Delusional Qualities explained: Any person that is so blind to obvious facts has "delusional qualities". Now, I don't expect that the use of this term will gain such lofty heights as the scientific term "natural selection", the philosophical term coined by Kant- "categorical imperative", or the Latin term which means "Thus always with tyrants." (Sic Semper Tyrannis). This was uttered by John Wilkes Booth after he shot Abraham Lincoln in the balcony of the theatre. For more on Lincoln- read below.
The Limit of god's powers: Let me just say this- any athlete, musician, religious zealot, movie-star, politician, soldiers, or warthog who thinks that god allowed them to be something, or even worse, provided them with "talent" clearly has delusional qualities- it isn't even debatable. god did not help you score a touchdown, convince a crowd of sheep to believe in miracles, help you land a movie role, assist you in killing your fellow man, or provide you with the inspiration to pen some words that the public is unbelievably drawn to while your record is in the top ten for a couple months. he, if there is a he, doesn't care.
Bigger concerns: He might have floods to worry about, grieving families who have lost a family member to console, or anarchists to favor. Oh, I was just kidding about that last part. Lincoln wrote in his second inaugural address about the opposing sides during the Civil War- "both [sides] pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other." Apparently god wanted to destroy the South. The result of the war was not due to the industrial and numerical advantages of the North- nope, it was because god wanted the South to suffer- their homes to burn, their women to be raped. Shouldn't half the country in 1865 have cursed god's name?
A Plea for private worship: Athletes- worship privately- do not tell a reporter that you have to give thanks to Jesus Christ, Allah, or Buddha. Your luck, your undeniable skill, the other team's injuries, or lack of preparation, a confluence of events such as a perfect throw, and a fantastic catch are all reasons why you have this time succeeded. So, SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT god! He does not care- he is not even there. Remember the Wizard of Oz? Yeah, he's a guy pulling strings behind a curtain. That is it! And before it was discovered that he was merely human, he was tyrannical. If believing in a god provides you with personal strength that is great- but it is nonsense to believe that the events of your life are tests whereby you may gain merit in the eyes of a deity should you remain dutifully faithful.
Natural Selection: You actually think that because you believe in god, you are the preferred people, that you have been naturally selected for a better afterlife, a more enlightened present life. Peoples under the grand umbrella of your own religion- christianity- here I am thinking of calvinism, believe that even if you do not have faith, virtue or merit you may be unconditionally elected to receive god's mercy and be subsequently saved, and if you have all of those things and are giving and pious you stand a very good chance of suffering the opposite fate. So, your own hubris is unwarranted in this case. Be quiet as you're being pious.
Your feeling of entitlement because of him, your idea that you are superior- is laughable! George Brett hit .390 for the Kansas City Royals in 1980. If he were a devout catholic- shouldn't he be cursing god for the just over 6 times out of 10 he was NOT successful?
Categorical Imperative: By the way- the "categorical imperative" according to Immanuel Kant- "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it would become a universal law." The implication here is that you believe you are better than others who do not believe- Jihadist Muslims feel the same way. You aware of what is happening because of that? No god would shun the prayers of another so that you can prevail. Of course, he does not shun prayers at all, for there is no god to answer when there is no god to hear.
Hypocritic Oath: So-play your games, write your music, fight your battles and be the tyrannically entitled hypocrite you unconscionably allow yourself to be- the only god that exists is the one in your mind- it is called your conscience. Be lucky, be good, work hard, be successful- but for god's sake stop giving credit to anything other than your work ethic, your teammates abilities, good luck, happenstance, or naturally refined abilities- which is not synonymous with god-given talent. The only thing wrong with this approach is that your ego will only get bigger, for you will not be able to thank a fictional lord, but will only be able thank yourself- (such shortsightedness) . . . oh god what have I done?
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Dory and Election Results
I know this is a week late, but I just got this blog set up yesterday. If the reverse psychology failed no one will be reading this anyway.
Political Dependency: At any rate, as Americans we should once again be disgusted with the political process. Democrats and Republicans get to believe that negative attack ads still work; there are still polls conducted by Dem. and Rep. think tanks that help influence hunyuck voters; and some intelligent voters were drawn to one side or the other because of the shiny objects the right and left dangled in front of our eyes- that came in the form of promises such as not raising taxes or the desire to remove troops from Iraq. Remember Dory from the "Finding Nemo" movie of a couple years ago? She was a fish attracted to shiny objects with a short memory. In short, the establishment politicians are smirking their way to elected office- and we are negotiating a current of jellyfish in the vain hope of keeping ourselves from getting stung. I'd use a sheep analogy here, but the fish metaphor seems to be working quite well.
Vote No for the Status Quo: Seriously people- a muskie is brighter than we are- I think it is a muskie- an intelligent fish, native to Minnesota- respected by anglers. People who voted for one side or the other, again neglecting the middle, that had the noble, protest-vote-idea of voting for Independent candidates, should feel like a bull racing towards the red cloak . . . and we know how that usually turns out. If you don't know- you should read a Hemingway novel. Ah, and we would be the bull- yeah, I'm going there- being led by the horns. A co-worker of mine will call these metaphors vapid and say my entire offering here is a combination of non sequiturs. My response- just because you don't believe in the ability of the language to stir a person's emotions and you don't agree with me doesn't mean there is a logical fallacy being propounded. The fallacy is that anything will change when you vote to keep the status quo parties in power.
Our Independence: Independent voters- anyone tell you your vote was wasted because you considered voting for a candidate running for office that was not an electible republican or democrat? Were you foolish enough to believe them? You ever hear of arguing, fighting, voting for a cause based on principle- ever hear of William Wallace- a Scottish militant executed for treason by a King of England who was not his king. Yes, this is what I do, I say alarming things that I believe and that others find offensive- and I choose not to care- because I'm right!
Short-Term memory: Oligarchy folks- the rule of the many by the entitled few. I include conservative talk show hosts like Bob Davis on (Minnesota's) AM 1500 who talk over people and liberal columnists like Lori Sturdevant from the Minneapolis Star Tribune whose short-sightedness won't allow her to be objective as advocates of same old, same old politics, who think a vote for a third party is a wasted vote. All we foster at election time is politics as usual if you keep putting the same types of people into office- career politicians who pander to you, who lie about voting records, who give half-truths to get elected and take money from corporations and interest groups on whose behalf they will vote once elected. So we vote for "change" . . . the same "change" we voted for last time- the same thing we have now. Once again we were duped and the sad thing is we'll do it again, because four years from now we won't remember that nothing has changed. Even Dory has a better memory than that.
Political Dependency: At any rate, as Americans we should once again be disgusted with the political process. Democrats and Republicans get to believe that negative attack ads still work; there are still polls conducted by Dem. and Rep. think tanks that help influence hunyuck voters; and some intelligent voters were drawn to one side or the other because of the shiny objects the right and left dangled in front of our eyes- that came in the form of promises such as not raising taxes or the desire to remove troops from Iraq. Remember Dory from the "Finding Nemo" movie of a couple years ago? She was a fish attracted to shiny objects with a short memory. In short, the establishment politicians are smirking their way to elected office- and we are negotiating a current of jellyfish in the vain hope of keeping ourselves from getting stung. I'd use a sheep analogy here, but the fish metaphor seems to be working quite well.
Vote No for the Status Quo: Seriously people- a muskie is brighter than we are- I think it is a muskie- an intelligent fish, native to Minnesota- respected by anglers. People who voted for one side or the other, again neglecting the middle, that had the noble, protest-vote-idea of voting for Independent candidates, should feel like a bull racing towards the red cloak . . . and we know how that usually turns out. If you don't know- you should read a Hemingway novel. Ah, and we would be the bull- yeah, I'm going there- being led by the horns. A co-worker of mine will call these metaphors vapid and say my entire offering here is a combination of non sequiturs. My response- just because you don't believe in the ability of the language to stir a person's emotions and you don't agree with me doesn't mean there is a logical fallacy being propounded. The fallacy is that anything will change when you vote to keep the status quo parties in power.
Our Independence: Independent voters- anyone tell you your vote was wasted because you considered voting for a candidate running for office that was not an electible republican or democrat? Were you foolish enough to believe them? You ever hear of arguing, fighting, voting for a cause based on principle- ever hear of William Wallace- a Scottish militant executed for treason by a King of England who was not his king. Yes, this is what I do, I say alarming things that I believe and that others find offensive- and I choose not to care- because I'm right!
Short-Term memory: Oligarchy folks- the rule of the many by the entitled few. I include conservative talk show hosts like Bob Davis on (Minnesota's) AM 1500 who talk over people and liberal columnists like Lori Sturdevant from the Minneapolis Star Tribune whose short-sightedness won't allow her to be objective as advocates of same old, same old politics, who think a vote for a third party is a wasted vote. All we foster at election time is politics as usual if you keep putting the same types of people into office- career politicians who pander to you, who lie about voting records, who give half-truths to get elected and take money from corporations and interest groups on whose behalf they will vote once elected. So we vote for "change" . . . the same "change" we voted for last time- the same thing we have now. Once again we were duped and the sad thing is we'll do it again, because four years from now we won't remember that nothing has changed. Even Dory has a better memory than that.
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