fail to do so and so on...

WAS SHE SERIOUS?

I could hardly understand how this women who has been through such a tragedy, come to such a conclusion with out questioning the act itself. I seemed to recall the quote "Faith: not wanting to know what is true" by Nietzsche shouting out at me as she and the rest of the panel seemed to acknowledge it and move on. How disillusioned is our society where religion can not explain the act itself, but some how offer the fact that you yourself can not continue without the help of the all-loving and caring god?

Where was this all-loving and caring god during the raping of that innocent child? Where was he during the brutal act of murder, and more important, how could that mother site there and just not pose the very same questions I am?

I was very sure I had overlooked something, I’m sure anyone would question if put in a similar situation. And, as the show continued, I expressly looked for that. I looked for the explanation that perhaps this women had offered herself to look past these simple yet unanswered questions to realize that god had and was helping her cope with this. Unfortunately, none of those answers came and the show ended.

Even now, I’m taken back as responses such as these fill our world. How, to no avail, can humanity put their beliefs and trust and hearts into a god with out any objective reasoning?

Here, folks, is my answer to this puzzle; our hearts are weak and our minds are fickle, we, as a society needs to fill the gaps that just don’t make sense. And, moreover, to get a grasp of what we don’t understand. I truly feel that for some, religion adequately, yet falsely, accomplishes this.

My thoughts will always remain the same; can we change as a whole, can we grow and overlook the need for a god and realize that all the help and support we’ll ever need is right here on earth in the very humans we interact with.

The Jesus Papers

It seems, the newest debacle from writer Michael Baigent, is oddly enough titled the Jesus Papers. It ambitiously fights to explain the rather strange fact that Jesus, proclaimed son of god, and savior of man-kind, had in fact survived the crucifixion to live on for a number of years. After reading it, I decided to take a few minutes to place an assumption upon what the book and of course the author is actually saying.

Before I do so, I’d like to share with you the message Mr. Baigent would like us to hear. From an interview given on Dateline, towards the end, Mr. Baigent made a point by saying that the main purpose of the book is so that people can finally start to ask questions. What he actually meant by this, was that he expected us to question whether or not, Jesus lived past the crucifixion, and perhaps many other beliefs the Catholic Church has to offer.

As the story goes, he was able to meet and greet an individual who was a collector and happened to be in the possession of two documents. In particular, those documents were from the year 45ad. Moreover, the astonishing point was not who the papers were written to, but rather from whom. According to Mr. Baigent, it was none other then Jesus himself.

As intriguing as that sounds, I, much like the rest of you, will undoubtedly ask the all too obvious question. Where is the proof? Where are these papers and why isn't its location noted or even exposed?

The answer, according to mr. Baigent, was that the man who possessed the documents, made a deal with the Vatican to keep them a secret or possibly destroy them. And, it is entirely up to the man to reveal them.

Now, with out further ado, my thoughts. It would appear that Mr. Baigent is boldly asking us to take a leap of faith and not only assume but accept that these papers are real, and more importantly, to understand that what many of us have believed for so long, is in fact, false. Well, I can not simply adhere to that task. For more then obvious reasons, to blindly accept such a fact with out a shred of proof or evidence is absolutely absurd.

I, at this point do not accept much of the religion as it stands now, and these papers can only serve to change the course of history, or, perhaps share in the line of well known lies. Either way, the book does, through its vague attempt of acting as a Dan Brown knock-off, bring up a rather interesting point, but perhaps the only truth that may come of this topic is that until there is some serious evidence to back up this theory; this book shall rest along side the others that are labeled fictional.

An explanation of sorts...

I feel rather compelled, in a sense, to state a few things before I continue on with the posts of several other topics. The past few posts on my blog have dealt with the concepts surrounding religion. Its impact on society and even a few questions from my end. However, my initial intention for this blog was to simply state my thoughts (hence the name) on many different topics. Moreover, my life did change drastically over the 2005 year. Events full of joy and tragedy surfaced and it seemed that the wave of events would never end. Well, I’m glad to say that things have calmed down a bit, and my life, has seemed to level off a bit as well. Yes, there are times when past memories, for lack of a better word haut me, and my loss is still deep within my emotions. But, it seems fitting to move on... and so I shall.

ROOT OF EVIL

To put it plainly, the root of evil is religion itself. Allow me to explain. Using any religion, is it not true that religion enforces the meanings of what constitutes as evil? Is it also not religion that forces us to understand who the proverbial “devil” is and what comes of people who hold no faith? For this very reason, it is religion that has brought forth this concept of evil. Understanding this point, we must examine what this truly means.

This perception set forth by the church is nothing more then a ploy, a deviously crafted tactic, to recapture our basic thinking and encapsulate it to their irrational beliefs. However, I beg of you not to equate my statement to mean that our basic thinking is in some form or fashion evil in nature. It is however, stated as a means to explain how a certain view can be expressed and believed by so many, with out any logical justification. As with god and the devil, there is no real proof to establish the fact that they exist. Certainly, a book of ill-sorted texts can not be used in a rational world as evidence for their existence.

Furthermore, evil in itself can not be intrinsically wicked, unless an act or notion is labeled by an individual or society to be as such. For example, if a group of people were to be killed, for any reason, such as their beliefs or method of living, many would believe this to be an evil deed. However, the people who commit the murders would possibly consider it righteous and by no means evil.

My explicit point here is that, evil, and the perception around it, is only valid by the conscience attitude of humanity. Yet, many people are plagued by the irrational beliefs of the Catholic Church. Abortion is one such idea which is considered a moral evil by the church; conversely, if abortion does have moral issues, it certainly is not evil. It is however, a subject that must be decided by every woman who faces the issue. The church has no right to pass judgment on this, and certainly has no right to label it evil in nature.

Nevertheless, we as a people believe this and may other concepts set forth by the Catholic Church, as well as other religions, full heartedly. For this reason, I still fail to realize why simple questions are not asked to verify the validity of such beliefs.