Thursday, May 15th, 2008

*** UPDATE ***

As the designer of thegoddam.com will be on tour with his band for a few months, content will be updated here for the time being. The writer has to much time on his idle hands but loves the designer enough to wait for him to return and create thegoddam into what it should be.

...................................................

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Cut it Out

We have been asked the typical question that one faces after complaining about something. "What are you doing about it"? In this case, we have complained that our currency is adorned with a phrase that is out of place and beyond untrue. My answer is "You obviously haven't seen my bank roll". I tear out the word god out of every bill that passes through my hands. Sometimes I scratch out the word with a pen or X it out with a sharpie. I especially enjoy doing this on the dollar bills stamped with a "where's George" stamp.

Here we are encouraging the destruction of our dollar bills which even after having the word "god" removed from it, is still a note that is legal tender for all debts, public and private. I have defaced thousands of dollars and encouraged others to do so. I hope that answers your question. Its a simple solution to a huge problem.

The simplest way to remove the phrase is a straight line directly over the entire phrase with a black sharpie. I'm not sure how easy that is to wash off or remove so I go with a more direct method. I fold the bill down the middle of the word god and make two tears on both side of the word "god". I then unfold it and refold it the other way, tearing it again and thus making a rectangle tear around the word to god just drops off of the bill, solving the problem for myself thoroughly but not for the larger problem in that our government making a blatantly false assumption about the beliefs of the citizens of this great county.

...................................................

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

*Update from Januay 21st*

Ben Stein's pro-creationist movie "Expelled" has pushed its release date back to April 18, which has given Harvard enough time to point out some striking similarities from the movie to its animation of the Inner Life of a Cell.
Read the article.

...................................................

Friday, April 11th, 2008

Our True "god"

The first time "In God We Trust" appeared on our coins was in 1864 on the new two cent coin, and by 1909 it was included on most the other coins. James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia suggested "Our Trust Is In God," "Our God And Our Country," "God And Our Country," and "God Our Trust." Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase picked "In God We Trust" to be used on some of the government's coins. During the height of the cold war, on July 11, 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 140 making it mandatory that all coinage and paper currency display the motto.

It's 50 years later and we (the goddam) have two problems with this monetary deceleration. To which god are we declaring our trust and to what extent is our trust being justified? Does anyone take the term seriously?

I found the answer to all three of these questions in an odd place. Mike Tyson. Yes, THE Iron Mike Tyson who once said he could sell out Madison Square Garden by masturbating.

"Money is my God. If you think God will help you then quit your job and see how much he cares."

The answer to the first question is "money". In money we trust. Money is America's god. That's reality. We may pack churches on Sundays but we also pack banks on Saturdays. The answer to the second question about our actual level of trust is harder to come by. We don't actually trust god at all. read the quote again. will god take care of us, can we trust god to keep us alive if we quit our job and donate everything to charity? We put out actual iron grip-trust into the paper and coins approved by the government for paying off debts. Try going to the grocery store and when you go through the check out line and the clerk tells you how much you owe, reply with "gods got this one" and start packing your eggs and bread. If you trusted god and the grocery store clerk trusted god, wouldn't that be enough?

The American citizenry ("we" in In God We Trust) cant agree on any one issue. We definitely don't agree on god. A recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that nearly half of all adults switch from the religion of their youth or lose religion all together. The same study lists "Unaffiliated" at 16.1%. That is a larger percentage then mormon and jewish and muslim combined. "In God We Trust" makes about as much sense as "In War We Must" in that the aggressive military stance used by our government does not reflect everyones ideology, yet there we are in Iraq, loosing more than 4,000 of our own soldiers to a war more than half of the American people do not agree with.

A petition has been made, but is only good for passing the time by reading the comments.
Some of the best:
"Hell no. Keep what this country was founded on. You don't like it find another place to live..."
"In Santa Claus I Trust."
"Don't use MONEY then GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY !!!"
"ENJOY THE FIRES OF HELL"

Obviously these individuals missed the point of petitions.

...................................................

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

Wishful thinking.

The more I converse with friends and sometimes strangers, the more I'm sure that god is a wish or a hope. A lot of people, myself included, want life to have an aspect of the supernatural. "Want" would almost be to weak of a word and "desire" would be a better description for some. It is this desire which opens a door that allows wishful thinking to become part of one's reality. Id love to just jump into the topic of death and how god can really help people mourn, but by now it should be obvious to everyone that the positive outpourings of religion do nothing for its truth. In nearly every conversation I've had with a believer, no matter what they believe, it always comes down to how god fits so well in their life. I think this is a great point for rational thinkers to really take advantage of. Another obvious point arises in that religion is so malleable that anyone can make it fit their own life. Why wouldn't they? A crutch, a shoulder, a ladder, an ear, a yes-man, a dominatrix, a lover, a secret keeper are all manifestations that a god can take given the needs of the believer. A believer will often end a conversation, debate or argument with a declaration of how they see god working in their life and that they have faith "he" will continue to work. I do not wish to invalidate the work done in someones life but I do work to make people understand that it is themselves that have done this work.

If I could accomplish one thing in this world it would be to have people understand their own strength. When a person uses the idea of a god as the basis for the great accomplishments they have achieved, it diminishes not only themselves but their family and friends and/or anyone that has helped or influenced them along the way. Actors, athletes, politicians, nearly any award winner, lottery winner and gambler have given thanks to a god without regard for the implications that come with a celestrial dictator. In these instances god becomes a lucky charm, a nudge on the back, or the real reason that I won an Alaskan cruise in a poker tournament last winter but did god really favor me over the elderly Asian women at the end of the table with a ring on every finger? And for that matter did god favor the giants over the patriots or was The Departed not a better movie then Little Miss Sunshine? I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that god will play a large part of many of the acceptance speeches at this years Oscars yet not one person will expound on how or why the mythical creator of life chose to help them in their journey.

...................................................

Wednesday, February 12th, 2008

"Too much education will make you forget the finer things in life"

I was forced to assume what was meant by the finer things in life. They obviously didn't have anything to do with knowledge or education in general. Id like to find if any studies have been done about this. Do people with masters degrees forget about good food and their family? The context of the quote actually lead me to believe that the person was talking about a "faith in god" being the finer things in life, after I told her about the fact that the higher you go in the scientific world the less religion you will find. Do non-believers take for granted the whimsical thoughts of a child? Is it education that leads us away from enjoying make-believe games on Saturday afternoons in grade school? As adults should we blame our education for the dry cynicism we use when we fail to appreciate two eyes made out of coal? Do the uneducated and ignorant therefor have a firmer mental grasp of god that the other people don't? To this an answer seems obvious but should we be satisfied or should we strive to change this fact? And changing that fact isn't the only priority... pointing out that the uneducated do in fact participate in religion more should be made obvious to everyone.

...................................................

Monday, February 4th, 2008

There Will Be Blood.

When watching someone struggle, we usually also root for them to succeed. The hero's journey is found in everything from the bible to Gladiator. It should not be possible for us to watch someone struggle, want them to succeed and yet despise them for doing so. A good movie rarely plays with our personal constitutions in such a way; the way we are made up with our ideas of morality and justice. Daniel Plainview, demanded into existence by Daniel Day-Lewis, was such a man of determination that nothing short of god itself would keep him from draining the earth of its darkest resource, oil. The opening scene set up the viewer to be aware of such a fact. A ladder breaks, the person falls to what seems their death, either from the fall or from time because the person was alone in the desert and is laying broken and beaten at the bottom of a silver mine, yet they get the silver and struggle up that same broken ladder, across the earth to be paid for their troubles. His first real dialogue contains evidence of his struggle.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I've traveled over half our state" Plainview boasts sitting besides his adopted son, played perfectly calm by young Dillon Freasier. Plainview is later tested of his parenthood by his son, H.W. and he deals with it in such a way that we should be moved by our hatred to action. The viewer is later put to ease when Plainview is forced to face his sins at the hands of his only real opponent, Eli, a preacher of the small town where Plainview has built an oil well promising the town wealth and education.

"I've abandoned my child, I'VE ABANDONED MY CHILD!" He screams with conviction while being baptised. If not for Day-Lewis and PT Anderson's talent we would not be aware of the attitude and focus of Plainview while he mockingly begs for forgiveness and receives a baptism on his knees by those he hates most, religious people. Later his description to his half-brother of his absolute hatred for humanity will somehow have you feeling for him.

My point is that this film will break you; break you of your ideas not only about plot lines, character development and acting but of how you view yourself in reference to god, justice and love. You are even broken by the ending where once you thought Plainview's struggle was for money and oil but his last remark divulges his true intent that even he himself may not have been aware of.

...................................................

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Every couple of weeks while I wait for the bus to take me downtown to work I find a new issue of the Christian Examiner newspaper. It seems to show up right when my energy to continue fighting religion wanes. I pick it up and read it for a few reasons:

1. I don't want anyone else to read this. I can imagine a teenager randomly picking it up and he is at a point in his life where he is choosing what he wants to believe in. It makes my stomach turn thinking that this paper could have an influence over the person's life choices. Reading this paper will affect a weak-minded persons view of life and death, the environment, morality, personal responsibility and family along with smaller issues like music, books, art and TV.

2. It reminds me of just how evil, hypocritical, arrogant and dishonest evangelical Christianity can be. Its very easy to forget about this type of "ministry" because I know and meet really great Christians all the time.

3. I might run out of toilet paper.

The paper is distributed in Southern California, Minnesota and Seattle. I'll keep any examples off this website but If you would like to check out the Examiner for yourself you can view their website. E-mail us for any info.

...................................................

Monday, January 21st, 2008

Ben Stein was my least favorite character on The Wonder Years. He has been around my house a lot lately as my roommate has every season on DVD and he gets a couple episodes in every week. Later he made me smile on the game show Win Ben Stein's Money. He proved himself to be smart and generous and I kinda wanted to hang out with him. My rollercoaster relationship with Ben has now hit a new low. Lower than having to sit through one of his classroom lectures while that guy from Home Alone complains about him FOR me. Ben Stein has been out of the public eye for a bit, popping up every now and then on a Clear Eyes comercial or chumming with Bill O' on Fox news.

Ben Stein is our first callout. Our first of many... my mind races with list of names I want to call out on their BS. Mr Stein is his (or is it ours?) generations rebel against... wait for it... "BIG SCEINCE." Like science is some multinational corporation paying off Congressmen. The goddam officially calls out Mr. Cantwell!.. ahem... Ben Stein!

EXPELLED Movie - Bad Ben Trailer

Ben Stein is starring in and I hope narrating a documentary about Intelligent Design being kept out of public school. If this movie brings up any new aspects of the evolution vs ID arguement that the Dover school district didnt bring up, I will eat lead for my bedtime snack. It has been ruled by the judge in Dover, PA that Intelligent Design is repackaged creationism and our constitution has some things to say about teaching the bible in federally funded schools. This is not a new and interesting arguement that I am making. But its all that needs to be said. The fight is over and the only thing left to do is make sure public schools follow the constitution. There is no need for a movie attempting to villianize science. The only thing Ben Stein will do is show his complete lack of understanding OF science. I will see the movie and we will write about it. I have no problem listening to Mr Stein, I quite like him but this movie will fail. It already has and it is not in theatres until February.

...................................................

Monday, January 7th, 2008

This past fall I attended two funerals on my fathers side of the family. which is a large mainly catholic family. Both funerals were held in huge beautiful catholic churches and had the full presentation of a catholic mass as far as I can remember from the last time I went years ago. This time I had my father with me who after a long life time of dealing with all the obvious uncertainties that catholicism brings he was finally comfortable as an atheist sitting in the familiar pews of his youth. Neither of us knelt down and made that superstitious (masked by "respect") sign of the cross from your forehead to your chest and then shoulder to shoulder. We may have been the only ones.

I remember making my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Crenshaw, laugh pretty hard when I went through that same motion and said out loud:

"the father is in our mind, the son must be in our heart and the holy spirit is in... our shoulders?"

It was later explained to me by one of my aunts that the holy spirit was hugging us and thats why we point to our shoulders. I'm not sure either of us were right. At least I made Mr. Crenshaw laugh.

Everything about the funerals was so foreign to me when I paid attention to what exactly they were doing with the smoke (incense) in a jar on a chain and the bread with wine. Its all ceremony and I'm sure it all has intimate meaning to those involved but a really special man just died. It is not an honor to him to repeat the tired motions of a common Sunday morning. the only hint that I was at a funeral was the casket in the middle of the church that the "father" motioned to every now and then. At the second funeral son of my dads dead uncle (his cousin and my.. 2nd cousin?) told a good story about his fathers life as a teacher. The story ended in a prayer that was so out of place it actually startled me. It sucked the emotion right out of the room. It seemed to me that he did it out of habit as every other part of the service has ended in an empty prayer.

As I talked with my dad after the funeral we came to the conclusion that we would have to grieve outside of the funeral because this was nothing more than a show:

The catholic funeral as explained by www.adventus.org has 3 parts or "stations": 1. the visitation, 2. the funeral liturgy, and 3. the burial.

1. My family moved this part to after the burial back at the church where food was served and we gathered at tables to drink surprisingly good beer and lunch meats. no doubt the same meal enjoyed by the apostles.

2. The Liturgy was what I have my complaints about. The website says this:

"For Catholics this liturgy is usually a special funeral Mass, held in the parish church. The symbols, the readings and homily, the music, the communion and the gestures of farewell are all powerful reminders that God conquers all things — even death."

I'm not sure what the website means by "conquers" but I am sure that my great uncle had not achieved a "conquest" against death with gods help or not. The often used "battle" or "war" vocabulary is such an obvious overused attempt to reassure gods power.

3. We skipped the burial. Mostly because our ride left without us but Im glad that happened because I did not want to witness my relative lowered into the earth with the words of a catholic priest "leading the way home". The catholic church believe that humans literally came from the dust of the earth and where brought to life by the breath (or spirit) of god.

...................................................

Tuesday, January 1st, 2008

The Goddam will always be on the look out for liars... even liars that have no idea how far they have thrown their own shit.

From The-End.com:

"Unlike The Da Vinci Code or the Left Behind series, which are fiction, 2008-God's Final Witness is true and reveals hidden secrets that man has not been able to uncover for thousands of years. Of the three major religions of the world who claim belief in the God of Abraham (Islam, Judaism and Christianity), no one has ever known the prophecies that are revealed in this book, which are beginning to unfold even now."

Notice the year in the title of Mr. Weinlands newest book, which you can get for free from the website. This is a slice from the dangerous pie of religion. I think we should all have a sense of fear about whats going on in the world but this is so far outside of our world that its just not even humorous. The people taking this book seriously are worrying about all the wrong problems. Hes not the first so called prophet to come along either. End time prophecies have been around and obviously been wrong since we started making guesses about our future. Jehova's witnesses have called out the end of the world multiple times... in print. A good website to go over is www.freeminds.org for resources about J.W.'s. Id love to understand the mentality of modern end time prophecies. Its not just the church either. Remember Y2K?

In all fairness we will have to wait a year to really call this guy out. He recently did a radio interview a few weeks ago and was not worth the time. He diverted a question about his gift of prophecy to "god did it so ask him". Starting on the worst foot and I have the new wu-tang to listen to so I cant stay around to hear if he goes out on the wrong foot too.

...................................................

...................................................
All content ©The Goddam 2008