nonpretentious

Dear Mila,

I must tell you, this isn’t going exactly how I imagined it. I really thought that by this time I would have received a response from you. But as I reflect upon it now, that’s completely ridiculous. You’re Mila Kunis! I’m some anonymous dude on the Internets. Ha! There’s so many crazies out there, it would be easy for you to just lump me in with them and never have to think about me again. So, I don’t blame you, really. Perhaps I should tell you a little bit more about myself, you know, to allay your reservations.

My real name is Kiren. Continue reading…

In Perpetual Purgatory…

It was never easy splitting bilateral beliefs in God. School and home. Methodist. Catholic. That was the great divide. Educated within the confines of Catholicism, born and raised Methodist. Every Sunday, with freedom from Indulgences, saints and the proposed 8th Wonder of the Ancient World, transubstantiation—I downed my shot of Welch’s and Wonder bread, the symbolic body and blood, without the slightest of hesitations.

Continue reading…

14 of 23

I was gone. Now I’m here. Where I’ll be next? Well, lend me your ear. Here’s a riddle, see if you can figure it out.

I’ve gone many places, but nowhere I’ve been.
I’ve walked to and fro, but I’ve yet to become lean.
I’ve met many youths, but none know my name.
I’ve written many letters, but to the recipient they never came.

Question #14:
You have a brain tumor. Though there is no discomfort at the moment, this tumor would unquestionably kill you in six months. However, your life can (and will) be saved by an operation; the only downside is that there will be a brutal incision to your frontal lobe. After the surgery, you will be significantly less intelligent. You will still be a fully functioning adult, but you will be less logical, you will have a terrible memory, and you will have little ability to understand complex concepts or difficult ideas. The surgery is in two weeks.
How do you spend the next fourteen days?

Continue reading…

The Soul: Revealed

There is much to be said for the idea of a soul, a proposition which has often been discussed amongst scholars and philosophers.

Throughout time, there have been numerous references to the soul. Different perspectives have been put forward.

One of the perspectives which I thought was quite interesting was the idea that the soul was an external element of the humankind, that it could survive beyond the body and therefore transcended humanity’s form.

This view was held in numerous different periods of time and, although now seen as a redundant view, it does still have some bearing upon our thinking.

For example, if one examines the Christian definition of a soul, or what is seen as a definition, it presupposes that the soul exists within oneself and that it does indeed ‘transcend’ man itself.

This argument is proposed, however, in relation to life or death. It is supposed that the soul cannot live without the body unless it is in an ethereal world, otherwise known as either Heaven or Hell.

Mahatma Gandhi was quoted as saying this about the soul:

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.

He was therefore suggesting that, although our soul is an essential part of our life, it goes beyond the mere figurative and directs us towards a path in life ‘in a clearer light.’

Ecclesiastes was quoted as stating the following:

Give not over thy soul to sorrow; and afflict not thyself in thy own counsel. Gladness of heart is the life of man and the joyfulness of man is length of days.

The main argument with this quotation is that the word ’soul’ could be interchangeable with ‘life’ and the word ‘life’ could be interchanged with the word ’soul’.

It would look something like this:

Give not over thy life to sorrow; and afflict not thyself in thy own counsel. Gladness of heart is the soul of man and the joyfulness of man is length of days.

Although the intented effect is less so through the manipulation of meaning in language, I believe that this best suits the meaning of the soul and its importance in our life.

The soul is that which defines our life. Should be glad, our soul will represent that. People often speak of an ‘aura’ which surrounds us and it seems that this ‘aura’ whether it exists or not is the metaphysical symbol of our soul.

Our life is defined according to the soul; it needs nourishment.

One must indulge in those things which one takes pleasure in. Life is an active word. We must live as active beings.

Only then can our soul be fulfilled and satisfied.

The following quote from Oscar Widle best defines my view of both the soul and life:

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.

cheesecloth and polygamy

I’m probably in the minority here, but I was raised Mormon.  My mother has been Mormon her whole life, and my dad did convert for a time while they were courting and for some time after they got married.  He got fed up with the church before I was born, though, and for as long as I remember, he has been atheist or at the very least agnostic.  If I were religious, I would thank God that at least one of my parents happened to be sane.

So, yeah, I went to Mormon church.  When I was a kid, my dad was still young enough that he actually cared that we listened to our mom and went to church with her because that’s what she wanted.   That’s what it seemed like at the time; in retrospect I’d say he just wanted his quiet Sunday mornings at home without other people.  Frankly, I’d be a little disappointed in him if this latter reason weren’t the real reason he wanted us kids to go to church with my mom.

While I was a kid, I didn’t think anything of going to Mormon church, because it was the only religious experience I knew.  I did think, though, that it was weird that we drove so far (15-20 minutes) to get to the church, and that no one I knew from school was at church.

Let me explain a little bit (though I went for 18 years, I definitely don’t know everything) about the Mormon church.  Please don’t take this as gospel, but these are my recollections and lessons that I learned at the church that I went to. Continue reading…

Sacred Magical Undergarments: Thank You Joseph Smith

Oh my god. I fucking thought that this was a big joke with the Mormon sacred magical underwear. But Mike Wallace and Steve Young have breathed new credibility into it for me. Now, if only Charlie Rose will confirm this, I’ll be sure. And thank you Joseph Smith — without you, today’s post would not be possible.

By the way, this is totally copying from Dan Savage’s blog entry today, but seriously, it’s too great not to share.

Magical Underwear

For all I know, Mormons long ago abandoned magical underwear. But since Mormons have been picking on gays lately, I feel like picking on Mormons. And I about lost it when I saw this on Dan Savage’s blog:

I also found some additional helpful information on Mormon undergarments on YouTube:

November 15 Prop 8 Protest + Utah/Sex Boycott

Prop 8 has me really pissed me off. If you’ve just popped in from Mars, Prop 8 is amendment to California’s constitution restricting marriage to heterosexuals that passed on Nov 4 by a narrow margin. It strips LGBT people of their right to existing marriage in California. According to its proponants, it also invalidates tens of thousands of existing marriages that have occurred since gay marriage was legalized; hopefully, CA courts won’t enforce this provision of the law.

Prop 8 was discrimination by referendum. And it’s going to get worse. The next wave of referendums will be directed at eliminating LGBT people’s rights to have children. We’ve already seen it in Florida, Utah, Arkansas, and a few other states. Dan Savage wrote an op-ed in today’s New York Times about Arkansas’s referendum that passed on Nov 4. But those responsible for referendums like Prop 8 have been encouraged by their success and they’re getting bolder and bolder. It’s really scary. If there was a referendum today in California or New York to eliminate adoption by gay people, would it pass? I hate to admit that I think it almost surely would, especially given that anti-gay groups would be stirring up fears and prejudices about gay people being harmful to children.

What to do? I propose three actions:

1. Protest on November 15

Thousands of LGBTQ people and allies already have begun to protest those responsible for passing Prop 8.

A national day of protest against Prop 8 is scheduled for Nov 15. Protests are being organized in cities across the country. If you live in NYC or Philly or whatever city, look at this website for information on the protest.

2. Boycott Utah

Why Utah you ask? Because that’s where Mormons live (Utah is 62% Mormon). And Mormons contributed perhaps the majority of organization and funding to Prop 8 (some estimates say up to 70% of individual donations came to fund Prop 8 came from Mormons), as encouraged by the Mormon church and its leadership.

Thus, a national boycott of tourism to Utah has been proposed.

3. No Sex for Non-Allies

Okay, this one’s my own idea. I figure that most straight girls I know support gay rights. But straight boys are all over the map. And they’re holding us back. If they’re not going to be allies, though, we need to kick them where it hurts.

Have a boyfriend/partner/friend-with-benefits who isn’t an ally? Did he vote for John McCain? Then no sex for him! Make him promise he’ll support his gay brothers and donate $100 to gay causes before you’ll have sex with him again. I don’t care how hot he is. Do it for the cause. Withhold until he supports!

Fast-A-Log aka Fast-A-long

So a couple of days ago

a friend of mine asked me and my roommate if we’d like to participate in a fast during Ramadan and told us that if we did, company sponsors would donate towards an orphan fund.  At Stereocache we are all about the orphans and relatively about not eating (no one likes a fatty.)  I kept a little log for most of the day to record my experience.

The rules no food or water from sunrise to sundown

6:30 – The sun isn’t up yet.  This feels wrong.  I don’t think I’ve been up this early before except for when I’m trying to catch a plane.  I feel like a farmer.  When all is said and done though getting up is much easier than I expected.  This is the first morning this year that I have not fallen back to sleep after my alarm went off.

6:45 – Eating breakfast w/ my room mate.  Haven’t done this in a while.  Kind of nice.  I like drinking coffee without worrying that I’ll be staying up til 7 (this happens more than i’d like to admit.)  I have a good breakfast of churizo on an english muffin with a side of rosemary potatoes.  Normally I’d feel obligated to eat next to nothing for lunch anyways because I’m a hardcore calorie counter and when I eat out and don’t know the nutrition facts I’m forced to assume that I’ve already taken in a bazillion of them.
Continue reading…

If my Mom can change, so can you!

My mom used to forward me emails like this:

Can a devout Muslim be an American patriot and a loyal citizen? Consider this:

Theologically, no. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia.

Scripturally, no. Because his allegiance is to the five pillars of Islam and the Quran (Koran).

Geographically, no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day.

Socially, no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.

Politically, no. Because he must submit to the mullah (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.

Domestically, no, because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran 4:34).

Religiously, no. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)

Intellectually, no, because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.

Philosophically, no, because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.

Spiritually, no, because when we declare “one nation under God,” the Christian’s God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as our heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran’s 99 excellent names.

Therefore after much study and deliberation….perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country. They obviously cannot be both good Muslims and good Americans. Call it what you wish…it’s still the truth. If you find yourself intellectually in agreement with the above, perhaps you will share this with your friends. The more who understand
this, the better it will be for our country.

Pass it on. The war is bigger than we know.

Fucked up, no? Trust me, my moms and I had some words after that one. But bless her heart, she sent me this one today:

White Privilege, White Entitlement and the 2008 Election
By

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because ‘every family has challenges,’ even as black and Latino families with similar ‘challenges’ are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay. Continue reading…