It's a day for random things and random thoughts. 5 hours of dissertation writing and plenty more before bed will do that. So in no particular order:
Kait has kindly offered to collaborate. I'm assuming that means she is a magical machine that I can hum a tune or throw out some lyrics at and, being more talented than myself, can put it into a form that doesn't make you cringe and stuff a pencil into your ear. I'll post some things I've been working on soon.
Alex the parrot died. The bird could count to six, recognize shapes and colors, and had a repertoire of words bigger than a Kansan creationist. Hell, most of the people at UCI can barely count to six.
I was sitting in the bathtub, reading about the history of labor in America. Since after the Civil War, corporate profits in America have gone up, with a few exceptions during intense depressions. Yet labor has had to fight to get any share of those profits. How's that for fucked up? Now we have CEOs making 100X or more what their janitors are making. Again, what the fuck? There are no words for such outrageousness. This system is fucked. But since our priorities are focused fearing terrorists and not displeasing Jesus, I guess it'll have to wait. I'm sure there's a much better analysis that could be done. But for now, there's the gist of the problem.
Last, lets talk prayer. If I understand this correctly, if you pray and get what you want, God wanted it that way. If you pray and don't get what you want, God wanted it that way. So how exactly does the praying help? I know...it's a way to commune with God. Really? Because the last time I asked people what they were communing for, they were praying for things or asking the big God Fgrog (about two people will find that funny) to do something. Watch over people, protect America, give you strength, allow you to win music awards or boink the hot Italian with the high-beams at work. People want to believe in something, and there's nothing wrong with that. We want to feel like we can, in some measure, have some influence over things we can't control. But if you've worked hard all your life and you win that award or nail that Italian, congratulate yourself. You worked hard to get there. I didn't see Jesus training for that marathon. Hard to run with nails in your feet. (How's that for anti-Catholic Bill Donohue?)
The previous paragraph brought up another thought: why do people say "if it's meant to be it'll be"? Does it really take 7 words (9 without contractions) to say absolutely nothing? The only possible meaning of that sentence is that you believe things are preordained. If so, then by all means continue using it. But if you don't, lets agree to stop using it. This postulate is usually offered when something may or may not happen. You've got a 50% chance of A or B. Say...badger to the face or a sharp stick in the eye. One will happen. The other won't. It's a simple thing. That phrase is right up there with "things happen for a reason". Here again, it assumes you believe that things are preordained, that one thing happens so that another can happen (e.g. badger to face so you can be rescued by Miss Badger Handler 2007). It's a stupid phrase. Of course things happen for a reason. You got herpes BECAUSE you had sex with Miss Badger Handler. Let's all agree to start weeding out phrases that don't say anything. In both cases, I guess if you believe it, then it's true, and if you don't, it's not. There...how's that for an awkward sentence that says nothing?
1 comment:
Here is my thought on prayer. I think that if people use prayer to talk to God, think things through, reflect, etc. that's wonderful. We all need an outlet. Some people talk to psychiatrists, friends, pets, whatever. When it starts to concern me is when people rely on prayer to make things happen. To place hope on having your prayers answered is sad to me. Maybe God wants us to be self reliant. More can be learned from trying and failing than from waiting for God to make your dreams come true. If you believe he gave us free will, then you owe it to him to use that free will. Everything happens for a reason? Perhaps. But whether it does or not, I see that as no reason to change the way you live. If something bad happens, do what you can to make it right. Don't just blow it off as something God wanted to happen for unknown reasons. Do what you can to fix it. Who knows...maybe that's what God wanted in the first place.
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