I hope they look stupid 50 years from now...

well, more stupid than they look now anyway. The support f0r Proposition 8 is California is ridiculous. Gay marriage will hurt children? How? By teaching them to be tolerant? By showing them not not everyone believes the same thing they do? Wait... wasn't their something else that the government allowed people to do that was going to "hurt the children?" What was that? Oh yeah. INTEGRATED SCHOOLS. How horrible for kids to have the learn that their beliefs aren't the center of the universe.

Actually, judging by some other things adults do, people probably do think it's horrible for kids to have to learn that they aren't the center. The whole teaching the creation myth in science classes? God forbid students should learn actual science and not comparative religion in science class. And why the Christian creation myth? I mean, if you start there, why not teach the Hindu creation myth too? Or maybe the Norse one. Why do Christians assume they are the center of the universe? Yes, it is the biggest religion in the world. But that doesn't give them the right to steam-roll over people who don't believe in the same things.

I hope the people who are anti-gay look as ridiculous and outdated in 50 years as segregationists do now.

Bah.

I think freedom from religion is more important than freedom of religion. Mainly based on cases like this.

Letting your 15-month old baby die from treatable pneumonia is not religious freedom. When there are two young people dead in one family in the last 4 months because of unwillingness to treat illness, that's criminal. Ok, faith healing families--it's pretty obvious prayer doesn't work like that. Maybe... just maybe... your prayers for a healthy child would have been answered if you GOT OFF YOUR ASSES AND TOOK YOUR KID TO THE DOCTOR.

Going Topless

I spent most of my night reading about the GoTopless, or Topfree, movement in North America. I only stumbled upon the movement because of a link and a CuteOverload comment, but I was intrigued. It's something that I've never really given much thought to before, but it's an interesting social issue.

Basically, the movement states this:
1) Men and women are equals, and should have equal rights to go shirtless.
2) There is nothing inherently sexual about female breasts. They are natural and nurturing.
3) Their sexuality and taboo-ness come from the obsession with both keeping them covered up and uncovering them only in sexual situations.

The reading I did brought up a few very interesting facts, which I think paint a sad picture about the American view of the body.

Breastfeeding Tangent: I admit it, breastfeeding creeps me out. I know it's natural and healthy, but I have a very selfish view of my body (one of the reasons I've chosen not to have kids right now--I know I'm not ready for them.) However, it's generally accepted that breastfeeding is not only natural, but better for the baby. While I personally am against calling someone a bad mother because they choose not to breastfeed, most doctors consider it the healthiest option.

However, women are ashamed to breastfeed, in public at least. They run the risk of being on the receiving end of rude comments, getting kicked out of restaurants, and even being reprimanded by their boss for breastfeeding where they can be seen by others. This whole situation strikes me as being rather oxymoron. Government health agencies say it's best for babies to be breastfed, but then women are harassed and humiliated for doing in public places. And heaven forbid you accidentally expose your nipple while doing it. Some people have claimed that breast feeding is a sexual experience, all because of the obsession America has with breasts. Perhaps this is where some of my own hangups about breast feeding come from. (Although personally I think quite a few of my hangups come from the militant breastfeeding moms that talk about their breast milk as a living entity and talk about it as a religious experience--again, it may be best for the kid, but I'm selfish. At least I have the balls to admit it.)

Ignoring the breastfeeding issue, I inherently dislike the fact that because we hide breasts, they become sexualized, and so we hide breasts. It's a nasty cycle.

Fun Fact: At times in Victorian England, it would have been more scandalous to show part of your leg than your whole chest.

Fun Link: NYC (where it is legal for a woman to walk around topless) photographer Jordan Matter has taken a fantastic collection of topless women in non-sexual situations. To me, the best photos were the ones where the subject commented on her self image, or the experience of being in the shoot. I highly recommend giving it a look.

OSBP

Sometimes, when you know your culture has a stereotype, maybe you should, I don't know, try not to be the embodiment of said stereotype?

Behold: The Open-Source Boob Project.


You can't make shit like this up. Way to live up to the mouth-breathing, socially retarded gamer stereotype. :-\

What's the point of religion?

What's the point of religion? Is religion something you should just give your whole life over to? What about the lives of your children? I'm not talking about giving up your Sundays to church, or taking the time to pray 5 times a day. I'm talking about murder and torture.

In Wisconsin last week, an eleven year old girl died from Type One diabetes because her family believes in prayer over medicine. Dying from that type of diabetes means that you have been incredibly sick for weeks. It's being reported that she was barely more than a skeletal waif when the authorities found here. It's also important to note that the only reason the authorities went to her home, although they were sadly too late, is because relatives IN CALIFORNIA had heard how sick she was and knew that her parents wouldn't take her to see a doctor. After all, they hadn't taken her to the doctor since she was three. They had also pulled her out of school this semester.

Going on what I've been told, from someone with firsthand evidence, being sick with diabetes like that is extremely painful and a miserable and horrible experience. Those parents tortured their daughter to death because of religion. The thing that makes me the angriest was this quote:

"They said it was the course of action they would take again... They firmly believe even if they had taken her to a doctor, if this was the time God had chosen for her to die, she would die regardless of medical interference."

You know what, fuck that god of theirs. If that's what their god thinks, IT'S THE WRONG GOD. How any parent could ever feel like they shouldn't provide the most basic of care to their child because of religion, then THEY ARE WRONG. Type One diabetes is one of the most treatable illness in the world. Insulin injections and the right diet mean a long, healthy life. They took 50+ years off of their own daughters life because of their selfish religious beliefs.

So... if religion causes parents to torture their children to death... then what's the point of religion? I'm pretty agnostic at this point in my life, but I always thought of religion as something uplifting... something that fills your life with purpose, something that gives your respect for other people and for this planet. I suppose that's a pretty naive view of religion. Religion has been used to enslave people, start wars, murder, terrorize, etc. since recorded history. But... why? What's the point in believing in something bigger than yourself if that's the outcome?

Sometimes I feel that other people think they have no choice but to be religious, or to follow a certain religion. I don't think that's the case. A bad religion is like a bad marriage--it might be painful, and you might have to start over from scratch, but you can leave it. A few months ago, there were lots of stories about the polygamists in Utah/Arizona, and stories about how some people left that religion. It was hard for them. It was tough. But I don't think many people would argue that they aren't better off for doing it.

Maybe I just don't understand that level of religious devotion. Maybe I just don't understand the devotion to a belief that will let your child die when a simple trip to the doctor can save her. Maybe I just don't understand the conviction that a higher power will rain hellfire down on you if you drive your own car.

Maybe I'm better off this way.

Link to article about girl in Wisconsin.

Two of my favorite stories/songs: one, a Judea-Christian flavored very short story, the second, a humanist flavored song by Voltaire.

A man is sitting on top of his house during a flood, praying to God to save him from drowning. As the water rose up over the windows, a canoeist paddled by and offered a ride. The man demurred, saying he was confident his prayers would be answered. As the water came up over the gutters, rescuers in a speedboat stopped - and were told the same thing. As the water lapped at his feet, a helicopter hovered overhead, the pilot imploring him to save himself. He replied that God would take care of that, and was stunned when the waters finally submerged him.

At the end, the drowned man asks God why he hadn't answered his prayers. "I did," comes the response, "I sent you a canoe, a boat and a helicopter."


God Thinks
God thinks all blacks are obsolete farm equipment
God thinks the Jews killed his son and must be punished
God thinks the white man is Satan
God, they know what God thinks

God thinks we should all convert to Judaism
God thinks we must all be Christians and
God thinks we should all embrace Islam
God thinks the only true religion is Hinduism

And I
I know what God thinks
God thinks you're a waste of flesh
God prefers an Atheist

God God
God thinks all people like you are hateful
God thinks all people like you are an embarrassment to creation
self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw a stone
and using His name for your own protection

God thinks the sun revolves around the Earth
God thinks there was something very wrong with Copernicus
God thinks abortion is murder and
God thinks everything that science gave us is wrong
God thinks women deserve it
God thinks AIDS is a form of punishment

I hate people who blame the Devil for their own shortcomings and
I hate people who thank God when things go right

And I
I know what God thinks
God thinks you're an idiot
God prefers a heretic

God God
God thinks all people like you are hateful
God thinks all people like you are an embarrassment to creation
self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw the stone
and using His name for your own agenda

God is a liberal
God is a democrat
God wants you to vote republican
never trust a man who puts his words in the mouth of god
and says it's absolute truth
its lies and it smells like death
its all in a day's work taking money from the poor
Why do you think that God would need your dirty money
if you want to start a holy war?

self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw a stone
and using His name for your own protection

God thinks puppies need to die and
God thinks babies need to drown
'cause God is neither good nor bad
God is you and me
God is Everything

This is how I feel

Women and Gaming

When I saw this article on CNN.com, my first instinct was to roll my eyes. I thought it would be yet another condescending article telling guys that to get their girlfriend to play video games, all the had to do was get her "cute" and "easy" games, like Animal Crossing or Princess Peach, and help her with the bosses, because they would be too hard for her. However, it mostly dealt with how one group is trying to get more females into the game industry.

I remember getting so mad at the articles I saw in gaming magazines about women and gaming. They were usually accompanied by sexually suggestive pictures of women, and talked about women like we wouldn't know how to jump and hit a Goomba on its head. Ugh, I did a Google search trying to see if I could find any of those old magazine articles. Instead I found this crap.

I suppose I shouldn't get too worked up. I know some women that love the girly-girl games, and I'm just coming at it from a "I've been gaming since I could hold a controller" mind set. Not everyone can be as awesome as me. :-)

The Decline of Civilization

This was the most heartbreaking photo of the Vietnam War. It won a Pultizer Prize. It captured the absolute horror that is war. It showed the evils of napalm. It was taken by photographer Nick Ut. You know what he's doing lately?

Yes, the photograph of Paris Hilton crying, a photo that shot through the glass of a car, was taken by the same Nick Ut.

So, he went from taking photographs that made people stand up and sasy "End this war!" to taking photographs of rich young women in horrible situations. *sigh*