The Meaning of Life

What is it to be a human? What does it mean to exist? What's the significance of having feelings? These questions have been blown too far out of proportion! For too damn  long! Men and women have wasted away not knowing the answers, being misinformed regarding the truth being told and just being too simple and lazy to seek the sophisticated revelation of exactly what truth is. The answers are simple really. People have just been too ignorant and blinded by those in control to figure that out. Humans are basically distant cousins of Chimpanzees evolved to the point of sophistication where we can think we're not. It's a different story in nature though. From a biological perspective, life is much different to all the little animals. They don't voice it, but they know. They just know. Because of the way life is, nature knows that all things are a part of it. That's also what it means to exist. Just being a part of the universe. The fact that all matter and energy are infinitely recycled. It may not seem like it, but everything you see has at one point been something very different than what it is currently. even you. As a human being, you are composed of the earth. You are made up of other animals, the blood sweat and tears of other people. Everything we know. The Iron in our blood, The Calcium in our teeth, the Carbon in our apple pies. All composed of starstuff. It is so amazing and it's time we realize these truths and work to a greater understanding of what we truly are. We are the universe.

There lives in me an image.

Of all that I can be.

Until I gave become it.

My heart is never free.

The silver rain.

The shining sun.

The fields where scarlet poppies run.

And all the ripples of the wheat.

Are in the bread that I do eat.

So when I sit for every meal.

And know the truth I always feel.

That I am eating rain and sun.

And fields were scarlet poppies run.

The Young and Faithful

Growing up in a smaller town than most, it has been easy to observe and understand the lives and religious upbringings of my peers and fellow students. Personally I am torn as to whether I should be somewhat jealous of those who were lucky enough to not have to endure the confusion of a young religious life, or be thankful that I had the opportunity to know what it's like growing up believing there is a god watching me masturbate. I guess it's quite a trade off. Well I grew up in a minority. My mother, a born local, was raised into as far as I know, liberal Catholicism and my father being born in New York was a little more of a serious Jew. At least under the influence of my Hungarian Holocaust surviving Grandfather. So as a product of their marriage, I was raised Liberally Jewish out here in the Midwest, where Judaism.... is not too popular. At least outside the cities. So growing  up through primary school, I was one out of about four Jewish kids in my school. So, I was quite different from the rest. The interesting thing about my generation is the fact that we are so lucky to grow up in the information age. The start of the gradual yet rapid death of religion. So, religion isn't taken as seriously as it may have been fifty years ago. Depending on the home of course. Now for me, when I look back on it, religion was jut kinda a fun little thing that my family and I practiced in a very free, less serious way. Now That I'm grown I'm seeing a lot of false religious conviction among other people my age. It couldn't be more obvious that the sincerity of their devotion isn't genuine at all. It could just be a sham, simply to appear perceptually "grown up" or mature in the eyes of adults observing them as they graduate high school or something. Like they have a good head on their shoulders. Well let me tell you. Religion does not make you a "good person." An antiquated documentation of the creative tales of Mediterranean sheep herders is not the primary source for good morals and ethics on this planet, in our species and in our societies. Humans are smart enough to know that makes each other happy and sad and there's a difference between a "Christian" and a Christ follower. People are just too ignorant and uneducated about their own religion to know that. And you know the worst thing about these religious communities scattered about the globe? the sense that the more "faith" you have the better you are. When the hell did being blind and stupid become an admirable characteristic? "faith" is making a virtue out of not thinking. A person may see someone's faith and devotion to god or how much they pray or what the Fuck ever as a measure of good character. It's just the same old counterproductive practices that have gotten the world nowhere and set us back. Not me. I judge a person's character based on their will and drive to get up, go out there and make a Fucking difference. Praying is just lazy. It's the best way to look like you're doing something when you're doing nothing at all. I've always said two hands working are much more productive than two hands clasped in prayer and it's true. It's time we rid the world of this behavior of mindless sheep. We may be a minority, but we are fare more powerful. Because there's no strength in numbers when you are just dead wrong.

Heaven. What's it like?

As I have recently been talking a lot about how humans behave when other people die around them, I thought it would be interesting to write about what it could conceptually be like "on the other side." If it even existed. So I ask, I question one of the most vast wonders worldwide. What is heaven like? Based on what I've read in the bible, it's basically all bullshit if you know anything about marketing and selling a product to a bunch of mindless fools, but aside from that, the bible tells us that the bible basically tells us that heaven must be a bright and shiny place with no darkness whatsoever, where everyone has god's name in tattoo on their foreheads, basically incomprehensible to the human mind. Whatever, It is also said that in heaven there is literally a constant praise and worship for god. Really. 24/7. All day every day. Fuck that. I would never want to spend eternity participating in an unending pep rally for an evil god. Some people like to fantasize and tell themselves that "Heaven is a place where all your dreams come true," "where you get anything you want" or some bullshit like that. Well that just doesn't make any sense, so don't let them fool you. A heaven like that could never exist especially when the very concept thereof is derived from an ancient book of fairy tales that also serves as a set of guidelines for how to live your life safely so you don't go to hell instead of heaven. What if everything you've ever wanted was to have an infinite supply of people to murder, other men's wives to bang or a bunch of slave children to molest. No. Come on, be realistic, I mean the bible says! All those things are immoral. They're in the ten commandments. Folks also like to claim that their deceased relatives are watching over them or protecting them from harm by some ghostly presence. Again, get Fuck'n real. Don't you thing people might just have better things to do for an eternity than watch over the people the "leave behind?" Or.... What if you kill your parents? I guarantee you the Menendez Brother's parents aren't "watching over" them. So really think about it. Is the simple idea of "heaven" really a good thing to keep around? Or can it be dangerous? I see people live their lives to the fullest in hopes that they will be able to recollect upon it in some sort of afterlife. That's not what it's about. People should live their lives to make an impact making things better for the next generation. I fear that people do ridiculously irrational things just to get to heaven. Heaven is a silly idea and I'm not interested. Living forever would be unbearable. Nothing to be discovered, nothing new. I'll let Hitch close it up for me;

"Do I think I'm going to paradise? Of course not; I wouldn't go if I was asked. I don't want to live in some celestial North Korea....where all I get to do is praise the Dear Leader from dawn till dusk. I don't want this; it would be hell for me."-Christopher Hitchens

Indoctrination

Following my last post,I have a question. Why does religion still exist? You would think that in a time in which every man, woman and child has a phone that makes pancakes, something as ridiculous as believing there is a god would be obsolete and all but extinct. Well no. Religion still unfortunately remains in this world slowing us down as a species. Holding us back from discovery. What is religion? What the fuck is it? Why is it still here? Religion is nothing more than the age old discovery of manipulation and control an it's been going on for a long time. You see, thousands of years ago, religious and political figureheads knew people were generally stupid and would believe anything they were told. So at some point they fed them the ten commandments, the bible and the fear of a god. That's the thing. Fear. Nothing more simple than the tangibility of what religion is. The buying and selling of the invisible product of fear and people love it. People love fear. Fear and confusion, you see it everywhere all over the media historically like the Salem Witch Trials for example. Madmen fed on fear and lies nothing more. Any way to answer the question posed. Why is religion in all it's glorified quackery still around? The answer is most definitely non-progressive parenting. Nobody tries any different methodology in the things they teach their kids about the world. Child indoctrination is kind of a selfish thing to do, when are we as people going to realize that the right thing to do is teach your kids to read, question everything they read and hear and allow them plenty of opportunity and support to develop their own philosophy. In basic, Religions of all kind can only survive themselves through the works of religious parents inculcating the old superstitious garbage into the defenseless, impressionable minds of their children.

The Afterlife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deB_u-to-IE Today was the sad, unfortunate day Ray Manzarek the lead organ and keys player of one of my many favorite bands The Doors died today at the age of 74 after his battle with cancer of the bile duct. It is such a strange thing when people die especially in terms of human understanding. It's just such a shock to anyone who knows the person. How does a human just.... cease to live? So I ask first of all, what kind of "loving," "merciful" god would allow something like cancer to exist among it's "beloved" creation? How is suffering okay when it is easily preventable? Some, actually many may ask "where do yo go after you die?" What does that even mean any more? I've seen too many people die of cancer in my life time and it has become quite clear to me that when people die, they don't "go" anywhere. People often like to believe that people have a "soul." Some sort of magical energy or entity that lives inside us all and is tangible to the gods, afterlife and sometimes other people. That's not it though. The concept of a "soul" is derived from mythical fairy tales and human weakness. Nothing more than a means to dealing with something as confusing as death. Especially in ancient times, when the "soul" idea was obviously confounded. What the "soul" really is as we perceive it is most definitely composed of energy and matter. Shit, everything is composed of energy and matter. It's just the human social identity that people see as the soul. I guess it's just too overwhelmingly complex for other humans to understand on quite a basic level. That "soul" (social identity) is a product of the organic human brain thriving within the human body. When a human dies and their brain is no longer operational those physical things decompose and the "soul" dies along with them. They simply go somewhere else in different forms of matter and energy. That's just science. The Laws of Conservation of Energy and matter. You can't deny that, you know, yesterday's dinosaur vomit is today's tomatoes you grow in your garden. Just remember kids, we are the universe.

Opportunistic Bastards

Its my final year of high school. Thirteen years of my life spent learning, understanding, crafting an identity. It is truly amazing how a person is altered over such a long time. As humans we are sophisticated enough to create and apply a social identity. Those identities are so crucial to the individualism of a person and they give a person knowledge influence and inherently power. I recently received an invitation  to my high school Baccalaureate. A high school ceremony I am very unfamiliar with and in fact, have never heard of in my life. The invitation reads "This is a traditional event that honors you, as a graduating senior by taking a few moments to reflect on spiritual matters. This is an interdenominational event." Right. "Interdenominational." Even though the entire gig is being run by the local Youth For Christ organization. Well not all of us graduating seniors are "youth for christ. Not all of us are even remotely "spiritual." I hate to be so cynical, but based on the questions I've asked regarding the event and what similar events I have observed, it would appear as just another feeble attempt by a church to impose their religious ideals upon our almost made up, yet still impressionable minds. It's almost insulting to us as the coming future of the planet to march  into our school, a place exceedingly more sacred than any church, temple, or mosque strutting passed the wall between church and state and try to cloud our vision. Almost as a last ditch effort to perpetuate their childish nonsense. I suppose some people simply overlook the fact that even as young adults, we are still finding ourselves maybe they know that, maybe they know that the only way to survive their religion is to feed it to the defenseless children.

Misrepresentation.

So there's this girl I know, very cute, attractive girl. She's a fairly proficient photographer, so she obviously enjoys taking a lot of pictures. She takes a lot of pictures of herself. This girl also dresses very provocatively. She has a couple of tattoos. The catch is, this girl claims to be very religious. It just doesn't make sense to me. Not trying to be misogynistic  but you get the picture. Any way, What I'm thinking about is how much people care about following their "holy" book and what it propagates. Take gay marriage for example, the only Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. Little do people realize, or they are simply overlooking the fact that the bible also speaks against the consumption of pork (Leviticus 11:7-8), the shaving of beards (Leviticus 19:27), Divorce (Luke 16:18), cotton)\polyester blends (19:19) and of course, premarital sex (1 Corinthians 7:2). The list goes on and on. People obviously don't know jack shit, follow blindly behaving like sheep and serving themselves.