I think many of my blogs may have come off as anti-Christian or anti-religious.  Frankly that’s the wrong impression.  I really respect many people of many different faiths.  I think religion can provide strong morals, such as ‘love thy neighbor’, and other wisdom to live by.  In fact if I were surrounded in a world of practicing Christians, I wouldn’t be so bitter all the time.  The fact is though, there are a lot of people in America who, under the guise of religion, spread hate and discrimination.  That is what I cannot stand.  If you’re going to say you believe in something, actually take the time to know what you’re believing in and practice it.

Why were women so restricted 200 years ago?  Because people used the Bible to justify the housewife position, women only existed to serve their husbands and procreate.  They could not do ‘a man’s job’.  Perhaps that is why our country was founded on the principle of women not being allowed to vote for their own president, they didn’t have as much going on up in their heads as men.  Then the Bible was used to defend slavery.  There are extensive topics regarding the subject, all pointing to the absolute obedience of a slave to his master.  White supremacy ruled over our nation and churches did nothing to stop the vast injustice.  Now we come to a new century.  One in which two people in love aren’t allowed to get married.  The World Health Organization has already ruled that, no, I do not have some medical illness.  No, more likely that I won some sort of genetic lottery.  Or, as current science is looking into, was affected by a mix of hormones while I was developing in the womb.  A little less sin, a lot more born the way I am.

So.  There are a lot of Christians in my life whom I love and do truly respect.  Please note that any bitter rants about religion are not directed at you.  But the great thing about America is that you can choose whatever religion you want.  And I can too.  This isn’t some system where beliefs are stifled.  This is a country that is fertilized so that its population can believe what they want.  That is the absolute beauty of our system here.  Why some conservative right wing [neo Nazis] want to push THEIR views on a multicultural, multiracial, multireligious nation is up in the air.  Would I ever want to push legislation banning religion because I personally am agnostic?  No.  In fact I find the timeless quote going along the lines of ‘I may not believe in what you say, but I’ll give my life so that you have the freedom to say it’ outstandingly true.

A lady came in to Guest Service on Monday and talked to me for 20 minutes.  It was a complaint.  Why?  Because we sell the Fischer Price dolls that apparently say ‘Islam is the Light’.  Ok, yes, if you listen and are looking for words out of baby gurgling, you can hear that.  Or you could hear ‘Salami is so Right’.  What do you think the media is going to sensationalize though?  Anyways, she sits there and very seriously says how awful this is that we still have it on our shelves.  KMart and Wal Mart have apparently taken them down.  Then she drops a political bomb on me:

“This is America”

REALLY?!  You’re going to sit here and tell me that you don’t want a product sold because you don’t agree with what it’s saying?  IN AMERICA?  In a land that was founded because a group of people were persecuted for their religion?  There are millions of Muslims in America.  They are AMERICAN.  They are no better and no worse than anyone else in this country.  That is OFFENSIVE to them.  That is one of those ‘beyond-words’ its so offensive.  It was offensive to me, not as a Muslim, but as an American.  A patriotic American who believes in freedom for all, even if I’m not going to agree with them.  And she has the FREEDOM to believe that America has to follow HER rules and bow to HER will.  But it is not, in any way shape or form, her right to impose her beliefs on anyone else. 

Really?  This is over a toy.  She’s going on, threatening to talk to churches boycotting Target stores, etc.  I don’t care.  If people want to discriminate against another religion, I don’t want them anywhere near me.  Grow up lady.  Grow the hell up.

The real kicker about all this?  I held a straight face.  I was sympathetic.  I assured her that I would pass the complaint on internally and that I could see where she was coming from.  She actually told me that I was much better than workers at ANOTHER Target who had treated her rudely.  Not just a worker, the manager of toys.  Then when the store manager was called over, apparently they were rude to her too.  Wow, I wonder why.

But I stuck by the points I’m making here.  It was by no means my place to tell her that, no, I thought she was dead wrong and ought to be hung out to dry by real and honorable Christians throughout the country.  She can have her beliefs, I can have mine.  The difference is that I use a personal blog to express myself and she tries to change what a store sells so that she can feel comfortable and secure in her religion.

I don’t consider her a Christian, and I don’t consider anyone else who is willing to use their religion as justification for pushing their beliefs onto other people.  I’m hoping that people reading this will see the difference between expressing yourself and your opinions vs trying to graft your will onto a nation with a diverse population.

The picture above is Sally Kern, who got re-elected to senate in Oklahoma or something.  Her and her husband want me to be sent off to a “Re-Education Camp” (direct quote from Mr. Kern) because the way I am does not fit with their beliefs.

It is better to give more freedoms and let people take advantage of them on an individual level than for a majority to withhold rights from a minority because they may not agree with them.

Good photo editing though, right?  All the Devil horns ‘n stuff look superb.  Photo-realistic if I must say.  Then taking a Zombie head and putting it on her “pastor” husbands head…wow.  No one could tell that was a human beforehand.  Those people are not Christians in any sense of the word.  They can say they are, but honestly, according to their own beliefs, it will be Jesus who decides that.  And Jesus has preached nothing but love.  Spreading bigotry and hate was not part of his gospel.

PS- If anyone wants to read the article that finally made me write all this out, it’s here. Remind me not to ever vote for a politician just because they’re KERN-servative.

PPS- I’ve always wondered why Muslims don’t do more to discourage radical behavior like terrorism that draws so much hate their way.  Now I’m left wondering how Christians are any better when their base is rallied to vote in the embodiement of hate into our government.

PPPS- This article was written by a Christian. Are you the same kind of Christian as him? Comment on this post. Is he really the voice of today’s Christians?

We’re essentially at a crossroads now with our country.  We can follow the lead of previous political leaders and run the United States of America into the ground or we can forge a new path and try to fix what has been broken.  This is a crucial point for us, that point cannot be stressed enough.  This isn’t to advocate Obama or Clinton or Democrats, this is to tell you that if we make a mistake at this point we may be beyond saving.  I’m sick of the political tug of war that our country has been going through.  America is facing the biggest defecit in its history, we are continuing to fund a war that has not been won and will not be won, and finally we are facing domestic threats to our freedom, the most prized American value, straight from our President’s desk.  This is not time to debate conservative or liberal, this is time for positive change for the country.  Whoever can bring this ship back on course is the person who deserves to lead our country.

We suffer from global hate right now for past military actions.  We suffer from domestic unrest in the wake of decisions made by our politicians.  We suffer grave abuse of power in the forms of our own terrorism and illegal spying, not on terrorists, but of our own citizens by our elected officials.  What has our media done about this?  Nothing.  They have decided to go after a monetary goal instead of doing their duty to report what is going on to the American public.  What is most important to us right now is not what is going to give the highest ratings.  CNN has failed us.  Fox has failed us.  MSNBC has failed us.  It’s downright sickening honestly.  If the media cannot get its own priorities straight, how are even the most dedicated people to get any useful and unbiased information about the wrongs being committed right here in our own country?  What’s the solution to that?

It’s time for citizens to actually get together and voice their unrest.  This isn’t something that is entirely Bush’s fault.  Our Congress has lead us astray, our media has negelected it’s duties, and finally much responsibility falls on our own shoulders for being so passive about the events that have transpired.  If we stay silent we are simply accomplices to our own demise.  And if it were simply America slowly caving in on itself, fine.  We have other countries to go to or we could simply be blissful in our simple American ignorance.  But no, that’s not the situation right now.  America is falling apart at the seams…but it is affecting the global balance of things to boot.  The Middle East has already been punished for our own stupidity, countries have had to send their sons to fight our war which was from the start misguided.  And there are 4,000 families and counting that will not have a son or daughter come back from overseas alive.  Can you fathom the pain they must be in?  I don’t think so, because if you did, you would not be content doing nothing.  That is 4,000 families that will only have memories of a 1st grade painting or a craft made in 5th grade to remember their precious child by.  That is 4,000 families that will not get to see one of their children have a family of their own.  And that is 4,000 too many.  Get a fucking clue America, this is not ok.  I am also not ignoring the loss of countless- COUNTLESS innocent Iraqi families that face the same tradegy on even a larger scale.  They are just like us.  Just. Like. Us.  And if you can fool yourself into thinking that they aren’t, that they’re simply a faceless enemy, you have dehumanized them and have disrespected humanity at large.  We are people, they are people, and on either side…it is a tradgedy.

Have we found any signs of weapons of mass destruction?  No.  Have we even caught the man responsible for the terrorist attacks that sparked a ‘War on Terror’?  No.  Why not?  Can we not ask that question yet, after almost 8 years?  WHAT ARE WE DOING?!  You’ve been fooled.  I’ve been fooled.  Fooled into thinking that we were safe.  Fooled into thinking that our freedom was secure.  Fooled into thinking that we were doing the right thing.

But I am not content to be fooled any longer.  I am not content to stand by and let people die.  And finally I do have the audicity to ask you.  Are you willing to stand on the side with your eyes and ears closed?  At the end of the day it will be yourself that you’ll have to live with.

According to other news sources, McDonalds and Burger King are now considering offering discounds to “significantly underweight” customers in a similar move.  Old Country Buffet had already tried this tactic last month in what could most certainly be considered a last ditch effort to offer tables to people who were not obese.  Unfortunately their press release left it ambigious whether this was a brand image issue or a money saving tactic for their chairs and flooring after the heavy wear they were seeing.  Even with the incentive though, OCB could not attract a large enough skinny customer base to make continued efforts succesful.

I’ll report any other news from corporate America if I catch whiff of it~

It’s this sort of atmosphere that has helped create such an ignorant country, one that is willing to stand behind a war that was based on bad intelligence and muddled motives.  It is this sort of atmosphere that has provoked our public to not support our fellows, but instead seek an end result that is best for themselves.  It is this sort of atmosphere that has caused us to put misunderstood religious beliefs into a political system that should never have to contend with them.

Congratulations average American.  You’ve failed your duty to your country.  Instead of caring about your neighbor, you care about yourself.  Instead of seeking out the knowledge that you should, you have contented yourself to mindlessly indulge in entertainment.  Instead of holding your politicians accountable for the wrongs they have committed against our very world, you let them go and blindly follow.  Instead of advocating what’s good for the country, you doggedly defend your parties positions and make it an A vs B situation.

This is why we’re going into a recession.  This is why we’re losing world power.  This is why we so desperately need a president to lead us as we enter this new technological age.

It’s now gone beyond Bush’s fault, beyond Congress’s misguided legislation, beyond all government blame.  For the American public can now shoulder this guilt together.  And if you don’t understand what I’m talking about, if you’ll deny what I’m talking about, open your eyes.  I’ll admit, with your eyes shut you can’t see anything bad, but a blind man about to walk into a ditch is still going to fall, no matter how happy he appears for those last few seconds on his feet.

Wake up.