A heavy dose of insight into the man behind this blog.
Or, what I think about God, Guns, and Gays.
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Okay, I know that wasn't the most sensitive sub-title in history, but I decided to go for it because I sometimes like to use alliteration.
I'm having a what the heck moment, so I'll go with this too:
I don't believe in God. I have an idea that a God, or more than one, might exist. It may not be the Judeo-Christian God. It could be more like The Force. It could just be some guy named Dave in the middle of the Universe with a lot of time on his hands. Yeah, dangling metaphor, so sue me. The point is: how can I know? Some of you might say "read the Bible." Yeah, well, I've decided to write a book. I'm going to call it divinely inspired. What would be the reaction to this? That's right. I'd get laughed into obscurity, not to mention probably tossed into the looney bin with all the nice men in white lab coats. But that's not the point.
The point is, to borrow heavily from "Dogma," a belief is a dangerous thing. A belief cannot be changed. You can change an idea. That's why I've decided (ever since I watched that wonderful movie) to have ideas. I realize that it's just a movie but hey, it made sense to me.
Religion. Well, it could be a good thing, except people tend to abuse it. They get all mixed up. One religion is right to the exclusion of the other. And let me remind you, dear reader, that the militant Islamic fundamentalists not only preach this, but they practice it in a very violent way. Christians preach a lot about loving one another, turning the other cheek, but all I see really is pretty much the opposite of said belief. The more I hear "the Bible" this and "the Bible" that, the more I want to open the damn book and demand to be shown where, exactly, in the Bible it says such a thing. And another thing: if Jesus loves us all so much, then why would he want us to exclude others? Why would he want us to kill anyone? Didn't Jesus himself say "love one another," or did I just misinterpret that? I get so many mixed signals about Jesus and God that frankly it's hard to keep my head from spinning sometimes.
Prayer: I think prayer works, if you have faith. I know this is all very contrary to what I just wrote above, but work with me here. I said I have an idea that there may be some sort of powerful force in the universe. Call it God, call it whatever you want. I like to call it Foopy. Why? Because it shuts 'em up. The thing is... I can't really prove the non-existance of "God" (and for convenience sake, I will hereafter refer to this higher power as "God" and please don't take offense at this if you happen to subscribe to a different viewpoint, especially, say, Bhuddism). I can't really PROVE it either. I'm usually a proof kinda guy, so sometimes I get into philisophical debates over whether the combination of lack of ability to prove and lack of ability to disprove equals anything. Hence my largely agnostic stance. I'm not saying I'm right. I'm not saying I'm wrong. I could be either. That's the beauty of the whole thing. I have an idea. That idea may change. It's fun. You should try it some time.
Moving on to other, differenter topics (or maybe it's "more different" or maybe it's just plain "different"):
Guns. I'm not a fan of school shootings. I'm not a fan, necessarily, of Charlton Heston and his NRA either. However, I don't think that guns themselves should be banned. I think people should be educated on how to use them. Extensive, comprehensive gun education is needed, not only for parents but for children. Parents and teachers should be willing to spend time with children, explain Gun safety, and explain the difference between reality and fantasy (with specific emphasis on the fact that Guns, if used in a specific manner, can kill, and that killing people is bad - with the possible exception of self defense, but only if it really and truly is self defense). Realistically speaking, this probably never would happen, which is why the gun control debate rages on and on and on and... I actually do think that guns don't kill people (unless you can link me to a site that has a story about a possessed gun), but rather people use guns for that purpose. So, yeah, some people are evil fuckers who don't respect the law, etc. But this isn't the only argument that one can get into over this whole thing. A good majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens (not to mention probably law-enforcing citizens). Sometimes gun owners use guns for huntin' stuff. Which is a whole 'nother debate.
Homosexuals: I don't see any problem here. I'm not gay, personally, but homosexuals do not offend me. But that's just me. I'm not threatened by something that isn't what I am. I'm an equal opportunity kinda guy. I don't understand why so many people are afraid of what's different. They're afraid of change. Sometimes I wonder if these people don't just go through life with the same exact routine every single day, yada yada yada. More often, I wonder if these people are truly happy with life and with themselves. As for the whole marriage issue? Pfft. Give it up. I don't know when and where Marriage suddenly became this be all end all Holy institution that we must defend at all costs. You want me to make an actual argument here? My take on the whole thing is that homosexuality is natural. You see it in nature. Humans are nothing more than animals, albeit animals that talk, think, and feel. This whole talk, think, feel thing is great and is really fucking entertaining sometimes, but it's also a mixed bag. And it's sad, really, because in a way it means we can't just get along. Human nature: eat, sleep, fuck, protect self, mark territory, survive, bond, protect others. I put "survive" in a different category than "protect self" because "protect self" is not part of the same instinct. Bonding is different from fucking because if all we did was fuck then we wouldn't have friendships. So where do homosexuals fit into all of this? Realistically, one could ostensibly claim that homosexuality has been around since the caveman days, and the continued presence of this trait within human society tells me one thing: it's natural. And for those of you who would make childish comments to this, I say only "try to consider what they think of us."
Thus I will make a not so brilliant segue to the topic of Gay Marriage. Four words here: who gives a fuck? We don't need to protect marriage. If anything, we NEED to redefine marriage. We need a little bit of excitement around here. This joint is gettin' a bit too stuffy for my tastes. And no, I ain't gonna go anywhere anytime soon, so don't get any ideas. But back on topic: I don't care, and I don't wanna know anything about the logistics of the whole ordeal. Let 'em get married. Let 'em adopt. Heck, let 'em get divorced too, while they're at it. Why? Because they said "please." Point is: this whole argument about defending Marriage is just SO 19th century. It might even be 15th century.
One last thing: I don't know when America became a 90-year-old Virgin, but it strikes me as strange, and a little sad, that so many people have decided to live in fear.
Right. Enough out of me for now. I'll add more to this if I feel like it.
I'm having a what the heck moment, so I'll go with this too:
I don't believe in God. I have an idea that a God, or more than one, might exist. It may not be the Judeo-Christian God. It could be more like The Force. It could just be some guy named Dave in the middle of the Universe with a lot of time on his hands. Yeah, dangling metaphor, so sue me. The point is: how can I know? Some of you might say "read the Bible." Yeah, well, I've decided to write a book. I'm going to call it divinely inspired. What would be the reaction to this? That's right. I'd get laughed into obscurity, not to mention probably tossed into the looney bin with all the nice men in white lab coats. But that's not the point.
The point is, to borrow heavily from "Dogma," a belief is a dangerous thing. A belief cannot be changed. You can change an idea. That's why I've decided (ever since I watched that wonderful movie) to have ideas. I realize that it's just a movie but hey, it made sense to me.
Religion. Well, it could be a good thing, except people tend to abuse it. They get all mixed up. One religion is right to the exclusion of the other. And let me remind you, dear reader, that the militant Islamic fundamentalists not only preach this, but they practice it in a very violent way. Christians preach a lot about loving one another, turning the other cheek, but all I see really is pretty much the opposite of said belief. The more I hear "the Bible" this and "the Bible" that, the more I want to open the damn book and demand to be shown where, exactly, in the Bible it says such a thing. And another thing: if Jesus loves us all so much, then why would he want us to exclude others? Why would he want us to kill anyone? Didn't Jesus himself say "love one another," or did I just misinterpret that? I get so many mixed signals about Jesus and God that frankly it's hard to keep my head from spinning sometimes.
Prayer: I think prayer works, if you have faith. I know this is all very contrary to what I just wrote above, but work with me here. I said I have an idea that there may be some sort of powerful force in the universe. Call it God, call it whatever you want. I like to call it Foopy. Why? Because it shuts 'em up. The thing is... I can't really prove the non-existance of "God" (and for convenience sake, I will hereafter refer to this higher power as "God" and please don't take offense at this if you happen to subscribe to a different viewpoint, especially, say, Bhuddism). I can't really PROVE it either. I'm usually a proof kinda guy, so sometimes I get into philisophical debates over whether the combination of lack of ability to prove and lack of ability to disprove equals anything. Hence my largely agnostic stance. I'm not saying I'm right. I'm not saying I'm wrong. I could be either. That's the beauty of the whole thing. I have an idea. That idea may change. It's fun. You should try it some time.
Moving on to other, differenter topics (or maybe it's "more different" or maybe it's just plain "different"):
Guns. I'm not a fan of school shootings. I'm not a fan, necessarily, of Charlton Heston and his NRA either. However, I don't think that guns themselves should be banned. I think people should be educated on how to use them. Extensive, comprehensive gun education is needed, not only for parents but for children. Parents and teachers should be willing to spend time with children, explain Gun safety, and explain the difference between reality and fantasy (with specific emphasis on the fact that Guns, if used in a specific manner, can kill, and that killing people is bad - with the possible exception of self defense, but only if it really and truly is self defense). Realistically speaking, this probably never would happen, which is why the gun control debate rages on and on and on and... I actually do think that guns don't kill people (unless you can link me to a site that has a story about a possessed gun), but rather people use guns for that purpose. So, yeah, some people are evil fuckers who don't respect the law, etc. But this isn't the only argument that one can get into over this whole thing. A good majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens (not to mention probably law-enforcing citizens). Sometimes gun owners use guns for huntin' stuff. Which is a whole 'nother debate.
Homosexuals: I don't see any problem here. I'm not gay, personally, but homosexuals do not offend me. But that's just me. I'm not threatened by something that isn't what I am. I'm an equal opportunity kinda guy. I don't understand why so many people are afraid of what's different. They're afraid of change. Sometimes I wonder if these people don't just go through life with the same exact routine every single day, yada yada yada. More often, I wonder if these people are truly happy with life and with themselves. As for the whole marriage issue? Pfft. Give it up. I don't know when and where Marriage suddenly became this be all end all Holy institution that we must defend at all costs. You want me to make an actual argument here? My take on the whole thing is that homosexuality is natural. You see it in nature. Humans are nothing more than animals, albeit animals that talk, think, and feel. This whole talk, think, feel thing is great and is really fucking entertaining sometimes, but it's also a mixed bag. And it's sad, really, because in a way it means we can't just get along. Human nature: eat, sleep, fuck, protect self, mark territory, survive, bond, protect others. I put "survive" in a different category than "protect self" because "protect self" is not part of the same instinct. Bonding is different from fucking because if all we did was fuck then we wouldn't have friendships. So where do homosexuals fit into all of this? Realistically, one could ostensibly claim that homosexuality has been around since the caveman days, and the continued presence of this trait within human society tells me one thing: it's natural. And for those of you who would make childish comments to this, I say only "try to consider what they think of us."
Thus I will make a not so brilliant segue to the topic of Gay Marriage. Four words here: who gives a fuck? We don't need to protect marriage. If anything, we NEED to redefine marriage. We need a little bit of excitement around here. This joint is gettin' a bit too stuffy for my tastes. And no, I ain't gonna go anywhere anytime soon, so don't get any ideas. But back on topic: I don't care, and I don't wanna know anything about the logistics of the whole ordeal. Let 'em get married. Let 'em adopt. Heck, let 'em get divorced too, while they're at it. Why? Because they said "please." Point is: this whole argument about defending Marriage is just SO 19th century. It might even be 15th century.
One last thing: I don't know when America became a 90-year-old Virgin, but it strikes me as strange, and a little sad, that so many people have decided to live in fear.
Right. Enough out of me for now. I'll add more to this if I feel like it.