Hi, I'm Mr. Right.
I originally had this all in the one post, but I thought it'd detract from what I'm saying about the film. However, these are my collected thoughts from the past few years, all poured out onto this screen tonight. It's now after 4:00am on Saturday, but I've finally had my say.
Here you go.
I'm not religious at all. My parents are of opposing faiths and they ceased practising to bring us children up free to make our own choices. We weren't indoctrinated into believing that we must behave a certain way on pain of death or to save our immortals souls. If we wanted to be religious, that was fine with them. They probably wanted us to be, we didn't lift that gauntlet. I've always been wary, or awkward, or maybe even pitying of those who practice religion. A skeptic, I don't believe completely in anything, so religious faith was never an option. As I got older, I came to regard Christians (I had little contact with any other faiths growing up) with a dismissive attitude, thinking the need to believe in something taking care of us and guiding us was the sign of a weak mind, a personality that needed a crutch to go on living. I held that mode of thought for many years, but over more recent years I've come to accept them and their beliefs. They're perfectly entitled to hold those beliefs, and if it makes their life better, that's great--just don't expect me to want to adopt them myself. You're imposing your will on me then, and no free-born Briton can accept that.
Oh, did anyone catch that one? Give yourself a cookie if you actually noticed that I said "accept" rather than "tolerate". Anyone care to make the distinction?
Yes, that's right. "Acceptance"--to my mind--is when you understand or it doesn't bother you with why a person is the way they are and what they believe. You're happy that them being that way makes them happy. "Tolerance"--which I now find to be a dirty word outside of technical specifications--means you understand nothing about what the other is like (or don't care to) or why they act the way they do, that what they're doing unsettles and possibly angers you, but you don't want to make a fuss about it. You don't want to cause a scene. You don't want to
be seen to be "intolerant".
Who wants to be just tolerated?
Now that I've had experience with other faiths, I still find them all to be... unnecessary. My take on life was described to me as being like Buddism, with a core "belief", if you will, of Greek philosophy. I believe that all things must be a balance. If you swing to much the one way or the other, you start to become an extremist. No matter what you're extreme about, that's a bad thing. Of course, I'm a hypocrite in this just like everyone else, going to extremes in spending time on the computer, eating too much, not calling my parents or exercising often enough, but that's
my goal. I'm a centrist by nature, although I would like to institute Martial Law in Britain to get rid of crime.
I also believe in karma, and that humans are essentially wired to be pleased when they do something nice for someone else, even if they get nothing out of it--the "warm fuzzy", the pay it forward, the
you'll get yours. Even if its only holding open a door for someone so it doesn't close in their face, you've just made someone else's day better. They may not notice, or care, or even take it as their due, but you offered a kindness and you will get your reward at some point.
I believe that religion has outlived its usefulness, and it is time to consign it--all of it--to the rubbish bin of history. What makes a human being a good person? The fear of consequences. Up until the 1950s religion did its job of keeping humanity honest. There will of course always be those who are naturalluy good, and this is why we lionise them. They are the ideal, the goal to shoot for, the person to emulate. Just as surely, there will always be those of the black heart, the fiends, the people who go down in history as inherently evil. For these people, not much will change in their lives and they will live them out accordingly. But for the teeming masses of regular humanity, we need to fear the consequences of being bad, as being bad is just too easy. You usually get your comeuppance, but not until much later and humans live for the now.
What humanity needs is a new "consequence", a
personal consequence that'll make you fear it enough to behave yourself.
I find the three main religions to be outdated, holding on to traditions that made sense for the time and region they were created in. But in this modern world, why
continue to hold onto these traditions? What
sense does it make to only walk 1,000 steps before the start of the new week? What
sense does it make to cut off half your knob to prove yourself? What
sense does it make to hold your knob in your left hand and eat with your right when we have indoor water plumbing? What
sense does it make to interrupt your work day to pray five times, washing practically your entire body in the sink before you do it? (Please forgive the generalisations and lack of other examples, my wife is always explaining Jewish and Mohammedan practices but my Christian education is lacking. I'm not out to prove my research credentials, I'm trying to make a point and it's very late.)
All these and more rituals undoutably made sense when they were created. The Mohammedans come from desert regions where water is scarce but hygiene is still important. Sand was their usual cleansing method. But in this day and age of water plumbing, what is the point of holding to those desert rituals?
The Jews are some of the worlds best financial minds from time B.C. In this modern world of constant business, why hold to a tradition that limits the steps you can take on a certain day?
Traditions are traditions because history is important to us. But it is also the perogative of a free-thinking individual to break those traditions when they are no longer sensible. That is the mark of sentience. Knowing just what traditions to break, that is the mark of
intelligence.
Religion is just like every other human invention: It is a tool, nothing more. It is completely neutral on its own, and we all create God in our own image. It is what people do with it that makes it good or bad. Fire well used warms, ill used burns. Nuclear power can destroy a city, or it can power a city. Religion in the hands of good people has done tremendous things to the benefit of humanity. Religion has also been the force behind the worst violence in humanity for millenia.
Humanity is moral. There's no denying it. But there are two types of morality: sentient and societal. Quick question: two morals, which is which?
Don't kill. Don't sleep with your sister.
In simplistic terms: sleeping with your sister is a societal moral. Actual procreation with a relative leads to genetic abnormalities. It's called inbreeding. The human genome needs diversity in its creation or it becomes flawed. Thus, society evolved the incest taboo. There are strong medical reasons for not doing it.
Abhorrance of killing is a sentient moral. It deprives a sentient of their right to live, and your rights should then be forfeit. Each sentient has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, just as the Yank constitution states. If the pursuit of your happiness means a release from pain and life, then that's your choice too--but not someone else's.
The Yanks were mostly Brits, just trying to live their lives in peace, but a stupid King pushed them too far and made them ex-Brits. Along those lines, the apologists and appeasers would have you believe that America deserves whatever it gets because of their foreign policy for the last 100 years or so. In that case, all of America's "crimes" are actually Britain's fault, as British foreign policy (even though it was still domestic at the time) created America. But then all of Britain's "crimes" are actually the fault of Spain and France, for failing to stop Britain's rise to power in the first place.
Does this sound silly to you? At what point did it become so? Where do you draw the line? It should have been
before "America deserves it".
Now, all the special treatment that the Mohammedans are getting, specifically in the workplace. Why are they getting it? I tell you (in a quote from a favourite porno film), "it beats the living shit outta me".
I worked with a lot of Mohammedans in my last job, and some were a really great bunch who laughed and joked and griped just like I did. They were real people, and they were friends.
Others seemed unaware of deoderant. Still others seemed to think that emptying a bottle of perfume over them made up for the fact that they hadn't washed themselves that week. And of course, my pet peeve, the arseholes who used a paper towel to hold their knob while they peed, then dropped the damn thing into the urinal. Now, I think it's fairly obvious that it ain't going to flush away, so some poor cleaning staff is going to have to pull it back out--at the end of the day when half the building has peed on it. Oh,
joy. Now, I have no problem with you holding your knob with a towel, but for the love of Britannia throw it in the rubbish, or flush it down a toilet! Throwing it in the urinal is a discourtesty to everyone using the bogs after you. What, were you raised in a desert? How long have we had water plumbing? How long have
you had water plumbing?
The Hindus and the Sikhs seem to have grasped the concept with the greatest of ease, not to mention the South Americans, Eastern Europeans and Orientals and everyone else in between. Whats your excuse? What's your
problem?Coming back to the special treament, why do Mohammedans get to take five breaks? Why do they get to dictate that break schedule? Why does the Mohammedan religion get to dictate to Western business culture when and where they'll work? The Jews and Christians don't get that privillege, why should you? Everyone from the Christians to the Hindus and back again have their religious holidays, but (from my experience working with them) they don't demand time off
during each and every workday to go talk to God. Can you imagine if they did? Who'd be around to work? No wonder the Middle East hasn't gotten very far in technological terms.
What was the last thing
you invented? My country shaped the modern world, inventing a lot of the concepts and actual tools. America, Russia, Japan, and no doubt many others are all contributing to the forward progress of humanity.
What the jolly fuck has
yours done lately?
Besides, I thought you came to this Western, predominantly Judeo-Christian country to make a better life for yourself. To get away from the bad things in your home country. See, this thing is kinda like a club. You are joining
our club. Women going to your country have to be covered in a potato sack or the men will rape them for "temping" them with a glimpse of a square millimeter of bare skin. Over here, women get to wear whatever they want. So, like a good Western husband--which you've now decided to become after leaving your home country for something better--hand over your cash or credit card and let her go shopping! If you don't like these rules,
go the fuck home, back to where you
are lord and master. This is (supposed to be) our own country. It was built by hard-working Catholics, Protestants and Jews. Of course we're going to have laws that reflect that. I used to be a big fan of Arabian-style justice. Our horribly weak justice system needs to have the deterrent put back in. Stealing? Chop off their hands. Rapist? Castrate him. Defrauder? Confiscate all their money and any that they make in the future goes to the defrauded. However, Sharia law is a
bad idea. Honour killing your daughter because another man raped her? Just
whose honour has been hurt again?
You cannot have this both ways! At least, you shouldn't be able to, but with the panderers, apologists, lobbiests, special interests & religious groups, you are. Oh, the joys of Democracy. Bring back the British Empire, I say.
(Hmmm... The United Earth Republic of the British Commonwealth and America. I like the sound of that...)
A society is a constantly changing thing. Each new immigrant brings something new, something from home, something of the old country they'd like to see here in their new one.
You are supposed to adapt to the society you move to, not the other way around. The society you move to may expand to encompass some of your cultural elements, but this isn't a "we'll meet you half-way" thing. This is a "hmmm, that actually sounds like a good idea, we'll alter a law to include that, welcome to
". This is most definitely not a "hmm, our population of 65 million people will of course love to have our whole system of law and rights turned upside-down just to suit the obviously supremely important needs of you 1.5 million immigrants".
Get over yourselves. You are not "all that".
Treason: No one uses this word anymore. That's sad, but not unsurprising. It means the death penalty. What is treason? My wife and I had this conversation. Let me tell you what treason is, to me.
Treason is burning the Flag. What ever country you come from is irrelevant. The Flag does not represent your current Administration. The burning the Flag is not a sign of teenage rebellion, striking a blow against "the man", or a proper statement of your opinion of your current government's policies.
The Flag is a carefully-chosen symbol of your country. Not only that, but the entire history and ideals of your country. That Flag is a symbol of the construction of your country by decades, centuries, millenia of your countrymen and women struggling to build a brighter future for themselves and their decendants. When you spit on, tear, burn or otherwise desecrate the Flag, you are spitting on the memory of the people who (in the easy case of the Americans) freed you from oppressive British taxes and rule, freed the slaves of the south, welcomed the teeming multitudes of displaced and oppressed peoples from other parts of the world, and defended you from the tyranny of Hitler and Soviet Russia. You are displaying your contempt for the the achievement of thousands of scientists through the centuries who created the world you live in now, and you are giving propoganda victories to the enemies of your country. You are, in other words, either an empty-headed fool out for some publicity, not knowing what you're really saying with your "grand gesture", or a true traitor. Take your pick.
Burn effigies of your most hated politicians all you want, but take some pride in the history of your country, and the symbol of that history: the Flag.
If you burn the Flag I will gladly come over there and shoot you myself, you traitorous scum.
