Tolerating Intolerance?

Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia are all in outrage over a film called "Innocence of Muslims," a terrible film made about an even more terrible man. The film that has sparked so much controversy was made by some amateur film maker in California.

After news of the film gained speed, some Muslims of the aforementioned countries got very hurt feelings because the film shows the Prophet Muhammed to be a violent and malicious man (which is not exactly an exaggeration for anyone who has done the research). So in order to show the world how wrong the film is, they burned shit down, stormed the United States embassy in Egypt, Libya, and more recently in Yemen, killing the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, along with three other Americans. YEA! That'll how 'em that Islam is a Religion of Peace!!!

Demonstrations have also taken place in Lebanon, Gaza, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Indonesia, and India. Some of the accounts from these Protesters are laughable to say the least. They are all along the lines of 'Oh the Police shouldn't even get in our way! How dare they! Our honor has been offended, ect, ect...' So of course, the remedy for this would be to kill anyone in sight who is in anyway related to America and thus associated with the film by extension?? But hey, come on, its understandable! What are some attacks, the burning of American flags, and the killing of some people compared to the Prophet Muhammad being portrayed in a bad light? Wouldn't you say thats a fair trade-off? For those unfamiliar with internet etiquette of the modern world, that was sarcasm.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Americans are not telling Egypt for example who to elect, are they? Mohamed Morsi won in Egypt. He was elected despite being the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Americans, nor any facet of the Western world, did not account for this outcome (Trust me, if they were, results would have been different). And so, other countries do not get to tell America how to run their government. You see there is a little thing called Freedom of Speech- All rationalized and civilized minds would probably agree that it is a good thing. Sometimes Muslims, along with ANY OTHER party privy to criticism (meaning EVERYONE) may not like some of that speech, and in that case, we say tough luck. You and your religion are not solely exempt from criticism ! The world does not work that way, so calm the fuck down!

If your immediate response to having your beliefs offended is to go attack and kill someone, you desperately need to re-examine your beliefs, my friend. Those are not the actions of someone secure beyond a shadow of a doubt in the plausibility of their beliefs. Those are the actions of someone who acknowledges the fact that their beliefs cannot stand up to intellectual scrutiny and examination. Those are strange and misguided ways of saying that "Hey my ideas suck, and I obviously cannot fight back with ideology, so I will fight back with violence."

If these Muslims truly believed that their religion was correct, wouldn't the All-mighty Allah be able to handle this without the help of his puny and unworthy human followers? And I am using the word "help" very loosely here, because what is it exactly that these Muslims are helping? They are by their own actions CONTRADICTING themselves and the message they are trying to get across! I mean did any of them even watch this film? If not, I urge them and everyone else who has not seen it to not waste your time. It is probably the most poorly made film ever made. If the film maker spent $20 on it, it would have been too much. Despite all of this, the film maker was not wrong to make it. It is his freedom to do so, and I will defend this freedom to do so with every ounce of myself. If these Muslims don't like how America allows this type of freedom, then the solution is easy for them: Don't ever move to America.

I mean let us just put things into perpective: People, human beings, not at all associated with the film in any other way than they were born or lived in the same country that it was produced are DEAD. People were brutally murdered because other people were offended by a movie. A fucking MOVIE!!!! And its this movie???? Seriously?? There is nothing interesting, visually pleasing or in anyway remarkable about this film other than it has pretty much set off an international crisis!! WTF?!!!!

Are you kidding me? Is this 2012? Someone please freeze me and thaw me in a century or so when (hopefully) the majority of Religious fundamentalists, and for that matter, Religion in general, is completely obsolete and ancient history. PLEASE!

Even more disturbing is how Hilary Clinton and a string of other politicians have publicly condemned the film for daring to be critical of Prophet Muhammad. She had this to say: "To us, to me personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible. It appears to have deeply cynical purpose: To denigrate a great Religion and to provoke rage." As a popular youtuber puts it, a good rule of thumb Hilary, is this:  If a crazy person has a crazy ass response to a mild stimulus, you don't blame the mild, little stimulus for pissing them off, you blame the crazy person for being crazy!

I am going to finish this post with the shatteringly wise words of Bertrand Russel:

"In this world which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other, we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like. We can only live together in that way — and if we are to live together and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet."

If you would like more information on this or want to know where I got the pics, links, ect, go here.

Peace. Please!

Today's Tea: Matcha green tea.

Recalling Reality

I could not shake this line from my mind, so I thought I would post it here. Anyone who has ever read a good book can attest to the accuracy of this statement, and relish in the bittersweet misery that its realization invites.

"All I could think about now as night fell was how much you can love made up people. And how much you can miss them."

-John Green

Todays Tea: Organic green (Dragonwell)

Just Call it Hate Speech!

I've been wanting to get something off my chest. Alright, now that my bra is off, I can talk about what's been bugging me as of lately.


Hate speech does not include talks, pictures, toys, blogs, or videos that are "religiously offensive." You cannot categorize atheist rants, speeches, and scientific battles that brilliant minds share daily under the same umbrella of shit that we call hate speech, such as racism, homophobia, or sexism. Critiques of a particular religion may be religiously offensive to believers, but they do not fall under the hate speech heap. Faith, superstition, astrology, and other forms of hokum are all beliefs that are taught and learned. You are not born a Christian. You are not born a Muslim. You are not born a Jew, ect...All babies are atheists! Opps did I just pop your little bubble there? Sorry for awakening your unsettling little revelation but it was needed. Because these fables, lies, and stories are learned, they (just like your wardrobe, or taste in music for example) are privy to criticism, dissection, research, and meticulous inquiry, just like any other claim in the scientific community would undoubtably have to face.


I bring this up now because as some of you may know, recently Youtube has moved from being an impartial media website that shares videos amongst people, to choosing the side of superstition. Youtube have suddenly and vehemently began to enforce the ridiculous and vague clause that any hate speech, including the so-called religiously offensive, will be removed, flagged, blah blah blah. Now this clause has always been there, but as of recently many of the youtubers I watch have had their own videos (some of which are months or even years old) removed with no chance of pardon, which needless to say thoroughly pissed a lot of people off, including myself.


Now I am pleased to report that after a couple of days of backlash from the atheist/rationalist/humanist community, youtube has reinstated most, if not all of these videos. Which just goes to show you, youtube and other sheepish websites of the sort, fear prosecution more than they respect freedom of speech or the right to individual opinion. They follow the lead of whoever makes the most noise. So rationalists everywhere, please never stop making noise. We (non-believers) are one of the largest, if not the largest, minorities. And yet we are still viewed in only a negative light by the vast majority of people. A clear example of this is the separation of Church and State debacle. Because non-believers push towards this separation, it is automatically assumed that we are in favor of a world of anarchy and degradation of law, which is complete bullshit. even more unsettling is that fact that it is just about impossible to run for office if you are a non-believer. Just admitting that you do not believe in any god is a major strike against you in a political race and a near guarantee that you will lose the election.


But just to make things fun, lets just say being religiously offensive, speaking of Darwinian science, the philosophy of Dawkins, Harris ect, the historical inaccuracies of the Bible, and mad atrocities of the Koran...lets just say for arguments sake all of these things are in fact "hate speech." If this were the case, then this argument must therefore work both ways in order to benefit equally both parties (the believers and non-believers). I am an atheist, and thus a part of arguably the largest minority in the western world, and I find Religious speech, preaching, and praying to be massively offensive. I fundamentally disagree with believers' claims, and find their supposed (and I use this quite loosely) debunking of scientific evidence to be hate speech against myself and others like me. So why does my claim not count? Why shouldn't all the Religious relics and leaders and followers delete their blogs and remove their videos, ect? Why? 


The answer is simple: Because they do not want to, and guess what? I don't want that either. I view freedom of speech as a beautifully vulnerable living organism that can be moulded into something dangerously one-sided if left in the wrong hands. And for a few days, youtube succumbed to these malicious demands and made it just that. As a whole, we must all work towards preventing similar actions against freedom of speech in the future so that they may never happen again.


It is kind of amusing to me actually, because I think the people lodging these complaints to youtube are the people who are silently questioning their own faith. How fucking insecure do you have to be about your imaginary deity that simple videos of others discussing the topic of religion in any manner other than in reverence will drive you to spend time and energy trying to silence them? Why would you go through all this effort and waste all of this time if you are truly secure in your faith? I have pondered this question for some time and the only rational answer I can think of is that these apparently avid believers are attempting to conceal these videos and opinions out of fear that they may actually resonate with other believers and even possibly make them abandon blind faith and take the leap into rationality, reason and scientific inquiry. It's all really very pathetic.


Even more so once you take into account that these people are probably the same people who defensively and angrily ask a non-believer to prove there is no God....I mean really? Come on! Even without any proper education or even without common sense, you still have to have half a mind to know that you cannot prove a negative! Besides, the burden of proof is not on the non-believer, it lies with the person making the claim. It is the believer claiming the existence of an omnipotent higher power so how the fuck does it make any sense that the non-believer should have to prove the believer wrong??? It is the believer who must adequately prove their claim is valid beyond a reasonable doubt because they are the ones putting forth this claim in the first place!! Until this happens, believers' have no business in asking non-believers to "prove that their god doesn't exist." And no, reciting some verses from the Bible or the Koran does not count as proof that your god is real, just like me reciting some verses from The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh doesn't count as proof that donkeys, tigers and bears can talk and are also buddies with each other.


Peace.


Today's Tea: Oolong ginger.


Ps. Reason Rally 2012: http://www.reasonrally.org/

Another Earth

Watching Another Earth was like watching something bigger than myself. I was surprised by how encapsulated by the idea I was. This blog entry may have spoilers so those who have not yet seen it but wish to should stray away.


The film centers around this young girl (Rhoda Williams), who we see at the start of the film make a drunken mistake that she would carry around with her for years to come. She drives inebriated, and gets distracted by a radio broadcast revealing (for the first time) our discovery of a mysterious planet that randomly appeared in Earths' orbit. This planet resembles Earth a great deal, and would later be referred to as Earth 2. She crashes head on to a stopped car, killing instantly a pregnant wife, a son, and injuring an accomplished composer, College Professor and father (John Burroughs). Rhoda serves 4 years in jail due to being a minor at the time of the accident. When released, she tracks down where John lives intending to apologize, but she loses her cool last minute, and convinces him she works for a cleaning company that is offering a free trial in hopes that in doing so, she can begin to make amends. John, whose home looked as if a tornado had just rummaged through it, accepts the free trial. At the end of the day, he asks her to come back next week to finish cleaning his entire house for pay.


At the same time, Rhoda enters into a contest to win a trip to Earth 2. Other than the information about Rhoda getting a scholarship to MIT which is revealed at the beginning of the film, not much else about her character is disclosed. But fom the visual cues available, she seemed to obviously be an Astronomy/Physics/Sci-Fi enthusiast. Her academic and personal priorities change after getting out of the big house, and she begins making money by cleaning at a high school in her area. She is fascinated by the existence of another earth, and feels like the only way to escape what shes done is by leaving everything behind.


However, after spending time with John, she gets to know him, and feels strongly that she may be making his life a little better. The viewer witnesses John's demeanor and life slowly change for the better, paralleled by the increasing cleanliness of his home. On various occasions, she contemplates telling him the truth about who she is and what shes done, but something always holds her back. Instead, she distracts herself by continuing to clean his house while keeping him company. Their relationship gradually becomes more and more intimate, finally climaxing to them sleeping together. Feeling closer than ever to Rhoda, John reveals to her what had happened to him, and how much anger he has held with him over the past 4 years. He admits to making sure he never knew the drunk drivers identity in order to avoid a temptation to confront his family's killer.


Meanwhile, it is revealed that Earth 2 may be an exact replica of our Earth. The possibility of another you is proposed, and theories are thrown around. Soon, Rhoda learns that her essay was chosen, and that she has won a seat onto the ship to go to Earth 2. She tells the good news to John, but he asks her to stay admitting that he feels strongly for her and she is the reason he has been content with his life lately. Feeling guilty, she finally reveals to him who she is. Infuriated and hurt, John turns her away and tells her to never come back. Without giving away too much, Rhoda arrives at an epiphany regarding Earth 2 which she hopes could help John, and help her to survive what she has done to him.


Obviously there are some huge critiques in this film that I want to discuss. For example, not once is it mentioned how the hell the second Earth is not at all significantly disrupting the tides of our Earth, which would (in reality) lead to pretty devastating outcomes for our planet. It's also never explained how the planet just appeared in Earth's orbit out of thin air, taking residence right by the moon. But really, if you're expecting an astonishingly accurate Science Fiction film, then don't see this because these things will just piss you off. Having said that, it didn't bother me at all, because the film was centered around Rhoda and John's growing relationship and how the accident connected them and brought them together. Yes, Earth 2 was there but I would say it was just in the background, like a lingering piece of hope and mystery Rhoda held onto in case her attempts at bettering John's life did not pan out.


Another Earth is the exact definition of an independent film: Handheld camera work, long and appropriately placed close-ups, characters longingly staring off into space, lingering pauses, and a tiny cast with simple sets and wardrobes. But honestly, I thought it all worked. The movie was heart-felt, it was a fascinating and original (albeit impossibly improbable) Sci-Fi idea, and the acting was great. John (played by William Mapother) played a really intense and emotional part in a very understated way, which I think is really difficult to pull off. Despite having very little dialogue, I found myself quite tense and uncomfortably mesmerized by the plot and the characters. I admit it is a faulty Sci-Fi foundation for a movie, but if you actually try to get passed that and just take it for what it is, it will not only win you over, but will stay with you long after you stop watching it.


So yea...go watch it!

Todays Tea: Decaffeinated gunpowder green.


Mandy.

Oh....THAT "F" Word

I have always considered myself a feminist, and for the most part I thought most women were. But the idea of feminism has been contorted over and over and over again rendering the concept nothing more but a picture of a frozen, man-hating bitch who just wants to take men down. I think this is a big shame, and it makes me feel disappointed and frustrated when I mention my passion for feminism or when someone asks, and I catch a glimpse of their facial expression right before they change the subject, or ask me why I hate men. lol It is just so ridiculous to me, because I never understood why this is the usual response. But then I took what could have been a great class-unfortunately taught by a notoriously bad Professor-and everything started to make sense...

Taking Women and Gender studies during my first year in University left a bitter taste in my mouth. My only memories of so-called empowered females were those close-minded women who infested the seats of the WGS200 course that I took first year. Those same women who made me rethink my entire idea of feminism within a few short months. My views on feminism before taking the class were based on equality, and a woman's right to choose. But the only themes that seemed to linger within the confines of the class were that of a feminist utopian society where males did not exist. Even more unsettling was the idea put forth that if you hold any traditionally true feminine qualities and liked yourself, you are not a true feminist. 

As I do enjoy playing devil’s advocate when my sanity and values are held at stake, I often challenged authority in the classroom and once (or twice...) in a tutorial session, I was subsequently asked to leave the class until I “cooled down.” One of those times, I really thought I would be castrated by a heard of stampeding angry self-proclaimed feminists. I began to view the feminist persona as an ice-cold ideal held high by women frozen in their stubbornness and sexist thought patterns. In my eyes, these women were simply acting towards men in the same way they claimed men were acting towards women. Things like prostitution, pornography, and being a house wife were talked about with disgust and viewed as being a stab at feminism as a whole, and an overall disgrace to being a strong woman. 

This really confused me, because I had spent all of my life envisioning feminism as a place where women encourage and celebrate other women in whatever venture or avenue they want to pursue. If a woman chooses to be a prostitute, to get an abortion, to be promiscuous, or to be a house wife, what business is it of ANYONE to tell her otherwise? Or even worse, to tell her that what she wants or chooses isn't good enough? It's her body, its her life, its her damn choice! 

At the time, I was a child of Psychology (and still am), so I tried to reason and understand the science of the what these women around me were trying to force down my throat, but in the end, I found in order to achieve good marks and not be targeted in class, I had to assimilate my ideals, beliefs and love of some of the greatest minds of Psychology (i.e. Freud) in order to be accepted. I swore to no longer advertise myself as a feminist because I understood now where those facial expressions came from and why they were commonplace. I never wanted anyone to ever associate me with any of the values and beliefs encompassed within that first year course. 

Never could I imagine that four years later, I would resort to taking WGS205 as a filler course and as a result, have my constructed views and distaste for the “frozen feminist” as I once called her, to be once again broken and rebuilt into something beautiful. Sitting uncomfortably in the front seat of the class, I was shocked upon hearing the Prof. Doctor Radia openly introduce the course with differentiating between mass culture and popular culture, and then encouraging us to envision our own understanding of what the terms mean to us. 

Beginning with our first discussion, I noticed a dramatic change in structure of the course. Of course there were still those who had not changed from first year (those who held the same concrete and hypocritical views), but there were also a lot more women who thought like me. Women who were not looked down upon or burned for sharing their opinions and visions of choice and freedom for women. Compared to the overly organized, constrained, and limited atmosphere of the first year course four years prior, WGS205 opened up possibilities of thought and arguments from every angle, where each was presented with understanding and intrigue. Doctor Radia was charming, warm and non-threatening, quoting thought provoking series, empirically scientific articles (which were rarely raised first year), and to my pleasant surprise, she even quoted Sigmund Freud on a couple of occasions. I became excited to attend class and felt at ease sharing my thoughts and opinions without fear of judgment or retribution. 

I remember the second week in class inspired an analytical spirit in me that peaked its head for the first time as we sat and watched the opening scenes of Pocahontas. Although somewhere within my mind I knew that passed the entertainment and the cute characters, the function of Disney movies were to educate children, I never really sat down and pondered what the films were actually educating. Things that were staring me right in the face never really surfaced until it was brought up and discussed. 

For example, when we began watching Pocahontas, all the sexualized and gendered aspects in the film became salient after discussion. Most shocking was the distinct difference in picture, colour and music when shifting between the grey and dull “western culture” where John Smith and his mates crudely sing about killing natives to the colourful and music-filled scenes of the “New world.” Watching and discussing the themes that varied between John Smith and Pocahontas made me want to go home and revisit my old Disney VHS tapes to try and pick up on the blatant gender differences that I could easily find when I no longer looked at these films through the eyes of a toddler. I was also taken aback by Dundes' (2001) article, which I found furthered points made in class and allowed me to better understand the material, although I did find that Dundes was annoyingly one-sided in some of her arguments. 

However, what was interesting was the point Dundes made in that from childhood, girls are taught to be selfless and constrained in everything that they do while boys’ actions are dismissed under the “boys will be boys” sanction. In fact, in a lot of these films, the boys are praised, or regarded as heroes by doing really reckless shit. She uses the example of how John Smith jumps off the ship during a major storm at the beginning of the film only to be promoted and called a hero by all of his crew mates. The viewers watching feel immediately like 'wow, this guy is so adventurous and fearless.' But not two minutes later, Pocahontas jumps off a cliff into calm water, and her friend asks her when she is going to stop being so immature? Although the viewer finds her quirky and fun at first, her actions are presented in a static way, hinting at the underlying fact that she is still young, immature, and will have to change eventually. In other words, she still has a lot of growing to do....apparently nothing that Mr. Smith's dick can't fix. 

Even more staggering was the statement Dundes made regarding culture’s growing expectations of women in today's supposedly "equal" Western society. She claims that although women are now encouraged and expected to be independent and strong career women, underlying signals to be a good wife, mother and provider are still present, thus creating what I like calling, a double-edged sword. More specifically, it's because mothers now encourage their little girls to take advantage of more and more opportunities in life that adds to women’s ever-increasing pressures to succeed. 

Because on top of being an independent, strong, well-rounded career woman, she is also expected to be a perfect wife and mother. And all before she turns 30!!! When women feel that they cannot succeed in all these avenues adequately (because no human being can!!!), or they hold one avenue (i.e. having a career) with more importance than the other (i.e. being a mother), they believe they have failed. It is a sick, sad, and relentless cycle that is in reality only strengthening over time, but this in itself is hard to see, because all of this is being expertly masked with a veil of "independence" and "Oh look how far we've come" slogans. We still have a hell of a long way to go in my opinion. 

My hope is that women who choose to reproduce, raise their daughters with their best and unique interests at heart. All we can really do, regardless of the child's sex, is to provide guidance, and let him/her make their own choices, regardless of whether or not you (as a parent) agree with their choices in the end. And needless to say, keep your morals, or religious pre-determined expectations completely out of it for fucks sake. To women reading this blog, do what you choose to do: whether that be going into pornography, becoming a C.E.O. having 5 children and settling down, or getting your tubes tied, just do it. It is your body, and it is your life. No one can ever tell you otherwise.                                                                                                                                                                    

Anyway, I am off to bed. I really hope I got my point across at least half-decently.

Todays Tea: Pai Mu Tan White tea.

Beautiful

My friend sent me the link to this video, and I would write a description of it and why it moved me so much, but I think it more than speaks for itself. So, I'll let it.

Todays Tea: Matcha green

Glorified Misery

Forget the mirror of your former self and just relish in the day

forget the beauty of his face and the scars that went away

forget the rudeness in his eyes, the bitter taste of it all

dont even think of all the lies and the unrequited calls

Pay no mind to your mother's absence or your little brother's remains

do not weep over the your war-torn country and all its bloody stains

forget the wave of relentless violence and the echoes of their cries

dismiss the graveyard at your doorstep where all the innocent lie

Don’t linger on the rapists' eyes as he held you against your will

forget the fear that rippled through you as he went in for the kill

erase the sight of your shattered youth as he violated you for good

forget your future wasted years and those who never understood

Forget the beatings you absorbed for admitting you were gay

don’t fret about all the cruelty you endured each single day

get over your parents anger and all the hatred they let out

dismiss the times you ran away because all they did was shout

Try to overlook the darkness while on the streets where you lay

don't think about your broken home and why you couldn’t stay

forget the pain that tears you up inside and the loneliness you felt

pay no mind to the freezing cold or the snow that will not melt

Forget all these vile memories, and thank your god for your puny life

its all a part of his sadistic plan so smile and praise him for your strife
all this misery, pain, and aguish must be leading to some better place

so ask no questions, keep your mouth shut and remember:

God works in mysterious ways?

-Mandy

Todays Tea: Sencha green