Miscellaneous ramblings...

I have quite a bit to talk about today, as I just received word that in a few months I will be studying intensive Japanese conversation at a university in Okazaki, Japan. It will be my chance to live in a Japanese home for four weeks - total immersion - and explore the Kansai region of Japan. This is something I've always wanted to do, and I'm very grateful that my boss, his boss, and the Big Boss all granted their approval to let me go on leave. This is going to be the longest few months of my life.

Stay tuned to this blog, as I will be posting A LOT of content here during the trip, which gets underway towards the end of May...

Now, on to the main portion of this entry, and the part which is most likely going to get me in trouble...

First of all, I've been trying really, really hard to keep my mouth shut on this. I've had time to stew on this over the last few days, and I honestly just can't take it anymore. It's been bothering me so much that even though I'm guessing that it's going to impact a couple of the few friendships I currently have right now, I have to say it.

And, like most drama in today's world, it all began with a facebook comment.

My girlfriend drew my attention to something on the news. Apparently, a televangelist named Pat Robertson had the NERVE to blame Haiti's earthquake on a "deal with the devil" (upon further research, the practice of voodoo) which apparently had some sort of effect in kicking out the French and turning the "prosperous" former colony into one of the poorest nations on Earth.

I bristled at this, and left a comment stating my distaste at the far right side of the political spectrum. But, then again, televangelists say a lot of things to keep their followers in check, and even crazier things to get interviews with the media. There are even bigger wacko preachers (like Fred Phelps) out there who say and do things that are a whole lot worse, but the media tends to avoid those guys a bit more than moderate crazies like Robertson.

So there were some comments going back and forth on the story, and we were all getting a pretty good laugh out of the whole thing until ... someone defended the story.

Before I go any further on this, I have to say one thing. The people that defended the validity of Haiti's earthquake possibly being caused by that "voodoo" magic on facebook, at least as far as my friends are concerned, are some of the kindest, most down-to-earth folks I have ever met in my life. Period. They are very religious, but they truly practice what they preach in all walks of life. It is a pleasure to know them, and to be friends with them. If they needed anything, I would most certainly do whatever I could to help them out. And despite our differences in beliefs, they are completely accepting of me. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them.

I guess that's why I'm so disappointed, and maybe even a little disgusted. Not with the people, but with the lack of logic used for deciding one's beliefs on this particular issue.

One of the truly great things about living in this country is to be able to believe in anything you wish, or to not believe at all. I am not disappointed that they choose to believe. I am disappointed that they choose to listen to these kinds of statements, turn blinders on, and not pass them through logic filters which I know to be present in their minds - because they are so logical, and intelligent - brilliant even - on other matters...but when it comes to this kind stuff, anything's fair game.

God's punishing Haiti. He punished New Orleans for Mardi Gras, too... too much debauchery...

So, following that train of logic... where, may I ask, was God during World War II? Was he siding with the Germans? Obviously not, since they lost - badly - but those Jews being oppressed sure could have used a natural disaster or two to break down Nazi order and close those concentration camps. And he definitely wasn't siding with the Japanese - they are by nature polytheistic and do not have Puritan sets of morals (although he did let them bomb Pearl Harbor and kill a few thousand Americans, and many thousands more at the Battle of Okinawa later on - perhaps they were all nonreligious?). Maybe that's why he gave us the A-bomb. God really must have had a beef with Japan.

I could go on, but my point is... God punishing Haiti makes just about as much sense as the situations I listed above. I'm not trying to be spiteful or insulting here, although I may come across as a bit sarcastic... I know that an answer to this (and admittedly one that I can't really debate) is: "God works in mysterious ways, and that he has a reason for doing what he does". That may be so, but what goes on in today's world completely contradicts anything the Bible talked about - in terms of God's involvement in events around the world, I mean. People look for that meaning now...try to find it, search for it. There's no voice from the sky.

I still like the people I'm discussing here. I still respect them. I hope I can still be friends with them. I'm just disappointed.

I was religious at one point - Roman Catholic, to be exact. I went to Sunday school every week, church every Sunday, and my first "solo" act on stage was actually reading a portion of the Nativity story to a Christmas Eve mass in Huntsville, Alabama in 1992. I lost my faith when I began being bullied mercilessly in school after moving to Naperville, and began focusing more on science, which suddenly made the world around me (which admittedly wasn't THAT bad - especially when compared to something like what happened in Haiti, but it was torturous for me) make much more sense. There was nobody "looking out for me". It was me, just me. That's it. I had to take care of myself. And I've lived that way since then.

I get scared sometimes living in red country. People, for the most part, are very nice. Almost too nice, particularly the religious folks. I always wonder how much their attitudes overall would change once you are "exposed" as not "one of them" (i.e. athiest, agnostic, gay, Muslim, etc...). But these folks were, and are, different. I actually went to church a few times here in Minnesota, but was immediately disgusted when the pastor went on a 5 minute rant about how homosexuals are evil and will go to hell. The fact everyone was so kind to me before and after the service made me want to puke. I mean, I can only imagine how I would have felt if I was a homosexual.

I guess I'm just disappointed. And this note may cause issues with friendships, but I really don't care anymore at this point. It's just too much.

Please, please do not say that the people of Haiti deserved what happened to them. I don't care who the fuck you are, or how many followers you have. You have absolutely no right.