rant o' the day

"Actually, Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, made about $2 million this past weekend, whereas X-men made about $150 million. That just shows we're more interested in the fake people saving the fake earth than the real people trying to save the real earth." --Jay Leno

(All Hat and No Cattle)

I thought that this was excellent commentary...Americans appear to prefer the magic of illusions, brutal violence, powerful and mysterious hero's that save the day, and American's like to see their country triumphant, as love saves the day, and nothing changes, rather than understand that our entire way of life is killing us and the planet.

WE ARE KILLING THE PLANET! Of course that means we are killing ourselves too, but that's not as important as mythic hero's and fantasy.

I was watching a National Geographic Special on Art and Culture in Afganistan and the impact of both the Taliban and war on this country. Experts say that without art, such as sculputure, paintings, jewelry, even film, a country could lose its history. The identity of a people with their land and their culture is vital. To be Afgan, you must be a part of the history of Afganistan, you must know the people and lessons of the past. Think of the impact on Americans if every single Christian relic were confiscated and destroyed.

During the Taliban reign, Afganistan Art Historians and Artists literally risked their lives to protect sacred national treasures of art. These men, and I presume women, hid or disguised precious historical artifacts to protect them from destruction by Taliban Clerics. Had they been caught they would have been excuted on the spot. That took real courage and real dedication to a cause. Pride in Heritage.

As I watched this special I got a glimpse of what life was like for the Afgan people, both during and after the Taliban. I got a glimpse into their world view and this is what I found interesting. The subject of The Budda was a central focus on their lives, and the lives of millions and millions of human beings. In Afganistan there were massive and ornate statures of the Budda centuries old. These were mostly destroyed by the Taliban, but that is not really my point.

My point is that the world perspective of Buddists is significantly different than Christianity. Reincarnation for one thing is a pretty basic difference. Christians prefer that we live one life, then we go to Judgement, whereas Buddist's believe that we will be reborn in another life, depending on how well, or poorly, we have done in this one. The reality of people who are Buddhist, is vastly different from the reality of Christians. Not only that, but the reality of Budda has been in existence for centuries prior to the advent of Christianity and it is still going strong today. This means to me that Buddism has a much stronger claim on truth than Christianty. That is, a spiritual path, perspective, that has been accepted and passed along for thousands of years, must be superior in all ways to one that has just appeared withing the past few centuries. Therefore, I tend to believe that the Buddist reality is more likely than the Christian reality.

But then, I differentiate between Christ and Christianity. They are not the same. Christ was a man, an avatar, who lived a life of compassion, spirituality, understanding, acceptance and hope.

"...The real Jesus was born illegitimately. He called himself "the human one." Just like Buddha, his authority came from truth, not power. He taught whoever has love has God. He said those who work for the common good are his church..." (Don't Bow to God's Bullies. Rev. Jim Rigby, Huffington Post)

I see Christ as a man who despised war, sought to heal and support those more unfortunate than he. I see Christ as someone who would support universal Health Care, Low income Housing, universal child care, safe and clean drinking water and food, justice in our courts and politics. I see Christ as a leader of liberal causes, who would approve of people putting aside their differences to listen to each other, understand from each other, seek to live in harmony with each other.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot envision Jesus Christ hating someone because they happen to be gay, or Moslem, or poor, or female. I cannot imagine Christ being so ego-driven that he would be a 'jealous God'. I cannot imagine Christ condeming to eternal hell people who do not believe in Christianity. He just wouldn't do that. That is not who Christ was or is. I believe Jesus Christ is horrified that humans launch themselves into a killing frenzy of war in his name. No way could I accept the belief that Jesus favors rich people over poor people and that the rich are rich because they are 'blessed' by him, or that the poor are poor because they aren't devout enough. What a crock.

I see Christianty as nothing more or less than a means for one human being to attain power over other human beings. It is a religion. Therefore it was created by men, for men, with all of the prejudices, bigotry, and lies inheirent in men who seek power. Christianity has nothing to do with Christ; he is there only as a token symbol to justify brutality and a rigid control of people. Still, Christianity has many 'good Christian's' but they are good because they are at heart good people. They would be 'good' no matter what religion they chose. Being kind and compassionate has nothing to do with what religion you are, except for the curious fact that religion can make you less compassionate not more.

"...To picture God in terms of power is also one of the great bait-and-switch gimmicks of all time. People within the power hierarchy proclaim that God is the ultimate authority, and then appoint themselves as God's interpreters and enforcers. They are God's humble bullies. It has been one of the most successful con games of all time..." (Don't Bow to God's Bullies, Rigby)

Well, that is about all for today, my daily rant against the hypocrisy of religion and the unwillingness of Americans to understand the truth of their world.