This one's gonna be long...

My dearest Monisia had a book lying around... what would you do? I picked it up and flipped to what looked interesting at the moment.

I was richly rewarded. The book I picked up was "Einstein In His Own Words". A book of Einstein quotes, with commentary separating them.

Nothing seems to weigh more on my mind than religion. I've had a bit of a battle this week. And not in the way you might think. This week at school I've been compiling a playlist on my Ipod of the "100 Songs Every American Should Know", as compiled by MENC (www.menc.org). A lot of them are spiritual songs... and as I fumbled around for them, I came across some songs that used to make me bow. So there I sit, in my computer chair at school, listening to Christian music (the good stuff, mostly hymns), and finding myself thinking about God and wishing that things were as easy as fundamentalist Christianity would have you believe. This has been a very hard week.

My mind skipped over to a quote that Danielle commented with on my first post. "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."

Surely you have heard this before. And what I found myself realizing, is that Marx was right. Joseph McCarthy would be coming after me right now... but I think he's dead. And I think Marx was right about a lot of things. Now, I'm no communist, but I just might subscribe to Marxism... not sure yet. But back to the main veins. Marx was right. Lately, having not stood alongside religion for almost 2 years now (with a third year prior as transitory), I find that the only time I need "God" is when I'm hurting or in despair, and yes, stress counts.

Anyway, Marx interests me... and so does Paul Tillich. Neither are what you would call an easy read though.

Now, the quotes I read in Einstein... I found them to agree with what I think. Of course, these are just a select few, but I read many more.

"I'm not an atheist and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations."

"My position concerning God is that of an agnostic."

"I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals."


"Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."


Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not God."


And finally (for tonight)...
"I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of his children for their numerous stupidities, for which he himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only his non-existence could excuse him."


My thoughts are those that are still in progress... I do not claim to have the right answer. I simply believe that this is MY right answer. And sorry that the blog tonight was 1) too long, and 2) so scattered in thought.

Take care, 'till next time...

Full-Mental Nudity

I really found this article interesting. Follow the link, read it, then come back here to see what I have to say...

http://www.slate.com/id/2161936/?GT1=9231





I thought that this is fantastic news. These are the things that I'd like to be learning about when I turn on the news or open the newspaper. Now, that being said, I don't necessarily agree what is going on... I don't have to. I just want to know that it is going on. What do you think?

Now, this article made me think about what it is to be human. I think that being human is more than just an ability to walk, talk, and think. I think that part of what makes us human is the ability to use our thinking not only to judge what is right or wrong, but also to engineer our future... to evolve.

Think about it... if you only judge something as right or wrong, you are simply following a set of rules. Rules that are created by someone else. Rules that someday may as well be governed by a machine. What purpose in society would people that refuse (conciously or not) to be fully educated serve? What of the people that are satisfied with being mediocre? What of the people that do the same thing, day in and day out? Where do you fit in here?

I'm not happy sitting still... call it ADHD/ADD or whatever you want. I just don't want to be stagnant. I want to refine myself... whatever I'm interested in. I never do the same thing (exactly) in my music classroom. I never teach the same lesson as someone else. I teach my way. I'm always wanting to make it better... and sometimes I fail. But that helps me grow better too. You?

I grew unhappy with religion. I found that it didn't speak to me anymore. I outgrew it. It was old, boring, and stagnant. And some of you are screaming right now. And yes, I know... I'm going to hell... but only if there is one. :)

Please comment. And thanks for reading all my ranting.

Some jokes I've just come across...


Bra Shopping
A very flat-chested woman finally decided she needed a bra and set out to the mall in search of one in her size. She entered an upscale department store and approached the saleslady in lingerie, “Do you have a size 28AAAA bra?”
The clerk haughtily replied in the negative, so she left the store and proceeded to another department store where she is rebuffed in much the same manner. After a third try at another department store in the mall, she had become disgusted. Leaving the mall, she drove to K-Mart.
Marching up to the sales clerk, she unbuttoned and threw open her blouse, yelling, “Do you have anything for this?”
The lady looked closely at her and replied, “Have you tried Clearasil?”



What is red and green and goes 100 miles an hour? A frog in a blender



Have you seen the hottest new Catholic porn film? It's 10 minutes of sex and 50 minutes of guilt.





Lunch Anyone?
A little old lady sits at the luncheonette counter and orders a hamburger. The huge guy behind the counter bellows, "One burger!"
Whereupon the chef grabs a huge hunk of chopped meat, stuffs it in his bare armpit, pumps his arm a few times to squeeze it flat, and then tosses it on the grill.
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen," the old lady says.
"Yeah?" says the counterman. "You should be here in the morning when he makes the doughnuts."




Why was the rooster so unhappy?
Because he only got laid once and it was by his mother.





Preacher Playing Hooky
A preacher woke up one Sunday morning and looked outside and saw it was a beautiful day. He decided to skip church and go play golf. So he called the junior pastor at his church and told him he was sick and couldn't give the sermon. The junior pastor told him not to worry, he would deliver the sermon.
The pastor drove about 40 miles away from town to avoid being spotted. As he was setting up his first drive on the first hole, Jesus leaned over to God in heaven and asked him, "Are You going to let him get away with this?" God told Jesus not to worry, he would handle it. Right as God said that, the preacher hit the drive of his life. The ball traveled all 450 feet to the green, bounced once, and rolled in the hole. The preacher was ecstatic. Jesus asked God,"Why would you let him do that?" God said, "Because, who is he gonna tell?"



Alright... that's enough for now... I promise to post something real sometime soon, maybe even tonight! I do hope you enjoyed the jokes... I got them from http://jokes.comedycentral.com

Lunatics among us...

I'm not going to take much time to post tonight... but I did want to say something before I go to sleep for the night, with the morning so near.

This world is nuts. It seems that every single day I read an article, or hear on the radio about some "Evangelical Christian" who is making a mockery of what they believe in. Pat Robertson, along with so many other screwballs say the most unbelievable things.

What started this for tonight is I was reading a friend's blog... and he linked to something that Jack Thompson, a anti-video-game lawyer said.

Basically, it boils down to him misusing the Bible to create some kind of threat, before apparently only perceivable to him. Specifically, he quotes Psalm 35 (claiming that G-d himself wrote it). The verses are 7-9:

7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit,which without cause they have digged for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares;and let his net that he hath hid catch himself:into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD:it shall rejoice in his salvation.

This actually bothers me... video games, while they may sometimes be filled with gratuitous violence, porn, and socially non-conformative behavior, are NOT the root of all evil. Video games will not affect or effect the salvation of a person's soul (which I don't believe in anyway, but that's another post). And no matter about that, how can a "christian" go about wishing the utter destruction of a SOUL, of course in exchange for the gladness of his own???

And people wonder why there are fewer people headed to churches on Sunday mornings!???! I don't! Lunacy like this causes it... that and hypocrisy.

And I know, beyond a doubt, that some of you know about this lunacy/hipocrisy first-hand. You've experienced it. You've done it. I have. And to those I hurt in my stupidity, I am truly sorry. Your parents might have pushed it on you and others. Surely you know someone equally crazy...

Now post about it. I love reading your comments.

Inaugural Post...

Welcome to MyWorldRevised. I'm very glad to have you stop by.

My posts will most likely be about the controversial, if existant, christianity that I believe (or don't) believe in. I don't intend to focus on what I already know... however I do want to expand my knowledge by research and debate. The research part, I've got covered...

Other posts will have to do with my life and kids. I have 3, by the way.

I will gripe and complain... and expect for you to bear with me until I snap out of it. You will... and then all shall be well.

Life has some interesting twists in it. And I want to talk about them.

Engage me with your comments.