Ignorance is not bliss.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A grainy YouTube video surfaced Wednesday showing Sarah Palin being blessed in her hometown church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for her protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office.

The video shows Palin standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the pulpit of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft."
"Come on, talk to God about this woman. We declare, save her from Satan," Muthee said as two attendants placed their hands on Palin's shoulders. "Make her way my God. Bring finances her way even for the campaign in the name of Jesus. ... Use her to turn this nation the other way around."

Source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_el_pr/palin_witchcraft_blessing;_ylt=AgH1C5h7HWlusz0sJzbrOy2s0NUE

Religion scares me honestly.It is the perfect example of what group-think can truly do to society and the minds of people.Now,I normally do not have a problem with most religions but the belief that witches and "demonic" forces hidden in society and needing to be "purged" is just a bunch of bullshit carried from the Dark Ages and pulled into our modern society.


What makes it even more terrifying is that the potential Vice-President of the United States actually believes in this nonsense and subjected herself to being "purged".Now ponder for a moment here with me with a hypothetical question,just for the sake of argument.Let me lay it down for you.

1.McCain wins and becomes the next President of the United States.

2.Dies shortly after or retires because he is old.

3.Sarah Palin takes over.


A religious fundamentalist as President of the United States.And that is where the true damage from group think will come.As with any extremist religion,all you need is one major figurehead to start the ball rolling.

Here are a couple of symptoms of group think in relation to religious fundamentalism.

1.Illusion of invulnerability.

Religious fundamentalist observe the illusion that they are protected by God. Everything that they do,say and think can be justified with the "proof" of God saying its so.Anybody that tells them other wise is deemed a heretic ,ridiculed and as in the case of witch hunters ,burned at the stake.They actually think they can do what they like because God,is watching over them.

2.Believe in group's own morality.

The Bible holds the core doctrine for Catholics,Christians and other denominations of this belief but the fundamentalist take it to another level.They use it as voice of reason.A book as a voice of reason,not critical thinking with common sense.Their belief that only The Bible is right and even other books or text from other religions, even from Christian ones are all wrong.The Coptic and Gnostic gospels that were expelled from Christian text during the Councils of Nicea comes into min.Its all about picking and choose what fits into their context of right and wrong,not critical thinking.

3.Shared Stereotypes.

This is an easy one.Many Christian fundamentalist in the United States,especially in the Bible Belt think that they are on some kind of spiritual war with the Muslims.Why?Because a few other religious nutcases decided to slam 2 plans into the World Trade Center.Aha! Now all Muslims are evil! Its like the Crusades all over again.Two religious extremist battling out,because they think they know the whole truth to absolutely anything and everything and that they are right because of a divine force that tells them so.

4.Self-Censorship

Censorship for religious fundamentalist is just an everyday activity.The filtering that happens because they cannot agree with opposing opinions and arguments to their supposed "words" from God is outlines the authoritarian figurehead that Palin might become in the United States.Everybody has their own opinions,sure but it ain't much if it based on complete nonsense.If people want to debate on opinions,it should be based on substantial and valid facts,not wishful thinking.

5.Mind-Guards.

And finally,usually if someone is a hardcore religious fundamentalist ,they always stay that way.It always takes critical thinking to explore facts and knowlegde from both Science and other sources of religion to truly open one's self to the world. but sadly,these people would rather not.They apply barriers or justification and unreasoned facts to counter whatever arguments other people say,especially to policies in politcs in relation to abortion,homosexuals,war,teaching creation in schools,the validity of other religions and the list goes on and on.


I think the United States will make a horrendous turn for the worst if Palin assumes the role of President.Hell,I think it would either way,even if she was just the Vice-President.Religion and politics never mixes well.It breeds terror and hatred,covered in a bubble of "Morals and Rights" and that everyone else is heretical and deserves to burn in a fictitious place full of fire and brimstone.


Want to fight groupthink in religion?

Appoint the Devil's Advocate,but in a country ruled by the belief in witchcraft ,demons and religious hatred,that is just a futile attempt.If the majority of the people want to believe in bullshit,let them rot their souls and minds then.Leave the rest of us out of it!

I leave you with these immortal words from George Carlin (RIP!)

Come Clarity

Had another rather pointless week all up till Thursday,where I got Warhammer Online(I am such a nerd! =D).School was same old as always.Math quiz was easy but I made 2 mistakes.The tears, are flowing my humble friends.Working out in the gym and swimming is taking its toll,but I like it this way.Nothing beats a nice comfortable exercise for 3 hours after a long day.Also finally decided on getting a new tattoo,with 3 designs to choose from.Help me decide with the poll on the right!



















































Yeah,that is the Dark Mark from Harry Potter.Slytherin for the win!

Now,back to the topic at hand !

"Communication" In Relationships.

This would be a more personal post in relation to the other 2 previous postings.I figure ,with a topic like that,it would be entirely impossible(in my humble opinion) to find a news article that relates to it.(or maybe I am just lazy =P).I shall open it up with a quote which has absolutely nothing to do with anything.Why?

Because I can. =D

There's one sad truth in life I've found
While journeying east and west -
The only folks we really wound
Are those we love the best.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
To those who love us best.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I take a very qualitative approach when defining my choice of interpersonal communication.I have a very unique relationship certain people and I communicate differently with a certain group of people.I am usually the quite guy but personally my close friends think I talk too much and I am very ,very sarcastic.Almost too sarcastic for many people out there to handle it as a joke.

I find it hard to relate to many people out there,more so with the younger people in my classes especially.The cultural and socio difference is vast.Not that I do not want to communicate,I have no idea what the hell to talk about.My interest and psychological state is pretty screwed as opposed to most normal young adult/teen out there.Sometimes ,I intimidate people.

Interestingly,when it comes to face to face communication in private,thats is where I tend to be a little more matured as opposed to being a group,where I end up annoying people for some strange reason .

Maybe its a dyadic consciousness,a feeling of being "whole" with the other person and being more intimate and private with their emotions and thoughts.In a group,I sometimes tend to ignore the individual and instead focus on the collective state of being.And that ,"collective" state usually ends up being rampant chaos for some reason....and talking too much.

When it comes engagement,physical appearance does play its part but hear me out on this,I got my own weird taste as in whats presentable or not.Sure,I might see a girl as being very very very attractive to most guys,but it does absolutely nothing to me.For some bizarre reason,I can't stand girls who overly dress in the most ridiculous colors imaginable to humankind.

I tend to gravitate my conversations with people who have similar interest as myself.That is the only way I can guarantee striking up a sensible conversation with someone else without making myself an idiot or trying too hard for attention.Which, brings me to the question at hand.

When starting a conversation with someone;

Do you tend to force an entirely new topic on them,hoping for some sort of response ?

Or

Do you prefer to keep quite and hope the other person thinks of something interesting to talk about before you do?


Or

Are you psychic and for some bizarre reason,know exactly what to talk about almost all the time ?


In my case,I prefer to shut up and listen.I like listening.I like observing people and then drawing key topics for communication with them.I will then sort these topics into an order of importance before deciding if the person, whom I will be communicating shortly with,has any interest whatsoever in listening to my dribble about god know what.

Most of the time,I can't think of anything.As much as I like a good nice conversion,I prefer not to talk about redundant shit that nobody will take notice of and making an idiot out of myself.


Or maybe I am in denial and I am hopelessly a very dull and boring person who hates social interaction and wants to dance to Britney Spears naked while stabbing myself with a very blunt toothpick screaming, "Ooh Laa Laa".

Epic Fail.

The Lament of Gana

Visitors wept as Gana held her lifeless child up in the air, vainly seeking to restore movement to his lolling head, his limp arms.

She put the baby on her back and walked around, stopping to look at him after a few paces to see if he had recovered.

"Claudio died in his mother's arms, with think from some heart defect," said Joerg Adler, the zoo's director.

"Gana doesn't know it, but the whole of Germany is mourning with her. She is so sad right now."

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/19/eagorilla119.xml


It would be interesting to know how Gana really feels or perceives the death of her child.Can we readily assume that she feels the exact same emotions that a human being feels when they have lost their child?Some would argue with a resounding , "Yes! Of course she does!".Gana's torment certainly did capture the hearts of the visitors in the zoo.


Of course,this is under the assumption that one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom,holds the same perception of the world as we do or to be more specific,the perception of what is Death.


We all certainly can't agree on what might happen AFTER Death but we can certainly agree that Death itself means the ceasing of life on this existence.After that,comes a period of mourning,where friends and relatives hold their respective religious/non-religious ceremonies.After Claudio died,Gana kept the carcass for days and for many of the visitors/zoo keepers this was a sign that she was in fact mourning for her child.Interestingly enough,as like all apes and monkeys in the wild do when they lose a child,Gana clutched the carcass to her breast and tried to nurse it.



Was she really mourning or was just confused as to why her child was not responding anymore?



In,humans,we can divide Death into basic 2 scenarios.

1.The cessation of life,there is no coming back,soul/no soul.

and/or

2.A religious/spiritual experiance.


The way I look at it,Gana and maybe other great apes or even the entire animal kingdom might not even be able to perceive that Death itself is a cessation of life but that they can certainly see that Life itself can bring about an "end".What this "end" might be,they would not know.It is certainly a complex answer ,more so with the complexity of different species of animals and their reaction towards this "end".If they even do ,how do they even communicate,about Death?



Or do we humans really think we all know what it is to know in this reality and that animals do not?


Hell,thats a pressing question isn't it because we humans can't even get the facts straight on Death itself because of the various amount of perceptual "noise" out there.Perhaps,its better that we not know all the answers to life's next great frontier.

I like a good mystery,mind you! =)

Barack Obama at the 2008 DNC August 28, 2008

38 million people took time away from their busy schedule to watch him.That alone tells you the sheer lure that he as in attracting people to his ,and in my humble opinion, brilliant speech at the Mile High Stadium

Now ,personally,I care not for politics.I really do not,but Obama's character and poise has a certain charm to it.Obama is an excellent speaker.In regards to this specific speech at the DNC his style is casual yet it displays a certain bit of authority.He throws of his persona as an easy -going fan of your typical low-middle class worker in the States.The majority.

The buildup from 6.00 to the electrifying "Enough!" at 7.00 ,followed by the cheers of the 84,000 present is nothing sort of the man's mastery of effective speaking and the art of persuasion.Obama's message appeals to emotion.The disgruntled mass of low-middle class workers who are sick and tired of the 8 years of ,and I quote in his words "...failures of the Republicans.. ".


Although,I argue,is Obama all that credible?


Senator Barack Hussein Obama Jr. (IL)

Education:
JD, Harvard Law School, 1991
BA, Columbia University, 1983
Attended, Occidental College.

Professional Experience:
Attorney
Lecturer.

Political Experience:
Senator, United States Senate, 2005-present
Keynote Speaker, 2004 Democratic National Convention
Senator, Illinois State Senate, 1996-2004.

Senator John Sidney McCain III (AZ)

Education:

National War College, 1973-1974
BS, United States Naval Academy, 1958.

Professional Experience:
Senate Navy Liaison, 1977-1981
Captain, United States Navy, Vietnam, 1958-1981
Beer Distributor.

Political Experience:
Senator, United States Senate, Arizona, 1987-present
Primary Candidate, United States President, 2000
National Security Adviser, Dole/Kemp Presidential Campaign, 1996
Representative, United States House of Representatives, 1982-1986.

It is clear and obvious that Obama is almost no political experience when compared to McCain .He is certainly more educated but lets be real here,can fancy education make someone credible enough to be the next Commander -in - Chief?If not,why then are more Americans trusting their next 4 years to someone who has not yet shown an ounce of political experience?


While I certainly neither support either of them ,it certainly brings up the issue of ,the exact reason the American citizens are basing their vote on.It would be interesting to see , if political experience of McCain can trump the brilliance of Obama's ability to pull in the masses.What do you guys think?














Source : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26458559/
http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=9490
http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=S0061103