Ha Ha.....on the heels of my last blog....

Even when I'm down I can always find a reason to laugh. I have felt disconnected for a few days. Maybe it's just my depression, but it feels heavy. I must say that in the past, this is where I would have to shut myself off from everything for a few days. I'd be mad, confused, and determined to walk the plank. I have those feelings too, but they are not bubbling to the surface to have an impact on my outward appearance or my attitude. Probably because of the things I've learned over the past couple of years.

Maybe I'm becoming more connected with the reality and the gravity of the situation. That situation, is life. We are never given the keys. We are never told when to start running. We are never told that the game has begun. And most importantly, we are never told the object of the game. Sure, we have rules laid down, but who made those rules? Why do we HAVE to follow them? Why is it that most people are not TRULY happy with their lives in so many aspects, yet we continue to live the way we do as a society, culture and/or species?

I feel like we've had all this shame, expectation, and structure drilled into us since birth and it's no fault of our parents or grandparents or great grandparents. It's the way the system has developed, over time. Over thousands of years even. Ever watch ants work? I mean, really watched them? There are queen ants and there are worker ants. The workers do the producing. They keep the system going for the queen and the continuation of ant existence. Are we different at a base level?  Corporations run the globe. They run quite a bit of the worlds governments and the more power they have, the less we do, as human beings. We are beginning to exist for the sheer continuation of forces of power and wealth that we will never be able to attain.

Most of us work for someone else. We are beholden to them. They make most of the rules for our lives. Think about that. A person needs someone to do a job. This person is a owner or boss. The other person is the employee. The boss controls much of that employees life. Why? Because people need to earn money in order to live. And we are sold this bill of goods that our lives can't be complete and we can't find happiness without owning a $30,000 car or a $200,000 house.......or a 300 disc CD changer........or the latest IPod, IPad, or I-whatever. We are bombarded with "Ya Gotta Eat", "I'm Lovin' It", "We Roll Back Prices", "We Bring Good Things To Life" or "Fair & Balanced". It's drilled into our brains at every turn since our birth. Work begins at 9 am. Work ends at 5 pm. You can go eat at noon. You have to work this Saturday. You have to be here every day or you will be "written up" or maybe fired.  Kid is sick and need to take him to the doctor? See if you can get someone else to do it, we really need you here today.

Years ago, people who had the money or the vision to see that the population was growing at a rapid rate started setting things in motion that would drive our society and put wealth and power into the hands of the few, while basically enslaving the rest of the people. So, here we are. Having our personal lives controlled because of the fear that we will lose the ability to buy the things we need for survival. And the things we need, in our modern society, are all owned and controlled by a large entity at the other end of the spectrum from you and I. Watch the film "Wall-E". Yeah, it's a cute, kids film....but really watch it with an eye on what it's SHOWING you.

Something else.......ownership. We don't own anything....not really. You buying a house? Get it paid off and then don't pay taxes on it for a couple of years. Your ass will be out in the street watching the new "owners" take over. Want freedom? You better not live on this planet. Don't pay income taxes and see what happens to your ass. You will be hounded and eventually jailed. You don't own yourself, if you hold down a job. You are at the beck and call of the company ownership and the government. You have to work hard to make the boss 20, 30, 40, 50, 1,000 times what you make. You have to work hard to pay your "fair share". Meanwhile, those who make the most money, from being entrepreneurs, politicians, or entertainers get every fucking loophole to get out of paying their "fair share". Some of them pay less than you and I do, on a percentage basis. You don't often see any of them going to jail for not paying taxes or breaking the law. They are the law. They are a part of the top rung of the ladder, with their boot stuck out, to keep you from getting too close.

Right now.....right this very moment, there is a battle going on out in the world. It's a battle for control of the worlds oil and ideology. I am not an American hater. I'm a realist. Our government and the corporate interests that control it, are gobbling up as much power and influence as possible. We never miss an opportunity to "help" a nation overthrow tyrannical leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Libya. But, when hundreds of thousands are suffering, dying, and being tortured in South Africa we do nothing. Why? Because we don't have any interests right there, right now. War for oil? I used to not believe that. I do now. We are putting our foot down in the middle east. We are imperialistic, but we masquerade as humanitarians. Japan is in dire trouble, but we've pushed that to the 3rd or 4th page of the paper. We spend a trillion dollars on military operations around the world, every year. The rest of the globe.......combined, spends a trillion dollars, every year.

But, so few have opened their eyes. The information is out there. It's just below the surface, though most of us want to keep our minds on important things, like "American Idol", wrestling, basketball, etc.  Not that those things don't have their use, but we've become a culture where those things take a larger role in our lives than our mates, children, and friends. They take a bigger role than our ability to live life in a more free way. And the sad thing is.......most people never see it. And if it's brought to their attention, they dismiss it. They don't even WANT to see it. We are too comfortable and settled into the way of life that is pre-determined for us, from birth.

Birth
Learn to walk
Learn to talk
Learn to listen to anyone with more power than you
Learn just enough at school to be able to produce
Learn a lot at school and you get to be in the middle instead of the bottom
Consume
Learn to drive
Get a job
Get a car
Consume
Get a mate
Have children
Consume
Get a house
Teach the kids what you have learned
Work, work, work.........and play on weekends....but not too much, lest you can't be a good producer
Consume
Watch TV
Listen to radio
Watch the news
Vote and rely on one of the two parties
Consume
Work until you are 65 or 70
Die

In one form or another, that's the life almost everyone of us lives. How many of you can just call work tomorrow and say, "Hey, I want to spend a couple of days to myself or with my kids."???  Not very many of us. We'll get 10 questions as to why. We'll be told we can't take off without a doctors note. The corporations ship jobs over seas and then hang us over a barrel. Wages and inflation have gone in drastically different directions since about 1970. We are making less, but the prices of our lives have gone way up. We don't have any options. If you miss work, without a doctors permission, or you miss it without giving a months notice, they'll fire your ass and there are no jobs out there to be had.

Is all this shit depressing? Damn straight. What can we do? I don't know. It's all too big, I think. It just sucks to wake up to it and realize that few others see it or ever care to see it. The lack of acknowledgement of the true nature of our existence troubles me.

I don't have a lot of options in the way of connecting with another person. I no longer buy into very much of the things that are out there to draw people together into clans of common interest. I place a higher importance on my thought. I'm not saying that it's right or even smart.......but that's the way I do it. I think a lot. I read a lot. I watch a lot of documentaries. I just don't draw enjoyment out of the very things that are designed to distract me from the grave nature of existence. The finality of it all. When we can no longer give, we die. And make sure, if nothing else, to get that out of anything I've ever said. We are ALL going to die. You, me, your kids, my kids, your best friends, your favorite movie star, the president......none of us are getting out alive. So, I just can't understand why we live the way we do. Overall, is what I'm speaking of. Just an individual here and there can go against the grain and do OK, but as a species, why are so many of us on this planet oppressed by the few?  I tell you why. Because they figured out, how to give us the illusion of freedom and keep us enslaved. Give us just enough to want more. Give us just enough to keep us locked in. For example; when the major housing lenders fucked up, the government gave them YOUR money (and mine) to help them out. Imagine that. When one of our friends is in financial trouble and has a ballooning payment that he/she can't afford, they get booted out of their house. No bailout for them, even though their tax money went to bailing out multi-billion dollar companies. A family will suffer and come under great pressure to even feel like they can survive. And it's happening EVERYWHERE!!!!

There are no jobs, yet when someone is on welfare we bitch about them and tell them to get a job!!! Why? So, they can earn $7 an hour, which isn't enough to take care of themselves, let alone a family. Then, if they do get that job, they get cut out of financial help in some instances. Be on welfare.....be poor. Get a job.....be poorer. Think about it. Most of us actually blame the poor and the unfortunate for their plight, when we have allowed it to happen to them over the course of decades in our very own country......America, the home of opportunity.

Take a look at the "budget battle". Our spending and debt is measure in TRILLIONS of dollars. That's one billion dollars more than 999 billion dollars. And we are seeing these idiots in Washington DC and on the news squabble over 6 billion dollars in cuts? It really is laughable. It's an illusion to get you and I to think that there are people out there fighting over our interests. Seriously. Do the math. 6 billion dollars out of trillions. It's like you and  your husband and wife deciding to cut $6 out of your yearly budget. As if it's going to make any sort of difference in your finances.

It's all so fucking hilarious!!!! 

The horror......the horror.

Seeing the reality of the modern world shakes me up. So, maybe I'm the one who is the fool. By opening my eyes. By looking behind the curtain. I am the one who has to swim against the current. Maybe I should just go with it. It all ends the same anyhow. What the hell does knowledge mean?  I guess it means walking towards the cliff to jump off instead of running towards it, I suppose.

Freddy Caple   April, 2011

Getting Strong Now.........

I'm done. It's over. I've had it with the way I live my life.

I've tried to obtain happiness by turning to wants of the flesh and mind and ignoring my heart. I tried to learn to be accepting of new ideas and seeing parts of my life with a new understanding. I tried opening my eyes to the world and the universe. It's done me no good.

First, I want to say "Up Yours!!" to all those who have supported and cheered me on over the past two years. You said I seemed happier and more at peace with myself. What the heck did you know? Your deception has had me on a path to devastation. Enlightened and aware of your existence and mortality is no way to go through a life.  

So, I've decided to revert back to my old ways and restart my journey. I just want to be like everyone else. It's much easier to live life in the same mindset as everyone else. Why I lost that ability? Not sure. Though I do believe that a couple of influential people in my life led me down the primrose path to hell.

In the wake of my new / old understanding, I'm embarking on a journey to get my soul back.

1) I'm done with marijuana. It's challenged the way I think about my world and led me to a more laid back way of doing things. I stopped being a disciplinarian at work. I stopped thinking about work place problems at home. I started thinking about the terrible suffering of others. What was I thinking? My life is all that matters and to have started putting an emphasis on how others feel was a big mistake. We are not meant to feel good all the time. We are not meant to get along with others all the time. We are not meant to consider more options to life's troubles.

2) I'm going to start drinking again. Now that's when I was at my best. Hanging out with my friends 2 or 3 nights/days a week. Getting blasted and making fun of people. Staggering around at public events and saying things to people that are honest and from the heart like "Hey, man....is that your dog or do you always lead your wife around with a collar on?" The best thing about alcohol is that it kept me thinking about the good times I had as a kid. And that makes me want to relate to my own children in the way that my dad dealt with me. I realize it's not as important to spend a few moments listening to your kids and enjoying their presence as it is to have them leave you alone. How in the world does my wife know that I love her if I'm not complaining about something or wanting to kill myself every other week? These are the little things folks. Enjoy them.

3) I have to get back in to a good, old fashioned, fundamentalist, fire and brimstone church. That leaves out my former place of worship, Highview. They were way into love and understanding.....that sort of thing. I need to regain the fear. I must feel that every thought is a crime against God. That's the only way that I can get back to my former self......carrying the knowledge that every thought I have is displeasing the Lord. What a huge burden to carry, but I know now that God wanted me to carry it. As a test. And even though, in my heart I'll know, after I get saved.....again..... that I'll go to heaven and I will still be able to carry with me that I'm a piece of trash human that doesn't deserve it aspect I've been missing. I need to get back to getting angry over everything in my life, that doesn't work out. Not having God made it easy for Satan to deceive me. I thought I was happy. I thought I had a better disposition. I thought it would help me to have my family enjoy my presence. I was told by someone close to me that they wish I would get back to God and that's what I intend to do!! I gotta get back my edge!

4) Freddy is back!!!  Back to putting in 110% following baseball, football, and basketball. Those are the important things going on in the world. All this time I've been wasting, learning about different cultures, the cosmos, consciousness, blah, blah, blah...................all a bunch of hogwash. Those are just distractions from the things in life that are meant to bring you pleasure, hope, and understanding about the world and people around you. Who cares about Libya, Iraq, or Japan? They are so far away and I'm here. The Red Sox are on TV and they are much closer to me than some people getting killed in the middle east over power and oil.

I really hope that all the pain, hatefulness, control issues and displeasure return so I can get back to being the kind of person that people REALLY liked. There was nothing like being confused and tortured on the inside and then acting like I had my stuff together on the outside. Now, that is how to be genuine and acceptable. No, sir....no more of this showing my inner calm off. Time to move back to the future. It's time for me to hate me for who I am again!!

PS:   ehhhh.......never mind

A Conversation About Heaven

Is there a heaven? If there is, how do we get there? And what's it like? What will there be to do? How much, if anything, will we remember from our lives? Will we recognize and maintain similar relationships with loved ones and friends? Will we know if there are friends and family absent? Is heaven a real place or is it meant to be a spiritual place where man is with God?

These are questions that every person who has ever been religious has probably asked themselves or someone else. Assuming that heaven is a real place, those are excellent questions. Every religion seems to know the path to heaven or "enlightenment". That clouds the issue and the ability to answer these questions even more. For the sake of this blog and conversation, we will use the Christian religion and that world view to look at heaven.

What Will Heaven Look Like?

If you believe pop culture and much of the artwork from over the centuries, heaven seems to be a place right up there in the sky where the clouds are. Those in heaven will have wings, a halo, and a harp. And in the clouds they will sit and play music. Now, that sounds like a nice little vacation from the hustle and bustle of this world. But, do we really want to spend eternity that way? How many tunes can one be expected to play? I'm going to go ahead and reject the above notion, on the basis of simplicity.

According to the Bible and the Apostle John, who is supposedly the author of Revelation, heaven is going to be quite a spectacle. An angel revealed to John, what the kingdom of heaven will be like, and John lets us know. First off, according to John, heaven is going to be 12,000 x 12,000 x 12,000 stadia. A stadia is about an acre. That's pretty big. Not big enough to hold billions of people, so by the sheer knowledge that heaven will be a finite space, we can take away that more people are not going to make the big show than will make it. The angel also told John that there will be a wall around heaven. This wall will be partially made of jasper so pure you can see through it. The wall will be 144 cubits solid, which is about 20 inches, give or take. Other precious stones will help make up this beautiful wall, including sapphire, emerald, amethyst, and chrysolite. Apparently, there are twelve gates and each of those is made out of a single pearl. Sheesh, I'd love to see the oysters that produced those babies!! Or maybe I wouldn't. The streets are to be paved with solid gold. Pretty impressive, by any standard. But why a wall and gates around heaven? Who or what is being kept our or in? Maybe it's those big oysters, I don't know.

What's The Purpose Of Heaven?

Heaven is to be the destination of the faithful believer after physical death. According to the New Testament, a human being must accept Jesus as the savior of humanity, who came to die on the cross, like a man, in payment for the sin of all mankind, if they want to make it to heaven. The New Testament teaches about what comes from the heart and mind, while the Old Testament is full of ritual, offerings, and works as a way to the glory of heaven. You may want to consider covering both bases.  And for good measure, you may want to sell off some assets and give the proceeds away, because it's difficult for a rich person to get in the front door. Not that any of this REALLY matters, because you don't choose, God does. More on that later.

What Will Heaven Be Like?

Isaiah 11 says that in heaven all the animals will live in harmony, become vegetarians, and be ruled by a little kid. There will be great banquets with fine wine and all sorts of meats. That leads me to believe that while the animals may become docile and vegetarian, people won't. I also take from this interpretation that folks won't be settling for Boone's Farm or Mad Dog. The chosen are in for a treat. Nothing but the good stuff! Seems as though there will be no sickness, tears, or death. Overall, it doesn't sound too bad, does it? Who wouldn't want an eternity of bliss and wonder, while God foots the bill?

My Perspective

Anyone who knows me, or reads this blog with any regularity (and, honestly, with all the info out there, why would you?) realizes that I'm not inclined to believe very much, if any of the above. And I have my reasons. Not among those reasons are hate or intolerance. I simply don't subscribe to any religion. I do allow for the possibility of God. Why wouldn't I? I don't know any more than anyone else if there is a God or not, so it would be highly hypocritical for me to close the door on that notion. I will continue to use the reason and critical thought that each person is armed with to sift through as much as I can to gain an understanding of why I am here and what created the universe. As of now, I have no reason to believe there is a personal God who is listening to my every thought and watching my every move.

All that said, let's get back to heaven. Great concept....lovely idea. But, there is a bit of trouble with paradise. Once a person dies and they go to heaven, what becomes of their free will? Assuming, we truly have free will, can that be taken away? And if so, won't that reduce the chosen to programmed robots? The Bible says God created us to love and worship Him. We are told that we have free will. That means, with everything we do, we have a choice.....a moment of no return, where we do one thing or we do another. That may not necessarily be true. It seems as though the decisions we make consciously are made seconds before we know they are made. *Studies are showing that your brain calculates likelihood to make the decision before your conscious mind takes over. This means that your mental make up, cultural trends, and tendencies you have leaned towards your entire life, are stored in the brain and like a computer your brain takes that information and knows your decision before you do.

* CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THIS

So, if this is true, how much free will do we really have? I would argue that the stimulus you have encountered, along with fears, family relationships, rationalizations, and culture, along with how we interpret those things are the authors of our next thought and/or decision. So, this notion that you choose to obey God is likely programming (just like the notion to obey your parents or the notion that you prefer meat over vegetables). How else can the worship of so many different gods be interpreted, if not through culture and up bringing? It sure isn't spiritual interference. If it was, then there would only be one religion. The one true god would be doing the calling.

OK, at this point, I realize that if we only think we have free will here, then if there is a heaven, we'd never have that ability there. Aside from science, a philosophical way to look at heaven is that there is a contradiction in the notion that God knows your heart, which says you make the decision and what the Bible (Romans Chapter 9) says about God;

10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[d] 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[e]

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,

and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[f]

16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[g] 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

As you can read, it's God's decision. Your "free will" may be to choose God, but at any point in time that can be changed by God. He knows all. He controls all. Nothing happens without His knowledge.  And don't just start or stop with the above. Continue to research from here if you are interested, because I may have not copied that right. I may be trying to deceive you (I assure you I'm not, at least not purposefully). So, do your own research.  Read your Bible. Use your mind critically.

Another problem with heaven is eternity. That's simply a notion that can't be grasped. Try as I have, in many different capacities and mindsets, I really can't get my mind to settle on what that means. Yeah, it's forever. But it's also forever behind us as well. The thing that strikes me in thinking about eternity is how little of a role that I play in the unfolding of it. If eternity was more than a combination of all the oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams on the planet, each of our lives would barely be a drop in all of it. Consider the cosmos. We are one of TENS of MILLIONS of galaxies. So, I'm really supposed to believe that God is going to hold human beings to how they were, as individuals, each living in different eras and under different cultures, with differing educations and means for survival) in a 15 to 100 year period of time, up against eternity and the cosmos? There is nothing loving or compassionate about that, nor does it seem as though that period of time is a good indicator of a life and the meaning that may have been discovered. And neither would there be in the opposite. Which is, flip the above sentences around and think of it from the standpoint of damnation. Would what we are supposed to hold as true for heaven be the same for hell? Would an ultimately good and great God really give a soul so little time and then sentence it to hell for all of eternity? There is no virtue you can attribute to God that would make that seem possible. Extinguishing a soul he created? Sure. One thousand years in hell? Sure. But eternal torture of something you created and profess to love? How different is the Heavenly Father from you as a father or your dad as a father? I helped create my children and there is no scenario in which I can comprehend where I would choose burning them alive for eternity over grace.

And, here I am, still on eternity. What would the chosen do? I mean, I'm not sure if there is a day or night or even a clock in heaven, but eternity is just what it means. No end in sight. You could let me choose between eternal life or a decent 70 year life span and I'd take the 70 years. Some religious views of heaven believe that there will be eternal worship. At all times. For all times. "Glory Be To God" over and over.....forever. Jeez, that's going to get to be a bit much after a couple hundred thousand years, am I right? Can I get an amen? No. Fair enough.

Alright, so even if the above isn't the way it's going to be, there are those who maintain that we will have work to do. We will have play time. All the usual jazz, but without the REALLY fun stuff. Even at that.....forever? Come on. Not for me. Would I love to add another 10 healthy (20-something) years to my life? Sure, but not forever. I can imagine me calling my cousin about 20 billion years from now;

PHONE RINGS

COUSIN: Hello?

FREDDY: Hey, what's up?

COUSIN: Nothing. Same old same old.

FREDDY: Yeah, I hear ya on that. Say, I've been at the same job now for...well, going on 20 billion years. Do you know what retirement age is here?

COUSIN: There is no retirement age?

FREDDY: What?

COUSIN: Yeah, we are living forever, so what would you be retiring to?

FREDDY: Really? I thought that was more of a metaphorical thing.

COUSIN: Nope. Here we are.

FREDDY: Well, I guess I never thought it through. Can I just opt out?

COUSIN: No. You can't be in heaven if you are not already here.

FREDDY: I'll just use my free will.

COUSIN: You already did that. For 50 years on earth. Remember?

FREDDY: Not really. That was 20 billion years ago. What am I gaining? Heavens, what is God gaining?

COUSIN: Those are the rules. But don't blame me, I didn't make 'em up.

PHONE HANGS UP

See? That's gonna suck. It's nothing but light. No darkness at the end of the tunnel. Trust me, after 100 million eons, I'm going to want a shot of bourbon or a good old fashioned PG rated movie....and you will too!

I guess I'm going to have to continue my rejection of religious faith. Even when considering heaven, there doesn't seem to be very much sense in it. Why a hell if you have a heaven? Why the need to punish those who are born into a different culture and chose another religion? Why have hell for eternity? Why create beings with attributes that could only lead to the fall of man and ultimately to torturing, suffering, and death over a vast amount of unending time? Why give a creature curiosity and then create something to forbid them from using, and giving absolutely no good reason for it? To further this, why create an entity of deceit which will prey upon the mind of the creations that were made to love? If the Christian religion is true, there is no doubt that God created us to fail. That in itself would be evil. To create something, with weakness and subject it a constant barrage of veiled reference, evil, punishment, and limited information can't be described as love in any true capacity or sense of the word.

I suppose, at least for me, heaven can wait.

 

Dances With Wolves: A Look Back

Where does the time go? It has now been twenty years since Kevin Costner's epic and winner of multiple Academy Awards, "Dances With Wolves" was the toast of Hollywood. 

Twenty years later it's still a fantastic film and holds up well. So well, in fact, that James Cameron's "Avatar" is pretty much "Dances With Wolves In Space". They both have a similar theme. A group of harmonious people are infiltrated by outside forces whose only goal is to take. But that's something entirely different, so back to "Dances With Wolves".....on earth.

Sure, the movies are dramatized, but they are also romanticized. So, when I watch this film, I can't help but feel like our (human beings) ability to see things as they really are, isn't very good. After we hit the continent by storm and started our own nation we really let it rip when it came to claiming territory. We "discovered" a land that already had people on it, we destroyed their culture and stole what was theirs. Before you think I'm on some sort of liberal rant here, I'm not. It's what we do. Groups of humans conquer the weak or technologically inferior of their own species. Hell, the Native Americans did that to each other as well. It's part of the way things are, to this very minute you sit here reading. But, it doesn't have to be.

Costner pushes the Native American "good", white man "bad" thing, but he also tells the story of how there were massacres and "regime changes" among the Native Americans (the Pawnee and Sioux in this case), even as white settlers were heading their way. In the history of cinema, how often do you get to see a film shot almost entirely from the view of the Native American side?  Costner's character, John Dunbar, is the subject and yes, most of the film is shot from his viewpoint, but that viewpoint is fluid. He comes to the western prairies with a notion that we (Americans) will swallow it up just as we did the east. Dunbar sees the disregard that the "white man" shows for the new territory, in the way that the land, animals, and people were treated. He knows killing and power struggles from having fought in the Civil War, but begins to tune himself into the Native Americans, as he becomes friendly with them.

For the first time, he sees a battle between tribes and recognizes that it's not only the settlers and Americans who can be savage to one another. All things being equal though, he sees that the Native Americans share a commonality even when they are in battle. They respect the land and nature. They know that they are only temporary visitors to the land and that it's their responsibility to ensure resources are used, but not wasted. Nothing in the film brings this home the way the buffalo slaughter scene is shown. We don't get to see the hunters killing the buffalo. We see what the Native Americans and Dunbar see. A small valley with the bodies of the buffalo left rotting in the sun. Only their tongues and skin were taken. Late the film shows the Native American hunt. For them, the hunt is about a way of life and the necessity for survival. They do not hunt for sport or profit. They hunt and take what they need, not just what they want.

Besides the themes that are touched on (misuse of land and resources, racism, greed, imperialism) the film is also visually stimulating. Many times during the film, the director of photography, Dean Semler, is able to capture how the open territory must have looked and felt to early settlers. My favorite shots are the ones that show the characters in the film against vast backgrounds. Pit that against the urban sprawl and the lack of natural space we have for any sort of meaningful distance today.

While Costner's career, in both directing and acting, surely peaked with this film, it doesn't ruin its' legacy. Not even "The Postman" or "Waterworld", both of which seemed to want to show us what human beings could do to the world and civilization on a larger scale, tainted the legacy of "Dances With Wolves". The entirety of the film, could really be summed up in the relationship between the wolf and Dunbar. Early in the film, Dunbar sees the wolf studying him. He raises his rifle to shoot it, but hesitates, and decides not to. He recognized that the wolf was not presenting a problem. The wolf was existing in his habitat. Dunbar was the outsider and he needed to be the one to act with humility and trepidation. This is a lesson that he also realized, as he started interacting with the Native American, Sioux tribe. More than one type of organism could share and use the same space, if they respected one anothers needs and way of life. The native people, the animals, and white men could all survive together. There didn't have to be a conquered or conqueror.

If you have not seen the film or if you have not watched it in a long time, I urge you to dust off the VHS copy, your DVD, or go pick up the blu ray version (which looks beautiful on an HD television). Contrast the underlying message with our world today. Overall, it seems we (the human race) never learned that we could all survive together while maintaining tradition and respect. The survival of our species depends on us being able to see each other from another point of view. What does it cost to show respect for another persons (or people's) way of life? What does it cost to look for a solution that doesn't involve the domination of one culture for the survival of another? It shouldn't be hard to learn from our past, nor from films such as "Dances With Wolves". Film can be a great way to expand a person's mind to looking beneath the surface and understanding what's really at stake in our relationships with other people and our environment. Costner can go to his grave knowing that he created one of the most entertaining and thought provoking movies of the modern era. Twenty years from now, I'll bet the film will remain just as highly thought of.

They killed us in our tepee

And they cut our women down

They might have left some babies

Cryin' on the ground

But the firesticks

and the wagons come

And the night falls

on the setting sun.

"Pocahontas"

Neil Young



Seriously, When Will This End?

More rape and abuse uncovered. But, it seems to be old news. If we don't get pissed about this shit, what will we get mad at? Oh, that's right, basketball officiating or Lebron James playing for the Heat.

More Catholic Child Rape: Click Here For Story

When is some government, somewhere in the world going to step up to the plate and bring the Catholic Church and the Pope to justice?

Really, haven't there been enough rapes yet? What's it going to take? Some snuff films to be released?

We treat religion with such kid gloves that it makes me sick. Let's get this out in the open right now; the Catholic Church is corrupt, criminal, and evil. Any Catholic who thinks they are innocent because their church isn't involved in these scandals is kidding themselves. Where are all the Catholic protesters? Why do Catholics still pour money into the church? If Catholics don't demand a total overhaul at the Vatican, which includes a criminal investigation of the Pope, then they are complicit in the crimes. The rank and file Catholic should be telling their church leadership that they are going to withhold tithes and refuse to attend services until their church publicly denounces the crimes committed by the church over hundreds of years, that still continue to this day!

Why this will never happen? Because Catholics are basically the property of the church. Here is a tidbit from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is the official text of teachings);

“Having become a member of the Church, the person baptized belongs no longer to himself, but to him who died and rose for us. From now on, he is called to be subject to others, to serve them in the communion of the Church,and to ‘obey and submit’ to the Church's leaders, holding them in respect and affection.” (Catechism, No. 1269)

So, as a Catholic you are bound to submit to leadership. I find this startling. The church has set itself up as being god here on earth. These are just people. There isn't anything holy or sacred about them. They are as criminal as Osama Bin Laden or Charles Manson. Maybe worse, since they prey on the young and weak. They prey on innocence with intimidation. Let's get this straight, right here, right now......a percentage of Catholic priests have been and continue to fuck children. Is that harsh language harmful to your ears? Well, too bad. It's time to stop all this dancing around. The current Pope is guilty of sitting on his hands when he was in charge of discipline, as a cardinal at the Vatican in the 1980's. The Pope.....yes THE Pope, the holy man, the one who has god's ear, turned a blind eye to children being raped. I simply can't believe that the outrage isn't so widespread that the church hasn't crumbled under the pressure of it all.

If you can't trust a child to a priest or to the Pope himself, who in the hell can you trust a kid with? Seriously, a child should be in just as good a hands with a person of god as they are with their parents. These people have the balls to tell people what god wants, as they commit the very worst of crimes. It's pure insanity. Instead of sending troops all over the globe to protect our oil interests, we should send the military into Rome and shut that hell on earth down. Wasn't it enough that Rome befriended Hitler and the Nazi's?  Now, we have to let them hurt children too? How in the hell are they getting away with all of this?

If you want to find out just how much the Catholic Church wants to keep its' members dumb and donating, just read this article;

Click Here: Keep 'Em Stupid!

Here is a quote from the above article by Bishop O'Donoghue, of Britain;

"Taken together, these intellectual trends have resulted in a fragmented society that marginalizes God, with many people mistakenly thinking they can live happy and productive lives without him.

"It shouldn't surprise us that the shadows cast by the distortion of education, and corresponding societal changes, have also touched members of the Church. As Pope Benedict XVI puts it, even in the Church we find hedonism, selfishness and egocentric behavior."

These people (Catholic leadership) are not to be taken seriously. They have damaged and are damaging life on our planet to a great degree. I think an important question is; why would anyone take the Catholic Church, the Vatican, or the Pope seriously about anything? Another question is; why has this organization not been brought to justice?

This isn't just about rape. The Vatican has proclaimed that the use of condoms are sinful. And then, they send out their minions all over the world, especially the impoverished nations of Africa and tell these people they will burn in hell if they use condoms. Well, that's pure evil. AIDS is a catastrophe in Africa. Preying on the uneducated is shameful. People are dying. Children are dying. But, why worry about that, right? Just so long as you put a drop of water on their head, read a little Latin, they'll be OK with god. But that's right after they die a slow, horrible, agonizing, and painful death. Well, at least they die with the churches blessing.

Pope Benedict himself is a part of this sickening criminal and negligent behavior. He was a part of covering up the abuse and he is currently a part of allowing the suffering in Africa. He was a part of moving priests around to new churches in the USA or abroad when they were accused of rape. He (along with other Vatican officials) actually refused to defrock a priest who molested 200 deaf boys, despite the urging of several American bishops.

NY Times Article: Click Here

Here is an exerpt from the above article;

The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict), the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.

And, Pope Benedict could easily decree that the use of condoms would not mortally wound the soul, even if the Vatican frowned upon their use. It's that simple. But, the church would rather cling to ancient doctrine rather than improve the lives of millions of people. And why on earth would the current Pope say that it's permissable for a male prostitute to use a condom, but not say the same thing for Africans?

LA Times Article: Click Here

So, there it is. I've railed on this subject before, I know. But, it infuriates me. It's so wrong that the governments of the world still open their arms to Pope Benedict. If you can't stand up for children and their right to live a life that doesn't involve fear of rape and molestation, what can you stand for? How can millions of people continue to give their loyalty to an organization that condones the suffering of children, without any punishment being doled out. It's insanity. It's evil. That's all there is to it. There is no reasonable explanation for the continued support and idolization of Catholicism. It's failed and we, in modern society, still hold this organization (which collects it's money tax free in the USA) in esteem. I know some people say "Well, God will punish these people" and that's not good enough for me and it shouldn't be for anyone else. These people are criminals and if it were a school principal, a day care teacher, or a sports coach that was doing this to children, we'd be outraged. I guess if screwing a kid is done with a collar on, we can look past it, right? That seems to be the case so far as I can see. We are worse off as a species for this.