Bush is such a liar. Did anyone else catch the bullshit answers he gave at the press conference today?

I can't decide right now if I want to spite in anger, puke in disgust or weep in sorrow. Hard choice, so maybe I'll just go with sarcasm and criticism.

Just now I was looking at the blog of a friend of a friend. Through clicking on several links I ended up on a conservative Christian website called Blue Letter Bible (wtf?). To find out what they believed I clicked on a little tab labeled "How to Know God". Just the title of the tab is a bad sign (I know as a former Christian, that they love to label and put things into tiny boxes). Once the page came opened, I realized that my assumptions were correct. It was a neat little step by step process on how to meet, know and love God, while buying ones self a ticket to eternal life. I read through it and can guess the verses they are going to use at each step because I was trained to "save" people with that same formula. My stomach sinks...why? Why? Why do they not realize that their little formula is irrelevant? It has not saved the people of Africa, a large portion of whom now have AIDS. It has not stopped an unjust war, that a man claiming to be one of them started just to further the oil interests of his cronies. It has not provided health care to this country. It has not feed the hungry.

Last night Joel and I finished watching Pom Poko, (my boyfriend loves anime) a beautiful film about raccoons struggling to survive as humans decimate their forrest through development (the mass building of Tokyo). At first the raccoons fight each other as the space disappears. However, a wise raccoon convinces them not to fight each other, but to work together to find a solution to stop the humans. The elder raccoons come up with a plan to teach the young raccoons the lost art of shape shifting. They can change into anything, including humans. Once all the raccoons have mastered shape shifting a war against the humans begins. Watching this movie one can't help but wish the raccoons win. However, as time goes on, it becomes apparent they will not win the war. Toward the end of the movie, a young raccoon returns from a three year mission that had taken him to another Japanese island. He finds his childhood home completely decimated and he starts to weep. The raccoons who had stayed behind saw it happen slowly, making it not seem as sudden and devastating. The young raccoons reaction pulls them out of their sense of defeat and they decide to try one last thing. All of the raccoons use the full force of their imagination and their shape shifting talents to recreate their home. All of the sudden the ground starts to shake, the forrest, streams and farms start to reappear and the buildings start to disappear. The raccoons look out to see themselves playing as youth in their beloved forrest. In joy they run out to greet their younger selves only to find that their home was only a mirage, which disappears and is again replaced by condos and high rises. At this point the narrator talks over the action and describes that the ones who could shape shift decided to join the humans by becoming humans and the ones who could not shape shift found other ways to survive (basically survive by living in the sewer and eating out of trash cans). The movie ends with a young man riding the train, then walking home when he spots two little raccoons race into a city park. He can't help it...he races into the park, taking off clothes as he runs. He sees his old friends singing and dancing as only raccoons could. As he runs, he shifts back into his true form. His raccoon friends greet with with joy, calling his name and welcoming him with love.

By the end of the movie, I was openly weeping. Sorrow swamped me, as did anger toward my own species. Isao Takahata, acclaimed Japanese director, so poignantly showed how we don't let anything get in the way of progress. Not even the knowledge that we are quickly destroying the very earth that we depend on. I just kept weeping. Joel held me. He said he was sorry that it upset me so much. Where I saw a statement about the destructive powers of humanity, Joel saw a story about the strength of a community to survive and even celebrate. I think we were both right.

I just kept weeping. Why is the world like this? How can justice so rarely be seen? How can humanity have so lost it's way?

It's unjust that so many people in this world don't have health care. It's unjust that my country is occupying Iraq. It's unjust that we are quickly using up the world's resources and in return polluting it. It's unjust that crack/meth babies are born so often. It's unjust that children starve. It's unjust that the continent of Africa is dying of AIDS. It's unjust that Katrina survivors are getting shafted by their insurance companies and their government...

I could go on and on.

When I was a Christian, I believed that the world was supposed to be like this. It made sense. (So here's some insight for those of you who don't understand Christian complacency about the injustices of the world)...God created free will. Man sinned. Man fucked up the world through sin. God sent Jesus to "save" the world and give them eternal (meaning a ticket into heaven). Therefore, you use the formula, get your ass into heaven and then you don't have to worry about the world. Why? Because it's an illusion. It's a necessarily evil that one must deal with before they can be forever happy in heaven. So, if the world is just temporary, why should I give a shit? Instead, I will help the ones I love and who are like me get into heaven, so that we can be together forever. So, fuck you world, I'm trading up.

This is how I used to think. Now I don't know if there is life after death and at the moment I don't really care. I am focused on life and all that it has to offer now. I see the gift that has been given to me in the here and now and want to do something with it.

So back to the anger/disgust/sorrow...it will never go away. For some reason I am a person who empathizes with suffering. Sometimes I can shut it out, but that's not what I really want to do. I want to fight against injustice.

(Note to Christians: I do not hate you. I just want you to love the world like Jesus did.)

The next President of Chile will be women. I find this very encouraging.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4087510.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Bachelet

 

I love the Muppets! I took this picture at Disney MGM Studios, one of the parks that makes up Disney World. 

 

I sit here on a Saturday afternoon watching an overly dramatized, poorly written Kellie Martin murder mystery movie on the Hallmark channel. Ah...the wonders of cable. I am simply too lazy to change to something better.

My New Year's started off on a great foot! My wonderful friend Kat was married at the stroke of midnight this morning. Prior to the wedding there was a reception and below is the beautiful cake.

I fell very happy for my friend as she starts her new life with a really great guy. Now she is Mrs. Katrina Salisbury.

Congrats Kat and Carter!

It was pretty and tasted really great!