To preface:
Salt Lake Tribune story:
http://www.sltrib.com/utahutes/ci_13887313
Deseret News story:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705348028/Halls-pain-a-reflection-of-self-betrayal.html
Now that the 2 sources for the same story are up (one liberal one conservative), I will elaborate.
This may seem a little biased seeing that I am registered as a student at the University of Utah, however, these comments are sickening AT BEST. And, just so no one wonders, I do respect that both teams played exceptionally well and BYU just barely managed to get those last few points to beat the U.
"Asked a rather innocent question about whether the 26-23 victory redeemed him for last November's five-interception game in a loss to Utah, Hall said, "A little bit, yeah. I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything."" (Salt Lake Tribune)
What is this shit? Is this really what a university owned by the Mormon church teaches their students/players? If it is, I hope to anything out there (God, Buddha, Yahweh, Flying Spaghetti Monster), that I NEVER EVER receive any sort of service from them. Now, I know that not all of them are bad, but to make so many "hate" comments...I'd almost call for him to be subject to the new hate crimes laws.
"For more than year, he apparently swallowed bad feelings about an incident involving his family. He said Ute fans threw beer on them during last year's game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. It was, indeed, a disgusting act that apparently ate him up inside." (Deseret News).
O_o The fucking hell is he talking about? Both the University of Utah and BYU are DRY campuses. That means they do not sell a single drop of alcohol on campus (and last time I checked the football stadiums are on the campus grounds). When you go into the games, security makes sure you aren't bringing in anything either. So...unless someone was tailgating and did it, I can not see any possible way this asshat can justify being so hateful of someone throwing beer on his parents. Better yet, did they do anything to provoke it?
Deseret News:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705348166/Hall-reprimanded-by-MWC.html
Well...it seems the MWC pussied out...again on a serious issue. I don't see how issuing a reprimand will help to rectify such vile comments as the ones he said after the game. In reality, the best punishment would be a couple of things:
1) Hall's suspension from the BYU football program indefinitely.
2) The win for BYU against the U retracted as being neither a win or a loss for either school.
3) BSC to reconsider BYU for a bowl game this season and possibly even to not even give them one to reflect on the team and how it needs to help build up, not be a tool of vengeance.
Of course, none of this will happen, it will just be a simple little slap on the wrists and everyone goes on happy with their lives while someone who so blatantly was quick to attack an entire institution is allowed to continue playing. If that's how it goes, someone should've scared the shit out of Hall and told him to get lost. Without violence however.
And personally, I think he should be kicked out of the entire Utah higher education system, and told that he also has to pay back EVERY single scholarship he's had and if he wants to continue his education in Utah, then he'd better apply for ITT or the University of Phoenix, etc.
On a final note, it's kind of sad that he feels so proud of beating a first year quarterback. Then again, someone like this would use religion as a crutch and would do anything he could to be a good little godbot.
Who I am
- Sakura
- I am an atheist, in fact, I describe myself as a Humanist for I believe in the good in people, not mythical beings.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
What is your gender?
I saw this on Andrea_TheNerd and her post on Gender Identity.
COMPONENTS OF GENDER
A core component of Queer Theory is that gender is performative, but if this was necessarily so, it would invalidate transsexualism from the outset. Since the treatment of gender identity disorder recognizes that the brain cannot be sufficiently changed and that the body must be altered so it aligns with the mind, it seems that at the very least identity is a factor of gender outside the sphere of performance.
Androgynes are a sort of transgender people with the gender identity of both a man and a woman or neither. For them, the notion that sex is between the legs while gender is between the ears is key. Because they are neither men nor women, these non-binary gender variants are most expediently differentiated as male-born and female-born. The remaining categories are intersex, M2F (male-to-female transsexual), and F2M (female-to-male transsexual). For more on androgynes, http://androgyne.0catch.com is recommended.
From my own perspective as an androgyne, gender's makeup is comprised of gender identity, gender presentation, gender performance, and gender role. Gender identity concerns how you think, gender presentation how you look, gender performance how you act, and gender role how you contribute socially. Any of these aspects of gender can be mutually exclusive of another depending on the individual and/or circumstance. Gender presentation is like the flipside of Bornstein's gender attribution, since it hinges on how you yourself -- rather than others -- interpret your gender cues.
While gender role tends to go with gender identity, it doesn't always. For example, there are male nurses and librarians and female security guards and construction workers who arguably have a traditional gender identity. It is also entirely possible to have a gender identity and gender role that does not match up with one's gender presentation and gender performance. Just because someone feels a certain way and performs certain tasks doesn't mean they have to look or act the part.
Copyright 2006 Stephe Feldman
Survey!
1. What is your gender identity - how you think?
2. What is your gender presentation - how you look?
3. What is your gender performance - how you act?
4. What is your gender role - how you contribute socially?
My answers:
1) As I have mentioned previously in this blog, I identify as the T in LGBT. This means that my gender identity is Female. Everytime I am looking at something, thinking about something or just trying to figure out how to get things done, if someone were to psychoanalyze it without seeing me, they would think a girl is doing all that.
2) My current presentation is less than favorable. This is because I have some extra stuff that I don't wish to have (this is numerous things, not just the main 3). However, I do dress feminine every chance I get and have also grown my hair out as well.
3) In pretty much everything I do, I always take a female perspective and hence act accordingly - feminine. While I'm sure this comes off to people in the everyday public that I'm gay or something like that (which has been voiced a few times), I feel it's better for people to see me acting the proper way I feel.
4) This, unfortunately, is a VERY convoluted subject matter for me. While my physical appearance is that of a male, I'm expected to act accordingly, socially speaking. However, since I do not take a male perspective (and never have actually) and act female, I try to contribute to social circles in the way girls do, not fully as I do not like the societal standard that is still placed on women (stay home, have kids, cook, clean, be subservient to a male's every wish that is head of the house, etc.). I will contribute on an emotional empathic level and try to help out those around me as often as I can. Unfortunately I don't suffer stupidity or idiocy very well and may come off as a bit apathetic, though, if there is a reason behind it and the individual is not just being stupid or idiotic, then yes, I will help them
I would encourage any readers of my blog to take a look at these 4 questions and to look at yourself using these 4 questions. You may be surprised what you learn, others may find out something they've already known. But what I would ask people to take away from this, is an understanding that not everything around fits into a standard mold of what is societally acceptable.
COMPONENTS OF GENDER
A core component of Queer Theory is that gender is performative, but if this was necessarily so, it would invalidate transsexualism from the outset. Since the treatment of gender identity disorder recognizes that the brain cannot be sufficiently changed and that the body must be altered so it aligns with the mind, it seems that at the very least identity is a factor of gender outside the sphere of performance.
Androgynes are a sort of transgender people with the gender identity of both a man and a woman or neither. For them, the notion that sex is between the legs while gender is between the ears is key. Because they are neither men nor women, these non-binary gender variants are most expediently differentiated as male-born and female-born. The remaining categories are intersex, M2F (male-to-female transsexual), and F2M (female-to-male transsexual). For more on androgynes, http://androgyne.0catch.com is recommended.
From my own perspective as an androgyne, gender's makeup is comprised of gender identity, gender presentation, gender performance, and gender role. Gender identity concerns how you think, gender presentation how you look, gender performance how you act, and gender role how you contribute socially. Any of these aspects of gender can be mutually exclusive of another depending on the individual and/or circumstance. Gender presentation is like the flipside of Bornstein's gender attribution, since it hinges on how you yourself -- rather than others -- interpret your gender cues.
While gender role tends to go with gender identity, it doesn't always. For example, there are male nurses and librarians and female security guards and construction workers who arguably have a traditional gender identity. It is also entirely possible to have a gender identity and gender role that does not match up with one's gender presentation and gender performance. Just because someone feels a certain way and performs certain tasks doesn't mean they have to look or act the part.
Copyright 2006 Stephe Feldman
Survey!1. What is your gender identity - how you think?
2. What is your gender presentation - how you look?
3. What is your gender performance - how you act?
4. What is your gender role - how you contribute socially?
My answers:
1) As I have mentioned previously in this blog, I identify as the T in LGBT. This means that my gender identity is Female. Everytime I am looking at something, thinking about something or just trying to figure out how to get things done, if someone were to psychoanalyze it without seeing me, they would think a girl is doing all that.
2) My current presentation is less than favorable. This is because I have some extra stuff that I don't wish to have (this is numerous things, not just the main 3). However, I do dress feminine every chance I get and have also grown my hair out as well.
3) In pretty much everything I do, I always take a female perspective and hence act accordingly - feminine. While I'm sure this comes off to people in the everyday public that I'm gay or something like that (which has been voiced a few times), I feel it's better for people to see me acting the proper way I feel.
4) This, unfortunately, is a VERY convoluted subject matter for me. While my physical appearance is that of a male, I'm expected to act accordingly, socially speaking. However, since I do not take a male perspective (and never have actually) and act female, I try to contribute to social circles in the way girls do, not fully as I do not like the societal standard that is still placed on women (stay home, have kids, cook, clean, be subservient to a male's every wish that is head of the house, etc.). I will contribute on an emotional empathic level and try to help out those around me as often as I can. Unfortunately I don't suffer stupidity or idiocy very well and may come off as a bit apathetic, though, if there is a reason behind it and the individual is not just being stupid or idiotic, then yes, I will help them
I would encourage any readers of my blog to take a look at these 4 questions and to look at yourself using these 4 questions. You may be surprised what you learn, others may find out something they've already known. But what I would ask people to take away from this, is an understanding that not everything around fits into a standard mold of what is societally acceptable.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
George Washington's ghost?
So I got into a debate with my dad last night (though I'm sure if my sister were there she would've called it an argument) mostly about religious beliefs.
It started with me commenting on this pic http://www.mcnaughtonart.com/artwork/view_zoom/?artpiece_id=353 . In particular the part on the professor "He tightly holds his "Origins of Species" book by Charles Darwin. This represent the liberal lefts control of our educational system." ...the liberal lefts control? The fuck! Liberal left control my ass, public school in this country (K-12) is neither conservative or liberal, it's exactly what we've allowed it to degrade to.
However, it was from that, that my dad made the comment that this nation was founded on Christian beliefs. =_= So, I had to explain some things.
I started off by simply saying that NOWHERE in either the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence does it mention God either directly or indirectly, all it says is the first amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". That's the freedom of religion, that people can/not believe what they want and the government will not recognize one over the other (no thanks to the bullshit of McCarthism in the 50's "In God We Trust" my ass). He of course had to IMMEDIATELY try to refute that saying yes it was. My simple reply "show me where it says in either document the word God directly or indirectly".
He had no reply to that...instead he decided to take a different...and rather absurd route.
He picked up a book he had on the table next to him "65 Signs of the Times Leading Up to the Second Coming" written by David J Ridges. He started to go off saying how he's written about interpreting all the crap that's in revelations in the bible. I responded by saying how all that stuff has happened multiple times since the book was supposedly written (personally I liken the book of revelations to that of a 5 cent fortune telling machine). His only response "no, it's happening now". Hmm...interesting...I don't recall anything being in there, either literally or euphemistically, about the decline of the dollar, an "attack" by Islamic extremists, the US going to war (illegally I might add) with another country, the socialization of our health care. But he wouldn't say what exactly it was that the book said is happening now.
Since he obviously couldn't win that point, he went on to an even more absurd point. Apparently David writes in the book the the spirits of the founding fathers of this country came to one of the presidents of the LDS church asking 1) Why things were happening and 2) if they could be baptised into the church. =_=* Ok...this is the thing that fucking irritates the outright living hell out of me with the LDS church. Fucking baptisms for the dead...WHAT THE FUCK!!! Personally, if I'm dead, don't you DARE make the decision to baptise me into some bullshit cult (as defined by Belgium). So to say that they came to him asking that is just completely fucking STUPID!
I asked him for the witnesses to this event as that's how EVERYTHING in the LDS church works...he had no answer and couldn't find it in the book. Hmm...sounds like this book is as bad as Ray Comfort's version of the Origin of Species.
After that he kept just saying how all the stuff in revelations is going to happen, and that George Washington and ensemble came to the president and all this. Basically he took the standard Christian approach: When you're confronted with facts that you're wrong, just keep repeating what is wrong until it's fact. Too bad that tactic doesn't work for me.
He finally just stopped talking about it after trying to mention some random stuff out of the book of mormon and the bible. Though, each time he did, I quoted what was said in each book and pointed out some other fallacies about it. The one that really got him is when I mentioned that Paul wrote that Jesus would be coming back BEFORE Paul died...hmm...we're at...what...about 1900-1950 years past that? Yeah, I think that was another bullshit prophecy from someone who was probably huffing donkey piss and wanted something to fap to sleep to.
But, that's more or less the end of that little episode...not that he'll change, but I'll keep presenting the evidence...especially when he makes idiotic statements like "Origin of Species is nothing but a big fairytale" (hence where one of my quotes came from). How he hasn't figured out I'm an atheist...I guess shouldn't be too surprising, he's not the sharpest crayon in the box...and the box is missing it's sharpener.
It started with me commenting on this pic http://www.mcnaughtonart.com/artwork/view_zoom/?artpiece_id=353 . In particular the part on the professor "He tightly holds his "Origins of Species" book by Charles Darwin. This represent the liberal lefts control of our educational system." ...the liberal lefts control? The fuck! Liberal left control my ass, public school in this country (K-12) is neither conservative or liberal, it's exactly what we've allowed it to degrade to.
However, it was from that, that my dad made the comment that this nation was founded on Christian beliefs. =_= So, I had to explain some things.
I started off by simply saying that NOWHERE in either the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence does it mention God either directly or indirectly, all it says is the first amendment. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion". That's the freedom of religion, that people can/not believe what they want and the government will not recognize one over the other (no thanks to the bullshit of McCarthism in the 50's "In God We Trust" my ass). He of course had to IMMEDIATELY try to refute that saying yes it was. My simple reply "show me where it says in either document the word God directly or indirectly".
He had no reply to that...instead he decided to take a different...and rather absurd route.
He picked up a book he had on the table next to him "65 Signs of the Times Leading Up to the Second Coming" written by David J Ridges. He started to go off saying how he's written about interpreting all the crap that's in revelations in the bible. I responded by saying how all that stuff has happened multiple times since the book was supposedly written (personally I liken the book of revelations to that of a 5 cent fortune telling machine). His only response "no, it's happening now". Hmm...interesting...I don't recall anything being in there, either literally or euphemistically, about the decline of the dollar, an "attack" by Islamic extremists, the US going to war (illegally I might add) with another country, the socialization of our health care. But he wouldn't say what exactly it was that the book said is happening now.
Since he obviously couldn't win that point, he went on to an even more absurd point. Apparently David writes in the book the the spirits of the founding fathers of this country came to one of the presidents of the LDS church asking 1) Why things were happening and 2) if they could be baptised into the church. =_=* Ok...this is the thing that fucking irritates the outright living hell out of me with the LDS church. Fucking baptisms for the dead...WHAT THE FUCK!!! Personally, if I'm dead, don't you DARE make the decision to baptise me into some bullshit cult (as defined by Belgium). So to say that they came to him asking that is just completely fucking STUPID!
I asked him for the witnesses to this event as that's how EVERYTHING in the LDS church works...he had no answer and couldn't find it in the book. Hmm...sounds like this book is as bad as Ray Comfort's version of the Origin of Species.
After that he kept just saying how all the stuff in revelations is going to happen, and that George Washington and ensemble came to the president and all this. Basically he took the standard Christian approach: When you're confronted with facts that you're wrong, just keep repeating what is wrong until it's fact. Too bad that tactic doesn't work for me.
He finally just stopped talking about it after trying to mention some random stuff out of the book of mormon and the bible. Though, each time he did, I quoted what was said in each book and pointed out some other fallacies about it. The one that really got him is when I mentioned that Paul wrote that Jesus would be coming back BEFORE Paul died...hmm...we're at...what...about 1900-1950 years past that? Yeah, I think that was another bullshit prophecy from someone who was probably huffing donkey piss and wanted something to fap to sleep to.
But, that's more or less the end of that little episode...not that he'll change, but I'll keep presenting the evidence...especially when he makes idiotic statements like "Origin of Species is nothing but a big fairytale" (hence where one of my quotes came from). How he hasn't figured out I'm an atheist...I guess shouldn't be too surprising, he's not the sharpest crayon in the box...and the box is missing it's sharpener.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Addition to the Atheist Blogroll
This is me and what I think has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.
Mormonism in teen years
This post will highlight my teen years (13-18) as a Mormon.
Following up from my last post about growing up Mormon, we start half way through my time as a deacon. For those that don't know much about Mormonism, when young men in the church turn 12, they're given a blessing by their bishop and become a deacon, at 14 the same thing happens and you become a teacher and lastly at 16 it happens once more in your teen life and you become a priest.
Within a few months after I turned 13, I was fairly active with the church and also with the Boy Scouts of America. It was also about this time when I was "called" to be the deacon president, though, I wouldn't call it "being called" so much as all the boys who were older than me had turned 14 and I was now the oldest person in the group...so it was more of a succession than a calling.
When I became the president I was more active and more trying to fool myself into doing it (partly cause I had nothing better to do and because my parents expected it). Then again, I also ran it like a business, not a church group. If I asked someone to do something I would approach it as though I was the CEO of some multi-national. Admittedly this has made me a rather strict person when it comes to business, but I'm not an asshole about it. Regardless, I made it a point we had business to do first and foremost and then we could play around.
The neighborhood I was living in pretty much had the Boy Scouts and the church fully integrated, there wasn't a single boy scout who was NOT Mormon. This meant that ALL the stuff we did as scouts started AND ended with a prayer. Now, there are some useful things I learned as a scout (mostly how to save my ass if I get stuck in the wilderness...and I do like to camp), however, outside of my neighborhood, most of the scouts I interacted with weren't exactly faithful Mormons.
This pretty much continued on like this until I was 14 and became a teacher. This is when I started to become rather disenchanted with the magic of Mormonism. I was still attending my meetings regularly as well as still doing scout related stuff (and at about 14.5 years I got my Eagle scout award). However, as I was attending these lessons, I started to realize that they were a repeat of the lessons from before. Other than this there wasn't much difference when I was 14.
When I turned 15 and entered the 9th grade as well as started taking seminary classes at my junior high (which I wasn't asked about, I was just signed up by my parents after they were handed a slip from our bishop). I had my seminary class before I started my normal classes...something I still to this day wish that I hadn't had and took this world history class taught in German instead. It was shortly after I started school that I also became president of the teacher's group. However, I was not as actively involved as I was a deacon. This time around I was still kind of strict but I didn't really make myself out to be as much of an asshole about it.
In church I started to sleep during lessons and would usually have my chair propped against the wall so I could rest against it. Since I had already figured out that the lessons they were teaching were nothing more than a repetitive bore, I decided I would start to snooze in class. This would usually drive the teacher nuts, but what could they do? Pull the fundie Christian card and say I'll burn in hell forever? I doubt it since the concept of "hell" to Mormons is rather askew from mainstream Christian mythology. This is when I started to not care about what the church was offering or it's messages.
As I mentioned before, I was also enrolled in seminary at m junior high...that REALLY showed me the attitudes of other Mormons. Namely how they were petty lying self-serving assholes who had nothing better to do than to try and be an ass to others. The entire year of seminary, a majority of the class felt the need to pick on people, however, they had absolutely no backbone and instead of taking an issue with someone up with that person, they had to write crap where everyone could see it. -_- It actually culminated by the second parent-teacher conferences around April that I finally confronted them only to have them deny they did anything wrong...gee, shocker to that reaction since a vast majority of church goers have that attitude. So I decided to take it up with the teacher who also had the same attitude...right up until I also mentioned that I could charge it as harassment...oh, then all of a sudden there was an announcement made to the class to stop the crap...it's sad I had to resort to that...but I guess they were just taking their Christ-like behavior from how he acted according to the bible...a complete asshole.
When I was 16, I was now a sophmore high school and still taking seminary. I was less inclined to go to church now that I was 16 and started to really not give a damn about church. I started to attend on a much less than frequent schedule. Maybe once or twice a month now. As far as seminary went, I still went to my daily classes, but, it was all show, plus, I figured out how to make things work in my favor there. This is also the time when I got my drivers license and started driving places (as well as making new friends, some who were not Mormon).
When I became a junior in high school and turned 17, this is when my church attendance dropped to every other month. I attended seminary but didn't really pay attention at all. This was also when I started using the internet at the school and learning of things beyond Utah other than what was taught in the classroom. It opened my eyes to the rest of the world at large and I started understanding things a LOT better than I had before.
I turned 18 shortly after I started my senior year of high school (we'd start the end of August on average and my birthday is in November), but by now, I already had some great distrust of the church (both church and seminary on that point). As the year progressed I started caring less and less about any of the meetings or any reason for still going. Once I graduated from high school (with a 3.3 GPA I might add), I actually had a normal reason to not go to church, I had a job and it required I work on Sunday...much to the dismay of my parents (particularly my dad).
By now I was more than disenchanted by the mysticism and mythology of the Mormon church and felt that it wasn't right...but decided to still please others (mostly my parents) and continued to go to church on Sunday when I wasn't at work. I also started going to a few parties here and there and started to meet people who I could tell didn't let religion rule their life and I found them to be VERY interesting.
That concludes the teen years and as you can tell I started to wise up to what the church was trying to do to it's members and had great disinterest in those plans. In my next post regarding my growing up as a Mormon, I will highlight from when I was 18 ALMOST 19 and will cover into who I am today and how I arrived at my decisions for my thinking also.
Following up from my last post about growing up Mormon, we start half way through my time as a deacon. For those that don't know much about Mormonism, when young men in the church turn 12, they're given a blessing by their bishop and become a deacon, at 14 the same thing happens and you become a teacher and lastly at 16 it happens once more in your teen life and you become a priest.
Within a few months after I turned 13, I was fairly active with the church and also with the Boy Scouts of America. It was also about this time when I was "called" to be the deacon president, though, I wouldn't call it "being called" so much as all the boys who were older than me had turned 14 and I was now the oldest person in the group...so it was more of a succession than a calling.
When I became the president I was more active and more trying to fool myself into doing it (partly cause I had nothing better to do and because my parents expected it). Then again, I also ran it like a business, not a church group. If I asked someone to do something I would approach it as though I was the CEO of some multi-national. Admittedly this has made me a rather strict person when it comes to business, but I'm not an asshole about it. Regardless, I made it a point we had business to do first and foremost and then we could play around.
The neighborhood I was living in pretty much had the Boy Scouts and the church fully integrated, there wasn't a single boy scout who was NOT Mormon. This meant that ALL the stuff we did as scouts started AND ended with a prayer. Now, there are some useful things I learned as a scout (mostly how to save my ass if I get stuck in the wilderness...and I do like to camp), however, outside of my neighborhood, most of the scouts I interacted with weren't exactly faithful Mormons.
This pretty much continued on like this until I was 14 and became a teacher. This is when I started to become rather disenchanted with the magic of Mormonism. I was still attending my meetings regularly as well as still doing scout related stuff (and at about 14.5 years I got my Eagle scout award). However, as I was attending these lessons, I started to realize that they were a repeat of the lessons from before. Other than this there wasn't much difference when I was 14.
When I turned 15 and entered the 9th grade as well as started taking seminary classes at my junior high (which I wasn't asked about, I was just signed up by my parents after they were handed a slip from our bishop). I had my seminary class before I started my normal classes...something I still to this day wish that I hadn't had and took this world history class taught in German instead. It was shortly after I started school that I also became president of the teacher's group. However, I was not as actively involved as I was a deacon. This time around I was still kind of strict but I didn't really make myself out to be as much of an asshole about it.
In church I started to sleep during lessons and would usually have my chair propped against the wall so I could rest against it. Since I had already figured out that the lessons they were teaching were nothing more than a repetitive bore, I decided I would start to snooze in class. This would usually drive the teacher nuts, but what could they do? Pull the fundie Christian card and say I'll burn in hell forever? I doubt it since the concept of "hell" to Mormons is rather askew from mainstream Christian mythology. This is when I started to not care about what the church was offering or it's messages.
As I mentioned before, I was also enrolled in seminary at m junior high...that REALLY showed me the attitudes of other Mormons. Namely how they were petty lying self-serving assholes who had nothing better to do than to try and be an ass to others. The entire year of seminary, a majority of the class felt the need to pick on people, however, they had absolutely no backbone and instead of taking an issue with someone up with that person, they had to write crap where everyone could see it. -_- It actually culminated by the second parent-teacher conferences around April that I finally confronted them only to have them deny they did anything wrong...gee, shocker to that reaction since a vast majority of church goers have that attitude. So I decided to take it up with the teacher who also had the same attitude...right up until I also mentioned that I could charge it as harassment...oh, then all of a sudden there was an announcement made to the class to stop the crap...it's sad I had to resort to that...but I guess they were just taking their Christ-like behavior from how he acted according to the bible...a complete asshole.
When I was 16, I was now a sophmore high school and still taking seminary. I was less inclined to go to church now that I was 16 and started to really not give a damn about church. I started to attend on a much less than frequent schedule. Maybe once or twice a month now. As far as seminary went, I still went to my daily classes, but, it was all show, plus, I figured out how to make things work in my favor there. This is also the time when I got my drivers license and started driving places (as well as making new friends, some who were not Mormon).
When I became a junior in high school and turned 17, this is when my church attendance dropped to every other month. I attended seminary but didn't really pay attention at all. This was also when I started using the internet at the school and learning of things beyond Utah other than what was taught in the classroom. It opened my eyes to the rest of the world at large and I started understanding things a LOT better than I had before.
I turned 18 shortly after I started my senior year of high school (we'd start the end of August on average and my birthday is in November), but by now, I already had some great distrust of the church (both church and seminary on that point). As the year progressed I started caring less and less about any of the meetings or any reason for still going. Once I graduated from high school (with a 3.3 GPA I might add), I actually had a normal reason to not go to church, I had a job and it required I work on Sunday...much to the dismay of my parents (particularly my dad).
By now I was more than disenchanted by the mysticism and mythology of the Mormon church and felt that it wasn't right...but decided to still please others (mostly my parents) and continued to go to church on Sunday when I wasn't at work. I also started going to a few parties here and there and started to meet people who I could tell didn't let religion rule their life and I found them to be VERY interesting.
That concludes the teen years and as you can tell I started to wise up to what the church was trying to do to it's members and had great disinterest in those plans. In my next post regarding my growing up as a Mormon, I will highlight from when I was 18 ALMOST 19 and will cover into who I am today and how I arrived at my decisions for my thinking also.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
And despite it being labeled a "dangerous cult" you want to say?
http://www.standard.net/topics/featured/2009/11/20/belgium-family-seeks-asylum-practice-their-religion-freely
That story was pulled directly from the Deseret News (a local paper here where I am that's also owned by Mormons). In it, it details this family who fled Belgium because of religious persecution they were receiving because they are Mormon...What the hell did they expect when Belgium has listed Mormonism as a "dangerous cult".
For more information: http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Cults_and_governments_-_Belgium/id/1273542
So now they're all worried about going back and dealing with that. Know what I say to that? GOOD. Get it through your head that they have done nothing but brainwash you and are literally just using you. Plus, I also have to admit it's nice to see an entire country list Mormonism for what it really is...a cult.
I can't begin to say how glad I am that I am no longer part of that brainwashing project.
BTW, if any Mormon does come across my blog, ask your leaders and teachers about how Joseph was nothing more than a liar who put stones into a hat and could find treasure. He was actually sued by a land owner who stated after multiple attempts Joseph failed to produce any treasure. Oh, and btw, the Urim and Thummim he used was a set of rocks that he put into a hat to read the golden plates. Hmm...how VERY coincidental.
That story was pulled directly from the Deseret News (a local paper here where I am that's also owned by Mormons). In it, it details this family who fled Belgium because of religious persecution they were receiving because they are Mormon...What the hell did they expect when Belgium has listed Mormonism as a "dangerous cult".
For more information: http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Cults_and_governments_-_Belgium/id/1273542
So now they're all worried about going back and dealing with that. Know what I say to that? GOOD. Get it through your head that they have done nothing but brainwash you and are literally just using you. Plus, I also have to admit it's nice to see an entire country list Mormonism for what it really is...a cult.
I can't begin to say how glad I am that I am no longer part of that brainwashing project.
BTW, if any Mormon does come across my blog, ask your leaders and teachers about how Joseph was nothing more than a liar who put stones into a hat and could find treasure. He was actually sued by a land owner who stated after multiple attempts Joseph failed to produce any treasure. Oh, and btw, the Urim and Thummim he used was a set of rocks that he put into a hat to read the golden plates. Hmm...how VERY coincidental.
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Christians are invading
=_= Alright, this story just irks the living hell out of me:
http://ffrf.org/action/2009/youcanrun.php
So..we're a "Christian nation" funny...doesn't say that in the constitution or the declaration of independence, and even then, there's only 2 Christian groups that are larger than Atheists anyways. But that's not the part that irks me.
It's in the first paragraph of the group's purpose that irks me. What fucking right do they have to go into a public school (a government entity) saying they're gonna teach kids to not use drugs, but then turn around and try brainwashing them into their fold? They have none not to mention they have also lied to the government. It's groups like these that I would consider domestic terrorists cause that's EXACTLY what they are.
This group should be marked as a cult and ALL of it's members arrested for treason and given the ONLY penalty allowed by the US for treason. Death. And personally, I think it should be televised so that all the other asshat super right Christians who think they'll do the same will know EXACTLY what'll be coming for them. And sorry, Jesus isn't going to save them anymore than Superman can, cause they're both fictional.
To hear any updates about this, follow the Freedom From Religion Foundation on twitter @FFRF or their website: http://ffrf.org/
http://ffrf.org/action/2009/youcanrun.php
So..we're a "Christian nation" funny...doesn't say that in the constitution or the declaration of independence, and even then, there's only 2 Christian groups that are larger than Atheists anyways. But that's not the part that irks me.
It's in the first paragraph of the group's purpose that irks me. What fucking right do they have to go into a public school (a government entity) saying they're gonna teach kids to not use drugs, but then turn around and try brainwashing them into their fold? They have none not to mention they have also lied to the government. It's groups like these that I would consider domestic terrorists cause that's EXACTLY what they are.
This group should be marked as a cult and ALL of it's members arrested for treason and given the ONLY penalty allowed by the US for treason. Death. And personally, I think it should be televised so that all the other asshat super right Christians who think they'll do the same will know EXACTLY what'll be coming for them. And sorry, Jesus isn't going to save them anymore than Superman can, cause they're both fictional.
To hear any updates about this, follow the Freedom From Religion Foundation on twitter @FFRF or their website: http://ffrf.org/
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Mormon Propaganda
Thanks to BibleAlsoSays on twitter for this:
http://www.sj-r.com/beliefs/x466663776/-Twilight-author-s-Mormon-faith-a-big-influence-in-books-film
=_= Well, that's just another reason why I do not want to read the novels OR see the movies...EVER
What a waste of time, money, trees, don't know about acting talent (heard Twilight sucked).
I certainly DO NOT want Mormonism crammed down my throat, I got out of that brainwashing cult and do not ever plan to go back in. Instead, they do it this way, with something something I'm interested in, historically speaking. Yes, I mean vampires. I know that website calls her the "Mormon Anne Rice" but...shit, she is not comparable to Anne Rice...at least Anne didn't make her vampire love stories with an underlying religious theme. I'll stick to Bram Stoker.
So, to Stephanie Meyer, thank you for fucking up another generation of kids who will think that sparkly teeny bopper vampires are cool. You've done the same for this generation as Disney did for kids with their earlier movies (Pinnochio anyone?).
Though, I digress...I have found one...no, make that two useful things for this craptastic novel about vampires:
1) Starting a fire
2) Wiping my ass
P.S. THEY'RE STILL FUCKING WEREWOLVES NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL THEM IN THE DAMN BOOK!!!!
http://www.sj-r.com/beliefs/x466663776/-Twilight-author-s-Mormon-faith-a-big-influence-in-books-film
=_= Well, that's just another reason why I do not want to read the novels OR see the movies...EVER
What a waste of time, money, trees, don't know about acting talent (heard Twilight sucked).
I certainly DO NOT want Mormonism crammed down my throat, I got out of that brainwashing cult and do not ever plan to go back in. Instead, they do it this way, with something something I'm interested in, historically speaking. Yes, I mean vampires. I know that website calls her the "Mormon Anne Rice" but...shit, she is not comparable to Anne Rice...at least Anne didn't make her vampire love stories with an underlying religious theme. I'll stick to Bram Stoker.
So, to Stephanie Meyer, thank you for fucking up another generation of kids who will think that sparkly teeny bopper vampires are cool. You've done the same for this generation as Disney did for kids with their earlier movies (Pinnochio anyone?).
Though, I digress...I have found one...no, make that two useful things for this craptastic novel about vampires:
1) Starting a fire
2) Wiping my ass
P.S. THEY'RE STILL FUCKING WEREWOLVES NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL THEM IN THE DAMN BOOK!!!!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
What would America be like without Atheists?
Enjoy this post about this subject over at Camelswithhammers.com
http://camelswithhammers.com/2009/08/25/an-america-without-its-atheists/
http://camelswithhammers.com/2009/08/25/an-america-without-its-atheists/
Born into Mormonism...
Please bear with me as I type up the following. I am typing this up as I'm working my primary job and have to make calls all day, so if it seems like I'm trailing off at times, I do apologize. If it still doesn't make sense...that's what the comments are for and I will respond as soon as I can.
Firstly I'd like to share some light on my background (and ultimate deconversion) as a child, as a teenager and as an adult.
This particular blog post will focus on my childhood.
I was born at 12:56am MST (-7 GMT) on November 11, 1982 to my parents who had been married for 1 year and 2 months (yes, they're anniversary is September 11). When I was born I was given my birth name and, following standard Mormon tradition, immediately blessed into the church at a following meeting. Now, for those that know me, know that I have obviously not agreed with the birth name...nor the gender physical attributes that I was given. What does that mean? Simply put, I was given a penis and not a vagina...something that has honestly been a bane to my life (and will be touched on several times as it does have some relations to my religious beliefs).
Now, I know all that thanks to what my parents have told me, and my birth records (which apparently were printed wrong, it shows I was born at 12:56pm not in the morning, but my mom has reassured me that it was indeed almost 1am...she should know she was there). However, I do not recall anything from before I was about 4 years old. So...that means that those 4 years are lost to memory. So, we shall continue one from the 4 year mark.
When I was 4 right around the 5 year mark, this is when I started my course of learning in the US public school system. Everything was like it should have been for the public system...granted we had to say the pledge of allegiance (something I have since learned was essentially raped thanks to both the communist threat of the 1950's and the help of the Knights of Columbus, a segment of the Catholic church. As can be seen here http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm the Americans borrowed it from another country and slightly modified it for our country. But, thanks some asshole godbots, it now blatantly violates the first amendment of the bill of rights in the constitution: http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html "
When I turned 8 years old, as is also Mormon tradition, I was baptized into the church through the process of immersion. It apparently was a big deal to my family (seeing that I had some huge party afterwards), but to me...I had no real clue what the hell was going on...I mean come on, I was 8 for Flying Spaghetti Monster's sakes...
After that happened, my parents had me attending church regularly on Sunday's. Now, I don't know if it's because I have very acute ADD, or in that I just found what was being taught boring (probably both), but when I was in church, I would sit there and play around with the backside of the pews or the chairs. I still picked up the lessons, but, I never really devoted anything remotely close to my full attention to the person reading from a book (oh, wait, that's why my ADD would kick in, I HATE learning like that cause it does NOT work for me).
But, as I got older I did the whole cub scouts thing, got lots of awards from those. In fact, I was more active in doing the outdoor scout stuff then I was church, even if I had no idea that the Boy Scouts of America was made to be a religious propaganda device (not necessarily Christian cause I knew a few Jewish boys who were scouts also).
By the time I was 10 I was already losing interest in the Mormon church and only went to it to pass the time on Sundays. A lot of the time I only stayed in for sacrament and then would leave and walk around the halls the rest of the time. It was when I turned 12 and became a Deacon. WHOOOO!!! Now I could serve people their wonder bread and unfiltered tap water to remind them of the things Jesus did. Did this really change anything for me...just that I had to serve that stuff and it was more of an annoyance than anything. Plus, walking down the aisles inbetween pews and seeing all the old crotchety people sitting there glarin' at us youngins to make sure we were doing it just like them (does anyone see the intimidation and brainwashing going on here?).
Here is where I leave the transition from being age 0-12 and hit the teen years. The 13-18 range (I only put 18 cause after that in the US I was a minor adult and things changed a LOT more) will come in the next post.
Firstly I'd like to share some light on my background (and ultimate deconversion) as a child, as a teenager and as an adult.
This particular blog post will focus on my childhood.
I was born at 12:56am MST (-7 GMT) on November 11, 1982 to my parents who had been married for 1 year and 2 months (yes, they're anniversary is September 11). When I was born I was given my birth name and, following standard Mormon tradition, immediately blessed into the church at a following meeting. Now, for those that know me, know that I have obviously not agreed with the birth name...nor the gender physical attributes that I was given. What does that mean? Simply put, I was given a penis and not a vagina...something that has honestly been a bane to my life (and will be touched on several times as it does have some relations to my religious beliefs).
Now, I know all that thanks to what my parents have told me, and my birth records (which apparently were printed wrong, it shows I was born at 12:56pm not in the morning, but my mom has reassured me that it was indeed almost 1am...she should know she was there). However, I do not recall anything from before I was about 4 years old. So...that means that those 4 years are lost to memory. So, we shall continue one from the 4 year mark.
When I was 4 right around the 5 year mark, this is when I started my course of learning in the US public school system. Everything was like it should have been for the public system...granted we had to say the pledge of allegiance (something I have since learned was essentially raped thanks to both the communist threat of the 1950's and the help of the Knights of Columbus, a segment of the Catholic church. As can be seen here http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm the Americans borrowed it from another country and slightly modified it for our country. But, thanks some asshole godbots, it now blatantly violates the first amendment of the bill of rights in the constitution: http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html "
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." As you can see it says law, but seeing that the pledge is recited before government meetings, it is still an endorsement of a religion by the state).When I turned 8 years old, as is also Mormon tradition, I was baptized into the church through the process of immersion. It apparently was a big deal to my family (seeing that I had some huge party afterwards), but to me...I had no real clue what the hell was going on...I mean come on, I was 8 for Flying Spaghetti Monster's sakes...
After that happened, my parents had me attending church regularly on Sunday's. Now, I don't know if it's because I have very acute ADD, or in that I just found what was being taught boring (probably both), but when I was in church, I would sit there and play around with the backside of the pews or the chairs. I still picked up the lessons, but, I never really devoted anything remotely close to my full attention to the person reading from a book (oh, wait, that's why my ADD would kick in, I HATE learning like that cause it does NOT work for me).
But, as I got older I did the whole cub scouts thing, got lots of awards from those. In fact, I was more active in doing the outdoor scout stuff then I was church, even if I had no idea that the Boy Scouts of America was made to be a religious propaganda device (not necessarily Christian cause I knew a few Jewish boys who were scouts also).
By the time I was 10 I was already losing interest in the Mormon church and only went to it to pass the time on Sundays. A lot of the time I only stayed in for sacrament and then would leave and walk around the halls the rest of the time. It was when I turned 12 and became a Deacon. WHOOOO!!! Now I could serve people their wonder bread and unfiltered tap water to remind them of the things Jesus did. Did this really change anything for me...just that I had to serve that stuff and it was more of an annoyance than anything. Plus, walking down the aisles inbetween pews and seeing all the old crotchety people sitting there glarin' at us youngins to make sure we were doing it just like them (does anyone see the intimidation and brainwashing going on here?).
Here is where I leave the transition from being age 0-12 and hit the teen years. The 13-18 range (I only put 18 cause after that in the US I was a minor adult and things changed a LOT more) will come in the next post.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Masturbation
I read a story over on http://www.dangeroustalk.net/ about a teacher who got suspended for having their students read a short story about masturbation as written by Chuck Palahniuk.
If you've read the story (as I have and linked it above), you can see that this it more a look at a teen social issue and shows some of the things that can happen and go wrong (and I'm sure there's some medial evidence that supports this, here's some info on WebMd).
Obviously this is a great story to help teach kids that it's ok to do, but NOT to go to extremes like is portrayed in the short story. What gets me is that people are freaking out about it...do they really think 17 year old kids are NOT having sex (I don't mean all of them, but statistically speaking)? Are these same people the Christian fundies who also bible thump saying "SEX IS SIN" but in the EXACT same way, bible thump that people have to procreate as part of God's plan? I'm willing to bet the answer to that is "yes".
Yay for hyporcrites >_>
Either way, I think that Chuck's stories should be read in high school and the fundies who are bitching need to pull their heads out of their asses, and wipe off their mouths cause all their spewing is shit.
If you've read the story (as I have and linked it above), you can see that this it more a look at a teen social issue and shows some of the things that can happen and go wrong (and I'm sure there's some medial evidence that supports this, here's some info on WebMd).
Obviously this is a great story to help teach kids that it's ok to do, but NOT to go to extremes like is portrayed in the short story. What gets me is that people are freaking out about it...do they really think 17 year old kids are NOT having sex (I don't mean all of them, but statistically speaking)? Are these same people the Christian fundies who also bible thump saying "SEX IS SIN" but in the EXACT same way, bible thump that people have to procreate as part of God's plan? I'm willing to bet the answer to that is "yes".
Yay for hyporcrites >_>
Either way, I think that Chuck's stories should be read in high school and the fundies who are bitching need to pull their heads out of their asses, and wipe off their mouths cause all their spewing is shit.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Butt Cleavage Pants...W...T...F!! O_o
Ok, I wouldn't call this a "controversial" subject, but, it's something I had to touch on.
http://www.totallyabsurd.com/buttcleavagepants.htm
That's right, pants that show off butt cleavage...who in the right damn mind thinks this is even a great idea? In fact, last time I saw butt cleavage used for attention is when Stan and Kyle drews circles on Cartman's ass and called them Stan's moms tits just to get the 6th graders to help...and that was equally horrible too I might add.
If the fashion police were real, I think they'd be handing out some first degree felonies for this idea and before any pair could possibly hit the streets.
Now, to anyone who would liken this to normal cleavage...just don't, it's not the same...even then, there's honestly too many shirts that flaunt cleavage. In fact, the ONLY time you should be able to see it in public is at the beach/pool because a girl is wearing a bikini.
Oh, and before anyone asks, no, I don't show, and no, I won't ever, I think it's disgusting and attracts attention of the sort I don't want. And on that same note, to you girls who bitch that men do stare at your chest...maybe start by wearing a normal tshirt and not that v cut that goes down to your damn navel.
http://www.totallyabsurd.com/buttcleavagepants.htm
That's right, pants that show off butt cleavage...who in the right damn mind thinks this is even a great idea? In fact, last time I saw butt cleavage used for attention is when Stan and Kyle drews circles on Cartman's ass and called them Stan's moms tits just to get the 6th graders to help...and that was equally horrible too I might add.
If the fashion police were real, I think they'd be handing out some first degree felonies for this idea and before any pair could possibly hit the streets.
Now, to anyone who would liken this to normal cleavage...just don't, it's not the same...even then, there's honestly too many shirts that flaunt cleavage. In fact, the ONLY time you should be able to see it in public is at the beach/pool because a girl is wearing a bikini.
Oh, and before anyone asks, no, I don't show, and no, I won't ever, I think it's disgusting and attracts attention of the sort I don't want. And on that same note, to you girls who bitch that men do stare at your chest...maybe start by wearing a normal tshirt and not that v cut that goes down to your damn navel.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Out Campaign
I came across the Out Campaign a while thanks to some of the people that I follow on Twitter.
I think this is a great and somewhat subtle way of getting the message across to other non-theists around the world. Hopefully it could get to the point that if you were wearing one of the items from the store, that people would no longer assume that every single person they walk past on the street is another mindless god bot like them and so they can see that non-theists are just ordinary every day people. Not like some of the stereotypes have been portrayed (thanks to the fundies for that one =_=).
For me personally, I know I would like to have a Scarlet A inscribed into my headstone when that time ultimately comes. Until then, I think I'll settle with a shirt. Wish they offered a set of Scarlet A earrings though, I would definitely wear those a LOT.
Stay tuned to future posts as I will start to type up my change from being born a Mormon to my ultimate deconversion away the religious prison and into a mind of my own.
I think this is a great and somewhat subtle way of getting the message across to other non-theists around the world. Hopefully it could get to the point that if you were wearing one of the items from the store, that people would no longer assume that every single person they walk past on the street is another mindless god bot like them and so they can see that non-theists are just ordinary every day people. Not like some of the stereotypes have been portrayed (thanks to the fundies for that one =_=).
For me personally, I know I would like to have a Scarlet A inscribed into my headstone when that time ultimately comes. Until then, I think I'll settle with a shirt. Wish they offered a set of Scarlet A earrings though, I would definitely wear those a LOT.
Stay tuned to future posts as I will start to type up my change from being born a Mormon to my ultimate deconversion away the religious prison and into a mind of my own.
Very First Post
First off, I'd like to share 2 quotes that have stuck with me recently.
"In the beginning, man created god"
"Fuck religion!"
Unfortunately I do not know where I heard or read that first quote, but I find it very simply states my standing on religion. Anyone who can at least think and properly analyze a book of scriptures can clearly see all the fallacies that are included. To sum them up, this means that believing in some omnipotent being that is all loving...yet a complete and total asshole...isn't exactly something a deity would do...at least not by Christian standards...at least the Greek/Roman gods were honest and admitted to being lazy. This leaves the fact that it only mirrors that which created the stories, humans. Only humans can love a person but be an asshole to them.
The second quote comes from someone that I do admire to some extent. Penn Jilette from Penn & Teller. I really can't say anything except I couldn't agree more with that expression in every way.
"In the beginning, man created god"
"Fuck religion!"
Unfortunately I do not know where I heard or read that first quote, but I find it very simply states my standing on religion. Anyone who can at least think and properly analyze a book of scriptures can clearly see all the fallacies that are included. To sum them up, this means that believing in some omnipotent being that is all loving...yet a complete and total asshole...isn't exactly something a deity would do...at least not by Christian standards...at least the Greek/Roman gods were honest and admitted to being lazy. This leaves the fact that it only mirrors that which created the stories, humans. Only humans can love a person but be an asshole to them.
The second quote comes from someone that I do admire to some extent. Penn Jilette from Penn & Teller. I really can't say anything except I couldn't agree more with that expression in every way.
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