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(via just a guy thing)

During a brief bout of pointless browsing, going through random digg articles, reading useless comments and looking at pictures of cats, I came across this gem:

Apparently, back in November, the Vatican officially forgave John Lennon for his “We’re more popular than Jesus now” remark to a British newspaper back in 1966!

The thoughts that went through my mind:

1. thank you Vatican, it’s such a relief that the millions of Lennon fans can now go on living without the fear of going to hell for admiring a genius’ oeuvre.

2. Lennon himself is probably finally resting in peace.

3. “Imagine” vs. an invisible being: Guess which of the two never fails to give me goose bumps.

4. “Give peace a chance” vs. your pro-AIDS, anti-condoms attitude: guess which of the two makes me believe a little more in humanity.

Cheers.

so why not immortality? Why not death being the exception? Genetics, medicine, diet, lifestyle…

would make for a pretty neat answer… bye bye god and such…

Opera reignites Islam row after cancelling production. In the play, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad and Poseidon are beheaded. The Deutsche Oper decided to scratch the opera and replace it by “The Marriage of Figaro”, after Berlin officials warned of possible repercussions (retaliations by Muslims, is what they meant, of course).

Personally, I don’t really get modern theater. People wagging their dicks on stage, throwing up, screaming, acting delusional and what not don’t really strike my artistic chord. Some people get it, though. All that doesn’t matter, since slowly but surely a global censorship is being strictly applied to all facets of civilization.

Islam forbids the representation of their prophet, in fear of it leading to idolatry. The question that begs to be asked is, what’s the difference… you idolize a book, or you idolize the main character… so?

Then there’s the matter of the Pope. God’s messenger on Earth. Of course, Alibaba in Pakistan thinks he’s knowledgeable enough to demand an apology from god’s ambassador (voted in by 120 princes of the church, channeling the divine will, naturally). It’s the same old argument, someone says something, some sheikh or imam or whatnot, somewhere, hears part of it, makes his own (naturally, anti-west, anti-christian, anti-everything) deduction, and unleashes the hordes to burn the respective flags, dolls and other representative material.

The irony of it is in plain sight, as usual. The pope quotes a 14th century dude who says that muslims are violent. Muslims feel enraged, and, you guessed it, turn violent. It’s a vicious cycle, I tell you… stop reminding them, and maybe they’ll stop being violent.

God is infallible, apparently, but his representative is not. The pope knew what he was doing, in my opinion. He could have cited Christian violence as an example. But he didn’t. Christians have been apologizing for ages for every misdeed the church commited in the name of christianity. Why not give an example that’s contemporary for a change? Is it not a fact that most acts of violence the past few years involve Islam? Hizbollah, Alqaeda, Basayev, Zarqawi, Sadr, India, London, Madrid, Germany, New York, Sudan, Denmark, Belgium, Palestine, Jordan, Russia, Indonesia, Singapore, etc… The “causes” might be different, but the bottom line is the same.

It’s about time someone spoke the truth. Islam is a younger religion, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the world needs to wait a few centuries for this hot-blooded “young” religion to grow up. The pope hit the nail on the head. Things can not continue this way. It’s about time someone bravely stood up and quoted someone else.

Megalomaniacs with inferiority complexes are the most dangerous sorts around.

I know one in Lebanon. Along with Syria, he opposes the U.N. resolution 1701. Syria opposes it because Assad knows that his tentacles in Lebanon are being chopped one by one. Aoun opposes it because it wasn’t his idea. He feels left out. Sadly, he has followers in Lebanon that are so similar to Hizballah members with their zealousness and blind ideology, that the only way you can differentiate them is by whether or not they have beards, whether or not they pray on Sunday or Friday. Most importantly, what differentiates the two is that Hizballah members know and accept that they’re radicals, whereas Aounists believe that they’re moderate. (I never imagined I could say anything positive about Hizballah!)

It is said that kidnap or rape victims sometimes build a connection with their assailants, and actually fall in love with them. Some psychologists say it’s the victims’ way of coming to terms with their ordeal (by leading themselves to believe that their situtation is one they want to be in). Could it be that the great General’s exile led him to fall in love with those that sent him away and kept him there, that he is turning into their chief evangelist?!

He says that the Lebanese should follow him to find salvation. Apparently, Jesus Christ has returned to the world of men, except that God seems to have demoted him from Lord and Savior into General.

Bah.

A 21-year old “LEBANESE” student was arrested on terror charges in Germany a couple of days ago. He was planning to bomb commuter trains in two German cities. Apparently, he was able to place the bombs on the trains, but they didn’t detonate when they should have.

“Terrorism has reached Germany”, as the media would like to put it. I personally was always doubtful of any terror attacks inside of Germany, because these guys have so much free reign over here (what with acceptance and the prevalent anti-anti-racism campaigns) that any attack would only harm their cause.

The question for today’s game is quite simple. Guess the kid’s religion. (hint: It’s one of the three major monotheistic religions!)

I see no path that can be taken to stop the downward spiral that Lebanon is caught in. It’s a sad fact that the Israelis won’t listen to the international community, that Hizbollah won’t voluntarily give up its weapons and terrorist ways, and that innocent civilians are powerless against the bombs raining down on them.

I see various endings to this tragedy.

1- Israel realizes that they can’t destroy hizbollah, and stop this operation. This is bad because it will give Hassouna a strong boost in morale and encourage him to escalate his attacks, leading to more (and regular) Israeli responses and dragging the country back to the instability of the last decade. This also justifies a “resistance” and pushes us even further away from the goal of peace.

2- Israel manages to kill nasrallah and his lieutenants, leading the shiites to go crazy and burn the country themselves.

3- Israel escalates, and regardless of the outcome, the country is set back 20 years…

The only positive (relatively) outcome I see is that this results in the disarmament of god’s party therefore turning into the last offensive against Lebanon, ridding us of the Syrian influence, and maybe leading to more peaceful times. The loss of innocent lives, saddening and disgusting as it is, will not have been in vain. Again, I don’t see this happening unless Nasrallah is killed and the government moves in quickly, dissolving Hizbollah or maybe reaching an agreement by including them in the army. With Nasrallah alive, this would threaten the unity of the army and lead everyone to question its allegiance, but with him gone, his thugs might be controlled.

Here’s hoping that innocent civilians don’t have to suffer any more than they already have. Here’s hoping that Syria’s last straw doesn’t turn out to be a fuse to something bigger. Here’s hoping that Hizbullah’s last breaths are short, and bring a sigh of relief to the rest of the population. Here’s hoping that it really must get worse before it gets better. Here’s hoping that this is the last backwards step, and from here on we’re moving forward. Here’s hoping that peace is around the corner.

When you attacked without being provoked, you are a resistance movement. When you sacrifice a country for your agenda, you are righteous.

Tribal Mentality:

So, you cross into a sovereign nation, kill some of their soldiers and kidnap others. Of course you’re justified, they’re soldiers. That’s what they’re there for. What, the nation wants retribution? Murderers! Imperialists! Zionists! Leave me alone, I don’t want to play anymore. Wait, how about I trade you my soldiers for yours? That’s fair? No? Maaaaaaaa! The big bad zionist doesn’t want to let me play… Maaaaaa!

Retribution:

So, you want your soldiers back? Why? They’re cowards? Aren’t they? I mean… no, they’re not cowards. They’re willing to die. Right? No? Jihaaaad! (oops, sorry), no let’s talk. This is a fun game, I sneak in and hurt you every once in a while, then you say ok let’s negotiate. No? You want to hurt me back? You’re invading? Maaaaaa! Invador!!!! You’re not allowed…. I am, of course… I’m still a baby.

Logic:

What is tworisem? What is an ehkonomi? What is a cuntry? Who is nay-sean? What is a low?

Sense:

Syria? Oh, they have prisoners as well? No. We can’t fight Syria. They’re not dirty jews. They’re muslims. That’s haram. The Lebanese prisoners there? Oh, it’s not important, they’re christians.

Politics:

You can’t criticize me, I’m a religious figure. Kaboom. We are fighters, we are politicians. What? Don’t criticize me, I’m a religious figure. If you express an opinion different from mine, you’re a traitor zionist dog. What? Shush, I’m a religious figure. I will cut your arms and gouge your eyes. Because I’m a religious figure. I’m a religious figure, yes i’m the real religious figure. What? Eminem? Shut up, I’m a religious figure. whatever.

Analysis:

Let’s be blind-sighted, selective and subjective for a minute here. What’s wrong with you people? So we invaded israel first and kidnapped soldiers. That’s history. Let’s forget about that and start analysing WHY they’re fighting back. Come on, let’s say that we didn’t kidnap anyone. Ok? Israel might have still attacked for some other reason. It’s possible? Can you deny it completely? No. See!? Haha, I win! Maaaaa… I won! Let’s assume that we didn’t do anything, and that they attacked for no reason. It’s more fun to come up excuses and crazy theories than to be evolved creatures for a minute.

(And now, Ahmad, for the grand finale….) Why?:

1- Hizbullah reduces the pressure on the Palestinians, allowing them to blow up more busses.

2- Hizbullah captures the world’s attention, diverting the pressure from Iran and its’ continued terrorist attempts at obtaining nuclear weapons.

3- Hizbullah acts on Syrian orders to destabilize Lebanon, to pay Lebanon back for kicking Syria out, and to promote the idea that Lebanon is unable to govern itself.

4- Little baby Assaad was frightened by the planes buzzing his summer crib. The saddest thing: Idiots who try to justify or condone this.

Iran’s terrorist-in-chief proudly proclaimed today that if Israel bombed Syria, it would be tantamount to declaring war on the arab/muslim world… I guess suddenly, Lebanon is not part of that world. I don’t know whether to be enraged, to laugh my ass off, or to feel relief.

Meanwhile, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hassan and co. hide behind the “poor shiite population” whom they “protect”. Talk about popular support. Over a decade ago, another figure, Gen. Michael Aoun, took refuge in the presidential palace during the Syrian offensive. The public went to him and voluntarily formed a human shield. If the people want you, they will come to you wherever you are. That IS popular support. You don’t wave your guns from behind the civilians that you claim to protect, Hassouna, that’s cowardice. You don’t bomb Haifa you son of a dog, that’s terrorism. You don’t endanger a whole country while the guy holding your leash (aforementioned terrorist-in-chief) huffs and puffs about Israel potentially bombing Syria.

Meanwhile, in the lebanese blogger forum, the same old rhetoric, from new faces… One guy wants to ban Israelis from commenting… Guess who he supports? These retarded attitudes serve no good purpose. All they do is promote hatred, and push the idea of peace further and further away.

Meanwhile, right here, a reader is surprised: “If I would not have seen this, I would not have believed it- rational, reasonable and cogent observations on the current situation, coming from Lebanon.” Although I agree with a lot of what he wrote after that, condescension is not they way to someone’s heart. Eh?

Disclaimer: Gen. Aoun still sucks. He wants to negotiate the prisoner release/swap? I guess the Israelis should level the southern suburb, otherwise the good general’s EGO won’t fit if he ever wanted to go to the airport.

Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian former militia which was allied with Israel during the civil war, openly condemned Hizbollah’s actions. “Those who carried out the operation, regardless of its success, have no right to hold the fate of the Lebanese people hostage to their own decisions,” he told reporters. “There are large number detained in Syrian jails but is it rational for us to carry out an abduction of Syrian troops and negotiate with them for the release of our detainees?”

- Reuters AlertNet

So here we are again. Beirut int’l airport is disabled. The sea ports are under an Israeli naval blockade. The country is handicapped, the tourist season shot. For what?

The Lebanese are strong. We will rebuild and persevere.  Just like we’ve done before. This is not a question of whether we can survive this, because that is a forgone conclusion. The question is why we are faced with this yet again. Why must we live in a constant state of readiness to rebuild? Can we draw a conclusion from the experiment that is Lebanon: coexistence is impossible? Is that the answer? Is it not possible for a nation to survive when it has more than one religion? Or is it just impossible for a nation to survive when a sizeable islamist element exists alongside a sizeable “moderate” one?

The country has a fragile unity that is being held in place by a few strands, so it’s only natural that Hizbullah (and Syria/Iran by proxy) are doing their best to destroy this.  One could hope that this last act of unjustified violence will shatter the perception that God’s party does anything for the greater good of Lebanon, and that your average Joe (and more importantly, your average Ali) realizes that Hizbullah are terrorists who put themselves on a pedestal due to the religious nature of their leadership (and heaven forbid you criticize a religious figure) while carrying themselves no better than Al-qaida, the Taliban or any other blood-thirsty group.

Let’s hope the Israeli punishment is swift, and let’s hope that it results in an upheaval. Send the army to the south. Dismantle Hizbullah. Deal with the Palestinians. Arrest terrorists. Negotiate a peace treaty with Israel and let’s broaden this coexistence experiment to include Jews.

Or would it be simpler to just prepare for war?

Some believe that Lebanon is an Arab country. Others want nothing to do with our “arab brethren”. Some want a federal country split along quasi-religious lines. Others want to be seen as westerners. Some like beer, others don’t. Some are alcoholics, others believe that drinking alcohol is a sin. Miniskirts and burkas, crosses and crescents… it’s all good.

The fundamental building block is the concept of a country. When that is agreed upon, everything else is ok. Everything can be discussed, proposed, debated and decided upon.

Then you’ve got fuckers who believe Lebanon is a scapegoat for their Islamist goals. They think Lebanon is a pressure valve whose purpose of existence is to tickle a monster in order to capture its’ attention and allow other fuckers to prepare their bombs in peace.

I’m talking of my favorite bunch of ragheads… god’s own, of course.

What the fuck is wrong with these retards? Kidnapping Israeli soldiers? fighting them, drawing them into the country? And why? Has anything happened recently? Did the Isreali warplanes’ buzzing of the Syrian dictator’s summer palace bother the “resistance” so much? Do they feel with the Palestinian cause enough to risk their own “country”? Well… they don’t believe in the country, true… so I guess that’s not a valid argument.

What’s happening in Israel is always a sad thing, but it’s not our thing. Nothing good has come from Palestinians. They’ve meant pain and suffering and war ever since they became in any way a part of the Lebanese sphere.We’ve also suffered enough for them and their cause.

And then comes Hassan, who also probably doesn’t give a shit about the Palestinians, and starts riling the Israelis up. Are the Iranis planning something, and therefore asked you to provide some cover fire? Are your masters in Syria sending a message to Israel? Go to fucking Iran you bastard. What do you want with us? You’re not Lebanese… you are the antithesis of anything and everything Lebanese.

How about not being stupid? Do you want an Israeli invasion? Is that what you want you hairy-assed masochists? I don’t get it. The world is moving forward, and terrorist and rogue nations are being sidelined. Lebanon was on its way up, somehow, ridding itself of the Syrians, open “discussions” in parliament, breaching taboo subjects… There was a glimmer of hope. What are we now? A nation on the terror list again?

Yesterday evening, while taking the subway home, me and M. were approached by a guy. He praised the lord Jesus Christ at the wonder of someone who’d never been to the US speaking English. He was a mormon missionary, serving for two years abroad (as do a lot of mormons, apparently). M. got sick of it after a short while, I played along. We got to talking, I feigned interest, and I saw his face light up, he had gotten through to a sinner! I smilingly agreed to meet him sometime in the coming two weeks.

The jungle that is Berlin is no place for a poor, innocent, white kid from Utah. He has NO idea what he’s gotten himself into.

I think I will take all these people up on their offers from now on. Hating religion is unhealthy, I must face it’s representatives one by one.

You’ve probably heard about Pat Robertson, fundamentalist extraordinaire, advocating the assasination of Hugo Chavez…

It’s so sad that there are still fools out there who believe in these people and their false prophets… who adhere to these outdated teachings, and believe in a sunny, cloudy heaven and a fiery lava-based hell… You’ll never get the most out of this life if you think it’s just a stepping stone into another… Do this. Don’t do that. God’s mood swings are worse than a woman in the midst of those ‘delightful few days’ that come once a month… yet he’s all-mighty… give me a friggin’ break…

Yet there still are people who believe this bullshit. People who live (or die) for/by/according to their particular religion… sad… so sad…

Here’s a call… if you’re reading this, give me ONE proof that implies the existence of God, Allah, Buddha, whatever… just one, and I will pay you 100 dollars. Cash, online order, whatever. I swear to god.

I’m not at a loss for topics. After the London massacre, every post I had in mind seemed irrelevant. The world disgusts me. There are no fucking justifications for what happened in London. Maybe it struck me more because it’s on my shortlist of places I’d like to live and work in, maybe because it’s right next door.

I have made a list of steps that need to be taken to resolve the conflict, and a brief collection of some opinions I have pertaining to the general global situation.

A step-by-step guide to terror resolution:

1. Muslims should make themselves heard. Know this. The English may be blaming their government, the US, Blair, Bush, etc… but deep down inside, they’re saying “those fucking muslims”. Not Islamists, not jihadists, not terrorists. Muslims. Yup, that’s right, people generalize. Muslims have to take an active role in this war. Half-hearted condemnation is not enough. Turn over murderers in their midst, stop supporting alQaeda and the rest. Issue fatwas in condemnation, and barring their followers from supporting the terrorists. That is the only way for me, or anyone, I guess, to take their opposition to these acts seriously.

2. Stop rationalizing these vile acts. Sure, Christians waged holy wars, and Islam is a younger religion. That’s no excuse. Stop drawing parallels. Two different situations. This is the 21st century, not the middle ages. No, you can’t expect this, and NO you can’t understand this as a natural phase in the development of religion. I don’t reinvent the computer every time I write a program. People evolve, learn from the past, and use these lessons. Oh, and also, screw Christianity.

3. Stop comparing this to local terror groups’ attacks. These aren’t like the IRA or ETA. They’re not like Hizballah. These people have a global domination plan. No, this isn’t some wacky 70s action flick. They want the entire world. They don’t care if you support any of their ‘issues’, either you fight for them, or you’re fair game. Much as I dislike this, I have to quote Bush: “You’re either with us, or you’re against us.” Apathy is not a viable option. They don’t care if you aren’t a Christian, or if you respect Islam, or if you’re a Buddhist. You are fair game. Face up to that. Make a stand. Waiting for every country to bleed before its’ citizens realize this threat is not an option. If you’re not with us, move out of the fucking way.

4. Bush. Take it back. Iraq didn’t have Al-Qaeda connections. They weren’t harboring terrorists. They didn’t have WMDs. A lot of the support for the war on terror fizzled out after this huge mistake. True, Saddam is a son of a bitch. True he tortured and murdered tens of thousands. Taking him down was a good thing, but you went about it the wrong way. What you left in your wake is an angry, poor, undereducated Shiite-dominated nation, right next door to Iran. Ripe for the Imams to instill their ignorant ideology on. Was it worth it? Toppling the dictator? Not everyone can/should govern themselves, there are a lot of elements that need to be in place before self-governance, or democracy becomes a viable option. I will tackle that later. True, you DREW the terrorists to Iraq, and I hope that they are all buried there. Every last one of them. Tortured. They deserve it. The Iraqis don’t.

5. Democracy shouldn’t be air-dropped. You can’t - and I’ll get shot down for this - offer poor, uneducated people the right to govern themselves. You’re opening the stage up for every wealthy bastard to buy his way in. These people can’t understand the global repercussions that their vote has. They will vote for the guy that ensures that their family will remain fed for the next month.

6. Iraq is a lost cause at the moment. A suicide bomber is brainwashed. He believes things that a toddler would scoff at. Let these people know that there are books to be read. Movies to be seen. Cultures to be experienced. Countries to be visited. Show them that THIS life is special, they wouldn’t readily give it up for lame promises made to them by crazy old men, speaking on behalf of Allah.

Only education removed the chokehold that the church had on everyday life. Let’s take the initiative.

I believe that Iran is the better place to start this in. There’s a generation of young people that have tasted civilization. They know that there’s fun to be had in this life. That’s all it takes. They hate the imams, they want freedom. Help them. Support them. Let THEM overturn the government. They look up to the rest of the world. They want to experience life.

Hell. Go for the radical solution. Corrupt them. A corrupt society couldn’t care less for fundamentalism. Shower them with money. Export bitches. Give them weed. Evict God/Allah.

Finally. I needed to get that off of my chest. It’s not coherent, I know, but then again, I’m not shooting for a nobel peace prize. I feel a bit better. I don’t want to worry every time I get on a bus. Fuck. If this is how it’s going to be, one side should eliminate the other. Wipe them out. I don’t give a fuck who. I’ll support the other. The world is being flushed down the toilet, one bomb at a time. Something must be done.

I need a drink.

I think too much about God and religion for an agnostic. Then again, maybe I should. The point is, I had this image when I read that article. If God had a sense of humor, she should take the non-sinners to heaven, and leave the rest of us here. But, since we’re so attached to this life, since we’re so materialistic, she should make us all immortal. As a punishment.

You might think that’s silly. Think again. 100 billion people. No one dying. Death in life.

I had chilling visions of people being buried in blocks underwater after they surpass a certain age. People tagged with expiry dates. No food. People chewing on their own limbs for sustenance. People starving to LIFE every single day. Red dust filling the sky (don’t know where red dust comes from, but hey! It’s my vision… Terminator 2, maybe)…

Why would an allmighty god be such a jerk? Why would she sit and watch while 300′000 die because of a Tsunami. And why are we supposed to be good? What kind of god, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscience, as it were, would just sit and watch? What kind of god would keep mankind wondering? What kind of god focuses only on the middle east to send her sons and prophets?

No god. That’s what. Sims/Simcity are two very popular games. You play god (or the myor). Either way, you are in control of lives. You can influence lives any which way. What do you naturally do? You help. You organize. You develop. You take pleasure in the progress you observe. You don’t sit back and watch. Omnibenevolent. Why isn’t that listed as an omni-attribute of god? Or would that be asking too much?

Isn’t it silly that people still follow organized religion? The moral values are intrinsic, people. We are moral beings. I don’t need the church to tell me not to steal! I don’t need the church to tell me to be a good person. The three God-based religions are responsible for most of the mass murders, persecutions, violence, and general evil-doing in these past two thousand years. Why? In the NAME OF GOD.

Well, I might be moved to admit that I can’t deny that God exists, simply because, as a logical person, I can’t tell for sure. I know this, however. The bible? The Koran? The Torah? All teach you how to live in their respective eras. They are deprecated books that controlfreaks need in order to brainwash the masses.

God would not brainwash his subjects to fly planes into building, or blow themselves up for his sake. Nor would he bribe them with 72 virgins, mind you. God would not decide, on a whim, that pork is bad, or blowjobs are good. God would not decide that women are inferior to men. God would not decide that we should all take a break on Sunday and cheer for him. God, if she existed, would probably not give a rat’s ass what we do. I don’t care what the person sitting next to me on a bus choses to do, as long as it doesn’t harm me. Why should God be such a baby? Why should she have such an image problem, such low self-esteem that she’d need people to cheer her on 5 times a day or once a week?

I say, ridiculous. Religion, my ass. Religion is a tool to control the weak. Religion is evil incarnate. Religion is the devil’s tool, and God is acting through the modern, intelligent man to reverse it, and finally bring back the age of enlightenment. If you think you can convince me otherwise, bring it on.