How I feel

Since turning 49 just over a week ago, I seem to have hit a writing slump. That’s not to say, that I was writing anything good up a storm prior to that milestone (for me it is).

I don’t know what it is. I feel great. Better than great actually. I could be 48, or 40 or 27 even. Maybe that’s it. I feel too young and my mind is on other things, younger, reckless things, and writing seems like a chore.

But…

I have been contemplating many things. And no, suicide isn’t one of them.

For instance, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is purring again after nearly two years of upgrades and renovations. Since Sunday, actually. That’s really great. It’s a reflection of everything that’s good about the world.

Elsewhere there’s ISIS, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab, the last only recently massacring around 148 students in Kenya. Then there’s Pat Robertson and Deepak Chopra, alternate sides of the same ideologically unstable coin, whose regular mutterings are quite frankly, insane. I pick on mention a few, but all of these represent a side of the world that is not good at all.

And here in South Africa, we have a group of militant students who are of the opinion (or more likely have been manipulated into believing) that defacing and toppling historic statues will change their lot in life. Right about now they’re watching in glee as a statue of Cecil John Rhodes is being removed from a university campus.

But, the LHC is humming softly and I feel good…

More on that old debate

I’ve been reading some of the responses to the Evolution-Creation debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, but the most interesting one comes from the least likely source.

Pat Robertson is well-known for saying the most absurd things while marketing conservative Christianity, but his response to Ken Ham after the debate, is probably the sanest thing he’s ever let slip through that bigoted pie-hole.

Let’s be real, let’s not make a joke of ourselves.

I’m flabbergasted Pat but it would be absolutely stunning if you’d reconsider those other peculiar views you hold about perfectly natural human tendencies… and abandon creationism entirely. There’s just no sense in going half-way.

However, not everyone is as enlightened (relatively) as Pat concerning the creation myth. Some, if not all of these messages collated after the debate by BuzzFeed is mind-numbingly ignorant. Take this one for example:

How do you explain a sunset if their is no God.

And no I’m not even referring to the spelling…

Boobquake: A reasoned response to radical religious rectitude

If you haven’t heard or read about Boobquake by now, then you’re missing out on one of the most amusing social events of the decade. Well, in case you’ve just come back from Outer Mongolia or North Korea, allow me to fill you in.

It all started when a delusional Iranian cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi proclaimed during a recent Islamic prayer sermon, that:

Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes

That bombshell so incensed blogger Jen McCreight, that she not only posted a blog about it, but started a Facebook group called Boobquake which invites people around the world (I suppose it was meant to be directed at women) to participate in Boobquake along with her on Monday, 26 April 2010. Basically she’s asking that everyone join her in wearing immodest clothing or revealing some cleavage, but according to strict (read ridiculous) Islamic morality, could mean revealing so much as an ankle. It’s being touted as a scientific experiment to prove that women who dress immodestly do not increase the chances of earthquakes occurring, or cause them in the first place.

Needless to say, the Facebook group has gone viral, and as I write this, has attracted 155,861 confirmed guests (which includes men; and yes, I joined too, not to reveal my non-existant boobs, but in protest against religious stupidity) and a further 48,689 people who may be joining.

Now anyone with half a brain knows that immodestly dressed, or even completely naked women for that matter, don’t cause more earthquakes. Even some cursory reading will reveal that earthquakes or seismic activity is caused by the sudden release of pressure in the earth’s crust. However if you are prone to being mesmerized by clerics such as Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi or Pat Robertson, then you’re bound to believe the bullshit that they are caused by women or god or both. Statements like those below from Sedighi, only serve to delay mankind’s journey to enlightenment, and should be re-consigned to the Dark Ages from whence it originates:

What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble? There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam’s moral codes

If by some weird co-incidence an earthquake does erupt on  Monday, one can only hope that our ignorant little cleric from Iran is at the epicentre, if only to bring the spreading of crass ideology to an end. These religious cretins whose fundamentalist religious doctrines, cause so much distress to women and children, and the world in general, deserve a much harsher punishment, but one would have to stoop to their level to wish it upon them.

So come Monday, I look forward to seeing some extra cleavage or even whole boobs, but I would honestly just settle for some sexy ankle. Women are at liberty for one day, to release their weapons of mass distraction [WMD’s] upon this religious crazy world.

There are some truly sick Christians out there…

As the death toll from the horrific earthquake that devastated Haiti last week rises above 100 000 people, Relief Agencies and Charities together with ordinary people are busy rallying to bring sorely needed aid to the survivors. And while some Christians such as Pat Robertson make crass statements about how the Haitians deserved it, others have found sordid ways to use it to strengthen their misguided religious conviction.

An example is the one-liner e-mail I received earlier today from a Christian cousin. With Haiti in the subject line, the contents allude to a photograph being  attached or embedded, but in the obvious glee with which it was sent out, he seems to have forgotten to attach it:

After the horrific earthquake, the cross is still standing .....not even a crack....!

My first reaction was one of utter disgust. Later, I attempted to find the source of this mail on-line, and eventually came across what was obviously the missing photograph, which was originally posted here.

Off course there is no way of knowing if the photograph is actually from Haiti after the destruction caused by the earthquake (except if you actually bother to go over there to check for yourself), but that is besides the point. The problem is that the e-mail conveys a message that these Christians care more about a symbol of their religion, than the thousands who lost their lives, and the survivors who have lost everything else.

So, being a sarcastic bastard myself, I could not resist replying as follows:

Wonderful, isn’t it? 100 000 people dead (killed?), but a disgusting symbol of torture stands untouched. Your god has a remarkable sense of humor, doesn’t he? So what’s he got planned for next month? A volcano eruption maybe? Hurricanes are cool too!!! Boy what fun he’ll have, watching all those sinners flying about in the wind? Who knows, maybe this time he’ll leave an entire church or temple still standing untouched. Yeah, can’t wait for his next “loving” act!!!

Off course, there are a lot of good Christian people out there who do not need crude reassurances to sustain their belief. Most likely you would find a good number of these people very involved in the relief effort already. For those not yet involved, and other kind people, contributions to the humanitarian effort in Haiti can be made to Oxfam America.

Seems god has chilled out since the time of Noah

Pat Robertson, self-proclaimed spokesman for god, the devil and right-wing nut-jobs, wasted no time in declaring that the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday, was the culmination of god’s anger at the people of Haiti for making a pact with the devil while they were under French rule.

Not only did he make this ridiculous claim on his CBN (Christian Broadcast Network) newscast yesterday, he sank to a greater low by stating that this tragedy “may be a blessing in disguise.” 

Off course insensitivity to human suffering has never bothered Pat before; he, and his pathetic followers believe that a god wills it, and deems it necessary to punish transgressions. Remember his claim that Hurricane Katrina which struck New Orléans was the result of god’s punishment for homosexuality and voodoo rituals practiced there? And what about the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 where more than 200 000 people perished? I’ll bet Pat attributes that to the work of god too, and for what? If Pat is to be believed, it doesn’t take too much to piss off His Holy Nastiness.

If you follow Pat’s reasoning (and off course, those fruitcakes who believe him), all the nasty people in the world either live along fault lines or along the coast, which is presumably why the mighty avenger in the sky, wreaks massive death and destruction upon them with his weapons of choice – earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.

Yep, it seems god still gets his kicks from punishing his creation; ever since his mistake in creating them in his likeness, and with free will. Only now his wrath is not as great as it used to be.  

And I guess the world should be grateful that he has become more selective since that deluge he sent during Noah’s time which wiped out everything and everybody not on the Ark.

God Hates Jazz

Three years ago Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans with a fury that was described by some evangelists such as Pat Robertson as God’s revenge for abortion and homosexuality among other things considered as “evil” by these hate mongering preachers.

After the death and destruction wreaked by Katrina, the poor people of New Orleans were subjected to further pain and suffering when they were shamefully abandoned by the Republican government of George Bush. According to Michael Moore, on the day that Katrina broke the first levees (dikes), George Bush was apparently partying with John McCain, and they continued having fun at a fundraiser, a full day afterwards, while New Orleans was flooding.

Last week, another evangelist, the Rev. James Dobson, a well-known right wing nut-job and also considered as a New Hitler for the Twenty-First Century, called for his dim-wit followers to pray for a storm so that Barrack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver, would be cancelled. However in an ironic turn of events, the storm in the form of Hurricane Gustav was set to hit New Orleans again and Louisiana where The Republican National Convention was scheduled to take place.

Now some are saying that God has a great sense of humor by punishing the Republicans and their supporters, such as the Rev. Dobson. But it surely has to make one wonder if  “He” just does not like Jazz music and can’t stand to see folks having a good time (as they usually do in New Orleans).