Friday, February 17, 2012

Ramblings of a Normal Guy: A Rambling for Gay Marriage


Welcome to another addition of ramblings of a normal guy. This is my special column, where I go off on wild rants complaining about the things that happen and effect my (and ours) every day life. Because of the excessive amounts of stupidity that will be featured, a large amount of inappropriate language will most likely be used. Also expect a large helping of calling out and "I don't give a crap". Rated M for mature, and read at  your own risk.


So before we do this, I need to get a few things straight;

As many of you know by now, I have this growing desire to be pat of and participate in the human rights moment. Why? Because... well it's just not right how humans treat each other. It's deplorable really. The color of one's skin should not dictate social standing, just like who one's love shouldn't get them chained to a car and dragged to death. Seriously, how could anyone thing this is ok to do? How the fuck could anyone think it's ok to kill another because they are gay? All people are equal, all people have the right to life and all people have the right to love. No "god", no bullshit religion, and no book could nor should ever take that away. And no, being gay doesn't lead to bestiality. So it was probably because of this belief, that I was asked to write a essay for gay marriage. Sure, no big there! Yet confident in my choose, a bit of iffyness hits me. It can be best described as doing something you know is right, but also knowing it isn't going to be pretty. As I'm sitting here formulating how I'm going to write this, my brain box races with different ways this will all play out. The purpose of this rambling is to open eyes, not a bitch fest.*1 I happen to know a few people who are very religious, one happens to be a great friend. I want to go about this to show that gay marriage really isn't this horrid thing, not do anything to offend his beliefs. Can I actually do this? 
 
Another point I want to make before I begin in this; when one uses the bible to make arguments about anything of a (non)religious nature, a certain mind set is present. The bible is a two thousand old year old book that many believe is without question or suspect. Within the pages, such people say that nothing is subject to interpretation, nothing is in need of being "updated" to current times and nothing is in need of editing in, out or changed. The bible is a book said to have divine inspiration, and as such should not be held to any mortal law or thought. Each person should and MUST have the right to believe in what they hold true, even if we and others think them batshit insane. While I may find much of Christianity suspect, and the ideas of Creationism just silly, each person that holds true belief in it, must forever be allowed to do so in peace. Religion and faith is their personal relationship in the Divine, not a bloody boxing match! My only problem comes when people use such religion for ego, profit or (in this case) to deny others civil rights. 

Religion is yours to keep, not force on others.

Now that I'm here, and as I further organize my thoughts about this, and I'm just about ready to get started, I come to the realization I will probably offend some people. No matter how one puts it, how nicely it is said or what evidence is presented, there will always be at least one person who takes offense. When one mixes speaking about human rights, taboos and the bible, well let's just say it rarely ends well. As I said before, people have very specific and fixed ideas when it comes to their religious worlds, and when questioned, it is rarely handled civilly. But I seem to be repeat loop here. The purpose of today's Ramblings of a Normal Guy is not to insult or shake ones faith. If you are offended by this, and you are not a egotistical a-hole, I do apologize but ask you to read on. If it shakes your faith in what ever you hold, these are issues you should probably address with yourself.

So yea... here goes.


Thursday, February 2, 2012

Religious Nuts Exposed: God Bless America (2012)



 
Awarded to the Westboro Baptist Church

The Westboro Baptist Church (or WBC) is an Independent Baptist “church” known for its extreme stance against homosexuality, other religions, and anything else that tickles their fancy. They are also known for their greatly offensive protest activities against fallen service men/woman and high profile aka popular people. In this special section, we will explore their hateful and distorted “divine” teachings and expose them for what they truly are, a hate group who uses religion for personal power.


So, I was planning to take a break from How the WBC Fails series to take time to write about other things in my life, most importantly my faith. I really want to take the time and write about the many wonderful things my faith has gifted to me. I want to write about how it opened my eyes and calmed my mind. I want to write about how the God and Goddess has helped me so. While many others may see Paganism as of the devil, we who are actually informed, see our faith, our religion, our heart, as joining with the natural world and coming to terms with ourselves. Yes I know it's a run on sentence, but I really don't care :) For the most part, this is still the case. Ramblings of a Pagan Guy: Light and dark is sitting in my draft section ready to be finished. However, I just had to point Firefox over to twitter (and Facebook). As anyone with a desk job can tell you, this is disastrous.  



A how to guide to kill the WBC! Wut?