on the second point, i think there is more nuance to the fact that religion is greater than the sum of its human parts. sure, humans on their own can be brutish, xenophobic, judgmental, paranoid, [etc.] -- but you really need a religion (or a “chauvinist state religion” like nazism) in order to implant in people a reason (e.g., god, hell, afterlife, hundreds of virgins, danger of jews, dangerous “enemies”) to place the “us” above the “them”, which in turn serves to break down the background social/cultural conditioning that keeps people from doing truly despicable things.

like they say, “Gods don’t kill people. People with gods kill people.”

but generally, when i read or see stories about a $5 million emerald or a $10 million house, or whatever, it just makes me sad. if i had buttloads of money, sure i’d do super fun things like whisk friends around on fun vacations and such -- and i might even splurge on my childhood dream of living in a secluded lair carved out of a mountain cliffside -- but $10 million mcmansions for a family of 5? really?

in my mind, there really is a limit to how much money you can spend without becoming objectively ridiculous.

And yes, many if not most Christians are highly judgmental. But so are most people just generally. My longstanding theory is that most of the faults people identify with religion are really just faults in human nature, and that religion often accentuates those as a way of breaking through. Seeing humanity clearly is the only way to even try to overcome it, and there are any number of ways to get there.

But where this shouldn’t go is that it isn’t something to excuse bad behavior by others, so much as it’s a statement of uncertainty about the sum total of a person’s total worth. My basic point is that, while I can’t judge whether or not he’s a horrible person with ultimate authority, there’s little in the public record that suggests a countervailing opinion to that, and I don’t see any reason to sit around and hope that he’ll “redeem” himself publicly in any way. Admittedly, this isn’t elegantly expressed, but that’s just a casualty of the medium sometimes.

i love that he is a “fertiliser magnate”. also known as a corrupt russian oligarch specializing in shit.

(a) it’s pretty much the most ignored part of the bible because every christian i’ve ever met (no matter how nice, or mean, or moderate, or ultra-conservative) makes over a billion judgments in front of me every minute. and there’s nothing worse than a bible-thumper who wags his finger at you for being gay, who then goes home and fucks his girlfriend out of wedlock. Live the WORD!

(b) i think people need to be WAY more judgmental on an aggregate basis. if i hear someone dismiss my concerns about the new a-hole that just moved in next door with “he seems so nice” one more time, i’ll plotz. yes, dear, i’m sure there were all sorts of family friends who adored hitler because he was so nice to his aunt and her tiny pug Mimsie -- but he also killed millions of jews and that trumps taking Mimsie on walks, thank you very fucking much.

what seems to underlie most of it is a sad premise: that entertainers and other people who have “made it” shouldn’t be subject to the same laws and standards that apply to all the rest of us.

take the polanski thing. what would happen to an everyday joe, who works as a manager at a home depot in Mobile, Alabama, if he were brought up on charges of raping a 13-year-old girl?

well, if he were able to escape being lynched by the victim’s family or random townies, he would be quickly convicted and locked away for decades -- with nary an opportunity to bail himself out and flee to europe. everyone who ever knew him, including all of his current and former coworkers and most of the people in his family except maybe his mom, would instantly disown any shred of a memory of him and cast him as the most vile human being they’d ever met.

but, for roman polanski, his money allows him to flee america and live in luxury and comfort. and because he makes lovely movies and all that raping happened so very long ago, swish hollywoodsters can pay the matter the requisite 5 seconds of attention that everything requires and absolve polanski in the name of the producer, the agent and holy director. amen.

There is no end to the horrors caused, and still being caused by Christian doctrine. Matthew said it best at the end of that “judge not” thing: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

Since empowering people is the opposite of what they want, they figure they’ll just divide and conquer with cultural junk in that community as they have with white people. I doubt it will work, but that’s all they can do.

sign this petition if you agree

http://www.change.org/petitions/congress-and-senate-use-the-simpson-bowles-report-to-address-the-federal-deficit-issue

the cognitive dissonance that the GOP has installed into the brains of resentful angry white people -- so that they vote directly and repeatedly against their own interests -- is truly a sight to behold.

I’m getting a bit more hopeful is all I’m saying.

sheesh.

this is almost as cringe inducing as when herman cain declared randomly that he’d like to be SECRETARY OF DEFENSE!

in other news, M.C. Hammer said yesterday that he would be honored to serve as Treasury Secretary in the next Obama administration.