15 Day Atheist "Challenge"

Sorry, that's just what this was called.

Found a questionnaire on tumblr about atheism. I thought it was fun, so I'll crosspost it here.

At what point did you know you were an atheist? Why did you become one, what were the factors leading up to the decision, if you weren’t always one?

It’s weird. There was never any defining moment for me. I’ve been anti-religion for a long time (as a deist at one point and as an agnostic at another) but I never reached the point where I could comfortably call myself an atheist until the last year or so (I prefer agnostic-atheist, but that’s three more syllables than people want to say). I never hopped over a line and declared it to the world, it was very gradual and blurry. I was a deist because I was (and still am) a huge science cheerleader, and the things I read about string theory and quantum mechanics made it seem like the idea of a creator was at least plausible. Then one day I was watching this show about cosmology on the Science Channel. Paraphrasing, some guy said that it’s tempting to infer God into this universe because it’s so orderly and beautiful, but we must resist the urge to jump to a conclusion so huge, because evolution here on earth makes everything seem like it’s designed as well. That made a lot of sense to me. He said the universe itself, and all the laws which govern it, may have “evolved” in a way similar to life on earth. That was three years ago maybe. I became an agnostic soon after, and an atheist soon after that.

What religion did you grow up with? Did you have positive or negative experiences with religion?

I was a Christian. We were “Methodist,” but I didn’t know what that meant because I was never taken to church aside from when I was very young. I had neither positive nor negative experiences with religion. It was never something extremely important to me, but nothing ever happened that caused me to hate it either. High school was when I started questioning why I called myself a Christian.

Are you a more outspoken or more apathetic atheist? Why?

This is a question I’ve always had a struggle with. I can be both. I do make a conscious effort to live and let live, but sometimes the sheer ignorance of some religious people really pisses me off, and I get angry. I’m never aggressive or outspoken when discussing things with religious friends (in spite of how much I would like to be sometimes) because it’s not something worth ruining friendships over. My religious friends are cool about it and they don’t care, so I treat them the same way.

Do you think religion is obsolete and should be wiped completely off the face of the Earth, or does some good come out of it?

Religion is definitely obsolete, and the world would definitely be better off without it, but I don’t think it should be “wiped out” by anyone. That’s what a religion would do. Secular humanism is going to become dominant one day, but it shouldn’t be forced. It has to come gradually, and of humanity’s own free will. There is some good that comes out of religion, but it’s mostly in personal lives rather than on a global scale, and so I don’t think it outweighs all the global catastrophes that religion is directly responsible for. If people would pay attention to all the good things secular humanism is responsible for, like science or modern democracy, progress would come a lot faster.

Did you lose any friends because you decided to be an atheist? Did your family flip out?

No, I didn’t lose any friends at all. My brother is also an atheist. I don’t think our parents know. My dad’s best friend is an atheist, so I don’t think he would care. Mom may have a more difficult time understanding though.

How do you feel about so-called “militant atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris?

They’re all pretty brilliant if you ask me, and I can’t think of anything any one of them has said about religion that is logically untrue. But they are aggressive, and while that’s great for atheist circlejerking, it’s not the way to open a discussion with others. If you treat people like idiots, they’re going to shut down and stop listening. We are questioning the lens through which they view the universe, and we have to be gentle.

Except for God, do you believe in anything supernatural or pseudoscientific? (Ghosts, alien abductions, spirits, souls, demons, psychics, magic, Harry Potter, etc.)

No. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

What’s your political alignment? Does your atheism influence how you vote and how you feel on issues?

I’m very liberal, and yes, it influences my political alignment a great deal. The American right is made up of religious fascists, and I don’t appreciate it when they tell me that gays or Muslims or atheists like myself are not as American as they are. Fuck them.

Even though you’re an atheist, have you ever experienced a moment that could be called “religious?” Like an epiphany about the world or complete peace?

Absolutely. There’s nothing preventing an atheist from experiencing ecstasy. I used to meditate a bit. There is nothing more peaceful than blocking out the outside world completely, so it seems like the entire universe is inside your head. If you’ve never meditated before and you’ve never experienced that, I mean it quite literally. I’ve only been able to do it a couple times, but it’s amazing, and it’s probably the closest experience to drugs as I’ll ever get. The brain is really interesting.

Are you spiritual, or are your feet always on the ground?

I flirt with both extremes. I’m sort of a logical artist, so I have to.

Do you have/plan on having a career in the sciences? Alternatively: which branch of science intrigues you most?

I love science and I love reading about it, but I’m really not smart or patient enough to take part in it myself. I almost failed physics in high school (which kinda boggles me, because I’m an INTJ on the Meyers Brigg, who are apparently best with science or mathematics. Multiple intelligences, I guess). My favorite branch of science is cosmology.

What happens when we die? Do you fear death?

Do you remember any moment before you were born? Death will be like that — nothing. I don’t fear death as much as I fear not being alive. Does that make sense? Death will be painless, I don’t care about being dead. I just don’t want those who love me to feel pain for my loss. And no matter how many things I will eventually do in my life, there will always be so many other things I could’ve done. I would live forever if I could.

Would you ever date/marry somebody who follows a religion? Be honest.

I don’t see why not, there are a lot of cool people out there who still believe in God. I may not like organized religion, but I’m not going to judge individuals on what a group has done. That said, I still find atheists/agnostics/skeptics pretty sexy, and I’d prefer them. Buddhists are cool too. But I’m not going to rule out a girl simply because of her religious beliefs. That’s really fucking stupid.

On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you with life at this moment, and why?

8 or 9? Happiness to me is simply the absence of sadness. And I’m never really sad. Nothing extraordinary is going on in my life at the moment, but I’m content, and that’s more than enough. I’m white, male, and privileged. If you ever see me complain about anything, please kick me in the balls.

Recommend a book. :) (Doesn’t have to be relevant to atheism, just any good book.)

Just one? No.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. I was lucky enough to have read this before seeing the movie. Absolutely incredible.

Anything by H.P. Lovecraft (as long as you don’t mind staying awake at night). Aside from the obligatory Cthulhu, I like The Dunwich Horror and The Colour Out of Space.

The Song of Ice and Fire series is the best book series I’ve ever read. This is that Game of Thrones show that just started on HBO. It’s so fucking great. Can’t recommend it enough.

1776 by David McCullough is my personal favorite history book.

Sunday Youtube Post

Caspian - Cigarette from wearepostrock on Vimeo.

Followup on Bastrop High School

So remember how that one high school broke the law by allowing a girl to lead a prayer at its graduation? Did you wonder how the good Christians at this high school have been treating the kid who pointed out that it's illegal? Did they practice what they preached, and "respected" the beliefs of others, like that girl said she was doing with her prayer? You've probably already guessed what's happening by now. The kid is being ostracized by the community.

[...]

But Fowler -- knowing that government-sponsored prayer in the public schools is unconstitutional and legally forbidden -- contacted the school superintendent to let him know that he opposed the prayer, and would be contacting the ACLU if it happened. The school -- at first, anyway -- agreed, and canceled the prayer.

Then Fowler's name, and his role in this incident, was leaked. As a direct result:

1) Fowler has been hounded, pilloried, and ostracized by his community.

2) One of Fowler's teachers has publicly demeaned him.

3) Fowler has been physically threatened. Students have threatened to "jump him" at graduation practice, and he has received multiple threats of bodily harm, and even death threats.

4) Fowler's parents have cut off his financial support, kicked him out of the house, and thrown his belongings onto the front porch.

[...]

1) Fowler has been hounded, pilloried, and ostracized by his community. He's become the center of what he terms a "shitstorm": he has been harassed, vilified, targeted with insults and name-calling and hateful remarks. He's been told t he's the Devil. He's been told, "Go cry to your mommy... oh, wait. You can't." (A reference to him being disowned by his parents.) He's been told that he's only doing this to get attention. A student's public prayer at a pre-graduation "Class Night" event was turned into an opportunity for the school and community to gang up on Fowler and publicly close ranks against him -- teachers as well as students. (Here's video). And people seen defending him have been targeted as well.

As just a taste, here are a few comments on the Bastrop Enterprise news story about the controversy: "I personally see him as a coward." "I hope they [Christians] put enough pressure on this kid to convert him and save his soul from the fire of hell." "The kid was likely a recluse and apathetic about most everything until now." "If he don't want prayer at graduation he can stay at home and not come to graduation." "Afterall, that's what she or he wants isn't it to be singled out! This just makes me ill." "I hope that the little athiest is offended." "What he is really doing is trying to shove his views down people's throats." "Why does this student only now decide to get engaged in what is happening at the school? Is it nothing more than our own self-destructive human nature to break down anything of which we may not approve?" "That student should just have to have his/her one man graduation ceremony all alone." "Satan continues to prowl and is deceiving many in this world."

2) One of Fowler's teachers has publicly demeaned him. From the story in the Bastrop Enterprise:

Mitzi Quinn has been on the staff at BHS for almost 25 years, much of that time as a senior advisor. In the past, Quinn said there have been students who were atheist, agnostic and other non-Christian religions who "had no problems" with the prayer.
"They respected the majority of their classmates and didn't say anything," Quinn said. "We've never had this come up before. Never."

Throughout her time working with the student, Quinn said they never expressed their personal beliefs or that they had any problems with other students' Christian faiths.

"And what's even more sad is this is a student who really hasn't contributed anything to graduation or to their classmates," Quinn said.

In other words: Because the majority of students want an unconstitutional prayer at their graduation, therefore they're in the right. Because nobody's ever had the courage to speak up about this before, therefore the law was not being broken, and everything was okay. (After all, it's not like anything bad happened when Fowler spoke up...right?) And because Fowler hasn't "contributed anything" -- other than, you know, a model of risking safety and security to stand up for a principle he believed in -- therefore his basic legal right to not be targeted with religious proselytization by his public school is irrelevant... and he deserves to be publicly derided by one of his teachers.

3) Fowler has been physically threatened. Students have threatened to "jump him" at graduation practice, and he has received multiple threats of bodily harm, and even death threats.

Enough said.

4) Fowler's parents have cut off his financial support, kicked him out of the house, and thrown his belongings onto the porch.

Let's be very, very clear about this one. At a time when their son was being bullied, threatened, publicly pilloried, and ostracized from his school and his community, his parents joined the party. Their initial response was to hold him in their house against his will, take his cell phone and cut off his contact with the outside world, and even cut him off from contact with his older brother, Jerrett. Their more recent response has been to cut off financial support, kick him out of the house, and throw his belongings onto the porch.

Fortunately, Damon isn't entirely alone. His brother Jerrett is bringing Damon into his own home in Texas, and will help put him through college. And Damon is fortunate enough to have the backing of the atheist community, who are providing encouragement, emotional support, practical assistance, and even a scholarship fund.

[...]

American Atheists said of Fowler, "This kid deserves mad props for letting his principal know on no uncertain terms that ACLU would be contacted if the prayer wasn't canceled. Good job, Damon, you speak for the freedoms of people who are trapped in the bible-belt!" JT Eberhard, high school specialist for the Secular Student Alliance, said, "Despite the vile threats, bullying, and hatred his community has given him, we recognize Damon for what he is: a brave student speaking up for religious liberty and inclusion." Freedom From Religion Foundation spoke about "his courage in speaking out for his and other students' rights."

[...]

And perhaps most dramatically, Friendly Atheist blogger Hemant Mehta has established a scholarship fund for Fowler, so he can attend college despite being cut off financially by his parents -- and the response has been overwhelming. As of this writing, the atheist community has donated over $15,000. Essentially filling the role that his parents have abandoned.

Why am I bringing this up?

One of the chunks of mud that's most commonly slung at atheists is that we're selfish. Amoral. That without a belief in God and the afterlife, people would have no moral compass, and would just act to please themselves, without any consideration for others. That without a belief in eternal punishment in the afterlife for bad behavior, eternal reward in the afterlife for good behavior, and a supernatural authority figure refereeing it all, people would have no reason to be good people, and no reason to avoid doing terrible things. That without religion, people would have no compassion, no sense of justice, no empathy, no desire to see society running smoothly... and would just do whatever we wanted to do.

But when Damon Fowler was suffering and in need, the atheist community stepped up. It provided compassion. It demanded justice. It offered emotional support. It offered practical support. It opened its wallets. It made it unassailably clear to Damon Fowler that he was not alone: that although his school, his community, even his parents, had all turned their backs on him, atheists would take care of him, as best they could, until he could take care of himself. It made it clear that, even though he no longer had a home in Bastrop, he had a home in this movement. When Damon Fowler was suffering and in need, the atheist community proved itself to be a real community.

If atheism means we just do whatever we want to do... then apparently, what we want to do is take care of each other. Apparently, what we want to do is help people who have been injured. Apparently, what we want to do is speak out against wrongdoing. Apparently, what we want to do is put a stop to injustice. Apparently, what we want to do is make sacrifices for people in need.

A whole lot more than the Christians in Bastrop, Louisiana.

[...]

Damon Fowler and his brother made a thread on reddit a week ago explaining their situation and answering questions.

Soapbox:

I usually pooh-pooh the atheist community in America for overemphasizing their 'victimhood' a little more than is necessary, but maybe my eyes have just been closed. I'm lucky to be in central Illinois. It's a melting pot. For every dumbfuck hick I meet, there's usually a cool accepting liberal across the room to balance him out. I wasn't raised in the Bible belt. I haven't even been there. I've always felt that the gay community has it much worse than atheists, but I guess we're all the same down there.

This story only further enhances a theory that I (and I'm sure a lot of other agnostics/atheists) hold: religion serves absolutely no purpose except community. It's a vile institution that pats everyone in it on the back, while ostracizing those who are different. And if it doesn't cause people to ostracize others from the community outright, then at best they go out of their way to try to "save" them -- or, bring them into their community, because their way is the right way. No other way. It's tribal. Conservative Christians can pretend to be like Jesus, and preach all they want about individual respect for others, but when it comes down to it, they unquestionably obey the hivemind just like every other close-knit community.

And it's not just religion. Humans are wired for this. When you identify yourself as belonging to a community -- be that with music, or fashion, or pop culture, or trends, or a political party, or atheism for that matter -- then, encouraged by strength in numbers, you're going to wall yourself off and grow to disrespect criticism of any kind. Shitty opinions go unchecked, and snowball. I've always avoided school clubs because of it. It's why I go out of my way to associate myself with as many different types of people as I can. It's why I see fashion as the bane of existence, since it doesn't even make the groupthink subtle. Association with communities highjacks your personality, and limits not only your potential, but your personal freedom. And this story is a perfect example of it at its worst -- transforming morally normal people into monsters.

Wednesday Youtube Post

Just noticed I forgot about this on Sunday.

Thoughts on: Tunnel Blanket by This Will Destroy You

So TWDY released a new CD a couple weeks ago. Just had a listen.

Even though post-rock is probably my favorite genre of music, it really annoys me sometimes that it's so resistant to change. There aren't a lot of post-rock bands that try new things. Well, TWDY basically just threw everything they've done in the past out the window. And they deserve a lot of respect for risking that, even if it turns out you're not a fan of this CD.

This Will Destroy You has been around for a while, but this is only their second real album. Their EPs are definitely good enough to stand on their own, and in many ways Young Mountain is even better than their only other proper album in my opinion. But if you're expecting Young Mountain 2, then look elsewhere. It's been five years since that epic release, and it's given them a long time to evolve.

Tunnel Blanket is different. Considering the direction they went with Field Studies, and how much I loved it, I guess I shouldn't be as surprised as I was. But it's very different. They've abandoned the uplifting and soothing guitar riffs reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky (the reason I started listening to them) and embraced a darker style more similar to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It's a bit like Godspeed, but less strings and more ambience. Very Sigur Ros, in fact.

Post-rock is inherently minimalist already, but this CD borders on drone. I'm not entirely on board with it yet. But it's still incredibly interesting and beautiful, and definitely worth checking out. It seems perfect for those late nights when you're feeling introspective and alone. I'm going to continue listening to it for a bit, and hope something clicks.

Here's a live performance of a song from the album, Black Dunes.

Louisiana high school holds prayer at graduation in blatant disregard for the Constitution

One thing that was great about the Enlightenment era from which our nation was born is that its great thinkers were mostly secular humanists. By keeping their religion private, they didn't let it interfere with public affairs. 235 years later, we have to put up with this shit.

[...]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana urged Stacey Pullen, principal of Bastrop High School, to respect the First Amendment and ensure Friday night's graduation did not include a prayer as originally proposed.

Senior Damon Fowler had reportedly objected to the planned prayer and informed the Morehouse Parish School Board about his objection, saying it violated his right to a ceremony free of government-endorsed religion. After he complained to school authorities — and said he would contact the ACLU if necessary — school officials reportedly removed the prayer from the program.

However, during the event, fellow senior Laci Rae Mattice called for a moment of silence but expressed her opinion first.

"I want to ask for the Lord's blessings upon us," Mattice said, followed by cheers and applause from the audience. She then led the audience in the Lord's Prayer, "if they wanted to."

Pullen said Mattice was instructed not to mention anything about religion and only observe the moment of silence. She said she was unsure if the ACLU or Fowler would seek legal action against the school.

[...]

"The First Amendment prohibition on government endorsement of religion exists to protect the minority from the majority," said Marjorie R. Esman, ACLU of Louisiana executive director. "Freedom of religion belongs to everyone, not just those whose views may be more popular than others."

At the Thursday night rehearsal for the graduation, another senior, Sarah Barlow, said a prayer with reference to Jesus Christ. The prayer was listed in the graduation program, which had to be reprinted at taxpayer expense.

"Taxpayers should not have to spend money fixing problems caused by violations of the law," Esman said. "Public school officials must remember that they have a duty to uphold the law, to protect the rights of all of their students, and that any failure to do so costs money that should be spent in the classroom. Religious freedom has flourished in this country because we do not allow the government to promote one faith over others."

[...]

I hope the ACLU sues. This is utter bullshit, and it can't be tolerated. The school didn't technically endorse this, but their inaction towards the prayer once it started says enough. Any other speech that was blatantly inappropriate, they would've stopped, and moved on. At this? Nothing.

I'm not sure if the Christians who support prayer in public schools really understand what the issue is about here. I don't care if you're a Christian. Nobody does. That is completely irrelevant. Nobody is trying to take away anybody's faith. It's just that the first amendment makes it very clear that the government cannot endorse a religion. Public schools are funded by taxpayers. Public schools speak on behalf of the government. Prayer in public schools would mean that the government endorses a religion, and that is illegal. Get it? School is not church. This isn't hard. If a teacher got up there and started telling everyone there's no God, I would oppose that just as much. Why do these idiots always feel so obligated to do this when the Bible tells you to pray quietly? The Bible is the book they read, right? A school is supposed to a place of learning, and religion has no place in it.

Here's the video if you want.

"I have something to say. I respect the beliefs of other people, but I feel I can't go home without giving glory to my Lord today."

Really? So you wouldn't mind if someone else went up there and said "I respect the beliefs of other people, but Allahu Akbar, Allah is great." Or maybe, "I respect the beliefs of other people, but I feel I can't go home without saying there is no God and you live in a cold, meaningless universe."

Someone shouted "First Amendment rights" in the middle of the prayer, so at least this crowd had one patriot in it. Fucking dumbasses.

Keith Olbermann defends Michael Moore

A couple weeks ago, Michael Moore expressed concern at where the United States is going by assassinating Osama bin Laden -- an unarmed man -- instead of living up to our ideals and putting him on trial.

"We’ve lost something of our soul here in this country. Maybe I’m just an old-school American who believes in our judicial system."

You can't really argue with him. He's right. But at the same time, if there was any person on the planet where an assassination could be justifiable, Osama bin Laden would've been a good target. A trial would've been nice, if only to show the world that our 'soul' hadn't been completely lost during the Bush years, and yet as the leader of an entity that declared war on the United States, I don't see much of a problem with offing Osama outright, either. It's one of those discussions where I agree with both sides at the same time, and it pisses me off.

Anyway, as if Ed Schultz needed to further reinforce his fake populist irrelevance, he came out last week and strongly criticized Moore for saying these things. Schultz is a liberal on a liberal news network, so it raised some eyebrows. I actually caught this segment when it aired, and it reminded me why I don't watch him. Now it's the liberals in America who are using "intellectual" as an insult.

The fact of the matter is, the intellectual liberal hand-wringing needs to stop in this country. People who voted for President Obama had to know he was willing to go anywhere at anytime to take out the world’s number one terrorist."

Keith Olbermann made a Special Comment a few days ago defending Moore (Yes, he's still making things. His new show on Current TV starts on June 20, btw). He expressed his own views, in that he personally has no problem with the assassination, but he also urged respect and acceptance for those who disagreed with him. It's Olbermann at his best, and it just makes me miss him more.

Sunday Youtube Post

Al Jazeera Opinion: Global capitalism and 21st century fascism

Link

Obama’s campaign tapped into and helped expand mass mobilisation and popular aspirations for change not seen in many years in the United States. The Obama project co-opted that brewing storm from below, channelled it into the electoral campaign, and then betrayed those aspirations, as the Democratic Party effectively demobilised the insurgency from below with more passive revolution.

In this sense, the Obama project weakened the popular and left response from below to the crisis, which opened space for the right-wing response to the crisis - for a project of 21st century fascism - to become insurgent. Obama’s administration appears in this way as a Weimar republic. Although the social democrats were in power during the Weimar republic of Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s, they did not pursue a leftist response to the crisis, but rather side-lined the militant trade unions, communists and socialists, and progressively pandered to capital and the right before turning over power to the Nazis in 1933.

I feel that a lot of similarities can be drawn between our current political situation, and the social divide of the 60s. But a huge difference nowadays is that only one side has the extremists. You had both right wing and left wing extremists in the 60s, but these days the left is largely apathetic. They certainly have loud voices here and there, but nothing that could be considered “extreme,” and certainly nothing strong enough to counterbalance the neofascist rhetoric of the extreme right. I am a little hopeful though. The pro-labor backlash in Wisconsin and elsewhere shows that Americans aren’t going to take this shit lying down, and contrary to what the media likes to show, the right wing extremists really don’t make up that much of the population. Give it a few years. If you put America into the timeline of the Weimar Republic, we maybe have a decade or more until “fascists” take over. But by the time that’s supposed to happen, our generation will have grown up and matured, and will have started taking our foothold in American politics. In addition, the Republican leadership right now is nothing but a bunch of bumbling oafs who can’t get their shit together. It’ll all depend on if they can find their charismatic alpha male, and on how effective corporate propaganda is on the American people. But I’m even hopeful towards that, since the average viewer of Fox News is in his 60s. I’ve previously been extremely cynical about America’s future, but now I’m not so sure anymore. Both optimistic and pessimistic outcomes seem possible to me. The 2012 election is going to be interesting.

Sunday Youtube Post

Rachel Maddow goes to an NRA convention

Rachel had Meghan McCain on her show a while back, and it was agreed that Meghan would take her to an NRA gun show sometime. She kept her promise.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I'm not too great shooting skeet with a shotgun, but I kick ass with a rifle. Guns are awesome. But fuck the NRA. The NRA is exactly what's wrong with American politics. Politicians don't decide laws. Laws are decided by whichever interests have the most money. I'm not exactly pulling this out of my ass. I was thrown into gun culture when I was trained for my summer job last year, teaching it to boy scouts. Nearly every one of the people in the class were misinformed about politics, and I kept my big liberal mouth shut. There were guns around, after all. It's pretty brilliant, the way the NRA simply makes shit up to convince its members that Barack Obama is trying to take away everybody's weapons. How else are you going to get people to keep paying their dues, and continue buying your guns? Shitheads.

NBC Recreation of what happened at bin Laden's compound

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Okay. Sorry. I know this horse has been beaten into the ground and shat on, but there's one last thing I want to say about it before I never speak of it again. Yes, I'm talking of course of the "Should we celebrate bin Laden's death" discussion. I've been pretty outspoken and unapologetic about embracing my hatred for the sack of shit. I realize that such unbridled anger towards a dead person doesn't make sense to a lot of people, and it's certainly understandable that some could see it as, well, a little scary. But I came across a great article that explains exactly what I've been trying to say. My goal by posting this isn't to sway anyone. It's simply to put things into context. This particular piece is not about Osama bin Laden. It's about social justice. But the writer attempts to explain when and how anger can be used as a tool. I don't agree with all of it. I certainly don't view people who don't get angry as "slaves" or "victims," and I'm definitely not advocating it for most other social situations. But there is a time for the peaceful philosophy of King and Gandhi (most of the time, in fact), and there is a time for the anger-filled philosophy of Malcolm X. Don't limit yourself to a single philosophy. I claim the right to be a hypocrite on a case-by-case basis. This rational anger is what I've been trying to express in my feelings towards Osama bin Laden, and all murderers like him. It's worth the read.

Slavery is a metaphor for a person who is not in control of their own life, but has their choices made for them. A man decides, a slave obeys.

The slave can have two internal responses to his situation. He can be sad, and passively accept it, but mourn inside, yearning for a better world. The outcome is no change. Emotion is directed inwards, leaving the outer world untouched. Not daring to express outrage, fear constrains the slave to internalise their problems.

The other response is anger. Anger means directing emotional energy outwards, towards making positive change. Anger is forceful non-acceptance of the status quo. It mobilises and catalyses individual resources towards change. Anger overcomes the constraints of fear, resulting in action.

The slave is not allowed to be angry. That is the prerogative of the slave’s master. The slave is too fearful to show any anger to the master.

Anger in our world has a bad name, but as Zack de la Rocha said, it is a gift. A gift is something that is meant to benefit us. Anger is a gift when it is used in a focused, directed way to cut through the irrelevant and the bureaucratic, and cut to the root of a problem. Anger is the antidote to constraints. Anger doesn’t try to work within the system, it does not aim for incremental change, it does not settle for less. Anger takes what it wants.

Unfocused anger on the other hand benefits no-one. The person who is angry at the world but does not focus that anger on changing the central problem at hand is useless, a danger to themselves and innocent bystanders. The person who goes down the street smashing shop windows achieves no beneficial change in their own life. The person who explodes when someone changes lane in front of them is not solving a problem. The spouse who gets angry at a perceived slight causes puzzlement, not change. Like Don Quixote, the person with unfocused anger simply attacks windmills, not real enemies.

Focused, relevant anger is owned. It is not a wild impulse. It is not something that we disavow responsibility for. We don’t blame emotions or other circumstances. Focused anger is not like a broadaxe that is wildly flung about, but more like a powerful laser that cuts straight through to the core of the enemy. As Musashi said, think only of cutting. This means setting aside irrelevance, and being singleminded in pursuit of the goal.

The random, angry, inarticulate mob is easily disbursed. In Roman times, the mob was readily placated with bread and circuses. In our modern society, anger is controlled through handouts, drugs and television – anything to keep people as victims – irrelevant, placid and powerless. They must not think for themselves as this will focus their minds on the problem at hand – they will realise that they are controlled. They must not become angry as this is likely to become unfocused violence. At no time should they become both angry and focused, as this is the worst possible threat to the status quo.

How can anger be focused to achieve results? It is focused when anger and rationality are combined. This combination of fire and ice is the defining characteristic of those who are a threat to the status quo, and those who are able to write their own ticket in life.

Rationality is chosen when a person accepts that actions have consequences, and owns those consequences, and acts consistently to achieve the required consequences. Anger comes from having clear internal standards, which are not compromised, and by comparing actions against them, and feeling strongly enough about the discrepancy to arouse emotion and action.

The person who is fearful, or sedated by habitual inaction won’t ever get angry enough to change anything. They are scared of doing so. They will simply become sad, internalising the pain, treasuring it like it is something precious. Yet another victim. The person who is angry, and rational enough to understand the reason for the anger will be focused on the necessary change. Which will you be?

So I usually don't update about my personal life on here because most people don't care, but I'm just too excited and I had to share this. I'm starting a graphic design internship on Monday at a pretty well established and respected construction company here in town. They've been around for a hundred years. They're pretty much letting me do whatever the heck I want with their marketing (with their supervision, of course), since they have no one else doing it at the moment. I'm going to get an amazing office all to myself (it was previously vacant). I wasn't expecting to get paid for it at all, but they told me that they're probably going to give me a lil sum'n sum'n anyway after I'm done, because they don't like it when people work for nothing. They're very chill and the schedule likely won't be all that strict. In addition, one of my new bosses is good friends with someone I interviewed with earlier in the week, and we all decided that they're going to "share" me. I'm going to be busy as hell, but I don't care because this is going to be steroids for my portfolio. I've been doing nothing for the past few days except burying my nose in graphic design books, so that I'll be in tip-top shape when I start. So nervous, but SO EXCITED.

From a Reddit thread called "Why I'll Remember May 2, 2011"

Link

I’m an American who works abroad. Today I woke up earlier than usual and while soberly checking the international news, I saw immediately (and everywhere) that Osama bin Laden had been killed. Good news, I suppose. The almost mythical leader of Al-Qaeda, who nearly everyone had forgotten about, was dead and dumped in the sea. He had been irrelevant for long, I thought, but perhaps his death would lead to some much-needed reflection about the catastrophe that was the last decade. Right.

I will not remember today for Osama’s death. I will remember it for the way I felt watching the videos of my countrymen celebrating in the streets of New York and Washington. I don’t recognize them, these people waving flags, singing, and pouring their jubilation into the night because we killed someone. And what about all the others that have been killed? During 10 years we spent unbelievable amounts of blood and treasure, enacted unthinkable civil liberties legislation, and turned ourselves into brutes for this.

And there we were out on the streets. Brutes. We have become brutes.

Yes, the world is a better place without Osama bin Laden. But I fear what this has brought out in us. The structural factors that create Osama bin Ladens still exist, and unless we work to change those, we will continue to undermine ourselves by giving our attention to tomorrow’s straw man.

Fuck this guy. I understand completely if you’re not comfortable with celebrating this. I get it. It’s very ugly, and I’m not going to lose any respect for you for reacting to it in your own way. But don’t you think any less of me for being happy about it. I watched the celebrations last night and I was nearly in tears. I wanted to be there.

I’m a liberal and I strongly oppose the death penalty in almost all cases. But I do sincerely believe that there are some people who just shouldn’t be alive. Osama bin Laden was such a person. He was a fascist. He murdered thousands of innocent people. He wanted nuclear weapons. His ultimate goal was to spread religious fascism over the entire planet. If he had an industrialized nation behind his back, he would’ve been worse than Hitler. You’re god damn right I’m celebrating his death. Sic semper tyrannis. Thus always to tyrants.

I guess I am sounding a bit brutish and immature and angry right now, you’re absolutely right. Maybe it’s because I watched the towers fall on live TV when I was a fucking fourteen year old kid. That might have something to do with it. I’m not surprised in the least at the way my generation is acting right now. Can you imagine the psychological effects 9/11 must have had on us? The monster who has been haunting our psyches for half our lives is gone forever, and you have the gall to call us “brutes” for being happy about it? Fuck off.

Don’t try to tie this into Afghanistan and Iraq. This doesn’t change a damn thing in those wars, and it sure as hell doesn’t justify them. Iraq never had anything to do with 9/11, and Al Qaeda hasn’t been in Afghanistan for two years. Those wars are still meaningless, and we need to continue opposing them.

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