Ranting and Raging- what else is new?

…

I know that the majority of my posts are angry rants about what’s wrong with people, society, my life, etc.  BUT the reason I do this here on WordPress is so I don’t drive my friends and family crazy.  I have to rant and rage here because I have no other outlets.  Normally, up close and in person, I am a fairly happy person.  I have my sore spots but for the most part I try and stay positive.  Blowing up here helps me keep my cool in my personal life.

On that note, let me just say that I am so sick and tired of the United States as a whole.  I am sure there are other countries that would piss me off too, but I have only ever lived here (and Canada- but that’s a separate post !) 

I have been home in the States since the beginning of December, and I am getting sickened more and more by what I see.  Since I’ve been home, I have realized that the area where I was raised is now nothing more than a consumeristic cess pool, and is sadly a fair representation of most of the country.  There is nothing to do here other than shopping.  Where there used to be cornfields and forests are now mini-malls and ticky-tac subdivisions.  Where are all these people coming from?  Why do we need 4 Menards, 3 Home Depots, and a Lowes within a 10 mile radius?  There is one of the countries largest shopping malls here yet you cannot drive one mile without passing by a strip mall filled with fast food restaurants and shops selling wares that no one really needs- just like at the fucking mall you passed 2 miles back! 

Our government has turned its back on the Constitution, our media is completely corrupt and inaccurate, and “What kind of gun do you own” is a question picked from millions to be asked at the Republican debates.  Religion is becoming law in a country that was born from the desire to believe what you want and live how you want, I am afraid to say “terrorist” on the telephone, and have to think twice before I bring Christmas cookies into an airport!  Christmas cookies!?!

Our news covers Britney Spears more than the war in Iraq, and when it does cover  the war the information is one-sided, biased, and at times completely false.   And in between the news every commercial I see is for a prescription drug.  I was fine before but now, according to these commercials, I have Restless leg syndrome, bi-polar disorder, and erectile dysfunction!!  Report on Drug Advertisements

 MMMM… Pills!

I wont even get into our diets and how we eat, and then what we spend on weight loss plans… and how we tear down any kind of outside facility that could be used for exercise and then build a gym there!

I’m sorry but I am absolutely terrified.  What have we all turned into?  What have we let our world become?  All we do is shop and eat, and meanwhile our environment is crumbling at an alarming rate, the WORLD is at war, there is no trust, we are all in debt due to our greed, and people are actually convicing themselves that everything is fine.  I’m disgusted with all of us.  It really is that bad too… it really has gotten to the point where it’s not the same old doom and gloom rag that has been going on forever, it’s actually here now!

I try and look for the good in people, and a lot of times it’s not hard to find, but that’s not good enough anymore.  Things are snowballing downhill fast and someday soon something really really really big is going to happen that is going to force us to change our ways.  I just hope me and my family survive whatever happens!

I’m not a religious person, but my dad (refusing to believe that I am not a religious person) showed me a verse in his Bible the other day.  It was from Jacob I think, something about warfare and when it’s okay to start that shit.  He has the kind of Bible that, at the end of each book, explains things for you in Layman’s terms, and it explained that God says it’s okay to go to war when the people you are fighting have claimed the land for themselves and have forgotten or ignored the fact that the land belongs to the Lord.  Whether there is a god or not- what we have here on planet Earth is a gift and we have completely abused it.  I’m not saying start a war, but doesn’t it seem like we are the people who have claimed the land for ourselves and not respected it as something that transcends ownership?  What the hell is this “all for us and none for all” attitude that the majority of the country (and the rest of the First World for that matter) has taken.  Are we REALLY that stupid?

Yes.

It’s pronounced “new-clee-ar”

Not “nuke-U-lar.”  One would think that after nearly eight horrific years in office somebody would inform President Bush of the correct pronunciation of his favorite word.  This country is doomed, and I can support that with the following evidence:

I was robbed of my judgment for about 10 minutes last night and decided to create a MySpace account.  I wanted to be friends with the lead singer of Days of the New for some reason, and figured I could do it on MySpace- like I said, lack of judgment.  But as I was filling out the required fields, I got down to the language selection.  ‘American’ or ‘Canada-English.’  Are you kidding me?  It was then that I realized what the collective intelligence level of MySpace members is, and decided I did not want to be associated with a group of the population who thinks they speak ‘American’ and not ‘English.’  This is why I hate everyone.  I’m serious, when I meet someone I hate them first and then decide after time whether or not I like them.  I hate by default, and am usually accurate because most people I come across are ignorant, rude, lack empathy, and when asked what language they speak probably answer ‘American.’

But that’s just me on some days.  I guess I’m not always hateful, just getting carried away :)  I’m actually quite happy because after being stranded in the Toronto airport (an excellent place to go if you need a heaping helping of rudeness and stupidity) for 24 hours I am finally home.  My dogs are here, my family is here, and my mom is taking me shopping- so besides the fact that I’m convinced the world is going to hell in a handbasket, at least I can get a new purse and some jeans before we go.

Would Jesus Really Do That?

My husband and I are both agnostic.  My husband was raised Catholic and never recalls a time when he actually believed in God, and is pretty militant about being agnostic - he doesn’t know and neither do you- as he likes to say.

I was raised as a Christian, a Baptist to be precise, and do remember a time when I believed in a God up in the clouds.  And it was a hell of a lot more comforting and easy that my current state of not knowing.  It was a lot easier when I could just say God is responsible for this or that, and it was quite pleasant to ‘know’ that I would see all my old pets and my dead family members up in heaven when I died.  I think the ‘unknown’ is easier for my husband to deal with because he’s always felt that way, but with me it’s a little scarier because there was a time when I did believe in a Christian God.. and now that I’m not so sure I feel a little nervous.  I liked it better when God was around.

As I got older though, and learned a thing or two, I began to question my religion, and after much thought and searching, I decided I really didn’t know what existed beyond what I experience on this planet.  I really hope there is some kind of higher power, but am human enough to admit that I don’t know for sure.  The Bible isn’t the same text it was 2000 years ago, and if there is an all powerful God he sure does sleep on the job a lot, and while I often feel an inner voice guiding me throughout my days- I don’t think it’s God anymore, I now think it’s the onset of my inevitable nervous breakdown- which seems much more logical.

But while I don’t go to church, read the Bible, believe fully in the Christian god- or any god for that matter, I still TRY and live by the Golden Rule, which I always thought pretty much covered everything anyway.  Why bother with thousands of pages of boring stories about old farts burning down cities and visions of flying hands writing on walls when you could just have that one rule nicely printed on a decorative plaque?

 We always forget the simple task of treating people how we want to be treated… myself included, of course, as you can see in many of my hateful rants previously posted.  Instead we often focus on who is wrong and who is right, my god is better than your god, and other lovely dismissive behaviors of our most religious members of society.  It’s one thing to judge someone on your own, but when it’s backed by religion it’s an even more dangerous behavior- because you can’t reason with religion.

I often get frustrated with the massive Christian movement occurring in the United States.  I feel sickened when I see anti-gay signs, mega-churches, televangelists, Christian Rock (the most sickening of all), hatred towards Muslims, creationism in schools, and the Ten Commandments posted in government institutions.

Whenever my husband makes mean remarks about Christians I defend them, saying it’s their right if they want to believe in God and Heaven and angels playing trumpets.  But then when I’m alone, reading blogs about praying and articles about churches raking in $69 million dollars in one year and having purity balls for virginal daughters and I feel angry too- it’s just my nature to disagree with everything my husband says.  But seriously, I think there is way too much power within these churches, and I see it flooding into our secular laws and institutions- and that’s what bothers me.  It bothers me because I see the masses of Christians who are completely forgetting Jesus’ message.  Jesus didn’t live an extravagent life, didn’t preach in a stadium, didn’t hate or judge, and embraced all people- not just the ones who agreed with him.  He was humble, non-judgmental, and non-violent; he didn’t hold signs saying gays are going to hell, didn’t consider himself a ‘warrior’, and didn’t support religious war- and I don’t see those values being practiced by the majority of Christians today.

Treating others how you want to be treated does not mean forcing your religion on others, condemning a lifestyle different from your own, and forcing a story of bright lights and Sunday resting into a school science class, and assuming that God punishes people and rewards others.  Let’s stop focusing on what flavor of religion you choose at the spiritual ice cream parlor and just enjoy our time on earth together as people.  Let people do what they want and believe what they want, but let’s tone it down a bit and use religion as something to aspire to- not as some kind of weapon.

And please, if there is a God, please end Christian Rock music.

Television Force-feeding

I like television as much as the next American… but today I experienced something interesting and disturbing. 

We decided to get the “bundle” package for our cable, internet, and phone.  I thought this seemed reasonable, instead of going through 2 or 3 different providers.  So I signed on for The Bundle.  We have had it for 2 months.  The first month they overcharged us by about $40 (I’m glad I noticed!) and I had to call and correct it.  This month, it was still higher than I expected, so I looked at the bill and saw that The Bundle only includes internet and cable, the phone is still separate!  So they tell you you get The Bundle for $50 a month, but they don’t mention that the phone will still be an extra $20!  Now, if you have a bundle of wood, are there only two logs in the bundle?  Or would you expect there to be at least 3?  This ‘bundle’ they’re offering is more of a ‘pair’ I think. 

So we have all these stupid channels, I have the same NBC, ABC, and FOX channels but I have them from Seattle, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Calgary, Saskatoon, and Vancouver.  So that means, that Dr. Phil is aired at least 7 times a day, at different times (2 pm my time on the Boston channel, 6 pm my time on the Vancouver channel).  And of course I have a heaping dose of other nonsense channels, where there usually isn’t anything worth watching on.  Which is okay, that’s cable for you.  But even though I get the premium package (it was their ‘promotion’) I don’t get HBO.  Assholes.  Instead I get 7 copies of the same channels.  If I miss Dr. Phil at 2, I can catch him at 3, 4, 5, or 6… maybe on more than one channel at the same time. 

I smelled bullshit…. and I really don’t need to watch Dr. Phil 7 times a day.  So I called and asked them to give me the smallest, cheapest cable package.  But they wouldn’t!  They said Basic Cable is more expensive than what I’m getting now!  So even if I want the least channels, the most scaled down phone service, and run-of-the-mill internet, they have made it more expensive than 300 channels???  What??  So I am being force-fed all these crap channels, and can’t get out of it!  And they aren’t even weird channels that I might get a kick out of once in a while… they’re the same channels over and over again!!!  What a joke.  Not to mention, all 300 channels are owned by 8 corporations - so you can imagine how much variety I am getting. Thank you Telecommunications Act of 1996.  But I guess I’m really the foolish one for being addicted to television.  I don’t require a lot, or much variety, but I love having that glowing box on to keep me company.  And rabbit ears only get me 2 channels.  So I’ll stick with The Bundle and deal with it.