the Wordherder Online

I offer my Facebook friends the special privilege of reading my ridiculously long comments to their simple little status posts. Sometimes these turn into fun and stimulating debates, sometimes my “friends” quickly search for the “ignore user” option that Facebook supplies.

One such moment occurred sometime this morning as the sun began to peek up from the horizon. The topic was of Religion because certainly there is no better way to begin an early Monday morning than to challenge someone online with opposition to their views on Religion.

Behold!  an unedited (ok, edited slightly for length) transcript and proof of why I annoy the hell out of otherwise faithful Facebook friends:

Nell: thinks anyone who claims to believe that there is no God is either ignorant or full of shit. There, I said it.

Jeremy: “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?” – Nietzsche

I think Nietzsche was not debating in god as a concept… only that we seem either too arrogant, too ignorant, or perhaps too self-reliant that we have stopped looking to heavens for the answers we continually seek.

Nell:
I think it’s a bit arrogant to think that human kind has the power to destroy its creator, even if it is only symbolic, since we are the ones that are truly dying, physically, and in the given case, spiritually. Interesting concept, though. One of my favourite quotes is from Nietzsche.

Jeremy:
it might be something different than arrogance… or at least arrogance with a purpose.

one of the most universal moments that all animals, most especially humans, share is a moment in their life where they must separate from the nest, so to speak for us at least… in order to live their own personal lives and make their own personal choices. this leads first to discovering one’s self which in turn aids in finding that perfect mate for us to reproduce the best possible future of our species.

as people, we go through teenage years of building defiance to our parents… some sooner, some longer, some worse, some better, than others.  though it doesn’t always seem obvious… this helps us discover self-reliance to allow us to create our own lives away from our parents.

what if, as human civilisation progressed to the point that most Western cultures have achieved, we have reached a point in our species development to strike out on our own?  Nietzsche meant this when he talked that we killed god.  Whether god is a wizard in the sky, a force of nature, a form of fate, a flying spaghetti monster, or even a balance of dark and light… none of us can really truly speak of knowing.   but i don’t think that matters really in the slightest.

if god exists and an atheist doesn’t believe god exists, god still exists. if god does not exist and those of faith believe that god does exist, god still does not exist.

but if we find answers, questions, strengths, weaknesses, happiness, or sadness in either the belief or disbelief of a god… the THOSE are what truly exist. those are and have always mattered more. and those are undeniable.  if i find strength in a faith… no one can tell me that i don’t find strength in a faith.  in the end… it doesn’t matter at all what we call our higher powers, does it?  it has never mattered what name we give them, what face, image, or depiction that we give them. it has never mattered what stories we pretend that they command us to spread, does it?    what matters and has always mattered is a very personal thing that we might not be too good at sharing because perhaps it was never meant to be shared.  its our own faith, our own strength.   and i think the realisation of that is what killed God because it brings god’s purpose into us.  and no one outside of us could ever say a damn thing about what we have inside ourselves.

I think I rather like that response. Well, of course I do… its MY response, lol. Can’t argue with personal belief, right?  haha.

The Good:

I had the great fortune of seeing 30 Seconds to Mars live. Opening acts included Neon Trees and Mute Math which both rocked surprisingly hard and sounded amazing. Right up center in the crowd was my chosen spot as dealing with the moshpit and constant pushing back and forth of a sea of people is usually annoying but hardly enough to distract from having excellent bands (and this time an excellent Hollywood actor singing his heart out as well).

Mute Math, 2nd opener for 30 Seconds to Mars. the drummer was absolutely insane… came out and started duct-taping his headphones to his head. i counted at least 2 broken drum sticks. I loved the way they ended the show, by breaking down their instruments but jamming on them at the same time… eventually everyone had part of the drum set and the song turned into a tribal beat with the entire band banging on whatever they could grab. at one point the singer threw a weird theramin into the crowd which i was able to grab and play a few notes as it was passed around.

Neon Trees, first opener for 30 Seconds to Mars. Decent band — singer is like a high-energy, punk version of Mick Jagger. Getting a non-blurry picture of anyone in that group was impossible… made even more so that I was close enough to wonder if I would be nailed with a swinging microphone which would have been awesome, haha.

well… I survived 30 Seconds to Mars. Was one person deep in center pit until some dick stole my camera right out of my hand… chased him down, got punched in the face and another guy nailed me in the kidney but I got the camera back. Spent the rest of the next couple songs gasping for breath amidst the sea of people. But eventually the fun came back to me and the rest of the show rocked!

The Bad:

The next day, I went to the old market in order to play my own music for the masses. The night wasn’t the best for street busking so soon after the sun went down I began making my way back home. Unfortunately I was jacked on my way back up what I thought was 13th St but was 16th street. Five black dudes tried to take my guitar but I beat them back. Thankfully my only injuries were minor wounds where I impacted with the assailants: cut knuckle from a punch, and sides of both palms where I blocked their hits. After I knocked one guy’s wind out of him the rest took off running away allowing me to dart into an opened door that just happened to be backstage at the same venue that I saw 30 Seconds to Mars the night before.  After a song or two by the band on stage, a roadie spotted me and asked for credentials. He surprisingly believed me when I lied that I had lost them but when he asked who I was with, I drew a blank.

Rule 1: If you find yourself one step away from a Roadie letting you stay backstage, it is always a good idea to have at least some clue as to which bands are playing.  I voluntarily left, caught a ride with Shera to home where I nursed my minor scrapes and cuts.

F*ing Hell:

I went back to the Old Market the next night because I found myself playing guitar and realised that I might as well make a few dollar bills while I practice. It was a very slow night so I ended up chatting and jamming with other buskers, eventually just putting instruments away and babbling about music on the porch of Billy Frogs Tavern.  It was after 2 when I took off knowing that I had borrowed a car this night so as not to worry about having an attempted mugging once again on the way home.  Instead, I got lost on the way home driving down 10th street while thinking it was 13th street.  10th ends going south as soon as you approach Rosenblatt Stadium and the Henry Doorly Zoo campus to which I discovered too late. While attempting t o turn around quickly in the narrow one way street, the car hit the curb and possibly a sign. The airbag went off and knocked me out.  I have no recollection of at least an hour after that. I know a policeman issued me a ticket for the collision because I have the ticket. The blankness off the accident and at least an hour after is what is worrying me.  Unfortunately, I have no visible head injury and no seatbelt bruise. My only injuries are still those from the mugging the night before. I say this as unfortunately because at least some physical sign except for a broken car might spur memory or at least show a clue.

I just learned that the car is technically totalled due to the repair cost. It certainly didn’t look totalled but in the end it is better, at least insurance-wise.

From MSNBC.msn.com

HONOLULU – Hawaii is a step closer to joining a small group of other states in allowing same-sex civil unions.

In a move that still needs the governor’s signature to become law, the House of Representatives Thursday night approved a measure that has drawn some of the state’s biggest protest rallies.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle hasn’t said whether she’ll reject it or sign it into law but her office said later that she will carefully review the bill.

The House voted 31-20 in favor of the legislation, which had been stalled but was unexpectedly revived on the last day of this year’s legislative session. The Senate passed it in January.

The measure would grant gay and lesbian couples the same rights and benefits that the state provides to married couples.

If approved, Hawaii will become one of six states — along with California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington — to grant essentially all the rights of marriage to same-sex couples without authorizing marriage itself.

Five other states and the District of Columbia permit same-sex marriage: Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The Aloha State has been a battleground in the gay rights movement since the early 1990s.

A 1993 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling nearly made Hawaii the first state to legalize same-sex marriage before voters in the state overwhelmingly approved the nation’s first “defense of marriage” constitutional amendment in 1998.

The measure gave the Legislature the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples. It resulted in a law banning gay marriage in Hawaii but left the door open for civil unions.

This year the issue has proven divisive in Hawaii with religious groups arguing that civil unions are a step toward legalizing same-sex marriage. During one of the biggest ever state rallies, several thousand people protesting the measure rode buses to the Hawaii Capitol last year following Sunday church services.

The gay and lesbian community urged lawmakers to act on their principles rather than back down in the face of public pressure from opponents threatening to vote them out of office.

Civil-union supporters wearing rainbow-colored leis, or flower necklaces, jumped and screamed for joy outside the House chamber following the vote.

“Hawaii is the Aloha State, and this vote shows that the greater community has love and acceptance for everyone,” said supporter Van Law.

Disappointed civil union opponents wearing red “iVote” buttons as a warning to legislators this election season quickly departed the Hawaii Capitol, with only a few lagging behind.

“Civil unions are a step down the very slippery slope toward legalizing same-sex marriage,” said Rachel Nakasaki, a Christian who believes traditional marriage between a man and a woman should be preserved.

Hawaii’s civil union legislation appeared to be dead in January, when the House didn’t take a vote on the measure and postponed it indefinitely out of fears that Lingle would veto.

The issue was revived Thursday after every other bill introduced this year had been acted on. Democratic House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro made the motion to reconsider the bill, although the House fell three votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor.

The bill was written so that civil unions would be available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to avoid claims of discrimination.

“Equality feels really good,” said Suzanne King, who said Hawaii would recognize her Massachusetts marriage to her partner as a civil union if the bill becomes law. “It allows us to strengthen our family.”

If Lingle vetoes the bill, it’s unlikely lawmakers would return to the Capitol to try to override her. They lack enough votes, and it’s an election year where legislators are hesitant to take stands on contentious social issues unless they’re forced to, as they were during Thursday’s roll-call vote.

“I’m looking forward to not coming back,” said Democratic Speaker of the House Calvin Say.

There is something historically significant occurring today… the disastrous oil rig explosion that led to what is looking like to be the worst environmental oil disaster of all time comes during a significant debate between leftist environmental concerns and the right “Drill Baby, Drill!” rhetoric. Environment vs. Profit. In this age of economic turmoil existing parallel to global climate change concerns we seem now, through immediate concerns instead of ideologies, at an important crossroads to which a decision will dramatically impact not only our immediate future but also any long term realities as well.

Our leaders now make decisions that will very importantly change each and every citizen’s lives and lifestyles. Shouldn’t we be a bit more concerned about all of this?